A Little Mischief (17 page)

“A suspect?”

“Yes.”

He grimaced. “In Throckmorten’s murder? That’s impossible.”

“Why? You have been gone more than a year, Daniel; perhaps there are things about Mr. Cummerford that you don’t know.”

He drew in a long uneven breath. Chilton had been different since Daniel returned, but he wasn’t ready to believe his friend’s reserve had anything to do with Throckmorten.

“I’m sure there are plenty of things I don’t know about him, but there is one thing I do know and that is Chilton didn’t have anything to do with Throckmorten’s death any more than Gretchen did.”

His last statement hung in the air too long. The truth was they didn’t know how many people might be connected to the man’s death.

Finally Isabella broke the silence by saying, “We are sure Gretchen didn’t have anything to do with this, aren’t we, my lord?”

“Yes, Isabella, we are,” he answered without hesitation.

They stood so close that Isabella could sense the warmth of his body, feel the light fanning of his breath, and see the sparks of outrage about this entire affair in his eyes. Rare afternoon sunshine filtered through the windowpane and glimmered off his dark brown hair and shadowed half his face.

“Well, since you are convinced of his innocence, we’ll forget about him for now, but I think the next thing we should do is talk to Gretchen again. We need to find out exactly what was going on between her and Mr. Throckmorten.”

“Yes,
I
plan to do that as soon as
I
get home, and
I
don’t need your help to question my sister.”

“Perhaps not to question Gretchen, but you’ll need my help when you search Mr. Throckmorten’s home.”

Surprise leaped into his eyes. “Search his home? Damnation, Isabella, what are you talking about?”

“Shhh, don’t be so loud. Remember my maid is right outside the door.”

Isabella placed two fingers against his lips. Her touch was so light his lips felt like gossamer against her fingers. Her heart started beating a little faster. Her skin tingled, her body prickled with desire. She felt his lips part beneath her gentle pressure, and she slowly removed her hand, but she didn’t step away.

She felt him take a shallow breath. He had been caught unaware by her touch, too. She wished she knew the meaning behind these strange feelings she had for this man. He didn’t seem to like her any more now than he had their first meeting, but it was clear something was drawing the two of them together.

Isabella glanced toward the door. It didn’t appear that her maid had heard them. She softly cleared her throat and offered, “I think it’s time for us to admit the possibility that Gretchen had a secret liaison with Mr. Throckmorten in my garden. She must have been planning to meet him in Lord Gleningwold’s garden, too.”

“Yes.” His expression immediately softened as it usually did when he talked about his sister. “She has told me that much concerning her meeting him in your garden, but I believe there is more that she hasn’t said. I know she’s young and I’ve tried to be gentle with her. I no longer can.”

“Daniel, we also need to find out if her name or anything about her is written anywhere in his private papers. If it is, we need to expunge it.”

He eyed her warily and leaned in closer to her. “Just where have you learned all these tricks, Isabella?”

“Tricks? I don’t know what you’re talking about, my lord.”

“Reading calling cards, searching desks and private papers. You were not taught that at home. Where did you learn such stratagem?”

“From books.”

“Books?”

“One can learn all sorts of things from reading, whether it be books on poetry, horrid novels, or the London
Times
.”

He studied her closely. “I’m not sure I believe you, but if I did, it wouldn’t matter. The authorities, his family, or someone will have already been through Throckmorten’s personal papers.”

It was difficult to concentrate on their conversation when he stood so close to her she could touch him again by merely lifting her hand. And she wanted to touch him.

“But they would not have been looking for anything with Gretchen’s name on it, and it’s quite possible they might have missed something. I think you should go home and question Gretchen, and then we’ll make plans to meet tomorrow and go to his house again.”

He shook his head with disbelief. “You never cease to amaze me, Isabella. What do you suppose we will do once we get there? I can’t see the butler letting strangers rummage through his dead master’s private papers.”

She smiled easily. “Of course he won’t. I will dress in the wig and the old cloak again. When we get inside, I’ll pretend to faint and need a cup of tea.”

“Did you read this in a book?”

“Well, not exactly. It was something similar. Anyway back to my point; while the butler is getting the tea, you can find the man’s desk and search it.”

“Me? Search his desk?” he whispered loudly. “Bloody hell, Isabella, I can’t do anything like that. I’m an earl.”

She put her fingers to his lips again to soften his voice, and once again they were both stunned by the sensations that passed between them.

Isabella forced herself to remain on subject. “You are a brother who must go to great lengths to protect his sister,” she insisted.

His eyes narrowed as they searched hers, and for a moment she felt as if he were trying to look into her soul.

“You know I will do what I must to protect Gretchen, but why are you so willing to risk your reputation to help her?”

“I’m quite fond of your sister. I believe she has been someone’s pawn in this terrible matter.” She paused for a moment, wondering if she could make him understand if she told him all that she felt in her heart. “But mostly I think it’s that I’ve been a part of this since I found Gretchen in my garden standing over his body. I have read about such adventures but never dreamed I would participate in a real intrigue. I know it’s hard to understand, but it’s too exciting. I can’t let go of this mystery until it’s solved, and I want to be a part of unraveling it and finding the answer.”

“You would really go to Throckmorten’s house and pretend to faint if I agreed, wouldn’t you?”

She looked at him without blinking. “Yes, I thought it was settled that we would do it tomorrow.”

His gaze held on her face. “I should have known that you were enjoying all this conspiracy.”

“I do find it exhilarating, but I also want to see that neither Gretchen nor I are harmed by any of this.”

Daniel’s lips relaxed into a smile. “You are so beautiful when you are planning mischief, Isabella.”

Isabella’s chest tightened and she smiled at him. “Thank you.”

With a slight unobtrusive movement of his hand, he reached up and rubbed the backs of his fingers down her cheek and across her lips before letting his hand fall away. Isabella’s blood heated and she made no move to resist him even though she knew they were playing a dangerous game with their unexpected touching.

“Your father should have censored what you read. He obviously allowed you to read books that were not meant for young ladies’ consumption.”

Isabella expected the usual stiffness and that sudden feeling of emptiness in her stomach whenever her father was mentioned, but it didn’t happen. Perhaps she had finally gotten over her father abandoning her.

With more ease than she expected she said, “My father didn’t know what I read. As long as I was quiet and didn’t disturb my mother or the household, he didn’t know I was around.”

Daniel grimaced. “That doesn’t sound as if you had a very happy childhood.”

She gave him a half smile. “I was happy. Maybe a bit lonely at times. That is why I so enjoy the ladies coming here for our readings. I like having people around who aren’t afraid to laugh and talk. I love the noise of the streets of London and its parties. I don’t want to go back to the quiet life of the country.”

His gaze swept up and down her face like butterfly wings in slow motion. “Sometimes you appear a green girl, and other times, like now, you are a fresh miss who flaunts convention.”

“Daniel, I never stepped over the bounds of Society’s rules until I met you,” she admitted without any guile.

He grinned engagingly, but his gaze didn’t leave hers. “Oh, so it’s my fault that you have turned from an innocent miss to a lady who enjoys a mischievous game.”

“Do you really think me that way?”

In a hushed whisper he answered, “You must be. Everything you say and do points to it.”

“I am only trying to help you and your sister.”

“I want to believe that, but there are so many things about you that make me wary of your intentions.”

“You are standing very close to me again, Daniel.”

“I know.”

“I’m remembering what happened the last time we were close like this.”

“So am I.”

“One of us should move away,” she said.

“Ladies first.”

“I think perhaps I’ll let you. I find my legs don’t want to move. I feel if I should try to walk, they won’t hold me up.”

“Then perhaps I should hold you for a few moments until you regain your strength.”

“Yes,” she said, knowing that once again she had fallen under his spell. Why else would she agree to be alone with him in her own home?

Daniel cupped the side of her face with one hand while the other slipped around her waist and brought her up against him, settling her weight on him. Isabella’s breath caught in her throat as she felt the hardness in his lower body press firmly against her.

He raked his thumb across her lips and down her chin to let it rest at the pulse in her neck. She felt the erratic beat of her heart in her ears. His hand lightly circled her throat. His thumb rested in the hollow, and his fingers made slow sensuous circles against the skin at her nape. He nudged his thigh gently between hers and lowered his face even closer to hers.

“I want to kiss you,” he whispered.

Isabella’s abdomen contracted deliciously. Shivers of expectancy tingled through her. She didn’t want to deny him anything, but her freedom was at stake.

She managed to clear her thoughts enough to say, “There are a dozen ladies and my aunt right down the hallway from us.”

With his open hand to her back he pressed her closer to his hardness and said, “I know.”

“The door to this room is ajar and my maid is right outside.”

“I know.”

“We would have to marry if you were caught holding me like this.”

His eyes held steady on hers as his fingertips drifted from her neck down her chest to the rapid rise and fall of her breasts. She tingled all over. Her heart felt as if it were going to beat out of her chest. She couldn’t have moved away if she wanted to.

“I know,” he said again.

“And yet, you have no fear?”

“Oh, yes, I do. All you say is true, and it gives me cause for alarm.”

“But still you hold me and touch me like this? Why?”

He slipped his hand from her waist to her buttocks, lifting her up and fitting her perfectly against the hard bulge beneath his trousers.

“Holding you like this makes it worth the risk.”

Isabella gasped from the sheer pleasure of feeling the warmth, the hardness, and the forbidding touch of his body next to hers.

She didn’t know what made this man different from all the other men she’d met in her life, she only knew he was. “I have no power to resist you.”

His lips were less than an inch from hers. He smiled as he said, “Ah, Isabella, I haven’t even kissed you yet.”

“I feel I will faint if you don’t do so soon.”

“Open your mouth for me,” he whispered.

She parted her lips. Daniel met her lips and invaded her mouth with his tongue. He pressed deep with short fleeting strokes, retreating and then darting back inside. It roused her passion instantly, and they kissed over and over again. Long, hard and searing kisses that nibbled, enticed, and provoked.

His assault inflamed her, but yet she yielded to his silent demand for her to remain passive in his arms and let him devour her until he whispered, “Join me, Isabella.”

She needed no tutelage this time as she gave herself entirely to the kiss. She slipped her hands beneath his coat and circled him, wanting to feel the power in the expanse of his back. She wanted this connection to him. She let her hands wander down to the firm muscles of his buttocks, and she fit her palms over them.

Daniel moaned softly. “Yes,” he whispered. “Hold me against you.”

She did.

Slowly he ran his hands up and down her back, over her shoulders, down the front of her dress. He flattened his hands on her breasts and pressed against their fullness. He gently squeezed and massaged her softly through the fabric of her dress and undergarments. His hand glided over and around each breast with the lightest of pressure, kneading them seductively.

Isabella closed her eyes and enjoyed the wonderful feelings of his exploration. A whispered sound of pleasure floated past her lips.