Let Me Be The One

by Jo Goodman

  "Certainly not."

  "While you stayed home would allay suspicions."

  "And what if there is no theft that night?" asked North. "That will certainly make the ton wonder."

  Southerton raked his dark hair. "Well, then, I'll steal something. Just a trifle, nothing valuable, and I'll have it arranged to be returned as my snuffbox was returned to me. What can be the harm of that?"

  "The harm," East was compelled to point out, "is that you could be caught. It would be deuced difficult to explain how you were not really stealing but assisting a friend. Let me or West do it. At least we have some experience with thieving."

  Marchman sighed."I wish you would allow me the honor of volunteering my services myself."

  "Enough," North said. "It is not going to happen."

  * * *

  It was quite late when North came to bed. In spite of his adamant opposition to their plan, the rest of the Compass Club would not leave off. No matter what other subjects were offered up for discussion, the conversation always came back to the problem of the thief. Finally North simply let them talk on, neither approving nor objecting to their scheming. Had it not involved Elizabeth he admitted to himself that he might have been amused.

  She turned over sleepily as he raised the covers and slipped into bed. Her arm curved around his chest and she snuggled closer, pressing her lips to the nape of his neck. "They kept you up far too long," she murmured. "I could not stay awake."

  North raised Elizabeth's hand and kissed her fingers. No matter what the circumstances of their days and evenings, the nights were their own. Elizabeth never turned away from him when he turned to her. She let him love her, and loved him in return without ever saying the words. North never pressed her to speak them, though sometimes he thought they hovered there, just outside her consciousness, waiting for her to open up to the idea of them.

  "We did not mean to exclude you this evening," he said quietly, returning her hand to his chest. Her fingers splayed in the soft mat of blond hair that covered him.

  "Yes, you did. You cannot help it."

  "Then I am sorry for it."

  Her smile was a trifle sad. "I know. It is the same for me." You must never trust me. The words hung between them. Elizabeth did not know how or when it had come to pass, but North had begun to take her at her word. Sometimes she felt his distance even when he was deep inside her, her body held in his most intimate embrace. She saw a remoteness in his eyes even when his smile was most gentle, a restraint in his touch even when it made her shudder with its tenderness. "I think I am a trifle jealous of them." The words surprised her. She had never dared admit as much to herself and now she had said them aloud. "You are all so very close."

  Northam would not allow himself to assume he understood the sentiment behind her words or what compelled her to express it. "Perhaps they should not visit so often."

  "No," she said quickly. "Oh, no. I would not have it. I like them very much, and I know they keep you company when I am otherwise occupied."

  "Then perhaps you should not be so often otherwise occupied."

  Elizabeth realized too late the trap she had laid for herself. "Please. Let us not argue. I am with you now." She kissed his shoulder. Tension ran through the line of his back. "Brendan?"

  He turned and unerringly found her mouth. The kiss was hard and hungry, impatient with need, confident of no refusal. She moaned a little at the pressure of his lips, then opened her mouth and gave herself over to him. This, at least, had not changed. She took solace from the fact that she could please him here, that she responded to him in a way that was necessary for his own arousal. He always seemed to know if she was holding back, and it was the one thing he would not allow. His own pleasure required hers; it was the price he exacted for loving her. He would have her surrender.

  North's fingers curled in Elizabeth's nightshift, pushing the hem to her thighs. He pressed her knees up and apart. Beneath the covers he found her hand and guided it to his groin. Her fingers closed around his erection. Her hips lifted and then she was drawing him inside her. In spite of her willingness, she was not quite ready for him. She bit her lip when he thrust deeply, but no sound, not even one at the back of her throat, escaped.

  "Why do you do that, Elizabeth?" North's whisper was husky. He settled himself against her, not moving, waiting for her body to accommodate his entry. She held him so tightly, it was an agony of pleasure. He leaned forward, levering himself on his elbows. Elizabeth legs immediately wrapped around him. "Why do you let me hurt you?"

  "It is nothing."

  "It is not nothing, dammit." He felt her wince, this time from the harshness of his tone. "Do you think I mean to punish you?"

  She did not answer immediately. When she did, her voice was almost inaudible. "Sometimes. Yes."

  "God." He closed his eyes and lowered his head, pressing his forehead for just a moment against hers. "Maybe I do. Perhaps it is only that you are more honest than I am." He started to withdraw, but she held him, clasping his hips with her thighs and knees. "Elizabeth, I can't—"

  "No, it's all right. I'm ready now. Please. Please don't—" She lifted her bottom a little, pushing into him. "See? I only needed a—" She felt him stir. "A moment," she finished, almost on a sigh. Her hands settled on his shoulders. She caressed him. His skin was smooth, warm. Above her his shadowed features were taut."Love me," she whispered.

  Her punishment was that he did.

  * * *

  Her Grace, the Dowager Duchess of Calumet, had planned a splendid ball. It was easily November's most hoped for invitation, and the Earl and Countess of Northam were among those who received one. It was on this crisp evening, with a hint of snow in the air, that North was finally persuaded to remain home and permit Lord Southerton to escort his wife. He had second thoughts before they were out the door, and nearly charged after the carriage when it began to roll away. Somehow he managed to stay his ground and finally return inside to wait.

  Eastlyn and West kept him company. The marquess had declined to attend the ball in favor of staying with North, even though the duchess was a great friend of his own mother's and his refusal had caused some friction there. "Sophie could not go," he told North. "So it is no real sacrifice to stay away."

  North and Marchman exchanged glances. They both recollected that at one time Lady Sophia had been considered unexceptional company. Apparently something had changed, at least in Eastlyn's mind if not in Sophie's character.

  No invitation had been sent around to Mr. Marchman's residence, which neither surprised nor displeased him. It would have been a sore trial to his stamina to have attended the thing. "Does Lady North know anything about South's plan?"

  North's eyes went heavenward. "I can only hope that is not the case. Of course she knows why I am not going; that was her idea. But as to what South will get up to at the ball, she has been told nothing. She would certainly try to talk him out of it—as we did—and failing that—as we did—she would most assuredly get in the way."

  "Or give him away," Eastlyn said.

  North shrugged, not certain this last was true. He did not want to share with his friends that Elizabeth was very good at not giving things away. "Shall we play cards? I collect it will be a long evening."

  * * *

  Southerton told Elizabeth he was going to find a card game while she made repairs to a tear in her hem. She warned him to be careful as Battenburn was among the guests and was always looking to reclaim what South had won from him. Unconcerned, since he had no intention of playing cards, South waved Elizabeth off. Laughing, she went in search of a maid who could assist her.

  Southerton wandered in and out of several rooms until he found the entrance to the backstairs. He was quite certain that the guests milling in the hall paid no attention to his exit. The music from the ballroom faded as he climbed the stairs. He counted himself fortunate not to encounter a servant. While they would have said nothing to him, they would have certainly remembered his use of thes
e stairs later, especially when it was learned that a piece of her grace's jewelry was missing.

  South was aware that he could not know if the Gentleman Thief would strike this evening, but he also could not leave it to chance. In order to clear Northam of suspicion, a robbery had to take place when he could not have committed it. It was most aggravating to the colonel that North's investigation had been compromised and, in the end, North had had little choice but to accept his friends' help.

  It was too bad that Elizabeth could not be informed. South considered that she would have made an admirable lookout.

  South had little difficulty locating the dowager duchess's suite. It was only a matter of opening and closing a dozen doors on the way to the right one. Finding her jewelry case was an even simpler matter. It was open on her vanity, the dark blue velvet bed almost hidden by the coiled strings of pearls on top. Among the pearls were rubies, sapphires, and emeralds. Pear-shaped and square-cut. Necklaces. Rings. Hair ornaments. Earbobs. Her grace's careless regard for even this small portion of her collection took South's breath away. An eddy of cool night air from an open window circled the room and gave it back. South spared a glance for the billowing drapes before he studied the jumble of jewelry again and wondered at it. In light of the recent robberies it was really inexcusable that the duchess would leave such an open invitation to the thief....

  Unless it was a trap.

  It was on the heels of that thought that Southerton realized he was not alone.

  * * *

  "You will not credit it," South told his audience, "but the Gentleman Thief is entirely misnamed. I can state unequivocally that he is no gentleman. A gentleman would not have dived through her grace's open window without so much as a by-your-leave."

  "Yes, well," Northam said ironically, "that cuts it. He certainly did not attend Hambrick Hall."

  Eastlyn and Mr. Marchman nodded in agreement, their own good humor barely kept in check. Only Elizabeth was more subdued. "You might have been run through," she said. "It was very dangerous for you to confront him. Why did you tell me nothing of this plan of yours? I might have stood in the hall and warned you of... of... well, of something."

  "Which is precisely why you were not forewarned," Northam said. "As for South being run through, that is doubtful. No one has ever accused this thief of carrying any weapon, let alone a sword."

  South nodded. "But it is very good of you to be concerned."

  Elizabeth snorted. "You can rest assured I will not be so again. Go on, finish your tale. It is outside everything that you accompanied me back here without saying a word of this."

  "I dislike twice-told tales," South said, perfectly sincere. With a cheerful smile, he picked up his snifter of brandy and sipped. "I wish I had had a better look at the brigand. He is on the smallish side, North. And agile as a monkey. He wore a black frock coat and trousers much like I had on, though I do not think they fit him as well. There could have been no hat else he would have lost it diving through the window as he did. In any event the drapes did much to hide him from my view."

  "You ran to the window, didn't you?" East asked.

  "Of course. But I expected him to be below me and I spent valuable seconds looking for him in that direction. When I allowed myself to consider another possibility, it was too late. My last glimpse was of a leg dangling from the lip of the hip roof. He pulled it up quickly enough. I could not see anything at all after that. I have to assume he crossed the roof and found another avenue to the street, no doubt across a succession of rooftops."

  "At least you had the good sense not to pursue him," said Elizabeth. She moved closer to North on the sofa and slipped her arm through his. It was as if she thought she could ground him, knowing as she did that he would not have been so cautious as Southerton if he had been in his friend's place. "You might have been killed."

  "It was not the possibility of dying that kept him from giving chase," Marchman said. "It was the certainty that he would ruin his new coat."

  "Just so," South said, unoffended. He brushed an imaginary mote of lint from his sleeve. "I was also thinking that I needed to exit quickly myself, and a door suited my purposes better than a window. I left everything as it was and took my leave. The hall was deserted and I returned to the ballroom by the main stairs. I was not even missed. I can tell you, North, what I learned is how surpassingly simple it has been for this thief." He cleared his throat when he saw the others were very nearly gaping at him. "Er, that is, if one discounts his rather inspired and skillful method of escape. What I mean is that there was virtually no problem moving in the house. The duchess cannot easily close off the upper floors to her guests. Why, Elizabeth herself required some privacy to make repairs to her gown."

  Elizabeth felt all eyes on her for a moment. "Lord Everheart stepped on my tunic and tore the embroidered band."

  "Clumsy fellow," Eastlyn said. "I would have run him through."

  Elizabeth gave him a quelling look. "Go on, South. You were saying that it has been surpassingly simple for this thief."

  "A small exaggeration, perhaps," South allowed. "Still, it was easy enough for me, and I have no practice thieving."

  "Did you take anything?" asked North.

  "No, but not because it wasn't there to be taken. At first I thought the duchess was unconscionably careless with her baubles; then I considered that she had laid some sort of trap. When I understood who was with me in her room I realized that I had interrupted him. He was the one who had found her jewelry and was going through it."

  North felt Elizabeth's arm tighten against his. He suspected she was going to take him to task for what South had done tonight, or at least for not telling her of his plan. "Did you know if anything was taken?"

  "Not then. Naturally, with no decent explanation for my own presence in her room, I could not go to the duchess myself. I was forced to wait. It was nearing midnight, poor Lady North was making rather pitiful noises about wanting to leave, and I was providing sad excuses as to why we should stay. I was finally witness to a general disturbance in the circle of people around the duchess and in minutes the rumor of a theft reached my ears. I escorted your wife out immediately and came here. I understand it was a sapphire and diamond necklace that was removed from her case. The gossip could have it wrong, the duchess could have mistaken the missing piece, but it was a certainty that the thief did not leave her grace's room without something that belonged to her."

  Southerton lifted his brandy snifter in a salute. "It has all been accomplished," he said, supremely satisfied with himself. "North can no longer be entertained as a suspect by anyone with a modicum of intelligence, I can provide a modest description of the thief, and I managed the thing without getting caught." He eyed his three friends shrewdly. "So tell me, who wagered against my success?"

  Without a word, the three other members of the Compass Club leaned forward and dropped coins into South's raised glass.

  * * *

  Elizabeth was brushing out her hair when North entered their bedchamber. "You dismissed your maid?" he asked.

  She nodded. "Brill is waiting for you in your dressing room."

  Northam crossed to the adjoining room, where his valet helped him out of his coat and boots. He tugged at his stock himself, gave the length of cloth to Brill for laundering, and then sent him on his way. North padded back into the bedroom, his shirt open at the collar and the tails no longer tucked neatly into his trousers. He ran one hand through his hair as he came to stand behind Elizabeth.

  She looked up, finding his face above her in the mirror. He looked tired and vaguely disreputable. Neither diminished his extraordinarily handsome features. The tiny lines at the corners of his eyes and mouth only brought her attention to them. "It was wearing for you this evening," she said. "I understood it was difficult for you to let us go to the duchess's home, but I mistook the reason for it. I wish you had told me what South intended."

  He took the brush from her hand and began to run it through her hai
r. Strands of brown and gold spilled over his fingers when he lifted her hair and pulled the brush through on the underside. "What would you have done?" he asked.

  "I told you I would have lurked in the upper hall and warned South of imminent discovery, but it was only pique that made me say it. In truth, I don't believe that I would have gone at all."

  North waited patiently while Elizabeth rearranged the perfumes and creams on her vanity. He recognized the scents he had chosen for her by their uniquely designed crystal bottles and stoppers. She moved a plain brown bottle he had not seen before from the forefront to the rear, tucking it away so it would not detract from the artisanship of the others; then she lined up several small pots of cream and powders on the opposite side. When everything seemed to be ordered, North felt her draw a breath and prepare to go on.

  "I realize it was my idea for us to attend separate functions. I believed that sooner or later the thief would make a call while you were elsewhere. I would not have countenanced South taking matters into his own hands."

  "I did not agree to that part either. None of us did. South could not be reasoned out of it."

  "Something terrible might have happened." For a moment the brush paused in her hair. Elizabeth was very aware of North's study of her reflection. Her hands were flat on the vanity top, and she pressed her fingers against the wood to still their fine tremor. There was nothing she could do to keep it out of her voice. "It was unfair of you not to tell me. You gave me no choice."

  North let the brush make one more slow pass through her hair before he placed it on the vanity. "And you gave me none," he said quietly. "Do not ever trust me." He let the words hang a moment between them.

  Elizabeth's head bowed and she stared at her hands, unable to look at him any longer.

  "Then you have not forgotten," he said.

  She shook her head.