When Lady Innocent Met Dr. Scandalous (The May Flowers Book 5) Read online

  “There was a time when you enjoyed the work I did,” he said, seriousness in his eyes. “You enjoyed the benefits of it as much as I did.”

  Linus sighed and pushed his father’s hand off his arm. “I was young and foolish. I am neither of those things now.”

  He tried to walk on, but his father caught up to him, saying, “Why turn me away when the two of us have always worked so much better together?”

  Linus stopped and turned to him. “You came perilously close to ruining my life. I struggled for years to find a respectable place in society. I have good friends, a woman I love, a life I can be proud of. How can you stand there and ask me to give it all up to join you in your conniving games again?”

  “God’s work is not a game,” his father said, snapping straight in offense. “His message is absolute.”

  “The only god you worship is yourself,” Linus hissed, marching on.

  Surprisingly, his father let him go. But he called out, “You cannot escape your destiny, son. You cannot walk away from the life you were born to live.”

  Linus wanted to raise his hands to his ears to block out his father’s words. He’d said the same thing on that night over a decade ago when Linus had packed his things and walked out of the insulated community where his father held sway, like a dictator, insisting he’d been given a divine mandate. It had cost him far more than anyone would ever know to leave that place, to leave all the people he had ever known, all the family he had ever had. But from the moment he’d discovered what it all really meant and what his father had really been up to, he couldn’t have stayed. From the moment he’d learned what a normal life with a normal family was, he’d craved it like he’d craved sunlight.

  But that didn’t mean there weren’t times when he didn’t bitterly regret the decisions he’d made. All the decisions he’d made.

  He walked on, the pain of his past slowly sliding from his shoulders as he made his way around families out for a day in the park, young people walking through the gardens as they courted one another, nannies pushing prams while children capered around them, and half a dozen other demonstrations and speeches. The May Flowers’s political rally was at the far end of the park, and by the time he reached the crowd gathered to hear speeches, he was at least able to smile, even though the shock of seeing his father again—and seeing that the man hadn’t changed—stuck with him.

  He was only truly happy when he heard Natalia’s call of, “Dr. Townsend. Over here,” from the edge of the crowd.

  He glanced toward her, and the moment their eyes met, his heart lifted. He changed directions, marching straight toward her. Natalia was the reason why he’d left his father’s enclave all those years ago, though it would be years still until he met her. Her vibrancy and her optimism were all the reasons he had broken away from the life he could have lived and set out to live an honest life, one of service to others.

  “Lady Natalia. You look lovely today,” he said, greeting her with all the propriety that was required of him, considering her position and his relative to hers. Thank God Natalia didn’t care about silly things, like rank and station in life. Though, he supposed he would have to explain his past to her at some point.

  “You look handsome today yourself,” she flirted with him, eyes sparkling. She glanced over her shoulder to where her friends, including Fergus and Henrietta, congregated. When it was clear no one was paying much attention to them, she grabbed his arm. “I have to speak to you,” she said in a serious voice, though her eyes continued to shine with mischief.

  “About what?” he asked, even as she pulled him a few yards aside, under the shade of one of the tall trees lining the closest walk. Instantly, he wondered if her sudden intensity had anything to do with the damnable Mr. Mercer.

  Natalia came to a stop, looking this way and that before leaning closer to him. “I had the most horrible talk with Mama the other day about the two of us.”

  Linus couldn’t say he was surprised. He was aware that Lady and Lord Campbell liked him well enough, but that they didn’t consider him a suitable husband for Natalia. He’d known all along that he would have to make a very good case indeed to be able to marry Natalia. And he did want to marry her.

  “I assume this has to do with a certain Mr. Mercer,” he said.

  Natalia’s brow flew up in guilty surprise. “You know about him?”

  “Lord Herrington just told me that such a man has become interested in you,” Linus said.

  “Well, I’m not interested in him,” Natalia insisted, resting a hand on his forearm. “I swear, I’m not. I only just met the man at tea yesterday, and I can say without a doubt that he is the last man on earth I would choose to marry.”

  Her words struck him awkwardly. “But is it truly your choice?” he asked.

  “It is if I have anything to do with it.” Natalia raised her voice. Linus wondered if she caught the contradiction in her words. “Mr. Mercer is stodgy, and I require a man who is fascinating. He barely spoke a word throughout the entire tea, and I want a man who can converse freely with me.” She beamed up at Linus as she spoke. “In short, I want you and only you.”

  As much as her declaration warmed Linus’s heart, doubt pressed down on him. “If your parents have their heart set on this Mr. Mercer courting you, what can the two of us do about it?” His question was genuine. He needed answers, and he needed them before the hand of fate separated him from Natalia forever.

  “I have a plan,” Natalia said, her smile turning downright wicked.

  “A plan?” He grinned, loving her more with each potentially wild word she said.

  “Yes. A plan to prove to my parents and to the world that you are not only suitable, but that you are the most eligible man of my acquaintance.”

  “I’m intrigued by this plan,” he said, meaning it from the bottom of his heart. “What does it consist of?”

  “Logic and reason at first,” she said, squaring her shoulders and doing her best impersonation of a scholar, or perhaps a solicitor. “They need to see that you are a medical innovator and that you will change the world and become famous, thanks to your inventions.”

  “I only want to help people,” Linus said modestly. Though he was beginning to think that he would have to become more ambitious, and soon.

  “You’ll do so much more than that,” she said, taking his hands. “You’ll prove to everyone that you are just as wonderful as I have always believed you to be.”

  Her words were so sweet that he laughed, his heart warming. “Your flattery touches me, my dear.”

  “I should hope so,” Natalia smiled impishly. “It was supposed to.”

  He wished he could kiss her. He wished he could do more than that. He might not have been proud of the way he was raised, but even now, knowing how wrong so many of the ways his father governed their little enclave were, he couldn’t help but feel that society’s priggishness and aversion to sensuality was far more restrictive than it should have been. Perhaps if he stole a kiss from Natalia no one would notice.

  Before he could, she launched into another speech. “As soon as possible, when the moment is right, I plan to present you in all your magnificence to my parents. There is a ball planned for next week. We’ll make our move then.”

  “Next week?” Linus raised one eyebrow playfully, catching her sense of mischief. “So soon?”

  Natalia surprised him by growing serious. “There is no time to lose,” she said. “Mr. Mercer has somehow managed to captivate my parents. I fear that if we do not take drastic action, and soon, he’ll pip you at the post.”

  She had a point. One that wiped Linus’s own smile from his face. “I’ll do whatever you need me to do, my dear,” he said. Because if he didn’t act, he would lose her.

  Chapter 3

  Natalia’s plan depended on a great many people being sorely disappointed, which was precisely what happened when the Conservative Party swept the election a few days later, ousting the Liberals from control of the governmen
t. Her mother was devastated and fell into a sour mood, raging about years’ worth of progress being discarded to soothe the egos of old men. Lord Malcolm was in an equal rage, meeting constantly with his friends in the House of Lords to discuss what they could do about the sorry state of affairs. Cece and Rupert were just as despondent, although it was hard to sustain a bad mood with a growing family.

  Natalia couldn’t bring herself to care particularly deeply about politics, but she was thrilled about the crushing defeat.

  “This means that everyone will be hungry for happy news,” she whispered to Linus as the two of them made their way into the least jolly ball Natalia had ever seen. Her mother and Lord Malcolm had already made arrangements to host a ball at Campbell House in honor of the election results, they just hadn’t known it would be such a somber occasion.

  Linus sent Natalia a sideways grin. “You think political disappointment will leave your family open to accepting a less than suitable suitor?”

  “Why not?” Natalia said with a shrug. “They like you, after all. I’m certain of that. This will come as welcome news to them.” She only hoped she wasn’t trying to convince herself.

  When he didn’t immediately answer her statement with enthusiastic support, she peeked up at him. Behind the obvious fondness in his gaze as he watched her was a hefty dose of doubt. That caused her to drop her shoulders and huff out a breath.

  “You’re not convinced,” she said.

  “I’m not convinced that something as simple as attempting to replace bad news with other news will lead your parents to change their mind about me,” he admitted.

  She couldn’t have disagreed with him more, but rather than telling him how wrong he was, she paused to study him. He hadn’t said anything, but she could tell something was bothering him. It had been ever since the day at St. James’s Park. He still smiled at her as warmly as ever, though she hadn’t seen him as much as she would have liked since Lord and Lady O’Shea returned from Ireland, but there was a certain tension in the set of his shoulders and a sternness to his expression that she wasn’t used to. It was handsome, but disconcerting at the same time.

  “Linus, are you quite certain everything is all right?” she asked him in a low voice, inching closer to him as they made their way around the subdued ballroom. “You would tell me if something were wrong, wouldn’t you?”

  “Of course,” he said, though there was more than a little hesitation in his voice.

  A writhing feeling formed in her stomach. “You’re not jealous of Mr. Mercer’s attentions, are you?”

  “No,” he laughed. “Not at all.”

  “Because if you are,” she went on, glancing across the room, “that’s him over there.”

  She pointed as subtly as possible. Linus followed the line of her gaze. Mr. Phineas Mercer stood on his own near a potted plant, studying the room as if it were full of items he was thinking of bidding on at auction. He was tall and pale, with blondish hair and rectangular spectacles. His suit was perfectly tailored and of the latest fashion, but it seemed to be strangling him.

  “That’s him?” Linus repeated, looking as though he were trying not to grin too widely.

  “Yes,” Natalia told him grimly. “Are you still concerned I might choose that scarecrow over you?”

  Linus made a sound as though strangling a laugh. “I don’t know,” he said slowly, his mouth twitching in his effort not to smile. “He looks rather grand.”

  “Ugh. He looks like a stuffed heron.”

  Linus burst into laughter in spite of what Natalia assumed were his efforts to remain sober. That caused her to dissolve into giggles herself as she clung to his arm. They drew far more attention than they should have as they tried to pull themselves together.

  “Don’t let Mama see you carrying on like that.” Rupert interrupted what Natalia was convinced was about to be an important moment between her and Linus. “She’ll release the hounds to have Townsend driven away, and then she’ll lock you in a tall tower, little sister.”

  Natalia huffed a breath, dragging herself away from Linus to face her brother. “Good heavens, Rupert. Sometimes I swear you are no help at all.”

  Instead of taking her ire seriously, Rupert chuckled and extended a hand to Linus. “It’s good to see you again, friend,” he said. “The house just isn’t the same without you here to keep me company.”

  “My place is with Fergus, for the moment,” Linus shrugged, then smiled at Natalia.

  Hope fluttered in Natalia’s chest once again. “For the moment” implied that at some point in the future his place would be with her. She felt as if she were so close to happiness she could taste it.

  That feeling of anxious hope burned so hot that she whipped to Rupert and burst out with, “Oh, Rupert, you simply must help me convince Mama and Lord Malcolm that Linus is the perfect suitor for me and not that horrid Mr. Mercer.”

  “Who, Phin?” Rupert irritated her by laughing harder. “Phineas Mercer is a perfectly delightful fellow.”

  “Not you too,” Natalia huffed.

  “You should make an effort to get to know him better. You’d like him, I swear.”

  Natalia had the feeling her brother knew far more about Mr. Mercer than he was letting on, but she didn’t want to hear any of it. “You’re horrible, Rupert. You know I love Linus.”

  Rupert cleared his throat. “And I think the two of you are a delight together,” he said with a tilt of his head. “But Mama will never allow it. Not after the way Bianca attached herself to Craig.”

  Natalia clenched her jaw and growled in an entirely unladylike way. “It is entirely unfair that I am the one being punished because Bianca married someone Mama and Lord Malcolm didn’t approve of. But so what if the men Bianca and I love aren’t members of the aristocracy or wealthy gentry? It is nearly the twentieth century. Why should we still be bound by medieval rules?”

  Linus tensed slightly at her side as she spoke. She worried she’d said something wrong, but when she turned to him, he wore a smile of pure delight.

  “Mama just wants us all to be happy,” Rupert said, cutting off whatever chance Natalia might have had of figuring out what was behind Linus’s charming smile. “She believes that staying within the bounds of society’s rules will achieve that happiness.”

  “Well, she’s wrong,” Natalia said.

  No sooner were the words out of her mouth than someone at the end of the room clapped their hands to get everyone’s attention. Natalia was surprised to see it was her mother, and even more surprised when her mother began speaking.

  “Ladies and gentlemen, I am so glad to welcome you to our home,” she said. “As you may imagine, I am in no mood for long speeches tonight. But we do have something to celebrate, even if it isn’t the election results. It is my great pleasure to announce the engagement of some good friends of our family, Lord Frederick Herrington and Miss Lenore Garrett, of Haskell, Wyoming.” She extended a hand toward the happy couple.

  Natalia blinked. She hadn’t realized the two had grown that close in the short time they had known one another. All the same, her heart lifted with sudden inspiration. The pairing of Lord Herrington with an untitled American who grew up on a ranch in the Wild West of America was exactly the sort of argument she could use to advance her cause with Linus.

  “To express our delight at this excellent engagement,” her mother went on, “I would invite Lord Herrington and his lovely bride-to-be to open the dancing tonight.”

  The assembled guests applauded gently as Lord Herrington drew Miss Garrett to the center of the dance floor for a waltz. As soon as they were whirling around the floor, Natalia took Linus’s hand.

  “Come with me,” she said, sending him a mischievous glance. “This is our golden opportunity.”

  “It is?” Linus asked with bemused surprise, following her all the same.

  Natalia nodded, but didn’t say anything as she dodged her way through ball guests, who were either making their way to the dance floor
or observing the activity, heading straight for the spot where her mother had rejoined Lord Malcolm. Once they reached them, she stopped and put on a victorious smile.

  “What a glorious announcement you’ve just made,” she said, opening her argument with as much subtlety as possible.

  Neither her mother nor Lord Malcolm reacted with quite the amount of openness she’d hoped for.

  “Dr. Townsend,” Lord Malcolm nodded to Linus with one of his more intimidating frowns. “What a pleasure to see you here tonight.”

  “The pleasure is all mine, my lord,” Linus answered with perfect respect.

  “I trust Lord O’Shea is doing well after his trip to Ireland and that his therapies are progressing?” Lord Malcolm asked on.

  Natalia had the uneasy feeling he meant the question to be a reminder of Linus’s position in relation to the rest of them, and therefore an underhanded statement. “Dr. Townsend has made amazing leaps and bounds in medical science, Lord Malcolm,” she answered for him, jumping into the fray. She held his arm and smiled up at him. “I’m quite certain that he will be the talk of the town and a very famous physician in no time.”

  An awkward silence followed her statement. Lord Malcolm tilted his head slightly and stared down his nose at Linus. Linus met the stare boldly but respectfully. Natalia’s mother pursed her lips and glared at Natalia as if she could see right through her. The whole thing made Natalia want to sigh. She simply did not understand why her parents were being so stubborn about letting her be with the man she loved.

  The silence was broken when Lord Malcolm cleared his throat and said, “I’m glad to hear that your experimental therapies are bearing fruit, Dr. Townsend. But I must confess, I’ve always been curious about why you never set out to establish a practice on Harley Street.”

  Natalia’s brow inched up as she peeked at Linus. Part of her had wondered the same thing. Harley Street physicians were a sort of high society of their own.

  Linus answered Lord Malcolm’s question with a self-effacing smile. “I’ve always found more enjoyment in working with those who are in real need but who might not be able to afford the services of such a prestigious group of medical professionals.”