The Earl's Prize (Harlequin Historical)

by Nicola Cornick

  He was also surprised to see Lady Bainbridge countenancing Massingham’s attentions to Amy when it was well known that the man had an unsavoury reputation. As for Massingham himself—thirty thousand pounds would never be enough for him. Joss knew that he had refused to marry Juliana because she did not have enough money to tempt him.

  ‘You’re looking very grim, old fellow,’ Sebastian Fleet commented as he passed Joss the glass of wine that he had thoughtfully procured for him. ‘I would have thought that a few hours with the lovely Harriet would have put you in a better humour!’

  Joss shrugged irritably. ‘I was just reflecting that Clive Massingham was a rather inappropriate suitor for Miss Bainbridge. I wonder that her mother allows it.’

  Fleet raised his brows. ‘Surely Lady Bainbridge would be aux anges to see her nestling married off to anyone who offered. Miss Bainbridge may have a fortune now, Joss old boy, but it don’t make her any less reserved—or less plain.’

  Joss’s jaw tightened. Somewhere, not far below the surface, he felt violence bubbling up inside him.

  ‘It may be, Seb, that your taste only runs to the more obvious-looking female! Miss Bainbridge has a certain distinction.’

  Fleet smothered a grin in his wineglass. ‘I stand corrected. Clearly you have more discernment than I.’

  Joss found he could not stop himself even though he knew Fleet was deliberately goading him. ‘Miss Bainbridge is charming, Sebastian.’

  ‘You must be grateful to Lady Juliana for the debt of honour,’ Fleet said, a twinkle in his eye, ‘if it has given you the opportunity to ascertain as much!’

  Joss gave him a darkling stare. He put his empty wineglass down with controlled force.

  ‘This ball is boring me. I believe I shall go.’

  Fleet’s smile grew. ‘To White’s, old fellow? Or to Covent Garden, perhaps?’

  Joss paused. Neither of Fleet’s suggestions held the slightest appeal and he realised with a strange pang that he was not at all sure where he would go or what he would do. A part of him wanted to stay at Lady Carteret’s ball simply to be near Amy, but at the same time the thought of watching her dancing with other gentlemen irritated him almost beyond measure.

  Even as he hesitated, Fleet touched his arm to draw his attention to the tableau across the room.

  ‘I did not realise that Juliana was a particular friend of Miss Bainbridge?’

  Joss turned. His sister had indeed come up to the group about Amy and was engaging in conversation that seemed most amicable, although her gaze was dwelling on Clive Massingham with a possessive intensity. Joss frowned. Surely Juliana did not imagine Amy a rival for Massingham’s affections? It seemed absurd. Yet a vague sense of unease possessed him; he started across the room towards them and as he did so Juliana’s drawling tones floated over to him.

  ‘Lud, Miss Bainbridge, I had no idea that you were such a secret gambler—and such a successful one! First you lift over two hundred guineas from me at play, and then I hear that this mysterious fortune of yours is a lottery prize! We should be calling you the lottery heiress!’

  There was a sudden lull in the conversation all around, as though all ears were out on stalks. Like everyone else, Joss had his gaze fixed on Amy’s face and saw the colour fade from her cheeks before her chin came up sharply and an angry gleam came into her eyes. She spoke quietly but with emphasis.

  ‘Thank you, Lady Juliana, but I should prefer no such soubriquet.’

  Her eyes met Joss’s and he saw the hurt and anger there before she turned away with contempt. Joss felt his own anger start to burn. He caught Juliana’s arm in an iron grip and pulled her unceremoniously towards an alcove.

  ‘That was not well done, Juliana.’ He wanted to shake her and only just managed to restrain himself. ‘Sometimes your spite shocks even me, sister dear!’

  Already word of Amy’s lottery win was rippling away from the group, a frisson of excitement accompanying the whispered words as such a prime piece of gossip was passed on.

  Juliana pulled a face. She shook his hand off her arm. ‘Lud, what is it to you, Joss? I heard a piece of gossip and thought to tease a little, that is all—’

  ‘You thought to damage Miss Bainbridge’s reputation! You must know that Lady Bainbridge has put it about that the money was inherited.’

  Juliana shrugged. ‘I do so dislike dishonesty, don’t you, Joss? If little Miss Bainbridge wishes to be courted for her money, all well and good, but at least let it be known where that money has come from!’

  Her green gaze searched his face for a moment and then she smiled, her lazy smile. ‘Lud, you do look angry, my dear. Can it be that you are developing a tendre for the innocent little Miss Bainbridge? How piquant! I declare that that would be a greater piece of gossip even than the lottery winnings!’

  Joss’s eyes narrowed. He was shocked at the anger he felt inside; anger with Juliana for her malice, mixed with the most astonishing desire to protect Amy from such spite.

  ‘You will not spread such gossip, Juliana!’

  ‘Shall I not?’ Lady Juliana arched an elegant eyebrow. ‘How so?’

  ‘Because you are scarcely lily white yourself. I would not wish you to…damage…yourself in the process. A story about Miss Bainbridge could lead so very easily to a disclosure about you…’

  For a moment they stared furiously at each other, then Juliana lowered her gaze. A bright spot of colour burned in her cheeks. ‘Bah, you are an odious wretch sometimes, Joss! You would do it, too!’

  Joss bowed slightly. ‘I would. You see, Juliana, little Miss Bainbridge, as you call her, is indeed a genuinely innocent girl, whereas you and I inhabit the sort of world that has nothing in common with hers, except superficially. I suggest that you leave her alone.’

  Juliana smiled. ‘Oh, I will, brother dear. Just as long as you do. You could damage her reputation far more than I ever could.’

  Joss held her gaze. He knew she was right and he also knew he could not afford to give her any advantages.

  ‘Which is why I shall be keeping well away from her myself,’ he said coldly. ‘There is no truth in your suspicions, Juliana. None whatsoever.’

  Chapter Ten

  Lady Bainbridge, close to indulging in a fit of the vapours, had wanted to retire from the ball immediately when the word of the lottery win was out, but Amy had refused to retreat in ignominy. It was not that she felt there was any further enjoyment to be obtained from the evening; on the contrary, it had been a disappointment from start to finish and the fact that everyone was talking scandal about her only served to confirm her poor opinion of society. However, she had a task to undertake and it was one that her anger would enable her accomplish. Tomorrow would be too late. She wanted to give the Earl of Tallant a piece of her mind.

  It had to be Joss who had told Lady Juliana about the lottery win and she was furious with him for it. First they had hatched their stupid joke, calling it a debt of honour, and then they had humiliated her at the ball for good measure. If ever a brother and sister were kindred spirits, Amy thought angrily, it was those two. They deserved each other.

  She could not see Joss anywhere in the ballroom and thought that he might have left. There was no trace of him in the card room or the refreshment room, although there were plenty of prying eyes and sly smiles from those people who watched her. Her fury increasing by the minute, Amy was about to call her hunt off and retire, when she saw Joss just coming through the terrace doors. He appeared to be alone. She hurried across the ballroom and caught up with him before he had taken more than a few steps inside, planting herself directly in his path.

  ‘Lord Tallant!’

  ‘Miss Bainbridge?’ Joss’s tone was measured in comparison with her own and he sounded coolly bored. The thought made Amy’s temper soar. Now she was well served for even thinking for a moment that they had established some kind of innocuous friendship. She had stumbled well out of her depth and should withdraw—but not until she had told him what she tho
ught of him.

  ‘I wish to speak with you, my lord.’ Amy kept her tone steady although her pulse hammered hard. ‘Immediately!’

  Joss looked amused at her vehemence. He made a slight gesture. ‘Please do so.’

  ‘Not here!’ Amy said, glancing around. The crowd in the ballroom was thinning a little because of the lateness of the hour but there were still plenty of people present and many of them were looking their way.

  ‘We cannot step outside without causing further speculation,’ Joss pointed out. ‘If you wish to speak with me now, Miss Bainbridge, it will have to be in public.’

  Amy glared at him. ‘I am surprised that you scruple at causing further scandal, my lord! Perhaps you should have thought of that before you told your sister that I had won my fortune on the lottery. I asked you to keep that a secret and I trusted you to do so!’

  Joss’s eyes narrowed. ‘Am I to understand that you believe that I told Juliana that you had won the thirty thousand pounds? Why should you think such a thing?’

  Amy threw a quick glance over her shoulder. Now he sounded almost as angry as she.

  ‘It must be you! Who else?’

  Rather than answer, Joss took her arm and drew her out of the long terrace windows. He did not stop at the balustrade, but hurried her down the steps and on to the spruce-flanked lawn at the bottom. A full summer moon rode high in the sky so it was not entirely dark, but Amy shivered in the cool breeze. Already the ballroom seemed a long way away.

  ‘Oh! Why did you do that? I thought you just expressed a wish to avoid scandal?’

  ‘I judged that it would cause more scandal for us to quarrel in public than for us to take a small walk,’ Joss said, through shut teeth. ‘However, I am not detaining you, Miss Bainbridge. If you wish to return to the ballroom you may do so at once.’

  Amy surveyed him in silence for a moment. Her anger had ebbed as soon as she had thrown the accusation at him and now, although he had not refuted it, she found that she no longer wished to argue with him.

  ‘Were we quarrelling?’ she asked in a small voice.

  ‘Assuredly. And we shall continue to do so if you accuse me of breaking your trust.’

  Amy frowned slightly. ‘So you did not tell Lady Juliana?’

  ‘I did not.’ Joss’s tone was uncompromising. ‘As for who the culprit might be, there could be a number of possibilities. Lady Bainbridge, perhaps, or your brother or even Amanda Spry. I suppose you told her the truth of your situation?’

  ‘Yes, but—’ Amy had started to feel quite regretful. Perhaps she had jumped to conclusions. She probably owed him an apology, except that now Joss had started to speak it was difficult to offer one. She realised that he was very angry—she had never seen him like this before.

  ‘Then there were the gentlemen you were accosting at Lady Moon’s ball when you were trying to find the owner of the lottery ticket,’ Joss continued. ‘Hallam and Dainty may have been too slow to realise what you were about, but Sebastian Fleet is no fool!’

  ‘No,’ Amy said, ‘but—’

  ‘But what?’ Joss’s body was tight with tension. Amy could feel it emanating from him in waves. ‘None of the other suspects are as likely as I am? Is that what you wished to say, Miss Bainbridge?’

  Amy felt the need to justify herself. ‘I am sorry. It is simply that Lady Juliana is your sister and as the two of you had already colluded over Lady Juliana’s debt to me, I thought…’ Her voice faded away then strengthened. ‘I thought that it was all part of some jest at my expense…’

  ‘I see.’ Joss’s voice was very polite. ‘You thought that I had conspired with Juliana to make fun of you, despite the fact that I had already assured you that was not true, and you also believed that I had told Juliana about the money.’

  Amy shivered again. ‘You make it sound very foolish of me.’

  Joss shrugged. ‘It merely proves that you do not trust me.’

  Amy swallowed what felt like a huge lump in her throat. She did not understand why the stark words should make her feel miserable but they did. Nor could she deny them for that was exactly what she had said to him only a few minutes previously. It was too dark to see his expression, but she was certain that she had hurt him in some way although the idea seemed manifestly absurd. She made a slight gesture.

  ‘I am sorry if I made a mistake…’

  ‘Under the circumstances, it is probably better that we cancel the rest of the arrangements for this week and that I pay the debt in full,’ Joss said formally. ‘You will have your two hundred guineas tomorrow morning, Miss Bainbridge.’

  ‘Oh, no!’ Amy said quickly, feeling that matters were going from bad to worse. ‘That is, if you prefer it that way.’

  ‘It is not what I prefer,’ Joss said, still with immaculate courtesy, ‘but rather what you favour, Miss Bainbridge.’

  Amy made a slight, helpless gesture. ‘I accept that I have misjudged you, my lord. I have no wish to make matters worse by insisting on receiving the money in lieu of your company! Besides, it is Wednesday tomorrow! We have already spent two days together—’

  ‘Are you suggesting that I should be granted some kind of discount, Miss Bainbridge?’ Now there was violence in Joss’s tone. ‘A concession for services already rendered?’

  Amy put her hand on his arm. ‘Please! I do not wish to quarrel with you! I should have thought what would happen…’

  There was a silence, but for the breeze in the night-scented pines. Then Joss put his hand over hers where it rested on his sleeve. His touch was warm. His tone had softened.

  ‘Do you trust me, Amy?’

  Amy caught her breath. ‘Yes.’

  ‘And do you wish our…arrangement…to be at an end?’

  ‘No.’

  She did not. Ten minutes previously Amy had vowed to tell him that she never wanted to see him again, but now she realised just how much she had hurt him with her accusations—and how much she would suffer if she were to deny herself his company. It was a matter that required some careful thought, for it was telling her something very significant about her feelings. Except that she could not think about it now. Now she was aware of nothing except Joss’s hand on hers, the sound of his breathing, the expression in his eyes. All her senses were focussed on him. At the back of her mind was the faint belief that she was getting herself into the most dreadful danger, but it was a distant thought and it did not really trouble her. She made no move away from him.

  Joss bent his head and kissed her. For a moment Amy was acutely aware of the touch of his lips on hers, their warmth, their gentleness. Then the effect of the kiss and the shock that it was Joss kissing her hit her simultaneously. Her knees weakened and his arms went about her, drawing her closer.

  The feel of his mouth on hers was unfamiliar and a little frightening, for Amy had never been kissed before. Despite the strangeness she felt no urge to withdraw from the embrace and after a moment her fear receded, drowned by the delightful sensations that were flooding her body. A rush of warmth swept through her and she was shaken by the sweetest pleasure she had ever felt, and when his tongue touched hers with a featherlight caress she shivered all the way down to her toes.

  Joss drew back, but he kept an arm about her.

  ‘I am sorry.’ His voice was a little husky. ‘Now do you wish our arrangement to be at an end, Amy?’

  Amy blinked and moved away from him. She felt a little cold. The stars settled back into their courses and the outlines of the trees came back into focus, yet she had the strangest feeling that something had changed irrevocably.

  ‘I…don’t know.’ She frowned a little. ‘Why are you sorry? A rake does not apologise.’

  She saw Joss smile and the sight of it gave her a strange, warm feeling. ‘That’s true when he plans a seduction. I did not plan this, Amy.’

  ‘Oh!’ Amy stole a look at him. ‘Then what do we do now?’

  She saw Joss’s smile deepen and her heart lurched, but he did not take her back in hi
s arms, which was the answer she really wanted.

  ‘That depends on you,’ he said. ‘If I have offended you and you do not wish to see me again, we should settle the debt and have done with it. Otherwise I think we could continue as we were before—and forget that this evening ever happened.’

  Decidedly this was not what Amy wanted. Her heart sank a little and with it went all the lovely warm feelings that the kiss had engendered. Joss’s words seemed eminently sensible but it was not sense that she wanted now. Nevertheless, she knew that he was right. She had been missing from the ballroom for far too long, she was with the most notorious rake in London and common sense rather than starry-eyed romance was what was needed here. To Joss a kiss might be no great matter; to Amy, who had just received the first, heart-stirring embrace of her life, it was a different thing entirely, but she could still see the disparity in their positions.

  ‘I think that your payment of the debt of honour should continue,’ she said, as briskly as she could. ‘We are engaged to see the exhibition at the Royal Academy tomorrow afternoon, remember, and on Thursday we are to visit the St Boniface almshouses.’

  ‘I will see you tomorrow afternoon, then.’ Joss took her hand and pressed a kiss on it. Amy could detect nothing in his voice except good humour and it lit a spark of rebellion in her. It was not fair that he should be so calm when her senses were still humming with awareness. If he could be cool, so could she. She pulled her hand from his grasp.