Instead, he held her chin steady while he took what he wanted. His mouth plundered hers. He kissed her with an intensity that surprised even him. When he finally released her, he breathed hard as though he had run a great distance. He noted that her bosom rose and fell in deep gasps. Her cheeks burned crimson. Her eyes were wide and haunted.
She did not say a word to him, but her now free hand rose to her mouth and pressed hard.
He stepped back and signaled the coachman to start. ‘If you change your mind,’ he said softly, ‘you know where I am.’
She turned away as the carriage moved forward. He did not expect to hear from her. But did he want her enough to follow her? He feared that he might.
Chapter Seven
Lillith limped into the foyer of her dower house. An Elizabethan manor home that had once been the county seat of the Lords de Lisle, her deceased husband had bequeathed it to her until her death or remarriage. Her mouth twisted bitterly. She would die here.
‘My lady.’ Her impeccable butler, Simmons, hastened to meet her. ‘We did not expect you. We have been worried. You have been gone for several days.’ He ran to a stop, his face suffused with red at his unaccustomed outburst.
‘I was…I was staying with a friend. She was in need of companionship.’
She saw by his eyes that Simmons knew she lied, but he nodded. That was the story she would tell and if her servants had not gossiped—she nearly laughed in bitterness for she knew they had—no one would be the wiser. However, she would never acknowledge anything. The ton would talk about her behind her back, and some of the doors previously open would close, but within a fortnight her escapade would be stale as yesterday’s bread. Someone else’s escapade would be the latest on dit.
‘I will have Cook prepare you tea,’ Simmons said, studiously ignoring her lack of luggage.
She took pity on him. ‘My things are on the front steps.’ The clothes Perth had ordered for her were packed in several trunks sitting outside. She would distribute them to the poor tomorrow or the day after. She wanted nothing to remind her of the past week.
The butler’s normally passive countenance lost its tension, and the twitch at his left eye stopped. He was very protective of her. He had been with her the entire ten years since her marriage and had elected to come to the Dower House with her.
‘Thank you, Simmons. I could use some very hot tea,’ she said, untying the green ribbons on her chip bonnet. ‘Please have it served in my rooms.’
‘My lady.’ He bowed. The tick at his left eye was back. ‘Mr Wentworth is in the drawing room. He has been here for several days.’ Lillith blanched. Mathias had travelled far.
‘Have the tea served in the drawing room and include biscuits and cake.’ Still clutching the ribbons of her bonnet, she went to meet her brother.
She opened the door herself and waved Simmons away. Mathias stood with his back to her; his gaze focused on something in the rear gardens. A deer paused in the act of eating one of the last roses of the season.
Mathias turned. ‘My dear, you are finally home. I was beginning to worry. You left no word.’
His tone was mild with just a hint of censure. His mouth was a puckered Cupid’s bow. Lillith’s palms began to sweat in their fine kid gloves. Mathias was half a dozen inches taller than she was and he shared her thick, nearly silver hair. That was the only trait they shared. He had a robust figure, held in check by a girdle much like that worn by the Prince of Wales.
He also gambled with the Prince and the Prince’s cronies. He was welcomed everywhere in spite of his excessive gaming because his tailor might never be paid, but his gambling debts always were. They were considered a debt of honour and not a vice by England’s aristocracy.
Lillith tossed her hat on to a nearby Chippendale chair in a forced effort at nonchalance. Under the best of circumstances, Mathias had an awful ability to see right through her. This was the worst of circumstances, and she could not afford for even her brother to know where she had really been. He would challenge Perth to a duel and one of them would surely die. She could not chance losing one of the two men that meant the most to her.
Somehow, she managed to fluff her hair as though she had not another thought in the world. ‘I have been with a friend. Now, before you start, Mathias, I cannot—absolutely cannot—tell you who she is. That would be a betrayal. She was in need and I did what I could.’
She hoped with all her heart that one of the ladies of the ton had been in the country this last week. Better yet if the woman was married and had left her husband in Town.
‘I would never ask you to betray a confidence, my dear. You know that.’
Yes, she did know that. It was similar to a gambling debt. One always paid one’s debts, no matter what it cost oneself or one’s family.
She closed the distance between them for the hug they always exchanged. Instead of releasing her afterwards, Mathias held her and studied her face.
‘You look different, Lillith. Tired. You are not getting sick, I hope.’
She pulled her hands from his and put distance between them. He was always too perceptive. Always.
She forced a laugh. ‘I am tired, as you say. Nothing else. We spent long nights talking and getting little rest. I shall spend the next week catching up.’
Simmons entered with refreshments and Lillith took the opportunity to pick a seat that put her back to the light coming in from the window. Shadows would serve her best.
She prepared the strong tea liberally laced with cream and sugar as Mathias liked. ‘A biscuit? Some cake?’ Her goal was to keep the rest of their conversation neutral.
‘Thank you, my dear. I have been too worried about you to eat properly. As soon as your servants reported your abduction, I came here.’ He watched her like a hawk.
She nearly cried out in frustration. Of course her servants had gone straight to Mathias. Why she had thought she could get away with Perth’s charade, she did not now know. Still, she had to try.
‘My friend had me abducted as an exciting game. You know how life becomes so boring after the Season ends.’ She waved her hand in imitation of languid disregard. ‘Why, the late Duke of Richmond held up his own wife and a pompous cleric. Why should we be any less intrepid today?’
Mathias sighed. ‘Ah, yes, the late Duke. But that was many years ago, my dear. No one’s reputation was at risk, and you are not normally so full of spirit.’ He took a large sip of tea and a hearty bite of cake. Pleasure eased some of the edginess that had crept into his blue eyes. ‘However, Mrs Russell says she did have you abducted as a lark.’
Lillith’s mouth dropped before she could gain control of the surprise at her friend’s timely ingenuity that took her, which was quickly followed by anger with Mathias. ‘Why did you go to someone else looking for me, Brother? And why did you not say so at the start?’ But she knew why. He had been testing her as both he and her father always had. She let go of her anger. This was just Mathias. ‘Did you care so little for my reputation that it did not matter if word of my disappearance got out?’
He scowled, his pleasure in food momentarily forgotten. ‘I feared for your safety and went to the one person I knew I could trust with news of your disappearance. But not until I had given you several days to return. Mrs Russell assured me that it was a lark, you were safe and she would tell no one.’ He sipped his tea and eyed her. ‘As to informing you at the beginning, I wanted to hear if you would prevaricate.’
She set her teacup down with a click and took a deep, fortifying breath. She never stood up to Mathias. He had been too much older than she. But she would take no more of his meddling. ’Twas bad enough that Perth had abducted her and kept her against her will. Her only family should not also be so cavalier towards her.
‘Mathias, what I do is no concern of yours. I am a widow. In the eyes of the world, our world, I am free to come and go as I please.’ That was stretching the point, but to seem weak now would only make him more inquisitive.
; There was a sceptical gleam in Mathias’s eyes. ‘Even a widow—a respectable widow—has limitations on her freedom.’ He took a large, determined bite of his cake and got back to his point. ‘Mrs Russell said that she had her husband kidnap you.’ After an almost imperceptible pause, he added, ‘If you truly were abducted by your friend.’
‘Yes, Nathan Russell played a highwayman to perfection.’ The lie fell from her lips, and the urge to stand up and leave the room, ending the inquisition here and now was strong, so strong, she put weight on her feet in anticipation. Her ankle twinged and she winced.
Mathias put his cup down and rose. ‘You are hurt. How did this happen when you were in the safety of friends?’
He towered over her. Once she had felt protected by his massive size; now she felt overwhelmed. All this deception that led from one lie to another. If only he would stop this interrogation and let her alone. But she knew he would not, so she had to.
She used her ankle as an excuse to escape. ‘It is merely my ankle. I twisted it getting out of a carriage. Nothing more, but I should like to go to my rooms and rest.’
Not letting him nay say her, Lillith stood. This time her ankle truly protested. She gasped and reached for the back of her chair.
‘Perhaps I should have continued to use the cane,’ she said with a wry twist of her lips. ‘But I was too vain. Now I shall pay the piper.’
Mathias scowled as he put an arm around her waist and helped her to the door. They climbed the stairs slowly, neither saying what they thought. All Lillith wanted was to reach the privacy of her rooms. With luck, Mathias would return to London now that she was home. She could only hope.
He escorted her into her rooms where her lady’s maid, Agatha, waited. He waved the woman from the room.
Not releasing Lillith, he said quietly, ‘I know there is more to this story than you will tell. All of London knows of the abduction—or will shortly. Servants talk. If this woman is truly your friend, she has done you no good having a man carry out her lark.’ His arm tightened so that she could not ease away.
‘She meant no harm. Please let me go so that I can sit down and rest my ankle.’
‘Of course,’ he said, abruptly releasing her.
Thankfully she stumbled on to a settee. He was furious or he would never have treated her so cavalierly.
‘I shall be returning to Town tomorrow,’ Mathias said, picking a piece of lint from his otherwise immaculate sleeve. ‘The Prince has need of my company. I suggest that you remain here in the country for a lengthy period.’
‘I fully intend to, Brother.’ She lifted her chin. ‘Until the Little Season begins, Town is so boring.’
His eyes narrowed, but he left without another word. She watched him with a heavy heart. They had not done well together since her marriage. Once she had thought everything of him. Now he was close to being an adversary.
Agatha’s return made her focus on undressing and getting into a hot bath. She wished for some of Perth’s concoction. Not only would it help her ankle, it might ease some of her emotional turmoil. But she did not truly need it for her ankle and she did not drink alcohol. Her brother and father had shown her only too well what drunkenness could do.
Only when she was completely alone did she allow herself to think of Perth’s last words, said as the carriage pulled away. If you change your mind, you know where I am. If she changed her mind, she should be put in Bedlam, for that is where she would eventually end up if she married Perth without his love.
He would use her as he saw fit and then toss her aside. He would break her heart and then her soul.
Lillith gazed at the sheet of paper lying in front of her on her rosewood desk. Her eyesight was not strong and writing was always a strain, but today she had been sitting here an hour trying to think of what to say. Madeline Russell deserved to know what had happened between her and Mathias. The task was beyond her concentration today. ’Twas just as well. What she had to tell Madeline should not be trusted to paper.
Sighing, she stood and went to the window. Snow dusted the trees and lay on the ground in a patchwork quilt. This morning the sun shone brutally cold.
Two months had passed since her abduction. She had heard nothing of Perth. Her fingers knotted at her waist.
The Little Season would begin soon. Parliament would sit before the Christmas season and all the political hostesses would accompany their husbands to London. Perth always attended Parliament.
She watched a doe leave the safety of the nearby woods and enter her garden. Hunger drove the animal. She was much like that doe. Her hunger to see Perth, hear his voice, urged her to abandon caution. She would never contact him, but she would go to Town in the hope of meeting him.
She turned away to give the doe privacy and perhaps a measure of comfort. Lillith feared her body had betrayed her. She would never tell Perth, but the need to be near him was too great for her to resist.
She had three more baskets of food and warm clothing to prepare for her tenants and deliver. Then she would journey to London and whatever future awaited her there.
Several days later, Lillith’s carriage drew up in front of the small London town house that her friend Madeline Russell shared with her husband of nearly four years, Nathan Russell. Nathan came from a minor branch of a noble family. The couple was comfortable, but far from wealthy, and their tiny home was not in the fashionable West End. But it was cosy and welcoming and the Russells were accepted everywhere.
When the butler announced her, Lillith rushed across the small sitting room that separated her from Madeline. Madeline had been her dearest friend since infancy. Their fathers’ property marched side by side and the two girls were like sisters.
‘I have missed you dreadfully,’ Madeline said, rising and enfolding Lillith in her arms.
Lillith stood a head taller than her auburn-haired friend, the difference a source of good-natured banter and true chagrin on Madeline’s part. The role of Pocket Venus had not been one Madeline enjoyed.
‘And I you,’ Lillith said with heartfelt truth. ‘So much has happened. And I must thank you for the Banbury tale you gave Mathias.’
‘Pshaw.’ Madeline waved the thanks aside. ‘You would have done the same for me.’ Her hazel eyes lit up. ‘But now you owe me the true story, for I am sure that it is juicier than anything I might have made up.’
Lillith sank into one of the overstuffed chintz cushions that Madeline loved so well and gratefully took a cup of steaming tea. She took a long swallow before staring into the milky mirror. ‘Where to start? ’Tis a long story that started ten years ago.’
‘Ah.’ Madeline sighed. ‘The Earl of Perth. I knew he still cared for you.’
Lillith’s laugh was harsh. ‘He desires me.’
‘That is a good start,’ Madeline said with a surge of the practicality that so often seemed at odds with her otherwise whimsical nature.
‘De Lisle desired me,’ Lillith said flatly.
Madeline shuddered and took a dainty bite out of a cake. ‘That is entirely different. De Lisle was old enough to be your grandfather. Perth is a man in his prime and, if rumour tells the truth, as good in bed as he is with swords. And I don’t know any man who would willingly cross him in a duel. At least not any more. Ten years of practice have made him an expert, or so Nathan says.’
Lillith’s mouth twisted. Honour and reticence kept her from confirming Madeline’s words. But her face must have given away her thoughts.
‘He is,’ Madeline crowed. ‘I knew it. He abducted you and then seduced you. How absolutely delicious.’
Lillith set her empty cup down. ‘This is not a fairy tale, Madeline. It is my life.’
Madeline sobered. ‘I am sorry for making light of it, but not for what happened. You belong with Perth. I have thought so from the minute I first saw you together.’
‘That was years ago. Even you cannot be that sentimental,’ Lillith said.
‘Hah. The way the two of you looked at each other th
at night at Almack’s set my blood boiling and at that time I had no idea what a man and woman did together.’ She took another bite of her cake and smiled dreamily. ‘Now I do and I would not forgo that delight for anything.’
Now Lillith laughed. ‘You and Nathan have a very unusual marriage.’
‘True,’ Madeline said, coming back to reality. ‘A love match.’
‘Exactly,’ Lillith said drily. ‘That is not what Perth offered me.’
Madeline watched her friend closely and saw the pain and disillusionment. ‘Ah, he still smarts from being jilted. But surely you explained to him that you left him for the good of your family.’
Lillith’s mouth twisted. ‘Nothing I said mattered. He does not care why I chose de Lisle over him. He wants…he wants revenge. Nothing more.’ Her fingers twisted in her lap, pleating and unpleating the linen napkin Madeline had given her with the tea. ‘He offered me marriage. One of convenience. Nothing more.’
‘Then take it,’ Madeline said stoutly. ‘Many a marriage of convenience has become one of love.’
Shame at her weakness paled Lillith’s face. ‘I could not survive. I want too much from him. As God is my witness, I would go insane married to Perth, knowing that he did not care for me the same. Every time he left the house, I would wonder where he went and whom he went with. He would make love to me one time and then leave my bed for his mistress’s. That is what a marriage of convenience is. I could not live that life.’
Madeline sighed and reached out to take one of Lillith’s busy hands. She held tight until Lillith’s fingers stilled.
‘Then you must not marry him, if he will make you so miserable. And there is no reason you should. You are wealthy enough from what de Lisle left you that you need never consider marrying again. You can do whatever you want and answer to no one.’
The Rogue's Seduction Page 8
