Gone. Forever.
Attended by a footman, Luther exited the carriage and turned to offer Tulip a hand, then Tess.
“A gallant show, Uncle,” she snapped, refusing his hand as her silk-shoed foot met the pebble-lined drive. Sweeping past him, she followed other guests up the wide marble steps, struggling to hold back the flurry of nerves dancing in the pit of her stomach as she neared the open doors.
Beneath the swathes of her ruby-red velvet cloak, she pressed the flat of her hand against her stomach, willing her nerves to abate. If she were to dazzle and flirt tonight she would need her wits about her.
It was imperative she find a husband because marriage, she reasoned, meant escaping Luther’s constant haranguing and evading his physical threats, for they were becoming more and more frequent.
Marriage also meant she could gain some semblance of independence—but only if he were a man of her choosing. That criteria she would not relinquish.
“Right. Best behavior, remember.” Luther wheezed in her ear as they stood waiting to be announced.
Tess refused to look at him and kept her gaze fixed on the spectacle in front of her.
Dazzling chandeliers hung from the ceiling and the flicker of candles reflected a thousand-fold in the intricately cut crystal. From one end of the room, the melodic sound of a quartet drifted along on a scented breeze, accompanied by the hum of excitement from guests.
A maid took their cloaks and Tess tucked her fan into her reticule. She sucked in a breath. “Here we go.”
Calm. Dazzle. Find a husband.
…
Introductions over, everything passed in a blur of voices and smiling faces, of admiring glances from men and assuming stares from the young women who eyed her as of no consequence. They offered no smiles of friendship or words of welcome, while the glances down their upper-class noses said it all.
They thought her too old to be competition.
Too plain.
And definitely too poor.
Tess bristled, her frustration real.
Seeking sanctuary from prying eyes, she pushed her way through the crowded room and took respite behind a lush grouping of palms in a secluded corner. Hiding from the world, a frond scraped across her nose and she suddenly found herself smiling. Perhaps she could pretend to be in the jungles of Africa, or on some deserted island. For years it had been far easier to lose herself in the fantasy of her beloved books than the harsh reality of the marriage market.
Except Tess knew now that the fantasy world in her books was just that. A fantasy. That life on the highways and byways was dark and dangerous, fear-filled and…she’d failed.
Her desperation renewed. She would not fail again.
On the other side of the room, Luther was in deep conversation with a man who had visited their St James house several times. She couldn’t remember his name, but as Luther glanced her way several times, the chilling thread of dread settled heavily in her stomach. Was her uncle eyeing the other man as another prospective husband? Certainly the man cut a rather dashing figure in a sharply angular way, but he wasn’t—
No, do not think of the rogue!
The dancing began but Tess decided to stay secluded in her private retreat. It was rather amusing to view those men who assessed the opposite sex as they nodded and smiled like prancing peacocks, while the women fluttered their lashes at the dandies.
“The reward will be enough. Plenty of pickings apparently.”
That voice!
The hairs on the back of her neck stood to attention, ice chilling the blood in her veins in an instant.
Dear God. The same voice. The same rogue. Her rogue.
“What time is the strike?”
“Uncertain yet. I await word on their whereabouts.”
Reward? Stolen reward?
Tess drew back a large palm frond.
Aiden Masters stood as bold as brass and discussed his next sortie. And he had condemned her as being foolhardy!
Heads bent together, Aiden and another man talked animatedly for some minutes before the other man turned and walked away.
For a few seconds that seemed long and drawn out, Tess studied Aiden, noting the fine cloth of his clothing. Obviously, robbery still proved a lucrative business.
A sudden thought occurred. Aiden Masters had a secret. And she was desperate.
The plan came out of nowhere, offering her the second chance she so desperately craved. How important was it for Aiden to keep his secret?
A tiny smile played across her mouth. She was about to find out.
Clutching her reticule with both hands to stem their shaking, she stepped from behind the palms. “Hello, Aiden.”
Her highwayman spun round, shock widening his blue eyes. “Tess!” He snatched at her wrists and drew her straight back to her hiding place. “What the hell are you doing here?”
“I could ask you the same thing,” she countered, aware of a burning heat coursing from his fingers through her gloves and into her bones.
She tugged her hands free, folded her arms across her middle and eyed him with a mocking stare. “Am I about to ruin a ‘job’ for you?” She swiped back a palm frond and peered across the chattering crowd. “The guests may not be from the highest echelon of society, but there are men of considerable means nevertheless. I would say you’ve got fine pickings. Everyone is dressed to impress. Gold. Diamonds. Rubies, even. Whatever your fancy.”
Aiden leaned in close and she instantly edged away, only to back up hard against the wall behind her. There was no escape.
His lips were close to her ear and his breath warm and sweet against her skin. “You have no idea what is going on, Tess.”
“So why don’t you tell me.”
His lips moved, but no words came out and he abruptly stepped back, dragging a hand through his hair.
“Secrets are so valuable, don’t you think?”
“Tess…” he warned.
“I’m sure you would not want your secret divulged.” She fluttered her eyelashes as she’d seen some of the young girls do who fawned at the circling wife hunters. There was a playful sound in her voice and she realized with shock that she was actually flirting with him—and it was rather fun.
Her plan escalated. Marry and then disappear.
“I wonder how many of these guests would want to know what you do for a living? Have you robbed from any of them already?” She pointed toward a rather stately gentleman, his puffed-out cheeks pink from imbibing too much cherry wine. The man mopped his forehead and scraped a finger underneath his too tight neck cloth. Tess stifled a giggle. She could not help but feel sorry for the overstuffed gentleman. “There’s Arthur Dunhoven. He’s worth a packet from trading investments in the Indies. Why not corner him for his pocket watch? I’m sure he must be carrying some gold coin too.”
The play of expressions on Aiden’s face delighted her.
He, however, did not turn to look at the guest, but kept his gaze fixed on her. “You think to tease me, Miss Stanhope?”
“Oh, I don’t think it, I know I am. I know your secret, you see.”
“You’re playing a dangerous game.”
“Am I?” Her mouth curved into a tiny smile. “If you thought I posed any threat to you, you would have done something straightaway, yet you haven’t. But you are wrong, Aiden, because I am a threat.” She rested the tip of one finger on her chin, tilting her head playfully and smiling up at him. “Good disguise, by the way. Posing as a gentleman.”
“A gentleman who right now could quite easily commit murder. How about we take a walk outside?” Without waiting for her answer, he drew her from their hiding place into the cacophony of partygoers. His grip on her proved brutal and Tess realized if she created a scene she would draw the wrath of Luther. She had no choice. “A walk sounds like a wonderful idea.”
“I’m surprised you came so easily,” Aiden commented as they passed through a set of French doors and onto a paved patio regaled with lanterns.
<
br /> Tess played for time. “How so?”
“Escaping the throng of crowds in the overheated ballroom with a gentleman would certainly not be deemed de rigueur for a lady. Worse, since I am such a rogue.”
“Perhaps,” she shrugged. “But then I never do what is expected of me.”
“Then you are not like the other young women here.”
“I thought you already knew that. Besides, would you want me to be?” Good Lord, she’d gone too far. She was no coquette, used to the flirting of the ton.
Uncertainty suddenly reared. Could she do this? She swallowed back her breath and waited.
“No,” he finally answered. “In this world of hunt and be hunted I think you are quite refreshing.” He paused a moment as his gaze swept across her décolletage and up to her mouth, holding her captive in his teasing search. “Which would you prefer to be, Tess? The hunted…or the hunter?”
Under his scrutiny, she struggled to drag in some air, the simple act of breathing impossible. “I do not want to be hunted, or caught,” she said in a rush.
His mouth twitched ever so slightly. “No, I did not think you would. You, Miss Stanhope, want to control the game.”
She did. And she would. She shot him a tight smile. “Of course. Why should men get all the fun?”
“Is it fun? Was it fun sitting atop your horse, waiting for the carriage to round the corner, waiting to rob the innocent?”
“No, but then I can only answer from my one experience.”
Just then a slight breeze wafted across the treetops and the stars lit up the sky like the very best of diamonds haloing all beneath them in a shimmering glow.
The time had come to make her move—to make Aiden Masters see he had no option. Tess lifted her chin, stemmed her nerves and pulled her shoulders back. “And what about you, Aiden?”
His smile evaporated. “I do what I have to do, Tess.”
“Perhaps,” she said with a hint of a smile. “But it seems me that you have a secret, something I think you would prefer remained so.”
He turned on her with a speed that belied his size. In the moonlight, he looked frighteningly fierce. His eyes had darkened to an almost blue-black, dark lashes barely shadowing the wash of anger reflected in them. The pulse in his jaw flexed and a single bead of sweat trickled down his temple.
Tess focused on that tiny bead, while her fingers itched to reach up and wipe it away. “You would not want those people in there to know who you really are, would you?” she said at last, dragging her attention from that teasing bead.
Aiden’s hands clenched into fists. “And I presume you intend to tell them.”
Tess smiled her satisfaction. So far this was proving easier than expected. “I might.”
“Blackmail, Tess? This is something new to add to your growing list of accomplishments. Highway robbery, blackmailer. It does have a certain ring to it.”
Tess cringed inwardly, for it was true, but she would not falter. “You yourself have said we do what we must. I want independence and as a married woman, it is automatic.”
“So go find yourself a husband.”
She offered him a telling smile and her heart raced at breakneck speed. Her hopes and dreams were all tied up in this very moment. “I already have.”
Something in his expression faltered, only to disappear in an instant. “Congratulations, I hope you will be very happy. Have I met him?”
“Absolutely.”
“Who is he?”
This was it. The moment she prayed would work. Had to work. “You!”
“Bloody hell!” Aiden grabbed her shoulders and wrenched her to him, knocking the air from her lungs.
“What are you doing? Don’t touch me.”
“Strange words from a woman who has just proposed marriage.” He sneered at her but he did release her, though he didn’t step away and his body still caressed her length.
Her mind reeled at his closeness, a sensory world of heat and touch. Of sinful thoughts. Concentrate. Stick with the plan.
What plan? This had been a spur of the moment idea. Now she had to make it work.
A flurry of nerves and fear coiled tight in her gut. This man was big. Her gaze dropped to his hands. Big hands. Hands that could break her without much effort.
Tess knew she tempted him, which was exactly as it needed to be if she were to succeed. Then he did something she hadn’t expected. He lifted a hand to her neck, scraping the back of his fingers along its curve. Her breath hitched for a heartbeat.
Do it, Tess. He’s your only hope.
“I desire the independence of a married woman,” she said in a rush.
His eyes darkened to the color of the deepest night sky. “And?”
The tip of her tongue slid along the rim of her mouth, and butterflies fluttered in her stomach. “Marry me, Aiden, and you’ll never see me again. Marry me, or I will announce to the world your penchant for robbery.”
His hand fell away, his expression instantly stony. “You are either very brave, Tess Stanhope, or extremely foolish.”
“I know what I want.”
“So do I.”
Then he kissed her—and that changed everything.
Chapter Five
Everyone was there, the rich, the rogues
Hearts aflutter, diamonds glittering
All in the quest to find true love—or a proposal.
Mirabelle’s Musings
November 1813
“You taste as sweet as—”
Her palm connected with his jaw and his head snapped back. “You kissed me.”
He had, and that’s because he had been fantasizing about her since that fateful night, for God’s sake. He closed off such thoughts and massaged his throbbing jaw. “Isn’t that what a betrothed couple does? Consider it a warning not to play games you cannot win, Tess. I am not some twittering idiot of the ton you want to idle your hours with.”
She tilted her chin up a fraction and he witnessed that sense of pride and strength she’d shown when they first met. Eyes the color of a lush forest stared hard at him, and he found himself imagining a rod of steel the length of her spine.
“This is no game. You, Aiden Masters, are a hardened criminal who would prefer your secret to remain just that.”
He stemmed his denial and shrugged. Let her think what she liked. It was best that way. Real secrets were always better kept than shared. Besides, now that he’d seen her uncle with Nash it made it imperative he keep up the ruse. Better she think him a rogue than the man determined to bring Nash’s—and her uncle’s—activities to an end.
“So you resort to blackmail. I hate to disappoint you. There is a problem you haven’t thought of.”
“Which is?”
At her continued temerity Aiden’s mouth twitched. “I am not in the market for a wife.”
“And yet you came here tonight. These soirees are the greatest hunting ground of all. Oh, but I forget,” she said, wagging a finger at him as if he were a naughty boy residing in the nursery, “I’m sure you had other business to attend to. Jewels and gold coin to appropriate.”
Keep up the facade. Keep her believing the worst and then walk away.
“’Tis a living,” he answered as blandly as possible.
“A dangerous one.”
“I’ve survived thus far.”
“You are not afraid to die?”
“I’ve seen death before. It is not gentle, but no, I’m not afraid.” He shifted farther into the darkness, away from prying eyes and ears. “You want a husband, Tess. There are many here to choose from.”
“None as biddable as yourself.”
Her honesty was refreshing. “You think me such easy prey that you can manipulate me?”
“You live a secret life you do not want the world to know of. I want my freedom.”
“You think blackmailing me will solve your problems.”
“I know it will.”
Her smile reached her eyes and suddenly Aiden found h
imself smiling back. He couldn’t help himself.
“Do I not have a say in this marriage of ours?”
“It is simple. We marry and then you go back to your world of stealing and I will go elsewhere.”
“Where exactly would that be? And how will you live? Or do you have an endowment to support you?”
She went to speak, but clammed up and Aiden witnessed the sudden slam of reality in her expression and the slight fall of her shoulders. It tugged at his conscience and worse. Could he in all faith leave her to the perils of that repugnant uncle? He’d abandoned his duty before and had lived with the guilt ever since. But marriage?
After Lillian’s deception, Aiden had vowed never to enter that world again and now he was so close to Nash he could not, would not, allow anything, or anyone, to get in his way. Not even the delightful Tess.
“I had not thought that far,” she finally admitted.
Just as he expected. “So this is another harebrained scheme.”
“It is not!” She took umbrage, cheeks heating to a tender blush of pink.
“Sorry, Tess, but I will not be bludgeoned by you, or any woman, into marriage. May I suggest you try a different tactic for your next victim? The usual is batting one’s eyelashes or offering flattery, neither of which you have offered me.”
“My uncle, whom you’ve met—”
“Unfortunately.” His mouth soured. He’d also witnessed her uncle’s tête-à-tête earlier with Nash. Why was Nash with Gibbs? He’d wanted to slam a fist into the bastard then and there, but remembering the bigger picture had restrained him from an attack.
“He has…had someone in mind.”
“So marry him.”
Horror washed over her expression in an instant. “Never. Never to that man.”
“Is he old?”
“No.”
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