The Rules of Seduction (31 page)

“Of course.”

“Did you decide to come and make sure I understood that?”

“I knew you would see that part of it.”

“Then what brought you here at a gallop?”

“I am not sure. Perhaps to beg.” He shrugged. “Maybe to kill him.”

“Then he is fortunate I was not swayed. How like Ben, to escape the price of his actions yet again.” She patted her reticule. “Five thousand, for Rose. There is much more in his bags on that ship, isn’t there?”

“A good deal more, I think.”

“Hayden, he took that money from his bank, didn’t he? He stole it.”

She surprised him. He thought before answering. “Since you have guessed the worst, I will not break my word when I explain it all. Their sisters should not be told, however. Trust me, Irene and Rose do not want to know the truth.”

Their.
Timothy too, then. That was why Hayden came to the house that day. He had discovered Tim’s theft.

“You did not have to let them leave,” she said. “You could have called a magistrate.”

“Yes, I could have done that.”

But he hadn’t. He had saved Tim’s life with his silence, and now he had saved Ben’s. He had not destroyed the Longworths. He had risked much to preserve his friend’s family.

“When they stole that money, it was from people. Will they suffer?”

“They will all be made whole.”

She guessed how. “Is it a lot of money?”

“A good deal of money, yes.”

“Even for you?”

“Even for me, especially now that Timothy has run away.”

“Then we will be practical for a few years, until you have dealt with it. We can stay on Hill Street, or a similar house, or even a smaller one. We can sell the diamonds if it will help. I love them, of course, but if it would make it easier, it would be better if we did that.”

He laid his palm against her cheek. He appeared very serious, and stern in the best way. “The jewels are yours to keep, remember?”

Despite his set jaw, the inner man was so visible that her heart swelled. They stood on a public dock, but they were so close he might have been breathing into her after making love.

“If selling the jewels will help you, I would not mind at all, Hayden. You are more important to me than diamonds. I do not need gifts to know that you value me.”

His jaw tightened. His eyes filmed. “There are many reasons I love you, Alexia. I look forward to telling you about each one. I am not accustomed to how you can move me with your honest faith and loyalty.” He ran the backs of his fingertips along her jaw. “I do not want to speak of practical things now, however. Today, I only want to love you.”

She felt herself blushing. It would take some time to grow accustomed to the frank way he spoke of being in love.

They walked toward his carriage but did not break their embrace. Passersby raised eyebrows, but she did not care.

Faith and loyalty. They were virtues appropriate to a good wife. He had a right to know that she did not act only out of duty, however.

They stopped at his carriage. She looked out to the horizon and to the ship growing insignificant in the mist on the river.

“I did not stay because it was practical, or even because it was decent and honorable, Hayden. Those were not the reasons I gave Benjamin, nor the ones in my heart.”

“Then why did you stay, Alexia?”

“I told him that I was in love with you.” Saying the words made her shiver with exhilaration. “And I am in love with you. It was cowardly of me to wait for you to admit it first. I should have known my own heart better. I should have trusted what it said to me.”

He embraced her again. He smiled so warmly that her heart flipped. “If you know it now, that is all that matters to me. I do not deserve your love, but I promise to treasure it as the beautiful gift it is.”

His gaze held such tenderness that she could not contain the happiness glowing in her heart. Her whole being smiled. A giggle bubbled up and slipped out.

He touched her lips. “What a lovely, girlish, romantic sound.”

“A girlish sound and excitement, but not a girlish love. I much prefer loving as a woman. It is much deeper. Much richer. Much more romantic, and I like that too. Different, however. Different enough that I did not know what to call the emotion that moved me so profoundly while I held you in my arms.”

“I am relieved you love me, whether it calls forth the girl or the woman,” he said. “It is nice to know I will not have to be a romantic fool alone.”

She stretched up and kissed him. “Never alone, my love. We will be romantic fools together. Forever.”

Read on for a sneak peek at

The
LESSONS
of
DESIRE

Coming Fall 2007

P
haedra rose from her writing table in response to Signora Cirillo’s call. If the woman wanted more money so soon—

A wonderful sight awaited her when she opened the door to her apartment. Signora Cirillo was not alone. Lord Elliot stood beside her.

Phaedra kept her composure even though she wanted to shout for joy. If he was here, it meant only one thing.

“Lord Elliot, please enter.
Grazie,
signora.”

Signora Cirillo raised her eyebrows over her dark cat eyes at this dismissal. Phaedra shooed her away.

“You bring good news I hope, Lord Elliot,” Phaedra said when they were alone.

“Your house arrest is over, Miss Blair. We have Captain Cornell of the Euryalus to thank. He spoke with Sansoni on our behalf.”

“Thank God for the British navy.” She ran to the window and threw open the shutters. The guard outside was gone. “I must take a turn along the bay this evening. I cannot believe—” She skipped back to Lord Elliot and embraced him. “I am so grateful to you.”

He smiled kindly when she released him. He seemed to understand her excitement and forgive her exuberance. If his gaze had warmed just a little from her impulsive embrace, well, he was a man after all.

He appeared quite magnificent right now in his perfectly tailored, brown frock coat and high boots. His smile did much to soften the severity of the Rothwell face. Unlike his older brothers, Lord Elliot was reputed to smile often, and it appeared that was true.

He looked around her sitting room. His gaze lit upon her writing desk. “I have interrupted your letter, I fear.”

“An interruption I most welcomed. I was writing to Alexia, and pouring out my story of woe, on the chance I could at least throw my letter down to you when you returned here.”

“Why not complete the letter at once, and let her know all is well? I will take it to Cornell. He sails in two days for England, and will post it to London when he docks.”

“What a splendid idea, if you will not think me rude to jot a few more lines.”

“Not at all, Miss Blair. Not at all.”

She sat down and quickly added a paragraph telling Alexia that all had been resolved happily, thanks to Alexia’s new brother-in-law, Lord Elliot. She folded, addressed, and sealed the paper, and stood with it in her hand. Lord Elliot walked over and gently plucked it from her fingers. He tucked it into his frock coat, to bring to Captain Cornell.

He resumed his perusal of the sitting room and its views. “You came to the door yourself, Miss Blair. Where is your abigail?”

“I have no abigail, Lord Elliot. No servants. Not even in London.”

“Is that due to another philosophical belief?”

“Rather it is a practical decision. An uncle left me a modest income, and I would rather spend it in other ways.”

“How sensible. However, your lack of a servant is inconvenient.”

“Not at all.” She turned on her toes and the drapes of her black gauze garment and long hair fanned out. “A dress like this does not require a maid to truss me and my hair requires only a brush.”

“I was not speaking of your dressing. I need to speak with you about this development, and with no maid in this apartment…”

He worried for her reputation should she be with a man alone. How charming.

“Lord Elliot, it is impossible for you to compromise me because I am above such stupid social rules. Besides, this is a business meeting of sorts, is it not? Our privacy is not only allowed in such situations, but also necessary.” She doubted he would accept her reasoning, logical though it was. Men like him never did.

To her amazement, he capitulated immediately. “You are correct. Therefore we shall proceed. Will you not sit? This could take some time.”

He appeared very serious all of a sudden. Serious and stern and…hard. His gesture toward the divan carried more command than his polite request implied. The temptation to remain standing nipped at her. She sat, but only because he had just procured her freedom.

He settled into a chair that faced her. He gave her a good look, as if sizing her up. He might have never seen her before and now tried to interpret the peculiar image she presented.

She could not shake the sense that, in a manner of speaking, she had never seen him before either. There was none of his quiet amusement now, just a long, examining, invasive gaze that made her uneasy. A very feminine response rumbled deeply in her essence.

That was the damndest thing about handsome men. Their beauty left one at a disadvantage when they directed attention at you. This man was very handsome. He was also very masculine in most ways, and subtly so in the worst ones. Right now he seemed to be deliberately trying to unsettle her. He did not do it for carnal reasons, she was sure. Yet his aura projected that lure too, and her blood reacted to it.

Protecting, possessing, conquering—They were all facets of the same primitive instinct, weren’t they? A man could not follow one inclination without arousing the others in himself, and a woman was easily vanquished if she did not take care. She wondered which ancient part of the male character motivated him now.

“Alexia did ask me to look in on you, Miss Blair. That was no lie. However, I had other reasons to seek you out and they must now be addressed.”

“Since we only met once, at Alexia’s wedding, and very briefly, I cannot imagine what your reasons might be.”

“I think that you can.”

Now he was annoying her. “I assure you I cannot.”

His tone indicated that he found her annoying in turn. “Miss Blair, it has come to my attention that you are now a partner in Merris Langton’s publishing house. That you inherited your father’s interest in the business.”

“That information has not been given out, Lord Elliot. With men assuming a woman cannot succeed in business, and with many believing it unnatural for a woman to even try, I chose to keep that quiet so prejudice would not affect the business itself.”

“Do you intend to be active in it?”

“I will have a hand in choosing the titles published, but I expect Mr. Langton will continue to oversee the practical matters.” Not that this was any of Lord Elliot’s concern. “I would like to know who informed you of this. If my solicitor has been indiscreet—”

“Your solicitor is blameless.” His attention left her for a spell, and his eyes assumed a brooding darkness. She had seen that in the past, ever so fleetingly. It hinted at the brilliant mind inside this elegant man about town, and the intellectual absorption that had led him to pen a celebrated historical tome before he turned twenty-three.

“Miss Blair, I regret that I bring you some bad news. Merris Langton passed away from his illness after you left London. He was buried a few days before I sailed myself.”

She had feared Mr. Langton would not recover, but hearing of his death was surprising anyway. “That is bad news indeed, Lord Elliot. I thank you for informing me. I did not know him well, but a man’s passing is always sad. I had counted on him helping me maintain that publishing house, but it appears I will be left to do it on my own.”

“Is it all yours now?”

“My father founded the press and subsidized it all along. His share was his to bequeath, but Mr. Langton’s became my father’s if Mr. Langton died. So, yes, I do believe it is all mine now.”

His distraction disappeared. The sternness returned. Coldly. “Prior to Langton’s illness, he approached my brother. He spoke of your father’s memoirs being published. He offered to omit several paragraphs in the manuscript that touched on my family, if a significant sum was paid to him.”

“He did? That is terrible! I am shocked by this betrayal of my father’s principles, and sincerely apologize for my partner.”

She rose and began pacing, agitated by this dreadful revelation. Lord Elliot politely stood too, but she ignored him while she tried to take in the implications of Mr. Langton’s foolish scheme. This might be all it took to bring that shaky press down.

She knew too well its precarious finances, and as a partner she was responsible for the unpaid debts. She had counted on her father’s memoirs to pull them through, but if Mr. Langton had compromised the integrity of that publication, the world might dismiss the book entirely.

“This is all Harriette Wilson’s fault,” she said, her dismay edging into anger. “She set a disgraceful precedent in asking her lovers to pay to have their names removed from her book. I wrote and told her so, mind you. Harriette, I wrote, it is unethical to take money to expunge memoirs. It is just a pretty form of blackmail. She only thought of her empty purse, of course. Well, that is the result of the dependent life she chose and the foolish extravagance that she practiced.” She strode more purposefully. “Mr. Langton no doubt approached others too. I cannot believe he would impugn the ethics of our publishing house in this way.”

“Miss Blair, please spare me the theatrical outrage. My family was prepared to pay Langton. I sought you out to say that we will now gladly pay you instead.”

Theatrical
outrage? She paused her pacing and faced him squarely. “Lord Elliot, I hope that I misunderstand you. Are you suggesting that I would accept this money to edit the memoirs to your liking?”

“It is our hope that you will.”

She advanced on him until she was close enough to see the thoughts reflected in his eyes. “Good heavens, you think that I knew Mr. Langton was doing this, don’t you? You believe I was an accomplice to it.”

He did not respond. He just looked back, visibly skeptical of her astonishment.

Furious about his assumptions, affronted by the insult, she turned away. “Lord Elliot, my father’s memoirs are going to be published as soon as I return to England. Every sentence of them. It was his last wish, sent to me directly, and I would never pick and choose which of his words the world should read. I am sincerely grateful for your aid with Mr. Sansoni, but it would be best if we ended this conversation. If I had a servant I would have you shown out. As it is, you will have to find your own way.”

To make her dismissal of him complete, she strode to her bedchamber and closed the door.

She had not collected herself before the door to her bedchamber reopened. Lord Elliot calmly followed her in and closed it behind him.

“My visit is not over, and our business is not completed, Miss Blair.”

“How dare—This is my
bedchamber,
sir.”

He crossed his arms and assumed that irritating, masculine pose of command. “Normally that might check me, but you are above stupid social rules, like the one that says I should not intrude here. Remember?”

She did not consider that particular social rule so stupid. It existed for a very good reason. A primitive one. This was her most private space, her sanctuary. She undressed and bathed and slept here. Every object symbolized activities that only a husband or lover should see.

The air began altering while he glanced at the wardrobe where her garments were stored and the dressing table that held her private items. His gaze swept over the bed slowly, then returned to her.

His thoughts were not as masked as he thought. She noted the subtle changes in his expression, the way the hardness he wore rearranged itself ever so slightly. A man could not be near a bed with a woman and not start wondering. It was just a curse of nature that they bore.

It irritated her that she wondered too. The manner in which he had just insulted her should provide the best armor against the intimacy threading through this chamber. The air grew heavy and full of a magnetic excitement that stirred her.

An image blinked in her mind, of Lord Elliot looking down at her, his face mere inches from hers, his dark hair mussed by reasons besides fashion and his desire completely unmasked. She saw his naked shoulders and felt the pressure of his body and the firm hold of his embrace on her skin. She felt…

She forced the image from her head, but acknowledgment flashed in his eyes. He knew her mind had wandered there, just as she knew his had.

He unfolded his arms, and she thought he might reach for her. She wondered if he would insult her further now by giving voice to what they were feeling. There were men who misunderstood her life and beliefs and proposed things in ignorance, but Lord Elliot was not stupid. If he attempted to act on the sensual awareness whispering between them, it would be deliberately and cruelly offensive.

He turned his attention from her, diluting the intimacy but not completely vanquishing it. Her pride was spared but her sexuality simmered with discontentment.

“Is the manuscript here?” he asked. “Did you bring it with you?”

“Of course not. Why would I do that?”

He eyed the wardrobe. “Do you swear? If not I will have to search for it.”

“I swear, and don’t you dare search. You have no right to be here at all.”

“Actually, I do, but we will discuss that later.”

What was that supposed to mean? “I left it in London, in a very secure place. It contains my father’s memoirs, his last words. I would never be careless with it.”