Miss Frazer's Adventure (4 page)

“Why would I desire to halt you?” he muttered, his gaze dropping to the tempting expanse of white skin. “Although I would prefer that you reserve such gowns for my pleasure alone.”

She sucked in a sharp breath, making him uncomfortably aware that little more than sheer will kept the dress in place.

“We will never be alone.”

“Oh, we will be alone. Soon. And then I intend to tell you exactly how such a gown affects me,” he said before he could halt the words.

“Luce.”

“What?” Lifting his gaze, he met her stern frown with awry smile. “Sorry, I was rather distracted.”

A delicate color stained her cheeks. “I do not think a gentleman who deliberately left me at the altar should be regarding me in such a manner.”

Was she daft?

He would have to be in his grave not to regard her in such a manner.

Only with an effort did he halt the urge to reach out and discover if that pale skin was as silky smooth as it promised.

“I did not deliberately leave you at the altar,” he reminded her. “And soon enough you will be willing to listen to sense. Until then, I am just another gentleman dazzled by your beauty and anxious to win your regard.”

She appeared momentarily taken aback by his insinuating words, then she abruptly stiffened, as if she were struck by a sudden thought.

“Oh, I see.”

He lifted a golden brow. “What?”

“You cannot bully me into returning, so now you hope to seduce me back to Kent.”

A far more pleasing prospect, he inwardly acknowledged. The question was whether or not she would allow herself to be seduced.

“Am I succeeding?”

“No.”

He gave a low laugh, stepping close enough to catch the aroma of her very feminine perfume. He inhaled deeply, realizing that the scent was uniquely Kate's. It had pervaded her home and at times clung to his coat long after he visited her. He knew he could close his eyes and sense when she was near. Odd that he had been so aware of such an intimate thing. Certainly, he would not recognize the scent of his mistress, or even his own mother.

“Then I shall simply have to increase my efforts,” he promised in low tones.

Something flashed in her eyes as she took an awkward step backward. “Do not waste your time.”

“It is my time to waste.”

She regarded him warily, then with obvious relief, she spotted someone over his shoulder.

“Oh, Lord Thorpe has arrived.”

Luce stiffened, turning to study the too handsome man in the too expensive gray coat and white pantaloons before returning his gaze to the woman at his side. He did not like her sudden smile of anticipation.

It made him want to hit something.

“What do you know of this Lord Thorpe?” he demanded abruptly.

She gave a faint frown at his preemptory tone. “Nothing beyond the fact that he possesses a town house in Mayfair.”

“Do you really believe it is wise to indulge in a flirtation with a complete stranger?”

“What could possibly happen in a public theater?”

Luce gave a click of his tongue. Really, Kate might have suddenly discovered she was a woman, but she clearly did not possess any more sense than a giddy schoolgirl.

“There are any number of alcoves and closets a gentleman can force a woman into—”

“No,” she rudely interrupted, stabbing a finger directly in his face. “No interference.”

“Kate . . .”

“You promised.”

Luce's teeth snapped together with an audible click.

Damn. Damn. Damn.

He was trapped by his own ridiculous pledge.

“Fine.” His features hardened in a dangerous manner. “But I will be keeping my eye on him. He is clearly a practiced rake. Indeed, his debauchery is obvious to anyone who would take the effort to study him closely.”

She threw her hands up in disbelief. “You, my lord, are impossible.”

Luce felt his jaw twitch with annoyance as she swept across the lobby to join Thorpe. It did not help matters that her brilliant smile as he leaned downward to whisper something in her ear could have lit the stage.

Luce may have promised not to interfere, but that did not mean he could not keep her under strict surveillance. From this moment on, she was not going to move a step without him firmly upon her heels.

Kate spotted him the moment she rounded the street to her hotel.

A tall, lean form that appeared disturbingly male in his buff breeches and moss green coat.

Leaning nonchalantly next to the door to the hotel, Luce simply waited for her to complete her stroll.

Not that she was surprised, she wryly acknowledged. Luce had become a tenacious barnacle that she could not easily dislodge.

Last evening, he had followed her into the theater where he had kept an unabashed surveillance upon her until she had at last left in annoyance. He had been in the garden when she sought a breath of fresh air. And even within the hotel when she had left for her tea.

It had been something of a surprise to discover he had not actually followed her to Mrs. Roberts' and thrust his unwelcome way into her home.

He was a dangerous impediment to her life of independence, she acknowledged as she closed the distance and felt his gaze sear over the sheer muslin gown that made no claim to modesty. Made even more dangerous by his obvious attempt to seduce her will.

Blast it all.

She was perfectly prepared to combat his arrogance and even his bullying tactics. She was not his property and she would not be treated as such.

But she was not so naive as to believe herself impervious to his masculine appeal. Since his arrival in London, she had been forced to admit that in some deep and basic manner she had been attracted to Luce from the moment her father had brought him into their home. Her skin tingled when he was near, her stomach knotted with pleasure when he accidentally brushed against her, and more than one night had been devoted to shameless dreams of her soon-to-be-husband.

Which was no doubt the reason his betrayal had hurt so dreadfully.

If he decided to try a full-on assault, she was not entirely certain she possessed the strength to deny him. That realization only made it all the more imperative that she convince him to leave, she sternly told herself.

Clearly her angry demands, even pleas, were falling on deaf ears. Her only hope appeared to be in remaining thoroughly indifferent to his presence. If she refused to react to his determined pursuit, he would eventually realize his cause was hopeless. And then he would be forced to seek a new means of acquiring his fortune.

With an effort, she forced a cheerful smile to her lips as she halted beside his tall form.

“Good afternoon, Luce.”

“Kate.” His own smile was far less easy to read. “How was the tea?”

“Lovely, thank you.”

“I did not realize you were such a great admirer of Byron's.”

She offered a faint shrug. “I enjoy a lively debate upon his merits.”

“And you discovered such a debate at Mrs. Roberts'?”

“Actually, I did. Do you know there are gentlemen in London who are actually prepared to listen to a mere woman's view on literature?” She allowed her pleasure to glow in her eyes. “They are even prepared to accept that women might possess an actual ability to think for themselves. Can you imagine?”

He regarded her through half-lowered lids. “Quite easily. I have always known that you were an intelligent, well-educated woman. It was one of your most potent allures.”

She sternly quenched the tiny thrill of pleasure at his low words. Her allure had been her dowry, nothing more.

“I find that difficult to believe.”

“Why?”

She gave a lift of her shoulder. “We were hardly well enough acquainted for you to know if I possessed any intelligence or not.”

“I assure you that having known any number of silly women, my sisters included, I do not need more than a few moments to distinguish a female of good sense.” His smile deepened. “And besides, no maiden without a good deal of intelligence as well as perseverance could have managed to establish an orphanage that saved dozens of poor children from the brutal coal mines.”

She floundered for a moment. To her knowledge, only Julia was fully aware of the effort she had put into seeing the orphanage built. She had taken great care to ensure that it was the vicar who received the bulk of the credit.

“How did you know?” she whispered.

“I made it my business to know, Kate,” he murmured. “You are my fiancée. Everything about you fascinates me.”

Fascinates? Oh, dash it all.

“I . . .” She determinedly sucked in a deep breath. “What are you doing here?”

His lips twitched. “That should be obvious, my dear. Where else would you have your devoted fiancé be?”

“Do I have a choice?” she demanded in overly sweet tones.

His low chuckle filled the air. “I suppose you would have me sent to the netherworld?”

“A tempting notion, although I would settle for Kent.”

“As would I,” he murmured. “As long as you were at my side.”

“Enough.” She folded her arms about her waist. She wanted to be away from Luce. He was too large. Too dominating. Too blasted handsome. “You have not yet told me what you are doing here.”

He held up a slender hand. “Very well, my dear. I am here quite simply because this is where I am staying for the duration of my stay in London.”

Her eyes widened in disbelief. No. Not even this gentleman was that audacious. Was he?

“You have chambers here? In this hotel?”

“Yes.”

He was that audacious. “Drat it, Luce, you promised . . .”

“I am not interfering,” he firmly cut into her angry words. “Unlike your charming Lord Thorpe, I do not possess a town house in Mayfair, or anywhere else. I must stay in some hotel and this one suits me as well as any other.” He abruptly shrugged, his gaze running a restless path over her upturned face. “And speaking of Lord Thorpe, how was your evening with the aging roué?”

Her eyes widened. “Lord Thorpe is not an aging roué.”

His nose flared at her ready defense of her newfound friend. Almost as if he were jealous of the gentleman. A ridiculous thought, although one she could not entirely dismiss.

“You may not recognize his species, but I assure you, I can do so with ease. I can also assure you that he has only one intention as far as you are concerned.”

Kate shrugged. Although she had thoroughly enjoyed her evening with the handsome lord, it had been impossible to relax enough to invite a more intimate conversation. The knowledge that Luce was watching her every expression had made her stiff and uncomfortable.

Thankfully, her companion had easily sensed her mood and deliberately kept her entertained with lighthearted anecdotes of society.

A sensitive and thoughtful gentleman, she told herself. A gentleman far more worthy of her attention than Lord Calfield.

And yet, she had been unable to forget that cool blue gaze trained upon her with unnerving intensity.

“He is a perfectly polite and proper gentleman,” she informed him with a tilt of her chin. “Unlike some others that I could name.”

“Oh come, Kate, you are not that naive,” he scoffed.

“What is that suppose to mean?”

“A handsome gentleman dangling after a supposedly lonely widow? It should be obvious to the most innocent female that he is the sort to prey upon the unwary.”

Kate sucked in a furious breath at his condescending tone.

A serpent in her garden of paradise, indeed.

“Are you implying that I am somehow unworthy to inspire a gentleman's genuine regard? That every gentleman I encounter must only desire my body or my fortune?”

He frowned with a building irritation. “I merely meant that you have very little experience with gentlemen of his sort.”

“Something I intend to correct if you would just leave me alone.”

Her blunt words appeared to catch him off guard, and he gaped at her in disbelief before his features abruptly hardened.

“Even knowing what he is?”

“But I do not know what he is,” she retorted in scathing tones. “And I am certainly not going to judge him upon the basis of your fevered imagination.”

He glared at her for a long moment, no doubt struggling with the urge to shake her silly. Very few dared to oppose the Earl of Calfield's considerable will. Certainly not a mere woman.

“And if I am correct?” he gritted out.

She offered him a taunting smile. “Then he should have enough experience for the both of us.”

With a cool dignity, she swept past him, refusing to give in to the childish desire to topple him from the steps or slam the door upon his arrogant nose.

The man was insufferable, she told herself.

To think he would imply that the only man she could interest would be a lust-filled debaucher who preyed upon the desperate and the lonely.

Her teeth clenched as she marched through the lobby of the hotel.

Very well, perhaps she was not destined to become the Toast of Society. Or to receive dozens of proposals.

But she was not such a fright as all that.

She was intelligent. Well-mannered. And capable of running the finest of households.

Not all gentlemen would consider her an easy means to a fortune or a meaningless night of pleasure.

Why the devil did he not return to Kent where he belonged?

Brooding upon her wounded pride, Kate stepped toward the nearby stairs.

Intent on fleeing to her room where she could gather her composure in peace, she failed to note the dark-haired gentleman leaning against the railing. It was not until he reached out and actually grasped her arm that she came to a startled halt.

“Mrs. Freemont.” Lord Thorpe regarded her flushed features in a quizzical manner. “I hoped I would find you here.”

“Oh.” With a self-conscious smile, Kate pushed back a curl that had strayed from her tidy coiffure. “Good afternoon, my lord.”

The dark gaze shifted over her shoulder to where Luce's form was still visible beside the window. “I see your acquaintance has decided to remain in London.”

Kate's hands abruptly clenched at her side. “Unfortunately. I do not know why he does not return to Kent.”

“No? Well, perhaps that is because you are not a man,” Thorpe muttered in wry tones.

“What?”

“Nothing.” Returning his gaze to her wide eyes, the gentleman offered her a smile that could melt stone. “I was hoping you would have dinner with me tonight.”

“Tonight?” Absurdly, Kate found herself hesitating. Although she had no desire to give credence to Luce's ridiculous words, she knew deep inside she was not entirely certain of Lord Thorpe's intentions. A light flirtation was one thing. A full-out seduction was quite another. “I am not sure.”

His head cocked to one side. “You do not wish to be with me?”

“We are still all but strangers,” she hedged. “And I do not believe it would be entirely proper.”

“Ah.” He reached out to lightly brush the stray titian curl. “We can have dinner here if you prefer. There is nothing improper in a gentleman and widow sharing a meal in such a public place.”

She studied the meltingly beautiful male features and determinedly squared her shoulders.

No.

She was not going to allow Luce to ruin this as well.

When she had come to London, it had been with the intention of indulging her desires. Every desire. Only a fool would toss aside the opportunity to become better acquainted with this delightful rogue.

“Very well,” she agreed in firm tones.

“Good.” He leaned forward to brush a light kiss over her forehead. “I will meet you at nine.”

Kate watched his tall form disappear from the hotel. A prickle of awareness stabbed into her neck, assuring her that Luce had witnessed the entire scene through the window and that he was furious.

Good.

A smile curved her lips.

She hoped he was furious.

She hoped his head would explode.

* * *

Luce felt as if his head would explode.

Pacing his chambers, he kept one ear cocked for the sound of Kate returning from her dinner.

Damn that bloody Lord Thorpe.

How had he managed to rent a private dining room? Not only were the rooms typically booked weeks in advance, but the exorbitant cost put them well beyond the means of all but the most exclusive guests.

No doubt the scoundrel had used his influence and wealth like any treacherous rake.

Money and influence the poverty-stricken Lord of Calfield did not possess.

In any event, the lout's maneuver had ensured that he had managed to slip Kate from beneath Luce's very nose. And for nearly three hours, he had been left to stew in his growing frustration.

What was the damnable maiden thinking? Or not thinking.

She was an intelligent, sensible woman. Or at least she had been until she had seemingly plunged into this fit of madness.

Certainly, she was intelligent enough to realize it was sheer stupidity to place herself at the mercy of a strange man.

Anything could happen.

Anything.

Slamming a fist into his open palm, Luce spun on his heel and paced back across the room.

Fifteen minutes.

Fifteen more minutes and he was going in search of Kate.

Even if he had to tear apart every room in the hotel.

He paced to the window, to the armoire, and back to the door. Five minutes passed. Then another five. Then, just when he was debating which room to begin with, he at last heard the sound of footsteps in the hall. With long strides, he crossed the floor and wrenched open his door. Hurrying down the hall, he turned the corner into the side corridor. He was quick, but not quick enough, as he caught just a glimpse of Kate's slender form before she stepped into her room and the door swung shut.