Rogue in Red Velvet (22 page)

They rode in silence until they turned a corner so smoothly that Connie hardly felt the movement. “This landau has marvelous suspension.”

Helena smiled. “Yes it does. Julius never buys anything except the best.”

“I feel the same way. If I can’t afford the best, then I do without it. I don’t have as much, that’s all.” She and Helena shared a smile before the carriage arrived at the Royal Exchange.

A place for business, where men stood in small groups together on the ground floor making deals that could affect hundreds of people and cost thousands of pounds but, as Connie soon discovered, a place that also held some beautiful shops. The Exchange was built around an open courtyard and although historically placed, this edifice was relatively new. Something she felt glad of, because the open cloister-like corridors needed good support.

She forgot her fears when she saw the shops. She’d have been happy window-shopping but Helena led her to several places where the goods were affordable and of excellent quality. Connie had a small sum of money she’d allowed Alex to lend her, a sum she would make up when she returned home, so she could afford a fan at one place and some new silk stockings at another, not much higher priced than she would have paid in York or Lancaster. With a sturdy footman following to hold the packages for them, they had little concern about overburdening themselves.

Helena proved a discerning buyer but did select a breathtaking porcelain snuffbox for her brother, with a painting of a beautiful house on the porcelain lid and pearls studded around the gold frame containing it. “That looks very much like his house in Berkshire,” she remarked, “And Julius collects snuffboxes. He says he takes snuff, though a small quantity lasts him an inordinate amount of time. It gives him something elegant to do with his hands.”

They left the shop and Helena handed the small package to the footman. She stilled and watched someone approach. “Oh lord,” she muttered but kept her mask of perfect contentment. A very small woman of around fifty-five or sixty, thin as a rake and with a face set into hard lines but she had blue eyes that seemed familiar. Julius and Helena had eyes of that startling bright blue. Was this the formidable Duchess of Kirkburton?

Helena swept a curtsey. The newcomer gave Helena a sharp nod and then turned enquiringly to her. “We have a houseguest,” Helena murmured. “Mother, may I introduce you to Mrs. Constance Rattigan?”

The gaze snapped away, the woman glanced back at Helena, gave her a curt, “Good day,” and swept off, holding her skirts to one side so she would not come into contact with Connie.

Tears sprang to Connie’s eyes but she determinedly blinked them away. Her anger grew as what the duchess had done to her sank in, surging deep and hot in her veins. “I’m assuming that was the cut direct.”

“It was indeed.” Helena was tight-lipped, her eyes sparkling. “She’s insufferable. Absolutely insufferable. You’re fortunate that you only have to encounter her once or twice.” She stared ahead, her bosom rising and falling as she breathed deeply. “I will make this right and she will acknowledge you. I swear it.”

“No, you said I might have to expect…” Connie tailed off as Alex’s dark figure vividly clad in scarlet heading her direction.
Alex, it was Alex
. Like a child, her excitement flooded her whole being.

Alex smiled affably and bowed over her hand. He had to take it, because she forgot to hold it out to him. His lips grazed the back of her hand like a healing touch, warming her whole body and bringing it back to life. He bowed to Helena then but stayed by Connie’s side and crooked his arm for her to take.

Helena gave a low, hardly audible whistle. The sound startled Connie. Helena looked so respectable and she could have sworn Helena’s lips hadn’t moved. “Very partial, Alex.”

“I mean it that way.”

Connie followed their reasoning a little while after. “You should have greeted Helena first, shouldn’t you? She’s higher ranking than I am.”

“What he did,” Helena said calmly, “Is declare his intent. Done in a place like this, there’s no mistaking it.”

“No, you must not!” Connie would have snatched her hand away but he put his free hand on top of it, stopping her. To anyone watching it would appear a fond gesture but he held her securely.

“I don’t want you to do this,” she protested.

He guided her past a couple too busy conversing to notice anyone approaching them. “Too late. I intend to court you publicly and unmistakably. You may refuse me if you wish but I will do it.”

Helena outlined the duchess’s social cut and Alex’s lips thinned. “Speak to Julius. He’ll handle her. By God, if he does not, I will.”

He smiled as he strolled, his feet clumping over the wooden boards that made up the walkways. “My mother was a kind, gentle soul. I would have loved her to know you, Connie.”

Alex escorted them for the rest of their shopping trip and everyone else they met gave Connie a civil bow and made polite conversation. She knew how to play that game. She was less sure how to deter Alex’s gallantry and his evident attraction to her, an attraction he made clear to everyone they met, merely by a glance or a touch.

Matters were getting out of hand but moving away might give the message that she didn’t want him and she couldn’t do that, either. Because that would be a lie.

In one shop, Alex bought an exceptionally pretty fan and presented it to Connie with a bow. “I’d be honored if you’d accept this.”

Her first instinct was to refuse such a costly gift but that would have been churlish. She smiled and took the package, holding it herself instead of passing it on to the footman. “Th-thank you. You should not.”

“Yes I should. It will give me pleasure to see you use it. It’s a mere token.”

She was so weak where he was concerned. When he touched her, she wanted to move closer and her eyes at least must be betraying her emotions. She tried to keep every other reaction to herself but she wasn’t as accomplished as her new friend.

They completed their purchases and took another tour of the second floor of the Exchange, before Alex took them back to their carriage. He paid particular attention to Connie, murmuring society secrets, explaining who people were and how they fit into London society.

They were people, not just caricatures, as she’d tended to think of them before. She’d read about them in gossip sheets and newspapers but now, thanks to Alex, they became living, breathing people, just like her.

Back at the house, in the privacy of her bedroom, she unwrapped her gift. The fan was perfectly lovely, a design of lovers painted onto its fragile surface, the sticks made of pierced ivory. Brilliants sparkled on the outer sticks and at places in the design. So pretty, she dreaded to think of the cost. But that, she was learning, would be provincial thinking. If she rejected his suit, she could send back his gifts but he probably wouldn’t take them.

She couldn’t understand why she was doing this, playing with fire. Last night she’d ached for him and now she longed to see him again. Tomorrow night, he’d said, if they attended the ball at Lady Tremayne’s. Helena had said of course they would, that it was one of the highlights of the season.

If she were to re-establish her good name and put an end to any claim Jasper might make on her estate she had to go through with this. But she shouldn’t encourage Alex. He wanted her, he’d shown that in those glorious two days at the whorehouse but she couldn’t let him. She couldn’t bring him what he had the right to expect as a bride. She had little influence, no powerful relatives and only a modest fortune.

Status and influence were important to this class. They ruled the country. They had to be strong. But none of the common sense she prided herself on came to her aid.

She still wanted him.

Chapter 14

After spending an agreeable hour with Connie and Helena, Alex took his leave and went to White’s to join Julius in a positively sunny frame of mind.

At last he’d found a woman who didn’t bore him and who he found exciting in bed. He hadn’t planned to test that last part, though. He smiled at the memory of the way she’d seduced him. He wanted her again and again. His cock rose and it took a lot of hasty thinking about the practicalities of their dilemma to will it back into sleep again.

As far as he was concerned, he’d claimed her. She’d already promised to marry him if she should prove with child, so she was half his already. It was tempting to take her away and keep making love to her until she agreed to marry him. Certainly, that would be less painful than this nonsense.

Julius hailed him from across the room with a negligent wave of one white, perfectly manicured hand. Everything about Julius was always perfect.

Alex took his time crossing the large space, pausing to nod or exchange a word or two with acquaintances and friends. By the time he reached Julius, they owned the room. They’d played this trick before and could perform it to a nicety. They were fully aware of the value of their looks, their attraction and their position in society and perfectly prepared to use it to their advantage.

He dropped into a chair next to Julius, one of the deep winged armchairs the club had made especially for their clients’ use. The club was full and apart from the chair next to Julius, every other one was occupied.

“Seen him today, coz?” He didn’t have to say whom.

Julius shrugged. “Carefully absent, dear boy. But that might be because he dipped rather deep last night after you went home. He might need time to come around.”

“When I last saw the Downhollands her ladyship said that she wanted to hold a ball in Mrs. Rattigan’s honor,” Alex said, dropping the information casually. “While it was to celebrate her betrothal to their nephew, perhaps they might be interested in helping us host it for their goddaughter.” Now he was turning the possibility into reality. “I thought we might allow them to host it at Kirkburton House, since they have a ballroom. Your parents hold a ball every year, so why shouldn’t Connie be one of the guests of honor?”

Julius brightened, sapphire eyes sparkling. After the way his mother had cut Connie, that would be sweet revenge, something Alex knew only too well. Julius clapped his hands together. “Capital idea. I’ll talk to my father. He’s bound to agree.”

Which meant Julius had a lever to persuade him. He hardly spoke to his mother these days and addressed her with careful formality when he had no other choice. However, his relationship with his father had rarely been less than cordial.

The ball would happen and Alex had chosen White’s to announce it because he wanted the news spread. By tomorrow, people would be angling for invitations. They’d be lucky to get them.

Alex agreed to walk with Julius in the direction of Piccadilly where Julius would call on his father. Nobody would overhear them while they walked. “I want her,” he said bluntly.

“I rather thought you’d had her, old man,” Julius replied, equally brisk.

He glanced at a man heading straight for them, who gave no sign of stepping aside. He also wore a sword, something only aristocrats were allowed to do in London. Not a good sign. At the last minute, the man took a step to the side. Alex breathed more freely and addressed Julius bluntly.

“I want her for good, and not because of any plan to restore her reputation.”

Julius halted and swung around, glaring at Alex. “You’re serious. Do you love her?”

“What kind of sentiment is that from the son of a duke?” He wasn’t ready to admit his feelings, or how deep they might go, even to himself.

Julius paused, and then gave Alex a perfectly sincere but melancholy smile. “You forget. I loved, once.”

Alex grimaced. He didn’t want to remind Julius of that time, or of his determination to exert revenge on society for what it did to his wife. “Look how well that turned out.”

“We had some experiences I wouldn’t have given up for anyone or anything.” Julius’s voice was softer than his usual tones.

Considering the times Alex knew about, that had to be profound. “So the next time, you’ll marry for love again?”

Julius shook his head. “Once was enough. The next time, if there is a next time, I want a mother for Caroline and heirs for the dukedom.” He sounded not the least bit regretful or yearning but Alex knew Julius felt both those things. Considering he had a small daughter in an otherwise empty nursery, Julius’s decision to look for someone sensible and wellborn seemed appropriate. Not for Alex, though.

Alex’s immense attraction proved only one factor in his reasoning. He found himself watching absurd sights, like a monkey dancing on his owner’s head in the street that he’d seen just that morning and he’d longed to have her with him because knew she’d share his amusement. That was what he wanted. Sharing a life with someone as a partner and a loving companion. Plus the passion in bed. The less he thought about that the better. He didn’t seem to be able to control his baser urges when he was around her.

He strolled down the well-appointed street, the broad pavement indicative that this was a prosperous area. “My father keeps throwing seventeen year olds my way and I haven’t found one to interest me. I can only presume that an older woman would prove more attractive. Connie certainly does. She’s of an age that interests me, she’s lovely, she conducts herself with grace without simpering and she’s a constant delight to talk to.” That sounded reasonable from a reasoned perspective. None of the wild urge to slam her against the nearest wall when she smiled at him and lift her skirts.