A Scandalous Proposition

by Wendy Soliman

  He swayed toward her, clearly more intoxicated than she’d realised, which would account for his willingness to talk so indiscreetly. “I mean exactly that. Philippa even attended one of my poor gatherings. One much like this. Nagged me to death until I agreed to invite her. That was several months ago now, before she married.”

  “But surely this is no place for an unmarried girl.”

  “You’re here,” he said, smiling in a significant manner.

  “Sí, but I’ve been married.”

  “Well, all I can say is that Philippa knew what was in store for her, but she still insisted upon attending. Told her brother I didn’t think it was wise but he never could stand up to her. Didn’t seem too bothered about what would happen, even when she visited this very room.” His modest expression was clearly contrived and Florentina could see that he was enjoying boasting about his conquest. “Others took my place afterwards. However,” he added thoughtfully, “I don’t think I feel so generously disposed in your case and intend to keep you all to myself.” He pulled her to her feet and into his arms. “Now then, you little tease, no more talking.”

  Five minutes later Adam was back on the road.

  “Come on, Rochester.” He leaned low over his stallion’s withers and urged him into a flat-out gallop. “I believe you’re almost as attached to her as I am. Let’s rescue her from her own folly before it’s too late.”

  Rochester responded to the urgency in Adam’s voice, and they reached Lord King’s estate in record time. When he entered the courtyard, his heart lurched at the spectacle that greeted him. The debauchery was in full swing. The wild optimism that had sustained him withered and Adam was forced to face reality. Things had degenerated too far, and he could no longer delude himself into believing he’d be able to somehow protect his precious Florentina from exposure to such unpleasantness.

  His first objective was to locate her. That task would be made a little easier by the fact that half the guests had now discarded their masks. He kept his in place and strolled casually into the depths of the house. He forced himself to move slowly as he cast speculative glances over the assembled throng, as though deliberating about his choice of partner. Several women accosted him but he didn’t allow himself to be distracted by them.

  There was no sign of Florentina anywhere.

  He moved into the main house, not surprised to find the majority of the activity was taking place upstairs. He took the steps two at a time, careful not to acknowledge any of the people he was acquainted with and give his presence away. In the first room he entered he recognized one of Christine’s ladies, surrounded by three eager customers. He asked her if she knew what had become of her Spanish friend. She shook her head just once before returning her attention to the gentlemen on top of her.

  Adam returned to the corridor, thinking about what he’d do in King’s place. If he was as anxious to have Florentina as Christine had implied, then presumably he wouldn’t wish to share her. Adam quelled his disgust at this thought. He wasn’t sure whether he was cheered or discouraged when it occurred to him where she must be. He’d not been to this house before but had once heard James mention a chamber King had set aside especially for the purpose of seduction. The stairs leading to it were concealed behind panelling, and no one dared venture up there without King’s prior knowledge and consent.

  It didn’t take Adam long to find the door leading to King’s love nest. He slid it closed behind him and crept up the stairs, anxiety making his heart thud painfully against his rib cage. The desire to rush was almost overwhelming. Every second could be vital. But he tempered his anxiety with the need for caution. Rushing in blind could make matters considerably worse.

  When he reached the door at the head of the stairs, his path was barred by a bull of a man dressed in King’s livery.

  “Here, this is private,” the man said, barring the way with an aggressive stance. “Who you looking for?”

  “Stand aside.”

  “Can’t do that. It’s more than me position’s worth.”

  Frustrated by the delay, Adam took a moment to think about his next move. As he did so a piercing feminine scream came from within the room. He knew immediately whose voice it was. It was closely followed by a thump and loud masculine cursing.

  The footman glanced at the door and smirked.

  “Sounds like things are hotting up in there.”

  Adam took advantage of the man’s momentary lapse in vigilance and knocked him out cold with one massive punch. He then threw the door open and stepped into the room, praying that he wasn’t too late.

  Lord King crushed her mouth harshly beneath his own. Florentina bit his lip and kicked wildly at his shin. He cursed and slapped her face, grinning as he did so.

  “Ah, so you enjoy playing games. Well, my dear, you’ve chosen the right partner if it’s a fight you’re spoiling for.”

  His arms were holding her so tightly that any effort she made to escape only crushed her body closer to his. One hand drifted toward her bottom but he was still easily able to pin her against him with just one arm. But she now had enough room to be able to move her right arm, inching it toward the hat pin she’d hidden inside the lining of her domino. Quite without warning he ripped the bodice of her gown. She screamed, curled her fingers ’round the pin and sank it into his thigh. He grunted, more in surprise than pain, and fell to one knee.

  With nowhere to run except toward the bed, and no one to hear her screams, it quickly became apparent that he would soon recover and overpower her. But she wouldn’t go down without a fight and reached for the champagne bottle, ready to use it as a weapon.

  But at that moment the door flew open and a dominoed man stood in the aperture, filling the space with the width of his shoulders, scowling directly at her.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Florentina’s heart sank. She’d never overpower both men. What in the name of the devil had possessed her to come here? Lord King was almost upon her again but the appearance of the stranger distracted him. She seized the opportunity to throw the remaining champagne directly into his face. He cursed, dashing at his eyes, temporarily blinded. She had seconds to decide what to do next. Her every instinct told her to flee but in order to do that she must first get past this second man. She swung the champagne bottle aggressively at his head but he grabbed her wrist and easily pulled it from her grasp.

  The moment he touched her she knew his identity. Her heart sang with relief and she sagged against him.

  “Adam!”

  He tore off his half-mask and glowered at King with murder in his eyes. The sight of him in such a towering rage caused Florentina’s elation to evaporate. She shivered with apprehension, wondering precisely what she’d set in motion.

  “Wait your turn, Fitzroy.” Lord King’s red eyes rested upon her, glistening with malice. “I’ve not even started with this little wildcat yet.”

  “I beg to differ.”

  Lord King’s mirthless laugh was full of subdued menace. “Oh, all right, Fitzroy, if you’re exercising some sort of prior claim then I suppose we could share her.”

  “I think not.”

  King merely smirked. He seemed annoyed by Adam’s arrival but not threatened by it, making no effort to distance himself from him. That error of judgement proved to be fatal as, with a guttural howl, Adam pulled back his fist and landed it squarely in the middle of King’s face. The sound of bone splintering and a spurt of blood implied that his nose had been broken. Lord King let out a startled oath, crumpled slowly to the floor and lay there motionless. Adam prodded him with the toe of his boot to ensure that he was still breathing. He then flexed his fingers, grabbed Florentina’s wrist and pulled her to the door.

  “Put your mask back on,” he said in a glacial tone. Whilst she complied, her fingers clumsy because they were shaking so badly, he pulled her domino about her to conceal her ripped gown.

  “Adam, I—”

  “Later!”

  He was still grasping
her wrist with one hand as he replaced his own mask. She wanted to tell him that his knuckles were bleeding and attend to his injuries. She wanted to thank him and express her relief at his timely arrival. But there was something about his manner, about the slow-burning anger in his eyes, that made her hold her tongue.

  She lifted her skirts to avoid them trailing over the inert form of the footman and struggled to keep upright as Adam all but dragged her down the stairs. Only when they reached the main corridor did he slow his pace, releasing his viselike hold on her wrist and sliding an arm ’round her waist instead. He held her close to his side as they sauntered through the throng and finally made their way into the courtyard, which was now almost deserted.

  Florentina breathed a sigh of relief. Now was the time to thank Adam and tell him all she’d learned from Lord King. One glance at the chilling cast to his features and she changed her mind. Apart from ordering her to replace her mask he’d yet to address a single remark to her. Presumably he’d come here to rescue her, not to partake of the activities. But how had he known she was here? Not that it mattered. She’d never been so relieved to see anyone in her entire life, not absolutely sure now if she’d have been able to evade Lord King indefinitely on her own.

  Rochester was produced. Adam mounted and pulled Florentina up after him. He threw her facedown across the stallion’s withers with no apparent thought for her comfort, ignoring her indignant squeals. As the cool night air settled about her like a damp blanket, her relief at being rescued was fast turning to anger. He had no right to treat her like this. Especially not when she’d only come here in the first place, risking her all, in order to help him.

  She opened her mouth to protest but might as well have saved her breath. The arm holding her down was like a band of steel as Adam pushed Rochester into a flat-out gallop. She was being jolted about quite perilously, her aggrieved words lost beneath the sound of thundering hooves and her own ragged breathing. She’d be black and blue all over and would have a few choice words to say to his lordship when he finally released her from this most humiliating position.

  When Rochester’s pace slowed she cautiously raised her head. She was dizzy from the pounding her body had taken, but as her wits slowly returned to her she recognised Chamberleigh’s stable yard. Adam dismounted and lifted her down. She dared a glance in his direction and immediately regretted it. If anything his features were now even more fiercely arranged, and her indignation gave way to terror. She had somehow displeased the man she loved and had no notion how to resolve that situation.

  Once again he took possession of her wrist and propelled her toward the house. Christine opened the side door and greeted them with obvious relief.

  “Thank goodness!” She enveloped Florentina in a fierce hug.

  “Go and change,” Adam said tersely. “No, she doesn’t need your help, Christine. We’ll wait for her in here.”

  He indicated a small sitting room.

  Florentina confidently expected Christine to tell him to go to the devil. No one dictated to her. Not here at Chamberleigh. But much to her surprise and disappointment, Christine smiled at her, said she’d see her in a few moments and preceded Adam through the door he was holding open for her.

  In a high dudgeon, Florentina entered the dressing room, ripped off the hateful borrowed dress and gratefully replaced it with her own gown. She glanced in a mirror and grimaced. Her hair was all over the place. Hardly surprising, given the undignified manner in which she’d been escorted back here. She pulled out the few remaining pins, ran a brush through the tangles and left her tresses to fall wherever they pleased.

  Dios mío, just who did he think he was? By the time she was ready to rejoin Adam, Florentina had formulated a few choice words to address to him. She tossed her head and directed her feet toward the room where he awaited her.

  “Thank goodness you found her in time.” Christine handed Adam a tumbler full of his favourite whisky.

  “Yes, I was lucky. Another ten minutes and I’d have been too late.”

  Adam was still too angry to trust himself to say very much. He paced the length of the salon as he waited for Florentina to rejoin them. To her credit, she didn’t keep them waiting long. A jolt of awareness temporarily deflated his anger as he espied her glorious hair cascading ’round her shoulders. But he forced himself to ignore his reaction by recalling the situation he’d just rescued her from.

  “Have the goodness to explain yourself,” he said coldly.

  “Why should I explain anything to you?”

  “Well now, let me see.” His calm tone belied his towering rage and he rounded on her, finally giving vent to the fury that had been building inside him since setting out to find her. “Perhaps I mistakenly thought you owed me an explanation for your extraordinary behaviour tonight. Perhaps I was foolish enough to imagine there could be a rational explanation for your choosing to attend such a debauched assembly. Perhaps I was even demented enough to imagine you might wish to thank me for rescuing you.”

  “Yes, you extricated me from an…er, difficult situation, it’s true. But I had the situation under control.”

  He harrumphed. “So I observed.”

  “And had you given me the opportunity I would have thanked you for your intervention long before now. But instead of that, you dragged me from that house as though I was some sort of chattel and threw me over your horse like a sack of coal. Not satisfied with that, you rode back here at such a breakneck pace that I was flung all over the place, and I’m black and blue all over.”

  “Count yourself fortunate that I’m in a lenient mood or by now you wouldn’t be able to sit down.”

  “How dare you! You have no right—”

  “I have every right.” He drilled her with a blistering gaze.

  “How lovely it must be, always to occupy the moral high ground. You stand there, eyes flashing with accusation, demanding explanations you have no right to ask for.” She twirled away from him and stared out the window. “I’m not one of your soldiers, you know. I don’t have to obey your orders or justify my behaviour to you.”

  “Perhaps I misjudged you and you’re accustomed to attending such assemblies.”

  She turned to face him again, arms akimbo. “Well, at least I now know what you think of me.”

  “Florentina. Adam.” Christine’s gentle voice deflated the situation, and Adam made a huge effort to curtail his anger. And the urge to grab Florentina by the shoulders and shake some sense into her. “I think you do owe us an explanation, my love. We’ve been out of our minds with worry since we realised where you’d gone.”

  Florentina let out a long breath. “Yes, you’re right, of course.” She turned to Adam, her features arranged into a contrite expression that didn’t sit comfortably with the fire still flashing in her eyes. “Thank you, Lord Fitzroy, for coming to my aid.”

  “You’re entirely welcome.”

  “Lord King placed considerable pressure on me to attend, you see.”

  “So Christine advised me earlier. But I shouldn’t have had to learn that from her. You should have told me yourself.”

  “Why? You’ve already resolved to take on Dawson and have more than enough problems of your own at the Court. I couldn’t add to your burden.”

  “That surely was a decision for me to make.”

  “Had I told you, what would your response have been?”

  “Why, I’d have called King’s bluff, of course. He couldn’t prove you were connected to Chamberleigh. He was merely acting on Philippa’s spiteful intimations.”

  “Perhaps, but if he was determined to find out, he only needed to follow me when I call here in the afternoons.”

  “You still should have told me, Florentina. You’re my mother’s companion, and her peace of mind is of great importance to me.”

  “I couldn’t risk your calling Lord King out. And you might well have done that if you’d known.”

  Adam felt the remnants of his anger falling away in the lig
ht of this admission. She’d been motivated by concerns for his welfare. His spirits soared. It was rather insulting that she assumed King could best him in a duel but he overlooked the slur.

  “Thank you.” He gravely inclined his head. “However, after tonight King will no longer cause you any problems.”

  “But he might well cause them for you.” She looked up at him, imploring him with her eyes. “That’s why I went there this evening. I wanted to charm King into admitting that he fathered the duchess’s baby.”

  “By allowing him to seduce you?” Adam raised a challenging brow, his anger returning. It would be a long time before he could dispel the imagine of King’s eyes bright with lust as they rested upon Florentina’s breasts revealed by her torn bodice.

  “Oh, he wouldn’t have seduced me. I had the situation completely under control.”

  “Florentina!”

  “I did! Just before you came into the room I’d stabbed his thigh with a hat pin.”

  Adam couldn’t help chuckling at this but covered the sound with a cough. “You should have chosen a more sensitive target area.”

  “I doubt whether he has one,” Christine said.

  “I was about to crown him with that champagne bottle when you burst in.”

  Since Adam didn’t intend to allow her within miles of King ever again, he saw little point in putting her straight on the point. King could have overpowered her and taken that bottle away as easily as he himself had done but it wouldn’t do to labour the point. In spite of her spirited protests, she must have been severely frightened and wouldn’t behave so rashly again.

  “Very well, if you say so.”

  “Indeed I do say so and, what’s more, I achieved my objective.” She swirled with hands on hips to look at first Adam and then Christine with an expression of deep satisfaction. “Lord King told me that he met Philippa Dennett through her brother and claims to have noticed almost immediately that Philippa was hungry for adventure. He took her to Vauxhall Gardens and, when she begged to be allowed to attend one of his masquerades, since her brother didn’t object, he permitted it.”