Pursued by the Rake (Season of Scandal Book 1) by Mary Lancaster

Author:Mary Lancaster [Lancaster, Mary]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction, Historical, romance
Publisher: Dragonblade Publishing, Inc.
Published: 2020-07-08T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Thirteen

As far as possible the following day, Hazel kept her distance from Joe. She avoided being alone with him, or, if they were both part of a group, she used one of the children or Emma as a shield. Any exchanges, she kept brief, light, and friendly. By the afternoon, she wondered if he suspected her attempt at distance.

The whole party, including Lady Sayle and the Standishes with their small sons, were strolling through the less formal part of the garden. This was bounded, as Joe had once told her, by a large, sprawling hazel tree.

“I thought we could have an al fresco here while we have guests,” Lady Sayle said. “The tree would provide shade, and we would have this rather fine view over the downs.”

“It’s beautiful,” Hazel agreed. “I’m sure the guests would love it.”

“There’s a pleasant walk over the hill, too, for the more energetic among us,” Joe observed. “I’ll show you now, if you like.”

He spoke openly and casually, although it was clearly directed at Hazel, and she knew if he had suggested this yesterday, she would have jumped at the chance.

“Another time, perhaps. The children are desperate for tea.”

The children, of course, had not been invited but could have served as careless chaperones. As she turned toward them, she caught the perceptive glance he cast at her. She thought he had noticed the difference in her manner and was glad.

It was not that she believed everything Lady Standish had said to her last night. The picture she painted of her brother, desperately flirting with every female in his path as though to feed his own smug pride at the expense of everyone else’s feelings, hardly rang true. She knew he was far more and far better than that. But his pending engagement did have the ring of truth to it, and it was clearly important to his sister. Of course, Joe would marry where he chose, but Roberta’s words had brought home not just the truth of her own growing feelings for Joe, but the impossibility of happiness with him.

The difference between them was too great. Even his hints about courtship could only have come from pity for her situation, a way to fight her ruin offered by a man who had given up on ever meeting his great love. She could not take that possibility from him. Nor could she live with a man who did not love her. Not when her own heart was in pieces over him.

She walked back to the house beside Bart, with Louise on her other side, swinging from her hand. Sometimes, she wondered if she could feel Joe’s gaze boring into the back of her head, or if it was just wishful thinking—which was something else she would have to control.

As they approached the house, the presence of carriages and scurrying footmen proclaimed new arrivals. “Ah, this will be the Wellbournes,” Lady Sayle said, pleased. “Along with your friends, Bart!”

Bart looked, in fact, suddenly petrified. This was

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