What A Rogue Wants (5 page)

“
I’ve someone I want you
to meet,” Lady Elizabeth said out of the side of her mouth. “Meet
me in the chapel before dinner.”

The invitation was an unexpected and
pleasant surprise. Rather than risk any more whispering, Madelaine
nodded. Perhaps she and Lady Elizabeth would be friends after all,
even if only secretly. Relaxing, she studied the landscape while
trying to decide what would be the easiest thing to try to sketch.
In the distance, two riders appeared out of the woods, black capes
billowing behind them starkly contrasted by the bright blue sky. By
the way the horses raced hell-bent toward them they had to be two
men riding the beasts. No woman would dare to ride with such speed
unless perhaps fleeing for her life.

As the horses drew nearer, the ground
vibrated from the pounding hooves into the soles of Madelaine’s
delicately slippered feet. The bevy of whispers that erupted as all
the women forgot their sketching to gaze curiously at the
approaching riders made Madelaine want to laugh. Not one of these
ladies would dare defy the queen’s order in normal circumstances,
but put two men in their paths and the queen’s command to draw was
promptly abandoned. And the queen did not seem to mind one bit, if
her smile was any indication. Madelaine quirked her mouth. She
didn’t need a friend in one of the ladies-in-waiting to help her
soften the queen, she needed a man. Two men from the queen’s guard
materialized from the stone wall they had been lounging against to
stand just behind the queen on either side of her.

Madelaine shielded her eyes from the
glaring sun, but she could not get a good view of the approaching
riders.

“
Now who could this be?”
The queen’s bejeweled, wrinkled hand hovered just above her
eyes.

As the riders came closer, a golden
lion became visible on one of their capes. Lady Elizabeth gasped,
jerked up from her seat and then dipped into a deep curtsey toward
the queen. “Beg pardon, Your Majesty. I believe that’s my youngest
brother, Lord Grey.”

“
Splendid,” the queen said
with such a genuine smile Madelaine had to cough to cover her
snort. Of course the queen’s good grace would extend to a man. And
then remembrance flooded through Madelaine. Was this Lord Grey―the
unsuspecting brother who had been called here to be delivered as a
sacrifice to Grace in return for the woman’s silence?

Poor man. She prayed he was a strong
sort and would resist the temptation of Grace’s outer beauty long
enough to learn her insides were ugly. The chance was bleak though
if Lord Grey was like all other men. Still, one could
hope.

From the corner of her eye, Grace’s
yellow hair caught Madelaine’s attention as the woman fairly
skipped toward them. She arrived at the circle at the same moment
the horses drew to a stop. No doubt she had planned her appearance
once she had seen the men approaching. The men descended and led
their horses toward the women.

“
Lady Elizabeth, your
brother has the looks of a knight of old,” the queen
said.

Madelaine gaped at the queen. Had she
delivered a breathless compliment? It couldn’t be possible. Yet,
her Majesty’s eyes shined as she stared at the approaching men.
Rosy color stained her normally pale complexion, and her posture
was just a bit straighter, wasn’t it? Yes. Yes, it was! The queen
was smitten with one of the men and based on earlier comments, it
had to be Lord Grey. You could have knocked Madelaine over with her
sketching utensil.

Under lowered lashes Madelaine studied
the men. The one on the right had hair the color of wheat and a
face that could have been described as a work of art with his high
cheekbones, full lips, and golden shadow of stubble. Thick, light
eyebrows framed his green, friendly eyes. He stopped in front of
the queen, bowed and spoke in a rich voice. “Your Majesty, it’s a
pleasure to see you again.”

“
And you as well, Lord
Gravenhurst.” Queen Charlotte smiled up at him before waving a hand
in dismissal.

As Lord Gravenhurst stepped aside,
Madelaine leaned forward in her chair eager to get a good look at
the man that Grace wanted and the queen became human over. In her
haste to see him, she knocked her easel with her knee. What an oaf
she was! She reached for the easel, but missed, and the dratted
thing slid off its perch to land in the grass. Maybe no one had
noticed? Snickers rose around her, and her heart fell. Now, not
only was she odd, she was a klutz. Surely things couldn’t get
worse.

“
Really, Lady Madelaine,
do try to have a modicum of decorum,” the queen said. Heat
enveloped Madelaine’s face. It had to be impossible to be more
embarrassed than she was at this moment. Keeping her gaze downward,
she bent to retrieve the easel. Blast! It was out of her reach.
Maybe if she shifted her weight. Her chair creaked as she did so.
She held her breath and reached. Almost there. If she could just
reach a little bit further. There! Her fingertips brushed the
easel, and she stretched a bit more to grasp the thing. Underneath
her, the ground shifted. Or was that her chair? Egads, she was
falling. She tried to throw her weight backward, but the weight of
the heavy hoops the queen insisted they wear pulled her
forward.

Strong hands with a gentle touch
pushed her back into her seat. When she glanced up, her gaze locked
with wintery blue eyes and a wave of shock sent a shiver through
her body. Dear God. Lord Grey was her Lord Drivel. How many times
had she dreamed of him and wondered if he’d gone the next day to
Golden Square to meet her?

The hairs on the back of her neck
stood on end at the icy beauty of the aware gaze holding hers. He
recognized her too! And if she had any doubt his thick black
eyebrows arching questioningly then coming down into a furrow over
narrowing eyes, quashed her uncertainty. Leave it to her to break
into an anxious sweat on a cool day.

Lord Grey’s haughty
aristocratic expression hadn’t changed a whit from last year. Yet,
he
had
changed.
Clearly he was not the preening peacock she’d thought he was when
they’d first met. His skin was unfashionably bronze. His hair―inky
black and touching his shoulders―was in disarray. But what a
beautiful mess it was. He needed a shave, and that scar above his
lip…The man looked like a virile knight of old. The queen had, for
once, been perfectly correct. Madelaine sighed and Lord Grey
blinked. She blinked back. Dear God, had she been staring? The
unusual quietness told her she had.

“
Here you are.” Lord Grey
held out her easel.

“
Thank you,” she
automatically replied and took the easel while praying he was smart
enough to keep their prior meeting secret.

“
No, thank you.” Lord
Grey’s voice washed over her with its warmth.

“
For what?” Blast. She
should have let the conversation die. The queen was frowning at
her.

Lord Grey leaned forward on bent knee,
the fine tan cambric of his coat stretched tight over his broad
shoulders.

“
It’s not every day that I
get to come to the rescue of a beautiful lady-in-waiting.” He
plucked her sketching utensil from the ground and handed it to
her.

As she reached to take her instrument
from him, his fingers brushed hers and her skin tingled in the wake
of his touch. She rubbed her tickling fingertips together and
racked her mind for a coy, yet proper reply, to his flattery.
Before she could speak, Grace did. “I, for one, am not the least
surprised you had to help Lady Madelaine. She’s a terrible lout.
Why just last night, she tripped Lord Carlisle whilst they were
dancing.”

It was entirely too bad
the opportunity to take revenge on Grace hadn’t presented itself
earlier. An angry blush singed Madelaine’s cheeks. It was true
she
had
tripped
Lord Carlisle on the dance floor, but it had been purposely. His
hands had kept “accidentally” brushing her bottom though she had
quite sternly told him to quit. But she couldn’t very well explain
herself with the truth. She ground her teeth at the futility of her
situation.

Lord Grey stood, his powerful frame
extending in one fluid motion. He glanced down at her. Was that a
conspiratorial smile stretching his lips? “I find it hard to
believe someone who looks as graceful as Lady Madelaine could cause
anyone to trip, yet I find I hope it’s true.”

“
And why is that, Lord
Grey?” asked the queen.

“
If I might be bold, Your
Majesty?”

“
Of course you
may.”

Madelaine gawked at the queen. How
amazing she looked with a genuine smile on her face. She was almost
pretty.

Grey moved to the side of Madelaine’s
chair, his thigh brushing her arm. “I’ve an affinity for awkward
people, being one myself.”

She would have grinned up at him for
his kindness, but the queen was studying her with an inscrutable
look. Whatever was Queen Charlotte thinking? Before Madelaine could
ponder the likely dire possibilities, the queen stood and Madelaine
scrambled to stand along with all the other ladies-in-waiting. The
queen smiled and addressed Lord Grey. “You’re too kind, Lord Grey.
I happen to know from watching you ride and joust you have the
grace of a prowling panther.”

“
Your Majesty―” He took
the queen’s proffered elbow. “―you flatter me.”

“
I flatter no one,” the
queen replied with a laugh. “Just ask Lady Madelaine.”

Good gracious. If she answered
truthfully it would make the queen look bad, yet if she lied, the
queen would know it. The stubborn part of Madelaine that had gotten
her into so much trouble was leading her there again. She didn’t
want to look weak.

“
Lady Madelaine?” Lord
Grey’s gaze met hers.

She inclined her head toward Queen
Charlotte. “You are my queen, therefore you are
correct.”

“
And if she wasn’t your
queen?” Lord Grey asked. Blast the man. He had no idea the
precarious situation he was putting her in.

“
Then I would say her
words carry the sting of a bee and not the sweetness of their
honey. From my experience, of course,” she hastened to add at Lord
Grey’s lifted eyebrows.

Why was he studying her as if she were
some unknown species?

“
Interesting. A woman not
afraid to speak the truth.”

She most certainly was afraid, but
she’d been presented little choice.

“
Perhaps,” the queen
agreed, though her voice held an underlying tone of doubt. “Lord
Grey, tell me, are you here to see your sister or just to beguile
us with your company?”

“
Both. Unofficially. But
officially, I’m here in service to Lord Pearson.”

“
As?”

“
His newest
equerry.”

“
I was not aware Lord
Pearson needed a new equerry. What happened to Lord
Sutton?”

“
Lord Sutton has gone
missing.”

Madelaine waited with baited breath
for the queen to demand further explanation. Instead, she nodded
and gazed toward the dairy farm in the distance where the king had
earlier gone with Lord Fox. Well, that figured. The one time
Madelaine wouldn’t mind the queen’s demanding nature, Her Majesty
was preoccupied. Or maybe she simply wasn’t demanding with Lord
Grey. After a moment, the queen focused on Lord Grey again. “Then
we shall thoroughly enjoy your time here. Perhaps you can even
teach Lady Madelaine how to dance.”

“
It would be my pleasure.”
Warmth infused Madelaine. Lord Grey sounded very much like a man
who knew a great deal about his pleasure.

Giggles broke out amongst the ladies
which ceased when the queen waved a hand toward Lady Elizabeth who
scurried toward her brother.

Lord Grey enfolded her in his arms.
“Poppet,” he whispered into Lady Elizabeth’s ear before releasing
her and ruffling her hair as if she were a child. The siblings’
likeness in coloring of hair and eyes struck Madelaine. “We’ve much
to discuss.”

Madelaine’s heart leapt into her
throat. Did Lord Grey mean to tell his sister about Golden Square?
Her heartbeat raced as she discarded ridiculous scenarios of how to
corner him and plead her case. Whatever was she going to do? Was he
really so cruel? She studied him, and he winked at her. He
understood! Her breath released with a rush, yet her nerves still
tingled. He may appear willing to keep her secret, but at what
price? Everyone at this blasted Court had a price.

But those questions would have to wait
until she had the opportunity to speak privately with him. His
fingers strayed to his jacket, and he touched a piece of parchment.
The letter! Lord Grey had been speaking of the letter his sister
had written him. Lady Elizabeth clearly saw the letter as well. Her
eyes were rounded in surprise. Some of Madelaine’s tension
released, slowing her heartbeat. How silly she’d been. Of course
the letter would be forefront on his mind and not his distant
meeting in Golden Square with her.

An odd sort of jealousy overcame
Madelaine. Lady Elizabeth was lucky. Lord Grey seemed a man more
than capable of handling a malicious witch like Grace. Fleetingly,
Madelaine wished she had a sibling. But that was impossible. She
turned and found Grace glaring at her. Did Grace think to cow her?
Madelaine wasn’t the least bit intimidated, but she refused to play
such ridiculously childish games. She raised her eyebrows at Grace
to let her know she was a fool, and then dismissed her.