by Amanda Quick
“As you wish, Miss Wingfield.” Jared lowered his voice as he started down the stairs. “But I warn you that I reserve the right to call you Olympia on any occasion when I happen to have my hand up under your skirts.”
“Mr. Chillhurst.”
“That is the way such matters are handled among men and women of the world,” Jared informed her with lofty certainty. He put the guilt behind him and allowed himself to feel the pleasure that was threatening to overpower him.
A grand satisfaction, more potent than brandy, flowed in his veins. He was Icarus flying too close to the sun, but it was worth the risks. The rewards of a passionate nature were very fine, he thought with a fleeting grin. Tonight he was a new man.
“You are teasing me in a most ungentlemanly fashion, sir.” Olympia’s breathless accusation was interrupted by another whining bark from below. “Minotaur is definitely alarmed by something.”
“A nightman has probably arrived next door to empty the neighbor’s cesspool.”
“Perhaps.”
Jared opened the kitchen door and nearly got run down by Minotaur who had been waiting impatiently on the other side. The dog dashed straight past him and skidded to a halt in front of Olympia.
“What’s the matter, Minotaur?” Olympia patted him warily but gently on the head. “There is no one in the house except us.”
Minotaur whined loudly and then darted around her and went up the stairs.
“Perhaps he wants to go into the garden,” Olympia said. “I will let him outside for a few minutes.”
“I will see to it.” Jared took a quick look around the kitchen before following the dog up the stairs. There was no sign that anything had been disturbed near the large iron stove or in the vicinity of the sink. The window that opened onto the enclosed front area below the street level was securely latched.
Jared led the way back up the stairs. Olympia stayed close.
Together they went down the hall to the back door. Minotaur was already there. He scratched enthusiastically at the threshold.
“Something is wrong,” Olympia said. “This is not his customary behavior at all.”
“I believe you are right.” Jared unbolted the door.
Minotaur squeezed through the opening as soon as possible and ran out into the small, walled garden.
“The neighbors are going to be very annoyed if he starts barking again,” Olympia said uneasily.
“Just as well, then, that we have not met any of them.” Jared handed the candle to her. “Remain here in the house. I shall see what it is that is troubling Minotaur.”
Jared slipped quietly outside into the night. He assumed his orders to Olympia would be obeyed simply because his orders were always obeyed when he gave them in that particular tone.
Minotaur stopped when he reached the far end of the garden. He jumped up on his hind legs and sniffed industriously at the top of the wall.
Jared walked past the privy and made his way through the overgrown shrubbery to where Minotaur was looking out into the alley. There was just enough light to see that the small, cobbled lane was empty.
Jared glanced into the neighbors’ gardens on either side. Both were dark and silent. There was no sign of any of the nightmen whose business flourished during the late hours. Few people wished to be bothered with having a privy emptied during the day. In most houses the contents of the cesspool had to be carried out of the garden through the main hall and deposited into a cart on the street. It was standard practice to conduct the necessary business at night when fewer people were around to be offended by the odors.
“There is no one about,” Jared said softly. “But I suspect you already know that, do you not, Minotaur?”
Minotaur glanced at him and then resumed sniffing the bricks.
“Do you see anything?” Olympia asked.
Jared glanced over his shoulder and saw that she had ignored his instructions. She had left the candle behind in the house and followed him outside. Her eyes were huge in the moonlight and there were deep, fascinating shadows between her breasts.
Jared was torn between irritation at having been disobeyed and an extremely keen recollection of how soft Olympia’s breasts were.
“No,” he said. “There is no sign of anyone in the alley. Perhaps someone went past a few minutes ago and alarmed Minotaur.”
Olympia peered over the top of the wall. “We have been staying in this house for several nights now and he has never before reacted to anyone passing by in the alley.”
“I am aware of that.” Jared took her arm. “Let’s return to the house. There is no point hanging about out here.”
She glanced at him, obviously surprised by the inflection of his voice. “Has something annoyed you?”
He wondered how a tutor went about informing his employer that when he gave logical, reasonable commands, he expected to have those commands followed to the letter. But before he could find a means of getting his point across without telling her the truth about his identity, she drew him to a halt with a sharp exclamation.
“Good heavens, what is that?’” Olympia stared at a small patch of white on the grass. “Did you drop your handkerchief, Mr. Chillhurst?”
“No.” Jared bent down and picked up the square of crumpled white linen. He frowned as he caught a whiff of perfume.
Olympia wrinkled her nose at the strong scent. She looked at Jared, her gaze clear and solemn. “There was someone here in the garden tonight.”
Jared watched Minotaur trot over to sniff at the handkerchief. “It appears that way,” he said quietly.
“I was afraid of this, Mr. Chillhurst. There can no longer be any doubt about it. We have an extremely urgent situation here.”
“Urgent?”
Olympia narrowed her gaze as she studied the perfumed linen. “The warning I discovered in the diary about the Guardian must be taken seriously. Someone is determined to get his hands on the secret of the buried treasure. But how did the villain learn our address here in town?”
“Damn it, Olympia.” Jared broke off abruptly as an unpleasant thought struck him. His mouth tightened. “Have you been indiscreet about our presence in town?”
“No, of course not. I have been most careful in that regard. Your reputation is very important to me.”
“I suppose one of your acquaintances in the Society for Travel and Exploration could have followed us home or hired someone to do so.”
“Yes, that is definitely a possibility,” Olympia said quickly. “Perhaps one of them is connected to the Guardian in some way.”
Or perhaps one of Olympia’s new friends was drawn by the lure of treasure as were so many, Jared thought grimly. He knew the lengths certain members of his own family had gone to in the past when they had been on the trail of a missing fortune. It was entirely possible that there were others who would go to similar lengths.
All of the members of the Society for Travel and Exploration were no doubt well aware that Miss Olympia Wingfield speciality was researching buried treasures and lost gold.
Chapter 9
Jared remembered the prim little cambric chemisette and the white lace cap the moment he awakened the following morning. He realized that they were both undoubtedly still right where they had been left on the floor of Olympia’s study last night.
“Damnation.” Jared sat up and reached for the black velvet eye patch on the bedside table.
This business of conducting a passionate affair was going to be even more difficult than he had first envisioned. He wondered how the notorious rakes of the ton managed to slip in and out of various and assorted boudoirs with such reputed ease. He was rapidly discovering that conducting a simple, single affair with one woman was fraught with risks.
Perhaps he simply was not cut out for this sort of thing, Jared thought as he tossed aside the quilt and got out of bed. On the other hand, last night’s tryst had to rank as one of the most incredibly spectacular events in his entire life. Perhaps the most spectacular even
t.
But now the dawn had come and with it had arrived all the pesky, annoying details that were bound to beset such extraordinary ventures. First things first, Jared told himself. He had to rescue the chemisette and the cap before they were discovered by Mrs. Bird or one of the boys.
He quickly located a white cotton shirt and a pair of breeches in his well-organized wardrobe. Rather than take the time to pull on a pair of boots, he chose to go barefoot.
Jared yanked on his clothes and went to the door. He opened it cautiously and warily surveyed the hall. A glance at his watch told him that it was not quite five-thirty.
With any luck, if Mrs. Bird were up and about, she was either still in her room or busy in the kitchen.
Jared went silently down the stairs, his thoughts shifting from the immediate problem of the discarded clothing to the more ominous discovery of the linen handkerchief.
There was no doubt but that someone had been in the garden last night. A thief or a housebreaker looking for a convenient opportunity, most likely. But Olympia did not want to hear such a mundane explanation.
Jared swore softly, aware that Olympia’s growing concern about the legendary Guardian was going to make his already chaotic life even more difficult.
He breathed a small sigh of relief when he opened the study door and saw the chemisette and lace cap on the floor in front of the desk. They lay where they had fallen, dainty evidence of a night of glorious, wild abandon. Jared felt the aching heat rise once more in his lower body. He would not forget last night as long as he lived.
He smiled slightly as he reached down to pluck the garments off the carpet. While he was at it he scooped up the three hairpins he had dislodged from Olympia’s hair.
“Forgot something, did ye?” Mrs. Bird rumbled from the doorway. “I thought as much.”
“Bloody hell.” Jared straightened, the cap and chemisette in hand, and turned around with a sense of grim resignation. He smiled coldly. “You’re up rather early this morning, are you not, Mrs. Bird?”
Mrs. Bird was clearly not about to be intimidated. She glowered ferociously at him and planted her hands on her hips. “There’s some what calls themselves gentlemen who’d be on their way once they’d gotten what they came for. Are ye one of that sort?”
“I do not have any plans to leave, Mrs. Bird, if that is what you are asking.”
Mrs. Bird narrowed her eyes in speculation. “Might be better if ye did. The longer ye hang about the more attached to ye Miss Olympia’s likely to get.”
Jared looked at her with mild interest. “Do you think so?”
Mrs. Bird’s face turned a furious shade of red. “Now see here, ye bloody pirate, I’ll not have ye breakin’ her heart. Miss Olympia’s a decent woman in spite o’ what ye done to her last night. It’s not right for ye to take advantage of her innocent, trusting nature.”
Jared recalled the mysterious handkerchief and was struck by a possibility he had not considered until now. “Tell me, Mrs. Bird, how do you come to know so much about what happened in here last night? Were you by any chance spying on us from the garden?”
“Spying? Spying?” Mrs. Bird looked heartily offended. “No such thing. I ain’t no spy, sir.”
Jared belatedly remembered the scent of perfume that had been attached to the handkerchief. He could not associate it with Mrs. Bird who generally smelled of linseed oil, cleaning polish, and the occasional hint of gin.
“My apologies,” he said wryly.
Mrs. Bird was not mollified. “I got eyes and I got ears. I heard all that commotion out in the garden last night. When I opened my window to see what was going on, I noticed the two of ye together talkin’ real quiet-like down there. And I saw ye kiss Miss Olympia afore ye went back into the house.”
“Did you, indeed?” That last kiss had been primarily designed to take her mind off the Guardian, Jared reflected. He was not certain the ploy had worked.
“That I did. What’s more there was enough light to see that poor Miss Olympia weren’t weren’t her chemisette under her gown. Which meant someone, more’n likely yerself, had removed it for her.”
“You are very observant, Mrs. Bird.”
“I knew ye were bent on seducin’ her, and I was right. After what I saw in the garden last night, I decided to have a look around in here this mornin’ afore anyone else was up. When I seen them things o’ hers on the floor I knew for certain what had happened.”
“Very clever, Mrs. Bird.”
She angled her broad chin accusingly. “I was about to pick ’em up when I heard yer door open upstairs. Now I know for certain yer guilty as sin, don’t I?”
“I congratulate you on your brilliant investigations and logical deductions, Mrs. Bird.” Jared paused just long enough to be certain he had her full attention. “With such talents at your disposal, perhaps you’ll be able to obtain a position as a Bow Street runner after you’ve been dismissed from this household.”
Mrs. Bird’s eyes widened briefly in alarm. Then she glowered at him. “Bah. Don’t ye dare threaten me, sir. Miss Olympia ain’t about to dismiss me and we both know it.”
“Do we? In case you have not noticed, Miss Wingfield has come to rely heavily upon my advice in matters pertaining to the organization of this household.”
“She won’t turn me off,” Mrs. Bird declared. “She’s too kindhearted. Yer the one who’ll likely get dismissed if she finds out that yer threatenin’ me.”
“I would not want to put her loyalty to the test, if I were you, Mrs. Bird. Not once she discovers that you’ve been spying upon her.”
“Damn yer bloody soul, I ain’t been spyin’.”
“Ah, but will she believe that if you tell her that you know all about what happened in here last night? Take my advice, Mrs. Bird. Mind your tongue and your own business.”
Mrs. Bird’s mouth thinned with outrage. “Yer a devil, ain’t ye? Ye come into this household like some sorcerer from hell and ye turn everything upside down and sideways. Ye put a spell on them young hellions upstairs to make ’em behave. Ye produce three thousand bloody pounds with a snap o’ yer fingers and now ye’ve ravished Miss Olympia.”
“You have got that last bit wrong, Mrs. Bird.” Jared walked purposefully toward the door.
“Ye did so ravish Miss Olympia.” Mrs. Bird eyed his expression and wisely took one step back so that she no longer filled the doorway. “I know ye did.”
“That only goes to show that you do not fully comprehend the situation at all.” Jared strode past her and headed toward the stairs.
“What do y’mean, blast ye?” Mrs. Bird called after him.
“I was the one who was ravished,” Jared said politely.
He did not look back as he took the stairs two at a time but he could feel Mrs. Bird’s seething disapproval all the way to the landing.
The old harridan was an irritating problem but not an insurmountable one, he thought as he went down the hall. He could deal with her.
Jared stopped in front of Olympia’s bedchamber and knocked softly. There was a soft scurrying sound from inside and a moment later Olympia opened the door.
“Good morning, Miss Wingfield.” He smiled at the sight of her in her white lawn nightrail and hastily donned chintz wrapper.
Olympia’s dark red hair was a magnificent cloud of fire around her piquant face. She blushed a delightful shade of pink when she saw him. In the pale light of dawn she was irresistible. Jared glanced at the invitingly rumpled bed behind her.
“Mr. Chillhurst, what are you doing here at this hour?” Olympia peered around around him to check the corridor. “Someone might see you.”
“I am here to return a few personal items that you apparently forgot about last night.” Jared held up the chemisette and cap.
“Good grief.” Olympia glanced at the garments. Her eyes widened in shock. She snatched them from his hand. “I am so glad you remembered to collect them.”
“Unfortunately Mrs. Bird discovered them before I g
ot downstairs.”
“Oh, dear.” Olympia sighed. “Was she terribly overset? She has been extremely concerned about your presence in this household and now she is likely to think the worst.”
“She does think the worst, but I believe she has enough sense to keep her thoughts to herself.” Jared bent his head and kissed Olympia warmly. “I shall look forward to seeing you at breakfast, Miss Wingfield.”
Jared stepped back and closed the door on Olympia’s flushed features. He whistled softly as he went down the hall to his own bedchamber.
“Good morning, Aunt Olympia.”
“You are looking very nice today, Aunt Olympia.”
“Good morning, Aunt Olympia. A beautiful day, is it not?”
Olympia smiled at Hugh, Ethan, and Robert who had promptly leaped to their feet as she walked into the breakfast room.
“Good morning, everyone.” She waited as Ethan hastened forward to hold her chair for her. She was still not fully accustomed to the boys’ new manners. “Thank you, Ethan.”
Ethan looked at Jared for approval. Jared nodded slightly. Ethan grinned and took his seat again.
Olympia glanced down the length of the table and caught Jared’s knowing eye. The warm, shimmering happiness that had blossomed inside her last night welled up once more. Her fingers trembled a little as she picked up her spoon.
This was what it felt like to be in love, she thought. She had realized the truth last night. There had been no question but that what she felt for Jared was far beyond passion.
Love. She had come to believe that she would never experience the emotion. At five-and-twenty a woman of the world had to be realistic, after all.
Love.
The sensation was infinitely more exciting than discovering the secrets of a lost legend or exploring the strange customs of other lands.
Love.
Her life was a cup that was filled to overflowing this morning. The loneliness she had known since the deaths of Aunt Sophy and Aunt Ida was gone. She had found a man whose soul seemed perfectly tuned to her own.