by Galen, Shana
The door opened, and Adam looked away from the fire he’d been watching as he mused and into the ruddy face of Lord Haggerston. “So you are here, after all.”
“You did not think I would come when I asked you to meet me?”
“I should have expected it. You’re such a good boy.” Haggerston shut the door. “A female snaps her fingers and off you go to the rescue.”
Adam prided himself on being an even-tempered man, but he struggled to keep his in check as Haggerston swaggered to the table filled with the decanters of brandy, sherry, and cordial, and filled his glass.
“Mrs. Farthing hardly snapped her fingers at me,” Adam said.
“No?” Haggerston drank deeply. “Then I suppose you saw the opportunity to bed her and took it. You might have been a real gentleman and waited for me to have my turn.”
Adam did not rise to the bait. “I was right after all, then. You intended to threaten Mrs. Farthing with the IOU and when she could not pay, you’d take payment in the form of her favors.”
“In the form of her favors.” Haggerston said the words in a mocking tone. “I wanted to roger her well and roger her often, but I hardly think a little mouse like her is worth three thousand pounds.”
Adam clenched his fist and said nothing.
“She’s pretty enough but liable to be cold as ice in bed. Still, I might have been willing to reduce the amount owed by a few hundred.”
“And if she could not pay that?”
Haggerston chuckled. “She will pay it now. You’ll pay it for her.”
Adam nodded. “I will, but before I do, you can be certain I will look into the matter. I will wish to speak with Mrs. Farthing’s solicitor to see if you really have approached him.”
Haggerston took a seat and waved a hand. “Go ahead. I am certain he can give you the very dates and show you the correspondence. He can verify the handwriting as well, if your missus has not already.”
Adam looked down at his untouched brandy and swirled it in the glass. There was no doubt the IOU was in James’s hand and that Haggerston had sought payment. Adam did not care about the blunt, though he would have rather given three thousand pounds to just about anyone but Haggerston. He cared that Holly would be hurt that her late husband had kept this secret from her. Adam had hoped to clear his name, to expose Haggerston as a liar.
That was not to be.
“Just a word of advice,” Haggerston said, and Adam looked up from his drink. “Be careful how much digging and prying you do. You might just find something you don’t like.”
“And what is that?” Adam asked, growing increasingly annoyed by Haggerston’s insolence.
Haggerston chuckled. “Oh, I am full of surprises. My suggestion is you pay the three thousand quid and don’t ask questions. You won’t like the answers.”
Six
“Isn’t the conservatory a wonder?” Holly asked when Adam joined her in the warm, glass-enclosed room several hours later.
He closed the door behind him and looked about. “How so?”
“I remember when Eva and John were building this room. They had pipes laid under the stone floors to provide heat and humidity to the plants. And now I step inside and feel as though I might be in India or Barbados rather than England.”
“It is rather ingenious,” Adam said, crooking a finger under his collar. “And the plants seem to thrive.”
“Oh, yes,” she agreed. “This is one of my favorite times of year to visit the conservatory. I do so adore blues and purples, and just look at them.” She smiled at the riot of purple laurentia taking over one side of the conservatory. Its star-shape always reminded her of Christmas and the star the Wise Men followed. Much of the laurentia was in shades of deep purple to paler lavender, but Eva had planted white and pink as well and the mix of colors was a joy.
“What are these called?” Adam asked, moving toward the middle of the room where vine-like stalks filled with bluish-purple five-leafed flowers reached toward the sky even as more buds swelled on the verge of opening.
“Delphiniums,” she said. “They are such a bright color.”
“They remind me of your eyes,” Adam said, smiling at her, and Holly felt her cheeks heat.
She ducked her head. “My eyes are not that color.”
He took her hand. “No, they are an even lovelier color.” He held her gaze, and she thought he might kiss her, but instead he drew her toward the far end of the room, beside the red and pink cyclamen. “I spoke with Haggerston,” he said quietly, as though he hated to profane the room by uttering the man’s name.
“And?”
“And I believe he is telling the truth. The IOU is authentic, and he did visit your solicitor.”
Holly nodded, fingering the pretty heart-shaped leaves of the cyclamen as she listened. She had always loved the way these leaves were dark on the inside and lighter green around the rim.
“I will, of course, verify everything he says. I don’t trust him any more than I’d trust a dog alone in a room with a roast, but it might take time to verify.”
She looked up, her fingers still on the flowers. “And so this ruse of an engagement will definitely need to continue past this house party.”
“I’m afraid so. Do you have any objections? Have you changed your mind?”
She shook her head. She would have been pleased for it to continue forever.
“Did you have an opportunity to think back? Did you remember anything about that September?”
“Yes, and almost everything I remember seems to corroborate Haggerston. I believe we were in London for a fortnight around that time. Edward was there as well. We stayed with him at his town house.”
“And so there was opportunity for Mr. Farthing to go to White’s.”
“There was,” she said, looking out of the glass windows and noting for the first time that it had stopped snowing and she could see the snow-covered lawn clearly. The drifts were quite high, and it might as well still be snowing for the snow was too high for carriages and horses to traverse. It appeared she would have her Christmas here at Dorsey House after all. She looked back at Adam. “But I still do not believe he did. I remember Edward going out. He likes to dine out and see friends.”
Adam nodded. “He was never the sort to stay home with a book.”
“Exactly, and he went out almost every night. I remember James and I were home most nights, though. We went to the theater twice or perhaps three times and we dined with friends at a small dinner and a different set of friends at a larger gathering, but I was alone only once or twice and both of those occasions were during the day when he went to see his solicitor or his tailor.”
“He might have gone to White’s on the way home.”
“Yes, but it seems strange that he would go to his tailor, stop at White’s and lose three thousand pounds, then come back and read quietly for the evening. Surely I would have noticed something amiss.”
Adam took her hand, and his touch steadied her. “Do not doubt yourself. The moment you doubt yourself or what you had with your husband, Haggerston wins.”
The words were so unexpected and so perfect, she blinked back tears. “He has already won, hasn’t he? Somehow I will have to find three thousand pounds to pay him.”
But Adam pressed his lips together. “I am not so certain of that. He is hiding something. I don’t know what it is, but he warned me against looking too closely at this matter. Why would he do so if he had nothing to hide?”
“I don’t know. How will we ever discover it?”
“I have a plan. Look, it’s stopped snowing.” He drew her to the window, behind a large cluster of bright pink, dark purple, and lavender lupines. The spiky plants grew so tall the two of them were all but hidden behind them. “Tomorrow is Christmas, but the day after, I shall go to Town and make inquiries.”
“You would do that for me?”
He looked down at her. “Holly, that is the least of what I would do for you.”
Her he
art thudded hard at his words and even harder when she saw the look in his eyes. She reached for him, though he might have reached for her first. She couldn’t be sure because then she was in his arms, the sweet scent of the lupines surrounding her. His lips brushed first one cheek and then the other, while her eyelids fluttered closed at the tenderness of his mouth.
“I should feel guilty for doing this,” he murmured, his mouth moving closer to her ear and his lips tracing the curve of her jaw.
“Never,” she whispered. “I’ve dreamed of kissing you since I was a little girl.”
He pulled back, his eyes wide. “Really?”
She smiled. “I was smitten with you the first time I saw you, but you were far too interested in horses to take notice of a little girl.”
His hands slid up and down her back. “I noticed you. I appreciated that you weren’t a pest.”
“How romantic!” She moved closer to him, cocooned by his warmth and the warmth of the room.
“I hardly think you would want a boy of nine thinking romantically about a child of six, but when you had your first Season, I certainly took notice.”
“Did you?” The familiar feeling of bashfulness swept through her, but it was tempered by the pleasure at knowing he felt something of what she did when he looked at her. “You never showed it.”
“Not back then. But you must have noticed how often I came to stand by you and speak to you at the balls this past Season.”
“I thought you felt sorry for me.”
His eyes went wide again. “Why would I feel sorry for you?”
“I was usually standing by myself and no one asked me to dance.”
“You were a widow. I think we men feared appearing insensitive if we asked you to dance. Everyone knew how much you loved James Farthing and he you.”
She nodded, expecting tears to well in her eyes, but the sadness she usually felt at the mention of James didn’t come. Her heart twisted, but mostly she felt a sweetness at the mention of his name. She would always miss and love him, but he would not have wanted her to spend the rest of her life in mourning.
“I did love him,” she said, “and I always will. But James often told me I should laugh more, dance more, find some mischief.”
Adam’s brows went up.
“He would have approved of stolen kisses in the conservatory.”
“Then I had better steal one.” He dipped his head and touched his lips to hers, the heat of his mouth searing into her own. And then his lips moved—gentle, coaxing her own to follow his as he explored and tasted and deepened their joining until Holly was breathless with desire and need.
Her hands slid under his coat to his taut body beneath. She could feel the muscles of his back through the thin linen of his shirt. And when she moved her hands around to skate up his chest, she felt the hammering of his heart.
“I believe your heart is beating as hard as mine,” she said, brushing her lips over the soft skin of his neck, just under the razor-worn skin of his jaw.
“I feel as though I have run a race,” he murmured, lifting his chin to give her better access.
“As do I. See for yourself.” She moved back slightly, took his hand, and put it to her heart. His brown eyes were almost liquid now. And as she slid his hand from her heart to her breast, they turned molten. “Do I shock you?” she asked.
His hand seemed to burn through the fabric of her day dress. “I like being shocked.”
She wished it was evening so she might wear a dress with a low neck, one that could be easily lowered so he might touch her in the flesh. It was a scandalous thought, considering they were surrounded by glass panes and anyone outside passing by might have seen them. Not that anyone would be out in the aftermath of the storm. But someone might enter the conservatory, and even though they were concealed behind the tall lupines, they would be caught if the interloper lingered.
Not that anyone would care being that they’d announced their engagement earlier and she was a widow, not a young virgin.
“I like being shocked as well,” she said.
“Is that a challenge?” His brows went up, and he squeezed her breast gently. He leaned closer. “Shall I shock you, Holly?”
“Please,” she breathed.
He took a step forward and then another, forcing her back until she leaned against a sturdy wood table with pots of seedlings covering the surface. He pushed the pots against the glass wall, clearing a spot, and lifted her onto the table.
“Do you know what I’ve been wondering all morning?” he asked as he reached for the hem of her dress and slid it up past her ankle.
“What is that?”
“The color of your garters.” He ran his hand up the back of her calf until he found the silken garters just above her knee. Then he traced them all around with his finger, his other hand lifting her skirt higher. Holly’s breath came in quick, hard gasps as he finally revealed the garters, leaving the skirt resting on her thighs. “Red,” he said. “You are obviously trying to kill me.”
“It is almost Christmas,” she murmured.
“How could I forget?” His warm hands settled on her knees and moved up to the bare skin of her thighs, just under her skirts. “Have I shocked you yet?” he asked.
She shook her head, words failing her.
“May I?” His eyes met hers as his hands paused in their tantalizing trail.
“Yes.”
He moved upward, closer to the juncture of her thighs, the palms of his hands leaving a trail of fire in their wake. When his thumbs brushed the curls of her sex, she was all but panting with need.
“You seem to be having trouble catching your breath.”
“No trouble,” she said as he gently parted her legs and one hand meandered closer to the heat at her core. She grasped at his coat as he brushed over her most sensitive place. “Adam.”
“You make it hard for me to behave myself,” he said, his voice shaking slightly as his fingers found her wetness.
“I give you license to do your worst,” she said as one finger entered her and she gasped out a moan.
“Oh, no,” he said, his eyes on hers as he slid deeper. “Our first time will not be here, you splayed on a hard table, lovely as that vision is. I want you in a bed.” He withdrew and used her own moisture to coat that tender nub that ached for his touch. “Naked.” His finger circled her slowly. “A roaring fire, lighting your body.”
The image alone was enough to make her climax, but he took his skilled finger away and slid it back into her, this time adding another. She moved against the pressure he created, her muscles clenching around his fingers until he was buried to the hilt. And then his thumb found that tight nub and brushed over it, moving in slow, feather light circles until her entire body quivered with need.
“Adam,” she gasped, her gaze meeting his. He was impossibly handsome as he watched her, his color high, his eyes dark, his mouth parted.
“Yes,” he murmured, and she came apart. The scent of the flowers sharpened, the heat of the room became an inferno, and pleasure pierced her like the sweetest arrow. The climax was her favorite kind—fast and powerful. The sort that left her breathless and gasping with pleasure as she floated down. The kind that left her body boneless. Adam gathered her close, telling her how beautiful she was, telling her how he wanted to do it all again, calling her my love.
Holly was not such an innocent as to believe he actually loved her, but the words settled in her heart, nonetheless. She thought one day, when she was lonely, she might take them out and treasure them and relive this moment in the conservatory with a wistful smile.
But the moment did not have to end yet. She raised her heavy arms and wrapped them about Adam’s waist, then moved her hands down to cup his buttocks. He groaned in appreciation then moved back and out of her reach.
“Come here,” Holly said. She could see the bulge in his trousers, and she wanted to grasp the hardness there, explore the feel of him.
“As much as I want
to obey your every command, my love,” Adam said, “we have been absent too long. One of our dutiful hosts will soon be looking for us.”
She sighed. “Would that they were less attentive.”
“I will contrive to sit with you at dinner,” he said. “We will need a strategy to persuade Haggerston to tell us more about the IOU without making it known to the entire party.”
“You still believe he is hiding something.”
“He was smug and overly confident in the billiards room. He’s quite pleased with himself for knowing something I do not.”
Only a man like Haggerston could be inordinately pleased with himself for turning the life of a woman who had never done anything to him upside down. She hated him for tarnishing her memories of James. She couldn’t help but look back now and wonder if there had been other lies of omission. What else had she not known? What else had James kept hidden from her?
And if she could not trust James, how could she ever trust any other man?
“We’ll watch him at dinner,” Adam said. “If he drinks too much, he will be belligerent and unhelpful. But perhaps if I can keep him talking during the port and cigars, he will drink less, and when we rejoin the ladies in the drawing room, we can prod him into saying more than he wishes.”
“It sounds devious,” Holly said. “I like it.”
He kissed her hand. “Shall I escort you out?”
“I’d rather stay for a few more minutes,” she said. He bowed, and when he had gone, and she was alone, she hugged herself, closed her eyes to inhale the intoxicating fragrance of the flowers, and smiled.
Seven
Adam ate very little during dinner. Holly had come down wearing a deep green dress that made her eyes look like the sea at sunrise. Though the neckline was modest, it dipped low enough to hint at the swell of her breasts. He’d touched those breasts earlier today, and he knew well how full and heavy they would be were he to undress her and put his hands on her bare flesh.