Seduction (29 page)

"You need not refine upon your point, Jane," Anne said brusquely.

Jane ignored her. "Sophy, I am so sorry but I simply could not allow you to risk

getting killed over such a matter. Will you ever forgive me for my interference

this morning?"

"It is over and done, Jane. Pray forget about it. As it happens, Ravenwood would

undoubtedly have interrupted the duel even without your assistance. He saw me

leaving the house this morning."

"He saw you? Good heavens. What must he have thought when he watched you get

into the carriage?" Anne asked, sounding stricken.

Sophy shrugged. "He assumed I was running off with another man."

"That explains the look in his eyes when he opened the door to me," Jane

whispered. "I knew then why he is so frequently called a devil."

"Oh, dear God," Anne said bleakly. "He must have assumed you were behaving like

his first wife. Some say he killed her because of her infidelities."

"Nonsense," Sophy said. She had never completely believed that tale; never

wanted to believe it, but just for a moment she did wonder to what lengths

Julian might be driven if he were goaded too far. He had certainly been furious

with her that morning. Anne was right, Sophy thought with a small chill. For a

while there in the library, there had been a devil looking out of those green

eyes.

"If you ask me, you had two close calls today," Jane said. "You not only barely

missed getting hurt in a duel, but you probably came within an inch of your life

when Ravenwood saw you get into the carriage."

"You may rest assured I have learned a lesson. From now on I intend to be

exactly the sort of wife my husband expects. I will not interfere in his life

and in return I will expect him not to interfere in mine."

Anne bit her lip thoughtfully. "I am not so certain it will work that way,

Sophy."

"I will make certain it works that way," Sophy vowed. "I do have one more favor

to ask you, though, Anne. Can you see to the delivery of another letter to

Charlotte Featherstone?"

"Sophy, please," Jane said uneasily, "leave it alone. You've done enough in that

direction."

"Do not worry, Jane. This will be the end of it. Can you do it for me, Anne?"

Anne nodded. "I can do it. What are you going to say in the letter? Wait, let me

guess. You're going to send her the two hundred pounds, aren't you?"

"That is exactly what I am going to do. Julian owes it to her."

"This is beyond belief," Jane muttered.

"You may stop fretting, Jane. As I said, it is all over. I have more important

matters to concern me. What is more, they are matters I should have been

concerned with all along. I do not know why I let myself become distracted by

marriage."

Jane's eyes gleamed with momentary amusement behind her mask. "I am sure

marriage is very distracting in the beginning, Sophy. Do not chide yourself."

"Well, she's learned it's useless to try to alter the pattern of a man's

behavior," Anne observed. "Having made the mistake of getting married in the

first place, the best one can do is ignore one's husband as much as possible and

concentrate on more interesting matters."

"You are an expert on marriage?" Jane asked.

"I have learned a lot watching Sophy. Now tell us what these more important

matters are, Sophy."

Sophy hesitated, wondering how much to tell her friends about the black ring she

was wearing. Before she could make up her mind a tall figure dressed in a black,

hooded cape and a black mask glided up to her and bowed deeply from the waist.

It was impossible to see the color of his eyes in the lantern light.

"I would like to request the honor of this dance, Lady Gypsy."

Sophy looked into shadowed eyes and felt suddenly cold. Instinctively she

started to refuse and then she remembered the ring. She had to begin her search

somewhere and there was no telling who might give her the clues she needed. She

sketched a curtsy. "Thank you, kind sir. I would be pleased to dance with you."

The man in the black cape and mask led her out onto the floor without a word.

She realized he was wearing black gloves and she did not like the feel of being

close to him when he took her into his arms. He danced with perfect grace and

decorum but Sophy felt vaguely menaced.

"Do you tell fortunes, Lady Gypsy?" the man asked in a low, rough voice tinged

with cold amusement.

"Occasionally."

"So do I. Occasionally."

That startled her. "Do you, sir? What sort of fortune do you predict for me?"

His black gloved fingers moved over the black ring on her hand. "A most

interesting fortune, my lady. Most interesting, indeed. But, then, that is only

to be expected from a bold young woman who would dare to wear this ring in

public."

TWELVE

Sophy froze. She would have tripped over her own feet if her partner had not

tightened his grip quite painfully for an instant. "You are familiar with this

ring, sir?" she asked, striving to keep her voice light.

"Yes."

"How strange. I did not know it was a common thing."

"It is most uncommon, madam. Only a few would recognize it."

"I see."

"May I ask how it came into your possession?" the hooded man asked quietly.

She had her story ready. "It is a keepsake given to me by a friend of mine

before she died."

"Your friend should have warned you that the ring is very dangerous. You would

be well advised to remove it and never wear it again." There was a slight pause

before the stranger concluded softly, "Unless you are a very adventurous sort of

female."

Sophy's heart was pounding now but she managed a seemingly careless smile

beneath her half-mask. "I cannot imagine why you should be so alarmed at the

sight of this ring. What is there about it that makes you think it is

dangerous?"

"I am not free to tell you why it is dangerous, my lady. The wearer must

discover that for herself. But I feel it my duty to warn you that it is not for

the faint of heart."

"I think you tease me, sir. But truthfully I cannot believe the ring is anything

more than a rather unusual piece of jewelry. In any event, I am not

fainthearted."

"Then perhaps you will find a most unusual type of excitement with the ring."

Sophy shivered but kept her smile in place. At that moment she was extremely

grateful to be wearing a disguise. "I am quite certain, sir, that you are

deliberately taunting me because of the costume I chose to wear this evening. Do

you enjoy sending chills down the spine of the poor fortune-teller whose job it

is to send chills down the spines of others?"

"Do I send chills down your spine, madam?"

"A few."

"Are you enjoying them?"

"Not particularly."

"Perhaps you will learn to find pleasure in them. A certain type of female does

eventually, after a bit of practice."

"Is that my fortune?" she asked, aware that her palms were growing as damp as

they had that very morning when she had confronted Charlotte Featherstone.

"I do not believe I want to spoil the joy of anticipation for you by giving you

a peek at your future. It will be far more interesting to let you discover the

nature of your fortune in due course. Good evening, Lady Gypsy. I am certain we

will meet again." The man in the black cape released her abruptly, bowed low

over her ringed hand and then vanished into the crowd.

Sophy watched anxiously as he disappeared, wondering if she might be able to

follow him through the throng. Perhaps she could catch him without his mask

outside. Many people were leaving the ballroom in order to cool off in Lady

Musgrove's lovely gardens.

Sophy picked up her skirts and started forward. She got all of ten feet before

she felt a man's hand clamp firmly around her arm. Startled, she whirled around

to find herself looking up at another tall man dressed very much as her previous

partner had been in a black cape .and mask. The only difference was that the

hood of this main's cape was thrown back to reveal his midnight dark hair. He

gave her a slight bow.

"Pardon me, but I seek the services of one such as yourself, Madam Gypsy. Will

you be so gracious as to dance with me while you tell me my fortune? I have been

somewhat unlucky at love lately and I would like to know if my luck is going to

change."

Sophy glanced down at the large hand on her arm and recognized it immediately.

Julian had roughened his voice and pitched it even lower than usual but she

would know him anywhere. The familiar sense of awareness she always experienced

when he was in the vicinity had grown stronger during the time she had been

living with him.

She felt a curious sensation in her stomach as she wondered if Julian recognized

her. If he did, he was certain to be angry with her for what she had done when

she had awakened from her nap to find the bracelet on the pillow beside her.

Warily she looked up at him.

"Do you wish your luck to change, sir?"

"Yes," Julian said as he swung her into the dance. "I believe I do want it to

change."

"What… what sort of ill luck have you been experiencing?" she asked cautiously.

"I seem to be having great difficulty in pleasing my new bride."

"Is she very hard to please?"

"Yes, I fear so. A most demanding lady." Julian’s voice seemed to roughen even

further. "For example today she let me know she was annoyed with me because I

had not thought to give her a token of my affection."

Sophy bit her lip and looked past Julian's shoulder. How long have you been

married, sir?"

"Several weeks."

"And in all that time you have never given her such a token?"

"I confess I did not think of doing so. Very remiss of me. However, today when

my lapse was pointed out to me I took immediate steps to remedy the situation. I

bought the lady a very charming bracelet and I left it on her pillow."

Sophy winced. "Was it a very expensive bracelet?"

"Very. But not expensive enough apparently to satisfy my lady." Julian's hand

tightened slightly on Sophy's waist. "I found the bracelet on my own pillow this

evening as I was dressing to go out. There was a note with it that said she was

not amused by such a paltry trinket."

Sophy stared up at him, desperately trying to decide whether Julian was angry or

simply objectively interested in her reasons for refusing the bracelet. She

still could not be certain he even recognized her. "It would seem to me, sir,

that you misunderstood your lady's complaint."

"Did I?" Without missing a step he adjusted the brightly patterned scarf that

was starting to slide off her shoulders. "You don't think she likes jewelry?"

"I'm sure she appreciates jewelry as well as the next woman but she probably

does not like the idea that you are trying to placate her with baubles."

"Placate?" He tasted the word thoughtfully. "What do you mean by that?"

Sophy cleared her throat. "Did you by any chance quarrel with your lady

recently?"

"Urn. Yes. She did something very foolhardy. Something that could have cost her

her life. I was angry. I let her know of my anger and she chose to sulk."

"Do you not think it possible that she was hurt that you did not understand why

she had done what she did?"

"She cannot expect me to condone the kind of dangerous action she took

recently," Julian said evenly. "Even if she did believe it a matter of honor. I

will not allow her to risk her life so foolishly."

"So you gave her a bracelet instead of the understanding she sought?"

Julian's mouth was hard beneath the edge of his mask. "Do you think that was how

she viewed it?"

"I think your lady felt you were trying to pacify her after an argument in the

same way you would try to buy your way back into the good graces of a mistress."

Sophy held her breath, still frantically trying to decide whether or not Julian

recognized her.

"An interesting theory. And a possible explanation."

"Does the technique generally work? With mistresses, I mean?"

Julian missed a step and caught himself smoothly. "Uh, yes. Generally."

"Mistresses must be very poor-spirited creatures."

"It is certainly true that my lady has nothing in common with such women. She

has a full measure of pride, for example. A mistress cannot afford much pride."

"I do not believe that you are short of that commodity, yourself."

Julian's big hand flexed carefully around her fingers. "You are right."

"It would seem that you and your lady have that much in common, at least. It

should provide a basis for understanding."

"Well, Madam Gypsy? Now you know my sad story. What do you think my odds are for

the future?"

"If you truly want your fortune to change I think that first you must convince

your lady that you respect her pride and sense of honor as much as you would

that of a man."

"And how would you suggest I go about doing that?" Julian inquired.

Sophy drew in a breath. "First, you must give her something more valuable than

the bracelet." Her fingers were suddenly crushed in Julian's palm.

"And what would that be, Madam Gypsy?" There was a dark, brooding menace in his