Julia London 4 Book Bundle (146 page)

He was undoubtedly a scoundrel of the first order, Sophie thought, and dug in her reticule for a crown. “Regent’s Park, please!” she said as she handed him the coin, and promptly marveled at how those words could spring from her lips without any conscious thought at all. But there they were, hanging between her and the driver. Too late to take them back now, wasn’t it? With a defiant shrug, Sophie climbed into the hack.

The men were working on the house across the pond, but there was no sign of Mr. Hamilton. Of course not. He had only been toying with her, so what did she care if he was working or not? Sophie sat stiffly on her wrought iron bench, her reticule on her lap. She looked down at the watch pinned to her breast for what must have been the hundredth time only to discover that a mere quarter of an hour had passed since she had reached the pond.

Then again, perhaps something had detained him—he had said he would come round. Just because a man was a known swindler didn’t mean he wouldn’t keep his word, did it? Perhaps he had forgotten. Perhaps he never meant to come at all, had merely invited her to see his house for want of something better to say. After all,
she
had brought it up. Surely he didn’t mean—

“Aha! I hoped you would come!”

His voice instantly sent a wave of delight through her. Sophie turned so quickly that her bonnet slipped, but she hardly realized it, because Caleb Hamilton had snatched the very breath from her lungs.

Oh, but he was magnificent. He was wearing a navy riding coat, tight buckskin trousers, and an irrepressible smile, and Sophie could scarcely take her eyes from him.
All
of him.

The sudden and abrupt image of a woman on each of his arms popped into her mind’s eye.
Scoundrel
, she reminded herself in an attempt to cool the heat that was beginning to build, and straightened her bonnet.

“A jolly good day, Miss Dane. How pleased I am that you could come.”

“G-good day, Mr. Hamilton,” she replied tightly, and swallowed hard.
Oh really, do try not to act the ninny for once, will you?

“You’ve not been here long, have you? I was detained longer than customary.”

“Ah, no. No, I only just arrived.”

“Splendid,” he said, and cheerfully plopped himself down beside her on the bench.

Sophie shifted an inch away from him.

“Might I say you look quite fetching, Miss Dane. What a lovely color is your gown—its suits you very well.”

That caught her off guard—no one ever complimented her clothing. And the fact that she had practically filched it from a poorhouse only made her that much more self-conscious. She was already sitting so rigidly that the small of her back was beginning to ache. “Thank you, sir.”

“I give you my word I’ll not take your reticule if you’d like to set it aside.”

She looked at him curiously.

He nodded to her lap. “You seem to be holding on to it for dear life.”

Sophie immediately set the thing aside, but then did not know what to do with her hands. After a moment of awkwardness, she folded them primly in her lap.

“Miss Dane, if you would rather I leave you—”

“No!”
Marvelous. Why don’t you go ahead and fling yourself at his feet, then?
Sophie forced a laugh, and the amused sparkle in his green eyes set off another sweet wave of pure longing through her.

Bloody hell.
Her attempts at feigning disinterest were ridiculously inept. If anything, what she had heard about him had only made her that much more curious. He just did not seem the sort to stoop to swindle.

She sighed. “You must forgive me, Mr. Hamilton. I am not in the habit of meeting people I’ve only just met—in the park I mean—and I find that I am rather … well, there isn’t a word for it really, but I
would
like to see your house, as it seems to be a very fine house, and I am rather fascinated with it, so I thought, there is really little harm, is there? No, don’t answer … I am just … oh my, I think I am rambling on a bit …”

Mr. Hamilton placed his hand on top of the two she held in a death grip and squeezed kindly. “I do believe I understand, Miss Dane. Perhaps if we go on about the business of seeing it, we’ll both feel a bit more at ease, do you think?”

“Oh
yes
, I think,” she said and sighed with relief, unnoticing of his smile of amusement.

He stood up, gallantly offered his arm. They walked slowly, in silence, to the main path that led around the pond and to the construction site. Sophie was acutely aware of his body next to hers—he was at least a full head taller, perhaps as much as an inch or two over six feet. His legs were quite long and muscular, and his hands looked as if they could hold the world in their rough palms.

These things she noticed from the corner of her eye, in the midst of a heat whorling inside her. She desperately thought of something to say, she hoped something clever and witty, and realizing that she had no such thing to say, blurted, “Might I ask your occupation, Mr. Hamilton?”

She instantly regretted her choice.

“I am in the business of building railroads. Have you seen one?”

What she knew of railroads and the controversy around them could be summarized in a single word:
Nothing.
“Ah, no … but I saw a locomotive once.” At least she thought it was a locomotive.

“Indeed?” he asked, brightening noticeably. “And where might that have been? Leeds?”

“Brussels.”

“Brussels, truly? How interesting. What did you think of it?”

“What did I think of it?”

“The locomotive,” he said, and paused in his walking to hear her answer.

What did she think of it?
It was big, it was black. “It was b—… There appears to be an awful lot of dissatisfaction with the railroad, doesn’t there?” she asked, wincing inwardly at the boldness of her question.

He blinked. Then he laughed. “Indeed there does, Miss Dane. And what do you make of it all?”

Well here she was then, the proverbial fish out of water. Did she
have
an opinion? “I … I really don’t know enough to have formed an opinion, Mr. Hamilton. I have heard complaint that it will mar the countryside.”

He nodded thoughtfully.

“But then again, I suppose it must be quite an efficient form of travel.”

“Yes, it is,” he said eagerly. “The speed with which people and goods can be moved could mean a whole new era for the nation’s commerce. And travel. As one who travels, surely you can appreciate the convenience.”

She pondered that, nodding slowly.

“Do you travel often?” he asked, motioning them to proceed ahead.

“I do, actually. I am the companion of a Frenchwoman, and it is her pleasure to travel quite frequently.”

“Ah, splendid! What places have you seen, then?”

“Italy. And Portugal, then Spain. Italy again, then on to Vienna, Stockholm—”

“Good Lord, Miss Dane,” he exclaimed with a laugh. “I thought that perhaps you had been all the way to Paris, but Stockholm? Vienna? Fascinating! What is the most interesting of them, do you think?”

How he did it, she couldn’t fathom, but Sophie fell into an easy discussion of her time abroad, and as it happened, he had been to many of the same locations. It amazed her how easily the conversation flowed between them. He seemed genuinely interested in what she was saying, at least as much as she was interested in him. He never took his eyes from her, smiled genuinely, and by the time they reached the site of his house, they were laughing with one another about the peculiarities of the Spaniards, as if they had been friends for weeks instead of minutes.

Mr. Hamilton was eager to show her the house he was building. He walked her around through the rough wood frames, painting the different rooms of his house with his hands, pointing out where he intended to put different amenities. His enthusiasm was contagious—Sophie could actually
see
his house as he talked, could envision the splendor of it. It would obviously be a grand home, and it was just as obvious that Mr. Hamilton was very proud of the house as well as the fact that he was building it with his own hands.

When they had at last finished the tour, they took a leisurely stroll around the other side of the pond to the wrought iron bench where they had first met. After Sophie assured him she was quite capable of reaching home on her own—he was adamant in his desire to see her there—he finally relented, took her hand in his, and smiled as he leaned over it and kissed the back of her hand. A fire instantly scorched her arm.

“Thank you, Miss Dane, for a perfectly lovely afternoon. I have not enjoyed myself so completely in some time.”

Lovely
hardly began to describe how Sophie felt at the moment, and she cast him what she knew was a perfectly silly smile.

“I suppose it rather bold of me, but would I be so fortunate as to have the pleasure of your company again?” he asked, letting go her hand. “On the morrow, perhaps?”

She shouldn’t, she really shouldn’t—one afternoon with a scoundrel was quite enough, wasn’t it? She could not be thinking to continue this, no matter how much she had enjoyed herself—it was disastrous. Not to mention pointless. And imbecilic, if not downright dangerous. “I would like that very much, sir,” she said, smiling like an idiot.

“Marvelous! I look forward to our meeting then, Miss Dane. Very much so.” He stood for a moment, looking at her, seeming to take in the features of her face before he lifted his hand to the brim of his hat. “Good day then,” he said, and stepped away.

“Good day, Mr. Hamilton.”

She waited until he had disappeared around the bend in the path, watching the powerful stride of his muscular legs as he walked. When she could no longer see him, Sophie practically skipped in the opposite direction.

It had been a splendid day, an absolutely glorious one, and while a small voice inside her head told her it was foolishness to pursue this any further, she could hardly wait for night to fall and morning to come so she could return to the park.

Which is precisely what she did the next afternoon, having heard enough of Honorine ramble on about Will and Ian, and having received a note from Ann that her modiste would have the gown delivered by Tuesday afternoon, in the unlikely event last minute alterations were needed.
Which
gown Ann had selected was unknown to her, and she might have protested loudly—but as it stood, she could only think about the handsome Mr. Caleb Hamilton and their scheduled meeting.

She arrived at the usual time, wearing a plain brown gown that was so dull she had sought one of Honorine’s many scarves to brighten it up. In her basket, she had packed a delicious
pâtè de foie gras
she had learned to make in Paris, a wheat
brot
she had learned in Stockholm, and a selection of Italian olives Honorine had carried for the last four years and would never realize were missing. She fairly flew to the park, not allowing herself even a moment to think of her folly. His company made her feel giddy and light; it was as if she were walking about in a happy dream. She was not Sophie Dane, she was a woman with desires and hopes who knew what she wanted—and that most decidedly was
not
Sophie.

Much to her great delight … and truthfully, her great relief … Mr. Hamilton arrived at his usual time, proclaimed her radiant, and took an immediate interest in her basket. Sophie explained she had made the contents; he looked quite surprised by that, but was eager to sample everything. They selected a spot under a weeping willow tree, where Mr. Hamilton spread his coat for her to sit. Mr. Hamilton ate every last bite of everything she offered him, then proclaimed her the cleverest of all women for having learned such culinary talents.

After they finished the meal, he propped himself against the weeping willow and spoke easily of how he had come to invest in the rail system with what he had inherited from his mother’s estate. He said he was in London to visit his father, whom he had not seen in more than one year. He did not offer anything further, for which Sophie was very glad. She did not want to let on that she knew anything about him, not yet, and least of all, that he was purportedly an imposter. She would cross that bridge when she came to it.

In turn, he asked her about herself, and she spoke more than she had in ages, telling him more about her travels, artfully skipping many details before her life with Honorine. And while Caleb recognized her family name, he did not appear to know of her scandal, for which Sophie was ecstatically thankful.

They parted company more wistfully than before, with a promise to meet again. And meet they did, every day that week. Sophie told no one of her meetings in the park, and the irony was not lost on her that she was, once again, sneaking behind her family’s back to meet a man. Yet she did not dare breathe a word, lest they attempt to stop her from coming to the park. She needed this, needed the secret sweetness of it, the sunlight he was forcing into her life. Honestly, she did not care where this growing infatuation took her—she was, quite simply, living for the beauty of the moment.

She so enjoyed Caleb’s companionship. For the first time in years—her lifetime, really—she felt truly at ease. They laughed easily with one another, and sometimes it seemed there was so much that they had in common, she felt as if she had known him all her life. They liked the same literature, the same music composers. They both preferred country living to life in London, both professed a profound dislike of singing at supper parties. She believed he was someone to whom she might say anything without fear of retribution, a man who valued friendship as much as she, but privacy, too. He possessed many attributes she wished
she
had, and all the characteristics of a man she thought she would never know.

Moreover, with each day that passed, Sophie felt herself becoming more and more physically attracted to him. He made her blood rush hot when he smiled, made her skin turn to fire when he casually touched her. She could not remember being so physically affected in all her life, but this man, he seemed to seep through her skin and consume her imagination. She dreamed of lovemaking, would watch his big hands and imagine them on her body, watch him laugh and imagine his mouth on her … 
all
of her. She stole glimpses of his hips, his legs, would wonder whimsically how lovely it might be to feel him deep inside her, moving in time to the rhythm of life.