His friends stared at him, both with identical expressions of vacant bewilderment.
“You’re having us on,” Owen said, closing his mouth and frowning a little before turning to Tommy. “He’s having us on. Pull the other one, old man,” he added, shaking his head at Ben with reproach in his eyes.
Ben frowned; this was harder than he’d thought. “I’m not having you on,” he exclaimed, feeling rather indignant, though he couldn’t exactly fathom why. After all, he was having them on. “I’ve met someone.”
“Who?” they demanded in unison.
Ben swallowed, feeling a little daunted. “A … a Miss Dinah Osborne, if you must know.”
He watched them frown, wrinkling their noses as they scoured their memories for any Osbornes of their acquaintance.
Owen brightened for a moment. “Oh, wait, didn’t Johnny have a cousin, Osborne?”
Tommy shook his head. “No, that was Lord Oxthorn.”
“So it was,” Owen replied, nodding.
Ben frowned, annoyance prickling. “You won’t know her,” he said, sounding impatient. “Her grandfather was Charles Osborne.” He watched their blank faces with dismay, frustrated that he had to spell it out. “Fellow made a fortune in trade.”
He watched as the implications of his statement sank in and folded his arms. Tommy, despite being an earl, didn’t have a snobbish or vindictive bone in his body and reached out his hand to Ben. “Well, I’m glad you’ve found someone who makes you happy, Ben. Congratulations, old man.”
Ben shook his hand, feeling guilty about the deception until his eyes slid to Owen. Though a mere mister, Owen was from an old and illustrious family.
“Have you told Dreighton yet?” he asked, not meeting Ben’s eyes.
“No,” Ben replied, feeling strangely defensive.
“He’ll not like it, Ben,” Owen said, his voice grave. “In fact, I’d say he’ll never allow it.”
“Allow it?” Ben retorted, fury sparking under his skin. “I’m a grown man, for heaven’s sake. I will not be dictated to by my bloody brother!”
Owen sucked in a breath, his expression bleak. “Sorry, Ben. Don’t mean to throw a wet blanket over things, truly. Only, someone had to say it. You’ll have trouble, you know you will.”
“Of course I know it,” Ben snapped, feeling aggrieved. “But it’s no one’s business but my own.” He snatched up his wine glass and drank deep, more grateful that the wine was good and strong now, rather than bothering about its finer qualities. He didn’t know why he was so annoyed. He’d been expecting Owen’s reaction, and he knew he was quite correct. He’d said far worse himself.
“What’s she like, then, Ben?” Tommy asked, his rather angelic countenance showing nothing but interest and good humour. “Pretty thing, I’ll bet.”
Ben snorted, feeling a little mollified by Tommy’s obvious pleasure in his news. “Of course she’s pretty,” he muttered, casting a rather mutinous look at Owen, who wisely kept his mouth shut. “Beautiful, actually,” he amended. “Blonde and blue-eyed, and sharp as a needle, too.” He smiled as he considered how Dinah would deal with the likes of Owen Tatum. He would have her play him at cards, he thought with a rather malicious little smile.
By now, a footman had set his place, and he helped himself to the rather lavish spread before him.
“When are you going to announce the engagement, then?” Owen asked, a cautious glint to his eyes that told Ben he was treading with care.
Ben shrugged. After his friend’s reaction, he was in no hurry to make the knowledge public. Perhaps he could get Dinah to delay a few more days. She had wanted the announcement sent to the papers the morning after the ball tomorrow. Right at this moment, the idea of his family finding out made him feel a little unwell.
“Soon,” he replied, deciding he’d be best off keeping things vague.
“Where did you meet her?” Tommy asked, and Ben stuffed a large piece of sirloin into his mouth to give himself time to remember the answer.
“Hatchard’s,” he replied once he’d swallowed. The book shop wasn’t out of the realm of possibility and was the only place he and Dinah could think of where a meeting could have happened. As a rule, Ben did not frequent the kind of places where nice young ladies went. He did, however, buy books.
“She’s not a blue-stocking, is she?” Tommy demanded, looking a little anxious all at once. Poor Tommy thought anyone who even expressed the desire to read anything more intimidating than the Racing Times was possessed of a powerful intellect.
Ben grinned at his friend, putting his mind at ease. “Not at all, Tommy, though I’ll admit she’s clever,” he added with a rueful tone. Clever enough to have him dancing to her tune at any rate.
“Oh,” Tommy said, obviously a little unsettled by the idea.
“Don’t look so glum,” Ben said, laughing now. “You’ll meet her tomorrow night if you’re going to Sindalton’s. You’ll like her, I’m certain, and to be honest, I look to you to put her at her ease, Tommy. She’s really feeling a little out of her depth as she’s never been to such a grand affair before.” He felt a certain amount of trepidation himself, he realised, as he spoke the words. Owen’s reaction had only underlined what most people would think, and Owen had only been giving friendly advice. He knew well enough what the shark-infested waters of society’s fathomless little sea could be like. They’d cut poor Dinah to ribbons if he wasn’t careful. The idea made him feel a surge of protectiveness, which was quite foreign to him. He shook it off and turned back to Tommy, realising that the man was perfect for the job.
“I’d be honoured to keep an eye on her, show her about a bit,” Tommy said, beaming at the compliment.
“I would appreciate that, Tommy, thank you,” Ben replied, finding he meant it, too.
“You can rely on me, too, Ben,” Owen said beside him, his voice low. “If she’s made even the likes of you think of settling down, then she must be something out of the ordinary.”
Ben blinked, strangely touched by Owen’s sincerity, even though the whole thing was a hoax. “Thank you,” he replied, nodding at the Owen’s words. “And yes, I think perhaps you’re right.” He smiled a little as he remembered everything he’d discovered about Dinah to date. “She is certainly out of the ordinary.”
Chapter 11
“Wherein things get a little complicated for both parties.”
Dinah stared at the square leather box that sat open on her lap and felt her breath catch. Reaching out, she touched the glittering jewels with one, reverent finger.
“I don’t know what to say,” she said, hearing a slight tremor in her voice, which was rather out of character.
“I’m afraid it’s only for the evening,” Ben said, a regretful tone to his voice she told herself to set no store by. It was all part of the game he was playing. “The set belonged to my mother.”
Dinah swallowed and sucked in a breath before looking up at him. “I assure you, I did not think you were giving them to me,” she said with a smile. “I’m just astonished you trust me with them, even for one night.”
The look he returned was far too warm, and his laughter made a strange feeling shiver over her skin. “Well, your grandfather’s fortune would buy these many times over, so it wouldn’t make much sense for you to run off with them,” he said, making Dinah prickle with indignation. “But in any case, I trust you. I don’t believe you’ve ever done anything you weren’t forced into by circumstances. I know you’ll take good care of them.”
The indignation subsided all at once and Dinah looked away from him before he could see what his words meant to her. The set of diamond jewellery before her blurred a little, and she blinked to clear her vision.
“You’re too kind,” she said, torn between gratitude and wishing he’d be a little less kind. “I can see why you have such a reputation with the ladies now,” she added, hearing bitterness in the words. “You know just what to say and do to make them fall at your feet.”
H
e gave another laugh, the sound of it slightly wicked, wrapping itself around her like silk. “If I had the slightest expectation of seeing you fall at my feet, a comment like that might go to my head,” he replied, the words warm and full of amusement.
Dinah snorted and closed the box, setting it on the table as she looked up at him. He was standing by the window in the parlour, the sun at his back. It gilded his dark hair and broad shoulders and she felt a surge of anger with him for being every bit as desirable as his reputation would suggest. “Well, you are at a disadvantage with me, I’m afraid,” she said, giving him a rather brittle smile. “I know this is just a game to you. Getting me into bed would be a fitting revenge for blackmailing you, wouldn’t it?”
There was a flash of something in his eyes she couldn’t quite read. For a moment, she thought perhaps she’d hurt his feelings, but that was ridiculous. In any case, she didn’t want to fight with him. Tonight was daunting enough without them being at war. She needed to have the pretence of his support even if it was nothing more than that.
“I see I was foolish to suppose we’d become friends,” he said, and she was a little surprised to hear he sounded genuinely aggrieved. Getting to her feet, she crossed the room and took his hand, smiling at the surprise in his eyes.
“Don’t be cross,” she said, her voice low. “Whatever your motives, I could not be more grateful for everything you’ve done. Yesterday was delightful and your kindness in loaning me the jewels means a great deal.” She reached up on her toes and pressed a kiss to his cheek. “I’m touched, truly, but I have seen too much of the world and am far too cynical to take such things at face value.”
She moved back, surprised that he hadn’t taken advantage of the opportunity to take her in his arms and kiss her, and scolded herself for feeling a little disappointed about it. He looked rather puzzled now, as if he didn’t know quite what to do.
“You are certain that the blue gown is suitable?” she asked, hoping to dispel the slightly peculiar atmosphere lingering in the room as she walked away from him again.
Ben cleared his throat, still staring at her as though she was something foreign to him. “Yes.” He nodded, frowning a little before he shook off whatever was making him look so ill at ease. “Yes, the blue is perfect,” he continued, sounding more like himself now as he smiled at her. “I can’t wait to see you in it. You will take everyone’s breath away, I’m sure.”
Dinah laughed as a rather sick sensation roiled through her stomach. “Only because they won’t pause to draw breath whilst they’re gossiping about me.” She had meant the words to be light-hearted, but there was too much of her own real anxiety behind the thought, and they sounded rather tart. She’d moved to look out of the window, watching the children playing in the street. They were poor kids, their clothes patched and dirty, and it only highlighted her tenuous position on the very edge of respectability. This had been a good neighbourhood once, but the slums were growing ever larger, and at the end of this rather suburban road were places you ought not walk alone.
She looked up, startled by the hand that settled on her shoulder, and by the look in Ben’s eyes as he stared down at her.
“The only gossiping will be about how a rogue like me managed to capture such a beautiful woman,” he said, and she cursed him for sounding so damned sincere. “Whatever you may think of me, or my motives, I promise you I will let no one upset you tonight. You will have a wonderful evening, my word upon it, Dinah.”
Dinah blinked as her throat grew tight, the strangest sensation curling around her heart. Before she could figure out how to reply to such words, he dipped his head and pressed a soft kiss against her lips. She sucked in a breath as he moved back, her heart beating wildly all at once as pleasure and desire coiled in her blood. He looked a little startled, too, she thought as he backed up, and although she’d expected him to press his advantage, as she’d made no sound of protest, he backed away.
“I will see you this evening, then,” he replied, his voice a little too loud in the stillness of the room.
Dinah simply nodded, any chance of speaking vanished and gone the moment he’d kissed her. A moment later and she heard the front door closing, and wished the thundering noise of her heart beating wasn’t far, far louder.
***
Ben tossed a coin to the lad who’d held his horses and vaulted into the seat of the curricle. With an impatient sound, he set the horses to trotting, wanting to be away from Dinah Osborne and the effect she had on his equilibrium.
In the space of minutes, he’d been hurt and insulted, so badly shocked he’d not taken advantage of an opportunity to kiss the wretched woman, and then when he’d finally got his act together and done it …
He sucked in a breath.
Desire was still a living thing beneath his skin, alive and pulsing and impossible to ignore. Not that such emotions were new to him, far from it. Lust was the motivating factor in all his affairs. Yet this time it felt different, more powerful than it ever had before. She was right, he decided, he simply wanted her in his bed. That his motivation was less revenge and more the certainty he would lose his damn mind if he didn’t was neither here nor there.
Behind the hard façade of a woman who had tricked him into this ridiculous situation without so much as batting an eyelid, there was another, far more vulnerable creature. It was this woman who unsettled him. Miss Osborne the card sharp and confident trickster was the woman he wanted, he assured himself. Dinah, the girl whose eyes had grown soft when he’d shown her the jewellery, the young woman afraid to choose which gown to wear and needed his protection from the cruelty of the ton, she was a danger to him. She made the strangest desires crawl under his skin that had nothing to do with bedding her, and everything to do with holding her in his arms and keeping her safe.
He’d kissed that woman. He’d seen the fear and the vulnerability in those extraordinary eyes and he’d wanted to chase it away. In return, he’d felt a rush of … of something he didn’t dare to even name, let alone consider. He pushed the anxious feeling away with a snort of disdain. He needed to get tonight over with and Miss Osborne into his bed as quickly as possible. Once he’d bedded her, the novelty would wear off, and that was all it was. He’d met no one quite like her before, it was as simple as that.
Reassured that he wasn’t losing his touch, or his mind, Ben flicked the reins and guided the horses skilfully around a rather tight bend. Tonight looked as if it would be a great deal of fun.
***
Dinah cursed and threw the brush across the room as Dot cackled, a rather malicious sound fuelled by the fact the woman was drunk as a lord.
“If you’re not going to help, get out,” Dinah snapped, getting to her feet to retrieve the brush. The one thing Dot was good for, when she wasn’t soaked in gin, was helping her with her hair. The wretched creature was sulking, however. When Dinah had informed her that Ben was providing a chaperone for the evening, in the form of his brother’s goddaughter and the girl’s own chaperone, it had not impressed Dot.
“Oh, ‘ark at Lady Muck,” Dot sneered, her thin face screwed up with contempt. “Jus’ cause your mixin’ with the toffs don’t mean you don’t belong in the gutter, girl. You can pretend all you want, but it don’t change nuthin’.”
“Thank you so much for your pearls of wisdom,” Dinah said, holding onto her temper. She was all on edge, as it was, without flying into a passion before she even left the house. “Now get out!”
There was a knock on her bedroom door and Joe’s voice sounded. “What’s goin’ on in there? You decent, treacle?”
“Yes, Joe,” Dinah called, relieved as she knew Joe would kick the wretched creature out. “Come in.”
Joe’s massive figure filled the doorway a moment later, his face darkening as he looked at Dot.
“You’re drunk,” he observed, though with no surprise. Standing back, he held the door and jerked his head towards the opening.
Dot sneered and staggered to her feet.
“Can’t make a silk purse outta a sow’s ear,” she crowed, laughing and shaking her head. “Stupid chit’s half in love with ‘er lord already, though. Bet you’re regrettin’ givin’ ‘im that letter, eh?” she said, reaching out to pinch Dinah’s cheek none too gently. “Silly cow.”
“Out!” Joe roared, taking her by the arm and forcing her through the door before slamming it shut. They could hear her raucous laughter, followed a moment later by the unsteady tune of a ribald sailor’s song as Dot moved away to her own room. Joe sucked in a breath as he turned back to her, his eyes growing shiny as he swallowed hard. “You take my breath away, little D,” he said, sounding choked. “You’ll ‘ave duke’s fallin’ at your feet right an’ left, or there’s no justice in the world.”
Dinah laughed, touched by Joe’s honest pride in her. She walked over to hug him, and he leapt back in alarm.
“Don’t touch me, you silly goose! I … I might dirty your dress or summat.”
“Oh, Joe,” Dinah exclaimed, shaking her head and hugging him anyway. “Don’t be so daft.”
Joe let out a sigh and kissed her forehead, his expression growing serious. “That right, treacle? What she said about Lord Lancaster, you sweet on ‘im?”
Dinah avoided Joe’s eye, but let out a little indignant huff of impatience. “Don’t be foolish, Joe. He’s handsome, and he’s good company, and he’s been very kind to me, in the circumstances,” she added with a wry smile. “But he’s a means to an end for me, and even if his intentions towards me were honourable, which we both know they most certainly aren’t, his family would never let him marry me, in any case.” She grinned and threw up her hands with a little shrug as if it made everything very simple. “I know where I stand, and so does he. I’ve made it quite clear, I assure you.”
Dinah turned away hoping to hide the colour in her cheeks as she remembered the press of his lips against hers. If she’d really been making things clear, she ought to have slapped his face and told him to save his flirtation for someone more receptive. Except she hadn’t.
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