Jacquie D'Alessandro - [Regency Historical 04] (15 page)

Nathan forced his posture to remain casual, but didn’t bother to turn around. He didn’t want to see the stark admiration he knew would be evident in Colin’s gaze. And he refused to give Colin the opportunity to see the stark longing he suspected still lingered in his own gaze. “Exquisite,” he murmured in agreement, as it was fruitless to deny anything so obvious.

“Pity she has those suitors in London,” Colin whispered. “Of course, I wouldn’t let that stop me.”

Nathan turned around at that. Colin was staring up the staircase with an expression of rapt fascination.

“Stop you from what?” Nathan asked through clenched teeth.

“From going after what I wanted.” He shifted his gaze from Victoria to Nathan. “And making certain I acquired it.” With that, he stepped around Nathan and moved to the bottom of the stairs. Extending his hand toward Victoria, who’d nearly reached the bottom, Colin said, “Lady Victoria, how lovely you look.”

It was not a promising beginning to the evening.

The torture had then continued during the carriage ride to Gordon’s estate. Victoria had sat between her aunt and Colin, while Nathan and his father sat opposite the trio. Colin spent the entire ride regaling the group with some story about what, Nathan had no idea, other than to guess it was apparently quite humorous based on the ensuing laughter. No, he’d been too busy trying—with no success whatsoever—not to notice Victoria smiling at Colin. Her melodic laugh at something he said. The way Colin’s thigh was pressed against hers in the close confines of the carriage. How his shoulder brushed hers with every bump in the road.

His stomach had clenched with an unpleasant sensation that couldn’t be called anything other than what it was: jealousy. It had been some time since he’d experienced the emotion, and he wasn’t happy that it was snaking through him now. And he especially didn’t like that it was his brother inspiring these envious feelings. While he couldn’t deny that he and Colin had occasionally competed while growing up, as brothers were wont to do, they’d rarely done so over anything other than racing their horses or a backgammon board, as their interests were so different. They’d never competed over a woman, as their tastes differed greatly in that area as well. Colin had al
ways preferred aristocratic women, while Nathan’s tastes ran more toward women who didn’t put on Society’s airs. He was attracted to women whose interests reached beyond fashion, gossip, and the weather. In truth, he’d always preferred to spend an evening conversing with a homely bluestocking than engaging in small talk with the most beautiful woman in the room.

Until now, it seemed.

Victoria, with her lofty position in Society and all that entailed, her expensive clothing, her beauty, her numerous suitors who undoubtedly hung on her every word, epitomized the exact opposite of the sort of woman he preferred. Yet, he couldn’t take his eyes off her. Couldn’t stop thinking about her. Couldn’t squelch the remembrance of kissing her. Touching her. Couldn’t control the deep ache of want and lust she inspired.

The torture hadn’t lessened at all during dinner—in fact it worsened with the addition of Gordon, who was also clearly besotted with Victoria. And she seemed extremely flattered by his regard. While she basked in the glow of the attention both Colin and Gordon showered upon her, Nathan’s father and Lady Delia kept up a lively discussion between themselves, leaving Nathan with a great deal of time to observe everyone and eat a meal that he supposed was delicious but tasted like sawdust.

And naturally the torture had continued when, after the interminable meal, the group retired to the drawing room for games. Nathan had been sorely tempted to fabricate an excuse to depart, but after Victoria, her aunt, Colin, and Gordon decided to play whist, Nathan’s father had invited him to share a brandy and a turn at the chessboard. Given the tension between him and his father, the invitation had both surprised and pleased him, and he’d accepted. While
he was in no mood for chess, the brandy had sounded extremely welcome, as did the opportunity to perhaps ease the awkwardness between them.

Yet now, working his way through his second brandy, and though he stared at the chessboard, all his attention remained focused on the laughing group across the room. Giving up all hope of concentrating on the game, he moved his rook.

Based on his father’s raised brows, he judged he’d made an unwise move, which was proven seconds later when his father said, “You seem to have lost your skill for this game, Nathan.”

“Er, not at all. I’m setting an elaborate trap from which you will not escape.”

Doubt was written all over his father’s face. Another burst of laughter came from across the room, and Nathan’s gaze involuntarily shifted to the merry whist players. After he pulled his vision back to his own disastrous game in progress, he noticed that his father’s attention remained fixed across the room with a speculative expression.

“Remarkable woman,” his father said softly.

Nathan stilled, then barely controlled the urge to look heavenward. It appeared Victoria had made yet another conquest. How bloody delightful. “Remarkable?” he repeated with feigned indifference. “I find her rather…tiresome.” He again resisted the urge to look heavenward, this time to see if a lightning bolt would smite him for uttering such an outrageous lie.

His father’s surprised gaze flicked toward him then resettled again across the room. “I wasn’t aware you’d spent enough time in her company to form such an opinion.”

As far as his peace of mind was concerned, he’d spent
far too much time in her company, and before her visit to Cornwall was over, he’d be forced to spend much more time with her. And damn it, he couldn’t wait.

“One need not spend days or weeks with a person to form an opinion, Father. First impressions tend to be fairly accurate.” A frown pulled down Nathan’s brow as he realized that his first impression of Victoria had been that she was utterly…charming. Too innocent for him, too aristocratic, but charming nonetheless.

“I completely agree,” Father said, nodding.

Nathan pulled himself from his brown study. “You agree? With what?”

“What you just said. That it isn’t necessary to know someone very long to realize they are…special.”

“I said
that
?” Good God, he needed to stop drinking brandy. Immediately.

“Perhaps not in those precise words, but that was the idea, yes.”

“You might not need to spend much time, but certainly at least a private conversation is necessary, Father.”

“Again, I agree. We had a delightful chat this morning in the garden, then again this afternoon over tea. Can’t recall the last time I was so delightfully entertained.”

Nathan’s brows puckered further. “I thought you spent this morning with Lady Delia in the garden.”

“And so I did. As I said, a remarkable woman.”

Nathan blinked. “You think
Lady Delia
is remarkable?”

His father looked at him strangely. “Yes. What on earth did you think I was saying? Has your hearing become afflicted along with your chess playing ability?”

No, but clearly his mental capabilities were not all they should be. “I thought you were referring to Lady Victoria,” he muttered.

Father stared at him hard for several seconds. “I see. A man would have to be blind not to notice that Lady Victoria is comely.”

“I never said she wasn’t.”

“No. You said she was tiresome. Chit doesn’t strike me as such. Clearly, neither your brother nor Alwyck find her objectionable, either.” He studied Nathan over the rim of his crystal snifter. “Not the sort of woman you used to be attracted to.”

Damn it all, when had he turned into a book his father could read so accurately? “I wasn’t aware that ‘tiresome’ was synonymous with ‘attracted to,’” Nathan said, keeping his tone light.

“Normally it’s not. However, sometimes…” Father’s voice drifted off, then he added, “A woman of her rank is a much better match for Colin. Or Alwyck.”

The bitterness he’d spent years holding at bay twisted Nathan’s lips. “As opposed to an untitled second son who is a lowly country physician with a dubious reputation. I wholeheartedly agree.”

His father’s gaze hardened. “I harbor no objections to your choice of profession. Indeed, being a physician is respectable for a man in your position and far preferable to having you risk your life and your brother’s life as a spy. But I neither approve of nor understand the decisions you’ve made regarding where and how you live and the way you left Cornwall.”

Nathan hiked up one brow. “Little Longstone is a quiet, charming place—”

“Where people pay you with farm animals and you live in a shack.”

“Cottage. It’s a cottage. And not everyone pays me in
farm animals. And if you recall, I left here because you ordered me to go.”

A tension-filled silence followed his tersely spoken words. A muscle ticked in his father’s jaw, then he replied in a low voice. “Let’s be honest, Nathan. Angry words were said on both our parts. Yes, I told you to go, but we both know you’re the sort of man who wouldn’t do something you didn’t want to.”

“I’m also not the sort of man to stay where I’m not welcome.”

“Face the truth. You wanted to go. To escape the untenable situation your actions caused. I may have told you to leave Creston Manor, but it was
your
decision to run away.”

An uncomfortable flush heated Nathan’s face. “I’ve never run away from anything in my entire life.”

“I know. That is why I found it, and continue to find it, so confounding that you did so in this instance. Your situation was difficult, yet instead of fighting for what you wanted, you left.”

“I left to find what I wanted. What I needed. A peaceful place. Where no one whispered behind my back or stared at me with doubt and suspicion.”

Another burst of laughter drew Nathan’s attention across the room. Victoria was smiling at Gordon in a way that set Nathan’s teeth on edge. Pulling his attention back to his father, he found himself on the receiving end of a troubled stare.

“If you believe a woman such as Lady Victoria will settle for the rustic way you live when she could be a countess and have all this,” Father waved his hand to encompass the entire room, “then I fear you are destined for disappointment.”

“As I agree that not only am I an unsuitable choice for a
lady like her, but that a pampered Society diamond such as Lady Victoria would be a disastrous choice for me, I do not fear suffering any disappointment. And now that that’s settled, shall we resume our game?”

“Of course.” Father reached out and moved his bishop. “Checkmate.”

Nathan stared at the board and realized that he had indeed been vanquished. He looked across the room and his gaze collided with Victoria’s, who was watching him over the fan of her cards. He felt the impact of her regard as if he’d been sucker punched, and he greatly feared he’d been vanquished in more ways than one.

V
ictoria left her bedchamber early the next morning with a determined step and a plan firmly in mind: locate Nathan and make certain he did not escape as he had from the library yesterday afternoon and from Lord Alwyck’s drawing room last evening. She’d not had the opportunity to have a private word with him since he left the library with the notes and map yesterday, a vexing situation to be sure. Her heart had leapt and her stomach trembled when she’d seen him standing in the foyer last evening before the group departed for Alywck Hall. And certainly not because he looked so dashing and rakishly handsome in his
formal evening wear, or because of the heated, compelling look in his eyes. No, it was because she’d finally have a moment alone with him to find out what he’d been up to all afternoon. Yes, that was why.

But then Lord Sutton had appeared, followed quickly by her aunt and Nathan’s father. There’d been no opportunity during the crowded carriage ride nor through dinner and then games in the drawing room, all while she pretended an enthusiasm for the attention both Lord Alywck and Lord Sutton showered upon her when what she actually felt like doing was pulling Nathan into a secluded alcove and kissing him. Er, questioning him.

He’d departed Lord Alwyck’s home before the rest of the group, claiming the onset of the headache and stating that he wished to walk home, as fresh air usually helped relieve the condition. Sympathy eased through her, as he had indeed appeared out of sorts, and she’d wondered if his conversation with his father had been the cause. But then sympathy had turned to suspicion. Perhaps the entire headache claim had been a ruse and he’d spent the night out searching for the jewels. He might well be out this minute doing that very thing. Without her. The wretched man. She all but stomped down the corridor and entered the dining room. Then halted.

Or, he might well be in the dining room eating eggs and reading the
London Times
.

He paused with his fork halfway to his mouth and quirked a brow. “Ah, it is you, Victoria. With all that stomping about, I thought perhaps we’d been invaded by marching soldiers.”

Oh, how droll. How humorous. And how irritating that she wouldn’t think of a cutting set-down until sometime next week. And ’twas even more irritating that he looked so divine. Dressed in a snowy white shirt adorned with an
obviously hastily knotted cravat, a cream waistcoat, and a Devonshire brown jacket that bore several wrinkles, he should not have looked so…perfect. Especially since his dark hair looked as if he’d combed it with nothing more than impatient fingers. Hmmm…what color breeches was he wearing? She found herself rising onto her toes in an effort to answer that question, but the mahogany table thwarted her view. Fawn, most likely, she decided, envisioning his muscular legs encased in light brown. Forcing the image from her mind, she touched her heels back onto the parquet floor.

“It appears we are the only early risers,” Nathan said. He nodded toward the sideboard lined with silver warming trays. “Please help yourself. Do you prefer coffee or tea?”

“Coffee, please.” The instant the words left her mouth, a young footman jumped into action to serve her beverage. After filling her plate with eggs, thinly sliced ham, and a flaky muffin the mere looks of which set her mouth to watering, she sat down opposite Nathan.

“Did you sleep well?” he asked, raising his china cup to his lips.

“Very well,” she lied. She’d spent a miserable night tossing, fretting, alternately wondering if he was searching for the jewels without her and vividly recalling the taste of his kiss, the feel of his hard body pressed against her, wrapped around her. In desperation she’d retrieved the
Ladies’ Guide
from her portmanteau, but reading the sexually explicit book had done nothing to calm her. Indeed, the sensual words had only served to further fuel her already heated imagination. “Did
you
sleep well?”

“No.”

“Oh? Why not?”
Skulking about in the woods looking for jewels, were you, Lord of the Spies?

“Do you really want to know, Victoria?”

Something about that silkily asked question and the steady gaze he’d pinned her with tingled a warning along her nerve endings. Pulling off a bit of biscuit, she raised her chin. “Yes, I do.”

He nodded at the footman, dismissing the young man. After the door closed behind him, Nathan leaned forward on his forearms, cradling his delicate china cup between his large palms. “I didn’t sleep well last night because my mind was too crowded.”

“So you were here? In the house?”

“Of course. Where else would I—” His words chopped off and he leaned back. “I see. You thought I was out skulking in the woods, looking for the jewels without you.”

His words so precisely mirrored her thoughts, a guilty flush heated her face. “Isn’t skulking about in the woods what spies do best?”

“I can’t deny it’s something I’m good at, but it’s not what I do best.”

“And what do you do best?”

His gaze dipped to her mouth, then he shot her a mischievous grin. “Ah, an interesting question if I’ve ever heard one. Are you certain you want to know the answer, Victoria?”

Heat whooshed through her and her toes curled inside her shoes. God help her, yes, she wanted to know. Desperately. Especially since that gleam in his eyes made it clear the answer was something that would leave her breathless. But it wouldn’t do to let
him
know that. Indeed, clearly the best way to deal with him was to play his game. Looking directly into his eyes, she asked softly, “Are you offering to tell me, Nathan?”

“Do you always answer a question with a question?”

“Do you?”

He laughed. “Sometimes. Usually when I’m stalling for time. Is that what you’re doing?”

“Certainly not,” she replied with a sniff.

“As for what I do best, I’d be delighted to tell you. Even more delighted to provide you with a demonstration.”

Whoosh
. Another wave of heat engulfed her. She attempted her most prim expression but wasn’t certain she succeeded, as it was difficult to appear prim while sensual images danced through her mind. “Here? In the dining room?”

“Certainly not the most traditional of locations, but if that is your wish, I’m willing to forgo convention.”

An unladylike snort escaped her. “You? Willing to forgo convention? Thank goodness I’m not prone to the vapors lest that statement would send me into a serious decline.”

He waved his hand in a magnanimous gesture. “Feel free to succumb. As I am a physician, I could immediately set you back to rights.”

“Immediately? So then doctoring is what you do best.”

A smile that could only be described as wicked curved his lips. “No. Doctoring is what I do when I’m not doing what I do best.”

Oh, my
. Surely he didn’t mean…but, oh yes, based on that devilish grin, he clearly did. Despite the knowledge she’d gained from reading the
Guide
, she suddenly felt woefully unprepared to continue this conversation. In an effort to regain the upper hand, she adopted the chilly tone that never failed to put people in their place. “How delightful for you. Now, what is the plan for today?”

“Plan?”

“To locate the jewels.”

“I haven’t the vaguest idea.”

Victoria laid down her fork. “Haven’t the vaguest idea? After thinking about it all night long?”

“What makes you think that pondering the location of the jewels is what filled my thoughts last night?”

“Because it should have been. If I’d lain awake all night it most certainly would have been what
I’d
pondered.” Her conscience jumped up and shrieked with outrage.
Liar! You were wide-awake, and maps and jewels were the last thing on your mind!
She suddenly stilled. Was it possible that Nathan had suffered from the same sensual thoughts that had stolen her sleep? If so…

Whoosh
. Good lord, it was
hot
in here. She barely refrained from fanning herself with her linen napkin.

“Then how unfortunate for our search plans that you slept so well,” Nathan said in a dust dry voice. “I did study the drawing and the letter further, but was unable to glean anything more. I also drew the grid map of the estate. I suggest we begin in the northeast corner and work from there. In the letter I sent off to your father yesterday explaining, in code, how you lost the note—”

“You mean how your goat ate the note.”

“—I requested that he send another drawing. Unfortunately, given the distances involved, by the time the note reaches him in London and a reply is returned, at least a fortnight will have passed. I’d hoped to have this matter settled by then.”

“So you can return to your home in—where is it again? Little Longstone?”

“Yes.” He tossed back the last of his coffee. “I’m certain you’re anxious for this matter to be settled as well so you can return to London. To your parties and shopping
excursions and your suitors. So you can choose your husband and plan an extravagant wedding.”

“Yes, that’s what I want,” she said, a frown burrowing between her brows at the sudden hollow sensation in her stomach. She lifted her chin a notch. “You make it sound as if there is something wrong with that.”

“Not at all. If that’s what you want…” He shrugged.

Warmth crept up Victoria’s cheeks. How had he managed to make her feel so…shallow? Superficial? Every girl dreamed of fancy parties, shopping sprees, suitors, and her own wedding—didn’t she? Certainly all the girls she knew did.

Before she could inform him of that, however, he asked, “Tell me, did either my brother or Gordon question you last evening regarding your replication of the note?”

“Yes. Actually, they both did. After you departed.”

“The three of you were together?”

“No. Lord Alwyck asked me when we had a moment alone.”

His eyes narrowed. “And how did you happen to have a moment alone?”

Feeling much more in command of the conversation, Victoria enjoyed another bite of eggs before answering. “He gave me a tour of the music room.”

“Where was everyone else during this tour?”

“My aunt and your father were engaged in a game of backgammon. Your brother had stepped onto the terrace.”

“What did Gordon ask you?”

“How much of the wording of the note I’d been able to remember and how much you’d been able to decipher.”

“And your response?”

“As promised, I revealed nothing. I played the part of the forgetful, foolish, giggling female.”

“He believed you?”

“Without a doubt. Clearly he is accustomed to the forgetful, foolish, giggling sort.”

“And my brother? I take it you found yourself alone with him as well?”

“Briefly, yes. After we arrived back here, as we walked up to the house. I used the same ruse with him.”

“His reaction?”

Victoria considered for several seconds, then said, “He clearly believed me as well. But he also seemed rather…relieved. Of course, now both gentlemen think me a cabbage-headed nincompoop.”

“On the contrary, I’m certain they think you girlishly charming.”

“And a cabbage-headed nincompoop,” she muttered. “Did they question you?”

“Yes. I told them that as you were a forgetful, foolish, giggling female cabbage-headed nincompoop, any search would be delayed until I heard from your father.”

Deciding nothing she said would be pleasant, she applied her full attention to her breakfast. After generously slathering her biscuit with blueberry jam, she took a bite, chewed, then closed her eyes in rapture. “This is the most delicious jam I’ve ever tasted,” she proclaimed, “and that is high praise, as I consider myself something of a connoisseur.”

She ate in silence for a moment, then heard Nathan chuckle. “You have a sweet tooth and a hearty appetite, I see.”

Heat crept into her cheeks for forgetting herself. She normally breakfasted alone, as Father tended to sleep late and therefore she was accustomed to eating a large meal—something a proper lady wouldn’t do in front of a gentleman. “I’m afraid so.”

“No need to sound so sheepish. I wasn’t criticizing. Indeed, I find watching you eat very…stimulating. It inspires me to an idea.”

Her ham-laden fork paused halfway to her lips and she looked across the table at him. He was watching her with a speculative look in his eyes while he slowly tapped his lips with the tip of his forefinger. She wasn’t sure what idea she’d inspired in him, but the way his lips looked, so soft yet firm beneath his finger, was certainly inspiring
her
to an idea. Several in fact.

“What sort of idea?” she asked, inwardly cringing at how breathless she sounded.

“A picnic. I’ll arrange for Cook to prepare a meal we can bring along so we do not need to interrupt our search by returning to eat. How does that sound?”

An entire morning and afternoon spent exploring the countryside in search of a cache of stolen jewels with a man who made her insides simultaneously tingle and tremble? Who excited and frustrated and challenged her as no man ever had? It sounded exhilarating. Exciting. And oh, so very tempting. Her mind issued a cursory caution about being alone with him again, but her heart instantly silenced all objections. She’d wanted an opportunity to kiss him again—on her terms—and he’d just handed her the chance.

And based on her brief conversation with Aunt Delia last night before they’d retired, she needn’t worry about her aunt objecting to her riding alone with Nathan. Indeed, her aunt had encouraged her, saying, “Heavens, my dear, enjoy the lovely weather while you can. Just because I don’t care for riding doesn’t mean you should be deprived. Things are much less formal here than in London. Daylight rides in the country are perfectly respectable.”

“That sounds perfect…ly acceptable.”

“Excellent. I’ll make the arrangements with Cook while you change into your riding clothes. Then we’ll meet in, shall we say thirty minutes at the stables?”

“Fine.”

He touched his napkin to his mouth, then rose. After a bow, he quit the room and Victoria heaved a long, feminine sigh.