A Certain Wolfish Charm(47)

Will tensed beside her, grumbling something unintelligible.



"Oh, do show her in, Billings." As soon as the butler departed, she frowned at Will. "Be nice to her."



"It's not me you need to worry about," Will replied.



"Ah, Lily!" Prisca's cheerful voice came from the doorway, causing Will to stand and bow slightly.



"Prisca."



She barely spared him a glance, focusing her attention on Lily. "You left so suddenly last night. I wanted to make certain you were all right." She crossed the floor and sat in a chintz chair near them.



"Should you really be visiting the home of a bachelor alone, Miss Hawthorne?" Will asked, irritation in his voice. "Highly dangerous."



Lily's face flushed. Why would he say something like that in light of her predicament? "Will!"



Prisca simply beamed at him. "Don't mind him, Lily. I don't intend to." Then she pierced Lily with her beautiful violet eyes. "Do tell me you're all right. I worried all night."



Will snorted.#p#分页标题#e#



Lily folded her arms across her chest. "As Prisca came to see me, perhaps you should go busy yourself somewhere else."



He smiled tightly. "I'm certain my horse is ready anyway." Will stood up.



"Going somewhere, William?" Prisca asked, examining her fingernails.



"London."



Her eyes darted back to him. "London? But you've hardly been here."



"If I didn't know better, I'd think you'd miss me. As it is," he continued, "I wouldn't try Simon's temper, were I you, Prisca. Don't stay too long."



She sat back in her chair with a huff. "Missing your light skirts already, are you?"



"Happy husband hunting." Will strode purposefully from the room, never looking back.



Lily stared after him, and then she turned to Prisca, who was brushing her knuckles across her cheek. "Are you all right?" Lily asked, rising from her seat.



Prisca smiled, pretending she wasn't crying. "Perfect. Tell me you're doing well."



Lily pursed her lips. "His Grace asked me to marry him."



Prisca leapt from her seat and threw her arms around Lily. "Oh, that is wonderful. I'm certain you'll be happy."



Lily wished she could be just as certain.



***





Simon had been tested more times than he could count on two hands and two feet. He'd been pulled naked from the bed of a married woman by the angry spouse. He'd been in more than one drunken brawl. He'd been pummeled by his brothers. And even by a friend or two. But he'd never had his patience tried like he did with Oliver.



For Lily's sake, he tried not to kill the boy. That wasn't easy to do. Oliver had an amazing strength, which often came with the youth of their kind. Fortunately, he didn't know how to use it yet. Once he'd toppled a few chairs and uprighted the table, he simply stood before Simon, his chest heaving as he tried to catch his breath.



Having two younger brothers, both with similar tempers, Simon had learned the hard way that it was easier to let them get the rage out of their systems rather than stifling it. As with a plugged-up teapot, the steam would find a way to escape one way or the other. As long as no one around Oliver could be hurt, Simon would let him blow off some steam.



"If you ever put your hands on your Aunt Lily again," Simon seethed. "I will personally lock you in your room for so long that you will wish you were in Newgate."



"You can't truly expect me to be happy about Aunt



Lily marrying someone like you," Oliver shot back, sneering the last word.



"You mean someone like us, don't you?"



"Like us," the boy whispered as he turned toward the window. "I wouldn't want any woman to be shackled to someone like us."



"I am pretty happy with the situation," Simon began. "And your aunt seems to be quite content with the idea." He tried not to smile, but he felt the corners of his mouth tilt, regardless.



"That's because she doesn't know," Oliver reminded him. Simon bit back a wince.



"She doesn't have to know."



"You would marry her and not tell her?"

#p#分页标题#e#

"Yes, and you won't tell her, either. No one knows about us, except us. And it will stay that way. Unless I decide she's ready to hear it at some point in the future." Simon sighed.



"And what will you do when the moon calls?"



"I'll go away for a few days every month, Oliver. I'll probably take you with me." It would be safer that way, because Oliver might not be able to control himself.



"And what happens when you have a child? Another one like me?"