The Trouble With Seduction (31 page)

Sarah needed someone to whom she could pour out her disappointment. Lumsley wisely predicted Ravenhill’s pretense, and now sat perfectly positioned to be there for her when their flirtation ended. His friend would be the one she’d cling to, so she wouldn’t be left alone again. He was a genius.

For Sarah’s sake, Niles now needed to apply every ounce of persuasion he possessed to see this to the appropriate conclusion.

He stretched extravagantly, approached the mirror over the fireplace, ostensibly to straighten his cravat, while he studied her reflection. “How are you this fine morning, Sis?”

She tsked and frowned.

“I’ve been waiting for you to come down so that I might talk with you.”

Her lips thinned. She cut him a quick glare and looked down again at the folded newspaper on her desk. Ah, so she also hid behind the paper to avoid conversation.

He sighed. This should probably wait until she was in a better mood. When that would be, he didn’t know. Since she’d shown Ravenhill the door, she’d been in a perpetual pet.

She couldn’t avoid her problems much longer, however. A big heap of trouble had landed on her doorstep and would only get worse if something wasn’t done, and quickly.

“I’ve considered the news your solicitor delivered, Sis, and thought you should know I’m at your disposal should you need any help.”

“Thank you, Niles.” With her attention still glued to the paper, she’d pinched her lips together so tight they’d almost disappeared.

That wasn’t exactly the response he’d been hoping for, but he’d offered his help and done his brotherly duty. Both he and she knew it was merely for show. Problems tended to get bigger, not smaller, when he got involved. Niles tiptoed to the door and let himself out.

***

A few lines in the newspaper’s society column had chilled Sarah to the bone. As she read it again, her heart squeezed painfully.

Convalesce?
That sounded horrible. What happened to him? According to the woman in black, if Sarah didn’t give them the plans, bad men would hurt Mr Ravenhill, the woman in black, and their baby. Tears welled up in Sarah’s eyes.

A knock at the door sent her scrambling for her handkerchief. “Yes, what is it?”

When the door opened, an enormous bouquet floated in, as if airborne. Lumsley peered out from behind it with an ear-to-ear grin. He tramped toward her. “My lady, I know how you’ve missed your flower garden, so I brought someone else’s for you to enjoy.”

Little of what he said registered as her mind continued to dwell on Ravenhill. How badly was he hurt? Removing himself to the country sounded so ominous. Had he been irreparably damaged?

Not so long ago she’d imagined him as her other half – the man with whom she wanted to spend the rest of her life. Then she’d discovered his vile deceptions. She’d told him she never wanted to see him again.

So he’d left.

She hiccupped and blew her nose.

Her feelings of betrayal, stupidity, and foolishness now didn’t seem to matter.

Was she responsible for his injury – possibly permanent – because she couldn’t locate the plans?

Dazed, she took the flowers from Lumsley and held them up as if to smell their fragrance. She quickly mopped at her eyes. “Thank you, my lord.”

“No need for tears, my dear.” He gave her a sympathetic, gapped-toothed smile. “There are plenty more where these came from. If you wish, I will see that you have a houseful from now on.”

She carried the bouquet to her desk and set them in the middle. “What can I do for you today, my lord?” she sniffed.

“Now, now,” he said, stepping up from behind and curling his arm around her. “Let’s sit you down. Nothing is as bad as all that. Tell me your troubles, and I’ll see about fixing them.”

Once they’d settled on the settee, exhaustion seeped into her bones. She’d never wept so much nor slept so little as she had in the past week. She craved the sound of Ravenhill’s voice, so rich and soothing to the ear. She wanted to hear him make a clever joke, wrap his big muscular arms around her, and calm her worries.

As if answering her wish, fine wool and warmth pressed against her side and shoulders, surrounding her.

She wanted to hear his heartbeat under her ear as she had when they’d made love and he’d held her against him in the aftermath.

A light thumping registered in her ear, granting her wish.

And she imagined his kiss against the top of her hair as he whispered words of love.

Something scratchy brushed against the top of her head and her nose prickled. Bear-grease pomade?

“There, there now. I’m all ears, my dear.”

Good Heavens!
While she’d been pining for Ravenhill, Lumsley had wrapped his arms tight around her. Any closer and he’d have her in his lap. The realization made her as tense as an overwound clock.

She threw out her arms, breaking free of his embrace, and scooted to the edge of the settee where she clutched at her high collar and gazed back at him. “I’m, I’m at a loss for words, my lord.”

He smiled at her again, slowly easing across the settee to her side. He gently took her hand and kissed her knuckles. “There’s something I’ve wanted to speak with you about. Something well overdue.” He continued to hold her hand and toyed with her little finger. “You should know I hold you in the highest regard. Have since I… I hate to finally admit this… since Niles first brought me to your father’s country estate when I was fifteen.”

Sarah didn’t like where this was headed. She tried to slip her hand out of his, but he held fast.

“I’ve reached a time in my life where I must think to the future. I’ve searched far and wide and none but you has remained so steadfast in my heart. Being near you over the past few weeks has increased my affection tenfold. And…”

He turned his hand over and glanced at something written on his sleeve before he smiled at her again. “And… therefore…” – he slid off the couch and landed on one knee with a soft grunt, his mouth pulled into a strained grin – “you would make me the happiest of men if you would consent to be my wife.”

He gazed up at her with pure, unadulterated hope.

The declaration quite startled Sarah out of her reverie about Ravenhill. Here was a man she’d known most of her life who now revealed he’d loved her since they were practically children. If that didn’t shout devotion, nothing could.

For the first time she looked past his lack of physical attraction and weighed everything she knew about Lumsley. He had a fair amount of intelligence, though no comparison to Edward. He appeared to have a comfortable living, though certainly not in the league of her first husband, Lord Hardington. And he seemed a reasonably caring man – though sometimes a bit self-important, but certainly no more pompous than Niles.

He was of average build, looks and personality, and did not attract women like bees to honey as Ravenhill did. Nor was he excessively prone to gambling or drink, like many a young lord.

Emphasis on
young
.

He was barely three years older than herself. By all appearances, he would make as steadfast and constant a husband as any man. Plus, Lumsley was already practically family and, with the straits she was in, her father would have had no trouble blessing their marriage.

She clenched her hands in her lap and looked into his medium-brown eyes. The air in the room seemed to close in on her, and her words emerged in a breathless stream, “My lord, I am flattered beyond words…” The bouquet on her desk tugged at her attention.

Somehow the blue and white flowers Ravenhill brought on his first visit appeared in her mind. For a moment, she became lost in the magic of the first time she’d gazed into his big beautiful eye. It had been a weightless, dizzying experience. Her skin had prickled with the electricity passing between them.

Something inside of her snapped like the unspooling of the Buzzy Bee’s spring. She jumped to her feet and paced to the desk to fiddle with the flowers and give herself time to think. “You do me a great compliment with your proposal. But I…” She turned to him.

Still on one knee, his jaw sagged, and with it his smile.

“I’ve been married twice already, my lord. I’m well aware of the commitments and responsibilities and am not yet ready to enter into marriage again… with anyone.”

“But I care for you so, so…” – his pudgy hands fished through the air – “…deeply. I could make your life so much easier. I would hold you against my heart and keep you safe.”

“I am honored.” She tried to sound sincere, while the last words he’d said whirled around in her head.
He could keep her safe
. The bad men seeking Edward’s plans were most likely the ones who’d recently hurt Ravenhill. Had they already hurt the woman in black and their baby? Would they assault Sarah next?

“At this point in my life, I’m afraid I would not make any man an ideal wife.”

Lumsley pushed himself to his feet. “Perhaps this is an inopportune moment. I know you have much on your mind. My fondest wish is only that you are safe and happy in a loving and secure home. If there’s any help I may offer, anything at all, I am at your service.”

He bowed to her and quietly left the parlor, shutting the door behind him. Sarah slumped into her desk chair. Her hand shook as she tore out the newspaper article regarding Ravenhill’s attack and slid it into her dress bodice, next to her heart.

***

“The sunshine flatters you and your lovely new green gown.” Eliza smiled as she poured herself another glass of lemonade and leaned back in her patio chair.

“Thank you, Auntie. I gave away my mourning gowns and had the modiste make up several more colorful ones.” After discovering Edward’s secret tunnels, the very sight of her widow’s weeds made her feel ridiculous.

Sarah took a sip of lemonade and gazed at the stacks of lumber, the bricks and rubble, the demolished invention garden, and the ruined flowerbeds. “These shambles used to fill me with dismay. Not any more. I’ve decided they are vestiges of my old, unsatisfactory life. Now I envision something new. I am ready to become something new as well.”

“That’s the spirit.”

“Niles found this article. Did you see it?” Sarah slid the newspaper across the table.

Her aunt picked it up. “You wish me to read the society column?”

Sarah nodded.

Eliza read it and pointed to the paper. “The names are disguised with initials. No one knows they are you and Mr Ravenhill.”

“How many S.S.’s are there of my station in London, or C.R.’s who’ve recently returned after years abroad?”

“Granted, the writer is trying to be cagy.”

“The article insinuates I’m a black widow and killed my two husbands. Then it practically announces Mr Ravenhill and I were lovers. It suggests he was brutally attacked because of me and may as well be dead. And finally, it warns – any man who dares share my bed will die.”

“I’m sorry, dear. Some people can be so cruel.”

“It doesn’t matter.” Gossip was the least of her problems. Ravenhill’s deception devastated her far worse than any newspaper speculation could. Her inner alarms should have blared when he didn’t volunteer his given name during their lovemaking.

When would she learn? Handsome men always precipitated calamity in her life. First there’d been the handsome boy Niles brought home over the holiday who’d goaded her into breaking her leg. Then there’d been the handsome miller’s son who’d enticed her to a picnic that ended in her being married off to a stranger more than twice her age. Then there was Ravenhill, whose appearance coincided with murder allegations, her home and mission’s destruction, and the shattering of her heart.

“I’m through with men, Auntie. I realized that article was like my yard. Bits and pieces of my life scrabbled together into a bunch of nonsense. Wearing dark gowns only added coal to the fire. I will soon have even more colorful gowns to choose from.”

“And you will look beautiful in all of them,” her aunt smiled. She took a sip of her lemonade. “Have you heard how Mr Ravenhill is since... his recent assault?”

Sarah’s lips thinned. “Amelia informed me he is recuperating at a Falgate country estate.” She tried to keep an even tone as if it didn’t bother her. “He strung three women along simultaneously. Not only was he engaged to Eugenia Lambert during our
alliance
, he impregnated another woman and told her he wouldn’t marry her until they found Edward’s mysterious plans. Providence only knows how many more he took in.”

Her aunt gazed at her a long moment. “I don’t like to play devil’s advocate, but babies and engagements take a little time to establish. He’d only been back in London a matter of weeks. Could this be more society column speculation? You don’t want to give Mr Ravenhill the slightest benefit of the doubt? After what the newspaper said about you?”

Sarah wrinkled her nose and shook her head.

“I’m not saying he’s innocent,” her aunt said carefully. “In these instances, we all wish a misunderstanding to be the culprit. And sometimes, rare though they may be – with some men – there are logical explanations. From what you know of him, do these women’s assertions ring true?”

Sarah didn’t want to make any allowances for him, but something did bother her. “He claimed he didn’t know the woman who said she was pregnant with his baby. He asked me if I’d ever seen her face. After I thought about it, I realized he was right. She’d completely covered herself in black, even veiled her face.”

“So do you believe him?”

“I don’t know. The woman told me I must turn over Edward’s plans so she could give them to the villains, or all of us would be hurt. I’ve wondered if they are the same brutes who’ve assaulted Mr Ravenhill twice.”

“It is curious. Do you trust this woman in black is telling the truth?”

“She could be lying. I don’t know for sure. However, I received an invitation to Mr Ravenhill and Miss Lambert’s wedding.
That
is certainly damning evidence.”