by Gayle Callen
He rolled his eyes. They walked their horses sedately.
At last he said, “You made quite the conquest today.”
“You mean besides you?” She batted her lashes at him.
He smiled. “Besides me. Miss Parker is quite the influential bluestocking, a spinster with strong ideals. She leads several charity organizations, and even holds the meetings in her own home.”
“How fascinating,” she said, thinking how well this might fit into her plans.
“So you’re interested in charity work?”
“I never met a man who wanted to discuss it,” she said slyly.
“It takes a special man to know how to seduce a virgin,” he answered.
She felt her face grow hot and looked about. Although there were more riders as the fog burned off and the sun rose, no one was close enough to hear his outrageous conversation. “So you think only virgins want to talk about helping others?”
“So you admit you’re a virgin?”
Even more heat washed through her, and she forced herself not to lower her gaze. “That is none of your business, Mr. Throckmorten.”
“It was Daniel yesterday. Or was that too intimate for you?”
“Daniel.”
“And believe me, Grace, your innocent status will only help me. You’ll never know what to expect from me.”
“I am not naive.”
She broke into a canter, but not before she saw his speculative gaze.
“You seem to be intruding on all parts of my life,” she said with deliberate lightness. “I’m surprised you thought it necessary to post a man to keep an eye on me. Surely my servant Will would tell you what I was doing if you asked.”
He shot her a sharp glance. “Post a man?”
“My groom saw a man watching the house.” Uneasily, she added, “You didn’t hire him?”
“No.”
She sighed. “It must be someone for Edward then. I do hope he isn’t in any more trouble.”
“If I hear anything, I’ll let you know.”
He sounded almost distracted. Edward’s problems obviously didn’t concern him, and she didn’t want to involve him. It was a private, painful matter—bad enough that he knew firsthand what her mother was capable of.
Daniel glanced at Grace’s profile and saw faint traces of sadness. She was a woman who understood a mother’s distant preoccupation. She had had a brother to band together against their mother, and he had not, but at least his mother’s neglect had only lasted a few months.
He found himself amused by how her mind worked. She had deliberately tried to make him look like a hero today. How was that supposed to counter his seduction? Or was it just a method to acquaint her with people he knew?
As they reached the end of the park and neared the heavier London traffic, she looked at him and said, “I assume I’ll see you at Lady Irwin’s ball this evening.”
He eyed her, taking his last chance to look down her trim body. “And why would you assume that? I might have a very important game of hazard at a club tonight.”
“But you’re playing a new game now, Daniel, aren’t you?”
He met her knowing gaze. Damn, but he liked the way she thought. “Yes, I am. I’ll be there.”
“Shall I save you a dance? Oh wait, you don’t dance with young ladies.”
“I’ll make an exception for you.”
She put a hand to her throat in shock. “I am so flattered.”
“Don’t be. When my hands are on you, you’ll know why I did it.”
Her smile faded, and they stared at each other. She might regret the necessity of their challenge, but he knew that something inside her thrilled to it. And that part of her called to him.
She said nothing more, just nodded before guiding her horse away from him.
He watched her go, admiring everything he saw.
Chapter 5
At the ball that night, Grace felt like a princess on her brother’s arm. Edward introduced her to the hostess and several other couples, brought her a glass of champagne, stood with her, and commented upon the various bachelors, as if he were helping her find a husband. She would have been thankful if she weren’t so suspicious of his motives. At least this was keeping him from one of those dreadful gaming hells she’d heard about. At last he excused himself to go off and laugh with several other young men. And he didn’t bother to introduce her, she thought with a huff. How like a brother.
As for Daniel, she kept watching the receiving line for him, but never saw him enter. Had he been teasing her about attending the ball? He was known for avoiding these sorts of affairs.
Then at last she caught sight of a man taller than many others, his hair brown, his broad back to her. It had to be Daniel, she thought. She was the reason he’d come tonight, and somehow she would have to make that clear to the ton. If Daniel were seen to be back on the marriage hunt, he would be distracted, giving her an edge. She felt a thrill she attributed to the resumption of their challenge.
Was this how her brother felt whenever he was about to sit down to a card game?
Grace’s excitement dimmed. She bolstered herself by remembering the good that could come of her association with Daniel. Even now, she still had a home and food on the table, through her own wiles.
Like a mistress.
Those words froze her, but only for a moment. She wasn’t Daniel’s mistress, and she never would be.
She knew the moment he saw her, felt the shock of his direct gaze from across the ballroom. This morning he’d been pleasant and concerned for her, but the night seemed to bring on the dangerous Daniel, the man who meant to hunt her as a private trophy.
And she saw another side of him, too, the one he showed the public. The crowd parted for him as he came toward her. People whispered with speculation as he passed. Young girls looked at him longingly while their mamas steered them away.
Just before he reached her, she saw several women give her a faintly pitying stare. Was it so obvious that she was his next target? Something deep inside her stiffened, and she turned to Daniel, sweeping into a curtsy.
“Good evening, Mr. Throckmorten,” she said in her silkiest voice.
His eyebrows rose a bit, but he bowed and took her gloved hand for the correct brief moment. “Miss Banbury, you look lovely, as always.”
“But you haven’t known me long enough to form such an opinion, sir.”
“I have a good imagination.”
He was openly staring at her neckline, and feeling a perverse need to tease him, she deliberately took a deep, bosom-lifting breath.
His gaze shot back to hers, and she only smiled and blinked at him with feigned puzzlement.
“Not so innocent at all,” he might have murmured.
“Pardon me?”
“You saved me a waltz, I presume,” he continued blandly.
“You are in luck, sir. I have been introduced to no other gentlemen.”
“I can see them all wishing it weren’t so, Miss Banbury, but most will stick boringly to the rules.”
She tilted her head. “But not you?”
“For once I’ve come down on the correct side of etiquette, especially since it benefits me. We’ve already been introduced. Which means you can dance with me.”
He took her hand as the first notes of the waltz rang in the air.
“You didn’t even bother to ask,” she teased, trying to hang back.
“I was so very certain of your response. And it is your first London waltz, is it not?” he added softly.
She looked wistfully at the dance floor, where at least three dozen couples were gathering. At most, she’d danced in a cramped Assembly room floor above a tavern, with four other couples. It seemed like a fairy tale to dance beneath a thousand candles in chandeliers, to have so many people watching her, and to know that she was with the most handsome man in the room.
His hand felt so very different than hers, cool and large, rough and strong. This would not persuade her t
o grant him any sort of intimacy. It was only a waltz.
But what a wonderful waltz. The sound of the orchestra echoed through the ballroom, swelling and rising until her heart seemed to beat to its tempo.
But then Daniel swept her into his arms, and everything else faded away. She knew the dance well, had practiced through her girlhood in happy anticipation, but she could have been ignorant, so masterfully did he lead her through the steps. He spun her between slower couples, swirling and dipping, holding her closer by slow degrees. His hand seemed so big on her back, making her feel feminine and fragile. Then his thighs brushed hers, jolting her with an even more intense awareness of him. Her smile faded, her body concentrated on his, as if waiting for another casual, intimate touch.
As he guided her past another couple, his thigh slid smoothly between hers, a brief, erotic press, leaving her with the lingering shock of desire.
It took every bit of concentration not to stumble against him.
Oh heavens, even a dance with him was a seduction, rather than making him appear like every other normal man, as she’d intended.
At last the dance was over, and he led her near the open French doors, where a cool breeze attempted to penetrate the overwrought heat of the ballroom. She stared vaguely about her, then found a glass of champagne in her hand.
“Drink,” Daniel said.
She took several sips.
“Better?”
She eyed him. “Better how? Am I now refreshed? Yes.”
“Are you cooled down?” he asked in a soft voice. “I believe you were…overheated.”
Her face was now hot with a blush. Oh, he knew what he did to her, womanizer that he was. He must believe that the seduction of an “innocent” would be easy for him. She admitted that he could tempt her, but she would never allow herself to give in. It was a dance, and he knew how to use his body as a weapon in their challenge. She would learn to deal with it.
He regarded her with a serious look that she didn’t believe.
“No, I think you are in danger of becoming faint from the heat, Miss Banbury.” He suddenly gripped her elbow. “Perhaps a breath of fresh air will clear your head.”
With barely any effort, he steered her right out of the ballroom. Short of creating a scene by dragging her feet or holding on to the door, she could not stop him. She was in the hands of a practiced rake.
It had been a long time since she’d walked in torchlit darkness with anyone other than Edward’s business steward at their country estate. She hadn’t allowed herself the temptation. Daniel’s presence was like a powerful wall to one side, keeping her in line with just his warm fingers above her elbow. Her skin was bare there, and she realized with shock that he had removed his gloves since their dance. She pulled away, and he let her go.
As they approached the stone balustrade, a breeze with the scent of roses swept up over them from the garden below. Torches lined several paths, and she could see daring people disappearing within. At least Daniel made no move to herd her toward the wide stairs.
He leaned his elbow on the balustrade and watched her. A torch was behind him, leaving his face mostly in shadow but for the glitter of his eyes. The moon darted behind clouds, and the darkness seemed to settle around them.
He towered above her, dark as sin, with only the white of his shirt and cravat glistening in the moonlight. Her heart was beating much too fast, and she was disappointed that she could not control such an elemental response. But that was part of the game, wasn’t it? Resisting herself as well as him. For she had her own weaknesses, and like any man, he must sense them.
Retreating seemed another weakness, yet she stepped away, in case others saw them. “Ah, a warm, moonlit night,” she said. “Perfect for a man to practice his wiles on a woman.”
“Trust me, I don’t need moonlight,” he said, putting his hand over hers on the balustrade. “Darkness works even better.”
Smiling, she slid her hand away. “Think you I don’t know what to expect from a man such as you?”
“There are so many men like me in Hertingfordbury?”
“So you’ve done your research.”
“I read the property deed.”
She stiffened but did not respond to the provocation. Was he deliberately trying to distract her from his true intentions?
He stepped toward her, she stepped back. Too late, did she realize it only got darker where he was herding her.
“And what do you expect from someone like me?” Daniel asked.
“That scandalous waltz, of course, and the way you took advantage of touching me before all of the ton.”
“Most don’t know who you are. They are just as intrigued by your mysterious beauty as I first was. So I displayed you to them.”
“You don’t dance much, do you?”
“No. Why?”
“To me, you displayed your open pursuit of me. They’ll think you’ve finally decided to marry. And now you’ll be the next inviting target for all the young girls.”
He grinned, teeth flashing. “I think you’ve overestimated your powers. They know any woman I choose to pursue only has one place in my life—as my mistress.”
She shook her head, undaunted. “You’ve always thought your dreadful reputation and family scandal have kept you out-of-bounds. The mamas have thought that you don’t want to marry, so they’ve ignored you. Trust me; soon I’ll have them believing that you’re back on the marriage block, just waiting to be bought. The chance to marry a wealthy gentleman related to a duke will dissolve many a woman’s reservations.”
He gave a low, hypnotic chuckle. “I think you underestimate the effect of one dance with you. A lifetime of scandal cannot be erased so easily. And what makes you think that each of my mistresses didn’t start out believing she could ensnare me in marriage?”
He leaned over her, and she glanced around with deliberate casualness, realizing they were almost alone, that his body blocked from anyone’s view what he might do. Her breathing seemed too suddenly out of her control, just like this whole situation.
But what could he do? she told herself in a panic. He was after seduction, not ruination.
But accidents happened, as she well knew.
She backed away again and came up hard against the corner of the balustrade. She was trapped. His hands settled on the stone on either side of her. No torch illuminated his face, only the silhouette of him from behind.
“But what if you truly are becoming another candidate for marriage?” she whispered in desperation.
He leaned even lower, and she felt the heat of him, the brush of his breath on her face.
“I have been doing this long enough,” he murmured. “I know how to avoid people.”
“Or force them to avoid you,” she shot back.
Another voice said quietly, “Then you don’t know how to avoid me.”
Daniel stepped back, and Grace stiffened as she saw her brother standing there, hands on his hips as if he were barely holding himself back from throttling Daniel.
“Good evening, Banbury,” Daniel said mildly. “And why would I wish to avoid you?”
“Not so difficult to figure out, when you steal my sister out of her first London ball.” Edward took her hand and pulled her away from the balustrade and out of Daniel’s reach. “Haven’t you taken enough from my family?”
Grace groaned, looking about in worry. But when no one seemed to be paying them any attention, she made herself stay calm.
“Edward,” she said, “we’ve learned over the years to place blame where it belongs. No one forced Mother to do anything she didn’t want to do.”
“And he’s not forcing you?” Edward demanded, scowling down at her. “That’s not how it looked to me.”
“I was not holding her against her will,” Daniel said. “If she had asked, I’d have let her go.”
She winced. Her brother would want to know why she hadn’t asked. And permitting Daniel liberties didn’t seem to go along with redeeming him
, especially not with her history.
Edward stared at her a moment longer, as if trying to read the truth in her eyes. He turned back to Daniel, and in a calmer voice, said, “Why don’t you go fill up a few more dance cards, Throckmorten—if you can.” He gestured with his head back toward the mansion.
Grace bit her lip, but remained silent, knowing that neither man would appreciate her interference.
Daniel gave her a brief bow and walked back to the open door.
She looked up at her brother. “Edward, I told you I wanted to make him into a better man, and by dancing with him, I showed all the eligible young ladies—”
“But he didn’t just dance with you, now did he?”
She put her hand on his arm. “I can handle Mr. Throckmorten.”
“You thought that the last time you were involved with a man,” he said gruffly. “I let you have your way, and you ended up crushed.”
“And now you can no longer trust me.”
“I never said that! But if you suffer such hurt a second time…”
“I won’t, Edward. I’m wise to the ways of men now.”
He looked toward the mansion, a bitter tilt to his mouth. “Throckmorten is not like any of our country gentlemen, Grace.”
“I know. And I am being careful.”
She longed for her brother back, his quirky counsel, the humorous way he saw life. This Edward seemed…sad and defeated. And some of that was her fault because he’d thought he should have been able to save her from his best friend. She didn’t know how to help him except to return his inheritance to him. Without property, he was just another poverty-stricken gentleman whom no one would marry. And it would destroy him if she had to marry someone she didn’t love just to support the two of them.
“You’re not just beautiful, you’re smart,” he continued. “Too smart. And you still have a dowry. You need to go back inside and charm a few men. I know many who would want to marry you.”
She and her brother always did think the same thing at the same time, she thought fondly. “But for my money or my face, Edward dear? Marriage should not be based only on that. I think our parents’ was, and look how unhappy they were.” She leaned her head against his arm and looked up at him. “And I won’t abandon you so easily.”
