Читать книгу The Governess's Scandalous Marriage - Хелен Диксон, Хелен Диксон, Helen Dickson - Страница 11

Linnet was mesmerised by him. He was standing very close. She could smell the sharpness of his cologne and feel his presence. Like a magnet, it was drawing her to him and she hadn’t the will to resist, nor did she want to. A smile played on his lips, curving gently, a lovely smile, and an errant wave had fallen across his brow. The heat of his closeness was making her warm and the feelings coursing through her body spoke of desire, not love, not even infatuation. It ached for him to touch her, her lips ached for him to kiss her. Her heart suddenly started pounding in a quite unpredictable manner. He was looking into her eyes, holding her spellbound, weaving some magic web around her from which there was no escape.

‘I—I should go,’ she whispered. ‘Please let me go at once.’

‘Not a chance,’ he murmured. With his arms around her he held her tightly against his chest.

The strength of his embrace and the hard pressure of his loins made her all too aware of the danger she was in, that he was a strong, determined man, and that he was treating her as he would any woman he had a desire for. Resolutely she squirmed against him. A strange feeling, until this moment unknown to her, fluttered within her breast and she was halted for a brief passing of time by the flood of excitement that surged through her.

‘It’s useless to resist me,’ he said huskily. ‘Relax. I’m not going to hurt you.’

The darkening of his eyes, the naked passion she saw in their depths drew her even more to him, but it was his tone and not his words that conquered her. She relaxed against him, her entire body beginning to tremble with desire. Her head swam and she was unable to still the violent tremor of delight that seized her, touching every nerve until they were aflame. There was nothing she could do to still the quiver of anticipation as he lowered his head and covered her mouth with his own. The shock of his lips on hers was one of wild, indescribably sweetness and sensuality as he claimed a kiss of violent tenderness. In silent permission she opened her mouth to his and what followed evoked feelings she had never felt before. That was when she realised the idea of resisting him was ludicrous and a gross miscalculation of her power to deny him, for the kiss went through her with the impact of a broadside.

His lips caressed and clung to hers, finding them moist and honey sweet, and for a slow beat in time hers responded, parting under his mounting fervour. She leaned against him, melting more closely to him, as though the strength had gone from her. All her will began to crumble and disintegrate. The moment was one of madness. The sweetness of the kiss, the yielding to it, of willingly parting her soft lips for his searching tongue, made her confused with longing. Unconsciously, and too naïve to know how to hide her feelings, her arm rose and slid over his wide, masculine shoulders and she slipped her hand behind his neck, a movement which, in her inexperience, was an act of pure instinct to Linnet, unaware that it might convince this stranger that she was no different to any other woman he had made love to. Seemingly aware of her weakening, he raised his head and stared down at the softness in her eyes.

‘Please,’ Linnet whispered, trying to sound firm but without conviction. ‘We should stop. This game has gone on long enough.’

‘Games are for children. This is something between a man and a woman.’

‘But...’

He silenced her with his lips, kissing her long and deep and hard. He closed his eyes, intense desire for this woman torturing him. As he caressed and kissed this sweet young woman, his flesh betrayed his need, rising up against his will. He was hungry for her and could hardly restrain himself from flinging her down on to the floor and making love to her.

* * *

Imprisoned by his embrace and seduced by his mouth and strong, caressing hands, which slid down the curve of her spine to the swell of her buttocks and back to her arms, her neck, burning wherever they touched, Linnet clung to him, her body responding eagerly, melting with the primitive sensations that went soaring through her, her lips beginning to move against his with increasing abandon as she fed his hunger, unwittingly increasing it. When he slid one hand down to her buttocks and pressed her to him, she became acutely conscious of her innocence. She was lost in a dreamy limbo where nothing mattered but the closeness of his body and the circling protection of his arms.

Not for a moment did he break the kiss that was inciting her. His mouth was hungering, turning to a heated, crushing demand. What she had felt in the beginning became raw hunger, cindered beneath the white heat of their mutual desires. It was sudden, the awakened fires, the hungering lust, the bittersweet ache of passion such as Linnet could never have imagined.

When he finally drew his mouth from hers an eternity later, Linnet reluctantly surfaced from the glorious Eden where he had sent her, her face suffused with languor and passion, her eyes luminous.

‘Well, well,’ he murmured, lightly touching her lips with his own. ‘I seem to have awakened a temptress. You’re the most direct, self-willed woman I have ever met, traits I admire in any woman, but you are also so damn lovely and desirable.’

His words affected Linnet like a douche of cold water. Stepping back, she glared at him, trying to regain control of her rioting emotions. ‘You should not have done that... We—we shouldn’t...’

* * *

Struggling for control, finding it with effort, Christian swept a lock of dark hair from his brow. ‘Come now,’ he managed to say, smiling, though he himself was shaken by the moment. ‘It was only a kiss—an innocent kiss, nothing more sordid than that.’ But he was not convinced by his words. With her ripe young body, moist lips and large liquid bright eyes, he was led to think that he had never caressed any woman that had evoked his imagination as much as she did. The lingering impression of her lips on his, of their thighs pressed together, had done much to awaken a manly craving that had gone unappeased for some months.

* * *

‘You call what you just did innocent?’ Linnet whispered, still trying to come to terms with what had just happened between them.

Raising his hand, he traced a finger gently down the curve of her warm, flushed cheek. ‘It was a kiss—a kiss that could lead to other things—if you would let it.’

Linnet looked at him with a renewed light in her eyes, under no illusion as to what he was asking of her. He was smiling now, a lazy, masculine, supremely confident smile, a gentle promise in his expression and the flickering depths of his eyes that drew her in. It held her spellbound for the longest moment as a plan began forming in her mind, a plan so shocking she hardly dared enlarge on it. It caused her heart to pound so hard she could scarcely breathe, for it was a plan no gently bred young lady would dare think of, let alone consider.

She had been raised to believe that young ladies of quality must not abandon the restrictive codes of behaviour that governed their conduct without fear of censure, but with one stroke, this stranger had presented her with an answer to her problem. Despite having caught her in the act of what he mistakenly thought was stealing, he was obviously attracted by her. On a stroke of desperation all her fears and wretchedness, all the worries for the future, came hurtling back to her and she thought that maybe she could turn the situation to her advantage. By giving herself to him on her terms, perhaps she could retrieve the necklace, return it to its rightful place and exonerate Toby of any wrongdoing.

The plan sent a chill down Linnet’s spine, but it did not shock her. The misery that Toby’s gambling had caused her over the past months had come to a culmination when this man had made his presence known to her and drained her of all feeling so there was hardly any emotion left in her. If her capacity to feel had been intact, everything inside her would have protested and rebelled against the plan forming in her mind. But with her feelings and emotions subdued by the anxiety of the situation her brother had created, Linnet’s thoughts were entirely practical. She was driven by desperation. She and Toby had been impoverished for a long time and she was determined they would not become beggars. If there was a way of saving herself and Toby from homelessness and starvation, then she would do everything in her power to do so. Afterwards, the shame would be something she alone would have to live with.

‘I am not afraid and I have a mind to test your generosity and exact my revenge—to recoup what I have just lost to you. If I were to lay down terms of my own, would you accept them for an evening of pleasure?’

‘Terms?’

‘An evening of pleasure in return for the necklace you have just taken from me?’

He frowned. ‘And your terms are not open for negotiation?’

‘No. Take it or leave it,’ she said, her voice low and direct, her lovely eyes challenging.

* * *

He had to give her credit, Christian thought to himself, fighting down a rush of disgust. At least she was honest about what she wanted. And he had to respect her honesty and courage, if not her standards. Her decision to consider his offer was anything but respectable. He wondered how, in a matter of moments, he had gone from thinking of her as a thief, then as an opponent in a game of chance, to seriously considering inviting her to share an evening of pleasure.

He had not had a serious relationship with a woman in a long time, nor had he wished to. All his romantic entanglements had not been permanent and were soon forgotten. As a youth when he had witnessed his father’s affairs and his mother’s heartbreak, he had spent years of evasion, trying to avoid affairs of the heart, ignoring the whispers and sighs of women eager to shackle him with matrimony. And he had succeeded, believing himself immune. Deep inside, what his father had done, his betrayal of his mother and the tragedy of her death still haunted him. He had deliberately put the memory away, not wanting to look too carefully, but now, when he looked at this young woman whose name he did not know, he found it rising to the fore. He had always diligently avoided becoming deeply involved with any woman in the romantic sense and it would be no different with this young woman, should she consent to his request.

Christian still didn’t want that kind of relationship. But he had only recently returned from Egypt after an absence of almost a year and if he was to dispel his dark thoughts, how much easier he would find it with a lively young woman such as this with sweet young flesh as a diversion. Despite her illicit occupation, there was a forthright quality about her, a freshness with an intriguing hint of mischief in her lovely eyes that drew him like a moth to a flame.

‘I am tempted,’ he replied.

* * *

Feeling somewhat light-headed, and unaccustomedly bemused, held by his intense gaze, Linnet knew that if she was not careful she would fall under his spell. Sensual pleasure still spiralled through her and her body ached with a need she had never experienced before. If she were honest with herself, she would admit to feeling a measure of curiosity about what an evening of pleasure with this man held. Feeling slightly faint, shocked at the extremely unladylike drift of her imaginings, Linnet looked away. It was madness, she knew, but she didn’t want to leave him, to widen the distance between them. She looked at him once more, the sheer wickedness of the slow, lazy smile he gave her making her catch her breath. She was trapped by the dark eyes behind the mask that were searching her face intently, a question in their depths, a question she could not have answered even if he’d asked her. She was surprised when, seeming to come to a decision, a change came over him and he stepped away from her.

‘As much as I would like nothing more than to share an evening of pleasure with you, I regret I must decline. The necklace is important to me.’ Turning from her, he strode towards the door. ‘I advise you not to linger in this room and from this moment on take on a more suitable occupation for a young woman. ’Tis a dangerous profession you have chosen. You appear to be intelligent, so I am sure you care about yourself, about what you do—but not enough, it would seem, if you decide to carry on stealing other people’s property. Perhaps you don’t have enough faith in yourself—or pride.’

‘I do believe in myself,’ she confided softly. ‘You were mistaken in what you saw. I didn’t steal the necklace. I was putting it back.’

He turned and looked back at her, reminding himself that here was no innocent. But he could not help but wonder at the gist of what she had said. He was troubled by the intensity of her statement. It had been a flash of unguarded candour—and honesty, maybe?—which surprised him. It was born of deep conviction—and perhaps more than a little pain. There was an intensity in her eyes behind the mask, showing in their depths a strong will that as yet knew neither strength nor direction. He was surprised at the feelings of tenderness she aroused in him.

‘Perhaps what you say is the truth. How would I know? I only know what I saw. But a word of warning. Those who make thieving their profession are destined for an early death on the gallows. Think on. If you are indeed a thief, then the next time you get caught, the person you rob will show you no leniency.’ Christian inclined his head slightly. ‘It has been a pleasure meeting you. I doubt our paths will cross again.’

On that note, giving her a farewell salute and a cheeky, knowing wink—a playful, frivolous gesture that infuriated her—he went out, closing the door softly behind him.

* * *

Unbeknown to Linnet, had she told him the truth about her reason for being there, he would have readily alleviated her fears and given her an explanation of his own purpose for being in Lord Stourbridge’s Egyptian room. This being the case, she could have left knowing Toby would not be arrested for theft. As it was they had both misinterpreted the other’s reasons and parted taking their mutual distrust with them, and she was left with the nagging fear that Toby was not out of the woods.

Making his way to the ballroom, Christian saw Lord Stourbridge strutting and posing among his guests like a colourful bird of paradise. Despite his flamboyant, larger-than-life appearance, he was a shrewd businessman who had made a large fortune in clever investments. He was also, like Christian’s own father had been, interested in ancient relics and was a keen collector, often travelling to the Holy Land and Egypt with the hope of discovering some precious relics to add to his private collection. The two men had been drawn together by their shared interest.

On seeing Christian, Stourbridge moved towards him.

‘Why, Blakely. It is a profound pleasure to see you again. So glad you came.’

‘Thank you for inviting me.’

‘Lord Stourbridge fixed Christian with an investigative stare. ‘Your father’s death must have come as a shock to you. What was it? His heart?’

Christian nodded.

‘Unfortunately it’s one of the hazards of being in Egypt—the heat, you know. Although there are other hazards that play havoc with travellers and explorers alike. They are likely to encounter serious difficulties and indeed great dangers.’ He smiled blandly. ‘Might I say that like so many persons of our mutual acquaintance I am totally sympathetic to what happened to your father. We met out there. As I believe my lawyer has informed you, I have some of his artefacts among my own collection. The necklace in particular is a beautiful piece, of great value. Thieves are a problem out there. He wanted to make sure it was brought back safely. I was glad to be able to help.’

‘I thank you for that and I trust you won’t mind if I tell you the necklace is now in my possession.’ He patted his pocket. ‘Father bequeathed it to the British Museum, along with some other pieces he uncovered. It will be on display shortly.’

‘I’m happy to hear it.’ Lord Stourbridge was about to turn and walk away when he paused and asked almost hesitantly, ‘What about the child—Alice? I seem to recall...’

‘She is with me—here in London,’ Christian quickly replied. ‘I—trust I can rely on your discretion on that matter, Stourbridge.’

He nodded, thoughtful. ‘You can depend on it. Wouldn’t want to besmirch your father’s memory, Blakely.’

‘Thank you. I appreciate that.’

As Christian walked away, he put all thoughts of the child from his mind. Instead his thoughts were of the young woman he had invited to spend the night with him. A smile touched his lips. He had enjoyed deceiving her into believing he, too, might be a thief. He need not have challenged her to a roll of dice for possession, but he had enjoyed playing the game. It had been worth it.

* * *

Alone now the stranger had left her, fully aware of the enormity of what had just happened, Linnet realised how fortunate she had been to be let off so lightly. The man could have raised the alarm and had her arrested and she would have been unable to prove her innocence. Instead he had bested her and taken that which she had gone to great pains to replace.

The more she thought about it, the more she became convinced that whoever the man was, he was still a thief and if the roll of the dice had gone in her favour—which she doubted—he would not have given her the necklace. It had been important to him. Realising how stupid she had been and that he had duped her, Linnet stared at the closed door with a firestorm of humiliated fury.

Returning to the ballroom, she was impatient to leave. She found Toby and told him to summon the carriage. Thankfully they had come in their own carriage so they didn’t have to wait for Aunt Lydia. Behind the mask Linnet’s eyes searched the lively, chattering throng, looking for the tall, black-haired man. At first, to her immense relief, she failed to locate him, then, just when she was beginning to think he had left, she saw him.

He stood with a boisterous group of young gentlemen on the other side of the room, a head taller than any of them. With a crush of people milling around them, it couldn’t be better for her. Linnet was calm now, icy calm. She had been thrown by his surprise appearance, it had unnerved her, but now she was back in control. She made her way out of the ballroom, eager to put as much distance as she could between her and the irascible gentleman. She was on the point of leaving the ballroom when the dance ended. She paused and glanced back, seeing the stranger’s head above the crowd. At that moment he turned his imperious head and his bold, rebel’s eyes locked on to hers and he smiled, raising his fingers to his head in a salute, a lazy cocksure smile, with humour and a warning of the danger to them both if anyone should discover what had transpired between them in Lord Stourbridge’s Egyptian room.

Audacious as ever, she thought, as she watched the lazy, confident smile on his face. How she would like to wipe that smile from his handsome face. She returned his smile and turned away, becoming swallowed up in the crowd of people vacating the dance floor. No one tried to apprehend her as she left the house.

* * *

Linnet hoisted herself into the carriage. The agonising tension she had been under since she had entered Lord Stourbridge’s Egyptian room still showed on her face. She saw the anxiety on Toby’s face. He clearly regretted stealing the necklace and, despite everything, she knew he cared about her safety and would be vastly relieved to see her back safe.

‘Did you manage to put it back?’ he asked.

She nodded. ‘It went to plan,’ she said, looking away. Toby didn’t have to know what had happened in Lord Stourbridge’s artefacts room. Besides, she didn’t want to talk about it.

‘I’m sorry, Linnet. I don’t know why I agreed to do it.’

Linnet believed him. Toby indulged in any form of gambling, but stealing other people’s property was not his forte. Ever since he had fallen in with a wrong crowd—young men who drank, gambled and seduced their way through life—he had changed. Being masters of manipulation the crowd played on Toby’s desperation and knew how to use the right combination of charm and menace to ensure his absolute loyalty to the group. Toby also owed them a fortune in gambling debts, which made it impossible for him to refuse whatever they asked him to do. If it were not for the china and other quality objects in the house which Linnet sold off from time to time without Toby’s knowledge, they would be unable to make ends meet.

‘You know I hate what you do, Toby. I shudder to think what Father would say.’

Clearly feeling guilty, Toby looked away, unable to look into her eyes. ‘I know you do and I will try to make things better.’

‘It’s about time you did,’ Linnet said sharply. ‘Do you take so little interest in my happiness? I hated what I had to do tonight. I hated it—the anxiety and the misery of it all. I thought I would die a thousand deaths. I will not do anything like it again. You can’t steal, Toby. It’s a terrible thing to do.’

‘Damn it all, don’t exaggerate! The theft of the necklace was to have been my friends’ biggest haul yet and would have brought a sizeable fortune.’

‘For them, Toby. Remember that. What worries me is that if you carry on gambling as you do, your luck will run out and you will be thrown into a debtors’ prison.’

Toby turned to her, his eyes holding a hard glitter. She was accustomed to the mask-like expression he used when he didn’t wish to discuss what he did, things of which he was ashamed.

‘Stop it, Linnet! Don’t make a fuss. That won’t happen, I’m going to make sure of that. Besides, what other way is there if one wants to gain greater position and a place and power in society?’

‘Work, Toby. Honest work. You cannot go on as you do indefinitely. There are lots of people who prefer good honest work without resorting to gambling and stealing other people’s property.’

‘What kind of work could I possibly do?’ he protested crossly. ‘I’m not one of the labouring classes, I’m a gentleman—’

‘A penniless gentleman,’ Linnet was quick to remind him. ‘Grow up, Toby, and take responsibility for yourself. There must be something you can do.’

‘I am a connoisseur of wine,’ Toby retorted, raising his arm with a flourish. ‘I suppose I could look for something in that line if the fancy takes me.’

Linnet threw him an exasperated look. He could be such a child. It was always the same when she tried to make him discuss things seriously. However, he was speaking the truth. He had been trained for nothing but how to be a gentleman of leisure. As much as she loved her brother, she had no illusions about him and could not ignore the fact that he was inclined to laziness.

Linnet hated the influence of the men he had become involved with. Some of them had been dragged up on London’s meanest streets and were scoundrels, thieves and gamblers of the highest order. Toby had met them in the gambling haunts he frequented with his rakish friends and had been quickly seduced by their gains at the tables. They talked of riches and offered to help pay off Toby’s debts, debts he could repay when his circumstances improved, and Toby fell for every word that dripped from their mouths. He steadfastly believed that his association with his new friends was a new and profitable beginning for him and further confirmed the belief that he was in full control of his own destiny and could have whatever he desired. How wrong he was.

Linnet absently pushed back a strand of honey-gold hair that had escaped her wig. The problem of how they were ever going to pay off Toby’s debts weighed heavily on her mind. ‘I fear greatly what will become of us, Toby. Perhaps you should consider contracting a favourable marriage to help pay off the debts.’

Toby shrugged. ‘I’ve thought of it, but, apart from Caroline, who as you know I would gladly settle down with at the drop of a hat if her father would allow it, there is no one else I wish to marry.’

Linnet knew this to be true. Caroline Mortimer was the youngest of Sir George and Lady Mortimer’s five daughters. Toby had become smitten with her when he had met her at a social event twelve months earlier. She was the one good thing that had happened to him in recent months. She was quiet and gentle and he professed to love her dearly. Sir George and his wife were in favour of a match between them, but Toby knew that if Sir George became aware of his gambling debts he would pull back.

‘You should marry, Linnet—someone with money.’

‘Without a dowry who would marry me?’

‘Someone who would wed you for your own sweet self. If you were to marry a man of means and consequence the creditors would back away.’

‘But I have no desire to marry. Must I remind you that the mess we are in is of your own making. They are your debts, not mine,’ Linnet remarked, raising her chin and looking away from him, hoping it would indicate the depth of her disappointment in him and that when he realised it, he would begin thinking differently, which he did. He immediately looked contrite and, taking her hand, he gave it a gentle squeeze.

Aware of the intensity of her feelings and her fear, Toby softened. ‘I’m sorry, Linnet. None of this is fair on you, I know. If anyone’s to blame for tonight it’s me. I will try harder. I promise.’

From the way he looked at her Linnet knew that he recognised the truth contained in her words. ‘I know you will,’ she replied while not holding out much hope. Exasperating as she found it, she loved her brother more than anyone else and couldn’t imagine living without him. But she was afraid, more afraid than she had ever been in her life. Afraid not just for Toby and herself, but for the whole future.

‘Look, I know how difficult this is for you,’ Toby said. ‘I’ve been thinking. I know we said we wouldn’t accept Aunt Lydia’s invitation to go to Richmond for the celebration of Louisa’s betrothal to Harry, but maybe we should. It was good to see them tonight. Cousin Louisa is your age and it benefits you to have some female company.’

Linnet could not deny that the idea of visiting her cousin appealed to her. She was piercingly lonely. She lacked female companionship and the love and affection of their mother, who had passed away several years earlier, followed so quickly by their father. She and Toby both knew the invitation to Louisa’s betrothal celebrations had been issued half-heartedly. Aunt Lydia, their mother’s sister and a widow of eight years, was a hard, unfeeling woman who looked on them as poor relations she would rather distance herself from than have in the house. She had offered to chaperon Linnet to the ball tonight under sufferance and both Linnet and Toby were aware of that. But they were her nephew and niece and she was duty bound not to ignore them. She toadied to the elite—money and position carried more weight than goodwill and good intentions.

Besides, Caroline Mortimer was Louisa’s friend so it was highly likely that she would be present, which would cheer Toby.

* * *

Three days after the Stourbridge ball found Linnet accompanied by Toby going into the city to make one or two small purchases. Linnet loved to come and browse the shops, with everything the merchants possessed displayed behind windows along the Strand and the courts and passages leading off it, even though she couldn’t afford to venture inside most of them. Today the Strand was crowded and bustling, with carriages and drays and sedans passing to and fro in a never-ending stream. Merchants and traders and hawkers of wares mingled with people of all occupations and positions and gentlemen in military uniforms. She breathed in the different smells from freshly baked bread and hot pies.

Suddenly confusion erupted when a dog appeared out of nowhere, yapping ferociously and baring its teeth. It ran into the street in front of two stationary bay horses hitched to a carriage. One of the startled horses gave a snort of alarm. It reared in the shafts, its hooves awkwardly flailing the air, before coming down to earth and lunging forward, unsettling the other horse. It tossed its head back and forth, the whites of its eyes rolling. The open carriage swayed precariously, the driver losing hold of the reins as he was flung out on to the ground, while the elderly lady and small child inside the carriage gripped it for dear life.

Linnet had completed her shopping and was heading towards the carriage further along the street where Toby had told her he would wait, when she paused to watch what was happening. Seeing the horse’s nostrils flared and its ears pulled back, Linnet suspected the horse was about to bolt with its partner in the shafts meaning the lady and child were in danger of being flung out on to the street. She had to try to prevent it from happening. Linnet was accustomed to handling horses, so, acting swiftly and unafraid, she dropped the bag that held her few practical purchases on the ground and stepped into the path of the agitated horse, holding her arms wide and uttering soothing words in an attempt to calm it down. Thankfully it seemed to work for the horse became still. Taking hold of a loose rein, Linnet continued talking to it while she ran her free hand gently along its quivering silky neck.

The driver had picked himself up and come to her aid, calming the other horse.

‘It’s all right, miss. I’m grateful to you for calming him down—that wretched dog, running out like that. I’ll take him now.’

Linnet passed over the rein and, retrieving her purchases, went to make sure the lady in the carriage was unhurt. She had a comforting arm around the child—a girl perhaps four or five years old with curly dark brown hair peeking out from beneath her bonnet. Her face showed confusion and she was clearly anxious and frightened. A tear rolled down her cheek. Linnet climbed up into the carriage and sat facing her. Leaning across, she smiled at the weeping child, producing a handkerchief. ‘Here, let me wipe your face.’ Gently she dabbed at the tears of the child, who was looking up at her with solemn brown eyes that reminded her of a wounded puppy. ‘What is your name?’ she asked.

‘Alice,’ she whispered.

‘Is that so. Well, I think that’s a lovely name.’

Linnet directed her gaze at the lady, who was of slight build and in middle age, dressed in black and unadorned—the same clothes a nursemaid or a housekeeper would wear. Her eyes were grey and melancholy surmounted by firm arched brows. The general impression was of physical frailty, but the face revealed pride and obstinacy, although she did look slightly shaken as she tried to comfort the child.

‘Everything is all right now,’ Linnet told her, speaking quietly in an attempt to calm the lady. ‘Your driver is with the horse.’

‘I can’t thank you enough for your brave intervention. But for your prompt action we would have been tossed out of the carriage. I am so grateful.’

‘You have no companion with you?’

‘Oh, yes. My employer is conducting some business further along the street. He will be back shortly.’

‘Then if you like, I will wait with you until he returns.’

‘I would appreciate that. You are very kind.’

Linnet smiled into the lady’s kindly face. Despite the shock of being rocked about in the carriage, she now sat ramrod straight. Apart from her hat being slightly askew she appeared recovered.

‘It’s the least I can do.’

‘This is Alice,’ the lady said. ‘She is my charge until my employer can find a governess for her. I am Mrs Marsden.’

‘You are Alice’s nursemaid.’

She nodded and smiled. ‘I suppose I am—although I’m getting a bit long in the tooth now to be looking after little ones. I’ll be able to take a back seat when she has a governess to take care of her.’

Linnet glanced at her sharply. ‘Your employer is looking for a governess, you say?’

‘That is correct.’ Seeing she had pricked Linnet’s interest, she tilted her head to one side and studied her with interest. ‘Do you know of anyone who would be interested by any chance?’

‘Why—I—I was thinking of myself. I have been considering seeking employment for a while now.’

‘Do you like children, Miss...?’

‘Osborne. Linnet Osborne and, yes, I do like children.’

‘And your education?’

‘I was educated at Miss Reid’s Academy in Kensington.’

‘Splendid. Well—if you are interested I will mention it to my employer—although he is a very busy man and tends to leave household matters to his housekeeper and where Alice is concerned to me, of course. Would you consider the position?’

‘I will—although I shall have to speak to my brother. Since our parents passed on there are just the two of us.’

Mrs Marsden looked down at the child, who had been listening intently. A little smile tugged at the corners of her mouth. She seemed to be assessing her and when her eyes ceased to regard her so seriously and her smile gradually broadened, which was a delight to see, Linnet returned the smile.

Linnet enjoyed talking to Mrs Marsden. It made her realise how isolated she was at Birch House with just Toby and the housekeeper for company. Glancing down the street and seeing Toby striding towards their carriage, she excused herself on the understanding that Mrs Marsden would contact her at Birch House when she had spoken to her employer.

* * *

Having witnessed the entire incident, but being too far away to be of immediate assistance, Christian hurried towards the carriage which contained Alice and her nurse, their safety paramount to all else. He had seen a young woman step out into the path of the frightened horse and calm it down. He was too far away to see her clearly, but her prompt action had brought what could have been a serious situation under control, although it was an extremely foolish thing to have done. Stepping in front of an out-of-control horse was dangerous, but he was glad that she had.

Seeing that all was well and the normal order of things had been restored, he paused momentarily to acknowledge an acquaintance.

* * *

Walking in the direction of her carriage and seeing the tall gentleman ahead of her, Linnet’s eyes opened wide in overwhelmed disbelief. Thankfully he was in deep conversation with another gentleman and was unaware of her presence. He had appeared too suddenly for her to prepare herself. Momentarily immobilised in the cataclysmic silence that seemed to descend on her, her right hand pressed to her throat, Linnet was incapable of speech or action as she stared at the man as though she had seen a ghost. There was hardly a moment when she didn’t relive the humiliation of being caught by the stranger. Now, three days later, the scene was as raw and mortifying as it had been when it had taken place. The memory brought with it a black mask and dark eyes and the memory of frustration and desire mingled with her embarrassment.

As her mind raced in wild circles, her thoughts tumbling over themselves, Linnet thought she must be seeing things—that she must be suffering from some kind of delusion. But even without his mask, all her senses remembered the tall and arrogant-looking man with the dark penetrating eyes. It was the stranger she had met at the Stourbridge ball, the man who had kissed her so ardently and suggested she spend the night with him. She knew him by the rich, hypnotically deep voice as he spoke to the other gentleman and the sudden heat that sprang to her cheeks that was her own response to him.

Linnet had adamantly tried not to think of him, but despite herself a tremor of remembered passion and bittersweet memories coursed through her. The continuation of the desire he had awoken in Linnet confounded her. She was still reeling from the impact of him, shattered by the power of the physical attraction she felt for him. She had never realised she had been capable of such intense passion. Nothing in her experience had prepared her for what he had done to her, or the emotions he had aroused, triggering off an explosion of sensuality the like of which she could never have imagined, prompting her to respond in a way that astounded her. As shock waves tingled up and down her spine, she hurried on by, averting her face.

* * *

But Christian, his acquaintance having said farewell and gone on his way, had seen her and gave her his full attention. He saw a young woman attired in a dark blue informal dress, fitted jacket and matching bonnet covering her hair. Looking into her tawny-coloured eyes when she looked his way, he felt a frisson of recognition. It was the young woman who had so intrigued him at the Stourbridge ball. Even without her white wig and the concealing mask he knew it was her. He was as surprised as she clearly was and didn’t realise she was the young woman who had just averted a major disaster when one of his carriage horses had nearly bolted.

Taking her arm when she was about to hurry on, he smiled. ‘So, it is you. I thought I recognised you—even without your mask.’

The two stared at each other for a long moment and Linnet was conscious of an odd feeling wrenching her stomach as she helplessly berated herself and the instinct that had driven her to leap unthinkingly to the rescue of the elderly lady and child about to be flung out of their carriage. Pulling herself together, Linnet wanted to turn on her heels and run, but in a moment, common sense prevailed over the embarrassment which had taken hold of her.

Stepping back, she said, ‘I beg you will excuse me, sir. I am in a hurry.’

‘Not in such a hurry that you cannot pass the time of day with—how shall I put it—an old friend.’

‘You are not an old friend and we have nothing to say to one another...’

His smile deepened and a look came into his eyes that Linnet did not care for. ‘I seem to remember that we had a great deal to say to one another at the Stourbridge ball.’

* * *

Momentarily distracted, Christian glanced at the driver of his carriage who had climbed inside. Taking advantage of the distraction, the woman dragged her arm from his grip and turned and slipped into the crowd. By the time he looked again, she had disappeared. His eyes searched for her among the crowd of people milling about on the street, but there was no sign of her. His disappointment was profound. He could not believe that he had allowed her to slip through his fingers.

The simple truth was that he was strongly attracted to the young woman and she was far too beautiful for any man to turn his back on. Having seen her today without her disguise, he was astounded by the force of his feelings. He was quite bewildered by the emotion he felt in his heart. He couldn’t really describe what he felt for her because he didn’t have any words. All he knew was that he felt strange—different from anything he had ever expected to feel.

Only now when he had returned from Egypt after sorting out his father’s affairs was he beginning to get his life under control. Eventually he would marry, but until that time he did not want a woman in his house, at his table or in his bed. He could satisfy his physical needs well enough with women seeking diversion for a few night hours, women who wanted from him what he wanted from them.

And yet he wanted this young woman whose kiss had roused emotions in him like no other woman ever had before her. He had to find out who she was. She had run from him but he was determined to find her. Someone must know who she was.

* * *

Reaching the carriage, Christian was relieved to see the occupants were no worse for the incident which could have resulted in injury but for the stranger’s prompt action to calm the frightened horse.

Preoccupied as he was with thoughts of the young woman who had just escaped him and determined to find her—starting with Lord Stourbridge who might know the lady she was with at the ball—Christian only half-listened as Mrs Marsden gave him an account of the conversation she’d had with the young woman who had rescued them, telling him that she was well educated and was considering seeking a position as a governess. Christian knew by the hopeful expression when she looked at him that she wanted him to say he would consider giving her employment. He was to leave for his estate in Sussex the day after tomorrow and had no time to seek a governess for Alice. Trusting Mrs Marsden’s judgement completely, he told her to go ahead and employ the young lady if she considered her suitable.