by Claudia Dain
It was up to her then, clearly. She’d managed Ezekiel Biddle; she’d manage Edenham. And in doing so, she’d probably edge dangerously close to impropriety. She did hope so. It couldn’t hurt her here. No one knew her here.
“I can’t think what you must mean, your grace,” she said pleasantly. “Why don’t you explain it to me?”
Upon which Cranleigh took both Amelia and Eleanor firmly by the elbow and led them halfway across the room with barely a mumbled excuse to soothe the way; the Duke of Calbourne effortlessly escorted Lady Paignton out of the room altogether, Lady Paignton wearing a very amused look upon her face; Jed and Joel, acting like she knew not what, stood by grimly and said not a word. But they did not look at all pleased, which of course they shouldn’t.
Edenham smiled, not at all warmly or even cordially, and, ignoring her brothers completely, which did charm her just the slightest bit, said, “I have no wish to offend you by being indelicate, but I feel someone must tell you what everyone in Town says about me. It is awkward that I must be the one to tell it, but I would not have you wander about in ignorance.”
“I should hate that,” she said. “I do not enjoy being ignorant. About anything. Please, teach me everything you think I should know, your grace.”
She risked a glance at her brothers. They were not rushing her out of the room nor were they shoving Edenham out into the street. Well then. Not as tough as they talked, clearly. She could have had such fun, for years now, if she’d only known. Stupid of her not to have tested the waters before now. That’s what came of caution: nothing. A carefully lived life with nothing beyond a touch, a kiss, and a slight caress to show for it.
As to that, Edenham was a handsome man, he gave every appearance of being smitten by her, she was far from home, and her brothers were being very coopera-tive for once. Either that or slipshod. It all depended upon one’s perspective. She was more than inclined to think that things were lining up quite nicely, almost a perfect list of ideal ingredients.
Why not?
Why not have a little fun with the Duke of Edenham? It wouldn’t hurt him to be toyed with a bit, to be baited just a little. He was a duke. He ought to be able to take it soundly, no whimpering, no pleas for mercy. At least that’s what he would think, arrogant old thing. And it wouldn’t harm her in the least. She’d dabble and be gone. Though she would feel better about it all if Jed and Joel disappeared somewhere for the rest of the afternoon. The look on their faces was not at all comforting. Jane had no qualms about baiting Edenham, who was he but an Englishman, but she did have serious qualms about pushing her brothers beyond that which they could bear. She was nearly positive she was a half inch over the line even now.
“Darling Miss Elliot,” Sophia Dalby said, approaching them gracefully. The woman moved like a swan. At best, Jane thought she might move as well as a duck, which was not at all the same. “I did think to introduce you to Lady Richard, the duke’s sister, but as you are so deeply engaged in conversation, allow me to present the Captains Elliot to her, stealing them away for just a few moments. She’s a lovely woman, but rather reserved,” Sophia said to the boys, tucking her hands through their arms, leading them effortlessly away, instructing them as she did so. “You will be gentle with her? But of course you will.” And with that, Jed and Joel were removed. They did not look happy about it, but they were removed.
Remarkable woman. Her timing was breathtakingly flawless. One could but wonder what she’d accomplish with a cannon and a full load of shot.
“That was well timed,” Edenham said pleasantly. It was slightly disconcerting to have him echoing her own thoughts in nearly the same instant. She did not like to think that they could possibly share something so intimate as a thought. “Now, as you are so eager for instruction, what may I teach you, Miss Elliot, which you don’t already know?”
Was there an insult in there? She suspected there might be. It was a slightly different proposition, baiting Edenham with no witnesses to hand, but she was not going to let caution hobble her now. What could happen? They were in a crowded room, and certainly he must have some sort of reputation to maintain, even if she did not.
And she did not. She was free, at least free enough for a minor scuffle. Taking a breath, her resolve renewed, Jane plunged. It really was shocking how she’d come to rely on Jed and Joel to keep everything in check. What sort of girl had she become? Not the sort of girl she wanted to be.
“I believe you were eager to describe the rigors of your bed, your grace,” she said, which was so daring of her, wasn’t it? “Is it very tall or very narrow or very lumpy? Are you plagued with bedbugs? I can’t think why a duke should choose to endure such rigors in his own bed. Perhaps you are of a monastic bent? I should not have guessed it by the cut of your coat.”
Edenham held himself very still, and then he smiled a bit coolly. Oh, had she yanked his tail? Poor duke.
“I see that the Puritan strain of Massachusetts has bled into New York,” he said. “I should not have thought it, not from every report I hear of New York. Perhaps you are the exception? A bit lacking in sophistication and education, Miss Elliot? I suppose that may be forgiven you as sophistication and education may be acquired if some effort is applied in their pursuit.”
He paused to smile coldly. She did not smile in return, yet neither did she flinch.
He continued, “But, no, I was not speaking of the physical dimensions or condition of my bed. I was referring to myself, Miss Elliot. I have had three wives share my bed and as a direct result of our coupling, they have each died in the full flush of their youth and beauty. It is this to which the gossipmongers hiss, certain that no woman can survive the rigors of my bed.”
Oh, he was enjoying this far too much. Not an hour ago he’d been nearly drooling with limpid fascination over her and now he’d flip-flopped to this, this insult of her town, her character, her intelligence, and then culminating in this blatantly inappropriate comment about his sexual . . .
what? He killed women with his cock?
Hardly.
She was from New York; she knew what a man could and could not do with his cock. She’d even heard the word cock used for the first time at the precocious age of four and repeated it endlessly until her mother had rinsed out her mouth with apple vinegar. But Father had laughed. She remembered very well that he had laughed. No, she was not afraid of either the word or the thing, and wasn’t that a handy bit of ammunition now?
Jane did not lower her gaze in maidenly confusion, a response he surely wanted, nor did she blush, nor did she stammer. He looked a bit confused by that. Perfect.
“I fear I have offended you,” he said.
“Fear not,” she said dismissively.
“You are grown quiet.”
“I’m . . . observing.”
Jane ran her gaze down Edenham’s body, over his snowy cravat, his pale green waistcoat, his tightly fitted breeches.
Her gaze lingered there. She knew what that could do to a man, if he found the woman appealing. Joel had told her once when he was in his cups, just back from his maiden voyage as captain of an Elliot ship. A quick trip up the coast, he had not been gone much longer than a month, but still, his maiden voyage. He’d drunk to his own success, and then drunk again. And he burbled out that charming bit about the male anatomy.
Did Edenham find her appealing?
Jane held her gaze down low.
Why, he certainly did.
Smiling and lifting her eyes to his, she said, “If I understand you correctly, your grace, you have somehow gained the reputation of killing your wives by, as you so charmingly put it, the rigors of your bed. Let us speak yet more plainly. What you mean is by the vigor of your cock. I see nothing to cause alarm. I don’t know what the standards are in London, but in New York you would not cause a ripple of concern. Perhaps you should move.”
Nine
“I’ve never seen him so moved,” Katherine, Lady Richard, said, “an
d I’ve seen him bury three wives and both our parents.” She did not mention the burial of her husband, the profligate Lord Richard. What would have been the point?
“Miss Elliot seems to have quite a strong effect upon him,” Sophia said. “A good thing, surely. Your brother, such a lovely man, can turn to melancholy quite without effort, wouldn’t you agree? I do think Miss Elliot is bringing him out. They do seem to have very much to say to one another. How delightful for both of them.”
“She does appear to be enjoying herself,” Joel Elliot said, sliding a glance to Jedidiah. Jedidiah Elliot, however, was looking at her and not at Jane. Katherine, though a bit surprised, was not at all displeased. How long had it been since a man had looked at her in anything approaching interest? Not since her courtship, and even then, Lord Richard had not looked at her like this.
He was a remarkable-looking man, Captain Jedidiah Elliot. Tall, excessively broad shoulders, a slightly narrow, well-sculpted face, dark blond hair, and blue eyes of a particularly compelling hue, ocean blue perhaps, which was apt, but it was the earnestness and the intense energy of his gaze which delighted her.
Yes, delighted. She hadn’t experienced delight in any degree since her courtship. Certainly Lord Richard had known how to make himself agreeable during a courtship.
She had believed he loved her devotedly, energetically, and earnestly.
He had not.
He had been that quite ordinary thing, a husband who had an affaire. In truth, he’d likely had more than one, but she was only aware of the one. The one with Bernadette, Lady Paignton.
Lady Paignton had many affaires, both while her husband lived and now when he did not. Lady Paignton seemed to have one purpose in life: to seduce as many men as she could. But Katherine did not blame Bernadette for Richard’s vault into her bed. No, he had found his way there all on his own. A woman could tempt, but she could not compel.
The wound which haunted? Why had Richard not been tempted by her? Was she not beautiful enough? Not sensual enough? Not interesting enough? Not . . . enough?
Bernadette was here today, now. There had been no avoiding her, though she did make it a policy to do so. It was not possible to avoid Hyde House on this day of days; it would have been a blow to Hyde joy that Katherine was not willing to deliver. And so, here she was, witnessing Bernadette seducing yet another man, at the moment, the Duke of Calbourne. Calbourne seemed to be enjoying it.
Though, unable to keep from watching Bernadette whenever she was in the vicinity, Katherine couldn’t help but note that the Elliots hadn’t seemed at all susceptible to her flagrant charms.
Yet Jedidiah Elliot gave every appearance of being very receptive to hers.
It was, to put it mildly, quite wonderful.
“That’s all that matters, then,” Jedidiah said, barely sparing a glance for his sister. “Your brother is an honorable man, Lady Richard?”
“Without question, Captain Elliot,” Katherine replied.
“Without question,” Sophia repeated. “How often can that be said, I wonder?”
“It should be said of every man,” Joel said, smiling.
Joel Elliot had the most delightful dimples on each side of his mouth. Long and deep, they bracketed his mouth like comical exclamation points. Dark, curling hair framed his face and accentuated his deep brown eyes. He was slightly shorter than his brother, but still a tall, well-formed man.
Joel was fully as handsome as Jedidiah, though of a different sort entirely. More playful, perhaps, a bit lighter in spirit. Jedidiah was as intensely focused as a burning candle.
What would that intensity be like in bed?
She shocked herself by thinking it. When the shock passed, which of course it always must, she let the image simmer in her thoughts.
Take a lover?
Why shouldn’t she?
Take this man for a lover? He was a safe choice. He wasn’t anyone she knew, and he was leaving soon. He couldn’t harm her, couldn’t intrude upon her life, couldn’t besmirch her reputation. He was leaving soon, wasn’t he?
Best to check on that. She wouldn’t want to take a lover if he were going to loiter about Town. That would certainly prove awkward.
“Oh, but if we deal in what should be said of every man,” Sophia said, looking up at Joel fondly, waving her fan languidly, “then the point is entirely lost, Captain Elliot. Of course men like to think that they are ruled by honor, incorruptible, unyielding, but I have found men to yield most regularly.”
“And on being incorruptible?” Katherine asked with a smile.
“They are most willingly corruptible,” Sophia said,
“though perhaps that says more about me than it does about them. I do hope so.”
“I don’t believe a word of it,” Lord Ruan said, having come up behind Sophia. Sophia’s fan did not so much as falter, though her eyes did narrow slightly.
“I must say,” Sophia said, “that sounds very like you, Lord Ruan. You have the dismal tendency of disbelieving a direct statement so that you may waste your time in scurry-ing about after phantom mice in fairy-tale haystacks.”
“Lady Dalby,” Ruan said, his voice quite low and his green eyes quite intense, putting Jedidiah’s intensity to shame by comparison, which was something Katherine did not enjoy admitting, “only I may decide whether my time is wasted or not. I have yet to waste a single moment since meeting you.”
Silence followed that remark. Sophia looked as cool as water, only the slight increase in the movement of her fan betraying any emotion whatsoever. Ruan, whom Katherine knew only slightly, looked at Sophia with all the sharp intent of a blade.
There was some history between them, that much was obvious. Had Sophia taken Ruan as a lover? Had she rejected him as a lover? Whatever had happened, Katherine was certain it involved being someone’s lover. Everyone took lovers. And now she would, too. Jedidiah Elliot was still looking at her. If she could get him alone to arrange things, he would do very well as her first.
“As much as I would like to see a compliment in that statement, Lord Ruan,” Sophia said, her black eyes as cold as diamonds, “I find I cannot, which does aggrieve me. I do so enjoy a heartfelt, or even an insincere, compliment.
I have found my time to have been wasted, you see, something I do not enjoy.”
“I wonder when breakfast will be announced,” Joel Elliot said into the cutting silence that followed Sophia’s remark.
Yes, well, Katherine had to remove herself and Jedidiah from the battle going on between Ruan and Sophia. Sophia could handle herself, and him, without any aid from her.
If she were going to entice Jedidiah into a liaison, she’d need the ideal surroundings and this wasn’t it. She had no experience and little confidence for this sort of thing. She simply couldn’t manage it with any distractions at all.
“I was wondering the same thing,” Katherine said.
“Would you mind terribly asking your aunt?”
“Not at all,” Joel Elliot said, excusing himself and making his way through the crowd.
It did not escape Katherine’s notice that Joel winked at Jedidiah as he passed him. Discretion was clearly going to be a problem for her, which only proved the point that she had chosen the right man for the job. A quick seduction and then off he went, over the seas, a clean exit, quick and tidy.
There was little better that a man could offer a woman.
“He’s still just talking to her? Blakes would have dragged me into a closet by now,” Louisa said.
Amelia gave Louisa a rather arch look. “She’s only just met him, Louisa. Give her a chance. One look at his face and you can see that he wants to do just that.”
“Yes, but does he want to seduce her or slap her? That’s my question,” Louisa answered. “He looks enraged, but that may be the fault of distance. I do wish we could work our way closer.”
As they were stuck behind a table and hemmed in by no less than six groups of chatt
ering people, one of them containing the Duchess of Hyde, who was looking at them suspiciously, there was little to be done about their position at the moment.
“Where were you, anyway? Jane seemed very displeased to be doing her best with Edenham and you not about to witness it. I think she believes she’s won the wager already. You didn’t disappear on purpose, did you? To force her to spend more time with Edenham?”
“I most certainly did not,” Louisa flared, her eyebrows soaring into arches of outrage. “If you must know, Blakes dragged me off—”
“And had his wicked way with you?” Amelia cut in.
“Hardly,” Louisa snorted indelicately, causing Lady Lanreath to turn and glance at her inquisitively. Louisa arched an eyebrow and waited for her to mind her own business.
She did. Eventually. “That would have been lovely, and was what I was expecting, but what I got instead was a very stern lecture on how I must not interfere with Jane’s first day in London Society and how I should, if I had a feeling bone in my body, which he doubted strongly, wish her well and do all in my power to aid her. Stupid, bloody sot,” she grumbled. “And here I’m doing exactly that and he’s too blind to see it. Typical.”
Amelia laughed lightly. “Did you tell him all that?
Explain how truly virtuous you are?”
Louisa smiled smugly and said, “Of course not. When Edenham asks Jane to marry him, Blakes will find out soon enough. I shall take all the credit for it, Amelia, and I want you to back me up on that. Knowing Blakes, he’ll give Sophia Dalby credit for the entire marriage of his cousin to a duke. He thinks she can do anything, and will do anything. Well, I can make a match as surely as she can.”
“Can you?” Amelia said sarcastically. It wasn’t at all attractive. “Isn’t this your first match? And, by your own words, they’re still only talking.”
“I have complete confidence in Jane,” Louisa said stoutly, wrapping one of her red curls around her finger.
“Edenham may be a bit of a slow start, but Jane will bring him round.”