by Sara Bennett
Richard had suspected this was so; it made sense. Now he wondered if Tina was a willing participant or whether this was an example of her being the dutiful daughter. After last night he was beginning to favor the latter.
“Isabelle is keen for a weekend country house party.” While Richard was cogitating, Sir Henry had moved on. “She’s younger than I, gets bored with nothing to do. Got to keep her busy. We’ll be sending you an invitation, Richard. Don’t worry, there’ll be plenty for you to do. I’m asking Gilfoyle and Little, too. And the Smythes and their friends.” He rubbed his hands together in anticipation. “Throw the whole lot of them together, eh, and see what happens? I wouldn’t be surprised if something major crops up.”
Richard tried not to shudder at the wasps’ nest his commander was putting together. But Sir Henry’s plans usually did work out, and if it meant they could flush out the Captain, then well and good. He just hoped there weren’t repercussions.
“I still want you to go to Kent and take a reccy,” Sir Henry went on, “but wait until after the weekend party, just in case we learn something more.”
“Very well, sir: a reconnaissance to Kent.”
“Nice girl.”
“Pardon?”
Sir Henry looked up with assumed surprise. “Miss Smythe. Nice girl. Don’t you think? Delightful.”
“Yes.”
Richard left it at that, but he could see his superior smirking to himself. Well, let him! Richard wasn’t about to discuss with Sir Henry his feelings for Tina and the personal doubts that were beginning to afflict him. Once all he’d cared about was finding Anthony’s killer, with no thought of what might happen next.
But Tina Smythe was forcing him to ask himself those questions. Uncomfortable questions. And with the questions came a tentative hope for the future.
It was early afternoon and Lady Carol and Sir Thomas had left the house for an appointment at the bank. Tina, who was waiting impatiently to fulfill her own appointment, changed quickly into her favorite blue dress with the matching bonnet. She’d been planning to go to Jasmine Square on her own, but now Maria knew about Mr. Eversham and was seeing Archie, it seemed prudent to take her, too. Then, if questions were asked, she could always say she was shopping with Maria.
They set off on foot. Lady Carol and Sir Thomas had taken the coach, but it was such a lovely day Tina was happy to walk. She noticed that Maria had taken some pains with her appearance and smiled to herself. She could not remember Maria’s ever having a gentleman caller. Was that through choice, or was there some secret in Maria’s past that stopped her from trusting men? Whatever the reason, Tina decided she would encourage this romance. At Maria’s age this might be her last chance for happiness.
The door of Number Five opened so quickly, Tina was sure Archie had been lurking about inside, awaiting their arrival. “Miss Smythe,” he said formally, and then his smile broadened. “And Miss Baez.”
“Good morning, Archie,” said Tina pleasantly. “Would you mind keeping Maria company while I have my chat with Mr. Eversham?”
“Mr. Jones must be busy,” interrupted an agitated Maria. “I’m quite able to occupy myself, miss.”
“Actually, Miss Baez, I was about to go on a message for Mr. Eversham. It shouldn’t take long, and we could walk. Would you care to join me?”
Maria glanced uncertainly at Tina. “Miss? Should I wait for you here?”
“Not at all, Maria. I am perfectly safe with Mr. Eversham. Go and enjoy your walk.”
Archie stepped forward. “I’ll just see you up first, Miss—”
“Nonsense,” Tina interrupted Archie. “I’m quite capable of walking up a few steps on my own. Mr. Eversham is expecting me, is he not?”
“Yes, miss.”
“Then you may go.”
“Thank you, miss.” He smiled at Maria, his eyes twinkling more than ever, and Tina couldn’t help but smile herself at their obvious attraction to each other.
When they’d gone, Tina made her way up the narrow staircase. She felt curiously agitated and told herself it was because she knew that her mother would be horrified at her behavior. But that wasn’t the real truth. She’d slept badly. Nothing seemed to be going as she’d expected and planned. And she found herself thinking more and more about Richard Eversham and less and less about Horace.
Richard opened the door to her gentle knock. “Tina,” he said, holding out his hand.
Her heart gave a bump. She took his hand, as always aware of his hard body radiating warmth close to her, and he drew her into the cozy room. The shades were drawn against the afternoon sunshine, making the light muted, and yet it felt bright and welcoming.
Was that because he was here?
Shaking off her abstraction, Tina accepted his offer of a seat on the sofa, removing her gloves and bonnet and setting them beside her. Tina’s head had begun to ache, and she told herself it was from too much thinking. She had her plan, she must follow it. Horace was her target. Anything else was completely unacceptable.
But the words sounded like she was repeating them as a child repeats times tables, and they no longer held any meaning.
“You didn’t tell me how you came to be there last night,” she said, with a crease of her forehead.
“Didn’t I?” His smile was bland, his expression unreadable. “I am a friend of Sir Henry. He knew my father. They were in the army together.”
More army friends. That explained it then. Although not completely. It occurred to her that despite his charm and warmth, Richard was a man of secrets. She had placed her future and her reputation in the hands of a man she barely knew.
Aware of the silence, she looked up and found him watching her, that seductive, charming smile curving the corners of his lips. She wanted to trust him, she really did.
“I didn’t do a very good job, did I?” she blurted out. “With Horace, I mean.”
“These things take time, Tina. You mustn’t give up yet.”
“Is that what you tell your other clients? How many actually succeed in marrying the person of their choice?”
“I’ve had one . . . no, two failures, and they were for reasons beyond my control. So you are in safe hands.”
Instinctively, her gaze dropped to his hands. She remembered the heat of them against her bare skin, his confident, smooth touch, and the sound he’d made when she kissed him, as if he wasn’t quite in control of himself after all.
Her mind was drifting again.
To pull herself back, she spoke briskly of the first thing that came to her head. “Maria, my maid, is walking out with Archie. Did you know that?”
“I did. Archie told me.”
“It is strange that they should come together like this. Maria seems to think it was coincidence.”
“An accident of fate.”
“He won’t hurt her, will he?” she said quickly. “She has been on her own for years—as long as she’s been our maid.”
“Archie isn’t the sort of man to hurt a woman, and certainly not one he cares about. Even so, I’ll have a word with him.”
“Of course my mother will be horrified when she discovers he’s your servant. I just hope she doesn’t put a stop to it before it’s had a chance to begin.”
Richard raised a dark eyebrow. “My apologies for my scandalous reputation, but I can assure you Archie is entirely his own man. He’s never come to me for advice where his love life is concerned.”
She wondered if she’d hurt his feelings. He wasn’t showing any emotion, but she sensed something beneath his urbane manner. And yet he had no reason to feel hurt; she’d only spoken the truth. His reputation was bad, and Lady Carol might well interfere if she thought her maid was in moral peril.
“Speaking of reputations, I’m surprised that Gilfoyle has never tried anything with you,” Richard interrupted her thoughts. His gray eyes were watchful, almost brooding.
“What sort of anything?” she asked warily. “You mean has he attempted to seduce me?”
>
“Yes.”
“No, he hasn’t.”
“Have you wondered why?”
“Perhaps because he has no interest in me. That is why I’ve come to you.”
“So he has never tried to touch you? Never?”
Tina hesitated. She could change the subject now—that is what she should do—but Tina knew it wasn’t what she wanted to do. There was a wicked creature stirring inside her, a temptress, and suddenly she gave in to it.
“Touch me?” she asked, being deliberately obtuse. “Touch me in what way, Mr. Eversham?”
But he was too cautious to be drawn on that.
“Your mother must have told you what liberties you should permit a gentleman?”
Tina waved a hand. “She mentioned something about it. Actually we discussed it recently. She said that although I must not let a gentleman touch me, I can let him look. Because, she says, a gentleman will not buy what he can have for free.”
He chuckled.
“Surely that is a contradiction in terms?” she added in a puzzled voice. “A gentleman should be beyond reproach in such matters.”
“Tina, if you believe that, you have a lot to learn.”
“That is what she said,” Tina replied glumly.
Richard steepled his hands under his chin, as if, she thought, in amusement, he was about to impart to her the wisdom of the ages.
“In essence I agree with Lady Carol, particularly in Gilfoyle’s case. Although a little touching can be good, too. Men like Gilfoyle, who are used to getting their own way, can be driven mad by a little touching if they’re then refused the ultimate prize.”
Tina wondered where he was going with this. She was beginning to feel very warm. The ultimate prize. She was tempted to ask him more about that but bailed out at the last moment.
“So what is acceptable?” she asked instead, wondering at her daring. “I am at a loss here, Mr. Eversham. I believed any contact, apart from a clasp of the hand, was unacceptable. But here you are telling me I can go further.”
“I am indeed.” His gaze was fixed on her with an intensity that set her skin prickling.
“I think you should demonstrate.”
He went still, as if he, too, was making some inner decisions. Was he beginning to wonder, as she was, whether their meetings were no longer about business? Whether there was something much deeper happening between them?
“If you will permit me?”
At her abrupt nod, he rose and sat close beside her on the sofa. Reaching out, he gently stroked her cheek with the backs of his fingers. “This is quite acceptable. And here.” He traced the delicate curve of her ear. “And here.” He caressed her neck.
Tina felt herself becoming languid. She wanted to lean into him and kiss his mouth. She wanted him to touch her in other places, places she knew very well were unacceptable. She heard herself saying the words, shocked at her own forwardness.
“And where shouldn’t he touch me?”
His eyes met hers, a strange glitter in them, and then he reached out and touched the pale skin directly above her décolletage. For a moment, he hesitated, as if waiting for her to tell him to stop, and then his hand slipped inside her dress and stroked the swell of her breast.
“This is a definite no-no,” he rasped. His fingers lingered, brushing her soft skin, delving inside her chemise, until the tip of one finger actually came into contact with her nipple.
A river of heat ran through her, making her gasp. Reluctantly it seemed he removed his hand from her breast.
“I can see why,” she managed in a curiously prim voice for one indulging in such wicked behavior. “Is there . . . is there anywhere else I must not let a gentleman touch me, Mr. Eversham?”
“Oh yes,” he said with enthusiasm. “Most definitely.”
“Then I think you had better show me.”
“All of them?”
“It is important I know, don’t you think? To protect myself?”
“Oh yes, extremely important.”
His gaze swept over her, and again he hesitated. For an expert at seduction he was a little shy, Tina thought. He was supposed to be teaching her, and yet it was Tina who reached out to place her palm flat against his linen shirt and beneath that the hard heat of his chest.
“Richard,” she murmured, “kiss me again. I really think I’m getting the hang of it.”
For a moment, she thought he was going to refuse, the grand seducer refusing to seduce, but then she was in his arms, and he was kissing her with a passion that was savage and possessive and quite wonderful.
Chapter 15
The Serpentine had the sheen of glass, and Maria walked slowly by Archie’s side, enjoying the warmth on her head beneath her straw bonnet and the dappled shade from the trees in Hyde Park. It was an oasis of calm here in the center of the busy city. London was a bustling place, and she loved it, so why did she still long for the baked plains and cool groves of her homeland?
Maria knew in her heart that was the reason she’d never put down roots here, why she’d remained single and alone. She’d always pictured herself returning home to Spain. She still did.
“You said you were surprised that your mistress knew my master,” Archie said, breaking the companionable silence and returning to a topic of conversation they’d begun earlier.
“Yes, I was surprised. He is hardly respectable, and the Smythes are very respectable,” she said. “When Miss Smythe told me she and Mr. Eversham were acquainted, I was concerned.”
“You shouldn’t listen to gossip.”
She shot him an impatient look. “If her reputation is ruined, then she will never marry a gentleman. She will be a social outcast. You know how it is, Archie. You are no fool. My mistress’s reputation is all she has to offer to her husband, and if it is soiled, then she has nothing.”
Archie appeared uncomfortable at her reprimand, and she chose this moment, while he was off balance, to ask the question that had been niggling at her since they first met.
“Archie, was it Mr. Eversham who asked you to make the acquaintance of a member of the Smythe household?”
Her directness startled him and yet seemed to please him, too. “You are a very forthright woman, Maria,” he said admiringly.
“I do not like liars, Archie.”
He gave a grimace. “I’m sorry. Yes, it’s true I bumped into you on purpose. How did you know?”
She made a scoffing sound. “I saw you from the window, walking back and forth, waiting. It intrigued me so I went out to see what you wanted. And then I decided I wanted to know you better, to find out what you were up to. You see, I am a spy.”
He laughed at that as if he found it hilarious, while she glared at him.
“What is it, Archie? You must tell me the truth now or I will turn and walk away and you will never see me again. But perhaps that is what you want? Perhaps our friendship has never been more to you than a matter of expedience.”
She wasn’t sure her plan would work. Perhaps he really didn’t care whether or not he saw her again. And yet despite her misgivings and her doubts about their future, in her heart she knew she would be sorry if this was their last meeting.
After a long, anxious moment he sighed, and said, “I can’t tell you everything. There are reasons for that, and again I can’t go into them. But yes, you’re quite right, I needed someone inside Mallory Street so that I can discover why Miss Tina seems hell-bent on marrying Lord Horace Gilfoyle.”
Maria pursed her lips. “The Smythes are almost bankrupt; Lord Horace is rich. Draw your own conclusion.”
Again Archie was taken aback by her frankness.
“Well, that is what you want to know, isn’t it? What your master had set you to find out? But now you must tell me why he is so interested in Miss Tina’s doings. Perhaps he is in love with her himself.”
Archie snorted. “Mr. Eversham in love? Now that would be a turn up.” He grew serious. “Don’t believe everything you hear about him, Maria.
He has his reasons for what he’s doing but believe me it’s not Tina Smythe.”
Maria eyed him warily. “You almost make me afraid, Archie, and not just for Miss Tina’s virtue. What are his reasons? Please don’t tell me he is a fortune hunter! Because if he is, he’s chosen the wrong young lady.”
“He has plenty of money of his own,” Archie blurted out. “No, this is a government thing, Maria. A hush-hush thing. I can’t tell you any more, honestly I can’t, but he doesn’t mean her any harm. Mr. Eversham’s more likely to save her from danger than place her in it.”
“But—”
“No, you’ll just have to be satisfied with that. Now come”—and he slipped her hand through his arm—“enjoy the walk. Pretend we are without a care in the world, Maria.”
She looked like she might continue to protest, but then she changed her mind and relaxed, giving him a tight little smile. “Very well, Archie. But the next time we meet I will have more questions, you know I will, and you must find a way of answering them.”
They walked some more before she spoke again.
“I have told Miss Tina that we are ‘walking out’ together, Archie. I’m sorry but it seemed best. I wanted to continue to see you, to discover what you were up to, and I needed a subterfuge.”
Archie chuckled in delight. “Walking out, Maria?”
“You can break it off with me if you wish,” she said, gazing at the river in a studied manner. “I do not mind. It is all pretend anyway. My heart will not be broken.”
“Is it? All pretend, I mean?”
His tone brought her head around. He was watching her almost shyly, and Maria didn’t pretend not to understand.
“Perhaps it is not quite all pretend,” she conceded. “And perhaps my heart would be a little bit broken, after all.”
Archie smiled. “Then let’s just carry on as we are, Maria. You help me with my spying, and I will help you with yours. Will we shake on it?” He held out his hand to her.
It was a typically masculine thing to do, but solemnly Maria shook his hand. “Here’s to spying, Archie.”