My Favorite Major (Heroes Returned Book 1) (4 page)

He found Amelia Pritchard sitting on a small bench, gazing up at the stars, shivering slightly in the cool evening air.

“
Cold?” he asked, making her nearly jump from her skin.

“
Oh!” she gasped, placing a hand over her heart. “You just took a decade off my life, Major.”

“
Didn’t mean to startle you.” Philip nodded to the bench. “Mind if I sit with you?”

Miss Pritchard slid over, making room for him. “I am sorry for disappearing like that. You must think me most peculiar.”

Philip dropped onto the bench beside her. “I thought you most peculiar before I ever met you.”

“
Hardly a charming thing to say.” Her light blue eyes twinkled beneath the stars.

“
Well, you
were
laughing at me, Miss Pritchard. And I have it on the highest authority that I’m not amusing in the least.”

A delightful grin spread across her face, making him smile right along with her. “You just looked so serious,” she explained. “Everyone else in there was having a lovely time and you were scowling at them. You didn’t seem to fit there at all.”

“
In the future, you might want to refrain from laughing at someone wearing a scowl. We’re hardly agreeable chaps, those of us who are prone to scowling.”

“
I will try to keep that in mind.” Her hands slid up and down her arms as though she was freezing.

“
Would you like my jacket?” Philip offered.

Miss Pritchard shook her head. “I’d like to return to the ballroom, but…”

“
Mr. Mason has left, if that’s what you’re worried about.”

Her face instantly flushed pink and her gaze dropped to her lap. “You spoke with him?”

“
I kept him from following you out here.”

She wrung her hands in her lap. “Why?”

Why? Because she was clearly running from the man. Wasn’t she? “Did you
want
him to follow you?” Was it possible he had misinterpreted her actions? Understanding women was apparently not his forte. Had he blundered terribly in this regard?

“
No.” Her eyes shot back to his, and the pain he saw reflected there squeezed his heart. “I don’t want to ever see him again. I just don’t understand why you helped me. I mean, I
did
laugh at you, and you don’t know me at all.”

True on both counts. “I’m not sure why,” he replied. “But something told me to do so. Why are you hiding from Mason, Miss Pritchard?” And why did she look as though she might cry?

“
Have you ever felt like the biggest fool who ever lived?”

Had she just asked
him
that
question? Philip somehow kept from snorting. After all, he’d lived with that very feeling for over a year now. “Only everyday I wake up.”

“
You don’t seem foolish to me at all.” Her light eyes scanned his face.

“
Just serious?”

She smiled again, and the light from the moon made her appear more ethereal. He had the urge to tuck one of her flaxen locks behind her ear, but he kept his hands on his knees.

“
Very few fools are so serious in my experience,” she said softly.

“
And have you more experience with fools or with serious, scowling fellows?”

Miss Pritchard bit her bottom lip as though she was truly contemplating his question. “Sadly, I think I have had more experiences with scoundrels, now that I think about it.”

Scoundrels? Did she mean Mason? The fellow hadn’t seemed to be a scoundrel to Philip, just doggedly determined. Had he done something to Miss Pritchard? “Not the best variety of man.”

“
On that we most certainly agree, Major.”

Warm light and lively music spilled into the garden, brighter and louder than they had been moments earlier. Philip glanced towards the house to find Cordie Clayworth standing in the doorway. “There you are, Amelia! I was worried.”

Captain Avery bowed low before Amelia and then swept her into his arms as the musicians began playing a waltz. His eyes settled on hers and he frowned like a chastened man. “I am sorry to have dragged you into this, Amelia.”

She shook her head. “Was Cordie very angry with you?”

He chuckled as he led her into a turn. “My sister is always angry with me. If it wasn’t about this, it would have been about something else. I’m accustomed to her haranguing me, but I don’t want her to be angry with
you.
”

Amelia didn’t think Cordie was angry with her. The countess hadn’t seemed it, in any event. “I’m sure all will be fine, Captain. And I can see why you wanted to bring your friend out of the doldrums. Major Moore seems like a wonderful man.”

“
Better than myself and both my brothers all combined,” he agreed. “But Philip’s too noble by half. Quite infuriating at times.”

As Amelia had dealt with a man who wasn’t noble in the least, she didn’t quite agree with Captain Avery’s estimation. But his words did make her more curious than ever about the very serious major. “Cordie said it wasn’t his returning from the continent that’s had made him gloomy.”

The captain’s eyes flashed over her shoulder towards his sister, and he winced a bit. “And she says
I’m
a tactless, interfering lout.”

“
I beg your pardon?”

Captain Avery shook his head. “She shouldn’t have said such a thing.”

And Amelia shouldn’t ask her next question, but she couldn’t help herself. “Why
is
he gloomy, Captain?”

“
A variety of reasons,” he hedged.

And he thought Major Moore was infuriating. “Such as…?” she prodded.

“
It’s really not my place to say. In fact, I’ve said too much bringing you into this mess to begin with. I relinquish you from your promise, Amelia. Do try to enjoy your stay in London, and don’t worry about either Philip or me.”

But she couldn’t help thinking about Major Moore. He
had
kept Mason from finding her this evening, and all of Captain Avery’s evasive answers made wondering about Major Moore that much more interesting. Besides, keeping her thoughts occupied with questions about the very serious and noble major would prevent worries about her own predicament from creeping into her mind. At least she thought it would.

“
I’ve piqued your interest, haven’t I?” Captain Avery moaned.

Amelia tried her innocent blink one more time. It hadn’t worked with Cordie, but perhaps it would with Russell Avery. “I don’t know what you mean, Captain.”

“
Uh-huh.” He spun her once again. “I know women, Amelia Pritchard. And I know that when they get a look in their eyes, like the one you have now, that their interest has been piqued.”

“
I have a look in my eyes?”

“
Hmm. So let me warn you as a friend: Philip Moore is the best man I know, but he’s more damaged than the whole of the 45th put together. Forget I ever brought you into this, for your own good.”

“
Your concern does me such honor, sir.”

He groaned aloud. “Cordie was right. I should have kept my nose out of Philip’s affairs. I do hate it when she’s right. Makes her unbearable.”

Philip couldn’t help but watch the ease with which Russell spun Miss Pritchard around the Clayworths’ ballroom. Whether it was in his mind or the pain was authentic, Philip’s leg pulsed a bit as he stood there alone, leaning heavily on his cane. He had never begrudged Russell anything in his life, but a pang of resentment did settle in his stomach as the pair moved in rhythm together, Russell’s undamaged legs hidden in Miss Pritchard’s skirts.

Scoundrels. She said she was more familiar with scoundrels, hadn’t she? Well, one certainly held her in his arms at the moment. Philip shook the ungenerous thought from his mind. Oh, Russell could most certainly be described as a scoundrel, but he was like a brother to Philip. Still, the captain would break Miss Pritchard’s heart if she gave it to him, Philip had no doubt. After all, he’d seen his friend do that very thing to girl after pretty girl over the years.

Substandard kisser. Russell’s earlier words echoed once again in Philip’s ears. With the way Russell gazed at the chit’s mouth, Philip doubted his friend had been entirely honest about that. Though why the thought of Russell kissing Miss Pritchard should make Philip want to remove his best friend’s head made no sense at all. Who Russell kissed, or whom Miss Pritchard kissed for that matter, was none of his concern. Not really. But it was hard to get her earlier expression of horror out of his mind. If Mason, the suspected scoundrel, had hurt Miss Pritchard, wasn’t it his duty to ensure Russell didn’t do the same?

No, it wasn’t. He’d just met the girl, after all. He might never see her again. Why should her lackluster choice in men be his concern at all? The answer to that question made his stomach roil just a bit. He hadn’t been here to save Olivia, and he’d hate for Miss Pritchard to endure the same fate, not if he could save her from it.

A hand clapped Philip’s back, and he looked over his shoulder at Brendan Reese, the Earl of Clayworth, who was apparently making his rounds as far as greeting his guests. “Moore, so good of you to come.”

“
Thank you, my lord. I don’t believe I had much of a choice, however. Your wife was quite adamant that I attend.”

Clayworth winked at Philip. “That will teach you to let her know you’ve got your eye on some horseflesh at Tattersall’s. You could have made your purchase and been merrily on your way back to Notthinghamshire without her ever having been the wiser.”

Philip smiled at the earl, a man he’d genuinely admired ever since they’d met. “I suppose I don’t mind. Not really.” He glanced back out at the sea of people on the dance floor. “I met your enchanting cousin this evening.”

“
Amelia? Cordie isn’t playing matchmaker, is she?”

Philip shook his head. “I don’t believe so.” If she was, she was doing an awful job of it. She hadn’t pressured Philip into taking to the dance floor. She hadn’t winked secretly at him or surreptitiously gestured to Miss Pritchard behind the girl’s back.