Heart of the Diamond (7 page)

Nicki touched his arm, then snatched her hand away quickly. “I am perfectly capable of finding my way home, Blake. I have been coming here since I was a small child.”

He reached out to lift her chin. “I realize you are a frighteningly resourceful female, but I am your intended. This is as good a time as any for you to realize that as my wife, you will not risk your neck unless I am present.”

Nicki frowned. He had sounded just like her father. “That is arrogant and self-serving. I shall never have any fun at all, especially if I must await your company.”

Blake laughed and withdrew his hand from beneath her chin. “I am an experienced guide in adventurous matters, my dear. I think you will find I can take you on wondrous expeditions.”

“Oh dear!”

“I did not mean to shock you, Nicole.”

She shook her head. “Shock me? Oh, no, your proposal sounds most intriguing. I have always enjoyed a rousing adventure. No, I was merely recalling your plan to come for tea tomorrow. I will not be home from my fishing expedition until after one o'clock. I hope that does not wreak havoc with your schedule.”

“Fishing expedition?”

She grinned. “My brother's blood price for secrecy. I find bribery forestalls scenes such as we experienced last night.”

“I have not been angling since I left England. Perhaps I shall join you. When will you be going?”

The thought of spending more time with him, even with Shelby present, sent alarm shooting through Nicki. “We will leave at nine o'clock in the morning. It's dreadfully cold in the morning.”

He shrugged. “I think I can survive.”

“And wet. It's sure to rain.”

“I shall be certain to take all necessary precautions.”

Nicki bit her lip, thinking furiously. “Shelby has only one pole . . . ”

“I have a pole, I have a cloak to protect me from the rain, and I am generally out of bed long before nine o'clock. I shall come for you in the morning.”

Unable to argue further without being rude, she sighed. “Shelby shall adore your company, but are you certain?”

“Nine it is. Now, I distinctly recall seeing one boot land in that direction.” He motioned toward the largest of the rose bushes, then strode away into the darkness.

Somehow, the garden seemed more sinister without his presence at her side.

She shook off the sensation. As she carefully separated branches in search of her riding boots, she wondered if perhaps she had been too generous in her bargaining. Nicki knew Mina was awaiting her return to hear the results of the meeting with the earl. She would be ecstatic when Nicki told her she would have her Season.

It seemed everyone would be getting something from this union. Everyone, that is, except her.

Blake saddled Banbury quickly and grabbed one of the worn cloaks hanging on a peg near the stable door. He found Nicole waiting for him near the front porch and drew his horse to a halt beside her.

“You came to Rosewood on foot?”

In the moonlight, her face appeared as pale and ethereal as that of an angel. “I did.”

“Then you shall ride with me back to Langley Hall.”

The tightening of her lovely mouth dispelled any resemblance to heavenly creatures. “I believe I shall walk alongside your horse, thank you just the same.”

With a slight pressure of one knee, Blake urged Banbury to sidestep closer to Nicole. “The hour grows late. If you are afraid, let me assure you I shall comport myself with the utmost restraint.”

“I am not afraid!” Nicole lifted her chin. “I merely felt some concern for the horse.”

Blake laughed. “This great beast? He will scarcely notice the addition of a person as light as thistledown. Come. Give me your hand.”

“Very well, but do not say I did not warn you.”

Blake tossed the frayed edges of cloak aside, bent down and grabbed Nicole's wrist. He then half lifted, half tossed her onto the horse so that she sat sidewise in front of him with her bottom nestled between his legs. Nicole, after flashing him an alarmed glance, sat rigidly straight and clenched her hands beneath the folds of her skirt.

He wondered at her sudden shyness. “Lean into me.”

Ignoring his suggestion, she continued to balance herself over the neck of the horse until Blake took the reins, thus encasing her within his arms.

“Lean against me. I will not allow you to fall, Nicole.”

Hesitant, she did as he suggested. Her head came to just beneath his chin and Blake could not resist breathing deeply of the fresh rose scent of her hair.

Certain now that Nicole rested securely before him, Blake pressed his heels into Banbury's sides and the horse set off.

Blake listened to the steady clop of shod hooves striking the ground and of the night creatures with their shrill and haunting calls. As a child, Blake had been frightened of the dark. As an adult, he welcomed its discretion.

Nicole stubbornly faced the road ahead, as though he would go away if she ignored him long enough. A chill in the air made tiny puffs of mist before their mouths.

“Are you cold?” he asked.

She stiffened. “A little.”

“Share my cloak.” Without awaiting permission, Blake arranged the wool fabric over her shoulders. “You will have to hold on to the edges. I fear I haven't enough hands.”

She turned her back more squarely against his chest and took the ends of the cloak. Their fingers brushed and Blake heard a quick intake of breath.

“Thank you,” she whispered as she maneuvered the cloth so she could keep her head outside the garment.

Blake forced his attention to the road ahead, though such a feat took every ounce of willpower he possessed. Nicole fit against his heart as though she had been made especially to rest there. He cleared his throat.

“Are you warm enough now?”

She nodded. A tendril of her hair brushed his nose and got it to itching.

“Why did you come out into the night without a cloak?” He had to take the reins in one hand and reach up to scratch.

“I knew the walk would get my blood flowing to keep me comfortable.”

Blake's blood flowed as well, but from the proximity of one certain young lady, not from any amount of exercise. And he was decidedly uncomfortable.

“Have you no fear of bandits or wild creatures of the night with an appetite for tender morsels such as yourself?”

She sat up slightly in order to glance around. “I think you are the most dangerous creature in this vicinity, my lord, and I seem to have fallen directly into your clutches.”

“Me?” He chuckled. “I am harmless.”

Her eyes glowed large and dark in her pale face. “Would Teddy agree with such an observation?”

The mention of Bartholomew set Blake's teeth on edge, like biting down on ice-cold metal. “He got as he deserved. That is all I intend to say on the matter.”

In the undulating moonlight, Blake could see Nicole nibble at her lower lip. “Could you not have taken something else from him? Why Rosewood?”

If she knew all he had taken from Teddy, she would leap off the horse and run screaming into the woods. But it was nothing in comparison to all Teddy had stolen from him. “He had nothing to offer—nothing but a vague promise of gaining the inheritance of a young girl. I chose not to wait for him to victimize an heiress.”

She scrutinized him, as though hoping to see past his cool veneer and cryptic remarks. Finally, she sighed. “You must be mistaken. Teddy would never . . . ”

Purposefully, Blake pressed his heels into Banbury's sides and the horse surged forward, tossing Nicole against Blake's chest and silencing her defense of Bartholomew. “I had best get you home before I have your father once again scouring the neighborhood in his nightclothes armed with a weapon.”

Nicole curled her fingers into the fabric of his cloak to better secure her balance. “You have a disagreeable habit of interrupting me, my lord.”

“Oh? I believe you said I was the only predator about these parts. Let me assure you, Nicole, that you are well protected in my hands.”

She turned her face away, but not before Blake saw the shadow of uncertainty flicker across her features. “You have a strange notion of protection.”

“Not really.”

One day Nicole might understand that his actions had saved her from a fortune hunter, that she was the heiress Teddy had intended to fleece. But the time had not yet come for that revelation. She would not believe him if he spoke now.

“It is your desire that I trust you to protect me when you have not bothered to hide your dislike of my father?”

He shrugged. “You are not your father.”

No, Blake did not intend to inflict any hardship on Nicole.

Her slender body stiffened in his arms. “That is where you are wrong, my lord. If it is in my power to keep any of my family from harm—I will do so.”

“Beware.” He leaned close to whisper the words in her ear. “You traverse paths best avoided, my lovely Nicole.”

Once again she twisted in his arms to stare into his face. So lovely. So determined. “You ask too much. Surely you have realized by now that I do not frighten easily.”

Moments passed before Blake realized he gripped the reins tightly. Then Banbury broke through the line of stately trees and the stone facade of Langley Hall loomed grey and forbidding before them.

A strange tightness grabbed at Blake's chest. “There is a first time for everything, my dear.”

Nicki watched Blake ride into the darkness, his cloak billowing behind him. A large, forbidding specter. Then the night swallowed him, or he became a part of it—Nicki could not be certain which. She was shivering when she opened the front door and slipped inside.

A single lamp burned low on a nearby table and aided Nicki in her journey up the stairs. Another wall lantern flickered, guiding her down the hall to her bedchamber.

As she softly closed the door, she heard a rustle and a squeal and turned just as Mina leapt from the bed and rushed to meet her.

“I've been beside myself, Nicki Langley! Where have you been all this time?”

Nicki shook the skirts of her habit, sending leaves and twigs fluttering to the rose carpet. “I hid in the woods and watched the earl's window until I saw a light.”

Anxiously, Mina searched Nicki's face. “Did he agree to your proposal?”

“My argument was simply irrefutable. He could not resist me.”

“Do you mean it?” Mina wrapped Nicki in a tight embrace. “Oh, Nicki! I'm to have a Season?”

Surrounded by the freshness of lavender and her sister's joy, Nicki admitted the risks she had taken this night had been worth each nerve-harrowing moment. “He agreed to pay Papa's debts, rent a townhouse, and finance your Season.”

Mina gave one last squeeze before releasing her. “You are the best sister! I will never forget what you have sacrificed for Papa and for me. I know you always believed you would marry for love.”

“I want your happiness, Mina, and that means going to London. I told the earl you would take Society by storm. You must not let me down.”

Nicki let Mina pull her onto the high, canopied bed. She understood her younger sister's excitement and wished she could share in her pleasure. Tucking her legs beneath her, Nicki watched as her sister perched on her knees, then grabbed up a pillow and squeezed it to her nightrail-clad breast.

“Tell me everything. What did he say? Was he difficult?”

“Most certainly he was difficult. He is like no one I have ever met in my life.” Nicki plucked at a spot of mud on her skirts. “Yet . . . somehow, I sense his hardness is a facade. What do you suppose could have occurred between he and Papa to cause such bitterness?”

“I wish I knew. Papa and Angelica did not mention the reason—as though it were by an agreement of silence between them.”

Nicki shook her head in amazement. “You were eavesdropping again. Goodness, Mina, one day you will be caught and Papa's image of your innate goodness will be hopelessly tarnished.”

“No one tells us the interesting tidbits. It is my responsibility to keep us apprised.”

“And you are quite good at it. Between your spying and Shelby's blackmail, I feel I am sadly lacking in criminal skills.”

“Nonsense,” Mina laughed. “No one can climb as well as you.”

Nicki grimaced. “So well that I climbed right into the trap set by the Earl of Diamond.”

“Well . . . yes. But Lord Diamond is much younger than Melton. That's encouraging,” her sister offered with forced optimism.

“Is it? Or shall I simply have to wait much longer for him to die and leave me to spend his fortune in glorious freedom?”

After she abandoned the sadly creased pillow to her lap where it rolled aside and dropped to the floor, Mina twisted a dark curl around one finger and set to examining the strands intently. “You might enjoy marriage to a young, healthy man.”

The suggestion elicited a gasp of outrage. “Enjoy marriage? Bah! He is already issuing demands. I shall be no more than a prisoner. Unlike our Papa, Blake Dylan is not the sort to be charmed and distracted. I fear I shall be hopelessly under his thumb.”

“Good Heavens, Nicki, you make it sound like a death sentence.”

“Death is too easy. Quick, painless.” Nicki took one of the undamaged pillows and set it in her lap so she could smooth the pale blue satin. “Marriage holds women captive—torturing them. Do you think Papa tells his buyers that his spinster daughter assists him in the research for breeding prime horseflesh? What do you think the earl will say when I ask to start up my own stables? He may not say anything. From what I have seen of him thus far, he will simply lock me in the attic with the bones of his other seven wives. Admit I am right, Mina, if a subject has nothing to do with housekeeping or babes, we are not to be consulted.”

Mina tossed the curl she had been examining over her shoulder and gave Nicki a stern look. “I truly hope you did not start this morbid and self-pitying tirade in front of the earl. Papa is well used to you—but I should think a new husband needs time to acquaint himself with your novel ideas. A gradual exposure over time is definitely your best course of action. I know you have little patience, but you should try some restraint in this instance.”