The Elusive Heiress

by Gail Mallin

  Their kisses grew more passionate and a strange yearning flowered in the pit of Kate’s stomach. Held thrall in its erotic power, she made no protest when he gently removed her wrapper and pulled her nightgown down to her waist.

  ‘Oh God, you are so lovely!’ His gaze seemed to scorch her skin. ‘I have wanted you from the moment I first laid eyes on you.’

  An alarm bell began to ring in Kate’s head. She ought to…she must…tell him to stop!

  ‘Randal…oh!’

  His head dipped swiftly, his mouth capturing the rosy peak of her breast.

  A delicious excitement shot through Kate and she gasped aloud. Slowly, sensuously, his tongue began to lick her nipple.

  Tangling her fingers in his thick hair, Kate arched her back with voluptuous pleasure and abandoned thought.

  Aeons of delight passed and then, of their own volition, her fingers shifted, searching for his waistcoat.

  ‘What are you doing?’ Becoming aware of her efforts, Randal raised his head.

  ‘I want to touch you.’ Kate was impatiently struggling to undo the gilt buttons.

  A low chuckle escaped him. ‘Allow me,’ he murmured and ripped the waistcoat open.

  ‘Take it off,’ Kate commanded.

  Willingly, he obeyed and Kate immediately tugged the edges of his shirt free, sliding her hands inside the crisp white linen to reach his skin.

  At the touch of her eager little fingers gliding over his chest Randal let out a low groan of satisfaction.

  ‘Wait!’ He pulled the shirt over his head and tossed it aside.

  Kate gazed at him with frank curiosity. He was very different to Francis! Her late husband’s torso had been lean and narrow, his skin pale and hairless.

  Experimentally, she slid both hands up over Randal’s chest. ‘You feel so warm,’ she whispered huskily.

  His muscles were superbly delineated and a light covering of fine blond hair, glinting in the moonlight, hazed his upper torso. With a little giggle, she rasped it between her fingers. ‘It feels lovely, like the softest of furs!’

  He laughed shakily. ‘I’m glad I meet with your approval, my lady.’

  His laughter died as her questing fingers found his flat copper nipples and began to tease them into hardness.

  ‘Do you like this too?’ Kate smiled at him provocatively, revelling in her new-found power.

  ‘It feels wonderful, you little witch!’ he muttered thickly, his breathing quickening, and, unable to deny his need to kiss her again, he pulled her against him and set his mouth on hers with a swift hungry passion.

  Naked flesh against naked flesh. Dizzily, Kate wondered if it was possible to faint from sheer pleasure.

  He began to stroke the slender curve of her hip, his hand moving slowly downwards, and then before Kate had time to realise what was happening, he’d pushed her nightgown out of his way.

  Moving in slow circles against her bare thigh, his hand climbed higher.

  ‘Randal, you mustn’t—’ Kate broke off with a gasp as his hand slid between the cleft of her thighs and found the hot, aching core of her womanhood.

  Violent pleasure erupted in the pit of her stomach, leaving her totally breathless. The sensations his skilful fingers were evoking were so intense she couldn’t prevent herself writhing against him.

  ‘Katharine. Beautiful Katharine.’ Randal muttered her name feverishly. ‘Do you want to…are you sure?’

  His free hand cupped her buttocks, arching her towards him and, feeling the shaft of his manhood, hard and hot, against her thigh, Kate understood his hoarse question.

  Every fibre of her being crying out for fulfilment and unbearably tempted, she struggled to cling on to sanity.

  Making love with Randal would change everything! She couldn’t take the risk!

  ‘Randal, let me go!’

  For an instant he continued to hold her close and then as she began to struggle he released her immediately.

  ‘Katharine? You’re trembling.’ Randal stared at her, his expression half-dazed.

  Kate scrambled to her feet and with shaking hands began to set her clothes frantically to rights.

  The look of utter humiliation on her face, ghostly pale in the moonlight, shocked Randal into complete sobriety and, grabbing his shirt, he stood up. ‘I’m sorry,’ he muttered gruffly. ‘I didn’t mean to frighten you.’

  Bitterly aware that she was equally to blame, Kate shook her head in a violent gesture. ‘There’s no need to apologise,’ she grated, horrified by her own stupidity.

  She should never have let things go so far!

  Far from being scared by his passion, her whole body still longed for consummation. Aching with frustration, she supposed she ought to feel grateful for his restraint, but a rebellious part of her mind couldn’t help wishing he had paid no heed to her pleas to stop.

  Randal winced at the anger in her voice. O God, why had he drunk so much brandy! ‘I thought you liked… I mean you seemed to want me to—’

  ‘Oh don’t!’ Close to tears, Kate hastily interrupted him. ‘Please don’t say any more, I beg of you!’

  Belatedly realising his clumsy attempt to apologise was only making things worse, Randal ground to a halt.

  Silently, he pulled on his shirt and stooped to pick up his waistcoat. A combination of fresh air and shock had cleared the brandy fumes from his head, but his brain was still refusing to function properly.

  Appalled by his loss of self-control and unable to think of a smooth remark to ease their mutual embarrassment, he fell back on formality. ‘Pray allow me to escort you back to the house.’

  His voice was creditably calm, but a muscle flickered at the corner of his well-cut mouth, betraying him.

  ‘I think it would be better if I went on ahead,’ Kate replied, crushing the impulse to reach out to him. The bleak self-disgust in his eyes cut her to the quick, but she dare not try to explain that he had done her no wrong.

  If she did, her deep longing to confess might overcome her vow to help Kitty!

  For an instant she thought her would challenge her decision and then he bowed his fair head. ‘As you wish.’

  It took all of Kate’s determination to walk away from him and not look back.

  * * * *

  In spite of her resolve to stay calm Kate could not prevent a flicker of apprehension when Randal asked if he might have word in private as they rose from the breakfast table the next morning.

  ‘Of course,’ she murmured, trying to look unconcerned.

  Randal bowed politely to her chaperon. ‘Pray excuse us, Lady Alicia.’

  Lady Edgeworth nodded, her eyes bright with curiosity.

  She is wondering if he wants to make up our quarrel, Kate thought to herself. Sending up a quick prayer that Alicia might be right, she followed Randal into his study.

  It was a large room with a fine view of the grounds and it immediately struck Kate as being utterly masculine in character.

  Enter ye the lion’s den! Swallowing hard to control her nervousness, she tried to appear nonchalant, letting her gaze roam free to examine her surroundings.

  It was, she concluded, very much the private domain of the master of the house. The gleaming oak floorboards remained bare and unadorned, but the panelling had been removed and the walls were hung with a dark red silk. The furniture was in the Egyptian mode, recently made popular by the architect Thomas Hope. It was an austere style with its severe rectangular shapes and sparse use of decorative elements such as lion or sphinx paws and ebony, brass and silver inlays. Kate wasn’t sure if she admired the style or not, but there was no denying it was impressive.

  The most striking feature of the room was a massive rosewood pedestal writing table inlaid with brass. Randal took up a position before it and waved her to a chair.

  Kate sat down. Taking a deep breath, she smoothed her amber cambric skirts and waited for him to speak.

  ‘I don’t want to keep you long. I know it was arranged that you would leave immed
iately after breakfast, but I cannot let you go without offering you an apology for what happened last night.’ Randal’s tone was as stiff as his expression. ‘My behaviour was not that of a gentleman and I can only ask for your forgiveness.’

  ‘You were tipsy.’

  ‘That’s no excuse! I abused my position as your host!’ Randal tugged at his immaculately tied neckcloth as if it was strangling him. ‘I had no right to drag you out into the garden.’

  ‘I stayed out there with you of my own free will,’ Kate said quietly.

  ‘And I betrayed your trust!’

  Her heart sinking, Kate attempted a smile. ‘You are not the first man I’ve kissed.’

  ‘I don’t doubt it,’ Randal replied with a flash of his usual dry humour. ‘However, we did more than exchange a kiss or two.’ His brief answering smile vanished. ‘We both know that I took advantage of your innocence.’

  Kate winced. He thought her a virgin and there was no way she could explain he was mistaken without blackening Kitty’s reputation.

  Aware she was skating on thin ice, Kate decided to adopt an air of sophistication. ‘Please do not flay yourself, my lord. What happened last night was indeed regrettable, but since my virtue remains intact I cannot see that it is going to do either of us any good to dwell upon it.’

  ‘You are very generous, ma’am.’

  There was a sharp edge in his voice and Kate bit her lip. Heavens, did he think she was usually so casual with her favours?

  ‘Forgive me, I didn’t mean to sound sarcastic. You are behaving with more magnanimity than I deserve.’ Randal gave an awkward shrug. ‘I am angry with myself.’

  ‘There is no need.’ Reassured, Kate gave him a little smile.

  ‘No? I think you would be entirely within your rights to scream at me!’

  Last night when they had both come to their senses, it would have been simple for her to lay the blame on his shoulders. He rather thought most women would have done so, shrugging off any responsibility for what happened. She had not taken that easy course, but had behaved with a courage and dignity that had impressed him deeply.

  Randal stared down into her upturned face. ‘You must wish you had never come here.’

  ‘Well, my visits to the Hall have turned out to be rather eventful,’ Kate agreed.

  There was a sparkle of mischievous laughter in her dark eyes and seeing it Randal’s spirits lifted.

  His folly, it seemed, was not irreparable!

  God knows, he reflected wryly, he deserved censure.

  It was rare for him to drink as heavily as he had done last night, but he’d been angry that he’d wasted his carefully engineered opportunity of discovering what she truly felt for him. Failing to find consolation in the bottle of best French brandy Blake had brought in to him after Alicia had retired, he had been wide awake when he heard a stair creaking.

  Curiosity had driven him to investigate.

  The sight of her luscious body in that thin nightgown had provoked both desire and a burning need to teach her that he was not to be mocked.

  She was an accomplished flirt. Yet at Godwin’s strawberry party he had come close to believing that her liking for him might be sincere.

  The only way to find out whether she was playing him for a fool was to take her in his arms once more.

  So, not quite as inebriated as he was pretending, he had seized what had seemed a heaven-sent chance to put her to the test and swept her off into the moonlit garden.

  He had got more than he had bargained for! Stunned by the warmth of her response, his self-control had splintered into oblivion. Every calculating thought in his head had been swept away on a tide of desire stronger than anything he had ever experienced before.

  If she hadn’t asked him to stop, he would have taken her there and then on the grass without a single thought for the consequences!

  He hadn’t cared whether she was an adventuress or an innocent. He had wanted her so much he had been willing to ignore the dictates of honour. Shocked by this realisation, self-disgust had forced him to confront his own feelings and he had spent the rest of the long warm night trying to work out exactly what this beautiful and mysterious woman had come to mean to him.

  He desired her of course, but he didn’t trust her. Gerald Sullivan had failed to back up his assertions, but his own instincts still insisted something was wrong and she was trying to gull him. Suspicion, annoyance and hurt pride had all demanded revenge!

  But when he’d seen that look of humiliation on her face, a guilty anguish, not satisfaction, had filled him and he had known that the vengeance he had craved was nothing but Dead Sea Fruit.

  No matter what lies she told he didn’t want to hurt her.

  Randal had always taken his amours lightly. Even in the throes of calf love, he had been able to laugh at himself. Now for the first time he realised he had met a woman with the power to stir his soul.

  ‘You are very silent, my lord,’ Kate ventured at last. ‘May I ask if you still want our friendship to continue?’

  ‘I can think of nothing which would please me better,’ he replied sincerely.

  He might be no nearer to solving her mystery, but at least last night’s folly had cleared up one doubt. Whatever else was a lie, she wasn’t pretending to like him just to secure his support for her claim to the Nixon fortune!

  Chapter Nine

  ‘What do you mean he’s going away?’ Mary dropped Kate’s comb onto the dressing table, her expression incredulous. ‘I thought he was going to sign the papers?’

  ‘Keep your voice down,’ Kate begged. ‘Lady Alicia will hear you.’

  They had returned home to Abbey Square an hour ago and this was the first chance they’d had to talk.

  Mary obligingly dropped her voice to a more cautious level. ‘Are you telling me he won’t give us the money?’

  Sinking onto her bed, Kate gestured for Mary to sit in the elbow chair by the window.

  ‘I didn’t know anything about this delay, Mary, believe me,’ she said wearily. ‘I tried to persuade him this morning, as I promised you I would. He started off by agreeing that Gerald’s refusal looked bad, but then in the next breath said he couldn’t visit the lawyers because he was going away.’

  Kate had been stunned. Had she mended their quarrel in vain? ‘But where…you never mentioned you were thinking of leaving Chester,’ she had murmured in confusion.

  ‘I have been invited to the Prince Regent’s celebration of his accession tomorrow evening. It is being held at Carlton House,’ he had replied.

  Kate thought that Kitty would have known that the eldest son of poor mad King George had at last achieved his ambition to be appointed Regent earlier that year so she nodded.

  ‘I shall be leaving for London within the hour, not that I particularly wish to attend. Prinny’s parties tend to be vulgar at the best of times and with this excuse I should imagine he will excel himself.’ Randal tried to make a joke to lighten the suddenly strained atmosphere. ‘I dare say it will be all solid gold plate and flowing fountains on the tables at the very least!’

  Kate smiled politely in response to this piece of banter. ‘I hope you will enjoy the occasion, my lord.’

  ‘Thank you.’ Acutely aware of her unspoken disappointment, Randal almost regretted he had accepted the royal invitation.

  By all accounts some two thousand guests had been invited and he doubted he would be missed, except for one fact. His father and the Regent had been particular cronies and the Regent had taken a kindly interest in him since his father’s death some fourteen months ago. Randal did not desire the Prince’s favour, but he knew that it was well-meant and he had no wish to appear ungrateful.

  ‘Do you mean to stay in London long?’ Kate asked, carefully concealing her dismay.

  ‘A few days only.’ Randal gave a crooked grin. ‘Alicia would have my head if I failed to return in time for her dress party.’

  Lady Edgeworth had been busy with the arrangements for this
party in her goddaughter’s honour almost from the moment Kate had set foot in Abbey Square. It was to be held on the twenty-seventh of June and the invitations had already gone out.

  ‘I shall arrange a meeting with Hilton on my return,’ Randal had continued smoothly.

  Although Kate had tried to discover what he intended to say to the lawyer, he would not be drawn.

  ‘So we are no better off than before we went to the Hall,’ Mary stated with a snort of disgust.

  Kate sighed. ‘I suppose not.’

  Unlike Mary, however, she didn’t think the trip had been a waste of time. It was a wonderful old house and she had felt so at home there. She couldn’t regret going, even after last night’s fiasco.

  Kate was trying very hard to forget what had happened in that moonlit garden, but she was finding it an impossible task. If she closed her eyes she could still feel the pressure of Randal’s body against her own, feel his lips caressing hers…

  You have no shame, Kate Devlin, she scolded herself silently.

  ‘We will just have to wait and see what happens when Redesmere returns,’ she said hastily, forcing herself to concentrate on the problem to hand. ‘Unfortunately, by then this dreadful dress party will be upon us.’

  Kate shook her head, her expression miserable. ‘I had hoped we would have been able to give Alicia enough notice to avoid the embarrassment of having to cancel it at the last moment.’

  ‘Aye, she ain’t going to be very happy if we lope off with no warning.’ Mary frowned thoughtfully. ‘I know I said some hard things the other day and I’m still keen to get back to the company, but I reckon it’s unfair to leave her in the lurch, ‘specially after she’s laid out such a lot of blunt on your account.’

  ‘Don’t remind me!’ Kate groaned.

  Kate hadn’t wanted a party in her honour, but Alicia was set upon the idea and she hadn’t been able to persuade her out of it. The finest food and wines had been ordered, the musicians hired and the servants were already busy spring cleaning the house in preparation for the one hundred and twenty or so guests who were expected to arrive.

  Mary sighed gloomily. ‘We’ll just have to pray that Ned doesn’t write saying we’re needed until the blasted thing is all over and done with.’