Nell (28 page)

It was Nell’s turn to stare. ‘Are you mad, Eden? You have not said so once!’

‘Not in so many words, perhaps, but virtually every
thing I’ve said—’ He broke off and swore roundly. ‘Hell and the devil, Nell, come here!’

And then she was in his arms again, with a pressure that threatened to break her ribs.

‘Eden, I can’t breathe!’

‘Then you are well served for being so foolish!’

But his grip loosened a trifle, and he gathered her close as his mouth found hers again. This time, Nell withheld nothing of herself, allowing him to probe the velvet sweetness within so that a flame seared through her veins and she groaned aloud. Jarrow paid no heed, but only intensified the fire of his kiss until Nell lost all capacity for thinking, and had neither the will nor desire for speech.

When she did speak again, she found herself squashed into one great chair by the wall, half seated upon his lordship’s lap, and firmly entrenched within his grasp. Somehow her hair had become loosened from its moorings, for Eden was playing within its heavy golden folds, winding them about his fingers. He reached into her hair and gently pulled her head back, his lips tracing a path along the column of her throat.

Nell squirmed, grasping at his free hand, which instantly twined with hers.

‘Did I mention that I love you?’ he enquired, breathing fire into the hollow below her ear.

Nell wriggled uncontrollably and, unable to bear the intensity of desire, pushed him away. ‘Oh, stop! We should not be doing this—not yet.’

Jarrow kissed her. ‘My darling, you had best accustom yourself, for we are going to be doing it—a great deal, and frequently.’

She caught at his wandering hands. ‘For shame, sir, will you cheat the marriage bed?’

‘Yes,’ he averred baldly, and his glance caught at hers.

‘The question is, will you?’

Nell hesitated, eyeing him doubtfully. Was he in earnest?

‘Don’t you trust me? Do you think I will take you and then refuse the consequences? Have no fear, Nell. We will be married with all due ceremony, as soon as I can contrive.’

She pulled herself out of his arms and sat up. ‘But we have not settled anything, Eden. And only look at how carelessly you have left the necklace lying there!’

‘To the devil with the necklace!’ Receiving a reproachful look, he sighed, allowing her to remove the comfort of her warmth, and rise. ‘I warn you, I shall not be so accommodating when we are married.’

‘When we are married, my dearest, I shall do just as you bid me.’

He laughed, getting to his feet and slipping an arm about her. ‘I sincerely doubt that. But I am glad that you are moved at last to call me your dearest.’

‘Well, you are my dearest,’ said Nell, escaping from him to the table. ‘But we have still too many matters awaiting settlement before I can allow you to cajole me into further dalliance.’

Jarrow groaned. ‘I see I shall be living under the cat’s foot. What a managing female you are, Nell! Very well, let us attend to these matters, if we must.’

Nell took a seat at the table and picked up the emeralds, holding them to the light. ‘If only we knew for certain whether these are real.’

‘Even if they are,’ said Jarrow, coming up behind her, ‘I believe I must keep them in the family.’ He reached either side of her, and took the necklace, bringing it to rest against Nell’s throat.

She quickly reached up a hand and pulled it away. ‘No!’

Eden let go, and Nell thrust the jewels from her, dropping them upon the smooth walnut surface. She watched him as he came around to the other side of the table, puzzlement in his features as he slowly sat, the brown eyes never leaving hers.

‘Why, Nell?’

She could not repress a shiver. ‘I cannot wear them. There are too many shadows, Eden. Too much pain.’

Jarrow was frowning, his gaze shifting to the necklace. ‘Then I had best be rid of the thing.’

‘No, that you must not! It is an heirloom.’

The sensations that had driven Nell were easing. She could not have named them, she only knew they would not let her wear the emeralds. She reached out, and Jarrow took her hand.

‘What would you have me do, Nell?’

The answer came readily. ‘Keep the jewels for Hetty. Perhaps it is what Julietta intended, for it was to Hetty that she entrusted her secret.’ She smiled at him. ‘And Hetty will be over the moon, for she will be just like a princess!’

Jarrow’s breath caught and he kissed her fingers. ‘How is it that you have always just the right solution?’ Releasing Nell, he picked up the necklace. ‘Poor Hetty suffered enough on account of it, I dare say she deserves it.’ The emeralds slipped out of sight and into his pocket. ‘Besides, you need no adornment, Nell. You are extraordinarily beautiful, did you know that?’

She shook her head, unable to speak for the lump that rose in her throat. ‘I believe you are prejudiced, my lord.’ She did not add that he had said much the same of Julietta.

He evidently felt her discomfort, for he caught at her hand again. ‘I know what you are thinking. But it was different, Nell. It is different! Your beauty shines from within. Yes, your hair is magical and your eyes are glorious—but it is not that. It is your truth, Nell. And that is past price.’

Her eyes pricked and she shook her head. ‘Pray don’t make of me a paragon, Eden. You can only be disappointed.’

Jarrow grinned at her. ‘You will regret having thus accused me! Paragon? A pestilential female who routs me at every turn? I think not, my dear one.’ He became serious again. ‘But a woman of honour, that you are, Nell. And I believe that is half the reason I fell in love with you.’

‘Thank you.’

Aware of a husky note in her voice, she thrust her attention hastily elsewhere. And recalled the use he had meant to make of the emeralds. ‘Heavens, Eden, you can’t give Hetty the emeralds! Have you forgot your wish to restore Padnall Place?’

Jarrow shook his head. ‘It would be a waste, and you know it. Your plan is the better one. Besides, we can adopt that without sacrificing the emeralds, and my conscience will be the easier.’

Nell warmed to that word ‘we’, but her mind was already working at the scheme. Jarrow found himself deep in discussion of several proposals towards the sale of Padnall Place and the purchase of a comfortable but modest establishment. But it was not long before Nell brought up the vexed question of Toly Beresford.

‘What will you do with him? You cannot leave him to languish in the stables indefinitely. And yet I believe you will not wish to give him up to the constables.’

‘And face a resounding scandal? By no means.’ Jarrow’s frown deepened. ‘I am sorely tempted to let him roam the highways and byways until he is taken for a footpad and hanged.’

‘But you won’t,’ Nell said with certainty.

‘No.’ He smiled lovingly at her. ‘What shall I do, dear counsellor? You tell me. I feel sure you have some scheme which you are dying to present to me.’

Nell was obliged to laugh. ‘Well, I have, as it chances. At least, it is only possible if you indeed mean to sell Padnall Place and remove elsewhere.’

‘That is already settled, dear one, so cut line!’

‘If his own family will not offer him shelter, then I think you might let him remain in the castle.’

‘What, alone? As good as a prison! Nell, I could not.’

Nell frowned. ‘When he has injured you in so many ways? Eden, if he came by his deserts he would either go to the gallows or end his days in Bedlam. But he knows this place, and it is a fitting retribution. You may pay a servant to support him. Or let Duggan keep house for him. She deserves to share his fate.’

‘And if he continues to maraud the countryside?’

‘You will tell him that you are going to inform the magistrates that Lord Nobody has retired. Once Mr Beresford knows that you will not support him should he be taken, I am persuaded that he will give it up. He may be insane, but he is not without cunning and intelligence.’ Jarrow was silent, and Nell wondered a little uneasily if he was dismayed by what she had said. ‘You must do what you think best, my dearest.’

The old haunted look came into his features, and harshness to his voice. ‘The best? There is no other best than his death! While he lives, there is no justice and my daughter will never be safe.’

Nell’s heart contracted. ‘Hetty will be safe, dearest, for we shall keep her so. Remember, he has no reason now to harm her.’

Jarrow looked at her. ‘But will he leave us alone? If he is in the castle, what is to stop him from pestering us?’

‘Then perhaps you must instead pass the problem to his family. He said there are Beresfords enough. Are there?’

He shook his head. ‘No, I could not inflict him upon them for they have enough to bear. Julietta was not the only sufferer. And how could I burden his parents with the knowledge that their son had murdered their daughter? No, the more I think of your castle scheme, the better I like it. And it is fitting.’

‘Then I am glad I thought of it.’

Jarrow was filled with a burst of impatience. He got up, and came around to pull Nell to her feet. ‘Have we now settled everything to your satisfaction, Miss Faraday?’

Nell smiled at him. ‘I believe so, Lord Jarrow.’

‘You have not forgotten anything?’

‘If I have, I care not.’

Jarrow gathered her into his arms. ‘Then at last we are of one mind.’

Upon which, he demonstrated the precise manner in which their minds were attuned. And Nell, abandoning all present attempts to bring him to a sense of his duties, gave herself up to the sensations of extreme pleasure aroused by his passion. After some little time, she be-thought herself of Kitty Merrick, and resolved to write that the Gothic castle had yielded up a baron for a princess.