The Temptation of a Gentleman (16 page)

“I like Marion,” his mother said with a sigh. “She’s a lovely girl with a bright and quick wit. She reminds me of Audrey in some ways.”

“I would assume after her father’s business is done, the two of them will return to Northumberland. Unless…” she trailed off with an arched eyebrow.

Noah blinked. “Unless what?”

“Unless you have other plans for her,” his mother finished with an even stare. He squirmed under the direct look and question. “Do you?”

What was the correct answer? Especially since he didn’t yet know his plans for Marion himself. She wanted him to take her to her aunts, but that thought was no longer as comforting as it had once been. With her so far away, he’d likely never see her again.

“I-”

“And if you
do
have plans for Marion, where does that leave Charlotte?” his mother interrupted. Her tone was very gentle for such direct questions.

Noah shifted in his chair. These were the very questions he’d been asking himself. The thought of losing Marion forever was an unpleasant one, but promises had been made to Charlotte in London. Though they weren’t binding, they were honorable.

“You don’t fully understand the relationship Marion and I have, Mother.”

Hell, he didn’t fully understand the relationship he and Marion shared, either.

“I’m well aware of that,” she said with a laugh. “I was hoping you might explain it.” She folded her arms as if she were ready to wait.

“I can’t,” he said as he rose to his feet to pace to the fireplace. “But trust I’m not doing anything to jeopardize my plans with Charlotte. Just because I happen to like Marion doesn’t mean my intentions have changed.”

Tabitha stood up with a shake of her head. “
Like
her? I know I’m speaking out of turn, but it’s obvious that it’s more than that. For both of you.”

“Mother!” he said, eyes widening. He’d never known her to be so frank. “Propriety…”

“Bah!” she scoffed with a shake of her head. “Propriety has its place, but so does love. Look at the life your father and I shared.”

“And how unhappy you are now that he’s dead. Is that what love brought you?” he snapped before he considered his words.

His mother’s face twisted with pain, and Noah immediately wished he could take back his harsh words. Until he’d said them, he hadn’t realized how much he equated love with loss.

“Do you think my sorrow now makes me want to change even one day I shared with your father?” A tremor broke her voice.

Noah turned away from her pain with a wordless shrug of one shoulder. She grasped his elbow and forced him to face her again.

“I wouldn’t! My grief now is a testament to the love we shared. In time my pain will ease and I’ll be left with the very happy memories. I wish you even half the joy we shared.”

Noah felt a tightness in his throat and could find nothing to say to his mother. Behind the grief in her eyes, he could see her strength and her love. They were things he hadn’t noticed since his father’s death, but they’d been there all along.

“Promise me you won’t throw away a chance you have for happiness just because you think propriety risks less,” she said with a sigh. “There’s been enough of that in this family.”

“I can only promise you I’ll consider what you’ve said.” Noah slipped his arm from her grip. “I know you mean well, but you don’t understand the totality of the situation. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have a bit of work to do and I’d like to finish it before supper.”

His mother opened her mouth to say something, but after a moment, closed it again with a nod.

He looked away and walked out into the hall, knowing her sad eyes followed his every step, willing him to make a choice he couldn’t make.

Chapter Thirteen

Noah scribbled his initials across the bottom of the note he’d just written. He stared at it for a long moment before folding it in quarters and handing it to Rothschild.

“Do you know what to do with it?” Though the correspondence was a routine one, anxiety overwhelmed him.

“Of course,” the young man said with a jaunty grin. “I’m to give it to my brother at Lucas’s, and I’m to tell him not to give the note to anyone but Sally Howard for Miss Marion.”

“Very good. Be careful. The last thing I need is for this message to fall into the wrong hands. It could endanger Miss Marion’s life if that happened.” He stared at the man with a menacing glare. “Do you understand?”

The cocky sureness in the boy’s grin faded. “Absolutely, sir. I’m very clear on how important this is. And I’ll tell my brother to keep an even closer eye on Miss Marion to be certain she’s not in any danger.”

“Very good. Now be off.” Noah waved the other man away to deliver his missive, then sank down into his office chair with a groan.

Since his troubling conversation with his mother the day before, all he’d been able to think about was Marion and the feelings she inspired in him. The friendship he could understand. The desire he understood, too. But this new sensation of needing her, he had no idea what to do with. It was completely foreign.

He’d run over and over in his mind what to do about it. His only answer was to solve his case as quickly as possible, buy Marion’s freedom and send her to her aunts. There, at least, she would be happy and he wouldn’t have to face the way she made him feel. He would return to London and marry Charlotte as he had planned. Eventually he would forget about Marion Hawthorne.

With a shake of his head, he rose to his feet and mixed himself a drink. Tonight he planned to sneak into Toppleton Square through Marion’s window and do a thorough search of Lucas’s study. Going there was about finding evidence. It had nothing to do with her.

“Damn and blast.”

He downed his drink in one fiery swig. When had things become so complicated? He’d come out to the country to have one last taste of adventure. Instead he’d found a woman who captivated him and created more problems than he wanted to fathom. But the idea of being with her was a powerful draw, and in the recesses of his heart, he had to admit it drove him to Toppleton Square more than any case could have.

***

Marion sat on the narrow window seat looking out across the misty night toward Linton Green. In just a few hours Noah would ride through those trees and climb into her room. She thrilled at just the thought of being alone with him again.

“May I help you get undressed?” Sally asked from behind her.

Marion turned to face the servant with a giddy smile. She’d almost forgotten the young woman was there in her excitement to receive and read Noah’s note. She continued to clutch it against her breast, unwilling to let it burn in the fire as she knew she must.

“No, I’ll stay as I am for a while.” She attempted to regain a firm hand on her composure. “I’ll read for a bit. I can undress myself.”

The last thing she wanted was for Noah to see her in her boring, high-necked night shift. She wouldn’t even be able to look at him after that.

“I don’t know, miss,” Sally began. Her lower lip twisted in question. “It may not be proper.”

Marion wrinkled her brow. “What might not be proper? Undressing myself? I assure you I do it all the time back at home. I don’t have a maid of my own there, and-”

“No, miss,” Sally interrupted her with a shake of her head. “Not undressing yourself. I meant being alone with a gentleman in your chamber isn’t proper.”

The blood drained from Marion’s face to rush to her heart, where it pounded out a staccato beat against her ribs. She took her time before answering. “What on earth are you talking about?”

Sally gave her a sly smile. “You know as well as I do that Lord Woodbury will be coming through that window in just a few hours.”

Marin drew in a sharp breath and reflexively clenched Noah’s note in her palm. The paper crushed in her fist and the corner bit into her skin as she frantically decided what to say.

Sally’s eyes softened with pity. “Sit down, Miss Marion, you look as though you’ll faint away.”

Marion drew in a sharp breath. “Why did you open my letter?”

“Everything surrounding its arrival was so mysterious,” the girl admitted as she watched Marion sink back onto the window seat with a thump. “I wanted to make certain you weren’t doing anything that could get you hurt.”

Marion briefly wondered if allowing Noah so far into her heart wasn’t the most potentially hurtful action of all, but quickly pushed the thought aside. “Will you tell anyone what you read?”

Sally drew back as if offended. “Of course not, miss! I’m surprised you’d even ask me such a thing after I told you all I know about Mrs. Lucas and my ideas about her death. You’ve been kind to me.” Her eyes narrowed before she continued, “And I hope my own kindnesses won’t be forgotten should you get yourself out of Mr. Lucas’s control and into a better situation.”

Marion bit the inside of her lip until she could taste the faint tang of her own blood. Sally was asking her for her help to get out of Lucas’s employ. It was something Marion had never even considered, and she wondered how Noah would react. But perhaps he needed a new maid at one of his estates or knew of someone who would provide her helpful friend with kind employment.

“I’ll do my best to help you any way I can.”

She wished she could offer Sally a place to go, but she had no money to hire a maid. And she doubted her aunts could offer her a place.

Sally’s eyes filled with relief. “Thank you, miss. I’d appreciate any word you could put in with your Lord Woodbury. I’m sure any position in a household you two governed would be-”

Marion’s eyes grew wide. “What? No, no, you misunderstand. Lord Woodbury and I have no promises between us, nor plans for a future together. He’s promised to help me in return for my cooperation on another matter.”

With a tilt of her head, Sally looked her mistress up and down. “Is that so? Hmmm, by the way you two looked at each other, I thought sure…”

Marion swallowed hard at the thought of anything more than a stolen moment with Noah. She’d only allowed for brief dreams of what a happy life that would be haunt her nights, she would never dare voice them to anyone.

“You were mistaken.” She turned away with a dark blush. She would have to be more careful in the way she treated Noah in public or Sally’s belief might become a common impression. “At any rate, I’ll be fine with the Marquis. He’s an utter gentleman, and we won’t be alone in my chamber for long.”

The other woman nodded, though Marion could still see the doubt in her eyes. “Very well. Goodnight.”

Marion barely acknowledged the farewell as she turned back to the window to lean against the glass. Noah’s note hadn’t indicated when he would arrive, but it couldn’t be immediately. It was barely midnight and some of the servants buzzed around the house finishing their daily duties.

She turned from the window to go to the fire. As it warmed her skin, she opened the note again and stared at each word. Noah’s hand was bold and sure, just as he was. She could imagine him leaning over his desk as he scribbled the words, his bright eyes scanning over the missive before he folded it.

Stealing a quick glance around her, Marion hesitated, then lifted the page to her nose and took a deep breath. She smelled nothing and felt silly for her girlish action. With a growl at herself, she tossed the letter into the fire and watched the flames devour the paper bit by bit until it was gone.

“Stop thinking these overly romantic thoughts.”

With a sigh, she crossed over to her bed and threw herself down on the coverlet. She flung her arms over her eyes and tried to think of anything else. Anything but Noah.

It wasn’t possible.

Would he kiss her during their visit? He had in the woods and it had nearly melted her. She craved the same caress over and over. She dreamed about him putting his lips to hers. Even at supper while her father and Lucas rambled on and on, she found herself drifting away to a world where only she and Noah existed.

Yanking her hands down, Marion forced herself into a sitting position. The thoughts she’d been having lately were utterly scandalous. Certainly not the kind her mother would have approved of. Only fallen women dreamt of a man’s touch, didn’t they? Not a properly raised girl. Probably Noah’s fiancée, Charlotte Ives, would be scandalized by Marion’s forward thoughts.

Now why had she thought of the mysterious Charlotte? The other woman only made her painfully aware both of her position in Society and in Noah’s life. He might desire her, as a virile man of his age and disposition would any woman, but in the end he would take Charlotte into his life, his home and his bed… permanently.

She hopped back to the floor with a frown and paced the room, her restless legs carrying her back and forth from the fireplace to the window, then back to the bed again.

“But Charlotte isn’t his wife yet,” she muttered. “And he’s here with me now.”

She flushed at the thought, wondering what Noah would think if she were so bold as to kiss
him
, to touch
him
in the same ways that made her flame with desire. He’d probably take her for a wanton, but would he refuse her?

She strummed her fingers across the mantel with a shake of her dark head. These thoughts were ridiculous! She wasn’t about to throw herself at a man who was already promised to another. No matter how he made her knees weak and her stomach flutter. She’d help him, he would help her, and then she would move on to her new life with her family. A life where Noah Jordan had no place.

***

Noah shimmied up the tall oak tree adjacent to Marion’s window. After years of practice, not a twig cracked beneath his foot nor a leaf fell beneath his weight. When he reached the end of the sturdy limb before him, he reached out and tapped her window. He grinned when it opened easily. She had followed his instructions and left her window cracked.