A Lady of Letters

by Andrea Pickens

  The rest of the tedious hour she spent marshalling both the words and the resolve for an attack on his character. It should not prove so very difficult to precipitate a final quarrel. After all, through his letters she was intimately acquainted with his most vulnerable spots. While in the past she had unintentionally wounded his feelings, now she knew just where to strike with greatest effect. By the time the guests rose to take their leave, she had no doubt that after their next encounter she could make sure that the last thing in the world the Earl of Sheffield would want was to spend a moment more in her presence.

  Perhaps that was why Marianne, on taking one look at her pinched face, let her retreat to her study without further remonstrance.

  The Earl watched with growing impatience the shifting patterns of the country dance. Would the cursed music never end? he thought, his foot tapping the floor more in irritation than in rhythm with the melody. And would the maddening chit never sit down? Ever since she had taken to wearing those vastly improved gowns, it seemed she had no dearth of dance partners. His eyes grudgingly followed her graceful steps across the polished parquet and he couldn't help admit how utterly wrong she was about being awkward in movement, just as she was utterly wrong about a number of other assessments about her person. He drew in a deep breath, hoping that his self-control would extend down past his clenched jaw to a certain other region.

  The notes did indeed finally die away and Augusta was escorted by her partner toward a quiet spot between two towering urns spilling a profusion of ivy twined with white shrub roses. The Earl waited until it was clear that no other gentleman was coming to claim her for the following set before making his way to where she sat.

  "It appears that you suffer from no bout of fatigue tonight, Miss Hadley." He was surprised at the note of asperity in his own voice. But even more surprising was the tightness of the delicate skin around her eyes and the drawn expression on her pale features as she slowly looked up at him. If anything, she looked even more exhausted than the day before. His irritation deepened into something more than mere peevishness. "Have you no sense at all?" he snapped. "You should be home in bed, not—"

  "Yes, no doubt beds are quite on your mind these days," she retorted. "Only I should have thought it would be you who would be tucked between the sheets by this hour, my lord, not me."

  His dark brows came together in an ominous line and he took a step closer to her chair. "Just what is that supposed to mean?" he demanded.

  "Use your prodigious intellect to figure it out."

  Sheffield's mouth compressed at the obvious sarcasm, but there was more puzzlement than pique in his voice as he studied her pale face once again." What the devil is wrong?"

  "The fact that you insist on hovering about my person, sir." Her mouth set in a prim line. "It is becoming quite tiresome."

  It was his face that became a shade paler. "Tiresome?" he repeated softly.

  "I should imagine you would prefer to be with Lady Stansfield or—what was the name of the opera dancer?"

  "Hell's teeth, is that what is upsetting you?"

  Augusta's lips curled in a mock smile. "Why in heaven's name would that upset me, sir?" she inquired. "I couldn't care less how you choose to amuse yourself, or with whom. What I do care about is having you make sport of serious matters by pretending to care about aught but pleasure. I have no idea why you persist in trying to convince me that your concern is anything deeper than mere whim."

  A flare of anger flashed in his eyes. "It is clear you have been listening to the gossips again and giving their wagging tongues far more credence than they deserve. Perhaps it is your intellect that should be ridiculed, not mine, for it appears right now that your brain is no bigger than a pea if you still insist on taking such rumors seriously."

  "Well at least I try to use my brain, however small, rather than some other parts of my anatomy. Common sense says that where there is smoke, there is fire."

  The Earl sought to control the sparking of his temper. "The only thing smoky is the idiotic way you are acting. I thought we had come to some understanding regarding the sorts of accusations you are hurling in my face, but evidently we have not. Come, let us take a stroll in the garden and discuss this in the rational manner I have come to expect from you."

  She refused his hand. "I thought you didn't want or expect rational behavior from a female."

  There were several moments of silence. "I think, Miss Hadley, that you owe me some sort of explanation for this outburst. I cannot quite believe that it has only to do with what the tabbies are bandying about."

  "Believe what you wish, sir, but even you cannot be so vain as to not realize when your presence has become distasteful. Or are you truly so puffed up with conceit that you think every female is waiting for a chance to fling herself at your feet?"

  His jaw worked but before he could make a reply, another gentleman approached.

  "I believe we are engaged for the next dance, Miss Hadley, but if I am interrupting...." His brow rose a fraction as he regarded Sheffield's rigid features.

  "Not at all," replied Augusta, fixing the gentleman a brilliant smile. "Lord Sheffield was just taking his leave." She extended her hand to him and there was nothing for the Earl to do but step aside.

  He watched them walk away to the far end of the dance floor where the next set was forming. If Miss Hadley wished to add to her growing collection of colorful language, she would have been well advised to stay for a moment, he fumed, silently giving vent to a number of words that would have scorched the ears of many of his male friends. He turned abruptly to go in search of some champagne to quench his anger, but after several steps, he paused.

  The music had started, the couples were moving in tune with the melody, but something was definitely off key in all of this.

  His gaze sought Augusta and her partner for a moment. What the devil was she up to? It suddenly came to him that this was not the first time the gentleman in question had shown her a marked attention. With a slight clenching of his fists he recalled that was in his arms that she had waltzed the other evening. Why, if he hadn't known her better, he would have thought she was engaging in the sort of behavior most females indulged in when trying to attach the interest of an eligible and attractive gentleman.

  And perhaps that was a possibility. There was no question that the gentleman was eligible and attractive. However he was also something else.

  He was one of the two names left on her list of suspects.

  An involuntary snort escaped his lips. Romantic infatuation indeed! Bloody hell, the chit had some sort of devious scheme planned, he was sure of it! She had already tried housebreaking and thievery. Was abduction and torture next? After all, she had a rather large groom at her beck and call, so there were a number of possibilities....

  The Earl found he was suddenly in great need of that champagne.

  As he tossed back a goodly swallow, his thoughts turned to the heated exchange that had just taken place. Or perhaps quarrel was a better term for it, since it had quickly escalated into a nasty war of words. His breath came out in a sharp sigh. They had certainly crossed verbal swords in the past, but he had thought that a truce had been reached some time ago.

  In fact, if truth be told, he thought it more than that. On reflection, he found he would have described it as an understanding of sorts. While they might not agree on a number of things, they seemed to have developed a mutual respect for one another. In a word, they had become... friends.

  Or so he thought.

  That made her sharp words even more cutting. She, of all people, should know that the picture of him painted by the broad brushes of innuendo was hardly an accurate portrait of his real self. He drained the rest of the glass and reached for another as a righteous anger welled up inside him. It seemed he was sadly mistaken in thinking she possessed more sense and intelligence than most people of his acquaintance. So if she wished him out of her life, he should be happy to oblige her. He had made every possible effort t
o help Edwin Hadley's sister, but if she was too stubborn and too opinionated to accept his help, he should feel himself well rid of an onerous obligation in the bargain.

  And yet, pride warred with some other emotion as he set the empty glass down with a thump. Recalling their former skirmishes, he could picture the fire in her eyes, so intense that the hazel would be flecked with amber sparks when she was really stirred to anger. A ghost of a smile played on his lips. She didn't hide her feelings very well. It was those expressive eyes that gave her away. And tonight the look in them had not been that of true anger or indignation, but something infinitely more complex—and vulnerable.

  What it was, he couldn't begin to fathom. With a harried sigh, he gave up trying to make sense of it and stalked from the room, muttering darkly under his breath.

  Goddamn son of a poxed whore.

  Augusta kept a smile pasted on her face, all the while trying to keep her eyes from searching the room for the Earl. A surreptitious glance or two revealed that he was still standing in the shadows of the cascading ivy, but his expression was unreadable in the play of light and dark.

  "I trust Sheffield was not making himself disagreeable back there." The steps of the dance had brought her and her partner together.

  She gave a brittle laugh. "I'm afraid Lord Sheffield and I are usually being disagreeable to each other." After a tiny pause, she added, "It was nothing important. We were merely discussing something about which we could not find a common ground." Out of the corner of her eye, she caught sight of his tall, dark form quitting the room in the direction of the grand staircase.

  "Indeed? I cannot imagine why anyone would wish to quarrel with you, Miss Hadley. Pray, what topic could you possibly be arguing over?"

  A slight flush came to Augusta's cheeks. "Actually there is precious little on which we don't argue."

  His brow once again arched up, but as a perfect gentleman, he forbore to press her further on the matter. A slight smile came to his well-formed lips as he inclined his head a fraction. "Perhaps you would allow me to take you in for supper when this set is finished. I promise I shall endeavor to be more agreeable company than the Earl."

  "How kind." She dropped her eyes to hide the gleam of satisfaction that came alight in them. "I should be delighted to sit down with you, Lord Ludlowe. You know, I believe we are neighbors in the country...."

  The Earl turned the page of his morning newspaper with a loud snap. With a peevish snort, he rang for more coffee and waved away the remains of the toast that lay broken into a mound of dry crumbs on his plate. "Cannot Cook manage to turn out a decent slice of bread this morning?"

  The footman batted nary a lash as he whisked the offending mess out from under the Earl's disgruntled gaze. "Perhaps His Lordship would care for shirred eggs or broiled kippers?"

  "Just the coffee, Harding," grumbled Sheffield. "And make sure it is hot." What His Lordship would really care for, he added silently, was a little more sleep and a little less agitated state of mind. How in the devil he had allowed the maddening chit to affect him in such a way was still an utter mystery. It wasn't as if there was any attraction between them—rather the opposite. As she had said, sparks seemed to fly whenever they rubbed together for long. And for whatever the reasons, she did not wish for either his help or his company.

  Rather than pacing the floor for a good part of the night, he should have been tossing back a bottle of the finest French brandy to celebrate his good fortune at being freed from the confounded nuisance of worrying about what sort of trouble she would stumble into next. He would do just that, he promised himself. He would join his long neglected friends this evening and thoroughly douse any lingering thoughts about a certain obstinate, willful, opinionated female.

  Sheffield pursed his lips. Hah, that was the problem. Females. One couldn't expect them to be rational. What he really wished for was a chance to share his frustrations and pique—if only on paper—with the one true friend he had. At least Firebrand could be counted on to somehow understand and empathize with his strange mixture of emotions. Damnation, why was the fellow proving so elusive these days?

  With a harried sigh, the Earl turned his attention back to the printed page determined to forget about the entire matter. However the meaning of the endless string of sentences proved as muddled as before. After no more than a minute, he thrust the paper aside and took a gulp of the fresh cup of coffee, nearly burning his mouth on the scalding brew in the process.

  An exasperated oath rattled the china. Flinging the heavy damask napkin across the polished mahogany, he rose and stalked from the breakfast room.

  A retreat to the library did nothing to improve his mood. He stared balefully at the scribbled notes for another planned speech in Parliament, realizing that before he could continue he needed to consult a certain obscure text in order to verify that his references were correct. As luck would have it, Hatchard's had just that morning answered his urgent request with the news that their only copy had been sold. Perhaps if he sent around to—

  Sheffield's head suddenly came up with a jolt. Hell's teeth! He knew he had seen the text recently and now he remembered where.

  In Miss Hadley's arms. Right before it had fallen smack into the back of his head.

  Once again he was on his feet, threatening to wear a hole through a narrow swath of the expensive Aubusson carpet. After a number of turns, he paused, poker in hand, to stir the banked fire into life. The flames licked up, the logs hissed and crackled, sending off a shower of sparks. The Earl watched them fly up, rather like an explosion of fireworks at Vauxhall Gardens.

  Sparks be damned! He needed that book. Surely she would not begrudge him the loan of it for a short time, especially since the chances were quite good that she had not managed to plough through even the first chapter. Why, he had no allusions as to how many hours he would need to pore over the pages, to make sure he had got the reasoning right. Given his acquaintance with the author's oblique style, it was unlikely that anyone save for, say, Firebrand would find the going easy.

  And if his visit proved that despite her harsh judgement to the contrary, his commitment to a serious issue had not wavered from its course, well, there was no harm in that either. Mind made up, Sheffield returned to his desk and rang for his carriage to be brought around.

  CHAPTER TEN

  "Do let me know, dear friend, just what the Redbreasts discover. Much as I am loath to accede to your request to refrain from further action at the moment, I shall respect your wishes. However, if the Beaks prove unable to solve it forthwith, I must insist that you allow me to continue, for I feel that I am on the right track. I shall not burden you with the details, but rest assured that I have fallen onto a most interesting lead. And the sooner this case is solved, the better. I am not the least ashamed to admit how much I miss our intimate—if odd—conversations. Would that they may begin again soon, my dear friend. "

  Augusta dropped the note onto her desk, trying hard not to think about the strong, capable fingers that had penned it, fingers that would never again be pressed at the small of her back or twine with hers as the Earl twirled her in a graceful arc around the dance floor. Nor did she wish to think about the rest of him—the broad, muscled shoulders, the chiseled jaw, and especially not his eyes. Eyes as deep as any ocean, with currents swirling within them that threatened to drown her in a sea of emotions she never knew existed every time her gaze met his.

  She sucked in a lungful of air. This would not do at all. She must no longer think of the Earl as a flesh and blood gentleman, but as simply a... kindred soul. Her only contact with him was now going to be strictly through pen and ink. She took out a fresh sheet of paper to dash off a quick reply to his note, but as another fleeting image of those well-formed lips curled in a rakish smile came to mind, the nib skipped and a spray of droplets marred the letters.

  Bloody Hell, she swore under her breath, then added a few of the other more descriptive adjectives she had recently learned. This was not goin
g to be easy.

  Ignoring the slight tremor in her hand, she finished off the last sentences without further mishap and sealed it. Then she unlocked the top drawer of her desk and carefully removed several items wrapped in cloth. A knock on the door nearly caused her to drop the last one as she was placing them in her reticule.

  "Miss Augusta, Jamison is waiting out front with the horses." Augusta was relieved to hear the butler's voice rather than that of her mother. "Shall I tell him to take them around to the mews until you are ready?"

  "No, no. I am coming." She yanked the drawstring tight and hurried toward the door. But after several steps, she caught herself, turned back and snatched up the missive to the Earl. The sooner Jamison delivered it to Pritchard's the better.