Читать книгу Rescued By The Earl's Vows - Ann Lethbridge - Страница 12

Chapter Three

Two days had passed since Tess had given Lord Sandford the information about Freeps and there was still no word. All morning she had been sitting in the drawing room with her needlework in hand, listening for the arrival of the mail.

And when it came, she had received nothing.

She was being foolish. Too anxious. A single gentleman did not write notes to a single lady who was not a relative or an intended. She certainly had no wish to set alarm bells ringing in Wilhelmina’s feather brain. If they thought Lord Sandford was trifling with her, they’d have her sent north in the blink of an eye. Or they would if Mr Stedman wasn’t still showing a marked interest in her.

Wilhelmina drifted in wearing her Phineas-has-issued-an-edict face. Edicts had been issued more and more frequently of late. Tess tensed.

‘Good morning, Theresa,’ Wilhelmina said with a vague smile. ‘I missed you at breakfast and couldn’t find you anywhere afterwards.’

Worse and worse. Tess let her needlework fall into her lap and forced a cheerful smile. ‘I went for my usual early morning walk.’ The walk her cousin did not approve of.

Wilhelmina’s glance sharpened. ‘With your maid, I assume.’

Poor old Mims was far too old to be trotting along at the pace Tess preferred. ‘I took one of the footmen.’

‘Carver gave his approval?’

Tess gritted her teeth. ‘He did.’

A vaguely disgruntled expression flitted across her cousin’s face. ‘That is good then. He always complains to me when his schedule for the day is altered without his knowledge.’

That wasn’t it at all. Wilhelmina loved her role of Countess and she loved catching Tess out in one mistake or another. Tess had quickly learned how to avoid her traps. Not that Wilhelmina realised Tess was on to her. She was far too self-absorbed.

Her cousin took the chaise longue and reclined along its length. ‘Ring for tea, there’s a dear.’

She could have rung for tea before she sat down, but it amused her to treat Tess like a servant. Tess put her embroidery aside and got up to tug on the bell pull beside the hearth.

‘How is your work coming along?’ Wilhelmina asked the moment she sat down.

‘Very well. I have it half done.’ She was embroidering a cushion cover for her trousseau at Wilhelmina’s suggestion.

‘May I see?’

Wilhelmina accounted herself an expert needlewoman, though she rarely set a stitch herself. Tess thought it might be because she was becoming short-sighted and didn’t want to wear spectacles.

She took the piece over. Her cousin sat up and made a space for her on the chaise.

Oh, yes, she definitely had some instruction to impart from dearest Phin. Tess sank down beside her. ‘I only have one bird left to finish.’

Wilhelmina held the fabric up to the light. ‘I think you need a couple more French knots here. See, there’s a space. What do you think?’

Dash it, the woman was right. The French knots had taken her for ever to complete and had made her fingers sore. She had known a few more were needed, but didn’t think anyone would notice. ‘Thank you for pointing it out, Cousin. I’ll be sure to fill in the gaps.’

With a self-satisfied smile, Wilhelmina handed the work back. ‘I did tell you we are attending the Halliwells’ ball on Friday, did I not?’

‘You did, indeed.’

‘Which gown will you wear?’

Tess mentally ran through her meagre wardrobe. She had already decided which gown to wear, but if she named it, Wilhelmina was sure to prefer a different one. ‘The pale green, I think. I like something with a bit of colour.’

True to form, Wilhelmina frowned. ‘Not for the Halliwells. All the younger ladies will be wearing white.’

‘Hmm. There is the white-and-silver tissue, I suppose.’

‘You have worn that one at least four times. People will start to talk. No. Wear the one with the roses festooned at the hem and neckline.’

Tess bowed her head in compliance and to hide her smile. It was the dress she had planned to wear all along.

How much nicer this would have all been if she could have been friends with her cousin’s wife. They could have enjoyed this Season together as. Instead it was a battle of wits and Wilhelmina had so few of them it was becoming quite boring.

‘Why not wear your mother’s diamonds? They will look perfect with that gown. Phineas reminded me only this morning that you have never worn them.’

The breath rushed from her lungs. She swallowed the lump in her throat. ‘I...umm... I am not sure where her bracelet is.’ She winced at how feeble she sounded. ‘I put it away somewhere. The clasp was broken.’

‘You don’t know where you put a diamond bracelet? Well, I must say, that is careless in the extreme. Have that maid of yours look for it and we will send it to Rundell & Bridge for repair.’

‘I hate to put Phin to the expense,’ Tess managed. ‘Who knows how much it might cost?’

Wilhelmina frowned. ‘I shall have to ask him what he thinks. In the meantime, please find it.’

Tess nodded. ‘Yes, Cousin. I will do so.’ The reprieve would give her time to think up some more plausible excuse as to where the bracelet had gone. Right now her brain seemed to have frozen solid. She began to relax.

‘Oh, and by the way, Theresa...’

Tess tensed again. ‘By the way’ always heralded Phin’s less pleasant admonitions and instructions.

‘As you know, my dearest Phineas has your best interests in mind and he has agreed to meet with Mr Stedman to discuss,’ her voice rose to an excited squeak, ‘the settlements.’ She clasped her hands together. ‘Isn’t it exciting?’

Tess stared at her cousin’s wife. ‘Mr Stedman hasn’t yet asked for my permission to approach Phin. I thought...’

Her voice tailed off at Wilhelmina’s annoyed expression.

‘Phin said I might have a little more time,’ she continued valiantly. ‘I hardly know the man.’

‘It is a preliminary discussion only,’ Wilhelmina said, but her expression was just a little too smug. ‘You know, if you wish to get to know a gentleman, you must make an effort to spend more time in his company. Phin is concerned that Mr Stedman might ask for repayment of your father’s debts at any moment, particularly if he is made to wait too long for your answer.’ She shook her head sadly. ‘If only your father hadn’t left the estate in such a mess, we wouldn’t be in this position. You do understand, do you not?’

A pang of guilt twisted in Tess’s chest. Until after his death, she’d had no idea Papa had borrowed a large sum money from Mr Stedman. Perhaps she could have helped him avoid such a thing if only she had known. Perhaps he would have avoided the accident with his gun.

Her blood ran cold. ‘Yes, Wilhelmina. I do understand.’

A sly look crossed the other woman’s face. ‘Who was that gentlemen dressed as the grim reaper at the masquerade the other night? You never did say. You wasted a good deal of the evening in his company.’

Her stomach sank. ‘I have no idea. I thought you knew him. He left before the unmasking. And it was only one dance.’

‘You did go outside with him.’

‘I also went outside with Mr Stedman.’

Wilhelmina pressed her lips tightly together for a moment. ‘Well, I am glad we have had this little talk. I am sure you will do your utmost to assist your family. I will see you at dinner.’

Accepting her dismissal, Tess tidied up her needlework and traipsed up to her chamber. Now she was really in trouble. How was it Phin had recalled her mother’s bracelet when he had not mentioned it once in the past year? If she was going to avoid marriage to Stedman, she needed to find Grey quickly.

* * *

‘There is a person to see you, my lord.’

‘A person?’ Jaimie looked up from his paperwork and recoiled at the odd look on Rider’s face. One of shocked indignation.

He frowned. Some of the men he employed at the agency were of the rough-and-ready sort, but none of them would come here to visit him. They would go to Growler by way of the back door. Growler was ostensibly his secretary and lived in. The butler no longer took any notice of Growler’s comings and goings, much as he disapproved of the erstwhile bruiser.

‘Did he give his name, Rider?’

‘It is not a he, my lord.’

Jaimie pushed to his feet. ‘A woman?’

Rider sniffed. ‘A female, my lord, who refuses to state her business either to Growler or to me and refuses to leave without seeing you.’ He coughed behind his hand. ‘Growler thinks you will want to see her, but I can have a footman—’

‘Growler thought...’ It must be an informant. Jaimie raised a hand. ‘I had best see her. Bring tea, would you, Rider?’ He might as well take a proper break from what he was doing, now he had been interrupted, rather than continue to sit staring into space. ‘Make sure you put biscuits on the tray.’ Nothing like one of cook’s biscuits to loosen an unwilling tongue.

‘Very well, my lord.’ He stepped back.

An oddly rotund figure in an old black woollen cloak, its hood drawn low so as to hide the wearer’s face, sidled around the butler and into the room.

‘Hey, you!’ Rider said. ‘I told you to wait.’

Jaimie let out a shocked laugh. ‘It’s all right, Rider. Fetch the tea, please.’

With a huff of annoyance, Rider departed, his whole demeanour imparting the silent news that if this sort of thing continued, a man of his dignity would be handing in his notice.

She pushed the hood back to reveal a floppy mobcap. The only thing that looked the least bit like her was her face.

‘Who are you supposed to be now, Lady Tess? I must say, I prefer Artemis.’

‘Hah,’ she said, but there was a smile in her eyes he had never seen before. A naughty smile that hit him low and tightened his body in places a gentleman was required to ignore in the presence of a lady.

She threw off the cloak and untied the sash holding two pillows, one at her front and the other in the small of her back. ‘It’s not funny. I am dashed hot.’

He tamped down the urge to smile. Fought the allure of her lush body. His first wife had been tall, elegant and slender, while Lady Tess was all soft curves and tempting dimples. But it seemed in temperament, the ladies were much the same. The last thing he wanted was to be drawn into Lady Tess’s orbit.

He retreated into studied indifference. ‘This really is beyond the pale, you know,’ he said in bored tones.

‘It was the only way to escape the house unnoticed.’

He frowned. ‘That is not what I meant and you know it. No lady should visit a gentleman’s abode in the middle of the night.’ He glanced at the clock. ‘Good heavens, girl, it’s gone one in the morning.’

‘I had to wait until everyone was asleep.’ She grinned and he had to stop himself from grinning back. ‘Also I thought I might be more likely to catch you at home after midnight.’

Naive child. In his wilder days, he’d rarely come home before three in the morning, and if he was home, she might have caught him at home with a houseful of guests enjoying themselves in ways no respectable lady should be aware of. These days, he preferred to spend his time in the conservatory, with his plants. He narrowed his eyes. ‘Do you do this sort of thing often?’

‘Not any more. When I was at school in Bath, I and some of the other girls used to sneak out to get decent food, like cake and ice cream.’

‘Good Lord! What a hoyden you are.’

She waved a dismissive hand. ‘That is not important. Have you found Freeps?’

‘As promised, I sent a man to Kent the moment I came back from our drive.’

‘When do you expect his return?’

‘Tomorrow or the day after. I had some other errands for him to perform while he was there.’

She shook her head and paced to his desk, picking up the silver letter opener and putting it down again. ‘He will be too late.’

‘What is the urgency?’

She stared at him. For a moment he thought she might tell him the whole story. She shook her head. ‘Circumstances beyond my control.’

The worry in her eyes gave him pause. She wasn’t the sort to worry. She was the sort to solve a problem. Case in point, her visiting him at his office and her arrival at his house tonight. A most irritating sort of a woman. The managing kind. Yet for some reason her expression of anxiety still troubled him. Hester, his first wife, had done things she wasn’t supposed to just because someone told her she couldn’t. Lady Tess, however, seemed to have a purpose behind her mad starts. For some reason far beyond rational thought, he wanted to uncover that purpose.

Rider brought in the tea tray. His eyebrows climbed to his hairline when he saw this new version of Jaimie’s guest. He put the tray down with a decided bang. Cups and saucers rattled ominously.

Jaimie glared at his butler, but the man was right. This situation was completely improper and had to stop. And it would as soon as he’d solved the problem that had brought her to his door. ‘Sit down. Have a cup of tea.’

‘I can’t stay long. Someone might go into my room and find Mims there instead of me.’ But she did sit.

To his surprise, he liked the sight of her sitting in front of his teapot.

She gave him a startled look when he sat next to her rather than opposite. Dammit, she really was an innocent. If she had gone to any other man’s house at such a late hour she might have discovered herself in serious difficulty.

He waited until she had poured the tea, had drunk it and eaten a biscuit. ‘Perhaps you would like to tell me exactly what circumstances have changed?’

She put down her cup. ‘Things are moving more quickly than I anticipated. Freeps may be able to put me in touch with someone I need to speak to. Urgently.’

‘Then why not say so before? My messenger could have asked him for this other person’s directions. Why are you being so dashed secretive?’

‘Some secrets are not mine to tell.’

He stilled, instinct honing in not on the words, but the softening of her voice and the sadness in her expression.

‘A man?’ he asked, his voice icy. He should have seen this coming. This was just the sort of romantic idiocy Hester would have engaged in.

She swallowed, looking torn. He didn’t care what came out of her mouth, a man was involved. And she was dragging him into the mess. Hester had played him for a fool more than once, and in the end it had caused her death. But he had learned his lesson far too well.

He stood up and carried the tea tray to his desk. ‘I’m sorry, there is nothing more I can do. I will pass along the information regarding Freeps when my messenger returns and that will be an end to it. It is time for you to leave.’

When he turned back, she had risen. The look of betrayal in her remarkable brown eyes stopped him short. Against his better judgement, he gentled his tone. ‘I cannot assist you in some sort of clandestine relationship, Lady Tess.’

Her gaze slid away. ‘It is no such thing, I swear it! I cannot imagine why would you think so.’

He prowled towards her. ‘Can you not?’ Then he must make her understand. Give her a lecture of the avuncular sort. Point out the error of her ways, and the possible consequences...

But as he gazed into her lovely face, the words he sought escaped him.

She lifted her chin, gazing up at him with a tiny frown on her brow. Without another thought, he leaned closer and brushed his lips across the silk of her luscious mouth. Tasted the lush plump curve that had been a temptation from first sight.

Her lips parted on a gasp of shock, but she did not draw back. If anything, she leaned a little closer.

He firmed the kiss, lingering over the soft sweet pressure of her mouth on his, feeling her body soften, hesitant and trembling, but eager. She made a small sound low in her throat, half moan, half something he couldn’t name. He stroked a finger down her cheek, tasted her sigh.

He flicked his tongue along her bottom lip, a tiny little sip of innocence that was only a beginning.

Innocent.

He broke away, stifling a curse. What the devil was he thinking? The woman was far too alluring for her own good was what he was thinking.

She gazed at him wide-eyed. Her tongue touched her bottom lip in a brief exploration, as if she, too, could not quite believe what had occurred.

Should not have occurred.

‘That is why you should not come to a gentleman’s lodgings in the middle of the night. It could lead to something...untoward.’ He kept his tone cool, but damn it all, his blood was running hot. And his breathing was nowhere as steady as it should have been. ‘When my messenger returns I will give you the information you asked me to acquire. At that point I wash my hands of the whole business.’

With seeming difficulty, she regained control of her breathing. Good. He hoped she was suffering from the same sort of discomfort he was. Embarrassment, mostly.

Her shoulders straightened. ‘I expected better behaviour from a gentleman.’

Typical. Now she was blaming him, as if he had invited her here. He glared at her. ‘You should not go to any man’s house without a chaperon if you place a smidgeon of value on your reputation.’

She turned her face away from him. ‘Well I certainly won’t do it again, will I?’

Dear God, was she going to cry? Guilt assailed him. Dammit, she was the one in the wrong, not him. But grudgingly, he found himself saying, ‘Tell me who it is you actually seek, and I will decide whether or not to assist you further.’ What the hell was he getting involved in?

She paused in picking up her cloak and threw him a glance of dislike. He gritted his teeth against the desire to apologise for his brusqueness.

‘The friend from my childhood I spoke of at the masquerade.’ Fury sparked in her eyes when he curled his lip. ‘He is a friend. Nothing more.’ Her hands clasped together at her waist, her knuckles showing white. ‘He is in a position to assist me with a small problem.’

Hell and damnation. His horrified gaze went straight to her waist. ‘What problem?’

She flushed. ‘You are horrible, you know that? And it is none of your business. I simply need to find him.’

If she wasn’t being so mysterious, he wouldn’t be jumping to conclusions. He frowned. Perhaps she feared some sort of blackmail? A letter written to a lover? Something given away that did not belong to her?

Keeping such secrets always ended in disaster. ‘You should ask for help from your cousin.’

‘I cannot.’

This friend obviously meant a great deal to her if she was prepared to take such risks. Perhaps it was a friendship as she said, or perhaps it was more. He suspected the latter despite her denials. Clearly, though, she was not going to tell him anything more unless he could find a chink in her armour. ‘What is the worst your cousin is likely to do, if you tell him? Send you to his aunt in Yorkshire?’

Her spine stiffened. ‘Did you have to mention her?’

Trying to make her see sense was getting him nowhere. He couldn’t think why he was bothering. ‘I will send you a note the moment I have the information you seek.’

‘No. My cousin will wonder...’

Now she cared about the proprieties. He smiled a grim smile. ‘And now you know the reason your family tries to protect you.’

She coloured, no doubt recalling their kiss.

‘Well then, what engagement do you have tomorrow night?’ he asked.

She looked startled.

‘I am invited to all the best places, you know.’ He swallowed the urge to chuckle at her look of chagrin. ‘I promise you, I will be discreet.’

‘We are to attend Lady Bloomfield’s musicale tomorrow evening.’

‘Very good. I will see you there. In the meantime, let me get you back into your disguise and send you home in my carriage. You should not be wandering the streets at this time of the morning.’

She gasped. ‘I couldn’t possibly arrive in your carriage. Someone might see it.’

This time he laughed. ‘Do you think I am not up to snuff when it comes to intrigue? My dear Lady Tess, the carriage will be unmarked and it will drop you around the corner from your cousin’s house, but my driver will ensure you go inside before he leaves.’ He’d make sure Growler drove her home. He would find the location of this Freeps and that would be an end of the imbroglio. He had enough going on in his life, without adding the problem of a woman who didn’t trust him an inch.

Thank goodness when he decided to take a wife again, it would be a nice, quiet girl who would be happy embroidering handkerchiefs, producing his heirs and behaving herself with decorum. He wished he’d married a woman like that the first time. A woman more like his mother. A faint bedtime memory of a sweet voice singing drifted across his mind. He tried to recall her face, but it drifted away like smoke on a breeze.

Bitterness filled him. He had so few memories of his parents and they were getting more and more elusive. Forcing his mind back to the present, he picked up the sash and one of the pillows. ‘Come on, then. Let’s get you ready.’

The sooner she left, the sooner he could get back to what was important.

And yet as he tied the sash around her now bulky form his unruly body expressed a strong desire to take her out of her clothes, not bundle her up.

Dammit.