His Reluctant Lady (12 page)

“
What’s troubling you?”
Christopher whispered, turning her head so she had to look at
him.

“
You. You won’t get away
from me.”

“
No, it’s not that. It’s
something else.”

“
I have a
headache.”

“
No, you don’t. The others
might have believed that, but I know better.” He stroked her cheek
then traced her lips with the pad of his thumb. “What is it,
Agatha?”

“
Nothing,” she
insisted.

He sighed and studied her face. “Why
don’t you let me in? I promise I’m not like Lord
Richfield.”

“
If I don’t feel like
letting you in, will you make me?” she finally asked, challenging
him to give her a reason—any reason—to dislike him.

“
No,” he whispered, letting
go of her face. He kept his arm around her shoulders and kissed the
top of her head. “I won’t force you into something you can’t
endure.”

“
And yet you blackmail me
into marrying you?”

“
You want to marry
me.”

She grunted and rolled her
eyes.

“
It’s true. You might not be
willing to admit it, but there’s an attraction between us that is
so powerful we can’t fight it.”

“
You mean,
you
can’t fight
it.”

“
No,” he stroked her cheek
again, “
we
can’t
fight it.” This time when he kissed her, he kept it short. “You’ll
see.”

She didn’t know if she liked
how confident he was, but a deeper part of her admired his brazen
attitude. No wonder he wasn’t disgusted that she dressed up as a
gentleman and wrote in the
Tittletattle
. Who knew? Maybe he even
found her scandalous behavior exciting.

The carriage came to a stop and he gave
her another kiss. “It pains me to be apart from you, but alas, our
time has come to an end.”

Despite herself, a smile tugged at her
lips.

“
Ah, so you do know how to
smile when amused.” He kissed her cheek, the sensation light but
still sending a jolt of pleasure through her. He slid away from her
in time for the footman to open the carriage door and added, “I’ll
be counting down the hours till we meet again.”

She groaned as she stepped out of the
carriage. He was infuriating in some ways but unexpectedly sweet,
too. She didn’t know whether to slap him or embrace him. Never in
her entire life had she felt so conflicted.

Before he could get out of the
carriage, she instructed the footman to take him back to his
townhouse then turned to him and added, “Just because I’m being
kind, it doesn’t mean I want to marry you.”

With a cocky grin, he replied, “Of
course not. Even so, I thank you, my lady.”

She made sure he saw her shrug in
indifference before she headed up the steps to her
townhouse.

***

“
You want what?” Ethan asked
a week later, almost dropping the decanter in his den.

Christopher leaned back in his chair
and repeated, “I want a book on how to pleasure a lady.” Given his
friend’s reputation for being a rake before he married Catherine,
Christopher had no idea why the request came as such a shock. “I
heard you gave one to Lord Roderick.”

His friend set the decanter down and
shook his head. “And who told you this? Surely, Lord Roderick
wouldn’t admit this. Was it your guardian?”

“
Of course not. Perry would
rather I remain innocent of such matters, just as he is. I don’t
believe Perry has enough of an imagination to even know how it’s
done.”

“
Every gentleman understands
the process. It’s just the technique that he has to
learn.”

Christopher slapped the arm of his
chair and grinned. “Exactly! You understand my plight. I’m going to
marry the most wonderful lady in London, and I need to know what I
can do to make her so excited to be with me, she’ll be begging for
more.”

“
Oh come now. Ladies don’t
beg for it.” He paused as he poured brandy into the glasses. “Well,
most ladies anyway.”

“
Probably because their
husbands aren’t doing it right. I have a theory. Want to hear
it?”

Ethan handed Christopher his glass and
picked his up. “Not really but I have a feeling you’ll tell me
anyway.”

“
I think ladies are capable
of great enthusiasm when it comes to the bed. It just depends on
how her husband approaches her. If his only motive is to have an
heir, there’d be no reason for him to consider her feelings or
needs, would there?”

“
I suppose not.” Ethan took
a sip of his brandy.

“
But if he cares for her and
takes the time to worship her body, then I wager she’d enjoy
it.”

He groaned. “Please don’t use the word
‘wager’. I just had Lord Pennella in here a couple days ago yelling
at me because he thought I was the one who let it slip that he was
betting Lord Davenport he could marry Miss Giles. My head still
hurts.” He rubbed his forehead and released his breath.

“
If he’s so upset, he should
be upset with himself. What was he doing making a wager with Lord
Davenport anyway? I’m surprised he didn’t force Miss Giles into a
scandal to secure the marriage.”

“
I heard she was too smart
for him. She never let him get her alone.”

“
Smart lady.”

“
Smart lady,
indeed.”

Christopher drank some brandy and
turned his attention back to the topic they’d been discussing
moments before. “Ethan, if I ask you to be brutally honest with me,
will you?”

“
Depends on what you ask,”
he replied as he sipped more brandy.

“
Does your wife enjoy being
in bed with you?”

Ethan coughed and almost knocked his
glass over.

“
You sure are clumsy today,”
Christopher said, wondering what had gotten into his
friend.

Once he stopped coughing, he stared at
Christopher, eyes wide. “Why do so many gentlemen ask me about my
love life? Do I go around asking any of you what you do in the
privacy of your bedchamber?”

“
Well, no.”

“
There’s a good reason for
that.”

“
You’re right. There is. I
haven’t been with a lady. All I do is sleep alone and no one finds
that particularly interesting.”

Ethan rolled his eyes and took another
drink from his glass. “All of you are going to drive me out to the
country. I just know it.”

“
I don’t see what the harm
is in asking you. You were more than willing to share your wild
tales before you married Catherine. What happened? Did her father
put the fear of the devil in you?”

“
I just happen to think that
what happens between a husband and wife when they’re alone should
stay between the two of them. What I do or don’t do with my wife is
none of your concern.”

Christopher studied his friend’s face
to gauge if he was serious or joking. After a long moment, he
realized his friend was deadly serious. “I can’t believe
it.”

“
Can’t believe
what?”

“
You’re a prude.”

“
I am not!”

Christopher shot him a pointed look.
“Well, you’ve turned into one after you got married.”

With a groan, Ethan pulled out a sheet
of paper from his desk drawer. “You want a book, right? The same
book I gave Lord Roderick?”

“
Yes. His wife looks very
happy despite his grumpy demeanor. I can only assume it’s because
he’s good in bed, so whatever your book does, it works
wonders.”

“
All right.”

When he noticed Ethan was writing a
request to a bookseller, he asked, “Don’t you have a copy lying
around here somewhere?” He scanned the bookshelves lining the
wall.

“
Everyone else took them,”
Ethan blandly replied as he finished writing his letter.

“
Really? How many gentleman
do you help out?”

“
More than I care to
admit.”

Christopher wasn’t too surprised. It
was no secret that Ethan had been an expert in all things
pertaining to the bedchamber ever since he was eighteen. Pleased
he’d soon learn the secrets Ethan knew, Christopher rose to his
feet. “It’s always a pleasure doing business with you.”

“
One can hardly call this
business.”

“
It’s the business of the
heart.”

“
If you say so,” Ethan
muttered.

“
Have it delivered directly
to me. I don’t think Perry would be able to handle a book of this
kind. He probably thinks babies are magically created.”

“
At least he hasn’t bothered
me for a blasted book.”

Christopher finished the brandy in his
glass and set it down. “You should take the fact that so many
gentlemen come to you for advice as a compliment. It means you’re
an expert. If there’s anyone who knows anything about being with a
lady, it’s you.”

He rolled his eyes. “Hooray for
me.”

Chuckling, Christopher bid his friend
good-bye and left the townhouse.

Chapter Eleven

Agatha dipped her quill in
the ink then wrote,
Now. This was his
chance. He would approach her and ask her to meet him in the
gardens. There was the risk of scandal should they be caught, but
he didn’t dare risk her seeing the scars on his face. Perhaps if
she got to know him, got to see the gentleman beneath the exterior
of the monster he appeared to be, he’d take the chance and let her
see him. But that moment was not now. Now, he would insist on
talking to her while hidden in the shadows.

A familiar round of tapping interrupted
her. She bolted to her feet and hurried to the door of her drawing
room before anyone saw her friend. She motioned for the hooded
figure to enter the room and quickly checked the hallway to make
sure no one was there before she shut the door. Leaning against it,
she released her breath.

“
I really wish you’d give me
a warning if you intend to stop by,” she told Ethan as he removed
his cloak. “Though I’m surprised it took you this long.”

“
I’d be lying if I didn’t
admit I’ve been dying of curiosity about your engagement. I wanted
to come sooner but was detained by my wife.” He sat in the chair
across from her desk and crossed his legs. “How did it come
about?”

She went to the decanter and poured him
some sherry. “It wasn’t by choice.”

“
I didn’t think it would
be.” He accepted the glass and took a sip of his drink. “You were
as opposed to marriage as I used to be.”

“
I still am opposed to it.”
She settled back in her chair and shrugged. “Your friend
Christopher is unusually perceptive.”

“
Oh?”

“
Yes. He figured out I write
for the
Tittletattle
under the alias Gerard Addison and gave me an ultimatum which
sealed my doom. Either he tells everyone who I am or I marry him. I
didn’t have a choice.”

His eyebrows furrowed. “Gerard Addison
just wrote a tidbit about two earls wagering on a lady and an
estate. How did you find out about it? Through
Christopher?”

“
He might have let it slip
into the conversation while I was riding with him, Lord Clement and
my sister.”

“
Let it slip? That wager was
something we all swore to keep a secret. I find it hard to believe
he was careless with that piece of information.”

She sighed. “All right. He told me as
an act of good faith.”

“
Why would he do something
so foolish?” He held up his hand. “Never mind. I already know. He
has deluded himself into thinking he loves you.”

She gasped and shifted in her chair. “I
don’t think ‘deluded’ is the right word.”

“
Of course, it is. You’ve
let him know, in no uncertain terms, that you don’t want to have
anything to do with him. And yet he has the audacity to keep
pursuing you. The gentleman has lost his mind.”

“
He’s persistent. He kept
after me until he trapped me so I’d do what he wanted. I’d say he’s
very clever. His wits are fully intact.” After a moment’s pause,
she added, “I think he told me about those earls just so he could
marry me. I believe I’m a victim.”

Ethan rolled his eyes. “Agatha, I agree
that you are some things, but a victim isn’t one of them. So he
found a way to outwit you. He is aware of how much you detest
marriage, isn’t he?”

“
Yes.”

“
So why does he want to
marry you?”

“
He’s your friend; you tell
me.”

“
I don’t know.” He glanced
at her and drank more sherry. “All right. Maybe I do. It has to be
his attraction to you. He came by my townhouse for a book on
pleasuring a lady in bed.”

Her jaw dropped. “He what?”