The Secrets of a Lady (31 page)
She turned her head to look from the corner of her eye. Her face was pale, but determined as she said, “Yes.”
And at that moment, Griffin’s entire world screeched to a halt. He couldn’t believe what he’d heard. Audrey couldn’t have…
wouldn’t
have… agreed to this farce. Not after she’d turned down his proposal earlier in the week. This was lunacy!
A long pause engulfed the room. Finally Noah broke it.
“Very well.” He rose and walked over to the couple. “Ellison, I don’t like what went on between my sister and you last night, but I see you’re trying to amend it by taking her hand. Congratulations.”
Noah held out his hand and the other man took it, shaking it even as Noah glared in warning at Griffin over his shoulder. Ellison turned to Griffin with a triumphant smile as he dragged Audrey over to stand before him. With dancing gray eyes, he held out his hand.
“I hope I have your congratulations, as well, Lord Berenger,” Ellison said with a sneer. “Since you are such a
good
friend to the family.”
Slowly, Griffin rose, taking his time so Ellison would get the full effect of his superior height. He was pleased when just a touch of fear lit up in the other man’s eyes. With great effort, he extended his hand to Douglas and ground out, “Of course, Ellison. My heartiest congratulations to you both.”
“Thank you,” Audrey whispered without meeting his gaze.
“Well-” Noah’s voice seemed very distant to Griffin. “-you and I have much to talk about then, Douglas. Perhaps you’ll come for a walk with me in the garden so we may speak privately about your future with my sister.”
Ellison nodded. “Yes.” Turning back to Audrey, he smiled. “I shall see you later, my love.”
Lifting her hand, he kissed it, then left the room. Immediately, Audrey’s face fell and she shivered as if she’d been holding the shiver in for hours.
Hannah glanced from one to the other, then patted Audrey’s hand. “I’ll let you have a moment.”
When she’d left and closed the door. Audrey turned to him with a miserable face. “Griffin-”
“Don’t.” He wasn’t sure he could take any explanations from her at the moment.
“Please, let me tell you why.”
“I know why.” He turned to the bar and poured himself the strongest drink he could stand. “You want to solve your precious case. You want to be done with it and out of my life as soon as possible.”
Her mouth parted a fraction at his blunt appraisal of the situation. “It isn’t as harsh as it sounds,” she said as she crossed to his side. “I
do
want to finish this case, but it isn’t to get away from you. At least, not the way you think…”
“Well, I feel much better.” He downed the strong brew in one gulp. It burned his throat and warmed him, but it didn’t help him block out the tangled emotions that tormented him. “How far will you go with this ruse?”
Her chin came out in indignation. “What do you mean?”
“By the haughty look on your face, I’d say you know exactly what I mean. Will you actually marry him if you cannot defeat him in a day or month? Will you climb into his bed and…”
Her hand came up like a flash and the slap contained all the force of her small body. When he turned his stinging face back to her, her hand was over her mouth and her eyes were full of tears.
She shook her head. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have done that.”
Slowly, he placed one hand on each of her shoulders. “No, you shouldn’t have. You shouldn’t have done so many things since this entire fiasco began.”
Slowly he lowered his lips to hers, claiming her mouth with tenderness despite his growing anger.
“You shouldn’t have come to my house,” he whispered against her lips. “You shouldn’t have asked for my help.”
Now he moved his mouth to her throat, darting his tongue out to taste the flavor of her earlobe.
“You shouldn’t have allowed me to kiss you. You shouldn’t have made love with me. Because you are mine now. You’re mine and I refuse to share you.” He drew back from her and slipped a finger beneath her chin, lifting her face up toward his gently. “I don’t care if it’s for King or country, Audrey. I won’t share you.”
Her answer was a little sob and sigh all at once as she wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled his mouth down to hers. There was no teasing or tenderness about this kiss, just pure animal possession, ripping his defenses down even as he felt hers come down as well.
There was something bittersweet about the way their bodies moved together, as if they were saying goodbye while they touched. Griffin supposed they were in a way. Audrey had made the choice of her case over him. There didn’t seem to be a way to fight that.
So he simply surrendered, sitting down on the ottoman and dragging her on his lap. She squirmed closer to him, relaxing in his arms as his hands roved and their tongues tangled. His fingers grazed the smooth skin of her inner elbow, his tongue lapping at the curve of her neck. Meanwhile, she touched him in return, rocking against him as she smoothed her hands down his jacket and across his chest.
“Audrey.” He loved the way her name reflected back on his own breath. “Audrey, please…”
With a little startled cry, she lurched off him, nearly knocking herself onto her behind on the floor in her hurry to get away.
“No.” She smoothed her dress, wiping the wrinkles away as if it would help her forget. “This isn’t right, not for either of us.”
His face set in stone as he stared up at her.
“And throwing yourself headlong into danger is better than being with me? Is
that
what’s right?”
Releasing her breath in a sharp gasp, Audrey backed away from him. “You don’t understand, Griffin, you don’t understand at all. Douglas Ellison may be a danger to my body, but you…” she paused, her face softening as she looked down at him. “You are a danger to my heart. And I’m no longer sure which one I fear most.”
With that, she hurried from the room.
And his whole world crashed around him.
Chapter Twenty-Two
“Congratulations to you both. A good match, to be sure.”
Audrey nodded blindly at the blustery man before her as he shook Douglas Ellison’s hand. Though it hadn’t been officially announced, people had been crowding around them all evening, saying congratulations and giving good wishes for their engagement. She had to wonder how Douglas had spread the word out so swiftly.
There had been cattiness in the crowd. Things about old maids and money, and Audrey marrying “below her class”. Audrey ignored them. What did she care what people thought about her plans? This was only a false engagement after all.
What she did care about was Griffin. Since three days before when she’d hurried out of his arms, he’d said less than two words to her.
“Damn Wellington.”
Audrey lurched to attention at her fiancé’s harsh words. Turning her head, she saw the decorated General coming across the room. People cleared in his wake, the women tittered behind their fans and even some of the men looked like they would swoon. The new Duke bore himself well, and the people recognized it.
“I’m sorry, darling what did you say?” she asked, fanning herself as she stole a glance at Ellison’s face.
“Nothing, Audrey,” he snapped, then softened his demeanor. “It’s a bit warm in this overcrowded room.”
“Yes, Carlton House is overflowing, isn’t it?”
She looked around her. The house was a showplace, and no expense had been spared in this, one of the last fêtes of the summer. Soon the
ton
would settle down and go back to their country estates where they usually spent the hottest part of the season. And if Audrey was lucky, she would leave with them… but Douglas Ellison would never again depart London.
But only if Jean retrieved to the box she had discovered during her “tour”. All of them knew that was their best chance at catching the traitor himself. It could be their last.
“Excuse me.”
Both Audrey and Douglas turned to look at Griffin, who had come over so quietly through the buzzing crowd neither had seen him approach. Audrey dropped her eyes so she wouldn’t reveal her feelings to Ellison. He watched her like a hawk where Griffin was concerned.
“Berenger.” Ellison’s voice was flat and emotionless. “Haven’t seen you all night. Of course, Audrey and I have been quite popular, surrounded by well-wishers, you know. I don’t suppose you’re one of them?”
Audrey winced at the malicious way Ellison taunted Griffin, but there was nothing she could say that wouldn’t reveal the truth about her feelings.
Griffin stared straight at her. “Of course. The only thing I’ve ever wanted is to see Audrey happy with a man she cares for. And cares for her in return.”
Audrey refused to look up, refused to meet the brown eyes she knew would pull her in where she might never return.
“And she has found that.” Ellison smiled.
“I wondered if I might have a dance with your…” Griffin paused and clenched his teeth. “
Fiancée
.”
Ellison smirked, but released his hold on Audrey. “Just be certain you bring her back.”
Before Audrey could say anything, Griffin had her arm and was guiding her through the crowd to the dance floor. The orchestra had just begun a waltz and Griffin pulled her close. Though he kept a respectable distance between them, Audrey still felt too hot in such proximity to him. Like she’d melt if he breathed on her.
His passion and his anger were apparent in the way he moved and held her. Close but hard, his hands like vices.
“I…” she stammered. “I’m sorry. If it makes you feel better, this is difficult for me, too.”
He sneered. “Oh, yes. I feel much better.”
“What would you have me do, Griffin?” she snapped, somehow keeping a mask of civility on her face while she tried to concentrate on the steps.
He twirled her to her left, and smiled at her. Like her, he kept a calm façade while his grip on her tightened.
“I find it flabbergasting that you’ll pledge to marry a man who could kill you, yet you deny me.” He accentuated his barb with a smile, as if he’d said something utterly charming.
Drawing in a sharp breath through her nose, she tried to maintain the thin grasp on her control. “You’re being unfair. You know this is a farce until I get the information I need. With you it would be a real lifetime.”
“And that is still distasteful to you.”
She shook her head at his flat statement. “Griffin.”
“Watching you pretend to care for him is…” He trailed off as if it were indescribable.
“I know,” she interjected gently. “But if Jean can obtain the information we need tonight, all this will be over.”
Griffin said something else, but Audrey didn’t hear it. At that moment, a man pushed through the crowd to Ellison’s side. He was a burly fellow who Audrey recognized as Douglas’s driver. He spoke in Ellison’s ear for a moment, then her false fiancé’s eyes widened and he said something back. When his face came fully into view, he looked angry. His pale skin had darkened to an ugly red.
Her steps faltered as she watched the two men. Why did Ellison look ready to kill?
“Audrey?” Griffin asked as he tried to catch her eye. “What is it?”
The orchestra played the final strains of the song and Audrey pulled from his arms. “Good evening, Lord Berenger. Thank you for the dance.”
Though Griffin said her name again, Audrey kept walking away from him and back to Douglas’s side. Later she would explain why, but for the moment, getting to the villain before her was much more important.
Ellison beamed at her, though the smile didn’t reach his eyes. “I felt like you were gone for an age.”
“Yes,” she murmured, trying not to show how much she hated his insincerity. “I saw your driver approach you. You seemed upset about what he told you. Is anything amiss?”
“You’re very observant,” he said in a noncommittal tone.
Audrey smiled. “It isn’t every day that a giant, burly driver in work boots clomps through a ballroom. He was hard to miss.”
Ellison’s eyes widened at that comment, as if he hadn’t even thought about the impropriety of the situation. “I suppose you’re right, my dear. I shall have to speak to Gregoire about that.” The anger in his voice was taut and just below the surface.
Audrey briefly wondered if she’d just caused Gregoire injury, but pressed on at any rate. Her smile became sweet as sugar. “And then there’s the fact that I am now your fiancée. I would be a sad wife indeed if I didn’t notice your moods. It must have been important for him to intrude on such an event and risk your wrath.”
Douglas’s mouth turned down in a grim line. “It was. I don’t want you to be alarmed, my dear, but someone attempted to break into my home this evening.”
Audrey’s stomach turned. Jean…
“My God, Douglas,” she stammered, surprised at how calm her voice remained even while her insides were quivering with fear. “That’s terrible.”
“Yes. Luckily my guards shot the man.”
“Oh!” The little outburst left her lips before she could control it. Ellison arched an eyebrow.
“You seem very upset by this, Audrey. Are you quite well?”
She used all her power to focus. “Yes. I-I’ve never handled violence well.” She hesitated. “Was the man… killed?”
Ellison’s eyebrow arched a second time. “I wouldn’t know. I didn’t think to inquire about the condition of the animal who broke in to my home, only if all my valuables were intact.”