Surrender (5 page)

asked.

 
Some would say extraordinarily so. I've

heard that Lady Nettleship assumed most

of the responsibility for educating her niece

and one can certainly see the results. Miss

Huntington would undoubtedly have come

to grief in Society long ago were it not

for the fact that her aunt's position is

unassailable."

 
What happened to Miss Huntington's

parents?"

Lady Atherton hesitated, then spoke

evenly.
 
Dead. All of them. Quite sad,

really. But the Lord giveth and the Lord

taketh away."

 
He certainly does."

Lady Atherton cast him an uncertain

glance and then cleared her throat.
 
Yes,

well, the father died when Miss Huntington

was a small child and her mother

soon remarried. But Caroline Huntington

was killed in a riding accident a little

over eighteen months ago. Then Miss

Huntington's stepfather, Samuel Whitlock,

died less than two months after his wife.

A terrible accident on a flight of stairs,

I am given to understand. Broke his

neck."

 
A strange list of tragedies, but it does

have the net effect of leaving Miss

Huntington free of parents who might

feel obliged to inquire deeply into my

finances. The useful rumor of my uncle's

hoarded wealth would not hold up under

close scrutiny."

Jessica pursed her lips in disapproval.

 
I fear there's no getting around the fact

that Miss Huntington spent the minimal

amount of time in mourning after her

stepfather's death. She made it quite clear

she mourned only her mother, and even

that ended as soon as it was seemly to

do so."

 
You reassure me, Jessica. The last thing

I want is a woman who enjoys such

entertainments as extended mournings.

Life can be very short and it's a

shame to waste it in a lot of useless

grieving for what one cannot have, don't

you think?"

 
But one must learn to endure the

tragedies thrust upon us. Such things build

character. And one must also be conscious

of the proprieties," Jessica admonished,

looking faintly hurt.
 
In any event, Lady

Nettleship, the aunt, is an excellent female

with fine connections, but there is no

denying she is a trifle odd in some ways.

I fear she has allowed her niece to run a bit

wild. Do you think you can tolerate Miss

Huntington's rather unusual manners?"

 
I think I can manage Miss Huntington

very well, Jessica." Lucas took another

swallow of champagne, his attention on

Victoria, who was still dancing with her

middle-aged baron.

She was not what he had expected,

Lucas reflected with a curious sense of

relief He had been prepared to do his

duty to his name, his title, and the many

people for whom he was now responsible,

but he had not expected to be able to

enjoy himself in the process.

Definitely not what he had expected.

For one thing, he had not anticipated

this near-violent rush of physical attraction.

Jessica had informed him that Victoria

Huntington was presentable enough, but

that was as far as the description had

gone.

She was taller than he had been led to

believe, much taller than the majority of

the women around her. But Lucas was

a tall man and it was good to find a

woman who's head would rest nicely on

his shoulder instead of somewhere down

around the middle of his chest.

Not what he had expected.

And she moved with a long, graceful

stride that had not a trace of the customary

mincing quality women so often affected.

She also danced well, he realized, not

without a small pang of annoyance. He

knew he could not even compete with

the middle-aged baron when it came to

partnering her.

Lucas watched as Victoria's baron guided

her effortlessly under a glittering chandelier.

The massed lights revealed the

golden highlights in her rich, tawny

brown hair. She wore the thick stuff

cut entirely too short for Lucas's taste.

But the short, artfully careless style did

reveal the delicate, enticing line of her nape

and framed her fine amber eyes. The lady
                                   

definitely knew what she was about when

it came to fashion.

Not what he had expected.

Jessica had warned him that although

there was nothing truly objectionable about

Miss Huntington's features, she was not

an outstanding beauty. Studying the lively,

animated quality of Victoria's face from

a distance, Lucas supposed Jessica was

correct in one sense. But he decided that

the warm golden eyes, so full of challenge,

the arrogant yet feminine nose, and that

flashing smile went together very nicely.

There was a fascinating, vivid element

about Victoria that caught and held the

eye. It hinted at an underlying passion

that was just waiting to be set free by the

right man.

Lucas took another glance at the smile

Victoria was giving her baron and decided

he would very much like to taste Victoria's

mouth. Soon.

 
Lucas, dearest?"

Reluctantly Lucas turned away from the

sight of his heiress. His heiress, he thought,

amused as he ran the phrase through his

mind again.

 
Yes, Jessica?" He looked inquiringly

down at the beautiful woman he had

once loved and lost due to the lack of

a title and a fortune.

 
Will she do, Lucas? Truly? It is not too

late to meet Miss Pilkington, you know."

Lucas reflected on how Jessica, bowing

to the dictates of her family, had married

another man to secure both a title and

a fortune. At the time he had not really

comprehended or forgiven her. Now,

having acquired the title but still lacking

the fortune he desperately needed, Lucas

finally understood the position Jessica had

been in four years earlier.

He knew now that marriage was not a

matter of emotion; it was a matter of duty.

Duty was something Lucas understood

very well.

 
Well, Lucas?" Jessica prompted again,

beautiful eyes full of grave concern.
 
Can

you bring yourself to marry her? For the

sake of stone vale?"

 
Yes," Lucas said.
 
Miss Huntington will

do very well."

/in

Is my aunt at home, Rathbone?" Victoria

inquired as she hurried into the front hall of

the town house. Carriage wheels clattered

on the street outside as Annabella and

her elderly aunt, who had accompanied

Victoria to the ball, took their leave.

Victoria was rather glad to be out of the

close confines of the vehicle. Annabella's

aunt, who had acted as a chaperon for the

younger women, had felt obliged to read her

charges a lengthy lecture on the subject of the

rather doubtful propriety of females playing

cards with men at fashionable parties.

Victoria hated lectures of that sort.

Rathbone, a massive, distinguished-look

ing man with thinning gray hair and a

nose that would have graced any duke,

solemnly indicated the closed door of

the library.
 
I believe Lady Nettleship

is engaged with several members of her

Society for the Investigation of Natural

History and Horticulture."

 
Excellent. Pray, do not look so glum,

Rathbone. all is not lost. Apparently they

have not yet managed to set fire to the

library."

 
Only a matter of time," Rathbone

muttered.

Victoria grinned as she sailed past him,

stripping off her gloves as she went toward

the library door.
 
Come now, Rathbone.

You have been in the service of my aunt

ever since I first came to visit as a small

child, and never once has she burned the

place down around our ears."

 
Begging your pardon, Miss Huntington,

but there was that time you and she

conducted the experiments with the gun

powder," Rathbone felt obliged to point

out.

 
What? You mean to tell me you

still recall our pitiful little attempt to

manufacture our own fireworks? What a

long memory you have, Rathbone."

 
Some moments in our lives are indelibly

etched in our recollections, as sharp

today as on the day they occurred. I,

personally, shall never forget the look on

the first footman's face when the explosion

occurred. We thought for one horrifying

instant that you had been killed."

 
But, as it turned out, I was only slightly

stunned. It was the fact that I was covered

in ashes that gave everyone pause," Victoria

noted.

 
You did look as gray as death, if

you don't mind my saying so, Miss

Huntington."

 
Yes, it was a rather spectacular effect,

was it not? Ah, well, one cannot reflect

too much on past glories. There are far

too many new and intriguing wonders of

the natural world waiting to be explored.

Let us see what my aunt is up to this

evening."

Rathbone watched a footman open the

door of the library, his expression making

it clear he was prepared for virtually any

sight which might await.

But as it happened, there was nothing

at all to be seen immediately. The library

was in utter darkness. Even the fire on

the hearth had been extinguished. Victoria

stepped cautiously inside, trying in vain to

peer through the deep gloom. From the

depths of the room she heard the sound

of a handle being cranked.

 
Aunt Cleo?"

The response was a brilliant arc of

 
dazzling white light. It blazed forth from