A Little Bit Wicked

by Victoria Alexander

  “I wish to speak to you about something.” Judith should know Violet was here. It would be most awkward for Judith to come face to face with his former, well, wife, regardless of the brevity of that marriage.

  “There is something I must speak to you about as well,” she said.

  He opened the door, and she stepped out onto the terrace. He followed and closed the door behind them. The air was cold but the night was still, and he found the change in temperature refreshing.

  “There’s a hint of spring in the air.” She glanced at him. “Do you feel it?”

  He chuckled. “You are overly optimistic. I feel nothing but the cold. However.” He shook his head. “I should not have dragged you out here. You will catch your death of cold. Your shoulders are bare and that gown is most revealing.”

  She laughed. “Too revealing?”

  “Well, I like it and it is the fashion so I shall have to bear with the annoyance of knowing other men like it as well. Here.” He opened his arms, and she stepped into his embrace. “Does that help? Are you warmer?”

  “Delightfully so,” she murmured against him. “What did you wish to talk to me about?”

  “I…” No, there were better things to talk about than Violet Smithfield. “Have you given any consideration to…us?”

  She drew back. “Us?”

  He wished he could see into her eyes, but the light from the door provided far too little illumination. “Yes, you and I.”

  “I’m aware of what us entails,” she said slowly. “But I fear I don’t understand what you’re asking.”

  “When we began this…adventure, you set certain boundaries.”

  “Yes?”

  “They were quite explicit in regard to”—he searched for the right word—“expectations.”

  “Go on.”

  “We agreed to be honest with one another, and I wish to be honest with you now. It’s simply difficult to find the words.”

  “I see.” She blew a long breath and took a step back. “Perhaps I should save you the effort, then.”

  He drew his brows together in confusion. “The effort?”

  “It’s been a great deal of fun, Gideon. No.” She shook her head. “It’s been really quite remarkable, and in that, completely unexpected. But we did agree—”

  “Did we?” Agree to what?

  “Indeed we did and I do understand.” Her voice was cool, remote. “I would have preferred that you had chosen a more private setting, although I daresay no one else would come out of doors on a night like this.”

  “A private setting for what?” he asked cautiously. What was she talking about?

  “For this. For what you have to say although there’s really no need to say it aloud. It’s always rather awkward, isn’t it?” She laughed in an odd sort of self-conscious manner. “It would be best, therefore, if we both save ourselves any further embarrassment. Now, if you will excuse me, I think I shall take my leave. I feel a headache coming on. Good evening, my lord,” She nodded and started toward the door.

  “Judith.” He grabbed her arm. “What are you talking about? Where are you going?”

  “I’m going home if you would be so good as to release me.” Her voice was calm but there was the slightest hint of a tremor underneath. “And I’m talking about our agreement.”

  “I’m not about to release you.” He shook his head. “What agreement?”

  “You know perfectly well what agreement,” she said sharply. “We agreed that when either of us decided that we wished to discontinue our relationship, we could do so with no recrimination. Although I must admit”—she drew a deep breath—“I have never been on this side of it, and regardless of how civilized or cordial, it’s really not at all pleasant. Especially as I thought…that is to say…”

  “What?” He pulled her closer.

  “I thought everything between us was, well, quite, quite wonderful. Obviously I was wrong.” She twisted free. “And I hate being wrong.”

  At once he realized what she was saying and laughed with the absurdity of it all.

  “It’s not the least bit funny,” she snapped. “You don’t like being wrong either.”

  “No, I don’t.” He grabbed her again and firmly pulled her into his arms. “And I rarely am. But you, dear Judith, are entirely wrong.” He kissed her for a long moment until he felt the tension ease from her. “Do you want to know what you are wrong about?”

  “Not especially,” she said in a lofty manner. “Now let me go.”

  “I don’t think so.”

  She tried to push out of his arms but he held her fast. “Do release me, my lord. It’s for the best. I can certainly see that. If we part now, before, well, before, it would save us both—”

  “I have no intention of parting now. I intend for us to be together for a very long time.”

  “But someday, when you marry—”

  “Someday perhaps, but not now.” He shook his head. “It was not my intention to end our relationship.”

  “It certainly sounded like—”

  “Well, it wasn’t.” He kissed her again quickly. “In setting your boundaries, we had never discussed affection between us. Or the possibility of love. And that is what I wished to talk about.”

  “Oh.” She paused. “That’s entirely different then.” She thought for a moment. “I misunderstood.”

  “No, you didn’t. One misunderstands when a statement has been made and interpreted incorrectly. You never let me get the words out of my mouth. You, dear Judith”—he brushed his lips across hers—“jumped to unfounded conclusions.

  “I suppose. Possibly—”

  “There is no possibly about it.” He chuckled. “You were wrong and I insist you admit it.”

  “I’d prefer not to.” He could hear the smile in her voice. “It sets a nasty precedent.” She paused. “Is there…affection between us?”

  “I think so.” I hope so.

  “Or…love?”

  “I don’t know.” He nuzzled the side of her neck. “But I should very much like to find out. Will you give me the opportunity to do so?”

  “It seems only fair.” Her voice had a slight breathless quality. “Although I’m not sure it wouldn’t be a huge mistake. On both our parts.”

  “At the moment, I don’t especially care.”

  “And when the moment passes and you come to your senses?”

  “I shall never come to my senses,” he murmured. And was it, in truth, inevitable that he do so? He was as unsure about that as anything else regarding this woman. The future wasn’t even remotely clear. But he hadn’t a doubt about to night. “I would wager neither the queen nor anyone else would note our absence if we were to—”

  “I know all the private corridors and passageways in Susanna’s house.” She reached up and kissed him softly, a promise as much as a kiss, and he wondered if she would always have this effect on him. “We can take our leave without drawing any attention whatsoever.”

  “Excellent.” He kissed her once more, then released her, stepped to the door and pulled it open, then paused. “Oh, wasn’t there something you wished to speak to me about as well?”

  “There was but…” She smiled up at him. “It can wait.” It was no doubt the light from the doorway reflecting in her eyes, but there was a warmth and a glow there that caught at his breath. Or his heart. “Let us be off.”

  Chapter 10

  A unt Louisa burst into Gideon’s library, slammed the door closed behind her, and flattened herself against it as if to hold back marauding armies determined to loot and plunder.

  “I have always thought there was a useful purpose to having a library on a ground floor instead of an upper level and I can see now I was right,” Aunt Louisa said with the fervor of a temperance worker.

  Damnation. The last thing he needed at the moment was an overly dramatic scene with his aunt. A letter he’d just received from his estate manager indicated necessary repairs were proving more complicated and more cost
ly than initially assumed. Gideon was going to have to leave at once for a quick trip to the country to assess the problems for himself. It couldn’t be helped, he supposed. He glanced up at his aunt. “I shall probably regret asking this, but what is the useful purpose to having a library on a ground floor?”

  “Escape.” She waved at the tall windows that marched along the back wall of the room. “It’s scarcely any drop at all to the ground from here, while you could well break your neck climbing out of one of the upper-story windows.”

  “Indeed you could.” As he well knew from his much younger days. “But I am at a loss as to why I should wish to escape by climbing out a window on any floor.”

  “Because”—she paused dramatically—“she’s here.”

  Gideon drew his brows together. “Good Lord, Aunt, I know you do not think Lady Chester is—”

  “Oh, not Lady Chester.” Aunt Louisa scoffed. “Judith Chester is a virginal saint in comparison. I am speaking of”—she narrowed her eyes—“Lady Braxton”

  “Lady Braxton is here? Now?”

  “Indeed she is.” She nodded at the window. “Quickly now, Gideon, go. Out the window with you. Before it’s too late. You can spend the afternoon at your club. I shall send word when it’s safe for you to return and I shall be happy to make your excuses to Lady Braxton. Indeed, I shall relish it.”

  “I have no intention of climbing out the window of my own home like a thief in the night.” So Violet had come to see him? How very interesting. “I’m not going anywhere.”

  Aunt Louisa’s eyes widened and she abandoned her position by the door and moved closer to his desk. “Are you insane?”

  “I don’t think so, although it is possible, I suppose.”

  “You’re going to see her?”

  “I have already seen her. Last night.”

  “Yes, I saw her as well although I didn’t speak to her. Not that I had any desire to do so.” She sniffed in disdain. “Apparently, now that she is a widow, she has taken up residence in London.” She studied her nephew as if to gauge his reaction. “She has two children, you know, and gossip has it she is looking for a new husband.”

  “Gossip is not always as accurate as you might think.”

  She snorted. “Don’t be absurd. I would trust the veracity of gossip long before I would believe anything I read in the papers.” She eyed him carefully. “I do hope you are not considering having anything whatsoever to do with her.”

  “I do wish you would stop telling me who I may and may not see.”

  “This is entirely different, Gideon.” She waved off his comment. “Lady Braxton is dangerous. She is a vile, vile creature who cannot be trusted. Lady Chester is quite charming and I think she has a good heart. She is simply…wrong.”

  “Nonetheless, I shall do as I think best.”

  “You don’t think best when it comes to women. Honestly, Gideon, you’re involved with one who has not been, shall we say alone, through widowhood—”

  A mere three adventures, Lady Dinsmore had said last night. It was not at all what he would have thought—what he had thought—given Judith’s reputation. Three lovers in ten years. To condemn her for that was certainly the pot calling the kettle black.

  “And there is another on your doorstep who deceived you and has probably returned to do it again!”

  “I sincerely doubt that.” Still, it was curious that Violet had come to call. He rose to his feet. “It would be rude not to find out precisely what she does want.”

  “It wouldn’t be the least bit rude,” Aunt Louisa snapped. “It would be wise.”

  “I appreciate your concern, Aunt, misplaced though it may be.”

  “It’s not misplaced and I—”

  “However,” he said firmly, “I am not the foolish young man I once was.”

  “You are still a man and men are always foolish when it comes to women.”

  “Probably.” He chuckled. “Even so, I daresay I can hold my own. If you would be so good as to show Lady Braxton in, we shall see.”

  “We shall indeed.” Her tone softened. “Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

  “Oh, I would never say that.”

  “Do be careful, Gideon.” Genuine concern shone in her eyes. In spite of her commanding manner and true belief that she and she alone knew what was best, her fears on his behalf were somewhat endearing. “I shall be in the parlor if you have need of me.”

  He grinned. “If I find myself in dire straits I shall surely call for rescue.”

  “You are not the least bit amusing, Gideon.” She huffed, turned, and swept from the room.

  Gideon blew a long breath. He wasn’t at all sure he wished to have the confrontation Violet surely had in mind. She was very much in the past as far as he was concerned. Over and done with. Even so, it nagged at him that he hadn’t mentioned her presence last night to Judith. It had seemed rather pointless, really. They were leaving the ball and there was no possibility Judith and Violet would encounter each other. And later, well, he had been preoccupied with much more delightful pursuits to consider anything the least bit unpleasant. He fully intended to mention Violet to Judith, probably when next he saw her. Still, he felt the oddest bit guilty about his failure to say anything. Silly, of course. It’s not as if he were hiding something.

  “Good day, Gideon.” Violet sailed into the room as if she belonged there. “Who is that dragon who wanted to send me on my way? It was all I could do to get a servant to take my hat and cloak between her glaring and unconcealed disdain. She was obviously too well bred to say anything truly nasty but I did expect to see flames shoot out of her nostrils at any minute to roast me where I stood.”

  He stepped out from behind the desk. “That dragon is my aunt. Did she fail to introduce herself?”

  “Apparently she felt no introductions were necessary, although I didn’t know you had an aunt. Let alone one who resided with you.”

  “I suspect there are a great many things about me you didn’t know.”

  “Fewer than you might think.” She smiled and held out her hand. He took it, barely brushed his lips across it, then tried to release her, but she held on to his hand. Violet stepped closer, scandalously closer, and gazed into his eyes. “How are you really, Gideon?”

  “I told you last night. I am quite well. Really.” He firmly disentangled himself from her and stepped back. “Why are you here?”

  “That’s extraordinarily blunt.” She shook her head. “I’d rather hoped we could chat for a bit. I know you won’t throw me out. You’re far too civilized for that.”

  “I wouldn’t wager on it if I were you.” He studied her for a moment. “So you’ve come for a chat?”

  “I thought it was past time for you and me to talk and this appears to be an excellent place for it.” She glanced around the library. “I do so adore libraries. They simply reek of wisdom and men. And I have always loved this room.”

  He laughed shortly. “You have never been in this room.”

  “I shall love it from this day forward then.” She cast him a brilliant smile. Charming and all too familiar.

  A knock sounded at the door, and almost at once Wells appeared with a tea tray. As much as Aunt Louisa did not approve of Violet’s presence, she would still feel obliged to offer refreshment.

  “Excellent.” Violet waved Wells to a side table. “Do set it there. I shall pour, so you may take your leave.”

  “As you wish, my lady.” Wells followed Violet’s instructions but cast a discreet questioning glance at Gideon. Gideon nodded slightly. It was pointless to counteract Violet’s orders even if she had no business issuing them in his house. The butler set the tray on the table and then quietly left the room. Gideon had no doubt Wells would remain nearby, just as he was certain his aunt was doing exactly the same thing.

  “Would you care for tea?” Violet stepped to the table and picked up the teapot.

  “No, thank you.” He propped his hip on a corner of the desk and folded his arm
s over his chest. “But please help yourself.”

  “Indeed I shall.” She poured her tea and Gideon noted she played the part of mistress of the house very well. It was obvious that her face was not the only thing to have matured through the years. Violet moved to one of the two chairs positioned in front of his desk and sat down in a graceful manner without spilling so much as a drop. “You need more seating in here, Gideon. Perhaps a sofa or a settee or something along those lines.”

  “Are you quite through criticizing my library?”

  “For the moment.” She took a sip of her tea and glanced up at him. “Are you going to stand there glowering at me?”

  “Probably.”

  “It’s most disconcerting, you know.”

  “I do know.”

  “I feel as if I were on trial,” she murmured.

  He raised a brow. “And are you prepared to tell the truth?”

  “I have very little left to hide.” She set her cup on the table between the two chairs and gazed up at him. “I owe you an apology, Gideon.”

  “An apology?” He stared in disbelief. “A mere apology?”

  “Not the least bit mere. Admittedly a large apology.” She rolled her gaze toward the ceiling. “I did you a dire disservice. Is that better?”

  “I would scarcely call it a disservice.” He forced the words out through clenched teeth. “You married me.”

  “That was not my intention.” She shook her head. “I truly believed William and my father would find us before it went that far.”

  He could hardly believe his ears. The woman showed no remorse whatsoever. She acted as if the incident that had broken his heart was nothing more than a prank gone wrong. “When they didn’t, you certainly could have stopped the ceremony. There was no need to go through with it.”

  “Again, in hindsight, that was a mistake. You said it yourself last night that young people make mistakes.”

  “Your actions could scarcely be called a mistake,” he said coolly.

  “I was mistaken in my judgment, which naturally led to my actions. However, at the time, I realized that you and I going off together had created a compromising situation that I would not have been able to survive, socially that is. Therefore I thought it would be best to marry you in case William and my father did not appear.”