Charming a Spy (2 page)

“You’re quite right my dearest Aunt,” Kat said, relieved her indiscretion was not discovered.

“Since you’re finally awake, I’d like to talk to you about a matter of particular importance,” Aunt Ellie said.

“A moth ate your shift? Cook’s treacle tart escaped the larder on its own? A fire…”

“Kat, stop teasing.” Aunt Ellie interrupted. “This is serious. A duke is having a ball.”

“That
is
serious,” Kat joked. “Have you told the authorities?”

“A duke is having a ball and we, me and you,
we
are attending.”

“Not this again,” Kat moaned. She abhorred any event necessitating a corset. The offending undergarment was undoubtedly created by a wicked man who had no idea what it felt like to stuff one’s body into a restrictive cage. Besides, she would prefer to stay at home and read a good book rather than be forced to make conversation with the insipid fops who attended fashionable
ton
events. In truth, she would prefer to read even the dictionary starting at A, than have to chat about the English weather (which was always cold) or the latest scandal (which was always blown out of proportion).

It had been almost two years since Kat attended a social event of any kind, let alone a ball. Some might call it seclusion, but Kat preferred to think of as a respite. It would take something a lot more interesting than a gentleman on a wife-hunting expedition to make Kat break her streak.

Of course, she couldn’t very well tell any of these reasons to Aunt Ellie, who prided herself on not being easily dissuaded. If there were a contest for “England’s most insistent relative,” Aunt Ellie would be crowned every year. She reminded Kat of her tabby cat spotting a mouse, turning from lovable ball of fluff into a lethal monster when her prey was in sight. Today Kat’s husband, or lack thereof, was her prey du jour.

“Am I even invited?” Katherine asked. “I thought those in vogue gave up on me ages ago.”

“I’m sure the invitation simply hasn’t arrived yet,” Aunt Ellie insisted. “But, Katherine, when it does, you will accept. I have been far too lenient with you all of these years. I wanted to respect you and give you time to mourn, but I fear I’ve allowed you to become a recluse.”

“Why change now? I hate the
ton
nonsense. Who cares if I’m fashionable? I’m happy here.”

“Because it’s time, Katherine. I know the last two years have been difficult for you. They’ve been difficult for both of us. But you can’t keep cocooning yourself in this house anymore. You are only twenty and not firmly on the shelf yet. It’s a shame you missed a few seasons, but you still have a chance to catch a husband. Besides, I have it on good authority the duke is in town for the specific purpose of finding a wife.”

“What if I don’t desire to become anyone’s wife?”

“Don’t you want to fall in love, Katherine? Haven’t you ever wondered what it was like to dance under the stars with the moonlight on your hair? Be held? Be kissed? Oh, there is nothing more magical than young love.” Aunt Ellie mooned. Despite two decades and dozens of suitors, Aunt Ellie still sounded like Juliet when she talked about her Uncle Paolo. It was a love for the ages… Aunt Ellie often said. But a love for the ages could only happen, well, once in ages. Kat had more important things to accomplish than sitting around waiting for ages to pass.

It’s not that Kat never thought about love. She had enjoyed the kiss from the devilish man who caught her thieving last night. Even without dancing or moonlight (only a horribly clumsy fall and a match), the kiss had far eclipsed the only other she’d ever received. Truthfully, it exceeded anything she could have imagined. Kat wouldn’t remind repeating the same delicious kiss one or two more times… maybe even more than that. Alas, it would not come to pass because she would never see the man again, and certainly not at a duke’s ball.

“Well, let’s discuss this more when the invitation arrives,” Kat said. Hopefully, no such letter would arrive and then no discussion would have to happen.

“I’m sure it’s on its way,” Aunt Ellie said in her most defensive tone of voice. “Duke Stamwell invited all of the good society. And you are the most beautiful of all of the debutantes, so if he’s looking for a wife he would have to invite you.”

“Thank you for the compliment, my dear objective Aunt,” Kat teased. Aunt Ellie did not smile. She certainly had a bee under her bonnet today.

“Katherine, we have to keep on living. Wouldn’t Luke have wanted that? You need to get on with things. Find a husband. Get married. This may be the only chance you have to marry royalty. A duke.”

“I don’t care if he is a duke or the bloody King of England. You know I have no intention of getting married until I find Luke.” Before Aunt Ellie could petition her again, the butler interrupted.

“The Duke of Stamwell to see you,” he said as the man himself strolled into the room, not waiting for the formal announcement.

Kat’s mouth dropped open in shock. The man from the break-in stood before her, a quirked smile on his face. Her kissable giant captor and the Duke of Stamwell were the same person. Bollocks.

‡

T
his mission was
already turning out to be fun. Geoff loved the element of surprise. Katherine was a deer about to be pounced on by a panther. He watched her closely, making certain she wasn’t going to flee. With only one door to the drawing room, which he was blocking, she was stuck and knew it. The panther would have his feast of deer rump today.

Excellent.

To be fair, Kat had gotten a jump on him last night when she snuck into his office. When Geoff had heard the unpracticed burglar making an enormous racket trying to pick the lock of the office, he blew out his lamp to lie in wait to catch the wastrel in the act. Imagine his surprise when the wastrel turned out to be the spitting image of the woman whose miniature he’d been staring at for months. It had to be her. It was Katherine Dubois, the woman he’d come to London to meet. Well, one of the two.

Of course, he didn’t let on that he knew who she was. In fact, he knew a lot more about her than that. After his thorough briefings, he knew where she lived, her family history and a dozen or more seemingly inane details… like her favorite color… pink.

None of his briefings, however, had prepared him for how he felt when he saw her in a thin muslin shift sneaking around his office like a damn ghost. She was a ridiculously attractive ghost with a body that made his cock want to travel to the underworld. He’d acted no better than an adolescent boy last night, caressing her when he should have been hauling her to Scotland Yard for questioning. But today, the tables were righted once again and he had surprised her. Just the way he liked it.

“Good afternoon,” Geoff said, dipping into a slight bow.

Awkward silence was his only greeting.

“I’m so sorry to intrude upon your good graces. I am new to town and wanted to make my neighbors’ acquaintances.” He tried again.

Still nothing. Geoff had seen pits full of vipers act more welcoming.

“Perhaps you’ve heard I am hosting a ball?” He tried a third time. “I would be honored if you would attend. I thought if I delivered the invitation myself, it might ensure your attendance.”

The older woman recovered from her silence first. “Please excuse our manners, Your Grace, we weren’t expecting any visitors.” That much was obvious. “Please, have a seat and I will ring for some tea. I am Mrs. Seymour and this is my niece, Ms. Dubois.”

“Thank you, but I am only here for a moment to deliver this invitation. I don’t want to intrude any longer,” Geoff said, handing the envelope to the young burglerette, hoping to elicit a response. If she didn’t drop this whole silence business, it would be difficult to seduce her.

She reached out, stiff handed, and took the invitation. He watched as she struggled with the decision to speak or not. She was obviously concerned that her voice might give her away… if her countenance hadn’t already.
Not to worry Katherine. Your secret is safe. For now.

Unable to devise another plan, she breached the silence. She feared he would soon accuse her if she didn’t speak. “Thank you for the kind invitation, Your Grace. I’m sure the party will be spectacular. But my Aunt and I will, unfortunately, have to decline.”

“Decline?” He wasn’t going to let her off the hook that easily.

“We do not go out in society,” she said as a way of explanation.

“I don’t understand,” he said, understanding perfectly, but wanting to know how far she’d go.

“We do not attend
haute ton
functions.”

“You make it sound as if I’m asking you to swim the Thames at high tide,” he said. “I assure you, it promises to be the ball of the season.”

“We’re hermits,” she said, clearly annoyed he was not letting her get away without a good excuse. Geoff coughed to cover his laugh. He glanced at Mrs. Seymour, who looked as if she’d swallowed a tin of flies. Poor woman. Her young charge was clearly a handful. Unfortunately for Katherine, he knew how to deal with handfuls and would not be easily scared away.

“Of course,” he said, most apologetically. “Forgive me for not noticing. You don’t resemble typical hermits.”

“Are you acquainted with many hermits, Your Grace?” Katherine snapped back.

“No, but they do prefer to keep to themselves, don’t they?” he joked. An almost imperceptible curl formed at the corner of her mouth and she tried not to smile. Good. He enjoyed women who understood his sense of humor.

“You’ll have to excuse my niece, Your Grace. Katherine has not had been in society for quite some time and seems to have forgotten her manners.” Mrs. Seymour shot her niece a reprimanding glare and added under her breath, “If she ever had any.”

For a moment, he thought she might stick out her tongue at her aunt, but at the last second she found some self-control. Pity. He wouldn’t mind seeing her tongue.

“No offense taken at all,” he answered. “Ms. Dubois is not the only one who finds the dictums of polite society menial at times. Especially in the face of loss,” he added while turning directly towards Katherine.

“What exactly are you referring to, Your Grace?”

“I learned in town that your brother did not make it home from Corunna. We lost so many good men there.”

“You were there?”

“There and many other awful battlefields,” Geoff said. It was only part fib. He’d seen plenty of battles. Not Corunna though. At least up close. During that time, he was a few miles away in the bed of a French mistress fighting an entirely different kind of war between the sheets. Details, details.

“Did you know my brother, Luke?” she asked.

“No, I’m sorry, I did not.” Her face fell, the instant hopefulness gone. He considered making up some lies about Luke to see the light in her eyes come back again, but it wouldn’t serve his purpose. This was no time to go soft.

“It is completely understandable that you should want to mourn in private,” he started.

“We are not in mourning,” Katherine interrupted. “My brother is simply missing.”

“Of course. My apologies. I only meant to say I can tell you on good authority, sometimes the best thing to mend a heart is to get out and dance,” he said. He took her hand, raised it to his lips and pressed a small kiss upon the inside of her palm. Then he turned on his heels and disappeared from their drawing room as mysteriously as he arrived.

Well-played Geoff
. He’d eat his own coattails if she didn’t show up at the ball.

‡

“I
don’t understand
why you don’t want to go to the ball,” Maribel Chaplin said, sipping from her teacup. “Having a man’s arms wrapped around you as you dance in a grand ballroom all evening is the most wonderful thing I can imagine.” Maribel had shown up at Aunt Ellie’s home over a half hour before and she’d been able to talk of nothing else since her arrival.

Despite the duke’s appearance, days of Aunt Ellie’s persistent pestering, and Maribel’s incessant questions, Kat was not be convinced to attend the ball. What her friend didn’t know, of course, was that her reluctance extended beyond her general dislike of society and ventured into fear of being arrested.