Swept Away (5 page)

Hate spurted up in Julia, hot and tasting of bile, and her heart pounded crazily. She detested this man with a fury that threatened to swamp her. And tonight she had to make him want her more than he had ever wanted any other woman.

J
ulia broke her paralysis and looked away from Stonehaven. Slowly, affecting an air of unconcern, she continued on her path into the large gaming room. Her heart was pounding like a drum, and it was all she could do to keep herself from turning to glance back at him. Was he still watching her? Would he follow?

She knew that she could not look, could not seem interested in him. Ever since she had come up with the idea of luring Lord Stonehaven into her feminine web, she had thought carefully about how to do it. He had been a friend of her brother's for years, albeit not one of his closest, and Selby had spoken of him now and then, usually in the context of some sort of sport—hunting, boxing, marksmanship. He was, she knew, a man who thrived on competition, who liked a challenge. So she had determined that the best way to attract his interest was to appear disinterested herself. Let him be the hunter. Let him come to her and try to win her favors—that was the way to fix his desire on her.

Still, it took all her willpower to refrain from looking. She strolled into the gaming room and down the length of it, moving as far from him as she could get. She paused behind a table of players and idly observed them for a few moments. She could not have said what they were playing, and she did not even notice the inviting smile that one of the men sent her way. All her attention, all her thoughts, were on the room behind her and the question of whether or not Lord Stonehaven had entered it. She was about to turn away toward another table when a masculine voice spoke behind her.

“Are you fond of piquet?”

A thrill shot down her nerves, but she made herself turn casually to look at the speaker. Lord Stonehaven was standing only a foot away from her, a smile that she could classify only as supercilious touching his mouth. He was watching her, his dark eyes faintly amused. He was even more handsome up close, she thought, the sort of man who would set young women to giggling and smirking. Julia, however, had no desire to do either one; the urge she felt rushing up inside her was a strong desire to launch into him, fists flying.
This man had ruined her brother!
Her anger was so deep and bitter, she could almost taste it. It was going to require all her self-possession, she realized, to pretend to calm indifference.

“Were you addressing me, sir?” she asked in as cool a voice as she could muster.

“Why, yes, I was.” The amusement in his eyes deepened. “Sorry—I realize that we are not acquainted, but I presumed upon a common interest.” He made a vague gesture toward the room.

“Indeed.” Julia gave him a small smile, letting a hint of the dimple appear in her cheek. She had, after all, to give him some encouragement even as she pretended to elude him.

He returned the smile, and Julia felt her stomach turn a little flip. Who would have thought that a man such as he could have so much warmth in his eyes? She glanced away quickly, then worried that she had been too demure for the part she was playing.

“Have you played here before?” he asked, and she turned her attention back to him. “I have not seen you.”

“No. This is my first evening here. I came with a friend.”

“A good friend?” he asked in a slow, rich voice, and she realized that he was subtly asking if she was some other man's mistress.

“No,” she replied, hoping that her cheeks did not betray her by reddening. “Not a
good
friend.”

“How nice for me. Then I am hopeful he will not mind if I get you a glass of punch.”

“It does not matter. You see, it is
I
you must ask about such things, not any man.”

He grinned, his eyes twinkling. “Ah. An independent woman, I see.”

“Indeed I am.”

“Then may I escort you to the refreshment tables?” He offered her his arm.

She slipped her hand into the crook of his elbow. “That would be very nice.”

There was something quite freeing about acting this way, Julia thought as she walked with him into the hall. She had never before in her life been in a place like this, where there were no matrons watching, no expectations on everyone's part of how a young woman should act and what she should say. Though Julia considered herself a free thinker, she had been raised to act as a young lady should, and she had always been aware of the need to act in such a way as not to bring any embarrassment to her family.

Like any other young woman, she was careful not to dance more than twice with the same man and not to flirt too much with any one man, lest she be said to be forward. She had always to pay her respects to the old ladies who lined the walls at the county cotillions, looking like a group of well-fed buzzards in their invariably black dresses, and to be careful not to say something to offend them. If a man wanted to escort her down to dine at a ball, he had first to request permission of her chaperon. These were the sorts of restrictions that chafed at her, but which she knew she could not flout without bringing down local censure not only on herself but on poor Phoebe, and before that her mother, for their perceived laxity in training her.

But here there were no duennas, no women who could enumerate her family lineage back to Queen Elizabeth, if not beyond. There was no one to gossip or to care how she acted, no conventions to flout. No one even knew who she was, so her family name could not be called into shame. There was not the least likelihood that anyone would be shocked by her behavior, unless perhaps she decided to take it into her head to get up on a table and remove all her clothes—and from what she had seen of many of the avid cardplayers here tonight, most of them would be concerned only because she was wasting one of their card tables. She could, she thought, say exactly what she wanted and act precisely how she pleased, and no one would give it a second thought.

“I hope your thoughts concern me,” her companion said, and Julia turned to look at him, startled.

“What?”

“Your smile was one of such happiness, I was hopeful that I figured in your thoughts.”

“Oh.” Julia chuckled. “Now you have me, sir, for if I say they were of you, then I am over bold, and if I say they were not, I am insulting.”

“I suspect that you are a woman who does not care particularly if either is said of you.”

Julia gave him an enigmatic smile. “I would say that would depend on who was speaking.”

“Ah. Well, I am not so foolishly brave as to ask whether I would be one whose opinion would matter to you.” They had reached the rear-most room of the first floor, where a long sideboard held not only a punch bowl but a number of platters of cheeses, meats, breads and cakes. “No, pray, do not answer. Tell me instead what to put on your plate.”

He picked up a glass plate and began to fill it with various delicacies, though Julia doubted that her nerves would allow her to eat much, if any, of them. She would have protested that she did not want to eat, but she knew that being alone with him in the dining area was far better for her purposes than returning to the card rooms. Once he had filled two plates and added cups of punch to them, Stonehaven led her back into the entryway and up the stairs to the second floor. Julia followed him, surprised.

“But where are we going?”

“Only a quieter place to talk and eat.” He gestured toward a low velvet sofa against the wall at the side of the stairs. A potted palm shielded it partially from view, and it offered a comfortable, quiet place to sit.

Julia sat down, taking her plate, and he sat down beside her, much closer than was proper. It was odd to have a strange man this close to her. She was very aware of the heat of his body, the breadth of his shoulders, the faint scent of his masculine cologne. She had never thought about his
smelling
this good, she thought. Impatiently, she called back her errant thoughts; she had to concentrate on her purpose.

“Are there gaming rooms up here?” she asked, more to keep her thoughts on track than to satisfy any real curiosity.

“Yes, these rooms are where you find those who like to dip deep.” He gestured toward the two closed doors that lay in front of the stairs. “That room over there, where the door is open, is simply a sort of sitting room, where one can pause to collect oneself between games. I don't believe that I have ever seen anyone in it.”

“The gamesters here do seem preoccupied with their cards,” Julia admitted, taking a bit of cheese on a cracker and finding it quite tasty. Perhaps she was hungrier than she had thought.

“Mmm-hmm.”

Julia glanced at him. He was watching her eat, his own food untouched on the plate, and the heat in his eyes sent a shiver straight through her. His gaze slid down from her mouth, taking in the long curve of her white throat, and came to rest upon the swell of her breasts above the dress. Julia resisted the impulse to tug the dress higher. She had more than once surprised a hot, secret look on the face of one of her admirers, but none of them had ever looked at her like this—as if they had a right to do so, as if they were picturing her without any clothes on at all. And certainly none of their love-struck gazes had ever made her feel this strange combination of shivers and heat inside.

She swallowed hard, unsure how to respond. She tried to think what a woman of the sort she was playing would do, but her mind was curiously sluggish. He reached over and ran his forefinger down her cheek and across her jawline to her chin.

“You are a beautiful woman.”

“Th-thank you.” His skin felt like fire upon hers, and Julia had the sudden, awful feeling that she was in over her head.

“I noticed you as soon as I walked in.”

“Indeed?” Now his finger was tracing the line of her throat down to the ridge of her collarbone.

“Indeed. I believe you noticed me, too. Am I right?”

“I saw you, yes.” Julia struggled to pull her thoughts together. She could not let herself be distracted. She had achieved her goal of catching Lord Stonehaven's interest. Now she had to use it to her advantage. She could not sit here like a mannequin, saying only yes and no.

What would a woman such as she was supposed to be do? A crafty, experienced sort. The first thing, she thought, was that she had to be in control. It would never do to let a man like Stonehaven think that he could win this easily, that he could disturb her thoughts or monopolize her time or expect her to give in to him. For one thing, she suspected that he would lose interest more quickly. For another, it was essential for her purposes that she retain control of the situation.

Accordingly, she slid as far to the side of the sofa as she could, moving away from his hand, and whipped open the furled fan she carried. She wafted it a time or two in front of her, looking at him across the top.

“Or, at least,” she continued in as bored a voice as she could muster, “I believe that it was you. I barely glanced at the door, you see.”

“I see.” Oddly enough, he seemed amused by her answer. Julia decided that she had made the right move. He must be pleased that she was planning to provide him with something of a chase. No doubt, with his looks and wealth, women fell all too easily at his feet.

She stood up. “Thank you for showing me about a little and for getting me a plate of food. I confess I was feeling a trifle peckish. Now I am ready to return to the tables.”

“Of course.” He rose, too and, taking her half-finished plate from her, set both their dishes down on the small occasional table nearby. “Allow me to escort you to a table. What is your game? I believe you were observing a table of piquet.”

“Actually, I am most fond of loo,” she replied. “Do you play, Mr.—I am sorry, I am afraid that I don't know your name. Most improper, I'm sure, to be conversing with you, not even knowing your name.” She cast up a twinkling sideways glance at him, as though to say that improper behavior was not unknown to her.

“Deverel Grey, ma'am. And yours?”

She was so startled at his calling himself by his name and not his title that she forgot for an instant what name she had chosen for herself. “What? Oh, excuse me…” She affected a little chuckle. “I fear my mind was wandering.” She hoped he would be piqued by her inattention, not suspicious that she was making up a name. “Jessica Nunnelly.” She knew that she had said the wrong last name, but it had been the only thing she could think of. A moment afterward she remembered that she had told her cousin that she would use Murrow. Ah, well, hopefully Geoffrey and Lord Stonehaven would never discuss the matter.

She took his arm, and they went downstairs. She was somewhat uncertain of his interest when he left her and chose to play at a game in the smaller connecting room, but she was reassured when she saw that he had taken a seat from which he had a direct line of sight of her. More than once, as she played, she felt his gaze upon her. It was a little difficult to keep her mind on her cards. She had never in her life played with a table of only men, let alone for stakes as high as these. Nor was she accustomed to hearing men talk with little regard for her presence. She lost, but, then, she had expected to do so; she had brought an ample amount of money with her. It was more of a problem dealing with one or two of the men, who behaved with a freedom and familiarity that she was not accustomed to. In retrospect, she was faintly surprised to realize that Lord Stonehaven had acted with a great deal more gentility.