by Allison Lane
“Sit down, Nicholas. You look ready to collapse.” She took a turn about the room before joining him on the couch. “Unfortunately, Charles has acquired a rather rakish reputation, which does not sit well with some of the higher sticklers. He would not be considered an acceptable suitor by the parents of the girl he loves. We have been trying to change that, but one way or the other, he will wed the girl and take her with him.”
“Meaning they will elope if they cannot gain permission.”
“Exactly. There is one last avenue we are pursuing, but I have little hope of success. Arrangements are already in train to transport her to his ship. I trust you will remain quiet about this.”
“If you will identify the girl.” His eyes burned into hers, promising help.
She didn’t even hesitate. “Chloe Parker.”
“My God!” He covered his eyes, pressing his fingers into his forehead as if that might clear his brain. “I thought her reconciled to wedding Eastbrook.”
“Never. But why should you have considered her at all?”
“Sophia loves George.”
She burst into laughter, guiltily covering her mouth with one hand. “Are you serious?”
He nodded.
“Then why did you offer for her?”
“She is one of the responsibilities I inherited along with the title. Her father is determined to see her wed this Season. Once Langley escaped his net, he found another suitor.” He described Griswold. “By that time, Eastbrook not only seemed reconciled, he appeared enamored with Miss Parker.”
“So you offered her an alternative. I have no idea of George’s feelings, but he does not wish to wed Chloe. He is trying to talk their parents into negating the arrangement – not that I believe he will have any more success than the rest of us.”
“I know what you mean. The Parkers are as blinkered as cart horses. As are the Weymouths. They actually pointed out that Eastbrook’s signature was affixed to the betrothal agreement on his twenty-first birthday.”
“So you have been after them, too. No wonder they are digging their heels in. How can they change their minds after telling half the ton they would not consider it?”
“If Eastbrook dislikes Miss Parker, and she is determined to wed Langley, then why were they so friendly last night?” he asked suddenly.
“Chloe has been trying to convince him that she would make him a most unsuitable wife, but he is as stubborn as a mule. Last night Charles finally pushed him into admitting it. George and Chloe had a no-nonsense discussion about what each wanted. She claimed that she loved someone else, though she did not name Charles. George’s sensibilities would have balked at freeing her so she could chase after a man already betrothed to another; she didn’t want to take the time to explain this mess. Charles had excused his own interest as concern over the distress it was causing me. That was when George agreed to help. If he cannot convince their parents to call off the betrothal, he will transfer all her luggage to the ship.”
“As if he were taking it to his estate,” he said. “How fortunate that Langley is sailing the same day as Eastbrook’s wedding is scheduled.”
“That’s the only break we’ve had. For a long time we feared that he would not leave until later.”
“Eastbrook will get nowhere with the Parkers.”
She sighed. “I know. He was closeted with Lord Parker all afternoon. Without success. The man is impossible.”
“He can keep trying. It will keep him out of trouble – and it won’t hurt to apprise everyone that he is just as unhappy about this arrangement as Miss Parker. In the meantime, I think we can gain their approval, though it will require a radically different approach.”
“What do you have in mind.”
“A scandal that will send all parties into shock. I believe I will invite everyone to dinner.” His eyes sparkled with mischief. “There are no important balls the day after tomorrow. If I do this right, we may even discover Eastbrook’s feelings. Sophia finds him sympathetic, but she hasn’t a clue whether he actually cares for her.”
“Nor do I. Until last night he was determined to wed Chloe.”
“Exactly.” Dropping his voice, he sketched out the essence of his plan.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Diana didn’t bother with her carriage the night of Nicholas’s dinner. Charles escorted her across Berkeley Square.
“Do you really believe this will work?” he asked as they strolled toward Woodvale House.
“Nicholas is very good at getting what he wants.” She ignored his raised brow at her form of address. “You got the special license?”
“Yes, though we could just as easily have been married at sea. The Company is sending a vicar to China on the same ship.”
“But a few days together before you leave would be better. Mal de mer would hardly enliven your wedding night.”
He laughed. “I had not considered that. I had best brush up my nursing skills.”
“How do you know which of you will need them? Have you ever sailed?”
He mumbled something profane.
“Good luck. In the meantime, you can use my house. I need to return to my estate anyway. Some problems have recently arisen that need my attention.” This last was a lie, but she would have to settle her nerves before facing Nicholas again.
“I hope your reputation will not be too badly tarnished.”
“A few months on my estate should mend it quite nicely.”
“If you say so.” But his skepticism was short-lived. “I don’t know how I can ever thank you, Diana.”
She smiled. “Name your first daughter after me.”
The butler opened the door, preventing further discussion. This was it. Charles lightly squeezed her hand and led her inside.
Nicholas had decided to stage his drama before dinner so they wouldn’t have to hide nervousness through two hours of polite conversation and pointless wedding discussions. As planned, Charles and Diana were the last to arrive. The butler led them past the drawing room.
Everything was set, Diana noted, peeking around the almost-shut door. Sophia was playing hostess, giving her more authority than a guest would usually have. Her eyes betrayed an unusual excitement, but she maintained her rigid propriety. The Parkers, Bankleighs, Weymouths, and Langleys were all present, as were Chloe and George. Nicholas was not.
Diana caught Chloe’s eye, then followed the butler.
She could easily picture the scene in the drawing room. Chloe’s anticipation had made her anxious, so Lady Parker would not be surprised when the girl excused herself to the retiring room.
Within a minute, she joined them in the hallway.
“The library is the last door on the right,” said the butler, his expression conveying neither approval nor disapproval. “My lady,” he added as Charles led Chloe away. Opening the door to the breakfast parlor, he stepped aside so Diana could enter.
Nicholas was already inside. “I have been delayed,” he explained, noting her raised brows. “Sophia has put dinner back half an hour in response to my message and will entertain my guests until I arrive.” He grinned. “Actually, dinner is not scheduled for at least another hour. Wiggs will occupy everyone by passing around something edible.”
“You are a rogue. I wondered how you would get all of us out of the drawing room without raising questions.”
“I trust no one told George what was in the wind.”
“Of course we didn’t. Do you take us for fools?”
“Forgive me.” He paced the floor. “Now that we’ve actually begun, I can imagine too many disasters.”
She could understand his fears. The same ones assailed her. The happiness of the others was not all that was at stake. Success was the only way to keep their own reputations intact.
“Do you really believe this will work?” she asked as he stopped in front of her, doubt clear in her voice.
“Trust me. Please?” His intensity gave her pause.
A door opened. “This is quite improper, La
dy Sophia,” said George, his voice clearly disapproving.
Diana grimaced.
But Sophia ignored his tone. “Lord Woodvale particularly asked me to show you the library. He has a book on sheep breeding he thought you would enjoy.”
Their footsteps were drawing closer. Despite his complaints, George was complying.
“This won’t work,” whispered Diana. “Even George is not prudish enough that he’ll object to spotting you alone with a widow when we haven’t even shut the door.”
“But that is not what he will see,” murmured Nicholas, sweeping her into his arms. His lips descended.
Shock reverberated from her head to her toes. He had given her no warning, no opportunity to brace for his touch. Surprise parted her lips in a gasp.
Rogue that he was, he took advantage of that opening, sliding his tongue past her teeth to caress her own.
She responded. How could she not? Heat flashed as she parried his thrust, caressing him in turn. Her hands wrapped around his neck, pulling him closer, threading into his hair.
Twin moans resounded through the room.
Nicholas dropped one hand to her hip to pull her tight against his aching groin. He had hoped for a response. Prayed for it. This plot had more threads than she knew. But thought quickly fled. His body screamed for more as he feasted on her mouth. He hardly heard the voices in the hallway.
George gasped. “The c-cad! He’s unscru— dast— dam— He is disgusting! As if that scene at Drury Lane wasn’t bad enough! How dare he dishonor you so?”
Sophia sighed. “It doesn’t matter. One cannot expect fidelity from a rake, and he is better than the alternative Papa offered once Charles snapped up Lady Bounty. I’ll get used to his ways in time.”
“But that was Lady Bounty with Woodvale!”
“Quite shocking, I agree, but not my affair.”
George could only sputter.
Nicholas registered satisfaction in a distant corner of his mind, but most of his attention remained on Diana. Already his groin was ready to explode from her nearness. How could he have been so stupid as to think that money or position or even a roof over his head was more important than her? Every liaison in the past ten years was wiped from his memory as she drew back to nibble at his lips. One of her hands had worked its way under his coat.
“They’ve gone,” she murmured. “Keep your mind on the job.” She giggled. “You were right. I’ve never heard George so incoherent.”
“This isn’t over, Diana,” he swore, plundering her mouth one last time. “But first we must resolve this other matter.”
“I suppose.”
Hand in hand, they peeked around the doorjamb, then tiptoed down the hall. She stifled another giggle when they reached the library doorway.
Charles had staged a more scandalous scene than even Nicholas had dared. Of course, he and Chloe were on the verge of marriage, Diana admitted. It gave them greater freedom. But she couldn’t suppress a spurt of envy.
He was sitting in a wing chair, which he had positioned so that anyone entering the room could tell what he was doing but not see too much. Chloe sprawled across his lap, her legs dangling over the far arm, with Charles’s hand well under her skirts. His near arm pulled her closer while he kissed her.
Diana’s stomach clenched, heat again flooding her womb. She could feel Nicholas’s hand doing delightful things under her skirts – as he had by the stream that last day. His long fingers had glided over her skin, leaving flaming trails in their wake. His manhood had throbbed against her hip. The smell of fresh-cut hay had drifted from a nearby field as robins sang merrily in a thicket of shrubs. His kisses had been deep and frantic, tasting of morning chocolate and coffee.
She stifled a gasp, appalled at the clarity of the memory. This isn’t over… To control her blushes, she forced her attention onto George, who did not yet know that she and Nicholas were behind him.
He was scarlet, though whether from embarrassment or fury she was not sure.
“Chloe!” he choked out.
Charles opened his eyes, then slowly helped Chloe sit up. He seemed drugged – as she had been in the breakfast parlor – but he rapidly pulled his wits together.
“Eastbrook.”
“Thank you for bringing him, Lady Sophia,” said Chloe, making a halfhearted attempt to straighten her gown even as her other hand caressed Charles’s cheek. “I could not leave without bidding you farewell, George. I appreciate your efforts, but we’ve run out of time. I am officially renouncing our betrothal. Charles and I will leave immediately for Guernsey. We can no longer postpone it, as our ship sails next week.”
“B-but.” George swallowed and tried again. “What of Lady Bounty?”
Charles shrugged. “She doesn’t give a fig for me. She only stepped in to keep Chloe’s parents from discovering us one day.”
“But eloping!” George was shaking his head. “The scandal will ruin you.”
“Not if you support us,” said Chloe. “We are leaving the country and will be gone for years. If you make light of our change in plans and prevent my parents from following us, it should be forgotten long before we return. I’m depending on you, George. Tell them that we have already set sail. Make them believe it. There is a ship bound for America that leaves on the midnight tide. By the time they discover our real plans, we will be wed, so they can only accept them.”
Nicholas banged the door against the wall and entered the library. “There you are, Sophia,” he said in jovial greeting. “My apologies for being late, but it couldn’t be helped. I got sidetracked. Delightful afternoon.”
“Harriette Wilson or Lady Alston?” asked Charles idly.
“Neither. A lively lass just up from the country.”
“Beast!” sobbed Sophia, covering her eyes to hide her lack of tears. “And now Lady Bounty. Can’t you at least limit your conquests to one a day? Even Devereaux is more discreet.”
“I warned you how it would be. You know I offered you nothing but escape from Griswold.”
“Surely you can at least pretend decorum in public!”
“If that’s how you feel about it, take your puritan principles and run,” Nicholas said unfeelingly. “I will not give up my fun for a cold-hearted heiress. There are too many delectable maidens in the world, and my appetites have never been stronger. You’re on your own now, sweetings. At least until Griswold grabs you.” He slid his arm around Diana and sank into another of those heated kisses. “Mmm. Much better. I do prefer a willing wench.”
Diana stiffened.
“Shh,” he murmured against her lips. “Remember that I’m a conscienceless scoundrel.”
“I ought to bite you,” she whispered back, then returned his open-mouthed kiss. “And I’ll take a knife to certain portions of your anatomy if I come out of this with a reputation as a courtesan.”
He winced.
“You can’t throw me to Griswold,” cried Sophia. “I’ll kill myself before allowing that swine to touch me!” Her subsequent hysterics were faked, but George didn’t notice.
Nicholas ignored her, sliding his lips down Diana’s neck and across her shoulder to nuzzle her gown aside. Somehow, he’d undone the top three tapes.
George choked.
Diana’s senses swam, but she kept one eye on the others even as her body melted against Nicholas, her arms pulling him closer. Damn the man! Why could she not ignore him? But she could no more forgo this opportunity than fly. The lovemaking was both public and false, but it would provide memories that could warm her for years.
And two could play the game. Quick fingers loosened his cravat, opening his shirt to expose a patch of dark hair and drawing a gasp.
“Just trying to make this scene more realistic,” she quipped, stilling his protest with her lips. But one eye stayed on the others.
Charles was again kissing Chloe.
“Who is Griswold?” demanded George, paling until Diana feared he might swoon. He faced Sophia, turning his back on Nichola
s’s clever hands and Charles’s latest foray up Chloe’s leg. The room reeked of passion. The temperature was becoming unbearable.
Sophia uncovered dry eyes, immediately throwing herself against George’s shoulder. And just as well. She obviously couldn’t cry on demand. “He is odious, but Papa will make me accept his offer. How can I? He is brutal, he smells, and he’ll demand an heir. But more than that he wants my dowry, for he is rapidly sinking beneath debts. How will I survive?”
“Was that why you accepted this libertine’s offer?” he demanded, stroking her back as he glared over his shoulder toward the tableau by the door. Even that brief look brought a new blush to his face.
Nicholas’s mind was back on the job. He was straining to hear, his hands motionless and his arms relaxed.
“It seemed like a godsend at the time.” Sophia’s fake sobbing was working. George now had both arms around her. “Nicholas offered to save me from the indignity of being sold – which is what Papa’s arrangement amounted to – but I find I cannot accept infidelity. I thought I could close my eyes to it, but stumbling over his women in every room is too much.” She sobbed louder. “How can I tell Papa I threw over a marquess. Griswold is only a baron.”
She wasn’t making much sense, but George’s sensibilities were too overloaded to notice.
“Don’t take either of them, Sophia,” he begged. “You would be far better off with me.”
“You?” Sophia pulled her head back to stare at him.
Diana could hear the effort Sophia expended to sound surprised, but George was no good at reading people. At least Sophia’s eyes were now red. She had been rubbing them against his shoulder.
“Why not? I will treat you far better than either Woodvale or Griswold. And saving Miss Parker from retribution will be easier if I can produce another wife.”
Diana nearly groaned. Good God! George was brainless. What kind of proposal was that? She sidestepped until both eyes peeked over Nicholas’s shoulder – which was shaking so hard with suppressed laughter that she feared he would ruin everything.
But Sophia was made of sterner stuff. Her voice rang with determination. “I think not, my lord, though your thoughts are kind. I’ve already accepted one martyr, and look where that got me. Somehow I will find a way to escape Griswold, even if I must run away. After the fiasco of this Season, I have decided to wed no one who cannot offer what I need.”