Legendary Lover (17 page)

152

callers
another ten minutes before putting an end to this absurdity.

When making introductions to the mayor, Jack wondered at the man's unease, but put it down to country manners in the presence of two fashionable ladies. Venus, on the other hand, he noted with affection, outshone them both despite her plain muslin frock, borrowed from the recently departed dressmaker. Tomorrow, they'd been promised three finished gowns of more
splendor
.

"What a surprise to find you at
Castlereagh
, Miss
Duras
," Bella lightly remarked.

"What a surprise to find you so far from London, Lady
Tallien
," Venus replied, aware of Jack's thigh brushing hers as he sat beside her on the settee.

The hard scrutiny of their two new visitors brought an added sense of intimacy to the lovers, a heightened consciousness of each other.

"Miss
Duras
has promised to advise me on a new infirmary for
Castlereagh
," Jack said, leaning slightly into Venus's shoulder.

The butler was pouring the ladies tea, but they seemed not to notice, so intent was their surveillance.

"How charming."
Bella's tone was barely civil, despite all her admonitions to her niece. The damned woman was practically in Jack's lap, and every form of jealousy burned in her breast.

A small silence ensued and the mayor quickly jumped into the breach. "I've come to give Lord
Redvers
some very good news," he nervously declared. "Very good news, indeed . . . extremely, that is—"

Taking pity on the mayor's obvious discomfort, Venus intervened. "A donor has given generously to the local

153

track
. The mayor was kind enough to bring the news to Jack."

"How very nice," Bella said, ignoring the mayor's agitation.

"What track?" Sarah asked, since she'd not been privy to the scheme—for good reason.

"The local downs," Jack supplied.

"The race meets are well attended, very well, very well indeed," the mayor said.

Bella sent him a scathing look that caused his mouth to clamp shut, and Jack was contemplating curtailing his ten-minute allowance by eight minutes when Venus graciously inquired, "Have you enjoyed your first Season so far, Miss Palmer? I remember my own with fondness."

"It's ever so much more fun than staying in the schoolroom or practicing the piano, although I love my dancing lessons, and all my new gowns are—"

"Sarah has been feeling
a certain
ennui of late," her aunt interposed, "so we decided to repair to Farleigh House for a few short days of peace and quiet."

In her enthusiasm, Sarah had forgotten to dislike Venus, who seemed rather nice, and her part in the plan. With her aunt's reminder, she immediately lounged back on her chair and said in a faint voice, "I've felt ever so weary, I fear. Farleigh House will be a calm haven."

Jack's mouth twitched into a smile, quickly repressed, and with remarkable serenity, Venus noted, "I recall moments of enervation as well in my first Season. The pace of entertainments is wicked."

"Is it not? I mean with balls every night, and dinners, not to mention all those afternoon teas and musicals,

154

I'm changing gowns five times a day, and—" A sharp glance from her aunt brought her words to a standstill.

"You see how agitated the poor girl is.
Quite unlike her usual calm."
Bella's smile was fixed and stiff.

"I perfectly understand. You know, Jack, how dizzying the social schedule for all the debutantes." Venus offered her companion on the settee a warm smile.

"I can sympathize," he said with a feigned gravity. He was thinking that the visit had to end very soon or he would burst into laughter, when another visitor was announced who erased any contemplation of smiling from his thoughts.

"You're a long way from Devon," the marquis brusquely said, before his cousin had fully entered the room.

"I'm going north to the Lake Country for a walking tour."

"Really."

"I feel the need for exercise," Trevor mendaciously replied, deciding the Frenchwoman was even more splendid in daylight. His pulse rate quickened with apprehension. "And since I was in the neighborhood . . ."

"Out of money so soon?"
Jack softly murmured.

"No, as a matter of fact, although I'm not one to refuse additional funds."

"You'll have to talk to my bankers."

"They do what you tell them to do," Trevor churlishly retorted.

The marquis didn't care to haggle with Trevor over his stipend. "Is there another reason for this visit, then?"

"Can't I come to call without a reason?"

"What do you hope to see on your walking tour?"

155

Venus politely
asked,
conscious of the antagonism in the air.

"I don't have a planned itinerary." Trevor's voice was gruff. "Will you be leaving England soon?"

Perturbed by his cousin's tactlessness as well as by the transparent excuse for a visit given by Bella, Jack decided one uncharitable turn deserved another. "Darling, should we divulge our joyful news to everyone?" The gaze he turned on Venus was studiously bland.

"It's up to you, dear." Improvising with grace, she smiled at him.

Taking Venus's hand, he gave her an affectionate glance before turning back to his guests. "I'm pleased to announce Miss
Duras
and I are engaged." The proverbial pin-dropping phrase had just entered Jack's mind, and the shock on his guests' faces was gratifying.

Stepping into the stifled hush with aplomb, Jack's announcement too
outre
' to be anything but farce, Venus mildly said, "I was as astonished as you. Lord
Redvers
proposed after such a short acquaintance, but what a delightful surprise." She offered the marquis a demure smile, but her green eyes were wickedly speculative.

"I was completely overwhelmed by love," Jack dramatically declared, while Bella and Trevor wondered whether he could be drunk so early in the day.

"It's impossible!" Sarah's high-pitched squeal soared upward, reverberating against the coffered ceiling. "Bella!" she exclaimed, swiveling toward her aunt, "you said Lord
Redvers
would be m—"

"—
The
very last bachelor in the ton to be married," her aunt smoothly interjected. "I stand corrected, Lord

156

Redvers
.
You've stunned us all." Suspicious by nature, she quietly challenged, "Have you set a date?"

"Miss
Duras
and I are debating suitable times . . . and places."

"Lord
Redvers
is intent on a speedy timetable, aren't you, darling?" Venus offered him a tender look.

"Under the circumstances," he said, audacious to the bone, "the sooner the better, my sweet, don't you think?" His unabashed grin was cheeky.

Lady
Tallien
gasped.

"What?" Sarah cried, watching the color drain from her aunt's face.

"Nothing, my dear," Bella returned, her mouth grimly set. "Our congratulations, of course," she went on, although her expression and tone suggested a desire for bodily harm more than good wishes. She rose in a swish of silk, her petite form rigid with fury. "Come, Sarah, we've still some considerable distance to travel."

"Could I beg a ride with you?" Trevor inquired, swiftly coming to his feet, maintaining his fiction of a walking tour.
"At least for a few miles."

"Very well."
Lady
Tallien's
voice was brisk, her gloved hands clenched into fists. "Good day, Lord
Redvers
, Miss
Duras
." She could barely contain the wrath in her voice.

In moments the drawing room was bereft of the unwelcome guests, leaving only the mayor to entertain. Relaxed once again, Jack discussed the coming race meets with him for a courteous interval before making his excuses, pleading an appointment.

Jack escorted the mayor to his carriage, genuinely fond of the local magistrate who, like so many country squires, embraced the simple life of the hunt, races, and

157

convivial
drinking. Once free of all their guests, the marquis's good spirits returned, and he was whistling when he entered the drawing room.

"That certainly was a surprise," Venus noted, lifting her glass of sherry to him in salute. "Couldn't you have resorted to something less inflammable than an engagement announcement?"

He paused for a moment,
then
shrugged away her concern. "If they're desperate enough to drive all the way out here and invade our privacy to discover the status of our relationship, they deserve a bloody scare."

"You're shamelessly wicked." She watched him move toward her with a delicious sense of expectation. He exuded a male strength and virility so potent and intense, her body responded at the mere sight of him.

"But you like me nonetheless—or perhaps because of it." His voice was low and teasing as he dropped into a sprawl beside her, gently stroking her thigh in a proprietary gesture.

"Are you saying I'm not entirely proper?" Setting her glass down, she half turned and twined her arms around his neck, her smile flirtatious.

"Luckily," he whispered, brushing a finger over the fullness of her bottom lip. "And since I haven't made love to you for—" his brows rose in brief contemplation "—thirty minutes at least, could I interest you in this small but comfortable settee?"

"What of the servants?" The drawing room was large and open, and while the double doors to the hallway were closed, there was little chance of concealment should someone come in.

"Would you like them to watch?" His eyes were amused.

i58

"I
meant,
will we be disturbed?"

"Not unless you scream so loudly they think you need assistance."

"Otherwise, they're well trained?" A hint of pique entered her voice.

"Don't look at me like that. I don't bring women here. A fact you may have noted when first we arrived and the staff stood gap-mouthed at the sight of you."

"That was rather sweet." Appeased, she lightly kissed his cheek.

"You enjoyed that, did you?"

"Of course, darling.
Why would I not? To have brought the notorious Lord
Redvers
to his knees is a mark of consequence, I'm told."

His startled gaze held hers for a moment. "By whom, pray tell?"

"By the lady's maid you provided me. Hattie knows every scrap of gossip attached to your illustrious person. All the housemaids are in love with you, by the way."

He rolled his eyes. "Don't believe everything you hear."

"It's quite true." Her grin was mischievous. "Hattie tells me your sexual exploits are the cause of great sighing and hopeful longing. You could have a virtual harem here if you wished."

Genuinely uncomfortable with adulation, he grimaced. "Hattie's making it up, you can be sure. I never even look at the housemaids." His father's scandalous behavior toward the maids had caused him to make a vow of abstinence apropos his female staff. Such virtue set him apart from most of his aristocratic counterparts, who viewed chambermaids as fair game.

159

"So I have your undivided attention here at Castle-
reagh
."

He gently stroked her back.
"Undivided, complete, and total."

"What a charming pledge from a man of your re-
pute
.

"You, no doubt, will make it worth my while."

"Ah . . . ulterior motives."
Her mouth quirked into a slow smile, her fingers tangling in the dark curls at the nape of his neck.

"Always, with you," he murmured. "Obsessed as I am, you never need wonder what I want."

"Do you think it as strange as I to have these overwhelming desires?"

"Of course.
But I'm not stupid enough to question the pleasure."

"A hedonist of the first water . . ."

"I've been practicing for years."

"Lucky me."

"Lucky us."

"At least until the next group of curiosity-seekers arrives, wondering if Lady
Tallien
has lost her mind."

He grunted in displeasure. "We won't be home to any more visitors. I don't care if Christ himself appears on the doorstep."

She traced a finger down his cheek. "You realize your little subterfuge won't last. I'll have to throw you over soon."

"Not too soon, I hope," he said, grinning. "I need some respite from the
Bellas
of the world."

"Or the young
Sarahs
.
She was distraught at hearing her aspirations for marriage thwarted."