The Temptation of a Gentleman

by Jenna Petersen

  In a few hours Noah would discover she was missing. She wanted to put as much distance between them as possible during that time. He would certainly make some chase, but if he couldn’t find her right away, she hoped he’d just give up.

  Or did she?

  “You seem tired, my dear.” Her mother guided Marion’s head to her comfortable shoulder.

  Sally looked up from her sewing. “You should have eaten before we departed, Miss.”

  Marion shook her head. “No. I couldn’t have had a thing and if I’d gotten ill Audrey and Tabitha never would have allowed our pretended visits.”

  Ingrid shook her head. “Perhaps being forced to stay would have been the best thing for you.”

  Marion straightened with a gasp of shock. “You were the one who said I shouldn’t marry a man who didn’t love me. I thought you agreed with my decision.”

  She took a sidelong glance at her maid. Normally she wouldn’t have said anything so personal in front of a servant, but Sally was different.

  “I did.” Ingrid patted her hand. “But seeing you so miserable makes me question whether or not I let my own unhappiness in my marriage to your father cloud my judgment.”

  “I would have been just as wretched staying,” Marion reasoned. “Only then I would have been unhappy and married.”

  Her mother raised both eyebrows. “We’ll see. If Noah comes after you, then we’ll be certain you’re important to him.”

  “This isn’t a test, Mama.” Marion sighed. “I’m doing it to set us both free. I only hope we can put enough distance between us that he doesn’t find us. The last thing I want is some pathetic scene where I blubber and he tries to convince me I’m important to him.”

  Ingrid winced at Marion’s harsh self-judgment but didn’t argue. For a long time the two women simply sat lost in reverie.

  She was so lost in emotional turmoil that it took her a moment to realize the carriage had stopped. With a frown, she pulled back the window curtain and looked around. Outside, two horses grazed by the roadside and she heard male voices. Had Noah found her so soon?

  Her heart leapt with joy at the thought before she could control the happy emotions that swelled inside her. With a scowl she folded her arms and pushed them back. She didn’t want Noah to find her.

  “Who is that?” Sally broke the silence as she, too, pulled back the curtain. Her face fell. “Oh miss, there’s two of them…”

  “I would suggest you get down from there, sir.”

  Marion froze and her eyes trailed first to her mother, then to the carriage door. Her father’s voice. That was her father’s voice.

  “Walter,” her mother gasped.

  Marion didn’t pause to think, but leapt to the carriage door and pulled back against it with all her might to keep anyone from entering. Her mother’s vehicle wasn’t fancy enough to have a lock.

  “Stay quiet,” she whispered to the other two frightened women. “Perhaps it isn’t him.”

  “Marion, open this door!”

  She shut her eyes. It was him.

  The door lurched under her grip as her father tugged and pulled at the handle. She braced her feet against the floorboards though ultimately her struggle was futile. It wasn’t as if her father would give up and leave. Not if he’d tracked her all the way to London. He wanted something. He wanted her.

  “Go away!” She pulled even harder.

  “I’ll rip the door out of your hands!”

  True to his threat, Marion felt the handle slipping from her grip as her much more powerful father yanked. She careened backward across the carriage floor as it popped open.

  She struggled to sit up as her father’s sneering face blocked the light from the sunny day outside. Instinctively, she rose up and moved in front of her mother to protect the other woman.

  “You aren’t wanted here, Papa.” She hoped her voice didn’t reflect the fear she felt. The last thing she wanted was for her father to sense her weakness.

  “I didn’t ask.” He smiled maliciously at her, but then his eyes went to her mother and he paled.

  At first Marion thought he was having a romantic reaction to seeing the woman he’d once been married to, but when she looked closer she could see it wasn’t love or desire in his eyes, but something even more powerful.

  It was hate.

  She gasped and edged closer to her mother.

  “Walter.” Ingrid’s voice trembled from behind her as her hand gripped Marion’s shoulder.

  “I heard Woodbury found you,” her father hissed. “I couldn’t believe it was true.” His eyes strayed to Sally, who was crouching in the corner of the vehicle. “And you. Mr. Lucas would probably like to take your insubordination out of your scrawny backside. I think I’ll give him the opportunity.”

  Marion flinched. Was Josiah Lucas there, too? Sally had said there were two men. Nausea washed over her as she remembered the older man’s desire to have her. Perhaps being ruined by Noah wouldn’t be enough to keep him from taking her.

  “Is Lucas here?” she asked.

  Her father sneered. “No, but I can send for him quick enough to collect his wayward serving bitch.”

  Sally whimpered and Marion’s ire was raised to a point past reason. “What do you want? Why did you follow me?”

  Walter glanced back at her. “Why do you think? I won’t give you away to some man when I can sell you.”

  “You can’t sell what has already been taken!” she snapped, casting a glance at her mother. How humiliating to have to discuss her tarnished virtue like this. “Lucas won’t reduce your debt now.”

  He grinned. “You think not? We’ve already talked about a new way to pay my vowels. Now that Woodbury doesn’t want you, there’s no reason I can’t take you back.”

  Marion turned her face away in disgust and utter terror. She’d never realized just how desperate her father was. Her only chance was to make him think Noah would be coming for her. Perhaps he’d leave them be, for he feared Noah.

  “On the contrary, Papa. Noah can’t get enough of me. We’re heading back to Woodbury to prepare for the wedding. He had to attend to some business in London, but he’ll be following shortly.” She arched an eyebrow with what she hoped was the cool sophistication Tabitha Jordan had so much of. “I assure you, if he finds me missing, he’ll be very displeased.”

  Her father began to laugh. “You little liar. Just like your mother.” His tone turned to a hiss of hatred as he turned on his estranged wife. “Did you teach her to be a whore, as well?”

  “Papa!”

  “Go ahead, Ingrid. Why don’t you tell your daughter the truth since we’re having this little intimate family moment.” He shook his fist. “Tell her what a wanton you are. Tell her what kind of blood she has running through her veins.”

  “That’s enough.” Ingrid sat up straighter and looked at Marion’s father with a dignity more befitting one of a higher class. “You and I had an agreement, and I expect you to keep your end of it.”

  “What agreement?” Marion shook her head in confusion.

  Her father ignored her question. “Why should I keep up my end of it? You haven’t. You revealed yourself to her. That wasn’t the bargain we struck.”

  “What bargain are you talking about?” Marion repeated looking from one parent to another. Their eyes were locked in silent combat.

  “Walter, don’t.” Her mother’s voice was low and pleading, but it didn’t stop her father’s smile or his reply.

  “Your mother loved another man.” Her father’s dark eyes narrowed as he glanced over Marion’s head at his wife. “She lay with him after we were married and voila.” His rage turned back on her. “You.”

  Marion reeled back until she found she was pressed against the carriage seat with nowhere to go. No way to escape her father’s words. Even the outside gave no release, for the carriage had started moving again and was racing along at a healthy clip.

  “You’re lying.” She looked up at her mother with pleading
eyes. “Tell me he’s lying.”

  Tears began to slip down her mother’s cheeks and gave Marion all the answer she needed.

  “I’m sorry, my love. It’s true. Your father…” She shut her eyes and corrected herself. “Walter knew the courts would assume you were his flesh and blood. He agreed to keep you from being called a bastard if I would stay in the marriage and keep getting money from my family. But when that ended, he used those same laws against me to keep me from you forever.”

  Sally gasped, but Marion hardly heard the sound over the rushing of her own blood in her ears.

  “Oh, God.”

  A wave of nausea washed over her and she thanked her stars she hadn’t eaten. The things she was hearing were just too much, but they explained everything in her life. Why her father had been so cold to her. Why he’d hated her mother. Why she’d never felt a strong connection to him.

  “Why didn’t you tell me the truth?”

  Her question was posed to both parents. Her mother had the chance when she arrived in London. And her father could have told her when she came of age and been rid of her forever. Instead he’d kept her in indentured servitude and nearly sold her virtue to a lecher and a murder suspect.

  “Why would I tell you?” Her father laughed humorlessly. “You were a commodity. And after everything I’d been through, I had a right to make something from your existence.”

  “By nearly selling me to a man who may have killed his first wife?” Marion burst out with a rage she hadn’t realized existed in her.

  Walter’s eyebrows furrowed. “What are you talking about, girl?”

  “Georgina Ross. Her fall wasn’t an accident.”

  She gave a glance to Sally but the girl was strangely silent and stared at the floorboards. Why didn’t she speak? Why didn’t she tell Walter Hawthorne exactly the kind of man he had bargained with?

  “Of course it wasn’t. Lucas didn’t kill her though. She killed herself.” Walter shrugged. “Not that it makes much difference now. He won’t have you as a wife, though perhaps he’d still like a night with you.”

  Marion’s heart sank as she spun to face her friend. The maid’s eyes were answer enough that her accusations, too, had been a lie. Again she’d been betrayed. First her parents, now this woman who’d professed to be her friend. Noah had warned her Sally might only be using her interest to further her own desires, and he’d been right. The maid had used Noah’s investigation just to get away from Josiah Lucas.

  “Sally?”

  ”I’m sorry, miss,” Sally said through tears. “I tried to tell Georgina not to do it, but she didn’t listen. And after she killed herself, Mr. Lucas refused to let me leave.”

  “And so you used my fears and Noah’s investigation as a way to escape?” Marion shook her head in shock. “You allowed me to remain in that house, knowing that I was in danger from Lucas’s desires and all along you had information that would have ended our hunt for answers all the sooner.”

  “I’m sorry.”

  “I could have been raped!” Marion said in a near-scream that revealed more of her tangled emotions than was wise considering her father was taking her captive against her will. She needed all her self-control to escape.

  She refused to look directly at anyone in the carriage. It was just too humiliating.

  “Why are you here now Papa, Walter, whoever you are? What do you want from me?”

  Walter caught her chin and forced her face up painfully so she looked him in the eye. “I want payback for all I went through. If I can’t earn back what I spent for your upkeep by your marriage, then I’ll earn it while you lie on your back. Mr. Lucas has associations with men who will be more than happy that you’re already a whore.”

  Marion tensed. He was talking about selling her into prostitution. Her body began to tremble uncontrollably at the thought.

  “And as for you…” He glared at Ingrid. “You must face some punishment, too.”

  Marion shivered as she stared at the man who’d raised her. The man who was now a stranger to her in every sense of the word. They were all in terrible danger.

  And Noah had no idea where they were or how to find them.

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  “Don’t you dare leave this house without thinking through a plan!”

  Audrey hurried across the foyer to block Noah’s exit. Her eyes flashed and he could see there would be no arguing with her.

  She was correct anyway.

  “What would you have me do? Stand here and scratch my head while the woman I love goes running off to God knows where for God knows what reason?” He held up the note Marion had left and shook it over his head. “This gives me no clues, it only says she doesn’t want me trapped into anything I don’t want.”

  Audrey’s eyes softened. “I knew you loved her.”

  He shook his head in exasperation. “Of course I love her. But that doesn’t do me any good unless I find her and tell her.”

  “Where would she go?” Tabitha asked as she stroked her chin. “Her mother is with her, so they may head south first.”

  “Yes, but Marion might avoid Dover all together if she doesn’t want Noah to find her,” Griffin added with a shrug. “She could go north just to throw you off the trail.”

  “Very helpful, Grif, thank you,” Noah spat.

  His friend sighed heavily. “Perhaps now would be a good time to trade in on those years you two spent with the War Department.”

  Audrey and Noah locked eyes. Yes, Golding would help. He rushed for the door and was surprised that when he reached for the doorknob there was a sharp knock. He drew back and stared at his family for a moment.

  “Well answer it.” Griffin laughed. “You all look as though you don’t know how a door works.”

  Noah did as he’d been ordered and turned the knob. Charlotte Ives stood on the stoop with a maid behind her. She glanced down at her fingernails and didn’t yet see that Noah, himself, had answered.

  “Lady Charlotte Ives to see Lord Woodbury. I’m told he’s here,” she said with a yawn designed to make it look as though she couldn’t care less.

  “Charlotte?”

  Her eyes darted to his face and a blush colored her pale cheeks. “Lord Woodbury.” She paused and cocked her head. “Have you taken a position as a butler here?”

  Normally Noah would have taken a moment to appreciate Charlotte’s unusual stab at humor, but today he had more pressing concerns. “No, I was on my way out.”

  “I’m glad I caught you then.” She motioned her head toward the foyer in a subtle reminder that he hadn’t invited her in. “I need to speak to you on a matter of utmost importance.”

  Noah sighed in exasperation, but stepped back to allow her entry. Charlotte drew back at the crowd of Jordans assembled in the foyer, but didn’t comment.

  “G-good morning.” She cocked her head at Noah with question in her eyes.

  “Charlotte.” Audrey smiled tightly. “Would you care for some tea?”

  Noah’s eyes grew wide. He had no time to share tea with the woman he’d once been planning to marry. He needed every moment if he was going to catch up with the woman he would marry even if it meant dragging her to Gretna Green kicking and screaming.

  “Charlotte, I realize we have much to discuss,” he said before the situation could get more out of hand. “But I’m afraid I’m on my way to a very important appointment. Please feel free to stay for tea with my family.” He turned and stalked back to the door, opened it a second time and prepared to hurry from the house.

  “Isn’t the safety of your new fiancée important enough to stay five minutes and hear me?”

  He froze at Charlotte’s soft voice and turned back. She stood with a hand on each hip and looked at him with a face half-accusatory and half-understanding.

  “Explain yourself.” He shut the door behind him as he came back into the foyer.

  “This isn’t something to discuss in the entryway in front of servants.” She turned her back to
him.

  “Of course, how rude of us.” Tabitha motioned to the breakfast room with one sweeping gesture. “Come in.”

  Charlotte smiled at Tabitha and the crowd moved inside. Noah shut the door behind them and immediately turned to his former paramour.

  “What do you have to say about Marion? Time is of the essence, so please, don’t punish me by dragging out what you have to say.”

  Charlotte raised a brow at his angry words and plopped into a chair by the fire. She stared up at him for a moment, then whispered, “You’re in love with her. I didn’t think you capable, but…” She shook her head as if she hadn’t meant to say the words out loud. “I had a visitor yesterday evening. I thought nothing of it and decided to forget it even happened, but I pondered it all night. I cannot let what he said slip by. I had to tell you.”

  “Who?” Noah took the seat beside her. For the first time since they’d begun their closer acquaintance, she actually met his eyes.

  “He told me his name was Walter Hawthorne.”

  The blood drained from Noah’s face. “Marion’s father.”

  “Yes. He said he had a proposition I might find interesting.” Her eyes narrowed. “I should have thrown him out right then, but he told me it was a way to get even with you for the humiliation you caused me.”

  Noah’s heart clenched, not only out of fear for what Hawthorne had planned for Marion, but for the fact he had caused Charlotte pain, yet she still came to him and told him the truth.

  “What did he say?”

  “He told me if I’d help him get Marion away from you, he would help me find my way back to you.” A small smile crossed her lips. “I promptly told him I didn’t want any man who would leave me and told him to get out of the house. I even called one of my larger footmen to escort him.”