The Fortune Hunter (30 page)

Nerissa gasped as she saw the sharp drop. She had not stopped to think there might be a ha-ha in this field. If she had continued speeding to Annis's rescue, the sunken fence could have been a deathtrap for her, because it was too wide for the horse to jump.

The baying of the hounds took a fevered pitch, but she paid the hunt no mind. When Hamilton slid from his saddle and assisted her to the ground, she was glad he kept his arm around her. Her knees were no more solid than the illusion created by the ha-ha.

“Thank you for rescuing me again,” she whispered.

“As always, it was my pleasure.” He grinned as he looked toward the far side of the field. “After all, everything seems to have come about as we had hoped. The fox is being given a good run, and Philip may be thinking that Annis might need him here more than on the far side of the Channel.”

In amazement, she edged from beneath his arm. She leaned on the horse as she gasped, “You planned this? Did you stop to think that Annis might be killed? I told you she has scant skill as a rider. She could have—”

“
Blast it!
” His eyes narrowed into steely slits. “I did not plan for her mount to run away. To own the truth, I had no idea the beast could go any faster than a walk. The hounds must have frightened it.” Gripping her shoulders, he pulled her back into his arms. “Do you think I would have endangered her life in an attempt to convince Philip not to endanger his?”

“I—”

“Trust me,” he growled. “For once, Nerissa, trust me.”

“I do trust you. What I do not trust are the obsessions which consume you and Philip.”

His arm dropped to encircle her waist. “You are wise, my sweet, for I am most untrustworthy when I hold you like this.”

“That is not what I meant, Hamilton. How can you expect your brother to heed you when you are as senseless in your pursuit as he is in his?”

He laughed at her cool reply. “The only pursuit that intrigues me at this moment is my pursuit of you.”

He silenced her with his lips over hers. As his fingers curled upward to caress her with the intimacy that had bewitched her in the carriage, she moaned against his mouth. Eddies of ecstasy swirled outward from his fingertips, making her aware of every inch of her pressed to him. His brazen hands swept along her and settled on her hips as he delved deep into her mouth to urge her even closer.

She was sure she would explode with the passion building within her. It flowed in a fiery flood to the very tips of her toes as she stroked the firm muscles of his back. Slipping up beneath his coat, she delighted in the warm stickiness of his waistcoat against his skin. As much as she wanted him to touch her, she yearned to touch him. The craving became an agony that was ready to engulf her.

“Damn,” he whispered as he drew away from her.

She was about to ask what could possibly be wrong when he was bringing her dreams to life. Her question was forestalled by the sound of the hunt coming back toward them. “Already?” she whispered.

“I would have put that fox in my pocket to plant him a while longer, if I had guessed they would capture the creature so quickly.” He laughed and tugged her back against him. “Let them see the sweet vixen I have captured with a kiss.”

“Is that what I am to you, Lord Wastrel Windham? A trophy from your prowls?”

He chuckled. “I wondered how long it would take before you heard that horrendous name which was inflicted upon me by my so-called friends one night when we all overshot with gin.” His smile faded as he asked, “What do you think, Nerissa? Do you think I care so little for you?”

The shouts of the riders came closer, sparing her from having to answer. Instead she asked, “Will you throw me up, Hamilton?”

“For a price.”

“A price?” she asked, then smiled as she stood on tiptoe to kiss his cheek. “That, my dear Hamilton, is the payment for helping a lady mount when the hunt is bearing down upon her.”

He pulled her into his arms and whispered, “That may be the initial payment, but you must post your payments in full later, my sweet.”

Not caring what he meant, wanting only the stolen rapture of his arms, she dissolved into his feverish kiss to the rhythm of two hearts pulsating as one.

Chapter Seventeen

Nerissa had never guessed that any man could flush as red as Philip did when he returned to the house with Annis. Hamilton's guests cheered when he rode into the yard in front of the stable, Annis still perched on his knees.

“Fine job, Windham!” shouted a male voice she could not put a name to.

“Couldn't have done better myself,” said Rowland, a hint of jealousy in his voice.

“Wasn't that the most romantic thing you have ever seen?” gushed a plump lady.

Nerissa smiled as Philip's ears turned even pinker, but she noted that Hamilton's grin was even wider. Although such a spectacular rescue had not been part of his plan—and she vowed to ask him later to explain what he had intended—he was right. The results were the same. Philip was receiving the lauds he had hoped to win on the Continent. She wondered if this would be enough to induce him to stay in England.

“He seems quite uncomfortable,” she whispered to Hamilton.

He squeezed her shoulders and laughed. “Let him discover that playing the hero can be a wretched experience.”

“Why are you so cynical?” She looked up at him, grasping her hat to keep it from falling off again. Without pins to hold it in place, the hat tilted to one side of her disheveled hair. “Isn't this what you wanted?”

“Among other things.” His smile stole her breath from her, for it told her that the kiss in the field was only a prelude to what he wanted to offer her today.

“Nerissa?” called Annis weakly.

Nerissa ran to where the still shaking Annis was being helped to the ground. She took Annis into the house and up the stairs to her room. When Annis moaned about her fearful ride, Nerissa said, “Hush. Do not think of it. You are safe now.”

Opening the door to Annis's room, she called for Horatia. The abigail nodded to Nerissa's curt orders to have a bath brought for Miss Ehrlich.

“No,” Annis interrupted, “I shall not go to bed for the rest of the day. Philip will be sick with worry if I don't return for the hunt breakfast.”

“You should rest.”

“Once I am certain he will also.”

Nerissa saw the joy on Horatia's face and knew the abigail was delighted with the affection between Annis and Philip. She knew, as well, that it was fruitless to fly out at Annis on this. Leaving Annis to her abigail's ministrations, she returned to her own room.

Frye was pacing the floor as Nerissa entered. Before Nerissa could explain what had happened during the ride, Frye held out a letter. “This just arrived for you.”

When she saw the familiar handwriting, Nerissa gasped, “Cole!”

“What is it?” asked Frye.

Laughing, she chided, “Give me a moment to open it, so I can see what it says.” She cracked the sealing wax and opened the page. “He's coming home. He should be in Bath within two or three days.”

“Then we must return to Bath tomorrow to have the house ready.” The abigail hesitated, then asked, “Does he say anything about success for that project of his?”

“No. Mayhap it did not go as he had hoped.” She sighed and folded the page.

Frye said consolingly, “It is not so horrid, Miss Dufresne. He can continue his teaching, and you will have the funds from Hill's End.”

“I had hoped, if he was successful, that the sale could be halted.”

“I know.”

Nerissa smiled sadly at her abigail, who understood so much even when she said so little. Holding the page to her breast, she closed her eyes to keep her tears from falling. Her last hope of keeping strangers from beneath the roof of Hill's End depended on what tidings Cole brought with him from Town. Minutes ago, she had been in Hamilton's arms, and she had dreamed of always being that happy. Now she wondered if she ever would escape from this misery.

As Nerissa came down the stairs, glad to be dressed in a simple muslin gown instead of the cumbersome habit that threatened to trip her on every step, Sir Delwyn's jolly laugh rang out through the lower hall. She saw him standing next to Hamilton.

“There she is,” the baronet crowed, “the loveliest lady to ever grace Windham Park. What do you say, Windham?”

“I'd say you are foxed,” Hamilton replied as he smiled at Nerissa.

He laughed. “I am not so altogethery that I cannot appreciate beauty when it comes floating down that staircase.”

Hamilton accepted a cup of the hunt's punch from one of the servants, and came forward to offer Nerissa it and his arm. “I think,” he said softly, “the only thing Seely found on that ride was the bottom of a bottle, but I have to agree with him on this. You do look ravishing.” His voice became raw with desire. “Mayhap because ravishing you is so much on my mind.”

“Hamilton …”

“What?” he asked in the same low whisper.

She drew away from him and went to where Annis was clinging to Philip's arm. Feeling Hamilton's gaze in her back, she dared not turn. No longer could she trust herself not to throw herself in his arms and beg him to dry the tears she yearned to cry. That she could not trust herself seemed the greatest irony, when she had spoken so often to Hamilton of trust.

“I owe you thanks, too, Nerissa,” Annis gushed as she threw her arms around Nerissa. “If your shout had not alerted Philip, I dare not think what might have happened to me.”

“I am glad you are safe,” she answered, glad also to be able to fall back on banalities.

“Wasn't Philip so brave?” Annis continued as they walked into what once had been the great hall of the manor. “If he had not swooped down to rescue me as he did, I don't know what I would have done. Dear Philip, I hope I can count on you
whenever
I need help.”

“Whenever,” he said, kissing her hand fervently.

Nerissa knew this would be the perfect time to broach the topic of his commission, but could not. Annis and Philip seemed so happy in the midst of their friends, and she could not destroy that. Leaving them to talk alone, she went into the great hall. After a quick breakfast, she would retire to her room to sort out the confusion in her mind and in her heart.

The huge room contained nearly fifty people, but it did not seem crowded. A long oak table had darkened with time to near black. It was edged with benches, but, at one end of the table, an elaborately carved chair marked the seat of the manor's lord. Overhead, in the smoke-stained rafters, which were more than forty feet from the floor, twin banners waved. One was the British flag. She guessed the other design of a boar and a lion was the herald crest of the Windham family. Aromas from the food, spread out for the hunt breakfast, should have been inviting, but, although she was hungry, she could not imagine putting food into her cramped stomach.

Nerissa took a single muffin and tried to eat it while she listened to the tales, which became more outrageous on each telling, and wondered which one among them had killed the fox. She suspected it had been the huntsman.

Sir Delwyn pushed past two of the other guests to say in a voice that carried to the farthest corner of the room, “We missed you, Miss Dufresne, at the kill. However, you had a very exciting ride.”

“I would have preferred it to be quieter, and I am pleased that Annis is unhurt.”

“Thanks to young Philip. Who would have guessed that young hemp could be such a champion?”

“You should look more closely at Philip,” she replied stiffly, not adding it would behoove the baronet to take a closer look when he was not wrapped in warm flannel. “There is much more to him than you might see on first examination.”

Sir Delwyn refused to be daunted by her wigging. “And you had an enjoyable ride,” he added with a wink, “with his brother, I assume.” Chuckling, he walked away, pausing only enough to clap Hamilton on the back as he passed him. He turned and winked at Nerissa again.

Nerissa stared after the baronet in horror. Within moments, the stout man would be regaling Hamilton's guests with his guess of what had kept Hamilton and her from rejoining the hunt. This was the very gossip they had hoped to avoid by leaving Bath. She wondered how she could have been so stupid. To return—rumpled and smiling—with Hamilton to the manor house was paramount to an announcement that they had taken the time away from prying eyes to savor a tryst in a hedgerow.

“Do not let that duddering rake disturb you with his poker-talk,” Hamilton said as he put his hand on her arm. “Seely has more hair than wit, and he has little hair.”

“If Frye hears—”

“Your abigail has heard worse, I am sure.” When she started to turn away, he cursed. “Nerissa, if you expect me to apologize for kissing you, you shall have an eternity to wait. I cannot regret a moment of any time I have held you, except for the fact that each has come to an end. Nor can I doubt that you feel the same when you burn like an ember in my arms.”

The heat that had been climbing her face vanished as a more fierce flame glowed in her heart. His words enticed her into forgetting that he might intend to make her one of his
à suivre
flirtations. As his fingers teased the length of her arm, ruffling her short sleeve, she longed to run her hand up the front of his ruffled shirt. Her fingers recalled the strength of his body, and she needed to feel it once more.

“Why are you fighting this passion we could share?” he asked in a rumbling whisper.

“Because I am afraid of what will happen if I don't.”

“And what horrible thing do you fear will happen? Why can't you believe, as I do, that our passion will be splendid?” He moved a half-pace closer to her.

Nerissa backed away, unable to speak the truth she had never owned even to herself. If she succumbed to her desires for Hamilton's caresses, she might prove to be as want-witted as her mother had been when she had been seduced into marrying Albert Pilcher. One of her earliest memories had been of a pledge never to repeat her mother's mistake. It was a pledge she must keep, no matter how much it broke her heart.