A Little Deception (10 page)

Aunt Alice had nearly secured the funds that would enable
them all to sail honourably home after Arabella had contracted a suitable
match. She had no further reason to court the good offices of Lord Rampton.

She glanced across at her brother, who was still talking,
his tone now fearful. ‘Besides, why has Lord Rampton invited us to dine? You
don’t think he’s changed his mind and is going to call in the debt immediately,
do you?’

‘I expect we’ll just have to wait until the turbot in chive
sauce to find out, darling.’ Helena’s voice drifted across the room from where
she sat playing cards. As usual, her sarcasm seemed not to faze Charles.

Raking his fingers through his thin pale hair he addressed
Rose, who sat opposite him, with contrived firmness. ‘Now, you’re to behave
yourself, Rose. Your conduct last time we dined with Rampton was scandalous and
deeply embarrassing.’

‘Well, I for one wouldn’t miss it for the world,’
interjected Helena. Rose bit her lip and forced herself to remain silent. She
was usually good at wheedling her brother into doing things for which he had no
enthusiasm, but she recognized that, in this matter, the least said the better.
He could dig his heels in at any moment and state categorically that she should
not be allowed to go and she couldn’t bear that to happen, having decided that
tonight’s dinner must be the last time she enjoyed Lord Rampton’s company.

‘Watching Rose at the masquerade, anyone would think she was
quite a woman of the world,’ Helena added, appearing at her husband’s side and
resting a hand on his shoulder. ‘With vast experience of men.’

Rose quelled the impulse to defend herself. ‘Are you still
put out that he rejected the advances of the fair Helen of Troy by bringing you
back to your chaperone so smartly?’

‘I was simply put out at being treated like a silly little
debutante— all on account of your silly little deception,’ Helena said,
coolly.

If Rose felt angered by her sister-in-law’s remark then, she
was able to enjoy a sense of victory later that evening as their host gazed at
her across the table with blatant admiration.

‘You’re not missing anything, Lady Chesterfield, if you
elect not to accompany the rest of your family to Almack’s.’ Lord Rampton’s tone
was intimate; and of course Rose should have been embarrassed by the fact that he
had eyes only for her and that dinner, as on the first occasion on which they
had met, was almost a tête-à-tête between them. Charles was again rendered
virtually mute by a mixture of awe and helpless indignation, while Helena
contributed little because it seemed she was playing the debutante to the hilt.

Yes, Rose should have felt embarrassed. Instead, she felt
exultant.

‘Its reputation is quite undeserved.’ His eyes were once
more drawn to Rose as he added, ‘I have never understood the lengths the public
will go to be admitted. Desire will have people do extraordinary things.’ His
voice was like a caress. Rose plucked at the neckline of the gown Helena had
lent her and wondered whether the others noticed the viscount’s interest. It
certainly could not have escaped Helena’s attention.

‘I’m told the strongest refreshment served is orgeat,’ she
said. ‘Not even champagne punch. And that Lady Jersey and the other patronesses
wield enormous power.’

‘A mere whiff of scandal will have one banned from their
hallowed precincts,’ said Helena. ‘Which is enough to destroy anyone who has
social pretensions. Still,’ she added, virtuously, ‘scandal is only dangerous
to those careless enough to get caught.’

Rampton gave a short laugh. ‘Hypocrisy is alive and well,
Miss Chesterfield.’ He rubbed his jaw and added, with a disarmingly frank look
at Rose, ‘Alas, subterfuge is often the only defence when one is a slave to
duty and one’s family’s dynastic ambitions.’

Rose felt herself blush to the roots of her hair. Of course
he could know nothing of her own deception. Nevertheless, it was a wounding
remark to make in any husband’s hearing, and Rose sent an anxious glance across
to Charles. It appeared that he’d not registered Rampton’s words. He was gazing
at Helena whose sharp eyes followed the exchange between Rose and Rampton.

‘Phew!’ Charles whistled once they were back in their
carriage, relaxing into the squabs with apparent relief before glaring at Rose.
‘This is madness! Why on earth do we persist with this ridiculous charade? When
will Aunt Alice tell us whether we have the money to pay the man, or not? If we
don’t, I’d rather come clean with his lordship and to hell with the
consequences.’

‘It certainly was none of my idea,’ Helena pointed out,
self-righteously. ‘But darling Rose swears her stalling tactics are necessary
to give Aunt Alice time to lay her hands on the necessary funds, and that
scandal and humiliation are in store for all of us if her fraud should be
revealed.’

Rose didn’t enter into the argument, only pushed aside the
curtain to look into the darkened streets. The back of her neck prickled with a
mixture of guilt and desire. Of course she should never have got themselves
into such a mess, but revealing the truth was too dangerous and had the
potential to cause a scandal that would damage Arabella’s chances.

She had always prided herself on her sense of duty, yet
nothing now seemed important when compared with the pleasure of Lord Rampton’s
company. It wasn’t just that he was handsome and exuded a magnetism she’d never
encountered before. No, for the first time she knew what it was like to be
fêted as a beautiful and desirable woman, just as Helena was constantly feted.
And the feeling was irresistible.

She listened as the rain beat loudly on the carriage roof
and felt the carriage jerk as the horses responded to the coachman’s whip. Not
only was she in love, but she relished the freedom that her disguise as a
married woman gave her. Longing tugged at her heart and she closed her eyes,
despair curdling in her stomach as she reflected upon Lord Rampton’s obvious
desire: a desire she had no choice but to resist.

She was glad when the others deposited her at their town
house before going out again to spend the rest of the evening at Almack’s. She
must wean herself off this dangerous man who made her feel things she should
not, and want things she knew she could never have. Her heart was not
important. As long as they repaid Rampton his debt they could return to their
plantation after seeing Arabella contract a wonderful match….

Yarrowby?

She felt a moment’s discomfort at the thought of Lord
Rampton’s warning but she rallied at the memory of Lady Rodham’s description of
two young men fighting in Regent’s Park. Rampton and Yarrowby had clashed over
a woman. Clearly rivalry was at the root of Lord Rampton’s caution.

‘Miss Rose, you have a visitor.’ Edith stood in the doorway,
her grey hair hanging down her shoulder in one heavy plait, a thick shawl
wrapped about her shoulders.

Rose put down the book she was reading and glanced,
surprised, at the clock. ‘It’s nearly ten o clock.’

‘It’s Lord Rampton.’ Closing the door quietly behind her,
Edith crossed the room. ‘Fortunately no one else saw him.’ She spoke softly. ‘I
was able to leave him to wait in the library while I enquired as to whether you
were receiving visitors at this late hour.’

Rose felt the colour flood her face. Lord Rampton? Did
gentlemen really visit married ladies at such a late hour? But then, if no one
but Edith and seen him….

She tossed the book to the floor, sat up straight. ‘Oh,
Edith,’ she whispered urgently. ‘What shall I do?’

‘Do you want to see him or not?’

‘Oh yes!’ Embarrassed by such a heartfelt and spontaneous
admission, she added, ‘Well … I daresay I shouldn’t, should I? I mean … what
would Charles say?’

‘We would never tell Sir Charles,’ declared Edith, as if
Rose were mad. Her pale eyes shone. ‘And what harm could there be in receiving
a gentleman caller? I would be near by if you needed me.’

Rose blinked. Could Edith, who had always been such a
stickler for proprieties, be encouraging her to do something which would cause
any self-respecting mama to die of shame? Or would it? That is, if it were
never made public? It did not require much persuasion.

‘Lord Rampton is greatly taken with you, Miss Rose. He is
not here on account of the debt he is owed.’ Edith gripped her wrists, her meaning
never clearer. She’d devoted her life to Rose and her siblings and was as
vigilant as any designing mama. ‘Make the most of your chances, Miss Rose.’ The
urgency in her tone infused Rose with daring. ‘Chance does not knock at your
door every day. You are unmarried and he is in need of a wife.’

Shocked and excited by Edith’s approval, while ignoring the
inherent conflict created by her deception, Rose tilted up her chin and took a
deep breath. Then, like a woman of the world who was used to such requests, and
not the green girl she really was, she said, ‘Yes, tell him to come.’

The wave of anticipation that flooded her as he was
announced was nearly overwhelming but she managed to retain her composure with
the observation that she’d discussed Byron with him over his dinner table,
calmly and intelligently, not two hours since. Now he faced her, tall and
broad-shouldered, his eyes impossible to read. He had come seeking her out. Her
and her alone.

Not that his first words indicated this. ‘I see you are
unaccompanied, Lady Chesterfield,’ he remarked casually, as if this surprised
him.

‘You know very well that I’m alone.’ Her voice was low as
she watched him carefully. Why had he come? What did he want? ‘We discussed
this evening’s agenda over your dinner table.’

‘Ah yes,’ he said in a low voice, taking a step forward and
standing just a little to the right of the fire so that he did not block her
heat. Not that there was any need for such a gesture. Rose’s temperature was
rising rapidly.

His eyes held hers and a smile curled the corners of his
lips. This time Rose had no response. Her heart thudded so painfully she
wondered whether he could hear it. She schooled herself to remain still, not to
squirm with embarrassment or appear too eager. Nor to turn him away with a lack
of enthusiasm.

‘I looked in at Almack’s briefly.’ He remained standing a
few feet from her, his hands clasped behind his back. ‘In case you had chosen
to accompany your family, after all. When I saw you had not I was concerned …’
His voice trailed away and his intensely blue eyes bored into hers before he
added softly, ‘that you might be lonely.’

Still Rose made no rejoinder. It was hard enough just
forcing herself to breathe. Every nerve ending was like a taut violin string,
heat prickled the surface of her skin and the most unbearable longing
threatened to turn her into a fool. No, she had no choice but to wait, then act
accordingly.

‘Come here,’ he said, softly, and Rose felt her body answer
the summons before her mind had time to fully comprehend. Before she had
registered what she was doing she had closed the distance between them and was
abandoning good sense with the breath that left her body in a whoosh as she
raised her lips to meet his.

There were no gentle preliminaries. Hot and demanding, his
mouth covered hers as he cupped her face, almost drinking her in and she,
seemingly boneless, wilted in his embrace.

His lips burned hers as he growled against them, ‘I’ve
looked forward to this moment since I first laid eyes on you,’ before resuming
his passionate assault, his hands roaming over her body, cupping her bottom as
he drew her against him.

Dear Lord, it was terrifying, and it was wicked and oh, so
exhilarating. She was an innocent. Inexperienced. She knew she should be shocked
by the liberties and the jutting angles of his masculinity but her body
answered with equal ardour as her hands twined behind his neck and her tongue
tangled with his in a dance of seduction that could have no happy resolution
– but she could take what he offered, now, and she’d have that to sustain
her for the rest of her days.

She squirmed at the disconcerting feeling of molten liquid
pooling in her lower belly but she only pressed herself closer for in the
drawing room she was still mistress of her own destiny and her reputation was
preserved. She could show him how much she desired him but when he released
her, here it would end.

‘You are wicked, my lord,’ she told him, kissing his ear, running
her palms over the roughness of his angular cheekbones and revelling in his
caresses, arching into him as he contoured her body without shame, knowing that
he would realise it could go no further since she was, in his eyes, a married
woman, and that she was due to leave the country in a few short weeks.

‘And you are a minx,’ he muttered against her throat,
drawing back at the sound of heavy footsteps in the passage, and adding, just
before Edith made her presence known, ‘but don’t you think you’ve got the
better of me.’

Rose widened her eyes and smiled into his face, still only
inches from hers. ‘Time will tell, my lord,’ she said, with emphasised
coquetry. She sighed as she stepped backwards and out of his embrace. ‘I am
mindful of the fact I am deeply in your debt.’

He reached out one hand to stroke her jawline. ‘Yes, you’d
do well to bear that in mind,’ he murmured.