CHAPTER FOUR

Merrick set his hands to his hips and glared at his young cousin. “Touch her again without having spoken to her father first about a marriage and we will not meet so civilly. You cannot behave in such a manner without considering the consequences for both of you.”

“I love her,” Laurence protested passionately.

He took his cousin’s measure. His time at sea, exposed to the elements and a harsher way of living, had hardened Laurence’s features somewhat. But given his protestation of devotion to Lady Cecily, he was still an exuberant young man and had much to learn about thinking before acting on his passions. “You’re the right age to spout that nonsense and yet still too foolish to understand what it means. Go back inside, stay away from the girl, and do not dishonor her family or yours with this nonsense until you’re at least a half dozen years older.” Merrick scrubbed a hand through his hair. He had little patience for the Fords right now.

Laurence glanced toward the terrace with an expression reminiscent of a scolded puppy, wide brown eyes pleading to be forgiven. Merrick turned his head and saw Arabella had remained. Laurence made to approach her, yet Merrick could not allow that. He pushed his cousin toward the side of the house. “Go that way, you fool, and do not be seen returning to the ball.”

The puppyish eyes turned on him. “Please, coz. Let me explain myself.”

He’d had some idea that Lady Farnsworth’s niece and his cousin were moving beyond harmless flirtation before tonight and had meant to warn off his cousin from making a foolish choice. If he hadn’t followed Arabella discreetly, he would never have stumbled upon the truth of just how far Laurence had fallen under the minx’s spell. He’d placed his commission in jeopardy with this foolishness. Given what Merrick had discovered of Cecily, the family would never support a match to such a girl.

“Not a chance.” He gave his cousin a harder shove that sent him on his way to the side door. “Now off with you.”

Once Laurence was out of sight, Merrick faced with trepidation the dazzling beauty waiting at the base of the steps. Damn the Fords and their troublesome natures. Coming so soon on the heels of their accidental kiss, he wasn’t sure what Arabella would say to him. She would have every right to be furious if the girl was ruined and no marriage proposal came of it.

Yet when he had determined her intent to break up the lovers, he had not been able to abandon her to the task alone. That ungrateful niece of hers might pretend to be proper when society was watching, but she was beyond the pale when it came to men. Lady Cecily was hell-bent on her wild rebellion. He didn’t know what Laurence was thinking to court such a scandal-loving girl. He supposed it was for the money to be found in her dowry. Little could be said for her connections, save for the pleasure of Arabella’s company.

Merrick started back the way he’d come, fighting to return his pulse to normal before he spoke with Arabella. Laurence was a fool. A man in love did not maul an innocent girl in a dark garden, even if stridently encouraged to do so. He treated her as if she were precious and with the utmost respect. The girl was encouraging her own ruin and Laurence was likely a means to an end.

He stopped three steps away from Arabella, maintaining a discreet, respectable distance. She was so beautiful that his heart skipped a beat. He barely believed she’d been in his arms, even unwittingly. He was ashamed to have acted so rashly. “He won’t bother her again, I give you my word.”

The pale wisps of hair peeking from beneath her turban appeared as a glow about her soft skin like a halo of an ethereal siren. “Thank you. I am very much obliged to you.”

“My pleasure, my lady.” After a long moment of silence, he wrenched his gaze from her and checked the terrace to see that they remained observed together. Thankfully there was no harm done so far. “You should return to the ballroom,” he murmured gently.

“Wait.” She moved closer a step. When she stopped, he found it pleasant, despite the frown that had appeared, to look into a face that matched his in height. Arabella was quite tall compared to most women and very lovely. It was a shame his rash act had revealed he was still the rogue society thought him to be.

“I am sorry for any trouble my niece may cause between you and your cousin,” she said suddenly.

He shrugged away her concern, noticing she didn’t appear at all put out with him. “Hardly a day goes by when someone in the family isn’t irritated with the other. The difficulty will amount to nothing. Laurence is to return to his ship next week and will likely return to action soon after. I’m sure if their affections are merely infatuation, they will pass soon enough.”

“So soon? I will pray for his safe return,” she whispered.

Merrick drank in her beauty and good nature for a long, selfish moment. A woman of her character would not choose to be with him unless forced to. If anyone learned of their kiss, she would be cast in an altogether unflattering light. She likely knew being in his company for any length of time might tarnish her reputation and should draw away, but for the moment it seemed she had forgotten. It was nice to stand before a proper woman without caution shadowing her eyes.

But the moment could only be fleeting. The impulses of youthful exuberance and excess of living were a part of his history that he could never shake. Everyone had expected him to live up to his father’s reputation as a scoundrel, and he had to a small degree. Only now was he regretting that his behavior made it likely he would never have a chance with a woman like Arabella. He steeled himself to return to his admiration from afar and think of her reputation first. “After you. Please.”

She stared at him a long moment before she dipped a perfect curtsey and then hurried up the steps and disappeared into the ballroom without a backward glance. Her poise was something he admired, along with the sway of her long body when she moved. Quite mesmerizing, really. The woman had to be almost as tall as he was—her legs would likely go on forever. He halted at the railing and faced the dark gardens, struggling to reorder his thoughts and baser impulses. Thinking of her like that was hopeless. He would wait a decently long time before he rejoined the ball, long enough that his return might never be linked to hers.

“There you are.” The exasperated admonishment broke the quiet and got his hackles up. If he was not mistaken, his aunt, Lady Penelope Ford, had come to deliver her usual scold. “What are you doing out here, young man?”

He glanced over his shoulder as anger swept through him. His Aunt Pen saw everything but rarely understood, and would not miss a chance to meddle in his affairs. Thank God she knew nothing of his plans to secure a wife. If she did, she would not hesitate to push any and every properly connected, buttoned-up debutante in his direction with the hopes of reforming him completely. That wasn’t the sort of wife Merrick had in mind. He didn’t want to change that much when he married. “Enjoying the fresh air in solitude until now. You?”

Her lips turned up, but he knew better than to trust her smiles. “I thought to ensure scandal might be avoided, but I see my fears were unnecessary.”

He tensed at her words. Could a man ever spend one night in society without even his family thinking the worst of him? It was too much. She would never believe he was out here to prevent Laurence, the baby of the Ford family, from being foolish. “Is that so?”

Her smile dimmed at his clipped response. Once, they had been on intimate terms: Aunty Pen and little Merrick. But that was many years ago, and he was no longer a child and ignorant of his aunt’s manipulative nature.