“If people talk then they obviously lack the intelligence to find a more interesting topic,” Noah hissed, barely reining in his anger. The last thing he needed was to destroy his own investigation and perhaps put Marion’s life in danger by losing control.
“Of course, I don’t believe the rumors.” Lucas placed a hand on his breast as he took a drink from one of the servers. “But it’s difficult not to hear the whispers.”
Walter Hawthorne looked from one man to the other nervously. If Noah hadn’t been so angry, he would have found Hawthorne’s predicament amusing. After all, he was indebted to Lucas, but obviously strove to impress Noah. Now that the two men were at odds, Hawthorne couldn’t decide where his allegiance should lie.
Noah refused to stoop to Lucas’s level by asking him what the rumors about Tabitha were. He already knew. Friends had told him some of the crueler members of the ton said his mother had lost her mind.
The echo of Tabitha’s laughter floated over the crowd and he spun around to face her. He hadn’t heard that sound for months, yet there she stood, laughing as Marion grinned and nodded her head. A surge of pleasure shot through him at the sight. Marion’s presence was a good influence on his lonely mother.
“Lords and Ladies, you may proceed to the South lawn for sustenance when it pleases you,” Basil said from the terrace as he motioned to the stairway with a short nod.
One by one, the guests trailed past Noah and meandered their way toward the South lawn for their picnic luncheon. Finally Marion and Tabitha reached the men.
“Mama.” Noah took her hands and kissed both her cheeks. “Seeing you laugh is a gift.”
Tabitha smiled. “Marion was telling me the most amusing story of how her pencils were eaten by the horse of a perfectly dreadful man.”
Noah glanced at Marion. Her brown eyes danced as their gazes met and she winked at him brazenly. The tiny gesture sent heat rushing to his loins and he shifted uncomfortably to cover the reaction.
Tabitha turned to Lucas and Hawthorne with a wide smile. “Will you gentlemen be so kind as to escort me?”
Lucas opened his mouth as if to protest as he shot a look toward Marion, but Tabitha had already taken his arm and was leading the two men down the stairway before his complaint was out of his mouth. For a brief moment Noah and Marion were alone.
“Your mother is an angel,” Marion said as she watched the little group disappear around the terrace stair. “She adores you and your sisters.”
Noah smiled as he offered her his arm. “Yes, sometimes to excess.”
She laughed as they began to descend the staircase. “How is that possible?”
“She and my sister Audrey didn’t always get along,” Noah explained. “And my sister Ginny made a very bad match at my mother’s urging. Mama blames herself for it.”
Marion dipped her head. “I suppose I’d never considered there might be disadvantages to a mother who was so involved in a person’s life.”
Noah let out a curse under his breath. Here he was acting as if his mother’s intrusions were inconvenient when Marion had never had the benefit. He’d been insensitive to her feelings about her mother’s untimely death.
Marion blinked back unbidden tears. Why did spending time with Noah’s mother make her think of her own so much? She should have become accustomed to the sting she felt, not allow it to wipe away any control she had over her emotions.
With a tiny shake of her head, she forced a smile to her lips. “I wonder if we might have a moment alone together later to talk about that matter we discussed?”
With a tilt of her head, she indicated Josiah Lucas and her father.
“Yes.” He nodded. “That was already in my plans.”
She smiled broadly. Wouldn’t he be surprised when she told him she already had information from Lucas’s own mouth?
“When?”
Noah smiled. “In half an hour the rest of the guests will be so involved in eating and gossiping they’ll hardly notice if you slip away. I’ll meet you in the library where I gave you the pencils. Do you remember where that is?”
Marion held back a laugh. She’d memorized all the rooms and passageways of Linton Green, at least all the ones she’d been in. The library had been particularly interesting to her. She closed her eyes and pictured it perfectly. Into the foyer, down the short hall to the left of the stairs, turn right…
“Marion?”
Her eyes flew open to find Noah staring at her with an amused smile on his face. His blue eyes sparkled.
With a blush she said, “I remember. And you’ll meet me there?”
“That’s my intention,” he said as he released her arm to motion to the chair the footman held out.
As she sat, she looked around her in relief. The rest of the guests had already been served their first course and were eating and chatting around her. Marion was pleased her father and Lucas had been seated two chairs away from her, while Noah was directly across from her and his mother to her right.
Now that she knew he would meet her, Marion gave a happy sigh and quickly fell into conversation with Tabitha Jordan. Later she could surprise Noah with all she knew, later she could have a moment alone with him. Perhaps a moment when he would look at her in that way that made her knees go weak.
No one could begrudge her just that bit of stolen time.
Chapter Nine
Marion ran her finger across the spines of a line of books, inhaling the scent of their aged pages and devouring the beauty of their lettering. There was nothing she loved more than a library. After her mother died, her father had destroyed or given away all the books she owned. He’d turned her mother’s library into a stuffy parlor where no one even bothered to have tea anymore. It had been a first of many crushing blows to Marion, losing the things her mother had loved.
She shook her head. Now wasn’t the time for melancholy remembrances of the past, but preparations for the future. If only she could do what Noah asked of her she would be free of her father forever, free to travel to her aunts and live a life too wonderful to even fathom.
“Why does that feel so empty?” she whispered as she pressed her forehead against the books.
She should have felt joyful at the thought of escaping to the life she’d planned for so long. Instead, the idea of going to her aunts wasn’t as thrilling as helping Noah or being near him.
The sound of a man clearing his throat jerked her from her scandalous thoughts. Marion spun around and found Noah leaning against the doorjamb, a crooked grin on his handsome face and his bright eyes sparkling.
“I knew you were enamored with my library before, but I never thought I’d find you embracing my books.” He entered the room with wink. “I may be a touch jealous.”
Marion blushed as she backed away from the bookshelf. “My apologies, I was lost in thought.”
“Apparently.” Noah shut the door behind him and motioned to two chairs beside the fireplace. “Would you care to share with me what took you so far away from Linton Green?”
Marion shook her head. What was she to say, that she was dreaming of Noah’s touch? She highly doubted the Marquis would appreciate that.
“A secretive lady is always so interesting,” he said as she sat down. “But I won’t intrude on your thoughts right now. We have very little time to talk and need to discuss our plans for Josiah Lucas.”
Marion nodded with enthusiasm. “Yes, I have so much to tell you!”
He wrinkled his brow. “You have so much to tell me? I haven’t even talked to you about the specifics of what to do yet.”
“I know that, but I was getting so frustrated waiting the last few days. I want to find out whatever Lucas did to Georgina and move on with my life.”
Noah leaned forward, his eyes flashing and his tone sharp with disapproval. “What did you do, Marion?”
She jumped. He seemed angry, not pleased that she’d begun prying into Lucas’s life.
“I went into his study to look around for incr
iminating items,” she began. Her excitement returned with the memory. “By the way, you should try to be more specific with a beginner. ‘Incriminating items’ is about as vague as you can get. At any rate, Lucas came in-”
Noah sprang to his feet. “What?”
He’d never been so furious in his life, not even with Audrey who loved to put herself in dangerous positions.
Marion looked up at him with bright, brown eyes. “I said Lucas came in while I was looking around.”
“He found you in his private quarters?” Noah snapped, trying to rein in his anger and worry.
She nodded as if the fact that she’d foolishly put her life in danger rather than wait for his instructions and protection was normal.
“I thought that was what you wanted.” She stood up and her head barely reached his chin. “You told me to look for incriminating items, so I did.”
“I didn’t mean for you to burst into Josiah Lucas’s office and put yourself in danger!” He ran a hand through his hair. “My God, Marion what were you thinking?”
He stared at her a moment, wondering if he was wise to allow her to participate in his investigation. The last thing he wanted was to put her in further danger. But it was too late. She already knew about his case and had waded knee-deep into it.
“What did he say? What did you say?”
She shrugged. “I told him I was reading a poem about-”
He threw his hands up in the air. “You talked to him about poetry?”
She pursed her lips as irritation lit up in her eyes. “If you’ll allow me to finish, I’ll explain exactly what I did. Then you can scream and bellow like a barbarian.” With a frown, she crossed her arms and continued, “I simply told him I was reading a work about life taken too soon and it reminded me of his late wife. I explained that as I walked downstairs, I caught a glimpse of her portrait in the office and came in to look.”
Noah stepped back. For a novice, Marion had come up with a fairly reasonable explanation. If he hadn’t been so furious with her impulsive nature, he would have been impressed by her ingenuity. “And he accepted that?”
She shrugged. “He seemed to. He even talked to me about Georgina.” Marion paused. “Why are you so angry? I thought you wanted my assistance in this matter. That was our bargain, was it not?”
“It was.” With a sigh, he turned toward the picture window that looked down on the party below. “But I never wanted you to put yourself in danger.”
She gave a humorless laugh. “Every moment I’m in that house I’m in danger.” He turned in time to see a shiver wrack her body. “The only way I can protect myself is by helping you.”
Noah frowned at the fear in her eyes. A forced marriage was certainly distasteful, but it was no reason for her to be so frightened, or worry she wouldn’t be protected. Hadn’t he already promised her that?
“In the future-” In one step, he closed a little of the gap between them. Her scent wafted over toward him and dulled his anger. “You’ll depend on me for protection and instruction before you go running off and doing something so foolish like invading Lucas’s office.”
Her eyes narrowed as she brought her hands up to cover her hips. He followed their movement, wishing he could mimic their action with his own.
“Now wait just a moment, Noah Jordan,” she said, completely oblivious to the lust she inspired in him. “You aren’t talking to a child! I’m a grown person and if you trust me to be your partner, even for a short time, you must trust me to make my own decisions. Right now you’re being as narrow-minded as my father.”
Noah moved even closer. Now they almost touched. “See here, I’m nothing like a man who would sell you for his own foolish debts.”
“No? He doesn’t feel I’m capable of making my own decisions either,” she retorted.
He pursed his lips. “You’re not experienced enough in this field to do anything without some guidance.”
“That is so pompous,” she said with a sigh. “To think that because I don’t have training, I somehow don’t have instincts.”
She began to turn away from him but he caught her arm in one smooth motion and spun her back around to face him. “I know you have instincts, but I can’t see you hurt. Do you understand?”
Marion gazed up into intense blue eyes that refused to set her free from their imprisoning gaze. Noah’s warm, sensual scent enveloped her, and his hands felt like fire burning through the thin silk of her gown. She flashed back once more to his mouth on hers and instinctively wet her lips at the thought.
Noah let out a low groan and without warning, brought his mouth down to hers. Marion’s surprise lasted only for a moment as the heat from his mouth washed away any other senses, any other thoughts, anything in her mind but him. For that moment, he was everything. And she gave in willingly, bringing her arms around his neck with a soft sigh.
This time Marion wasn’t surprised when Noah’s tongue caressed her lips. In fact, she opened hungrily to him, clutching at him harder when he delved inside her mouth to taste every hollow. Meanwhile, his hands crept to her waist and he tilted her against him until their bodies touched in the most scandalizing way.
Through the haze of desire, she noted Noah was guiding her backward across the room. He stopped when her back flattened against one of the high bookshelves. Now she felt the full length of him as he pressed against him. His broad, muscular chest touched hers, his hard stomach and hips molded to her quivering body and his muscular thighs, so well defined in his tight breeches, pressed against her most intimate place. Never had her body felt more alive, tingling at every nerve ending.
He moved his mouth to kiss the corner of her lips, then her cheek before moving down to skim along the curve of her throat. She tilted her head back with a soft sigh. Her hips lifted with the motion and she felt the hard thrust of Noah’s erection against her thigh.
Her eyes flew open at the contact and she looked at Noah’s face through heavy lids. “I…”
He shook his head, though he continued to keep her wedged between his body and the bookshelf. “I’m sorry.”
“Don’t,” she pleaded as she buried her face against his shoulder to place a light kiss just above his cravat. “Please don’t say you’re sorry.”
With a grunt, Noah tilted her face back toward his and kissed her again. He simply couldn’t control himself around this woman. He needed her. Despite the promises he’d made to Charlotte and the fact Marion was an innocent who he could plan no future with, he wanted to hold her in his arms and fill his senses with her scent and taste.
There was a bustle in the hallway and a burst of laughter through the door. Immediately he pulled away to leave Marion staring stunned at him.
“Servants,” he explained when no one intruded on the awkward scene.
She dipped her head with a slow nod. “Yes.”
“I’m sorry, Marion, I don’t know why I got carried away.”
Already, he longed to touch her cheek and brush away the stray curl that twisted against the satin of her lip. Of course he knew why he’d gotten carried away. Marion Hawthorne was beautiful, honest, light and he wanted her more than he’d wanted any other woman in he couldn’t remember how long.
She sucked in her breath through her teeth. “I told you,” she said, accentuating each word. “Don’t apologize.”
She pushed past him to halt before the fireplace. Staring at the flames, she didn’t say anything for a long moment, then finally she whispered, “Do you want to know what he told me?
“Who?” Noah answered. She had to know any thread of conversation they’d had previously was hopelessly lost in a haze of passion.
“Josiah Lucas.”
With a shiver, she glanced over her shoulder. Quickly she recounted their conversation. Noah answered her with nods and few non-committal grunts. Nothing she said was news to him, but the idea that Lucas had compared Marion to his dead wife was deeply troubling. If he saw her as some kind of replacement for Georgina that could
mean he would repeat whatever patterns he’d played in his first marriage. Including murder.
“Is that all?”
“Yes.” She kept her eyes down.
He winced, hating that he’d embarrassed her. This was exactly why he was so reticent about ruining her, even in name only. If a stolen kiss in private left Marion shaken, how would she survive a blight on her name that would follow her forever?
Of course, a false ruination wouldn’t make him as hot as their stolen kiss had. And she’d responded, too. There was no doubt in Noah’s mind Marion desired him and, gauging from her reaction, it terrified her.
He cleared his throat and snapped, “In the future I again ask you not to do any investigation without my instruction.”
Her shoulders stiffened and her eyes came up with slow, angry purpose. “And what am I allowed to do then, my lord?”
He stifled a smile at the return of her spirit. “Why don’t you start by asking a few discreet questions of the servants and see where that leads?”
She nodded. “And I can continue to probe Lucas when I have the chance.”
Noah’s heart leapt at the thought. “No, no, no. Didn’t you hear what I just told you? Don’t talk to Lucas about anything unless I’m in the room. Don’t confront him at all. And above all else, don’t go sneaking about his private rooms anymore. Do I make myself clear?”
She stared at him for a long moment. Her eyes flashed with emotion as she struggled to rein in control. Finally she ground out, “Perfectly. Now I’m going back to the party.”
Marion turned and stalked toward the door. How she would like to prove to Noah Jordan that she was more than some pawn in the game he played. She was intelligent and could be of better use than simply questioning the servants. Why just a few moments of conversation had opened Josiah Lucas to her. She could only imagine what more time and questions would reveal.
The Temptation of a Gentleman Page 8