‘I shall be happy to simply watch others play,’ she told him.
‘Then stand behind me. You might bring me luck.’
She laughed. ‘I very much doubt it. I know nothing about gambling.’
‘Nevertheless I would be happier if you were close by,’ he told her, and they exchanged a smile which seemed to say everything. Whatever was developing between them brought a pulse of excitement to the pit of her stomach.
A glance passed between Lydia and her elder son. ‘Rose, dear, if you aren’t playing yourself, would you kindly slip along to my room for my stole? My bare shoulders feel rather chilly and I foolishly left it lying on my bed. It won’t take you a moment.’
‘Of course. My pleasure.’ And Rose set off at once to do as she was asked.
‘I rather think the pleasure might be all mine,’ Jago murmured in his mother’s ear, and as Bryce sauntered away to the blackjack table, he turned on his heel and followed in Rose’s wake.
She’d just gathered up the lacy black stole and was about to make her way back to the casino when the door of Lydia’s bedroom opened and Jago entered, closing it softly behind him. Fear shot through her like the thrust of a sword. ‘Jago, what are you doing here?’
His smile offered little reassurance. ‘I came to help.’
‘I really don’t need any help, thank you. I have your mother’s stole right here. Now, if you don’t mind, I’ll take it to her.’ She took a step forward but he blocked the door, barring her exit.
‘What’s the hurry? I thought you and I could take this opportunity for a little private chat. I’ve been watching you closely these last months.’ Reaching out a hand, he tucked a straying curl behind her ear. Rose shuddered.
‘I really can’t think why.’ In her heart, Rose feared she knew only too well.
‘Don’t you?’
He was standing so close to her that she could smell the cigar on his breath that he’d enjoyed after dinner. With Bryce such intimacy would not be unpleasant, would in fact kindle desire in her; with Jago it only increased her sense of loathing for this man.
‘Why would I? Please, stand aside, you know how Lydia hates to be kept waiting.’
‘She won’t mind in the least, not on this occasion.’ He held up both hands, as if to stay her. ‘There’s something I need to say first, by way of apology. I know we didn’t hit it off too well at the start, what with all that business of my taking little Robbie out without your permission, then the Carwyn family being threatened with eviction. Of course, you didn’t properly understand how things are done at Penver Court, how I’m the one to make all the important decisions, with no need to ask permission of anyone. But we’ll let that pass for the moment, as I confess you’ve quite won me over. The fact is I’ve utterly lost my heart to you, dear girl. You really are quite enchanting.’
Rose stared at him in disbelief. ‘What nonsense is this?’
He made as if to touch her cheek, but Rose took a hasty step back, avoiding his hand. His thin lips curled into a parody of a smile, his voice dangerously soft as he continued. ‘You and I were meant to be together. Fate has decreed it.’
‘I don’t understand a word you are saying.’ Rose could feel herself start to tremble, fear and anger battling for dominance as she struggled to hold on to her failing control.
‘I believe you understand only too well. You enjoy acting the siren to both Bryce and myself. Playing one brother off against the other, eager to safely bed yourself in, one might say.’ He laughed at his own wit.
Rose gasped, ‘That is a lie. I have done no such thing.’
‘Have you not? I wonder. But you are an expert in lies. You cannot deny that. Hasn’t there been a whole string of them since you arrived?’
At this charge the blood seemed to drain from her face, leaving her chilled and more frightened than ever. He must know, she thought. He has discovered the truth.
He pushed his face down to within inches of her own, almost spitting out his next words. ‘All this fantasy about your son being the new baronet. A likely tale. You’re a chancer, that’s what you are, and your lover is in cahoots with you. I heard you talking to Gwenna before dinner, making excuses for him having kissed you, still insisting he’s your manservant when it is perfectly plain to me that the pair of you are complete frauds. You married Sir Ralph’s son because you knew he didn’t have long to live, and thought you could land a plump inheritance for your bastard child.’
Her heart was pounding so loudly by this time, Rose felt sure Jago must be able to hear it. Yet he didn’t have it quite right. This was but a repeat of earlier accusations. He’d learnt nothing new, and certainly not the truth. Gathering her courage about her, she met his gaze unflinching. ‘I shall listen to no more of this drivel. If you do not let me pass I shall be obliged to call for assistance.’
‘And how will you do that, pray? Why don’t you scream? There’s no one around to hear.’
Aware of the bell pull by Lady Tregowan’s bed, Rose quickly turned to reach for it. But she’d taken no more than a couple of steps when his arms came about her, and pulling her down on to the bed he rolled on top of her. Rose cried out in alarm as he tore at her silk bodice, ripping the sleeve from her shoulder. His hands seemed to be everywhere, fondling her breasts, pulling up her skirts, then attempting to capture her wrists as Rose frantically fought to stop him.
Now she did scream. Long and loud. Jago slapped her hard across the face, which certainly silenced her but only fuelled her anger to new heights. Rage rose in her, hot and livid.
‘So what are you going to do now?’ she almost spat at him. ‘Have your wicked way with me? What then? If I’m the scheming liar you claim me to be, do you imagine for one minute such an assault would persuade me to marry you? Aren’t I already a fallen woman in your eyes, so why would I worry about a little tumble among the bed sheets?’
‘You’d care enough if it bore fruit.’
‘Only if I’m innocent and not the slut you paint me.’
Clearly unused to women who answered back, her blunt challenge momentarily startled him. Even so, he snorted with laughter as he pushed his hand between her legs, fondling that secret place that no one but herself had ever touched. It was too much for Rose. She had been brought up in one of the roughest areas in Bristol, and well knew how to stand up for herself. His other hand was coiling a lock of her hair, and twisting round her head she bit down hard on whatever part of it she could reach, which happened to be his little finger.
His shout of agony was a delight to her ears. Rose held on to the digit for several long seconds before finally letting go, spitting out the blood and wiping her mouth with the back of her hand. As he rolled off her, swearing and cursing, Rose snatched up her bag, and Lydia’s stole, and fled, pausing only long enough at the door to issue one last warning.
‘Touch me again and I’ll make you really sorry.’ Then she left him bent double on the floor nursing his stricken finger.
Chapter Fifteen
‘You’ve changed your gown.’ Bryce considered her with a curious glance.
‘I accidentally caught the sleeve and ripped it on the door handle when I was hurrying to fetch Lydia’s stole. Sorry to have kept you all waiting. What game are you playing?’ The last thing Rose wanted was to create a fuss. The least said about that unpleasant incident, the better.
‘Blackjack, but I assure you I do not consider myself an expert. I leave such claims to my brother. Where is he, by the way? I thought he was at the roulette table with Mama, but I don’t see him.’
‘I am here, right behind you, come to challenge you at blackjack.’
Bryce frowned, glancing from one to the other of them as Jago strolled to the table, clearly coming from the same direction of the lobby as Rose had only minutes earlier. ‘Where have you been?’
‘About some personal business, if you must know.’ And turning his pale gaze directly upon Rose made his meaning all too clear.
A tide of colour washed
over Bryce’s throat and his jaw tightened with an iron rigidity as he turned a questioning glare upon Rose. Quelled by the fury in those charcoal eyes, she could find no words to defend herself or explain.
‘Very well, I accept the challenge,’ Bryce announced, a bitter edge to his tone. ‘But I set a limit on my losses.’
‘Ever the coward,’ Jago caustically remarked.
‘Not at all, it’s because I’ve more sense than to risk losing more than I can afford. This is a fool’s game in which only the banker is the winner.’
Jago snorted his derision. ‘More likely you see yourself as a loser. Whereas I always get what I want, one way or another.’
Again he was gazing at Rose as he said this, and she felt herself go quite cold. But what could she do? She could hardly accuse him of attempted rape before complete strangers gathered here simply to have a good time. The very idea of making such a charge, possibly resulting in the police being called, was more than she could contemplate. And how Bryce might react to such a declaration didn’t bear thinking of.
Pretending she had not seen this telling glance, she took up a stance behind Bryce’s shoulder, and forced herself to become absorbed in watching the game. It seemed to be one of chance as much as skill, and the tension between the two brothers increased with each new round of cards dealt, Jago constantly challenging Bryce, or jeering at him when he lost.
‘Give him another hit, dealer. Oh dear, bust again.’
‘Such is the luck of the game.’
‘Now what else do I have besides this queen, do you reckon?’
‘Why not show us so that we can find out?’ Bryce calmly asked.
‘What will you give to see them?’
Bryce laughed. ‘Nothing more than is already on the table.’
‘Coward!’ And Jago slammed down his cards to furiously reveal that on this occasion he was the one who was bust, which amused Bryce all the more. Jago was not amused, and the tension between them mounted still further. As did the stakes, for, despite his protests, Bryce found himself driven to raise them more than he would have wished.
‘I think that’s enough,’ he said at last, after a further loss.
‘I thought you liked to play the hero in front of the ladies,’ Jago said, casting a sideways sneer in Rose’s direction.
‘Bryce has nothing to prove on my account,’ she bravely stated, wishing she could find some way to explain to him that things were not quite as they appeared, that she had not been willingly engaged in an assignation with Jago, as he clearly assumed.
Jago kept his narrowed gaze fixed on his brother. ‘But then she might be more impressed by my performance, rather than yours. Perhaps in other games as well as blackjack.’
Bryce tossed down his cards and got abruptly to his feet as Jago laughed out loud.
‘Surely you aren’t going to walk away and leave me with all of this?’ Jago indicated the pile of chips on the table before him. ‘One last game, double or quits. If you’ve run out of money I could always take something else in its place. Or maybe I’ve helped myself to it already, as I so like to do.’ Again glancing meaningfully at Rose.
‘That’s not true,’ Rose gasped, horrified he should say such things in public. Even Lydia and Gwenna had strolled over by this time to see what all the fuss was about. She had never felt more embarrassed or compromised in her life. Bryce, she could see, was clearly seething.
‘Damn you to hell!’
‘We’ll play again,’ Jago instructed the dealer, who dutifully dealt the cards, placing his own first card face up, but not yet playing his second as he waited for the players to make their decisions.
Bryce tapped the table, indicating he wanted a third card, and Rose could see how his jaw tightened as he considered his hand, the silence of the interested spectators about the table heavy with anxiety on his behalf. At length he tapped for another card. It was a two.
‘Would you care to double the stakes again?’ Jago asked, his voice little more than a purr.
‘Don’t take the risk,’ Rose murmured in Bryce’s ear, flustered by this undercurrent of fury building between the brothers. How on earth could she stop it?
Bryce ignored her, doubled the stakes and took another card, much to his brother’s amusement.
‘So what do you have? Show me.’
‘I believe you should go first.’
A long pause as Jago met his brother’s gaze with a scathing challenge in his own. ‘I don’t really care whether I win or lose. I already have everything I need to make your life worthless, brother. Which was ever my ambition. By right of age and status I shall take what was promised me – my rightful inheritance – one way or another. And whatever you have I shall take too, even your women. As I say, maybe I’ve taken one already, willingly offered.’
Bryce came out of his seat like a Termagant from hell, and launched himself at Jago. Within seconds the pair were wrestling, scattering cards and chips everywhere as first one, then the other brother, was pinned to the table. Then they were rolling on the floor, and the entire room was in uproar. People were crowding around to watch the melee, Gwenna in floods of tears while Rose desperately shouted at them to stop.
It was all over in minutes, of course. The croupiers, being well accustomed to such brawls, were upon them to stop the fight immediately, with reinforcements quickly summoned. Both brothers were ignominiously banished, with orders to cool down before they returned.
As the fascinated spectators reluctantly drifted back to their own gaming tables, gossiping and laughing at the thrill of such a disgraceful incident, Rose put her hands to her hot cheeks in despair. What on earth was going on? Why had Jago suddenly taken it upon himself to attack her, and then challenge his brother with the lie that his advances had been welcomed? What did he hope to gain by such behaviour?
Only then did she notice that throughout the fight between her sons, Lydia had stood silently by, saying nothing. Even as she calmly strolled away to continue with her game of roulette, she said not a word of disapproval towards Rose, which was decidedly odd.
What wouldn’t she give to know what was running through that woman’s mind right now.
Rose hurried after Bryce as he stormed through the lobby, frantically calling to him, but he ignored her and strode out into the garden. Breathing hard, she pulled to a halt. ‘Aren’t you even going to ask for my version of what happened?’
He stopped dead but kept his back to her. ‘Is it worth hearing?’ His words came out clipped and hard.
The moon was high in a midnight-blue sky as Rose calmly went to stand before him. She quailed slightly when she saw the fury in his face, looking as if he might explode at any moment. ‘Jago may be your brother but why would you take his word against mine, if, as you’ve already told me, the pair of you don’t get on?’
‘I didn’t hear you protesting your innocence back there.’
His tone remained cutting but she could see the pain in his eyes, and softened her own as a result. ‘And make an even greater spectacle of myself by provoking an argument in public? Matters were deteriorating quickly enough as it was. I’ll tell you now, in private, if you’re prepared to listen. Your brother followed me to Lydia’s room and made advances which I assure you were neither invited nor welcomed.’
His eyes widened in dawning comprehension. ‘Dear God, and you changed your gown. You said you’d accidentally torn the sleeve. He did that, didn’t he? What the hell did he do to you? Drat him, I’ll make him sorry he ever—’
‘Please, no!’ Rose quickly put out a hand, fearful the fight might be about to start all over again. ‘Nothing serious happened. Let it go. I’m sure it was no more than an aberration on his part, a stupid show of macho bravado. I assure you he will not risk it again. I made him pay for his folly.’
‘What did you do?’
‘I bit his little finger, enough to make him yelp, and put a stop to his ardour.’
Bryce looked at her in stunned silence for a moment, th
en gently drew her into his arms, chuckling softly. ‘You are a treasure beyond words. Most women would weep or faint, but you instantly retaliate and go on the attack. What a woman! Now I know why I love you.’ Then he was kissing her, his mouth claiming hers, the sound of the waves rushing on the nearby shore seeming to echo in her ears as riotous emotions flooded through her.
When they drew apart to catch their breath, she softly said, ‘You shouldn’t say such a thing unless it is true.’
He kissed her nose, his gaze warm and loving. ‘You must know that it’s true. Haven’t you been aware from the first that there’s something special between us? Please don’t say you feel nothing for me, or I’d have to go away for ever, as I’d never be able to see you every day knowing there was no hope for me.’
‘Oh no, don’t do that.’ Her arms went about his neck, running her fingers through his hair. ‘Don’t ever go away.’ Rose was kissing him now, punctuating dozens of tender kisses with protestations of her love. ‘I do feel something for you, very much so. I do, I do.’
He sighed with pleasure. ‘That’s all right, then.’ He led her to a quiet bench beneath a palm where his kisses grew ever more passionate, Rose responding eagerly, desire strong in her. His hand strayed to her breast, caressing the bare flesh that rose above her gown, then suddenly he pulled away on a groan of agony. ‘Now it is I who am behaving like a brute.’
She cradled his face between her palms. ‘Never. This is altogether different to what Jago did to me. Quite the opposite, as I welcome your embrace.’
He got to his feet, her hand still held gently in his. ‘Nevertheless, I want no gossip circulating about you. I will not have your reputation ruined by any of my doing. We’ll talk another time. For now, make sure you are never alone with Jago.’
‘I promise.’
With his arm about her waist, Bryce escorted her safely back to her room.
My Lady Deceiver Page 18
