The Temptation of a Gentleman (14 page)

Chapter Eleven

Marion closed her eyes and let the cool afternoon breeze rush across face. She was trying to block out her surroundings, but the attempt was unsuccessful. It wasn’t the beautiful sunny day she wished to banish, nor the rolling hills of Woodbury, nor the chirping birds. All those things by themselves would have been enchanting. Unfortunately, they were coupled with the sound and sight of her father and Josiah Lucas, both of whom droned on and on endlessly.

From time to time her father would say or do something designed to make Marion like Josiah Lucas, but those attempts only made her shiver with disgust. Even if she hadn’t known Lucas wished to possess her body, she wouldn’t have cared one whit about his supposed ‘power’ in the shire. Or his love of battle paintings. Or his damned riding skills.

“Marion!” Her father cracked his riding crop against his horse’s neck to get her attention. She just barely missed being slapped by the leather whip and instantly returned her concentration to the two men.

“Yes, Papa?” she asked, her voice smooth and sweet as honey.

Over the years she had perfected the dutiful daughter exterior, though little good it did her. All that devotion hadn’t kept him from using and abusing her. Now her resentment was almost impossible to mask.

“Pay attention! Mr. Lucas was talking to you.”

He motioned his head toward Josiah. Marion winced. Their host did seem annoyed.

“I’m so sorry, Mr. Lucas.” Slowing her mare’s pace, Marion moved closer to her host. “I was enjoying this ride so much I nearly lost myself. What were you saying?”

His lips stretched thin and tight across his teeth in a false smile. “I was asking if you like the mare you’re riding?”

She nodded instantly. “Oh, yes. I was disappointed we couldn’t bring my own mount with us on this trip, but Satin here more than makes up for her absence. Thank you for allowing me to borrow her for the afternoon.”

As subtly as she could, she looked to her father, expecting him to tell Lucas to back away from her. He was being far too forward. But Walter had ridden a few feet ahead of the pair and rode with his eyes straight ahead.

“I would very much like to make Satin a gift to you.”

The lurid light in Lucas’s cold eyes made her reel back. The man thought he could buy her affection, her body with a
horse
? A truly magnificent horse, yes, but no animal was worth enduring his touch.

“That would be highly inappropriate, Mr. Lucas,” she snapped and she didn’t have to pretend offense. “I’m surprised you would make such a bold suggestion without consulting my father. I’m sure he would have told you I couldn’t accept a gift from a man I barely know, much less the gift of an expensive mount.”

She glanced at her father again for confirmation, but he was pretending as if he couldn’t hear the exchange.

Lucas licked his lips with a chuckle. “My dear, I did speak with your father. He approved my present. After all, he and I are closely related business partners, and there may be a time in the future when you see me as more than a man you barely know.”

Promise to Noah or no, Marion couldn’t just sit by and pretend this man wasn’t making a blatant overture to her. “Until that day, I cannot accept your gift.”

His gray gaze went from amused to angry in a blink. Suddenly he looked less like a doddering old man and more like a person capable of pushing his wife down a flight of stairs.

“You accepted a gift from Lord Woodbury and you barely know him. And you had no leave from your father to take what he offered.”

She drew in a breath of outrage. “Taking a collection of pencils meant to replace those I lost in is nothing like taking a horse!”

“No,” he agreed as he grabbed her arm in an iron grip and pulled her closer to him. She teetered on Satin’s saddle and had to grip harder to keep from falling. “The horse comes with the promise of a future if you take it. Woodbury’s pencils come with nothing but the guarantee of seduction and desertion.”

The blood drained from Marion’s face at his implication. She hadn’t realized Lucas had been following her budding relationship with Noah so closely. In his mind, the Marquis couldn’t be a threat. Marion already belonged to him, it was just a matter of
when
Lucas made her his, not if.

“Release me.” She pulled on her arm as she gripped the ladies saddle horn with her opposite hand.

“Good afternoon, Mr. Lucas, is there a problem?”

Noah drawled the question as if he were asking about the weather, but as Josiah Lucas turned to look at him he knew what the other man saw in his eyes. The rage that Noah was barely keeping in check. When he came around the corner to see Marion being manhandled by the villain while her father rode on without a care in the world, his blood had begun to boil. And seeing her fear had nearly driven him over the edge. Only the need to keep perspective on his case had kept him from pummeling Lucas and taking Marion away with him that very moment.

“No.” Lucas released Marion with a glare. “Not a problem. I was just helping Miss Marion, she seemed to have forgotten a number of things about riding.”

“Noah.”

Her eyes lit up as they met his. The utter trust he saw there made him swell with protectiveness, but it also fed his guilt. Her faith was a gift he shouldn’t take.

“
Miss
Marion,” he said with a smile, hoping his proper address of her would remind her that they weren’t in private and it wasn’t prudent for her to say his Christian name.

“What a lovely surprise to run into you today, my lord,” she said, smoothly shifting from frightened young woman to cool partner with nary the blink of an eye. “Papa, look who’s here. It’s Lord Woodbury!”

Up ahead Walter Hawthorne pulled his horse to a short stop and turn to face them. His skin blanched when he caught a glimpse of the threesome behind him. Marion had walked her horse over to stand beside Noah, and Lucas now looked angry enough to spit.

“Er, Lord Woodbury,” Hawthorne stammered as he trotted his animal back to the group. “We didn’t expect to see you today.”

“I was taking a little excursion around the shire.” Noah lied. He held Hawthorne’s gaze and hoped Marion’s father could read this utter disgust. “It’s a happy coincidence we were all riding the same way.”

“Yes,” Lucas hissed as he glared at Noah. “Very happy, my lord.”

“And where are you three off to this fine summer afternoon? There won’t be many of these warm days left, I wager.” Noah motioned in the gentle air around them.

“We’re off to Perchta Lake,” Lucas said in a flat tone. “To picnic.”

“Ahh, the Fairy Lake.” Noah nudged Phantom into a walk, which forced the rest of the group to do the same. He’d seamlessly inserted himself into their party and Lucas would be hard pressed to force him out.

“Fairy Lake?” Marion asked and a twinkle in her eye returned that made Noah’s heart swell.

“Yes.” He urged his horse next to her dark mare to cut her father and Lucas off. Now he and Marion rode together in front, leaving Lucas and Hawthorne to follow them. He hoped they were fuming over their thwarted plans. “Haven’t you ever heard of Perchta Lake?”

“No,” she admitted. “I’d never even heard of Woodbury until we arrived.”

“Tsk, tsk.” Noah glanced back over his shoulder at the gape-mouthed Walter Hawthorne. “You shouldn’t have neglected her geographical studies, Hawthorne. You never know where a lady may end up in the world once she’s of age.”

“Uh…” Hawthorne stammered, but Noah turned away.

“Perchta Lake is named after the fairy goddess of sun…” He paused for the greatest effect. “And fertility. Though a man shouldn’t talk about such things in front of a lady.”

Instead of making Marion giggle as he’d thought his dramatic recitation of the lake’s supposedly magical powers would do, she paled. “Is that really what people believe? That the lake makes a person more fertile?”

“Quite,” Lucas said from behind them.

When Noah turned he saw that any defeat Lucas had shown when he rode up was gone, replaced with a knowing smugness that made Noah want to resort to physical violence.

Lucas continued, “It’s a villagers tale, of course, but even the most pragmatic of men has been known to take his wife… or future bride… to the river to increase her chances of bearing him a son.”

Marion shivered though the breeze was warm on Noah’s skin. Why she was so troubled by the discussion? Yes, the thought of marrying Lucas was a terrible one, but Noah would never let the man lay a finger on Marion’s skin, let alone taste the pleasures of her lips or body. It would
never
go that far.

“Silly tales,” he said as he locked eyes with her. His gaze seemed to calm her fears. She rewarded him with a soft smile.

“Yes, very silly. But I do like the idea of a Fairy Lake.”

He nodded. “Then you’ll like the reality all the more. It’s quite beautiful there. I loved to go there with my friends when we were children. There may even be remnants of our tree fort, though it’s possible it’s rotted away after so many years.”

Marion smiled again. This man had the capability of calming her worries with just a word or a smile. She had a feeling his intrusion on her father and Lucas’s party was no coincidence as he’d claimed. He had come to protect her.

She shook her head at the silly thought. Protect her? That was secondary to Noah’s mission. He’d come to find out more about Josiah Lucas, but then, why was he riding beside her, completely ignoring the older man?

“It’s just over this hill.” Noah motioned to the low mound before them.

When they crested the hillock, Marion drew in a deep breath and quickly forgot all her own worries and thoughts. Noah was right, the lake was beautiful, exactly the place where it was easy to imagine fairies living. Bright sunlight streamed between the gently sweeping boughs of willow trees, making shadows dance across the water. The lake itself was large, walking around it would take quite a while. Perfect spots of shade and flat areas for a picnic were all around the water’s edge.

“My…” Marion slowly slid from Satin’s back. She dropped the mare’s reins to allow her to graze and took a few steps toward the water.

“It’s exquisite, isn’t it?” Lucas asked.

Marion was shaken from her own world by his harsh voice. When she turned to watch him dismount, she saw the jealousy and anger in his even stare.

“Yes,” she said, once again dancing the thin line between politeness and interest. “Thank you so much for thinking to bring me here, Mr. Lucas.”

The older man’s glare became less harsh. “I’m glad you like it. Perhaps later you’ll allow me a turn around the water’s edge.”

Marion nearly gagged at the idea, but quickly smiled to cover her initial reaction. “That would be lovely.”

“But first, we’ll have our picnic,” her father interrupted with an apologetic look at Noah. “I’m afraid we only brought enough food for three, my lord.”

Marion grimaced at her father’s uncouth ways. Even if he hadn’t been trying to get rid of Noah to force her to spend time with Lucas, he would have embarrassed her.

“Oh, father, I’m sure we’ve brought enough for one more guest.”

She smiled at Noah. The last thing she wanted was for him to leave her alone with the other two men.

“No need to worry about sharing your feast.” Noah returned her smile and added a sly wink. “My cook, Mrs. York, packed me a luncheon in case I didn’t return until the afternoon. The woman spoils me. I probably have enough food for all of us in my saddle pack.”

Her father’s face fell at Noah’s smooth answer. “Well, then I’m sure we’ll be able to make room on our blanket for you, Lord Woodbury.”

“Very good,” Noah said as he offered his arm to Marion. “Perhaps while you and Mr. Lucas find a place for us to lunch, Miss Marion and I can try to find that playhouse we spoke of earlier.”

Without waiting for either man to answer, Noah led her away from them and began a slow walk toward a small grove of trees a few hundred yards ahead of them. As soon as they were out of earshot, Marion let out a laugh.

“Did you see my father’s face when you came over the hill? He was as white as a ghost when you disturbed his plans for Lucas and me.”

Her giggle faltered a little when she remembered the way Lucas had grabbed her. He was getting bolder.

Noah’s hold on her elbow tightened, a reassurance to her that he was there and wouldn’t let her come to harm. But what about later, when he wouldn’t be there?

“Marion, look at me,” he whispered. When she did so, he said, “I’m here now.”

She nodded. “Yes, a happy accident.”

He chuckled. “Well, not a complete accident. I thought you might be tiring of only your father and Lucas’s company so I arranged to have a meeting with your little party today.”

“So you
did
come for me?” Marion whispered before she realized she’d spoken out loud. Dipping her head, she tried not to look into Noah’s eyes. What a cake she was making of herself. “I’m sorry, that was a foolish thing to say.”

He glanced over his shoulder toward her father and Lucas. They’d entered a thicker part of the woods and no one could see them. Turning her toward him, he tilted her chin up and made her look into the face that had haunted her dreams for weeks.

“Marion…” His breath came shorter than it had been. “I will always come for you. You need to believe that.”

She searched his face for emotion, wondering what he felt when he said that. Did he consider her a source of information that he lusted after? Or was there more to the relationship that was brewing between them? But she could read nothing from his hooded expression.