The Sweet and Spicy Regency Collection (85 page)

Charlie. And Dionysus. Or were they two names for the same man? Damn her husband, damn his friends. They seemed to always be at the root of her troubles. Even now when, by all rights, she should be free from them.

Until death, the marriage vow had proclaimed, not beyond.

“Pardon me.” She reached out and latched onto the arm of a rather flustered Lady Dashborough as the lady rushed by. “Have you seen Charlie…um, I mean Mr. Charles Purbeck, the younger Purbeck, I mean.”

“Men!” Lady Dashborough exclaimed, as she shook off Elsbeth’s hold. “This blasted ball has misplaced more men than I care to acknowledge. If you happen upon Lord Ames, you can tell him that
he
needn’t come looking for
me
. Good evening.”

“What was that all about?” a deep voice whispered in Elsbeth’s ear, sending her senses reeling into a dizzying spin. She dug her fingers into her palms and walked away from the spicy scent she now associated with Lord Edgeware. He was one complication more than she could handle at the moment.

Two iron-willed hands curled around her arms and twirled her around until she was forced to stare into his shimmering black eyes. Fear tickled the back of her throat.

“Elsbeth?”

“You are not a man I must bow to,” she said sharply. There were too many men haunting her life already. She didn’t need another. “You have no hold on me. You don’t own me, my lord. You cannot hurt me.”

His frown deepened. “I merely hoped to assist you. Forgive me if I have offended,” he said softly. At that, she could only blink. He’d done it again. By acting in the complete opposite manner than she was accustomed from a man, he’d thrown her and the whole ghastly situation off balance.

“Lauretta is not in the bedchamber. I cannot imagine where she has disappeared to,” Olivia blurted out as she hurried over to them, which Elsbeth dearly wished she hadn’t. She was hoping to keep Lauretta’s disappearance private.

“Am I interrupting something?” Olivia asked, as her gaze landed on Edgeware’s hands and how they were trapping Elsbeth’s arms.

“Not exactly,” Edgeware said and cleared his throat. He let his hold slip away, leaving Elsbeth feeling cold, as if she missed his touch. Which didn’t make any sense, and was completely beside the point. She needed to find Lauretta, not fall under this man’s spell. He was, after all, the one who assisted a bounder like Dionysus and a villain like Charlie.

Lawks, it had to be Charlie behind Lauretta’s disappearance! He was punishing her. She was certain of it.

“Charlie,” she said, her gaze frantically searching the ballroom for a glimpse of that devil. “Where is he? Don’t try to protect him, Edgeware.”

The doors leading out to the gardens were open. She gathered up her skirt and started toward them. Any number of unspeakable horrors could befall an unsuspecting young lady in an unlit garden. Lord help her, Charlie would pay dearly if he harmed her sweet, innocent Lauretta.

“What’s going on?” she heard Edgeware ask from behind her.

“Lauretta’s gone missing,” Olivia replied. “Elly must be worried my fool sister has gone and done something rash. She believed herself in love with that milksop Sir Donald, you must know.”

Edgeware grunted. “And what has Charlie to do with this?”

A shiver traveled up Elsbeth’s spine. The worrying edge in Edgeware’s voice and the undeniable fact that he was determined to follow along continued to unsettle her.

“I cannot imagine why she’s searching for Mr. Purbeck. Perhaps he has seen Lauretta?”

“Doubtful. Our most accommodating hostess, Lady Waver, wished to accompany her daughter home. I sent Charlie to escort them in my carriage. He’s been gone for a little over an hour and I don’t expect he’ll return before for least another quarter hour.”

* * * *

Elsbeth stopped abruptly and turned back around. Her eyes sparkled with an angry brilliance rivaling the purest blue sapphires as she stared fixedly at Nigel. “If not Charlie, then who has stolen my Lauretta?” she demanded.

Stolen Lauretta? She’d suspected Charlie, harmless Charlie, of debauchery? But why? Charlie had claimed to be so chummy with her—like brother and sister. Could these accusations of abduction be sparked by a growing romantic attachment?

By a womanish jealously?

“Well?” she pressed. “This is your house party, Edgeware. Whom should I suspect?”

He mentally ticked off the names of the male guests in his head. Sir Donald had been seen leading the lovely Lady Constance into the gardens. George and his brother were still in the ballroom. Severin was—for the life of him, Nigel could not remember the last time he’d seen Severin.

“Severin, what are you up to?”

“Lord Ames?” Elsbeth gasped, and looked ready to throw daggers.

Damnation, he must have said the last aloud.

“I assure you, Lord Ames is as trustworthy as they come.” She didn’t appear convinced. Wringing her hands again, she made a beeline toward the stairs that led toward the center of the house.

Nigel gave instructions to a nearby footman before following after her. Soon, nearly half the manor’s staff were discretely searching the serpentine halls for Lady Lauretta and Lord Ames.

It would only be a matter of time before one or both of them would be found. Nigel caught up to Elsbeth and told her just that. Even so, she insisted on forging ahead with her own search. In the shadowy light of Purbeck Manor’s back staircase, they formed an unspoken partnership. Together they searched, methodically opening doors along a rather long and dimly lit hallway. With each step, Elsbeth’s shoulders bound up tighter and tighter.

“She’ll soon be found, and she will be found safe,” he said. “I promise that.”

She released the door handle she was holding and chewed her bottom lip. She tilted her head up toward him. “I know you don’t mean me any harm. I mean—” she said and stopped, frowning. “The Baneshire family doesn’t need another scandal. If this were to get out—”

“No one will ever learn of this.” He crossed the hallway and drew her into his arms. “I won’t allow it.”

He felt her muscles loosen as she snuggled against his chest. Her arms tentatively reached around him until she was holding onto him as if for dear life.

“I should never allow myself to feel safe while alone in a hallway with a man,” she whispered against his neck. “But with you, I do.”

“You are
painfully
safe with me,” he said with a groan. For all the world he wanted to kiss her, but he held back. Men frightened her. That he was beginning to understand only too well…and it was beginning to appear as if her unhappy marriage to the Earl of Mercer was at the root of that fear.

She gazed up at him and, with a halting motion, ran the tips of her fingers along the side of his face. “You’re different from the others, I think. You’re rather like a pleasant dream on the verge of wakefulness, not quite understood yet comforting.” She blinked back a bright sheen of tears that had flooded her eyes. “If only I could just wake up into a dream and know that Lauretta is safely tucked into her bed and that my social ruin and…and…my marriage were nothing more than ghastly figments of an overactive imagination.”

What she needed more than his passion or his lust was his strength. So he tightened his arms around her. “I’m right here. And you can trust that I’ll do everything in my power to make your life whole again.”

Holding her near and not acting on his desires was torture. She was too real, too close. She broke through all his carefully laid barriers, and this time he couldn’t ignore it. He covered her mouth with his and fed her the strength of his longing…and Dionysus’s longing. The erotic energy that had been nipping between them swirled into a liquid heat, rising up through them as their lips mated.

She pressed her body against the length of him, molding to him. Her soft lips parted at the pressure of his tongue and she moaned when he slowly explored past her lips.

He guided her until she was pressed up against a wall. He planted his hands on the plaster just above her head to keep his hands from roaming over her body. As difficult as it proved to be, he kept a tight rein over his desires, afraid he might frighten her flaring passion away.

And it was passion, as alive and hot as his own, that answered his exploring kisses. She nipped his bottom lip. Dear Lord, who was this woman in his arms? She was nothing like the feminine ideal of perfection that had lingered in his dreams for nearly a decade. This woman was real.

“I wouldn’t dare trade this moment for even the sweetest dream in the world,” he whispered. Immediately he knew he’d made a tactical mistake. She peeled her lips from his. The passion that had been so real a moment ago was gone.

“Lauretta.” She wiggled away from the wall. The dreamy passion in her eyes had been replaced with panic. “We have to find her.”

“Of course.” His lower half was screaming for him not to give up so easily. He was being ruled by lust and had started this seduction in the hallway even though he’d known finding Lauretta was their priority. “As I already promised,” he said tightly. They continued down the rather quiet, narrow corridor, each resuming the task of opening doors on either side. “I won’t ignore this attraction between us.”

“Later, we will discuss this—” Elsbeth gasped. “Lauretta!”

Nigel peered over her shoulder into his portrait gallery in time to see Severin pull away from Lauretta and jump to his feet. Even in the yellowy light, Nigel could see how the young woman’s lips were as swollen as Elsbeth’s and her cheeks brightened from Severin’s skilled kisses.

“Severin?” he said, his temper building in concert with Elsbeth’s agitation. “Do you care to explain yourself?”

“Do not speak,” Elsbeth said, throwing her arms wide. “I cannot bear to hear your voice.” She paused just long enough to scowl at Nigel. “Or yours, my lord.”

Severin backed quickly away while Elsbeth approached as assuredly as a harridan with a weapon. Without another word, she snatched Lauretta up from the small bench in the middle of the gallery and bustled her out the door.

Nigel followed until Elsbeth turned a corner. He then returned to the gallery and closed the door behind him.

“So, Severin.” He crossed his arms in front of his chest. “Tell me. Do your tastes now run toward young innocent maidens?”

Severin, intelligent man, seemed to sense the danger he faced and took a step back. “Really, Edgeware, this isn’t what you think. We were merely discussing art and artists.”

* * * *

Elsbeth paced her bedchamber. A silvery moon sent a chilling beam through the floor-to-ceiling window. She’d sent Olivia and Lauretta to their beds in the adjoining room without allowing Lauretta to explain herself or her actions.

She didn’t care to know, for whatever had happened, which didn’t appear to extend beyond a few kisses, was not nearly as bad as what could have happened. And what could have happened was what had Elsbeth worried.

Charlie, Dionysus, and Lord Ames, they were all dangerous in their own way. And, as was proved tonight, they were dangerous not only to herself but also to those closest to her. Attending this house party without the protection of her uncle was beyond foolhardy. She couldn’t protect Olivia or Lauretta from those men. She should have never thought she could. Years of marriage should have taught her better.

When, in the past six years, had she ever proven she could protect herself from the men in her life?
When
?

Even now, even after Edgeware had boldly declared for a second time his intention of seducing her, she felt her resolve slipping. His words, his touch, his blasted presence was driving her out of her mind. Only an hour ago, he’d nearly brought her to her knees with wanting him, and she hadn’t a clue how he’d managed it. Something about him made her feel young and innocent again, as if the child who’d once blindly fallen in love with Dionysus’s paintings had miraculously sprang back to life.

She stopped her pacing and stood at the window, gazing out into the darkness. A shadow crossed in front of a row of trees. She frowned.

There were too many intrigues going on in this accursed place, too many opportunities for mischief.

She should leave. That’s what she needed to do, escape. At first light she planned to see that Olivia and Lauretta’s belongings were packed up. By mid-morning they should be well on their way back to London. Her fingers involuntarily curled around the oval locket hanging around her neck. But she hadn’t needed the reminder.

Dionysus
.

He was still out there. And despite Edgeware’s assurances, he was still a threat to the Baneshire family.

Tonight
.

She lit a candle and pulled a wrapper on over her thin nightrail. Tonight, she would have her proof.

Chapter Thirteen

Sleep would be impossible. Nigel wasn’t even going to try. He shrugged off his evening coat and tore at the knot of his cravat until it fell free. Damnation! He flexed his stiff hand before undoing the buttons on his waistcoat. He’d punched Severin for no better reason than for causing a moment of embarrassment in front of Elsbeth—his paragon of perfection.

A sudden urge to paint overcame him. But he couldn’t give in to it, not while the house was bursting with guests. He wandered to the window, instead, and pressed his sore fist against the pane. Being so near her and yet so distant, was tearing holes into his sanity.

What the bloody hell?

In the moonlight, he watched as a shadowy figure darted from the garden path toward the cliffs.

Now there was a problem he knew exactly how to handle. He retrieved his pistol from a small wooden box sitting atop his dressing table. Come morning, he’d have one less problem.

* * * *

Elsbeth eased the door to Lord Edgeware’s study open and held a small candle aloft as she poked her head into the room.

There was a stillness. A safe, undeniably empty, stillness.

She slipped inside, nudging the door closed behind her with the toe of her slipper. A few embers smoldered behind the fire grate casting a deep red glow into the room. She went straight to a large oak desk that was in front of a bank of windows and gave the top drawer a tug.