The Danger in Tempting an Earl

by Sophie Barnes

  “I daresay the dowager countess will not take kindly to being lied to,” Parker said stiffly. “If I may, I would suggest you go and greet her in the parlor. She is quite eager to see you.”

  Good God, his grandmother was here? Lucien swallowed. He had to think of some way in which to prevent her from staying at the house. Bloody hell, this was rapidly turning into a very complex nightmare! “I wasn’t expecting her to arrive for another two weeks. She’s rarely in Town so early in the Season. Is Mama here with her?”

  “Apparently—­”

  “No, she is not,” he heard his grandmother say.

  Rushing forward, Lucien almost collided with the butler, who was still standing before him. With an apology, Lucien hastily closed the door to his study while Parker stepped nimbly aside, allowing Lucien a clear view of the lady in question. “Grandmamma,” he said as he went toward her and reached for her hand. “How wonderful to see you again.”

  He kissed her knuckles, but she did not smile or say anything amusing at all, the way she usually did. Instead, she was scowling, her hawk-eyes fixed on the door he’d just closed. “What are you hiding?” she asked.

  “Nothing,” he said, aiming for a nonchalant tone. “Shall we adjourn to the parlor? We’ll have some of that peppermint tea you’re so fond of.”

  Her scowl deepened. “Don’t try to distract me, Roxberry. It won’t work and you know it.” She turned toward Parker, assessing the poor man shrewdly. “Tell me, what is my grandson hiding?”

  The butler looked perfectly miserable as he glanced from one to the other.

  “You are being unreasonable,” Lucien told his grandmother. “The study is my own private domain.”

  “That may well be,” she agreed, “unless of course you are up to no good, my dear. Now, if you will please step aside so I can see.”

  “I will not,” he said, panic rising in his chest.

  His grandmother looked at him sharply. She then began tugging off her gloves. “Rumors can be devastating to anyone’s reputation, you know. From what I hear, Lady Crossby has recently gone missing. Nobody knows where she might have gotten to, though I understand that her location has become the source of a wager over at White’s.”

  “How long have you been in Town?” he asked suspiciously.

  “I’ve only just arrived, but this sort of news has a tendency to travel on the wind. Fortunately for you, however, nobody seems to share my opinion on the matter as of yet.”

  “And what is your opinion?” Lucien asked, though he had a fairly good idea that he already knew.

  “That she is residing in this very house.” She smiled at last. “Of course, this has been nothing more than mere speculation until you just greeted me. Now I am convinced, you see, and if I am right in my supposition, then you’d best be straight with me. Lady Crossby doesn’t need this sort of scandal, and neither do you.”

  He felt like the small boy he’d been when he’d found his grandfather’s fob watch forgotten in the parlor. He’d picked it up so he could admire it, but he’d been too curious and had somehow managed to break the thing. When his grandmother had entered the room, he’d hastily hidden the watch behind his back, but she’d seen right through him, and although his punishment had been lenient, guilt had shamed him.

  Bowing his head, Lucien turned back toward the door, took a breath and opened it. Before him, much like he had left her, stood Katherine, as beautiful as ever. She had not taken refuge under the desk this time.

  “Good afternoon,” Lady Roxberry said as she strolled into the room behind Lucien. “I see I was correct after all.”

  “My lady,” Katherine said, dipping into an elegant curtsy. She did not meet Lucien’s gaze, which was probably just as well right now.

  “Please leave us,” Lady Roxberry told the butler, whose bland expression appeared to have slipped for the first time Lucien could remember. The door closed with a quiet thud. “Are either of you aware how sticky this situation will likely become if word of your . . . living arrangement gets out?”

  “We have considered it,” Lucien told her plainly.

  “I see,” his grandmother remarked. “Then would you please tell me what in blazes you are thinking? Gracious me, Roxberry, I thought you more levelheaded than this.”

  “There is a perfectly good explanation,” he said, upon which he told her everything that had happened since the night of the ball—­except, of course, the manner in which his relationship with Katherine had progressed. Some things were sacred.

  “It does seem rather noble and heroic I suppose,” his grandmother said at last, “but that doesn’t change the impropriety of it. Thankfully the two of you have always gotten along famously. I’m sure you’ll be incredibly happy in your marriage.”

  “Grandmamma,” Lucien gritted. The last thing he needed right now was for his grandmother to involve herself in his proposal.

  “Well, you are going to marry her, are you not? After all, it’s clear to anyone with a pair of eyes in their head that the two of you have been up to no good lately. Either that, or Lady Crossby has recently grown very fond of rouge.”

  Lucien groaned. He looked at Katherine, who was indeed a very bright shade of red, her lips still slightly swollen from their kiss. There could be no denying that they’d been doing more than talking moments before his grandmother’s arrival had been announced. “I will do the right thing if the lady will allow it,” Lucien said. If only he’d asked her sooner, during the two full days of opportunity he’d been given. Now Katherine would likely think he was merely following orders, averting disaster and saving her from the very real possibility of being referred to as his mistress.

  “Good.” His grandmother’s nod was stiff. “You have my blessing, and your mother’s, I should think. Your father would be very pleased by this match, Roxberry. He was always quite fond of her ladyship when she was a little girl with braided hair and scruffy shoes. Tell me, my dear, do you still collect flowers for pressing?”

  “On occasion,” Katherine said, her voice sounding faint. “I’m particularly fond of wildflowers, my lady.”

  “Yes. I recall that you used to make the most delightful pictures with them.” Lady Roxberry turned toward the door. “I’ll leave you to it then, shall I? Don’t be too long about it though, or I’ll have to come back in to ensure that you’re behaving properly. A brief kiss is all you’re permitted. And just so you know, I do not plan on leaving. If Katherine is to stay in this house, then I shall stay here with her as her chaperone.”

  “She is a widow, Grandmamma, not a debutante,” Lucien said, vexed by the whole situation.

  His grandmother stared at him. “And what? You think the gossip will be less harmful to her reputation than if she’d been a naïve young girl?”

  “Of course not,” he said. “I am well aware that it would be devastating to her and her daughter if anyone should say that she is my mistress.”

  “Good. Then you will see to your duty. Immediately.” She opened the door to leave, then halted, turned back toward them and said, “I’ll await you both in the parlor. We can celebrate the news of your upcoming marriage there.” The door closed behind her.

  “Well, she doesn’t mince words, does she?” Katherine said. Lucien turned to look at her. She seemed tense. Who could blame her? “In fact, it is a trait I’ve always greatly admired.”

  “Kate . . . ,” he began. “I’m so sorry.”

  Her gaze flickered. “Me too. Had I known it would turn out this way, I never would have come with you, but everything happened so quickly and I didn’t think things through. I didn’t consider the consequences, and in doing so, I have trapped you.”

  “I am equally to blame, though I would prefer it if you would use another word than trapped. It sounds so calculating and disagreeable.”

  “Well, I suppose I ought to ease your mind at least. I will marry
you, if that is what you wish,” she said, her voice so strained it seemed quite ready to snap.

  “It is not what you want?” Apprehension flared to life inside him.

  “I’ve told you before that it isn’t.” She paused, her eyes intense upon his. “However, I must admit that I did consider it after we . . . well, you know. In fact, I rather expected you to ask me again—­hoped for it even. But you did not, and I decided that you’d probably changed your mind.”

  Feeling weak and completely undeserving, Lucien crossed to where she stood. She’d wanted him to ask her again, but he had not—­at least not so she’d heard him. “I did ask you, Kate, but you’d fallen asleep by then and you didn’t hear me.”

  “Then why . . . why wouldn’t you ask me again the following morning, Lucien? You’ve had plenty of opportunity.” Her eyes brimmed with hope.

  “Honestly, upon further reflection, I wasn’t sure it was something you wanted, given your previous resistance. I dreaded receiving yet another ‘no’ from you.” Taking her hand in his, he wove his fingers through hers. “Please, Kate . . . I’ve loved you forever. Save me from this madness, I beg you, and make me the happiest man alive by agreeing to be my wife.”

  Tears welled in her eyes, and Lucien kissed them away. “Yes,” he heard her say, her voice filled with wonder. His heart soared as he swept her into his arms and held her against him, kissing her while she laughed and squealed. The tension that had wound itself around her these past few days had finally come undone. He’d made her happy, not only by proposing but also by assuring her that she was everything he’d ever wanted. Tomorrow they would celebrate with friends.

  Chapter 16

  “I told you he’d returned for you,” Louise said as she seated herself next to Katherine on a pretty ice blue sofa the following evening. They had removed themselves to the parlor after a most delicious meal of roast duck with orange sauce and prunes, while the gentlemen took their drinks in the library. “And ­people say not to trust rumors.”

  “Well I, for one, am relieved that he finally plucked up the courage to ask,” Patricia said. She was sitting to Katherine’s right.

  Katherine chuckled. “It was coercion, really.” She looked at Lady Roxberry, who was happily sipping her tea.

  “Bah!” Lady Roxberry waved her bejeweled hand dismissively. “I’ve always suspected that boy of having an eye for you, so I’m sure he would have gotten around to it eventually. Still, I can’t say I was displeased with the opportunity to nudge things along a little—­at the speed he was moving, I would have been long in my grave before anything came of it, and that really would have been a shame. I’m quite enjoying the idea of having two great-grandbabies soon.”

  “Oh!” Louise gasped as she clasped her hands together. “Is there something we ought to know? Come now, Katherine, you can tell us if there is.” She and Patricia both nodded with eager encouragement.

  Katherine grinned. “Honestly, I can’t believe how forward you’re both being. Why, I do believe you must have fallen under Lady Roxberry’s influence.”

  “It’s about time,” Lady Roxberry said. “Naturally, I’ve been trying to school Patricia since she was a little girl, but she was always a bit too timid. It’s a pleasure to see her opening up. But Lady Huntley . . . well, she does show promise, and how surprising that is when your dear mama, the duchess, has always been so very diplomatic.”

  “I fear I have no patience for diplomacy,” Louise said as she picked up her teacup, drummed her fingertips against the rim and finally took a sip. “Or at least not very much. Now tell us honestly, Katherine. Are you increasing?”

  “Don’t be absurd,” Katherine said, her insides quivering with nerves. “How could I be when we’re not even married?”

  There was a beat, and then a peal of laughter from each of Katherine’s guests—­including Lady Roxberry herself, who was looking most amused. Katherine stared at them all in shock.

  “How, indeed?” Louise said, her voice ringing with mirth. She placed her hand on Katherine’s. “My dear, surely you must know that much, having already mothered a child.”

  The room was getting unbearably hot. Katherine looked longingly at the window. “Yes, of course,” she said. “But Roxberry is a gentleman, and while he has certainly kissed me, he has never attempted to do more.” Pleased by the steadiness in her voice, she smiled serenely at Lucien’s grandmother and prayed she wouldn’t call her bluff. Somehow, she had to find a way to change the subject.

  “Liar!” Unfortunately, the word came from Lady Roxberry herself.

  “I beg your pardon?” Katherine asked, a little affronted by the accusation even though it was entirely true.

  “My dear, you needn’t keep up appearances for my sake.”

  “But—­”

  “Yes, yes, I know what I said.” She settled herself against a plump cushion and waved her hand about again. “Surely you understand that I had to say that. We all have our duty, after all. But if you think I can’t see what’s beyond my own nose, then you must be daft. Besides, I didn’t insist you switch bedrooms, did I? If that’s not a carte blanche, then I really can’t imagine what is.”

  “And why is that?” Patricia asked.

  Katherine’s shoulders slumped. If only someone would come to her rescue.

  Lady Roxberry didn’t answer, but she did deliver a very pointed look—­one that took precisely two seconds for the other ladies to decipher. “Ohhh . . . ,” they breathed, eyes round with interest.

  “He wanted to keep me close so he could protect me should the need arise,” Katherine said.

  “Riiight . . .” Louise dragged out the word. Her reluctance to believe anything Katherine said was plain.

  “Oh, you’re impossible,” Katherine said, knowing full well how unlikely her explanation sounded, given the circumstances. It was especially difficult to convince others of its verity when she didn’t believe it herself. It was a half-truth at best. Knowing what she now did, there was no doubt in her mind that Lucien had taken the opportunity to play hero to her damsel in distress with the express purpose of seducing her into his bed and persuading her to marry him.

  The door to the parlor opened and Lucien appeared. “Mind if we join you?” he asked, his eyes going straight to Katherine, a smile of appreciation lighting his features as he took her in.

  “Not in the least,” she replied, trying desperately to avoid the knowing look that Lady Roxberry was giving her. She couldn’t see Louise’s face or Patricia’s, since they were both sitting next to her, but she could sense them smiling with unabashed amusement.

  Rotten friends!

  “Goodness me, my dear,” Huntley said as he followed Lucien into the parlor and looked at his wife, “you look as though you’ve just been made privy to a state secret. What on earth have you been discussing?” He took a seat in a vacant armchair while Lucien and Gray both went to the sideboard.

  “Would anyone care for a drink?” Lucien asked as he reached for a ­couple of tumblers.

  “Sherry, please,” Lady Roxberry said. This was seconded by Louise.

  Lucien looked at Katherine and raised an eyebrow—­a silent question as the mouth of the sherry carafe hovered over another glass.

  “Would it shock you if I asked for a brandy instead?” Katherine asked. She needed something stronger than sherry if she was going to recover from her recent interrogation. Her nerves were in a complete tangle.

  The corner of Lucien’s mouth dimpled. Handing the sherry glasses to Gray so he could distribute them, Lucien took another tumbler and poured a measure. “Not in the least,” he murmured.

  “Will you answer my question?” Huntley asked. He was watching Louise very closely.

  “It was nothing significant. I was just curious . . . or rather, we were . . .” Louise looked at the other ladies, while Katherine stiffened.

  “ . .
. about motherhood, my dear,” Louise continued. “You see, Lady Gray and I were asking Lady Roxberry and Lady Crossby for advice, since Lady Gray is presently expecting and you and I have been quite—­”

  “Yes, I think I get the idea,” Huntley said. He crossed his arms and leaned back in his chair, looking mildly uncomfortable.

  Katherine breathed a sigh of relief, thankful that her friend had refrained from mentioning the real subject of their recent discussion. Gray coughed, apparently to mask what sounded suspiciously like laughter.

  Lucien came toward the sofa where Katherine was sitting. He looked terribly handsome in his black evening attire—­so similar to the night of the Kingsborough Ball. His hair was calmer than it had been then, however, his jaw smooth due to a late afternoon shave. As he leaned forward to set her brandy in front of her, she caught a faint whiff of his aroma—­sandalwood blending with wine and the slightest hint of tobacco. Katherine’s insides curled with pleasure, and she suddenly wished she could think of a reason to send Lady Roxberry off to bed and their other guests home.

  “I understand from Roxberry that finding the man who hired Lady Trapleigh is proving more difficult than expected,” Huntley said. He reached for his brandy and took a sip. “I am sorry to hear it. Nothing is worse than constantly looking over one’s shoulder. I’ve told him that if there’s any way in which I can be of assistance, you need only ask. My wife must return to Kingsborough Hall, of course, but there’s no reason why I can’t remain here if need be.”

  “Thank you,” Katherine said. “I appreciate the kindness.”

  “The same goes for me,” Gray said. “I’m happy to be of ser­vice so the two of you can put the unsavory business behind you and start planning your wedding instead.”

  “Society will turn on its head when it finds out,” Patricia said.

  Leaning against the mantel of the fireplace, Lucien absently poked at a log, pushing it further into the flames until it snapped and crackled. He grinned. “That’s precisely what we’re aiming for.”