Gentle Rogue (40 page)

“I beg your pardon,” she began quickly, only to feel arms come around her instead of setting her back as they should have done.

“Not at all, love,” she heard a husky voice say with a good deal of enthusiasm. “You can run me down any time, indeed you can.”

She didn’t know whether to be grateful or not that those tones were cultured, but she was going to assume that this was a gentleman, even if he hadn’t let go of her yet. And a glance up at a well-dressed chest confirmed it. But when her eyes reached the top of him, she was given pause. Big, blond, and handsome, the young man reminded her uncannily of her husband, except for the eyes, which were more hazel than green.

“Perhaps she’d like to join us,” came another voice, slightly slurred.

Georgina glanced over to see the fellow who’d kept them from falling, doing a bit of swaying on his feet himself. A young gentlemen, too, and she guessed uncomfortably that they were rakehells out slumming.

“A splendid idea, Percy, damn me if it ain’t,” the
blond one holding her agreed, and to her, “Would you, love? Like to join us, that is?”

“No,” she said flatly and distinctly as she tried to push away from him. The chap wasn’t letting go, though.

“Now don’t be hasty in deciding,” he cajoled her, and then, “Gad, you’re a pretty thing. Whoever’s keeping you, sweetheart, I’ll top his price and then some, and make sure you never have to walk these streets again.”

Georgina was too stunned by the proposition to reply immediately, giving someone else an opportunity to say behind her, “Good God, cousin, you’re talking to a lady. Take a gander at them togs she’s wearing if you doubt me.”

Three of them, Georgina realized, not just two. She was getting really uneasy now, particularly since the big one she was pushing against still wouldn’t release her.

“Don’t be an ass, dear boy,” he said dryly to their third companion. “Here? And alone?” Then to her, with a smile that would probably have worked magic on any other woman, because the fellow really was exceedingly handsome, “You’re not a lady, are you, love? Please say you aren’t?”

She almost laughed at that point. He was honest-to-God hoping she wasn’t, and she was no longer the innocent to be left wondering why.

“Much as I hate to admit it, I do have a ‘lady’ tacked on in front of my name now, thanks to my recent marriage. But regardless, mister, I believe you’ve detained me long enough. Kindly
let go
.”

She’d said it firmly enough, but all he did was grin
down at her in a maddening way. She was thinking about kicking him and then making a run for it when she heard a sharp intake of breath right behind her, and an incredulous voice.

“Hell’s bells, Derek, I know that voice, damn me if I don’t. If I’m not mistaken, that’s your newest aunt you’re trying to seduce.”

“Very funny, Jeremy,” Derek snorted.

“Jeremy?” Georgina twisted around, and sure enough, James’s son was the one standing behind her.

“And my stepmother,” the lad added, just before he started to laugh. “You’re bloody well lucky you didn’t try snatching a kiss from her like you did the last wench that caught your eye, cousin. My father would prob’ly kill you, if your father didn’t beat him to it.”

Georgina was released so fast, she stumbled. Three sets of hands immediately came up to steady her but dropped away just as quickly. For God’s sake, if she was going to run in to family down here on the docks, why couldn’t it have been hers instead of James’s?

Derek Malory, Jason’s only son and heir, was scowling blackly now, and Jeremy had stopped laughing as he looked around for his father, didn’t see him, and concluded correctly that she was there without him.

“Does this mean the chit ain’t going to be joining us?” Percy wanted to know.

“Watch your mouth,” Derek warned his friend in a growl. “The lady is James Malory’s wife.”

“You mean the chap who nearly killed my friend Nick? Gad, you
are
done for, ain’t you, Malory, trespassing with his—”

“Shut up, Percy, you ass. The lad
told
you she’s my aunt.”

“Beg to differ,” Percy replied indignantly. “He told you. He did not tell me.”

“Well, you
know
James is my uncle. He’s not going to—Oh, devil it, never mind.” And then his scowl came back to Georgina. More and more, he was reminding her of James ten years younger, which was probably about how old Derek was. “I suppose I should apologize, Aunt…George, ain’t it?”

“Georgie,” she corrected, unable to fathom why he appeared so annoyed with her now, but his next words brought a little understanding.

“Can’t say as I’m thrilled just now to welcome you to the family.”

She blinked. “You’re not?”

“No, I’m not, not when I’d much prefer we weren’t related.” And then he said to Jeremy, “Bloody, hell, where
do
my uncles find ’em?”

“Well, my father found this one in a tavern.” Jeremy was frowning at her now, too, but she quickly realized his anger was merely on his father’s behalf. “So I suppose it’s not so strange, after all, seeing her down here.”

“For God’s sake, it’s not what it looks like, Jeremy,” she protested with a bit of her own annoyance surfacing. “Your father was being totally unreasonable in not allowing me to see my brothers.”

“So you set out to find them for yourself?”

“Well…yes.”

“Do you even know where to look for them?”

“Well…no.”

To that he gave a disgusted snort. “Then I think we’d better take you home, don’t you?”

She sighed. “I suppose, but I
was
on my way home, you know. I meant to hire that hack—”

“Which would’ve left you walking, since that’s Derek’s carriage, and his driver would’ve just ignored you…unless of course you’d have given him your name, which you likely wouldn’t’ve thought to do. Hell’s bells, you’re bloody lucky we found you…George.”

Like father like son
, she thought, gritting her teeth, and realizing, at that point, that there wouldn’t be much hope now of getting back into the townhouse without James finding out about her little adventure, unless…

“I don’t suppose you could refrain from mentioning this to your father?”

“No,” he said simply.

Her teeth were really gnashing now. “You’re a rotten stepson, Jeremy Malory.”

And that amused the young scamp enough to bring back his laughter.

Chapter Forty-five

B
y the time Derek’s carriage stopped in front of the townhouse on Piccadilly, Georgina wasn’t just annoyed anymore with her escort, she was quite angry. Jeremy’s humor had gotten thoroughly on her nerves, and his dire predictions of what she could expect from an enraged husband didn’t help. Derek was still chagrined that he’d tried to seduce his own aunt, albeit unknowingly, and so his continued scowls weren’t helping, either. And Percy, that half-wit, was simply too much to put up with at
any
time.

But she wasn’t kidding herself. She knew very well that her anger now was more defensive than anything else, because despite the fact that James’s stubbornness had driven her to that impulsive trip to the river, she knew she shouldn’t have gone, and he really did have every right to be furious with her. And James angry, really angry, was nothing pleasant to deal with. Hadn’t he nearly killed Warren with his bare hands? But to hear Jeremy tell it, that was nothing compared to what
she
could expect. It was understandable then that she might be feeling a good deal of trepidation, and understandable that she might hide it under her own anger.

At any rate, she fully intended to march into that house and keep right on going, right up to her room. Her rotten stepson could tattle on her to his heart’s
content, but she was going to be behind a barricaded door before her husband exploded with his reaction.

So she thought, but Jeremy had other ideas, and letting him lift her down from the carriage was her mistake. When she tried to brush past him to enter the house first, he caught her hand and wouldn’t let go. And she might be older than he was, but there was no doubt that he was bigger, and stronger, and determined to lay her
and
her misdeeds right before James so she’d get her just desserts.

But they weren’t in the house yet, though the door
was
already being opened by the ever-efficient Dobson. “Let go of me, Jeremy, before I clobber you,” she whispered furiously at him while giving the butler a smile.

“Now is that any way for a mother to talk to her—”

“You wretched boy, you’re enjoying this, aren’t you?”

That question only got her a grin and a tug which brought her into the hall. It was empty, of course, except for Dobson, so there was still a chance. The stairs were right there. But Jeremy didn’t waste a blasted second before calling for his father, quite cheerfully at the top of his lungs. And so Georgina didn’t waste another second before she kicked him. Unfortunately, that only made him yell louder, not let her go, and, much worse, the parlor door was thrown open while she was in the process of kicking him again.

It was really too much, after a day fraught with so many disturbing emotions. James just had to be there, didn’t he? He couldn’t have discovered her missing
and gone off to search for her, could he? No, he had to be there, right there, watching her trying to abuse his son. And were those brows of his drawing together in suspicion, as if he knew exactly why? And even with his father’s presence, had Jeremy released her yet? No, he had not!

It
was
too much, and just enough for Georgina’s oft-denied temper to explode for real. “Tell this wretched child of yours to let go of me, James Malory, or I’m going to kick him where it will really hurt!”

“Oh, I say, does she mean what I think she means?”

“Shut up, Percy,” someone said, Derek probably.

Georgina barely heard. She marched over to James, dragging Jeremy with her, because the scamp
still
hadn’t let go, and glared up at her husband, totally ignoring Anthony, Connie, and George Amherst, who crowded around him.

“I don’t give a fig what you say about it, so there!” she told him.

“Dare I ask, about what?”

“About where I went. If you hadn’t been an unnatural husband—”

“Unnatural?”

“Yes, unnatural! Denying me my own family. What is that if not unnatural?”

“Prudence.”

“Oh! Very well, maintain your ridiculous stand. But if you hadn’t been
prudent
, then I wouldn’t have resorted to desperate measures, so before you get all hot under the collar, consider who’s actually at fault here.”

All James did was turn to Jeremy and ask, “Where did you find her?”

Georgina could have screamed at that point. She’d been trying to shake off Jeremy’s hand while she’d had her say but still couldn’t, and heaping guilt on James’s shoulders didn’t appear to have worked, either. And now the scamp would have his say, and she wouldn’t be surprised if James throttled her right there in front of brother, nephew, son, and assorted friends, all of whom were on
his
side and not likely to lift a finger to her aid.

But then she gasped, finding herself jerked behind Jeremy’s broad back and hearing him say to his father, “It’s not as bad as you might be thinking. She was on the waterfront, aye, but she was well protected. She’d hired her own carriage and had these two huge, monstrously huge, drivers who weren’t letting anyone get near—”

“What a clanker,” Percy interrupted, chuckling to himself. “How’d she run smack into Derek’s arms, then, to almost get herself kissed?”

Derek, flushing from hot pink to hot red, reached over and grabbed Percy’s cravat, twisting it around his hand until the poor man was almost choking. “Are you calling my cousin a liar?” he snarled, his eyes a true green now, foretelling just how upset he was.

“Gad, no! Wouldn’t dream of it,” Percy quickly assured him, yet his confusion was evident, and he was heard to protest, “But I was
there
Derek. Ought to know what I seen.” The cravat twisted tighter. “Then again, what do I know?”

“Gentlemen, if you please,” Anthony’s dry tones
entered the dispute. “My wife deplores bloodshed in her hall.”

Georgina, well shielded by Jeremy’s tall form, was sorry for all the bad thoughts she’d had of the lad. She’d already realized he’d kept hold of her to protect her from his father’s wrath, rather than to assure that she couldn’t escape it as she’d thought. He’d even lied for her, which had just endeared him to her for all time, but thanks to that double-damned Percy, it was all for naught.

She was afraid now to peek around his shoulder to see how James was taking all of this. He’d frowned when he first saw her, but other than that, he’d displayed his usual imperturbability, had just stood there and listened to her tell him what was what without showing the least bit of emotion.

From where she stood, or cowered, as the case were, she could see Anthony to one side of James, Connie on the other. Connie was grinning at her, plainly enjoying the situation. Anthony appeared to be bored with it all, a reaction that was usually James’s, but she didn’t think James would be showing the same just now. And when she felt Jeremy tense in front of her, she guessed she was right. And when Jeremy turned around and whispered to her, “I think you better run now,” she knew it for certain.

James didn’t move as he watched her race up the stairs, merely noting that she’d hiked her skirt up to accomplish her flight, leaving not only her ankles but her calves on display for everyone to see, and a glance about the hall told him everyone was indeed seeing, and admiring, which brought more fire to his eyes than had already been there. Not until the door
slammed upstairs did his eyes return to Jeremy, the only one who hadn’t watched Georgina’s exit, who’d been warily watching his father instead.

“Switched loyalties, have you, lad?” James said very quietly.

It was the softness of his tone that had Jeremy squirming and blurting out, “Well, I didn’t want to see you going through what Uncle Tony did, just because you might get a little angry with the wench, and she might get a lot angry back at you. She’s got a bloody temper if you ain’t noticed.”