Far Too Tempted (10 page)

“Don’t think of it as charity.” Ariel was as persuasively kind as she was lovely. “Think of it as a gesture of friendship from the Ramseys to the Rowelands. Heaven knows we have resided next to each other for a long, long time. Favors have been traded, both ways. I still cannot quite imagine what it was like for you to arrive and find Alex in residence in your home.”

Jessica bit her lip and took a quick, convulsive gulp of her tea. “Actually,” she confessed with reluctant honesty, “I was there first. I think it was the other way around and I must have taken him very much by surprise.” Rather guiltily she recalled her precipitous attack with the fireplace poker.

Ariel blinked. “What? I was under the impression that Alex arrived last night. In fact, I’m sure of it.”

“He did.” Jessica squared her shoulders and met the other woman’s gaze frankly.

“Oh…dear.” Ariel looked dismayed.

Quickly, she explained, “I told Alex it wasn’t proper for us to both stay there together alone, but he would not listen to me. His shoulder was paining him, it was late, and he didn’t want to walk over here, nor did he desire to escort me.” No need to explain exactly why his shoulder was paining him. The less said about their confrontation, the better. Recalling how she’d lain underneath him half-naked was unsettling enough.

The duchess hid her shocked expression behind her cup of tea, not entirely making a success of it. She murmured, “I suppose, if he were ill, one can understand…perhaps you shouldn’t mention this to anyone else, Jessica. I’ll speak with Alex, though I am sure he would not say a word. Alex has always been such the gentleman.”

The fond look on Ariel Ramsey’s face when she spoke of her brother-in-law made Jessica grind her teeth. Carefully setting aside her glass, she said in a tight voice, “Pardon me, Your Grace, but Alexander Ramsey is a boorish, shallow dandy who would think as little of ruining a woman’s reputation as he would about tying his neckcloth every morning.”

Ariel looked truly astonished, her eyes widening and her mouth dropping open. “Alex?”

“Exactly.”

“You think that Alex, of all people, is…is boorish?”

“Yes, I do.” Jessica sat up very straight and nodded.

“Darling Jessica, most women adore Alex. If anything, a little too much. He has a reputation for being devastatingly charming and gallant.”

Jessica smiled with sardonic emphasis, fingering her plain dress. “Let’s speak truthfully, Your Grace. He has a reputation for being the worst kind of rake.”

The duchess looked a bit scandalized. “Well, I don’t know if that would be an appropriate term, especially from a young lady right out of the schoolroom, but—”

“What else do you call a man who breaks hearts and walks blithely away?” Jessica did her best to sound polite and detached.

Ariel Ramsey quickly shook her head in defense. “No, my dear, you’re wrong. I don’t know what your brother has said in front of you, but Alex would never…” She broke off, a sudden look of understanding coming across her fine features, her green eyes narrowing in comprehension. “Oh, I see. I take it the heart he broke was yours.”

Incredible, but after all these years, tears still sprang to her eyes when she thought about that moment when her innocent dreams had been shattered. Jessica blinked, reminding herself of what a fool she had once been. A young, infatuated fool who had bared her heart to a man without honor or morals.

Damn him. Jessica swallowed hard.

Across the very civilized room, Ariel watched her with compassion. “You’re so young. And he’s been gone so very long. How could it happen?”

Other than Rebecca, it had been a long, long time since Jessica had a confidante and she had certainly never mentioned the incident with Alex to her friend. That the feelings still lingered bothered her, so maybe she should tell someone.

Getting to her feet, Jessica paced over to one of the long, elegant windows that overlooked the garden. It was open to the summer breeze and she turned her face into the fragrant warmth. She leaned against the sill and pressed her palms on the wood and sighed. “Ever since I was very small, Alex had been my hero. He was just so very different from Robert. He took time to notice me whenever he was at the house, to tease and chase me, he…he seemed to truly enjoy watching me ride my pony and such things. Robert was ever thinking about himself and made me feel like a nuisance. It was just nice to have the attention, I admit.”

“So he was the big brother you wanted.”

“Maybe, at first. But as I grew older, I started to look at him differently.” Jessica bit her lip. “Alex is very handsome, and in my limited world, I suppose the most handsome man I’d ever seen.”

Ariel said dryly, “Marcus would be crushed.”

Jessica had to give a small laugh, trying to picture the self-confident duke affronted in any way by her humble opinion. Her hands were still hard against the windowsill and she let go, turning slowly around. “They look so alike—he shouldn’t be.”

“They are both very good-looking men—I can say so, since one is my husband. Now, pray continue with your story, Jessica, so I can decide whether or not to throttle my brother-in-law. I can do simple math and know full well that you were fifteen when he left for Spain, and you two could not have seen each other since.” Upright on the embroidered sofa, the duchess looked outraged.

“I heard he was going off to fight the French. So, I was foolish and told him how I felt.”

“And?” The question was cautious, almost afraid.

Jessica let a rueful smile touch her mouth. “He was extremely surprised. Almost as if an inanimate object had come to life and begun to talk. I suppose at that moment I realized how he saw me. As a child.”

Visibly relaxing a little, Ariel looked sympathetic. “And it hurt. But surely you see now that if Alex had reacted in any other way, he would be the rascal you think him. As it is, you
were
still a child and he would hardly consider you in a romantic—”

“That particular scene is not what makes me think ill of Alex,” Jessica interrupted, her cheeks heating.

A cool night, moonlit gardens, an interrupted lover’s tryst…

“No?”

“No. That afternoon he was kind enough to me.”

Rather like the night before. After four years of despising him, it was galling to think she’d clung to him and wept in his arms.

To Jessica’s infinite relief, the door opened then. “Your Grace, Miss Roweland’s room is ready and her things unpacked.” A young maid bobbed a curtsey.

“Thank you.” Ariel looked vaguely irritated at the interruption.

“I need to change for dinner.” Taking advantage of the moment, Jessica ducked her head and practically ran out of the room.

Chapter Five

The dinner was intimate,
en famille
, and in a word, excruciating.

Alex determinedly downed another glass of wine and scooped up a tender, perfectly cooked forkful of fish. He should be enjoying himself. There was fine wine instead of tepid water, delicious food instead of dried rations, and he was clean, well dressed and would sleep safely in a warm, soft bed that night. Besides all of that, he was with his family, whom he loved.

And he would appreciate all of those wonderful things if it wasn’t for Jessica Roweland treating him openly like a particularly repulsive leper.

She had been at Grayston a week now. She was sweet and charming to his mother. She smiled at Marcus and laughed lightly at Ariel’s gossip. His sister-in-law had confided to him Jessica was marvelous with the children and they adored her. In fact, it was plain to see his whole family was enchanted to have her as their guest, and he knew they were trying to get her to stay on until her upcoming wedding.

However, he heartily wished she had not been seated directly across from him for the evening meal.

Dressed in a deep rose gown that flattered her ivory skin and gleaming dark hair, she was the very picture of pure young feminine beauty. Despite his every effort, he found his gaze straying time and again to the graceful length of her slender neck, and involuntarily downward to where the full mounds of her breasts were shaped by the fabric of her gown. The neckline was modest enough, but he knew full well what was beneath. The imprint of her soft body lying under his was apparently burned permanently into his memory as much as he’d tried to just forget it.

He, of course, was an idiot to dwell on it. She obviously loathed him and made no secret of it. Her cool demeanor spoke volumes.

Never, not once, had she looked at him or spoken to him during the entire course of the evening. It had been the same story all week long. During his brief visits to Grayston in the past days, she avoided him like he was a plague-ridden rodent.

It was also becoming obvious to his family. Marcus had made a few remarks about it, wondering about the source of the tension. Several times Alex had caught Ariel looking at him with curious reproof. His mother had flat-out asked him what he’d done to offend Jessica.

He sure as hell had avoided that question, mumbling some nonsense about Robert and their close friendship. The last thing he wanted to do is tell his own mother that a young girl had caught him making love to a half-naked woman in her garden years ago.

Not that Jessica had any right to be there that long-ago evening, damn it.

Grimly, he took another bite of fish and washed it down with a gulp of wine. Well, I’ve had enough, he thought sardonically as he watched her laugh lightly at something Marcus said. If she wanted a battle, he was certainly willing to oblige. He’d reached his limits of largesse.

With the advantage of a slight lull in the conversation, he leaned back in his chair and drawled coolly, “Dearest Jessica, tell me, where is your eager young husband-to-be? I thought surely by now he would have arrived, frantic to see to your welfare. I am anxious to meet this man who has won your heart.”

The shot, spoken in a flowery, out-of-character tone, went home. She flushed instantly, her mouth compressing into a thin line. Her eyes, so lovely and luminous, flashed fire and she looked him in the face for the first time all night.

Alex stared back in challenge.

The table at large fell quite silent.

Ariel interjected suddenly, “It is a sound guess to suppose Jessica’s message has not yet reached him. He travels frequently on family business.”

“Ah, I see.” Alex lifted one brow in cynical amusement as Jessica’s flush deepened. His sister-in-law began to babble then, something about a party she’d recently attended, and his mother joined in. Jessica looked away, ostensibly out of polite attention to the sudden burst in conversation.

It was small, petty satisfaction to know that even though she hadn’t spoken to him, he’d made her acknowledge he existed. It made him feel worse, not better.

Blood and thunder.

The family dining room was lit by flickering tapers, the elegant furnishings a comfort after four years of war. It seemed incredible that this world—this genteel and sophisticated existence—could reside on the same planet as the wild and dangerous place he’d left behind in Spain. All the blood, the horrible violence and incomprehensible sights—all of that faded away amidst luxury and plenty. There were even fresh flowers on the table—overblown crimson roses that sent a seductive scent across the whole room.

Lifting a hand, he gestured for more wine.

Across the table, Marcus frowned. Alex was well aware he might be overindulging, but by damn if he was going to be scolded like a child by his older brother. He deliberately lifted his glass in a mocking toast.

Roast pheasant followed the fish. He barely noticed. As he ate mechanically, Alex managed to down a good deal more wine.

It was a relief when the plates were cleared and he and Marcus could retire to the study for tobacco and port. They weren’t even in the door before Marcus said curtly, “What was that all about, Alex? I think Jessica Roweland has had enough adversity lately without you bringing up the fact that her fiancé has not responded to her letter.”

“If you remember,” Alex replied, stung, “I was the one who suggested she stay here because I felt pity for her plight. Hell, I brought her here. And there’s something about being treated like a block of wood that doesn’t sit well with me. If you want to lecture someone on their manners, brother, perhaps you should start with her.”

Marcus crossed the room and sank into a chair, staring at him all the while. A low whistle escaped his lips. “So, that’s it.”

“What is ‘it’?” Stifling his irritation with effort, Alex strolled over to the carved table in the corner and reached for the port.

“Our very lovely Miss Roweland is immune to your infamous charm. In fact, she doesn’t seem to like you at all. The little worshipful girl who used to follow you around like a puppy has been replaced with a beautiful woman who won’t even glance your way. And it irks you.”

“Never having exerted my charm, infamous or otherwise, on her, let me assure you that assumption cannot be true.” Port splashed generously into a crystal glass and Alex lifted it to his mouth.

“I don’t believe you. There was a great deal of tension between the two of you at dinner. Hell, at all times, for that matter. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a female between the ages of twelve and a hundred ignore you before.” Marcus chuckled. “Yet she manages it very well.”