Her Only Desire (5 page)

Pity, that.
Those lovely, rose-hued lips wanted kissing, but it wasn't worth the risk. She was no worldly widow, no high-priced courtesan, but a marriageable young lady. Trifling with her would get him the one thing in the world that he least wanted: another wife.

Yet when Georgiana skimmed her lips with the tip of her tongue after her sip of lemonade, Ian fought off a violent shudder. Such forbidden urges would not do. She had inherited her scandalous aunt's famed appeal. That was all. He looked away. “Your brothers?”

She, too, seemed to have lost track of the question. “Oh—um, they're not here, either. Sorry.” She favored him with a sudden, breathtaking smile. “You'll have to make do with me, I'm afraid.”

He stared again. “What a shame,” he murmured softly, trying not to think about all the things that he could do to her before her brothers showed up from their day's work. He looked down at his glass. “Perhaps you should send for them to come home and meet me here, instead of over at Government House. That way, we'll all be on hand in case that mob comes back.”

“Oh, don't worry about Balaram's relatives,” she said. “They'd never dare trifle with my family. Besides, I've got the garrison across the street, and most of the officers over there have promised my brothers they'd look out for me.”

He looked at her in question.

“Derek and Gabriel aren't at Government House,” she admitted.

“No?”

“No.” She shook her head slowly, holding his gaze. Then she squared her delicate shoulders. “My brothers are two hundred miles north of here, with their regiment.”

“What?”

“Shall I show you to your room? My servants have prepared a very pleasant bedchamber for your stay. I am sure you will be very comfortable there. If you'd like to relax for a—”

“Wait! Just—wait one moment.” He set his glass of lemonade aside and then rested his hands on his waist. “Are you telling me, Miss Knight, that your father's not here, and your brothers aren't here; that, in short, you're here alone?”

“Well, I wouldn't say
that.
I have Purnima, of course, and Gita, and all my other servants—”

His noisy exhalation cut her off as he turned away and raked his hand through his hair, striving for patience.
Damn and blast.
He should have known.

It was lucky for her that he was not a man who lost his temper. He scratched his eyebrow for a second, took a deep breath, and said: “Very well, what are we going to do to rectify this situation?” Perhaps Lady Hastings would have a few suggestions.

“What do you mean?” Georgiana asked, furrowing her pretty brow. “There is nothing to rectify.”

He scoffed none too tactfully. “You cannot stay here by yourself! What on earth your family was thinking, I do not know, but I will not hear of it. Especially now.”

“I already told you Balaram's clan is not a threat, and besides, I'm not alone.
You're
here!” she said with a cheerful but rather forced smile.

At least she was beginning to look nervous, he thought dryly, shaking his head at her. That meant at least she had some vague clue that what she was suggesting, his staying the night with her—alone—was beyond inappropriate.

It was scandalous.

Ah, but what else did he expect of the niece of the Hawkscliffe Harlot? He'd be a fool to trust this woman. For a moment, he even wondered if this was some devious trick to snare him in marriage. God knew it happened every time he set foot in London! Fortunately, he had become as wily as a Berkshire fox over the years in escaping the huntresses of the ton, from the tuft-chasing debutantes to their matchmaking mamas.

Maybe she thought she'd be doing her family a favor, snaring him for the long-awaited alliance, but Ian was having none of it.

He wanted a wife like he wanted a hole in his head.

He folded his arms across his chest and fixed her with an exacting glare. “I did not come here to ruin a young lady, Miss Knight. Nor to play chaperon to one. I came to try to stop a war, if it's quite all right with you. I cannot possibly stay here with you alone, as I'm sure you know quite well.”
And as much as I might relish the idea.
Good Lord, the temptation might be more than he could stand. “I realize we've only just met, so forgive me if I sound a bit unmannerly, but what in blazes are you up to?”

“What? Whatever do you mean?”

He arched a brow at her feigned innocence, some of his vexation giving way to intrigued amusement quite in spite of himself. “You're playing games with me,” he said softly, “and I don't recommend you continue.” He narrowed his eyes, watching her. “What's going on?”

“I have no idea what you're talking about,” she replied, all big blue eyes and a hurt little pout. “On the contrary, sir, as you are my father's friend, I am doing my best to make everything simple and convenient for you!”

“Really?”

She nodded. Such an earnest picture, the little hellion! “I sent my carriage to wait for you every day for a fortnight. Now that you're here, I have a lovely day planned out for us. Once you've settled in, we'll spend the afternoon relaxing in the garden, and you can make your preparations for your mission. Then we'll have a good supper and a nice long chat—get to know each other better, won't that be nice?” Certain portions of his body throbbed with agreement, but she forged on. “And finally, after a good night's sleep, we'll set out bright and early for Janpur.”

Ian's eyes flared, and then he clenched his jaw. “Janpur,” he echoed in a strangled tone, barely knowing where to begin.

He turned away and began to pace.

If Miss Knight had known him better, she would have recognized this as a cause for worry.

“Janpur,” he said again, taking his now simmering vexation firmly in hand.

She nodded. “Yes, I hear it's very beautiful this time of year.”

“Miss Knight, your brothers were not at leave to reveal to you our destination. Which part of ‘confidential mission' don't they understand? Good God!”

“No, no, no, my dear Lord Griffith, you misunderstand!” she soothed, hastily coming toward him in a swirl of silk. “Do not trouble yourself, I pray you! It wasn't my brothers who told me you're going to Janpur. The security of your task has not been compromised, I swear.”

“Ah, that is a relief. Did it run in the newspapers, then?” he inquired sharply.

“Now, now, there's no need to grow testy, my lord. Of course it wasn't in the papers. I found out through a private letter from my friend Meena, who happens to be married to the Maharajah of Janpur.”

He eyed her in distrust. “Really.”

“Yes, really. We played together from the time we were children, along with Lakshmi, the girl from the fire.”

Ian clamped his jaw shut and scanned her face, trying to detect a lie, but she appeared to be speaking the truth.

“Meena—rather, Princess Meena now—is not just
married
to King Johar, but happens to be the royal favorite at the moment. She is the youngest and the fairest of all the maharajah's thirty wives. Everyone says he dotes on her and calls her his pearl. Isn't that sweet?”

Ian gave the chit a warning glower. “Go on.”

“When Meena wrote to me that my brothers would be coming to Janpur leading the military escort for a British diplomatic party soon to pay a call on her husband, I knew it had to be you she was referring to, since you had just written us that letter, telling us you were on your way. Honestly, it was a simple matter of putting two and two together. Don't worry, I'm the only one who knows where you're going, and I'm not going to tell anyone. I haven't and I won't. You can trust me,” she added a bit too earnestly.

“Hmm.” The single syllable rolled out of him like a low growl.

“Don't you believe me?”

He flicked a wary glance over her, but did not answer, and then she scowled a bit.

“Meena has been wanting me to visit her at her new home ever since she got married. I'm afraid she's rather unhappy there, as well she should be, with twenty-nine other wives in the palace jealous of her. I'm sure they make her life unpleasant.”

He snorted, rather pitying the maharajah. Thirty wives? The man must be insane.

“Meena knew my brothers' presence at Janpur would be a lure I couldn't resist. Poor thing, she's lonely up there, so far from home.” She paused, looking troubled by her musings on her friend. Of course, Ian had already seen the lengths to which she was willing to go to save someone she cared about. Then Georgiana shrugged. “Meena thought it would be fun for me to surprise my brothers up at Janpur. If you don't believe me, I can get the letter—”

“That won't be necessary.” He paused and scratched his eyebrow once more, collecting his thoughts. “Miss Knight, I cannot adequately stress to you the importance of discretion in this matter. You must understand that many, many thousands of lives are at stake, including your brothers'—and mine. You must not discuss this with anyone, or you could jeopardize the entire mission. I'm here to secure the peace between ourselves and Janpur, and there are many powers in India who would like to see me fail.”

“I would
never
jeopardize the cause of peace, Lord Griffith. As I've already told you, I will not and haven't told a soul.”

“Good. See that you don't.”

Heavens, for a diplomat, the man was awfully rude! Georgie thought. Just then, the sound of a carriage rolling up outside drew their attention. She glanced out the window and saw that her footman had arrived with Lord Griffith's servants and his luggage.

Brushing off her frustration, she turned back to her guest with her most winning smile. “Ah! Your things have arrived. Let me show you up to your room. Now that we've got all that sorted out, you might as well stay and make yourself comfortable—”

He interrupted her with exasperated laughter. “Your persistence is to be admired, my dear young lady, but I cannot possibly stay. It would be entirely improper, as you well know.”

“But Purnima's here—”

“Do you really think your ayah's presence is enough to satisfy the local gossips?” he cut her off. “My dear, I do not ruin young ladies.”

“You're not going to ruin me!” She scoffed. “Oh, why must we stand on ceremony? We're practically family.”

“But we're not,” he replied in a pointed murmur. “We are definitely…not.”

Her heart skipped a beat at the potent innuendo beneath the surface of his words. “Perhaps not,” she admitted, inching closer. “But, Lord Griffith…I trust you.” She lowered her head and peeked up at him from under her lashes. “Everyone knows you have the most sterling reputation.”

He snorted. “It's your reputation I'm worried about.”

“Nobody has to know,” she coaxed him. “Besides, it's only one night—and then we're off for Janpur.”

“No!” He pulled away. “You are not coming with me, Georgiana!”

She lifted her eyebrows at his use of her first name; he even seemed to have startled himself with how easily it had rolled off his tongue. Well, maybe he didn't have quite so much starch in his cravat as he pretended, she thought with a faint, mischievous smile.

“Pardon—Miss Knight,” he corrected himself in a clipped tone, reverting to formal mode once more. “The point is, this is no time for a social call. Besides, it's much too dangerous. Speaking of which, will you please send for the constable now? They're waiting for me at Government House, but I will stay with you until the constable sends men to guard the house in case that mob comes back. Frankly, I am shocked that your brothers would leave you here unprotected—”

“Oh, please. They would never do that.” Georgie raised her hands and loudly clapped twice.

At once, a dozen armed sepoys in turbans, red coats, black breeches, and riding boots came jogging into the entrance hall and halted in formation, swords gleaming. They dropped the butts of their bayoneted muskets to the floor with a loud bang in unison.

When their captain saluted her, she nodded to him, then glanced proudly at Lord Griffith and couldn't help gloating a wee bit. “Aren't they smart?”

Her brother Gabriel, one of the most feared men in India, had trained them himself.

The marquess regarded her bodyguards dryly. “May I inquire why you did not see fit to bring these chaps with you to the, er, bonfire, Miss Knight?”

“Certainly. If Lakshmi's kin had seen me coming with all my bodyguards in tow, they'd have known at once what I intended, and would not have let me close enough to save her.”

“Ah. Well!” he concluded, his tone edged with irony. “Since you seem to have everything under control here, I shall bid you adieu.”

“Oh, don't go—” she pleaded, but he ignored her and shook his head.