Legendary Lover (23 page)

203

"And 1
don't
want to think about it. Leave it to the lawyers to haggle over the lies."

But Venus was noticeably cool on the ride home, and he didn't blame her, although his temper, already heated, wasn't improved by the prospect of pacifying her for something he hadn't done.

"You needn't pacify me," she said though, when he expressed his recalcitrant feelings once they were back at
Lawley
Mill. "With the Derby over, I really should be on my way home anyway." Her smile was insincere and mannered, the kind one offered acquaintances when making excuses.

"I don't want you to go."

"I never intended to stay long. You knew that."

"You needn't return right away."

She sighed faintly. "I'd just as soon avoid people like Lady
Tallien
. You may have to deal with her, but I don't."

"You won't have to. I promise."

"Jack, I
have
to go home. Come and see me in Paris sometime."

"You'd just leave like that?"

"I have responsibilities in my life, people who depend on me for their support, a charitable organization that requires enormous funding. I've worked hard for years to bring these services to the less fortunate. And I've been on holiday too long."

"It's because of Bella, isn't it?"

"Honestly, no. Although, certainly, being reminded of your
colorful
way of life puts me in mind of the realities."

"What can I do to change your mind?"

204

"I don't want you to do anything, Jack. We both understood there was a time limit to this diversion."

"Diversion?"
A moody edge came into his voice.

"Surely you're not telling me your feelings are more involved." She knew better than to allow herself the fantasy. Realistic to the core, she'd always been rigorously objective.

"I don't know what I feel," he bluntly said, which didn't help her objectivity.

"Then I'll tell you. You don't wish to marry. I don't wish to marry. We both have very busy lives. And this was a most pleasant, gratifying, and ardent interlude we'll both remember with great pleasure. Now don't be difficult, darling. You know you aren't inclined to offer me more."

He sighed. "What if I wish to be selfish?"

"But then I'm selfish as well."

"Can we negotiate some delay in your departure?"

She smiled.
"Maybe."

"Another fortnight."

"Two days."

"Ten days."

"Four."

"
Six,
and I'll swear you'll never have to see any of the Palmers again."

"Five, if we don't go back to London until the day I sail. Lady
Tallien
is much too resolute for even your promises of protection."

He grimaced at the truth of her observation.
"Done.
We stay in the country."

Chapter
15
        
esse
           

Vi/
HE
   
RAIN
   
THAT
   
HAD
   
BEEN
   
THREATENING

finally
began falling, and Jack and Venus didn't venture outside the next day. All too aware of the end of their holiday, they kept to Jack's bedroom, only coming out to sit over drinks in the study in the evening. But the following day would require they reenter the world, for the Oaks was being run. It was one of the classic races of the Season, and Jack had Fortune entered.

They arrived at the track late, wanting to avoid the necessity of socializing, and after cheering Fortune on to victory, they quickly slipped away, leaving the marquis's trainer to receive the prize. With their time together so limited, even minutes seemed to matter, and while neither was ready to acknowledge how deeply they would feel the loss of parting, they were sensitive to a chafing disquiet.

Dispensing with servants in their increasing need for seclusion, Jack drove the cabriolet back to
Lawley
Mill. Neither was in a talkative mood, both, distracted by a sense of urgency—insistent and claustrophobic—as though the world were coming to an end. In the silence of the country lane, the soft thud of the horse's hooves the only sound, the sudden snapping of underbrush was conspicuous.

206

The horse pricked its ears. Jack looked in the direction of the noise and alarm spiked through his senses. "Get down!" he shouted.

A gunshot exploded.

Venus dived for the floor of the carriage.

"Stay down!" Jack cried, whipping the horse to greater speed, not sure if more assailants might be in ambush ahead, his gaze scanning the road and surrounding hedges for danger, his mind struggling to understand who would want to kill Venus.

The bullet had torn a ragged hole in the carriage seat, exactly where she'd been sitting.

He didn't slow the carriage until they reached the safety of
Lawley
Mill, where he had the gates closed and locked behind them. After carrying Venus in, he made her comfortable in a room that safely faced a walled garden. Calling in his grooms, he immediately arranged for an armed patrol of the estate.

Still in a state of mild shock, Venus half listened to Jack
give
his men instructions. Although she'd spent enough time in remote locales to understand the risks of being shot, to be attacked in the pastoral English countryside, short miles from the busy racetrack at Epsom, seemed astonishing. Much as she racked her brain, she couldn't think of anyone who would want to harm her.

Jack had clearly seen the man behind the gun, however, and once they were alone, he asked Venus if she had any enemies.

"I can't think of anyone. Could the shot have been aimed at you? Could it have been someone out hunting?"

"Perhaps," he evasively said, sitting down beside her on the sofa and taking her hand in his. But the gun

207

barrel
he'd seen was resting firmly on a tree branch. The tall man visible through the underbrush had had a solid mount for his weapon, and plenty of time to take aim. And the only hunting that took place in these well-populated counties was for fox and grouse, neither found at the same level as a carriage seat. "Under the circumstances, it might be wise if we left for London early."

"Why not go directly to Dover?"

"Dover's fine, if you prefer. But you can't leave me yet," he said, squeezing her hand. "We still have three days left."

She smiled. "You are persistent. Why don't we stay aboard my vessel then?
In the interests of safety."

"I'm having my men scour the neighborhood for information. Strangers are obvious in the country. Someone may have seen the man who shot at us. In the meantime, I'd suggest we stay indoors, and leave for Dover once it's dark."

"Could it have been some accident?"

He shrugged. "Who
knows.
" But the Palmers' recent bid for his title and wealth reminded him too vividly of the deviousness of greed. "But why take a chance?"

"Agreed.
So what are we going to do until dark?" she murmured, smiling faintly.

He turned to her with a lazy grin, more pleasant possibilities in the air. "Insatiable, are we?"

"Only with you."

"That must be why I adore you."

Lounging against the heavy sofa, designed for a man's larger dimensions, she looked delicate and pale, her tawny; hair aglow in the shadows of the paneled room. "How charming you are." Her head was resting against the brown velvet
uphobtery
, the transient flutter of her

208

lashes
the only movement in her languid pose.
Until she gathered the skirt of her indigo silk gown in her hands and pulled it up in crushed folds.
"Why don't you lock the door," she said, shifting slightly, moving against the sofa arm and spreading her thighs invitingly.

"My pleasure," he replied, quickly rising.
"Although I'd rather lock
you
up."

"Can't."
She playfully thrust out her bottom lip like a
pouty
child.

He glanced back at her. "We'll see about that."

"If you do, my father and brother will come to my rescue."

He turned the key in the lock and stood with his back against the door.
"If they can find you."

/That
do you mean, you missed her! how
could you have missed? There couldn't have been another soul on that country road!" Trevor Mitchell was almost apoplectic, his face crimson, his prominent Adam's apple jerking up and down like a puppet on a string.

"
Redvers
saw me, damned if he didn't, and it threw me aim." The large man didn't often miss his target, which was why he'd been recommended by one of Trevor's more unsavory friends, but he wasn't apologetic so much as blunt in his statement.
Unrattled
, he sat at the table in the back parlor of the country inn, one beefy fist wrapped around the handle of his ale mug, his expression impassive.

"Well, you'll have to try again,
damnit
! I paid for results and I want them!"

"I'm telling you, he saw me. Find someone else. I'm

209

not
about to put myself in his path again. The man has a reputation with weapons. He's one of the best shots in England.
Berty
Wells might be able to help you, though. He's looking for some scratch."

"You're telling me you're out? Who the hell do you think you are?"

"I'm someone who can beat you to a bloody pulp and dump your body where no one will ever find it." The brawny man took a last draught of ale, set the mug down, and rose from the table.
"Any questions?"

Trevor seemed to have shrunk in his skin, all his blustering swagger silenced.

"Good night, mate." The man put a finger to his cap.

"Tell
Berty
—" Trevor cleared his throat against his trembling croak. "Tell him to call on me in London."

Trevor received a nod in acknowledgment, and the door quietly shut on his hired killer.

(9
HE NEXT DAY LONDON WAS THE SCENE OF

much
activity on the part of those trying to separate Jack from his money. Lord Palmer was spending the afternoon with his barrister, drawing up a marriage contract that served his affronted notions of vengeance. Bella and Lady Palmer were discussing the marriage details over tea. Sarah, who chose to indulge herself more pleasurably, was lying beside her young lover,
Vincenzo
, in the aftermath of an orgasm.

"Do I care whether I have orange blossoms or roses in my hair?" Sarah airily said, crinkling her nose in aversion; "Or whether we have Lord and Lady Balliol at the head table at the wedding breakfast? You can't imagine, darling, how tedious this entire business will be."

210

"You put a knife to my heart,
cara
mia
,"
her companion dolefully grumbled.

"I'll hire you all for myself," Sarah promised. "And you won't have to work for any more of those parvenu chits with their fat, ugly daughters."

"Your husband won't allow it." Downcast by his lover's imminent nuptials,
Vincenzo
was fretful and moody.

"My papa will make Lord
Redvers
do whatever he tells him. Papa is ever so furious with him."

"Why?"
Vincenzo
tipped Sarah's chin up and looked directly into her eyes with an intense scrutiny. Young but not gullible, he'd been making his own way in the world for many years. "Why would Lord
Redvers
listen to your papa?"

"He just will, and don't look at me like that,
Vincenzo
. This marriage will work just perfectly for everyone, you included. Don't you want your own nice apartment? Don't you want to give up having to instruct silly girls? I'll take care of you. Bella says it's perfectly fine for me to have my own lover."

"You still haven't told me why Lord
Redvers
, who doesn't do anything for anyone, will listen to your papa, who is only a beer baron." His voice had taken on an inquisitorial tone.

"How very rude you are," she pettishly declared, rolling away from him and sitting up against the pillows.

"Is it because of the baby?" His voice was cool.

Her face turned pink and wide-eyed. "How did you know?"

"You haven't had your courses,
cara
mia
."
His gaze focused on her stomach. "Not for months."

"Well, then, why ask if you already know?"