The sound of a carriage arose outside, the jangle of a bridle and the crunch of wheels.
Bronwyn sat upright. "Oh no! My stepmother and sisters!" She was on her feet in a trice. "You said they wouldn"t be back for hours!"
"So I thought." With a great sigh, Alexsey stood. "I must go."
"But they will see your horse and know you"ve been here!"
"Do not worry; I tied the horse to the side of the drive. They will not see it in the dark." He bent and kissed her soundly. "I will go out the window." He swiftly pulled on his coat.
Outside, Bronwyn heard the coachman"s voice and the opening of the carriage door. "Hurry!" she whispered.
He collected his hat and then bent to kiss her one last time, sweetly and insistently.
Despite the danger, she clung to him.
The sound of the carriage door closing made her release him. "Go!"
"I will see you soon, little one."
As he went to the window, she headed to the sitting room door, shutting it behind her and reaching the foyer just as her family entered.
"How are you feeling?" her mama asked.
"Much better, thank you. How was the dinner?"
Sorcha, rosy-cheeked from the wind, untied her bonnet. "Oh, Bronwyn, I"ve never seen such wondrous food!"
"There were courses and courses and courses," Mairi said. "And the desserts-" She kissed her fingers to the air the way their French tutor did whenever he was pleased with something.
Bronwyn laughed and helped them remove their pelisses. "Tell me all about it, for I couldn"t help but think of your wonderful dinner when I wasn"t napping."
"It was lovely," Sorcha said, her eyes sparkling. "The dining hall was decorated with pine boughs and it smelled heavenly."
"But Sorcha was forced to sit next to Viscount Strathmoor at dinner," Mairi said.
"That was unfortunate," Mama agreed, hanging her pelisse on a coat hook.
Bronwyn led the way into the sitting room, glancing at the windows, which were all closed. "Was Strathmoor rude?"
Sorcha made a face as she sank onto the settee. "He only spoke to me twice all through dinner, leaving me completely to the gentleman to my left, horrid Mr. MacInnis."
"Who is a thousand years old and can"t hear." Mairi snickered. "Sorcha had to yell for him to hear her."
"He says the most inappropriate things, too," Sorcha said in a huffy tone. "He told me he liked "younger women" like me, and he spent the entire dinner leering at me in a very disgraceful way."
Bronwyn shook her head. "A pity. I hope the two things Lord Strathmoor said to you during dinner were pleasant?"
"No. First he asked for the salt dish. Then, before the men retired for port, he told me he"d had the pleasantest dinner conversation of his life." Sorcha"s lips thinned.
Mama sniffed. "He"s not worth your time and he knows it."
"The prince spoke to Sorcha," Mairi added.
"He was most kind," Sorcha said. "He asked about you, Bronwyn, and said he hoped you would feel better soon. Then he told me which of the dishes he"d enjoyed most and asked me the same." She absently smoothed out a pillow on the settee.
He is kind. And pa.s.sionate, too. The thought made her face warm.
"It"s a pity he didn"t stay after dinner," Mama said, a dissatisfied look in her eyes.
"Oh. Where did he go?" A flutter of happiness arose despite her attempts to quell it.
"His grandmother said he had a headache," Sorcha said. "She seemed quite unhappy with him about it, although how he could avoid a headache, I don"t know."
"Her Grace talked to Sorcha, too," Mairi said from the fireplace, turning so her back now benefited from the warmth. "For nigh on a half hour."
With obvious satisfaction, Mama said, "Her Grace was quite kind to Sorcha."
"Yes, but I felt like a horse at auction. She kept looking at me, as if she wished to pinch me and see if I were healthy enough."
Mairi chortled. "I thought the same thing! I expected her to ask to see your teeth."
"I believe Her Grace is a Romany," Bronwyn said. "Perhaps that explains her behavior."
Mairi said, "She makes me shiver! When I laughed aloud, the look she sent me-I wouldn"t be surprised to wake up and find myself turned into a toad!"
Sorcha laughed. "If you turn into a toad, I shall claim all of your bonnets as my own."
Mairi stuck her tongue out.
"Girls, please!" Mama did not look amused. "You"re talking about a grand d.u.c.h.ess of Oxenburg."
Sorcha obediently lost her smile. "I"m sorry, Mama, but Her Grace is an oddity."
"She is still a very well-respected lady."
"Yes, Mama." Sorcha turned to Bronwyn, the twinkle in her eyes letting her sister know she wasn"t entirely subdued.
Lady Malvinea hid a yawn. "I suppose your father hasn"t yet come home?"
"I haven"t seen him since dinner," Bronwyn said truthfully.
The clock chimed and Lady Malvinea stood. "It"s late and we should all be getting to bed."
"I don"t know why," Mairi said in a grumpy tone. "Sir Henry has planned three whole days of hunting, so there"s nothing to get up early for."
"We won"t see anyone until Friday." Sorcha looked as put out as Mairi.
Bronwyn"s heart slid a bit, and she realized how much she was looking forward to seeing Alexsey again.
"Friday will be here before you know it," Mama said calmly.
"What happens on Friday?" Bronwyn asked.
Sorcha brightened. "Sir Henry"s having a dinner, and he"s promised games to liven up the evening."
"That will be fun." Bronwyn rose to her feet, Sorcha following suit. Mairi opened the sitting room door and they headed toward the stairs.
Mama stopped at the bottom of the steps. "I shall wait for Papa to return. He shouldn"t be long. Good night, girls."
As Sorcha and Mairi chattered on about who"d worn what and who had said what, Bronwyn followed. When she reached the landing she glanced back, just as Mama bent to pick something up from the floor.
Bronwyn"s heart stuttered. It was a man"s glove. Alexsey"s glove.
Mama looked up, her gaze meeting Bronwyn"s.
Without thinking, Bronwyn turned and hurried back downstairs. "You found it!"
Not giving her stepmother more time to think, Bronwyn s.n.a.t.c.hed the glove from her hands and tucked it into her own pocket. "I bought a pair of gloves for Papa"s birthday and lost one of them."
"How did it come to be here?"
"The- My dogs must have carried it here. I shouldn"t have allowed them in the house."
"You had them indoors again? You promised not to."
"I know, but I was feeling poorly, and they"re such good company."
"Your Papa"s birthday isn"t for another two months. You are planning well in advance."
"Yes, I happened to see these in a window and knew they"d be perfect for Papa, so . . . I got them."
Mama"s gaze never left Bronwyn"s face. "It seems rather large for him. Perhaps I should look at it again."
"Oh, he won"t care. He"s not exactly a fashion plate, is he?" With a forced smile, Bronwyn turned toward the steps.
"Bronwyn?"
Oh G.o.d, does she suspect? Please don"t let her think anything, please! Bronwyn pasted a smile on her face and turned back to her stepmother. "Yes?"
"I"m glad you"re feeling better."
"Much better, thank you. My ear doesn"t hurt at all now."
"Good. Sleep well, my dear."
"Good night." Her heart thudding, Bronwyn hurried up the stairs, aware of her stepmother"s gaze following her.
Lady MacClinton looked at Lucinda, pity in her old eyes. "My dear, society was not developed to protect the heart, but to prevent your heart from engaging on its own."
-The Black Duke by Miss Mary Edgeworth "If you are determined to be in a foul mood, pray take yourself elsewhere."
Alexsey, who"d been scowling into the fireplace, sent a black look at Strath. "If you dislike my mood, feel free to leave."
"This is my uncle"s study." He eyed the gla.s.s of scotch in Alexsey"s hand, went to the sideboard and poured himself a gla.s.s, and then came to stand near Alexsey.
They were dressed in formal dinner wear, although Strath"s fingers itched to do something about Alexsey"s casually knotted cravat. "What"s wrong, my friend? You"ve been like a bear with a sore paw for the last few days."
"Roza is avoiding me. I"ve been to visit three days in a row now, and she won"t see me alone. I fear I"ve frightened her away."
Strath frowned. "What did you do? She seems rather fearless."
Alexsey shrugged. "She is fearless for herself, but not for her sisters. If there were a scandal, she would feel responsible."
"Ah. Then you need to be more discreet."
Right now, he was willing to do anything but give up on her. For the last three days, he"d been unable to think of anything but Bronwyn. Of her sighs. Of her kisses. Of her soft skin. Of her pa.s.sion as she writhed against him. Of her b.r.e.a.s.t.s, so lushly plump that his hands couldn"t contain them.
The memories made him burn with the desperation of a man dying of thirst in a desert. "I must meet her without her sisters and mother."
"Ah yes. The chaperone problem. In France you"d have no problem seeing a single lady alone, providing her chaperone was in an adjoining room. And if you slipped a few coins into that hand, sometimes you could sweep your lady away for hours on end, with no one the wiser."
"In Oxenburg, we do not treat women as gla.s.s vases in a case, or expect them to perform tricks. Yesterday, I sat for two hours in the b.l.o.o.d.y sitting room while Lady Malvinea tried to talk Miss Mairi into playing the pianoforte."
Strath shuddered.
"Indeed. Thank G.o.d she refused."
"Does Miss Bronwyn play?"
"She sings, but only when drunk."
Strath"s mouth dropped open.
"From laudanum. She had an earache."
"Ah. I couldn"t imagine otherwise."
Alexsey sighed. "This morning, I briefly saw her and her mother in town." Bronwyn had been wearing a straw bonnet that framed her face adorably. He"d itched to take it off and let her thick hair down, one pin at a time. He"d imagined doing so all day. "Bronwyn"s mother watches me."
"If Lady Malvinea is giving you the eye, she"s likely mentally measuring you for a groom"s coat for Miss Sorcha." A bitter note chilled Strath"s voice. "My uncle says Lady Malvinea has been hinting that she believes her ripest, juiciest plum is worth nothing less than a royal tiara."
Alexsey sipped his scotch. "She"ll never receive one from me."
Curiosity was bright in the other man"s gaze. "You"ve no interest at all in that diamond of the first water?"
"None."
Strath regarded his gla.s.s with a thoughtful air, then sent a cautious glance at Alexsey. "I have to wonder . . . I"ve never seen you pursue a woman with such intensity. Don"t lose sight of your original intent, a harmless flirtation with a pretty woman and thwarting your meddling grandmother."