The Sweetest Love (Sons of Worthington Series) (26 page)

Nic
scowled. “Are you saying I should have held my tongue?” He shook his head as he yanked off his waist jacket. “Forgive me for thinking that kind of news was important. All that was going through my mind was imagining the trouble you would get in if the truth wasn’t discovered soon. I did not want to see that happen to you.”

Tristan waved his hand in the air. “You misunderstood, Hawthorne. I’m grateful you told me, but at the same time, my heart is broken because the woman I have loved for so long is deceiving me. That is why I have a rotten disposition.”

“Of course, Worthington.
I understand. I shall try not to poke fun at your expense any longer. I cannot even imagine how you must feel right now.”

“I thank you, Hawthorne. I pray you will never have your heart broken like this. Then again—” Tristan scratched his chin, “it would be a miracle if you ever gave your heart to a woman at all.”

Nic
laughed loudly. “That miracle will never happen, I assure you. I shall remain a bachelor for the rest of my life.”

After removing his shirt, Tristan knelt in front of the hearth and threw the logs in. “You never did tell me why you are like this.”

“What do you mean?”

He struck the flint. “Why are you so reluctant to fall in love?”

“Worthington,”
Nic
said as he struggled to get his wet shirt over his head, “there are many things you don’t know about me. Why are you so certain I have never given my heart to a woman? Perhaps I have been burned in the past, which is why I don’t want to do it again.”

The spark in the fireplace started. Tristan blew on it gently until a good fire began to burn. “Are you going to allow one woman to control how you feel for the rest of your life?”

Nic
moved to stand by the fire. Tristan looked up at his friend’s serious expression. Not often did Hawthorne show this vulnerable side to him.

Nic
tapped his finger on his chin. “You know, I could say the same about you.”

“Me?”

“Indeed. Have you not allowed Lady Hollingsworth to control your feelings? If we discover from our visit here that she has indeed deceived you, will your heart be scarred for life? Or will you eventually find another woman to love?”

Tristan stared into the fire. Numbness spread across him and he refused to think of the future.
Nic
was correct. Tristan had allowed Diana into his heart, and God help him, he never wanted to let her out.

* * * *

“I just don’t understand you, Tabitha. Why do you taunt that man so much?” Diana sat at the table peeling potatoes as her maids helped her prepare the meal. “Lord Hawthorne is a respected man…and a man many women would love to marry, I might add. I just cannot understand why you don’t have dreamy eyes for him.”

A loud
unlady
-like grunt came from Tabitha as she rolled her eyes. “
That
will never happen. Men like him are not worth my time. And honestly, the only reason I put up with Lord Tristan is because of you.”

Diana set her knife and potato down before looking at Tabitha. “What do you mean
men like him
? Are you referring to rakes or nobility?
Because Tristan has never been a scoundrel.”

“Perhaps it’s a combination of both that I’m disgusted with.” Tabitha frowned. “Gentlemen think of themselves as holier-than-thou creatures who cannot even force themselves to speak civilly to someone who is beneath their station, and if they do speak, they treat us like our only
purpose
is to warm their beds.”

Diana patted her friend’s shoulder. “There are a lot of men like what you have described, but Lord Hawthorne and Tristan are not like that.”

“I see them differently, my lady. They treat me differently when you are not around.”

Narrowing her gaze, Diana shook her head. “Tristan has treated you in such a way—like he wants you to warm his bed?”

Tabitha cringed. “No, not that way, but he looks down on me as if I were nothing but dirt on his boots.”

“Lady Hollingsworth,” Sally cut in, “I must agree with Tabitha. Because we are not but mere servants, we will always be treated as such. Lord Elliot taught us that lesson well.”

“Not all masters are like Lord Elliot.” Diana cut up a potato, letting it drop into the pot. “In fact Tabitha, do you not remember how it was when you and your mother worked for my grandmother?”

“Yes, I remember. Working for her was pure heavenly. Your grandmother was the sweetest woman I knew.” Tabitha smiled at Diana. “And now I know that her granddaughter inherited her sweet nature.”

“You are too kind.” Diana’s face grew warm with the compliment.

“But back then,” Tabitha continued, “I worked for only a woman. After your grandmother died, I was sent to Lord Elliot. That was the first time a man had been in charge of me.” She shivered. “I never want to go through that hell again.”

Diana touched her friend’s hand. “Tabitha, not all men are like that. I assure you, Tristan and his brothers will never treat their servants with such disdain.”

Tabitha set her knife down, narrowing her gaze on Diana. “Are you certain, my lady? I have heard talk from servants and they say the old Duke of Kensington was very mean to his servants and treated women like they were slaves.”

Sighing heavily, Diana nodded. “Indeed, Tristan’s father was a very inconsiderate, selfish man who loved to create scandal, but even the one son who we thought would turn out like him—Trey—didn’t end up like his sire after all. Trevor and Tristan will never be like that, either. I stake my life on it.”

“I’m comforted to know you have so much faith in them. However, they are but three men, and England is filled with men like Lord Elliot and Lord Hollingsworth.”

Memories Diana tried to bury resurfaced. Scenes flashed through her head of Ludlow raising his hand to her when he thought she’d done something wrong. He even starved her on a few occasions…and those were the nice punishments he’d inflicted upon her.
“Very true, Tabitha.
I wish more men were like the Worthington brothers.”

“As do I,” Tabitha said with a frown. “Forgive me for speaking my mind, but I’m vastly relieved Lord Elliot and Lord Hollingsworth have been taken from this world. They both deserved to die for what they did to all of us. In fact, the thought of killing them with my bare hands had crossed my mind several times. I cannot tolerate men who treat women in such a way. They all deserve to die, or be punished severely.”

“I agree,” Sally muttered her response.

Diana carried the pot of vegetables to the hot stove before pouring water over them. “I believe there are many others who share your thoughts.”

“Lady Hollingsworth? Did you ever think of killing your husband?” Sally asked.

Diana walked back to the table and sat. She linked her fingers together and rested them on the edge of the table. Thoughts swam in her head, followed by the bitter feelings she’d once had. “Although I didn’t think about doing the actual deed, I had prayed that something would happen to my husband to end his life.” A tear slid down her cheek that she hadn’t realized was there. “I hated myself for feeling that way, but when it finally happened, I thanked God that it had. I couldn’t believe how
free
I felt…even when the magistrate suspected me of murder.”

“For months I felt that way about Lord Elliot,” Sally injected softly with tears in her eyes.

“As did I.”
Tabitha nodded. “And I was grateful this angel of mercy—” she touched Diana’s shoulder— “came to rescue me.”

Sally nodded. “That was also the day I will never forget.” She sniffed and wiped her hand underneath her nose. “Lady Hollingsworth, you are truly my Savior for rescuing me from that monster.”

When Diana smiled her lips quaked as she tried to hold back the sob rising in her throat. “I just wish I would have known about it sooner.”

“You saved my life,” Sally said.

“And mine.” Tabitha wiped a tear off her face.

Diana stood and hugged Sally, then gave Tabitha a hug as well. Tears streamed down the servants’ cheeks, and Diana’s own cheeks were even wet.

Pulling away, she wiped her knuckles under her eyes to dry the tears before smoothing her palms on her apron. “Well, I think we should concentrate on getting the meal finished. I’m certain our visitors are famished. And we need to fetch their clothes and—”

Before she could finish, the floor outside the kitchen door creaked. Diana sucked in a quick breath and swung toward the door. Her heart dropped.

“What’s wrong, my lady?” Sally questioned.

“I think someone is in the hall…coming.”

Diana prayed she was hearing things because she didn’t need Tristan or
Nic
overhearing and asking her questions later. Her mind argued that the men wouldn’t leave the room wearing only a blanket to venture into a room with three women, yet… Someone was indeed outside the door. She could feel it as a dark cloud of doom settled over her.

Chapter Seventeen

Tristan hitched his breath.
We’re going to get caught.

He traded panic glances with
Nic
before motioning with his head toward the nearest room. As quietly as the two men could walk, they hurried on bare feet inside and closed the door. Tristan didn’t dare make a sound. He even held his blanket around his shoulders tighter for fear of accidentally dropping the covering.

The squeak from kitchen door opening alerted Tristan that they had just barely made it before being spotted. Pressing his ear against the wooden door, he held his breath.

“Who is out there?” Tabitha’s voice almost echoed through the empty corridor.

“I don’t see anyone,” Diana said as relief lightened her voice. “I suppose I was just hearing things.”

“Most likely that is what happened,” Tabitha answered. “The wind outside is still blowing strong. Perhaps that is what you heard.”

“I certainly hope so.”

As soon as the kitchen door squeaked again, Tristan quietly pulled up on the latch his hand had been gripping so tightly, opened the bedroom door, and peeked out. Tabitha and Diana had gone back inside the kitchen. His pounding heartbeat slowly returned to normal as he expelled a breath.

“Come,” Tristan whispered to
Nic
, “let’s return to the room before they realize we were listening.”

Nodding,
Nic
pulled the blanket tight around his body and hurried up the corridor behind Tristan toward the stairs.

“That was a close call,”
Nic
said as they reached the top of the stairs.

“Too close.” Tristan glanced over his shoulder at Nic. “But when I have my talk with Diana and she asks how I know, I will tell her I overheard her in the kitchen. Although she insists on holding the truth from me, I shall not do the same. I plan on being completely honest.”

“That’s the only way to be.”

“However,” Tristan paused once they reached the room and entered, “I need you to keep Tabitha occupied. I do not want anything to interrupt my talk with Diana.”

Nic
rolled his eyes. “I shall try, but that woman can drive a man to drink, and I don’t know how much alcohol Lady Hollingsworth has in this small cottage for me to consume.”

“Then I suggest you ask her. You are very talented at holding your liquor and being charming at the same time,” Tristan grinned.

“Do not make light of this, Worthington.”

Fortunately, they hadn’t waited for Tabitha to collect their clothes,
laying
out to dry themselves.
Nic
marched to the fireplace and adjusted his clothes that had been draped over the chair to dry. Tristan followed and copied his friend’s actions. The quicker the garments dried,
the
more comfortable Tristan would feel.

“I have never met a woman like Diana’s maid,”
Nic
continued. “She acts as if I’m the one who is far beneath
her
station to even speak to me. When she does talk, nothing but disdain pours from her mouth.”

“That is certainly out of the ordinary. Whatever have you done to vex her so?”

“Not a thing, I assure you.”
Nic
lifted his head and looked at Tristan. “The few times I’ve talked to her, she has been this way.” He shook his head. “I have never wronged her or caused her ill will…yet she treats me like I have made her life miserable.”

“Indeed, that is very strange behavior.”

“Quite right.”

“As it were…will you still help me out by keeping her occupied?” Tristan asked. “I don’t want her to accidentally hear her name in the conversation I have with Diana and come barging in to interrupt us.”

“Of course.
I just pray your talk with Lady Hollingsworth doesn’t take too long. I fear I won’t know what to do if Tabitha upsets me more than she has done already.”

From out in the corridor, the stairs squeaked. Tristan swung his attention to the door. Mere moments later came a knock.

“Tristan?
Are you still there?”

He walked to the door and opened it enough to poke his head out. “Yes, Diana.” He smiled, although he couldn’t feel the happiness inside him as he’d felt before when peering into her lovely face. “Where else would we be? There is no place for us to be since we are covered in blankets.”