Tempting Torment

by Jo Goodman

  "I'm happy to hear it. I've never witnessed Noah so out of sorts before. He usually takes his illness in stride, making light of it along with everyone else. It's been something of a family joke for years."

  "Perhaps he finally tired of it," she said, sitting down on a three-legged stool at the foot of Gideon's bed. "It can't be very pleasant for him to appear so weak. Not with his stubborn male pride."

  "Another McClellan trait, I'm afraid," Ashley said, shaking her head ruefully. "I wish you luck with it. I haven't been able to beat it out of Salem in twelve years of marriage." She winked playfully. "Though I've humbled him on occasion."

  Jessa smiled weakly. "I can't imagine humbling Noah."

  "Oh, I don't know," Ashley said, lifting Christian to her shoulder. His dark head lolled sleepily against the slender stem of her neck. "A man in love is remarkably vulnerable."

  "Oh, but—"Jessa caught herself before she told Ashley that not only wasn't Noah in love with her, he intended to divorce her as soon as he tired of her.

  "Yes?"

  "I never thought of Noah as vulnerable." Jessa smoothed the fabric of her gown over her knees and avoided Ashley's thoughtful regard by attending to Gideon's antics. He had gathered all three of the cloth balls and was determinedly nudging them toward the haven of the underside of the bed.

  "How does he seem to you?" Ashley asked, unable to check her curiosity.

  "Well, he's enormously fond of Gideon, so he's very kind and generous in that regard."

  "Of course. Noah's like his mother. He loves children though we despaired of him having any of his own. But you haven't precisely answered my question."

  "I don't really know what you mean," she prevaricated, raising her hands in a helpless gesture. "Noah's... Noah."

  "Forgive me," Ashley said, rising from the rocker. She went over to the window and drew the drapes. "I didn't mean to pry. It's just that after you and Noah left the dining room Salem remarked that you seemed to be a little afraid of Noah."

  "He said that?" Jessa asked, swallowing hard. "How odd."

  "I thought so, too."

  "I'm hardly likely to be afraid of my husband."

  Ashley nodded in agreement, though she was not deceived by Jessa's denial. "I know. Who could be afraid of Noah? He has rather a calming effect on the rest of us. I can't recall hearing him raise his voice above two or three times, though I understand he's something of a firebrand in the courtroom."

  And the bedroom, Jessa wanted to say. That's where I'm on trial. "You'll have to tell your husband he was wrong. I can't imagine why he would think Noah frightened me."

  "I can't either." Ashley put Christian in his cradle and covered him with a thin blanket. "Why don't I find Ruth and have her sit with Gideon? I know Noah intended to take you on a tour of the landing, but I don't think he'd mind if I did it instead."

  Jessa glanced at the clock on the mantelpiece. "I promised him I wouldn't be long," she said. The lie unwittingly confirmed Ashley's suspicions that Noah kept a tight leash on his new wife. "Perhaps if he's sleeping I could come with you."

  "All right. Why don't you see if that's the case?" Ashley plucked Gideon off the floor. "I'll find Ruth and give her this sweet young man." She watched Jessa go and turned a thoughtful frown on the child in her arms. "Something's not quite right, is it? But I'm damned if I know what it is."

  "Damn. Damn. Damn," Gideon cried happily, waving his fists.

  "Oh, dear," Ashley said, chuckling. "Don't tell anyone where you heard that."

  Ten minutes later Ashley found Jessa waiting for her in the foyer. "I take it Noah is sleeping," she said.

  Jessa shook her head. "No, that is, he was, but I woke him up when I opened the door. He asked us to wait while he washed and shaved. You don't mind, do you?"

  "Of course not. Actually, if Noah's rousing himself out of bed perhaps he would like to show you around himself."

  Thinking Ashley would act as a buffer, Jessa opened her mouth to say that she was more than welcome to accompany them. The words never were voiced, for just then she saw Noah at the head of the wide staircase.

  Ashley followed the direction of Jessa's eyes and looked over her shoulder as Noah jauntily descended the steps. "You're looking well," she said. "I don't think I've ever known you to recover so quickly."

  Noah grinned as he stepped behind Jessa and folded his arms about her waist. He kissed the crown of her head. "That's because no one has ever cared for me the way Jessa does. I swear she has magic in her fingers."

  "She must," Ashley said. "I was just saying that now that you're up again, perhaps you'd rather show her around yourself." Though Noah and Jessa immediately replied she was welcome to join them, Ashley found the real message in their eyes, and it was a decidedly mixed invitation. Jessa's clear eyes were unconsciously pleading with her to come along; above her, Noah's green-gold eyes were also pleading, but in a manner that let Ashley know he wanted to be alone with his wife. Her heart went out to Jessa, but she couldn't allow herself to interfere in Noah's personal life, not in front of him anyway. She had known him nearly as long as she had known Salem and trusted him without reservation. "That's very kind of you, but I remember what it was like to be newly married at the landing. There wasn't nearly enough privacy. If you don't mind, I think I'll try to find my husband and see if that's changed."

  Slipping his arm in hers, Noah led Jessa down the steps and along the curved driveway. There was only a hint of sun left on the horizon, backlighting the trees in the distance with a bright orange wash of color. Noah pointed to a row of small whitewashed houses bordering on the immense tobacco field. "Most of the field workers live there. There are vegetable gardens behind the houses that extend back to the woods."

  Noah steered Jessa away from the drive and around the northern corner of the house. "Come on. I want to show you the stables."

  There were in fact two buildings that held animals. The first quartered the animals used on the plantation itself, draft horses and riding animals. It also held carriages, wagons, and farming implements. The second building held the thoroughbreds, beautiful sleek animals that Jessa admired with unrestrained enthusiasm, stroking their necks, talking to them, and feeding them bits of dried apples.

  "Do you ride?" asked Noah, pleased by her reaction.

  "I haven't for some time, and never anything so fine as these animals."

  "Then we'll find you a mount from the other stable. Would you like to go riding in the morning?"

  "If you wish it." When had he ever cared what she wanted? Why was he asking now? She almost begged him to stop being kind. In some ways his cruelty was much easier to bear.

  "I do," he said succinctly. His arm slipped naturally around Jessa's waist as they left the stable and walked along the paddock fence. He pointed out the cow shed, the barn where the tobacco seedlings were nurtured and eventually dried and packed, and the newly built summer kitchen. As they got closer to the house they could hear laughter coming from the lower veranda. Noah abruptly steered Jessa away, wanting more time alone with her.

  "Where are we going?"

  "Do we have to be going somewhere? I thought you were enjoying the walk."

  Jessa dug in her heels so that Noah was forced to stop or drag her along. He stopped. "I want to go back to the house," she said. "Please, Noah. Your parents are going to be disappointed if we don't join them soon."

  "All right," he relented ungraciously. He pushed the thought of the little clearing near the river to the back of his mind along with his plans for seduction. "But we'll go back to the front of the house and I'll show you the main floor. You'll need to know where everything is. Then we'll join the others on the veranda."

  The last part of Noah's tour was over too quickly as far as he was concerned. Jessa felt differently. She had known exactly what he had on his mind as soon as he altered their approach to the house. Being alone with him in one room after another made her distinctly uneasy. Not that he didn't behave himself. He did. It was the cas
ual touch of his hand in the library, the manner in which his fingers brushed her hair in the music room, the way he stood within touching distance as they went through the front and rear parlors, the kitchen, and the significant pause at the pantry door, that kept Jessa's teeth on edge. There was no one around he had to impress, and Jessa began to believe he was playing the doting husband just to shred her nerves. She didn't thank him for it.

  By the time they reached the veranda Jessa's smile was a brittle parody of genuine feeling. Robert, Salem, and Jericho all came to their feet and offered her a chair when she stepped out onto the flagstones. Jessa thanked them and refused, taking a seat instead on the first step where Courtney was sitting.

  Noah was ready to sit beside her when he was embraced from behind by a fierce hug that almost sent him tumbling down the steps.

  "Sakes, boy! I thought yo' was never gonna stop long enough to say hello!"

  Turning, Noah grasped Tildy by her wide shoulders and placed a kiss on each of her coffee-colored cheeks. "Where have you been?"

  "In the nursery takin' a look at the fine son of yours!" She stepped out of Noah's arms, straightened her mobcap, and then smoothed the front of her dress over her ample bosom. Hands resting on her hips, she stared at Noah expectantly. "Well?" she asked, tapping her foot. Behind her she could hear Rae's giggle.

  Noah pretended ignorance. "Well what?"

  "Introduce me, brat!"

  "How is it that you can still make me feel like a green youth?" he asked, grinning.

  "Practice."

  Over the top of her head, Noah saw Salem encouraging him with gestures and silently mouthed words to argue with Tildy. Noah was not so stupid as to fall for that trick. "Not me, brother," he said, holding up his hands in surrender. "I've no desire to tangle with her."

  Tildy shot a quick, suspicious glance behind her, but Salem had already settled back in his chair and was looking completely innocent. "Well?" she asked again.

  Noah reached down for Jessa's waiting hand and drew her to her feet. "Jessa, this is Tildy, the woman who can make me confess to stealing her Sunday pies just by looking at me. Tildy, my wife Jessa."

  Tildy surveyed Jessa up and down. "My, aren't you an itty bit. Tinier than Miss Ashley, I'll wager. How you came to take up with this piece of timber, I'll never understand."

  "She felled me in one blow," Noah said gallantly.

  Tildy snorted. "More likely yo' jest carried her off, little thing like her. I'm afraid to hug her. Might break something."

  "I'm not all that fragile," said Jessa. "I'm very glad to meet you, Tildy. Everyone says you're wonderful."

  Tildy felt a warmth creep over her skin. "Ain't no one here likely to have said that. But yo' are kind to say so." She studied Jessa again. "I like her jest fine, Mr. Noah. Yo' be good to her." Without further ado she walked back into the house.

  "You've made a conquest, dear," Charity said, responding to Jessa's complete bewilderment.

  "But how can that be? She doesn't even know me."

  "Tildy knows," said Rae wisely. "She has a way of peering in someone's eyes and seeing their soul."

  Noah nearly groaned aloud. Usually he had great respect for Tildy's perceptions. In this case she was as easily misled as the others. Jessa made a hell of a good first impression. It was the knowing of her that gave one pause. He thought of the letter he had written to Drew Goodfellow. It would be sent on the next packet out. Surely Drew would find some evidence that would bear out his own suspicions.

  "And besides that," Jericho put in, "we've already told her how you saved Noah's skin. That went a long way to impressing her."

  "And she fell in love with Gideon," Ashley added.

  "And you're not Hilary Bowen," said Courtney.

  Salem looked sharply at his daughter. "That's unkind, Court. It's not flattering to Jessa, Hilary, or your uncle. "

  "But you all were saying before Uncle Noah got here that—"

  "Enough," said Salem abruptly.

  Courtney pulled a face. "I don't understand."

  Noah sat down on the steps beside his niece and pulled Jessa down with him. "It's a matter of do as I say and not as I do, Courtney. You're not meant to understand, just accept it."

  "It's not fair," she said, pouting.

  "No, it's not." He chucked her lightly on the chin while he looked meaningfully at the rest of his family, telling them with a narrow glance exactly what he thought of them making comparisons between Hilary and Jessa the moment his back was turned. "Where are your brothers and cousins?" he asked, changing the subject.

  "In their rooms. I'm the only one allowed to be up this late," she said importantly, bringing a smile to everyone's lips.

  "And I've already cause to regret it." Salem sighed, his mouth twitching.

  "Did you have a chance to visit with Cam?" asked Jessa.

  Even in the blue-gray twilight, Courtney's blush was evident. "Just for a little while. He went downriver to Norfolk with some of the crew."

  "Salem," Noah said. "I was wondering if you'd let me steal Cam from you for the length of the convention. I'd like to take him to Philadelphia with me. He made himself invaluable to Jessa on board ship."

  Jessa swallowed her protest. Cam would be more than welcome if she had any intention of going with Noah. Since she didn't, the discussion was absurd. There was also nothing she could say without giving herself away.

  "That's all very well," said Salem, "but it's up to Cam. I always had the impression he left home to get away from playing nursemaid."

  "And an abusive, drunken father," said Jessa. When everyone looked at her in surprise she added, "Cam told me. He and I spent a great deal of time together while Noah was working. He... he was easy to talk to and... we had something in common—fathers who drank too much. Not that mine ever hit me. It wasn't like that. Mostly he just... ignored me." At her back she felt Noah's fingers caress the curling ends of her hair. It was a sweet light touch, and if he had pulled her into his arms in that moment she wouldn't have shied away, even if they had been alone. "That sounds so self-pitying, doesn't it," she said, smiling faintly. "I'm sorry. I just thought you should know. My family wasn't quite like this one."

  "There aren't many that are," said Robert reasonably. His face glowed briefly as he lit a cheroot.

  Noah's fingers tugged a little as they continued to sift through the near colorless fall of Jessa's hair. She was about to feel the sting of more of her lies. "I imagine Jessa feels compelled to explain because her first husband's parents were bothered in the extreme by her background."

  Jessa wished she could call back everything. She didn't care if the McClellans knew about her own family, but she despised herself when she heard Noah bring up the fictitious Granthams. Somehow she had imagined those lies would remain between her and Noah.

  "Then it's their loss," Charity said firmly. "Really, Noah, you should have made it clear to Jessa that we don't set much credence by bloodlines and the like. That was very bad of you."

  Jericho leaned forward in his chair, placing his elbows on his knees. A frown puckered his forehead as he studied Jessa's face. Rae reached over and brushed back a wayward lock of his bright hair. "D'you know, Jessa, you have the look of someone I've met. I just can't—" She had been afraid of this since Jericho first mentioned that he had done more than his share of gambling during his brief stay in England. Noah, for all his probing and prying, had never once expressed an interest in her maiden name, or in her past beyond her fabricated marriage to Robert Grantham. Yet now it was going to come tumbling out because Jessa had no doubt Jericho Smith had played cards with her father. "You probably knew my father," she said because it did not seem there was a choice. "Baron—"

  "Winter! "Jericho finished triumphantly. "Of course. Lord Winter. My God! You have his hair, his eyes. I don't know why I didn't realize it immediately. Lord, yes, I played cards with him on several occasions."

  "That, I imagine, did not bode well for my father. Noah says you're an exception
al player."

  Jericho leaned back and stretched his long legs, crossing his feet at the ankles. "That was a lifetime ago. I don't play much these days. Tell me, Jessa, what could your in-laws find objectionable? As I recall, your father is well-liked, titled, and has considerable resources."

  "My father is dead," Jessa said. "Mother also. There was a fire on the estate. It killed my parents and destroyed our home as well."

  "Oh, God," Jericho groaned softly. "I'm sorry. I didn't realize."

  Jessa waved his apology aside. "You couldn't have known. And yes, my father was well-liked and titled. However, his considerable resources were something of a sham. After the fire there was nothing left. That's what others found objectionable."

  "How did you manage?" Ashley asked. "It couldn't have been easy for you."

  "It was... awkward," Jessa said truthfully. "I took a position as a lady's companion in London. I met the Penber—er—Robert there and we married later." Had Noah caught her faltering? He was always so quick to suspect a lie and too often he was right. She was glad when Courtney blurted out a question.

  "Was this lady mean and overbearing and pompous? And did she use you as a drudge?"

  Jessa blinked in surprise at the young girl's earnest question. "Why ever would you think that?"

  "Because it's so romantic that your husband should rescue you from that sort of life."

  "Oh, I see. Well, I'm afraid you'll be disappointed. Lady Howard was very kind to me and I didn't have the least sense of being rescued."

  "Oh."

  "God, Courtney," Salem said feelingly. "The way your mind works. You have the most cork-brained notions."

  Courtney drew herself up defensively. Her silver eyes, so much like her father's, flashed. "Everyone knows you carried Mama away from her wicked uncle at Linfield," she said, waving her arms dramatically. "And Jericho saved Aunt Rae from certain death in a seedy redcoat tavern. I'm not cork-brained!"

  "I don't think I ever used the word seedy," Rae said calmly.

  "And you are cork-brained, "Jericho added, "because there was nothing the least romantic about it."

  Ashley rose from her chair and motioned to Courtney. "Come with me, young lady. It's past your bedtime. And I think it's time I explained to you those tales you've heard are only romantic in the retelling." She took Courtney's small hand in hers. "Good night everyone. I imagine I'll have this child's muddled head cleared by morning." Courtney pulled away from her mother long enough to kiss her father good night, then she followed Ashley into the house.