The Temptation of a Gentleman

by Jenna Petersen

  “Good, I’ll be behind you in a moment,” Noah said. “If we return together it will only spark questions.”

  “Fine.” She pulled the door open. Muttering under her breath, she added, “I don’t want to walk back with you anyway you overbearing lout.”

  “Marion!” Noah said, his voice heavy with surprise and laughter.

  She turned back with a sweet smile on her face. “Yes, my lord?”

  “I am standing right here! I can hear what you said perfectly well.”

  Marion stiffened. She straightened her back in defiance and nodded her head at Noah.

  “Good,” she said. “I wouldn’t want you to think I was talking behind your back.” With that she closed the door and strode down the hall, her ears tickled by the sound of Noah’s belly laugh from behind her.

  ***

  Marion slipped into her seat with a quick smile for Lady Woodbury. As she straightened her napkin on her lap, she noticed the other woman continued to look at her.

  “Marion.” Tabitha tilted her head as she glanced at her son’s empty seat then back. “Is anything amiss?”

  “Why?” Marion’s heart beat faster. She’d been very careful to return with as little fuss as possible.

  “You’re a bit flushed.”

  Marion looked away. Oh dear, she was a bit too obvious it seemed. The last thing she desired was for Lady Woodbury to know what a wanton she’d made of herself in the library. She enjoyed Noah’s caresses. No, she craved them. When he pushed her aside, it had left her feeling bereft and aching for his kiss.

  “I’m sure it’s just the afternoon sun.” With a false smile, she smoothed her pelisse and began a covert search for Noah.

  Tabitha’s well-defined eyebrow arched up. “I’m sure.”

  Marion shifted in her chair, refocusing her attention on the plate a footman set before her. Lady Woodbury’s dark eyes continued to watch her as if she understood far more than Marion wanted her to. Finally she returned her attention to her other guests.

  Marion let out a small sigh of relief as she began to pick at her dessert. Lying to her father and Josiah Lucas was one thing. The two men were conspiring against her, so turnabout was fair play. But lying to Tabitha Jordan was quite another. For some inexplicable reason she wanted Noah’s mother to like her.

  She glanced up with a smile as Noah returned to the table. He shot a quick wink at her before turning to the man to his side and beginning a political conversation. With a shiver, Marion realized the reason she wanted Tabitha to like her was sitting across the table from her, his blue eyes sparkling and the little dimple between his cheek and chin making him even more charming. The reason was Noah Jordan.

  The man she was falling in love with.

  Chapter Ten

  Marion sat in the window seat in her chamber and stared out at the overcast day. Though she should have been doing many other things, she was lost in thought as she watched the gardeners trim the rose bushes in the distance.

  “Where Noah first kissed me,” she murmured, before growling at herself with displeasure. Surely she’d been mooning over the man long enough. It was time to forget the girlish crush.

  Except it was more than a girlish crush. Two days before she’d dared to think that she was falling in love with the handsome Marquis. Since then that notion had grown until it filled her mind and shadowed her every thought, word and action.

  “Stupid, stupid girl,” she chided herself before resting her forehead on the cool glass. Over the years her father had kept her from being courted. Of course her natural reaction to the first man she met was to believe he was the man of her dreams. And the fact that he looked like a Roman god and made her blood run hot only served to further bolster that silly idea.

  But nothing could ever come of it. Even if Noah weren’t practically engaged to another woman, he certainly wanted to marry someone of aristocratic blood and gentle breeding. Men of his ilk didn’t fall in love at all, much less with the daughters of indebted merchants who would sell their only child.

  She almost burst into tears right then and there, but the somber moment was interrupted by a light knock on the door behind her. Wiping her eyes, she called out, “Come in.”

  The door opened and Sally stuck her kerchiefed head into the bedroom.

  “I’m sorry, miss. I’ll come back to change the bed linens later.”

  Marion scrambled to her feet with a shake of her head. “No, no. Please come in now. I’ll stay out of your way.”

  This was just the distraction she needed, the opportunity to chat with the maid. Noah had said the servants might hold the key to finding out what had really happened to Georgina Ross. The key to Marion’s salvation.

  “If you’re certain, miss.” Sally came into the room with a pile of folded linens in her arms.

  “Of course. It certainly isn’t your fault that I’m hiding up here in my room,” Marion said with what she hoped was a light laugh. “I wouldn’t want to keep you from your work.”

  “Thank you, miss.”

  Sally gave her a brilliant smile before she stripped the bed with an efficiency born from many years of practice. Marion moved over to her dressing table and sat down in order to watch Sally in the mirror as she hurried about her duties.

  “How long have you been with the household?” She pretended to fiddle and rearrange the items on her table.

  “Going on three years, miss,” Sally said. “Since I was fifteen.”

  “A long while then,” Marion said with a smile. Perfect.

  “A while.” The girl nodded and her brown eyes flashed up before she went back to her work.

  “Then you knew the last Mrs. Lucas?” In the mirror she saw Sally’s back stiffen and her hand clenched into a fist to smash the corner of the blanket she held.

  “Aye,” she whispered. “Mrs. Lucas had just married Mr. Lucas when I came to Toppleton Square.”

  “It’s sad that she died so young.”

  Sally returned to her work, though Marion couldn’t help but notice how much slower she moved, as if unpleasant thoughts waylaid her. The maid glanced over to meet Marion’s eyes in the reflection.

  “Very sad.”

  “What was she like?” She turned in her chair to look Sally in the face. Now that the mirror didn’t distance them, the maid dropped her eyes to the floor.

  “Like?”

  Marion stood up and came a few steps closer. She didn’t want to frighten the girl or push her too far so early in their acquaintance, but she felt the young woman had something to reveal. Something important.

  “Yes. She and I were nearly the same age,” she explained. “I wonder if we had anything else in common.”

  Sally bit her lip as she turned to look Marion up and down. “Well, you look a bit like her, I suppose. In the hair and eyes, but you aren’t as curvy as Mrs. Lucas was. Begging your pardon, Miss Marion, but why do you want to know?”

  Marion backed away and gave a careless shrug. “Bored, I suppose. My father and Mr. Lucas aren’t exactly stimulating companions. Poor Georgina’s portraits have drawn me to her. I wonder what a woman her age must have done here to relieve her own ennui. Or perhaps she was too much in love with Mr. Lucas to suffer boredom?”

  Sally laughed but it was a brittle sound that came from the back of her throat. “No, I wouldn’t say that. Madam was certainly not enamored with Mr. Lucas.”

  Immediately Sally gasped and stared at Marion while she covered her mouth with one hand. “Oh, pardon me! I shouldn’t have spoken so freely.”

  “No.” Marion stepped forward to touch the girl’s arm. She was surprised that it trembled. “You may trust me. I’d never repeat anything you said to me in confidence.”

  Except to Noah, she added in her head, feeling just a little guilty that she was forced to lie to the girl. But she assured herself that her actions were honorable. How could they not be when Lucas was the prime suspect in a murder?

  Sally lowered her hand and looked at Marion through w
ide eyes. Finally she nodded. “I suppose you should know, considering…”

  “Considering?”

  “Mr. Lucas was obsessed with his wife, Miss Marion,” the girl burst out. “He followed her everywhere, and had a man on her when he couldn’t go with her. He was afraid she was off cuckolding him with some young man. Any young man who looked in her direction was suspect.”

  “That poor girl,” Marion whispered. “Had she given him cause to be so suspicious?”

  “None except to be young and beautiful.” Sally set her jaw defiantly. “And honest, perhaps too much so. She didn’t want to be with Mr. Lucas and never pretended otherwise.”

  Marion’s eyes grew wide. “If that is the case, she must have been very unhappy.”

  The maid nodded sadly. “She was. Her father and mother had given her to Mr. Lucas against her will, though I heard they came to regret their actions far too late.”

  Marion thought of what Noah had told her. Georgina’s father had asked that the case be investigated, probably out of guilt. She had to wonder if her own father would even care enough to do the same if his arrangement with Josiah Lucas led to her death. Sadness filled her at the answer. Probably not.

  Sally sighed. “Madam was a fighter and she fought him every chance she got. Oh, the screams from that bedroom…” The girl tilted her head down and wiped her eyes with the corner of Marion’s blanket. “I shall never forget them.”

  Marion shivered as she realized what Sally was describing. Lucas had forced himself on his young wife. Just as he promised to force himself on her if she ultimately refused his advances.

  “Poor Georgina,” she whispered hoarsely.

  “Over the two years they were married, she grew more and more unhappy. She cried nearly every night, though she never spoke to any of the servants about her troubles. She was too proud for that. But then she had her accident.” Sally’s eyes narrowed and hatred filled them. “Or what was called an accident.”

  Marion’s heart leapt to her throat and kept her from speaking for a moment. “Y-you mean you don’t believe it was an accident?”

  She held her breath as Sally stared at her. Her cheeks were flushed and her eyes uncertain and guilty. Marion couldn’t blame her. As a servant, Sally could lose her position… even her life, if she spoke too freely. But still, Sally seemed to want to confess whatever she had kept inside for so long. Finally, the maid set down the blanket and took two hesitant steps toward Marion.

  “Oh please, Miss,” she whispered, looking around her even though the door was securely shut. “You mustn’t tell anyone. You must swear to me.”

  Marion nodded. She took both Sally’s hands to reassure the young woman that her vow was one she meant to keep. “I would never endanger you, Sally.”

  The maid swallowed hard. “I don’t think Mrs. Lucas fell.”

  “Why?” Marion was surprised to realize just how tightly she gripped the other woman’s hands. Releasing them, she repeated her question, this time with gentleness. “Why do you believe that?”

  The young woman lifted her face. Her brown eyes were brimmed with unshed tears and she looked as miserable as any person Marion had ever seen. “Mrs. Lucas was the most graceful woman I ever knew. She held herself like a lady. She never would have tripped and fallen like they said she did. She didn’t have that kind of clumsiness in her.”

  For a moment, the young woman cried, then she straightened and wiped her face. Her eyes locked with Marion’s as she said, “I swore I’d never saw those words, but you’re so much like her, Miss Marion. And you’ve been kind to me when I’ve received no kindness in this house for a year. I see the way he looks at you, Miss. The same way he looked at her.”

  Marion’s spine stiffened. Suddenly their conversation had turned to the uncomfortable subject of her own personal safety. That was a topic she didn’t much like to think about, let alone chat about with the servants.

  “The way he looks at me?”

  Sally nodded adamantly. “Mr. Lucas wants you, just the way he wanted her. And not to offend you, Miss Marion, but your father don’t seem like the kind who would go out of his way to protect you, especially if money was on the line.”

  “Why do you suspect money is involved?” Marion forced past dry lips.

  Sally shook her head. “With Mr. Lucas, money is always involved.

  “I see.”

  “If you can get away from here I’d go before you’re forced into the same trouble as the last Mrs. Lucas.”

  Bile crept up Marion’s throat to taint her mouth. She wasn’t willing to confess that the same life had already been planned for her. Not when she couldn’t even bring herself to reveal it to Noah.

  “You think those are his plans for me?” she asked.

  “If I didn’t I’d keep my thoughts to myself,” Sally said. “I hope I’m wrong, Miss Marion. But if I’m not I’d advise you to keep your bedroom door locked and leave this place as soon as you can.”

  Marion nodded slowly. “I appreciate your concern, Sally. I assure you, I’m doing my best to do just as you say, but I’m afraid it might take some time.”

  The bravado and candor left Sally’s eyes. “Excuse me for speaking out of turn then, Miss Marion. I didn’t mean to frighten you or say too much. I hope you won’t go back on your promise and tell Mr. Lucas or your father about what I said.”

  Marion smiled to reassure the girl. “I made a vow that I wouldn’t tell Mr. Lucas, and I intend to keep it. If you want honesty, I despise the man, too.”

  The fear eased from Sally’s gaze. “Then perhaps we can help each other.”

  “How?”

  “We could look out for each other. If that isn’t too forward a suggestion.”

  Marion’s smile broadened to a grin. “On the contrary, I think it’s a very good idea. From now on I’ll watch out for you and you’ll do the same for me.”

  She held out her hand to the girl who stared at it for a long moment. Finally she took it and they shook. “Thank you, Miss Marion.”

  As Sally blushed and returned to her bed making, Marion hugged herself. Once again, Noah had been right. The servants were a fount of information and she had just befriended one who not only had intimate knowledge of Georgina Ross’s life and death, but was willing to share it. Noah would certainly be impressed by that when she got the chance to tell him.

  ***

  Noah glanced over the latest message from London with a frown. Lord Golding had given him more information about the case, but none of it made Noah feel any better about leaving Marion in Josiah Lucas’s house to garner evidence. The more he found out about Lucas and his dangerous obsession with his late wife, the more uncomfortable he felt.

  He ripped the missive in half and tossed it into the glowing flames in the fireplace, watching as the sparks ate away the words on the page.

  What choice did he have about leaving Marion where she was for the time being? His first allegiance was to Golding and the case he’d taken on. If he removed Marion, his intervention would completely cut off any ability he had to investigate Lucas. A man like Lucas would be less than understanding that Noah had stolen the woman he intended to marry.

  He strode to the door and yanked it open. “Rothschild!”

  The hulk of a footman appeared from out of nowhere and scurried to his side with a short bow. “Yes, my lord?”

  “Have you been keeping abreast of the actions of Mr. Lucas and his houseguests?”

  He smiled at the eager look on the boy’s face. After a few years of service, he trusted the young man. And his huge size and intimidating strength made him an asset.

  “Yes sir, just as I said I would,” the boy replied with a wide smile.

  “And what have you discovered?” Noah motioned for the young man to come inside the study for his report.

  “Yesterday Mr. Lucas and Mr. Hawthorne went into the village for a game of cards. I believe Mr. Hawthorne lost a small sum of money.”

  Noah shook his head. “The man
never learns,” he muttered.

  He’d never been one for games of chance. He preferred to play where he knew he could win. Where depending on his wits and his intelligence would lead him to victory, not the lucky throw of the dice or the turn of a card.

  “Beg your pardon?” the boy asked with a tilt of his head.

  “Nothing, continue.”

  “Yes, my lord. Miss Marion stayed in her chamber most of the day reading. She did come down for supper, but she barely ate.”

  Noah frowned. He hated to think of her upset with no one to talk to about her feelings. But he wasn’t sure if he was the best confidante for her, even if they could be alone. It seemed whenever he had a few moments with her, all he could do was accost her, and that probably wouldn’t help… although the image was a pleasing one to him. He could still feel the soft curves of her body molded to his, her breath coming short as he kissed and touched her.

  “My lord?”

  Noah jumped as the boy brought him back to reality a second time. “What was that?”

  “Nothing sir.” He cocked his head as if he were unsure of his master’s state of mind. “I just asked if you were pleased with what I found?”

  “Yes, of course.” Noah waved his hand in dismissal of the question. “But what about today? Do you know of their plans?”

  Rothschild nodded. “Yes, my lord. Mr. Lucas asked their cook to prepare a picnic luncheon for three. Apparently he and the Hawthornes are going to be going for a ride across the estate and the shire. They plan to lunch by Perchta Lake.”

  Noah smiled. “When do they plan to depart?”

  “I believe sometime before noon, my lord. Would you like me to find out a more specific time?”

  Noah glanced at his pocket watch. It was already nearly eleven. “No, Rothschild, that will be all. Tell the groom to have my horse ready and find my valet. I’ll be riding today and won’t be home for luncheon.”

  “Yes, my lord.” Rothschild gave a smart bow before he hurried from the room to make the arrangements.