Teasing Your Wicked Heart

CHAPTER 21

"Good evening." She greeted them as the sun began to set on the mountains. "Have you both had a lovely afternoon?"

Both murmured their greetings, Anthony moving to leave the room.

"I rang for tea, why don't you stay with us and we can hear about Lady Sarah Jane's afternoon picnic with the Mr. Foresters." She removed her gloves and sat primly in the center settee, waiting for her companions to settle with her.

"Mr. Foresters? All three of the brothers?" Anthony's brow quirked meaningfully at Sarah Jane.

"Only two that I am aware of." Lady Killsworth injected as Sarah Jane joined her on the set. "Have you seen the flowers Lord Holt sent you? I am afraid he forgot to attach his card."

A maid hurriedly brought in some tea and biscuits and laid it on the small table.

Anthony seemed rooted to the spot, unmoving as he fished for more information about his ward's activities. He had been right all along; Sarah Jane was enjoying the attentions of many a gentleman.

"I did not think it was for me." Sarah Jane said quietly while she fixed herself a cup.

Lady Killsworth didn't seem bothered by Anthony's stance, glued to the carpet as if torn between wanting to go and wanting to stay and hear gossip.

"Such a charming man. He had even bought Lady Huntington a bouquet while he was here." She looked up to her left, and above the fireplace stood a bouquet five times grander than what was on Sarah Jane's vase.

Sarah Jane smiled, she always thought that Lord Holt would have been a better match for Lady Huntington than her.

"Lord Holt?" Anthony asked, intrigued at the flowers in the drawing room. "He's old enough to be your father!"

Sarah Jane started, blinking rapidly at his change in demeanor. "I'm sure that my father was much younger..."

"I was not pertaining to you." He snapped. He looked at his mother furiously. "You are encouraging a suitor for her—a suitor who is old enough to be your father!"

"Oh! heavens." Lady Killsworth dangled her fingers in the air to pacify his hostility. "Such unions are common in the ton. You need not be in such a rage."

He ran a hand through his hair, checking himself before exploding in a fury he didn't understand himself.

"Lord Holt has the most honorable intentions, I can assure you as he hasn't any time for dalliance. He intends to marry and reproduce an heir. These are hardly unique sentiments." Lady Killsworth continued, unaware of a lighted fuse beside her.

He hasn't the time nor the physical capability to pursue was a much better conclusion. Anthony wanted to strangle his mother.

Thoughts of Sarah Jane being bedded by an elderly man certainly approaching the last vestiges of his life, sent fireballs and ice shards to collide in his body, coiling his internal organs in a tight mess.

"No." He said through gritted teeth.

Sarah Jane looked at him, pity and wonder playing on her emotions as she saw him convulsing in a fit of an unknown emotion.

"No, I cannot allow it." He said, angry breaths leaving his body. He needed a drink. He was having such a lovely afternoon. "You will not marry that old wretch!"

"Anthony!" His mother admonished. "Must you be like this? Stop this please."

"No." He walked a few steps closer to Sarah Jane, uneasily trying to bend her to his convictions. "You can't be amenable to this? I won't let you marry him!" He commanded, watching Sarah Jane's emotions change into relief and dare he think of it, happiness, as he released her of this absurdity.

His arm reached out as if trying to bring her with him, and he quickly snatched it back, turning, and storming out of the room.

Lady Killsworth shook her head and resumed to collect her tea on the table. She looked very relaxed and unaffected by how his son had acted. She inquired upon the uneventful afternoon Sarah Jane spent with Anne and the Mr. Foresters, together with cousins that she recently been friends with.

And while Sarah Jane answered all of Lady Killsworth's questions dutifully, her mind wandered to Lord Killsworth and his powerful objection to her union with a wealthy and titled, yet elderly widower who was best matched with Lady Huntington than her.

Did she care that Lord Killsworth was in a massive scandal with Lady Edward? Did he gamble? Did he besmirch a lady's innocence? Did she really care about what the ton thought of him, thought of every single person in their acquaintance?

She resumed nibbling at her biscuit, nodding when appropriate as Lady Killsworth detailed all the advantages of marrying Lord Holt.

No, she thought wryly. She didn't care about all those things.

She cared deeply for Lord Killsworth, and if there was one thing she had learned about herself through all these painful hardships, it's that she could be the most tenacious and determined of persons when it came to her own happiness.

And Anthony, Lord Killsworth, is her happiness. From his earlier display of emotions, he seemed to be as affected as she. Sarah Jane was not about to let him go without a fight.

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A/N: I'd like to think that Sarah Jane is learning from her experience, and her willingness to fully experience the situation she's in makes it easier for her to reflect on her behavior and choices. I think that's what helps us accept consequences — accepting responsibility of them.

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