The Secrets of a Lady

by Jenna Petersen

  She was finally putting thoughts of Griffin out of her mind and becoming engrossed in the story she read when a soft cough at her door made her look up. Instead of a servant, as she’d expected, Griffin himself stood there, leaning against the doorjamb with his arms folded across his broad chest.

  “What…” she stammered, blinking twice to make sure her imagination hadn’t taken her completely away. Before she could say anything more, he hobbled across the room to take her hands. His touch was so warm and gentle that she knew she wasn’t dreaming.

  With one pull, she was on her feet, then in his arms. His mouth swept down and molded against hers. Damp heat rushed through her body with the touch she’d dreamed about but hadn’t experienced for what seemed like a lifetime. Surrendering completely, Audrey returned his kiss, tasting every hollow of his mouth and pulling him closer and closer to her.

  Finally, her rational mind returned, bringing with it all the reasons she’d left Griffin in London.

  “No.” She pulled away from him reluctantly. “This isn’t what I want.”

  A slow, seductive smile was his answer. “Really? Then why are you taking off my shirt?”

  With two surprised blinks, Audrey looked down. Sure enough, she’d unfastened half of his buttons and pulled his shirt partly off his broad shoulders. Letting go of him, she pushed out of his arms.

  “The reasons we can’t be together remain the same,” she managed to say shakily, praying he’d put his shirt back on before she looked at him. The sight of his half naked body was just too distracting.

  “No they aren’t. The reasons are gone. I love you, Audrey.”

  His words rushed through her, striking her heart like an arrow. As much as she wanted to give in to what he offered her, she wasn’t certain it was real.

  She sighed. “This is why I left London, Griffin. I didn’t want a scene like this where you tell me you love me just because you think you should marry me. It’s just too cruel.”

  “I’m not cruel.” He limped around to stand in front of her. Reaching out, he took her trembling hand in his and raised it to his lips. The caress was butterfly gentle, but made her knees go weak. “I’m truthful. These past two weeks away from you have been hell, but I came as soon as I could.”

  “I’m sorry you wasted your time then.” She turned away so he wouldn’t feel her tremble.

  “I love you,” he repeated, seemingly undaunted by her refusals and rebukes.

  She could hear her breath rasping in and out of her lungs in the long silence that followed his second profession of love. But she didn’t answer, and he didn’t speak. At least, not at first.

  “Audrey?” he finally said when the silence had filled the room for many moments.

  “Don’t…” She cursed herself for the tears that had collected in her eyes. “Don’t say you love me unless you really mean it.”

  He grasped her shoulders to turn her toward him. His hand cupped her chin, lifting her face to look into his. “I mean it. I think I’ve loved you for years. Probably even before that day you kissed me. I love to watch your mind spin on a problem. I love the way you offer me comfort. I love the way you touch me. I love everything about you, even the things I haven’t learned yet. I was a fool not to see it before, but if you’ll allow me I’ll spend the rest of my life making up for it. I love you.”

  Her tears were flowing freely now, running down her cheeks to drip off her chin, but she did nothing to ebb their flow as she stared in utter joy at Griffin’s face. Finally she saw there what she’d searched for so long.

  “You do love me,” she said, reaching up to run her hand across his rough cheek.

  “Forever,” he whispered. “So say you’ll marry me.”

  She hesitated as joy filled her entire body. This time she felt no fear, no need to deny him what he asked.

  “If you say no…”

  She shook her head. “Yes.”

  With a shout, Griffin swept her into his arms and kissed her.

  “Er, may we come in?”

  Audrey pulled away as Griffin hurriedly buttoned his shirt. Both Griffin’s family and her own were gathered in the doorway. Her brother was there and Hannah, too in the back of the crowd, with a huge “I told you so” grin on her face.

  Audrey motioned them in as she wiped away tears.

  “Oh,” Griffin’s mother said with a sniffle. “She said yes this time.”

  Blood rushed to her cheeks and she didn’t care. “Yes.” It was the only word she could think to say and she wanted to shout it from the rooftops.

  Noah wiped a playful hand across his brow. “Thank God. I didn’t want to have to resort to Plan B.”

  “What was Plan B?” Audrey asked as she slipped an arm around Griffin’s waist and smiled up at him.

  “Well, er…” he stammered. “It involved the impropriety of a young man being alone with a young woman in her bedroom…”

  Audrey’s eyes grew wide. “You were going to force me to…”

  “Marry the man you love?” her mother interrupted with a beam. “Absolutely.”

  “Well…” Audrey looked from face to face with a scowl that quickly faded into a smile. “I couldn’t be happier.”

  Griffin let out his breath in relief and kissed her once more. “Neither could I.”

  Take a Sneak Peek at the second book in the Jordans series, The Temptation of a Gentleman (October 2011):

  Chapter One

  London, 1815

  “Get your mind out of the game and into the parlor, Woodbury,” Noah Jordan admonished himself as he paced the sitting room of the Ives family.

  He groaned. Impossible. He had been trying to focus on the impending arrival of the woman he was courting, but his errant thoughts kept drifting to the letter in his pocket.

  He fingered the parchment restlessly before he took a seat near the fire, but he didn’t need to withdraw the envelope to know each and every word that was written inside. They were imprinted on his brain. His former employer, Lord Golding wanted him back in the field. To play the spy just one last time.

  It was an opportunity Noah had immediately grasped. After being removed from active duty one year before, he’d been increasingly consumed by ennui. Duty required he participate in the boring practices of the ton. One of which was finding a proper wife. Just the thought made him grimace. Courting was boring as hell. He shuttered to think what marriage would be like. Night after night with the same woman, only escaping to play a hand of cards or discreetly visit a mistress.

  He groaned inwardly.

  He forced his frown into an awkward smile when the door opened and Lady Charlotte Ives entered. As always, she was the epitome of grace and classic beauty. Every golden lock was in place and her gown matched the blue of her eyes to perfection.

  Despite all that, she did very little to make his blood burn.

  He rose to place a perfunctory kiss on her perfumed hand. “Good afternoon, Lady Charlotte.”

  “Good afternoon, Lord Woodbury,” she replied as she took her place on the settee.

  He flinched at the sound of his father’s title coming from her lips. Despite the old man’s death six months before, Woodbury still seemed to belong to him. Noah had always been more comfortable with the title Lockhart. But those carefree days were over. Now he was the Marquis of Woodbury and he had to behave, and marry, accordingly.

  “I do hope there is nothing amiss with you.” Charlotte’s smooth voice jerked him from his musings. “When you asked to meet with me you seemed quite urgent. Is everything well with your family?”

  “Yes.” He took the tea she offered him with a nod. “My family is quite well, thank you for asking. Audrey and her husband are here in London for the summer. My mother is still adjusting to life alone, but she has her charitable work in Woodbury. And Ginny and her husband are on their estate in Northern York.”

  Charlotte smiled at the quick recounting of Noah’s ever changing family, though it seemed to him that her expression was a litt
le less than interested.

  “I’m glad to hear they are all so well. But I still wonder about your need to meet with me today.” She folded her hands in her lap.

  “I wanted to inform you that I shall be leaving London for a short time. I have business to attend to in my shire.”

  She tilted her head but he couldn’t read her expression. “How long will you be gone, my lord?”

  “Not very long. Perhaps a month.” He leaned forward to stare into her eyes and hoped, not for the first time, that he would see something within their depths that captured him.

  Nothing.

  He leaned back with a small sigh. “When I return, I will be making an appointment with your father. Then I’d like to speak to you about a matter of great importance.”

  A blush tinged her pale cheeks pink. It was clear they both knew the subject of which he spoke.

  “I look forward to that discussion then, my lord.”

  “As do I.” He hoped he sounded sincere. This assignment would mark the end of his previous life. When he’d done his duty for Lord Golding he would settle into his life as Marquis. One that included a new wife.

  He smiled and was surprised when she didn’t return it, but instead seemed distant. “Is there something troubling you about my news?”

  She snapped her gaze back to his immediately. “I have no right to question your decisions.”

  He arched an eyebrow. “But I value your opinion. Over the past few months I’ve come to rely on your counsel. Tell me what it is that worries you.”

  She stood and wrung her hands. “My lord, for the past few months you have courted me in every way that is proper and decent. And I have looked forward to your presence in the ballroom and in this drawing room. But…”

  He frowned at her hesitation. Here Charlotte was about to say the only thing that had ever interested him and she paused. “But?”

  “You do have a reputation, my lord, that is hard to ignore,” she finished, almost apologetically. “And I wouldn’t like to look the fool in front of my friends or society.”

  His frown deepened. Of course Charlotte knew of his reputation, who didn’t? He’d never made it any secret that he enjoyed the entertainments of London, from horses to drink to beautiful women. Enjoyments made more accessible by his life as a secret agent.

  “I would never make you look a fool,” he said. “Have I behaved in some way that has done so?”

  “No, at least not yet. But I wonder if this trip to your shire is really a way to… to finish off your days as a rake and a bachelor.”

  He leaned back in surprise. He hadn’t thought Charlotte would even have such observant thoughts in her pretty head, let alone dare to voice them.

  “My dear Lady Charlotte…” Standing, he dared to lean over and touch her hand. “You believe I’m off to carouse in the country as a last-ditch celebration of my bachelorhood?”

  She delicately pulled her hand away. “Perhaps. My lord, I am not as naïve as I may appear. I realize after you marry… whomever you marry… you will have your dalliances. But they will be private, not something that would shame your wife. But a public display when it is well-known you seek my attentions could lead to embarrassment. And I do fear that is what you seek while you travel.”

  He smiled his reassurance. “I am going to Woodbury to take care of some business for a friend, a man who has helped me in more ways than I can ever repay. I assure you my visit is not to sow any wild oats.”

  At least not the kind she meant. Instead, he was sowing the wild oats of adventure. He could only hope one last turn as an unofficial spy would help him shake his for excitement from his blood so he could be a good Lord and Master to his estate and family.

  “And what if I hear otherwise, my lord?” Her voice was suddenly very soft.

  “You won’t,” he guaranteed. “My days as a rake are over, and my days as a respectable Marquis have begun.”

  She nodded slowly. “I hope that is so, my lord.”

  Then her directness faltered and she dipped her head again to return to the subservient miss who he’d courted over the past few months. “And now our allotted visit has passed. I wish you good fortune on your trip to Woodbury and a swift return to London.”

  “Charlotte, if you wish I could stay and we could talk more about this.” Somehow he hoped she would say yes and perhaps hold his interest.

  Instead, she crinkled her eyes as if confused by such a request. “And why would I wish such an improper thing?”

  It was clear she truly didn’t want him to remain. With a sigh, he bowed deeply and wished her a good day.

  The moment he was back in his carriage and speeding toward his London estate, he dismissed Charlotte from his thoughts. Already his mind spun on the mission ahead of him. A simple one really.

  One of his tenants had been married to a much younger woman who was the only daughter of an associate of the head of the War Department. The woman had died under strange circumstances, and her father wished to know if she’d been murdered. Though it wasn’t a matter of national security, Lord Golding had taken an interest in helping his friend and called on Noah. He was the natural choice of investigator. He could return to Woodbury and ask questions without raising suspicions.

  As Noah swung down from the carriage and strode into his house to make the final preparations for his departure, the last wisps of concern over Charlotte Ives and the prison of marriage faded from his mind.

  For now he was totally focused on solving a murder.