Seduction (37 page)

The question brought Julian up short. "I don't know," he said.

Twenty minutes later Sophy had reappeared at the top of the stairs long enough

to inform everyone that she believed Fanny's distress to be caused by bad fish

at dinner and that it would take hours to treat her and monitor her progress. "I

will definitely be staying overnight, Julian."

Knowing there was nothing else to be done, Julian had reluctantly returned home

in the carriage.

The restlessness had set in almost as soon as he had dismissed Knapton and

finished preparing to climb into a lonely bed.

He was wondering if he should go down to the library to find a dull book when he

remembered the black ring. Between his concern over discovering Sophy in the

gardens with Waycott and Fanny's illness, Julian realized he had temporarily

forgotten the damned ring.

Daregate was right. It must be gotten rid of immediately. Julian determined to

remove it from Sophy's small jewelry case at once. It made him uneasy even to

think about it being in her possession. She was far too likely to give into the

impulse to wear it again.

Julian picked up a candle and went through the connecting door. Sophy's

bedchamber seemed empty and forlorn without her. The realization brought home to

him just how accustomed he was now to having her in his life. Her absence from

her bed was more than enough to make him curse all sellers of bad fish. If it

were not for Fanny's illness, he would even now be making love to his stubborn,

gentle, passionate, honorable wife.

Julian walked over to the dressing table and opened the lid of the jewelry case.

He stood for a moment surveying Sophy's meager collection of jewelry. The only

item of value in the case was the diamond bracelet he had given her. It was

carefully placed in a position of honor on the red velvet lining.

She needed a pair of earrings to go with the bracelet, Julian decided.

Then his gaze fell on the black ring in the corner of the chest. It was resting

on top of a small, folded slip of paper. The mere sight of the ring aroused a

quiet anger in Julian. Sophy knew the ring had been given to her sister by a

heartless rake who had no compunction about seducing the innocent. But even she

could not know how dangerous the band of metal was or what it represented.

Julian reached into the case and picked up the ring. His fingers touched the

folded paper underneath. Motivated by a new uneasiness, he picked it up also and

unfolded it.

Three names were written on the paper: Utteridge, Varley, and Ormiston.

The embers of Julian's quiet anger leaped into the white hot flames of fury.

"Will she truly be all right?" Harriett stood by the side of Fanny's bed,

anxiously studying her friend's pale face. After hours of spasmodic vomiting and

intestinal pain, Fanny had finally fallen into an exhausted sleep.

"I believe so," Sophy said, mixing another pinch of herbs in a glass of water.

"She has gotten rid of most of the noxious food that was in her stomach and as

you can see, she is no longer in much pain. I will keep watch on her until

morning. I am almost certain the crisis has passed but I cannot be completely

sure yet."

"I will stay here with you."

"There is no need for you to do that, Harry. Pray get some sleep. You are as

exhausted as Fanny is."

Harriett brushed that advice aside with a casual flick of her hand. "Nonsense. I

could not possibly sleep knowing Fanny might still be in danger."

Sophy smiled in understanding. "You are a very good friend to her, Harry. Fanny

is most fortunate to have you."

Harriett sat down in a bedside chair, absently adjusting her purple skirts. "No,

no, Sophy. You have it backward. I am the one who is fortunate to have Fanny for

my dearest friend. She is the joy of my life—the one person in the world to whom

I can say anything, no matter how silly or wise. The one with whom I can share

the smallest bit of gossip or the most monumental news. The one in whose

presence I can cry or laugh or with whom I can occasionally indulge in a bit too

much sherry."

Sophy sat down in the chair on the opposite side of the bed and studied Harriett

with sudden understanding. "She is the one person on the face of the earth with

whom you can be free."

Harriett smiled brilliantly for a moment. "Yes. Quite right. The one person with

whom I can be free." She touched Fanny's limp hand as it lay on the embroidered

counterpane.

Sophy's gaze followed the small gesture and she sensed the love implicit in it.

A familiar sense of longing flared within her and she thought of her

relationship with Julian. "You are very fortunate, Harry," she said softly. "I

do not think there are many married people who share the bonds that you enjoy

with Fanny."

"I know. It is sad but perhaps understandable. How could a man and a woman

possibly understand each other the way Fanny and I do?" Harriett asked simply.

Sophy laced her fingers together in her lap. "Perhaps," she said slowly,

"perhaps complete understanding is not necessary if there is genuine love and

mutual respect and a willingness to be tolerant."

Harriett looked at her sharply and then asked gently. "Is that what you hope to

find with Ravenwood, my dear?"

"Yes."

"I have said before, he is a good man as men go, but I do not know if he can

give you what you want. Fanny and I watched helplessly at Elizabeth burned out

most of the warm qualities in him that you seek to tap. Personally, I am not

sure if any man is capable of giving a woman the things she truly needs."

Sophy's fingers clenched more tightly together. "He is my husband and I love

him. I do not deny that he is arrogant and stubborn and exceedingly difficult at

times, but he is, as you say, a good man, an honorable man. He takes his

responsibilities seriously. I would never have married him if I had not been

certain of that much. Indeed, at one time I thought never to marry at all."

Harriett nodded in companionable understanding. "Marriage is a very risky

venture for a woman."

"Well, I have taken the risk. Somehow or other, I hope to find a way to make it

work." Sophy smiled slightly as she recalled the scene between herself and

Julian in the garden earlier that evening. "Just when I am convinced all is

hopeless, Julian shows me a ray of light and I regain my enthusiasm for the

venture."

Fanny stirred and opened her eyes sometime shortly after dawn. She glanced first

at Harriett who was snoring softly in the nearest chair and smiled a weary smile

of deep affection. Then she turned her head and saw Sophy, who was yawning

hugely.

"I see I have been well attended by my guardian angels," Fanny remarked,

sounding weak but otherwise much like her old self. "I'm afraid it has been a

long night for both of you. My apologies."

Sophy chuckled, stood up and stretched. "I collect you are feeling much better

now?"

"Infinitely better, although I vow I shall never eat cold turbot dressing

again." Fanny levered herself up against the pillows and extended her hand to

take one of Sophy's. "I cannot thank you enough for your kindness, my dear. Such

an unpleasant sort of illness to have to deal with. I don't know why I could not

have suffered from something more refined such as the vapors or an agitation of

the nerves."

The soft snoring from the other chair halted abruptly. "You, my dear Fanny,"

Harriett announced as she came rapidly awake, "are not likely to ever suffer

from the vapors or anything the least bit similar." She leaned forward to take

her friend's hand. "How are you feeling my dear? You gave me quite a scare.

Please do not do that again."

"I shall endeavor not to repeat the incident," Fanny promised.

Sophy saw the undisguised emotion in the expressions of the two women and felt a

sense of wonder. The affection between Fanny and Harriett was beyond that of

friendship, she realized with sudden insight. She decided it was time to take

her leave. She was not certain she fully understood the close association

between Julian's aunt and her companion, but she was definitely certain it was

time to give them both some privacy.

She rose to her feet and began repacking her medicine chest.

"Would you mind very much if I asked your butler to have your carriage brought

around?" she asked Fanny.

"My dear Sophy, you must have breakfast," Harriett said immediately. "You

haven't had any sleep and you simply cannot leave this house without

nourishment."

Sophy looked at the tall clock in the corner and shook her head. "If I hurry, I

will be able to join Julian for breakfast."

Half an hour later Sophy walked into her own bedchamber, yawned again and

decided that bed was infinitely more appealing than breakfast. She had never

been so exhausted in her life. She sent Mary out of the room with assurances

that she did not need any assistance and sat down at the dressing table. A night

spent in a chair had not done much to improve her tendency toward dishevelment,

she thought critically. Her hair was a disaster.

She reached for her silver backed brush and the glint of diamonds caught her

eye. She frowned, startled to discover she had left the lid of her jewelry case

open. She had been in a dreadful hurry last night. She must have accidentally

forgotten to close the case after removing the diamond bracelet and placing it

inside.

Sophy started to shut the lid and then realized with horror that the black ring

and the slip of paper containing the three names were gone.

"Looking for these, Sophy?"

At the sound of Julian's cold question, Sophy leaped to her feet and whirled

around to see Ravenwood standing in the open doorway between the bedchambers. He

was dressed in breeches and his favorite pair of polished Hessians and he was

holding the black metal ring in one hand. In the other he held a

familiar-looking slip of paper.

Sophy stared first at the ring and then into Julian's gemlike eyes. Dread

assailed her. "I do not understand, my lord. Why did you take the ring from my

jewelry case?" Her words sounded brave and calm but their tone did not reflect

the way she was feeling. Her knees went weak as she realized the significance of

Julian's having found the list of names.

"Why I took the ring is a long story. Before we go into it, perhaps you will be

good enough to tell me how Fanny is doing?"

Sophy swallowed. "Much recovered, my lord."

He nodded and walked into the room to seat himself in the chair near the window.

He put the ring and the piece of paper down on the table beside him. Morning

light reflected dully on the black metal.

"Excellent. You are a most accomplished nurse, madam. Now that particular matter

is out of the way, there is nothing to distract you from telling me precisely

what you are doing with this list of names."

Sophy sank back down onto the dressing table chair and folded her hands in her

lap while she tried to think how to handle this unexpected turn of events. Her

mind was fogged from the long, sleepless night. "I collect you are angry with me

again, my lord?"

"Again?" His brows rose in their characteristic intimidating fashion. "You are

implying, I suppose, that I spend a good portion of my time with you in that

mood?"

"It seems that way, my lord," Sophy said unhappily. "Whenever I think we are

making progress in our association, something arises to ruin everything."

"And whose fault is that, Sophy?"

"You cannot blame it all on me," she declared, knowing she was getting near the

end of her tether. It was all too much. "I doubt if you will take this into

consideration, but I would like to remind you that I have had a long, trying

night. I have had virtually no sleep and really am not up to an inquisition. Do

you think we might postpone this until after I have had a nap?"

"No, Sophy. We are not going to postpone this discussion another minute. But if

it is any consolation to you, rest assured we face each other on equal terms. I,

too, did not get much sleep last night. I spent most of the time trying to

envision where and how you had got hold of this list and why you connected it to

the ring. What the devil do you think you're doing? How much do you know about

these men and what in bloody hell did you plan to do with the information you

have on them?"

Sophy eyed him warily. Something in the way he had phrased his questions made

her realize he knew as much if not more about the ring and the list than she

did. "I have explained to you that the ring was given to my sister."

"I know that already. And the list of names?"

Sophy chewed on her lower lip. "If I tell you about the list I fear you are

going to be even more angry than you already are, my lord."

"You do not have any choice. Where did you get the list of names?"

"From Charlotte Featherstone." There was no point denying any of it now. She had

never been good at lying even when she was at her best and this morning she was

simply too exhausted to make the attempt. Besides, it was obvious Julian already

knew too much.

"Featherstone. Damnation. I ought to have guessed. Tell me, my dear, do you

expect to have any reputation left at all once it becomes known that you are

socializing with a member of the demimonde or do you simply not care that the

gossips will have a carnival with you once this gets out?"

Sophy looked down at her hands. "I did not speak to her directly. A friend of

mine sent her the message. Miss Featherstone responded most discreetly. She

really is very pleasant, Julian. I think I would probably enjoy her as a

friend."

"And she would no doubt find you extremely amusing," Julian said brutally. "An

endless source of entertainment for someone as jaded as herself. What was the

nature of the message you sent to her?"

"I wished to know if she had ever seen a ring such as that one and if so, who

had worn it." Sophy met his gaze defiantly. "You must realize, my lord, that

this was all business relating to the project I told you about."

"What project was that?" he demanded.

"On top of everything else, you do not even listen to me half the time, do you?

I am referring to the project I said would keep me busy and out of your way. I

informed you that I intended to pursue my own interests, remember? Do you recall