The Wicked Wager (19 page)

He stared down at her pursed mouth and felt
a distinct itch on his shoulder. Good lord! The girl was giving him hives, and
he had to get away before it became worse.

Still struggling through his list of
excuses he noticed Catherine gaping at them. She stood deeper in the shadows;
he had not noticed her until his eyes had adjusted to the dark.

She stared at him in utter contempt and
with a swish of her skirts walked away.

Snapped to his senses, he disengaged
Prudence’s arm and said firmly, “I am about to swoon, I need to go sit inside.”

“Pardon, did I hear you say … that you are
about to …?”

“Swoon? Yes, that is exactly what I said.
Now, please excuse me,” he said forcefully, turning away and striding back
indoors.

He caught up with Catherine as she tried to
escape the room.

“We need to talk. I need to explain.”

She stared at him accusingly, refusing to
reply.

“Please,” he begged softly.

She searched his eyes and then finally
nodded.

He followed her into the dark morning room.
She lit a candle and then turned to face him.

“I know how it looked, but trust me, she
flung herself at me. It was not how it seemed,” Lord Raikes explained.

“You must have read her intent, then why
did you allow yourself to be in that position in the first place?” Catherine
asked in disbelief.

“You know her, nothing I said dissuaded
her. I had to tell her that I was about to swoon before she let me go.”

“Swoon, My Lord?” she asked, her lips
twitching.

“Yes, dammit, are only women allowed to use
that excuse?”

“No, but I expect men to come up with, well
… manly excuses.”

“Fine, I should have said something else,
but that was the first thing that came to my head.”

“I believe you, My Lord, and you need not
worry, I won’t tell Emma anything.”

“I don’t care what you tell her, just as
long as you don’t believe that …”

“You don’t care about Emma?” she
interrupted, shocked.

“No … yes … no … I mean I do not care what
you tell Emma because … because she knows how Prudence has been behaving with
me. She trusts me.”

“Well, then she is a fool for trusting a
man like you,” she snapped.

“What,” he asked, dangerously quiet, “kind
of man do you think I am?”

“A flirt, a rake, a blackguard, and
insensitive! You may feed me lines about not leading Prudence on, but I find it
hard to believe that you would not take advantage of her if you had the chance.
I have seen … seen the way you look at me, and it is not the way someone about
to marry the love of his life would behave.”

“In what way do I look at you?” he asked in
the same controlled tone.

“Like you want to …” she blushed.

“Like I want to kiss you? Since I am a
flirt and heartless and using Emma, then there is no harm in me looking at you
as I please. Yes, I desire you. But trust me, I would not touch Prudence, even if
she climbed naked into my bed.”

The candle trembled in her hand, but she
raised her chin defiantly, “I think I should tell Emma everything. I cannot
keep your character hidden from her any longer. You are deceiving my cousin,
and I have every right to …”Her words were cut short by a strangled oath
emitted by him, and before she knew it, he had pulled her into his arms.

“You can tell her what you like, but I
think I need to give you more to talk about than speculation and words.”

“What … what do you m … mean?”

“This,” he bit out, capturing her mouth
with his own.

He kissed her roughly and passionately.
Trying to show her if not with words, then with his kiss how he felt about her.

Her inexperienced mind shattered under such
an onslaught of senses. Unconsciously, her mouth softened beneath his and her
body curved.

He changed the rhythm to a tender caress
before he let her go.

She stood staring at him in a daze. She
kept a hand on his shoulder to keep herself steady while he gently extracted
the tilting candle from her hand.

He leaned over one last time to kiss her
forehead, and then left her alone in the dark room.

***

“Emmy?”

The earl groaned as he dived under the bed,
and Emma quickly smoothed her hair and straightened her night gown.

“Cat?”

“Can I come in?”

Emma opened the door and allowed her cousin
to enter her bedroom.

“You look flushed, are you alright?”
Catherine asked.

“Yes, I think I overdid the wine, but I am
alright. Did you want something?” Emma said flustered.

“Can we talk? I could not sleep and saw the
light below your door. I really need to speak to you.”

Emma stared at the distress on her cousin’s
face and sighed. The earl would have to stay under the bed for the time being.

“Sit, and tell me what is bothering you.”

“Do you really love the earl?”

The earl, hiding under the bed, cocked his
ears to hear the answer.

“Yes, I told you that already.”

He grinned in delight then frowned. He
absently scratched an itch on his back as he thought about Emma’s answer. Did she
really love him? Then why had she not told him yet? He had tried asking her
plenty of times, and surely she knew that. That blasted duke always interrupted
them at the wrong moment.

He decided to stay his happiness until she
confessed it to him on her own. Finding out that your fiancée loves you while
hiding under her bed was not very romantic.

Catherine’s voice interrupted his thoughts.

“But the two of you behave more like
friends than lovers. Forgive me for speaking like this, but I cannot understand
it. To someone else it may seem natural, but I have known you for a long time.
I feel like you are just pretending to care for him.”

“What has brought this on? Did something
happen tonight? You have already asked me these questions,” Emma asked,
concerned.

“Yes, well, I… I saw Prudence in the earl’s
arms tonight.”

The earl grinned at that, filing away the
information to use at an opportune moment. His smile froze as he noticed a
spider skitter by. He shoved his fist into his mouth and bit down hard to avoid
squealing.

It would not do for Catherine to discover
his identity like this. He squeezed his eyes shut, blocking the sight of the
spider. Instead, he concentrated on Emma’s voice as she said,

“I see … well, I know she has been eyeing
him, and honestly I do not think he wants her in that way. She must have lured
him,”

“That is what he said, but …” Catherine
replied.

“Is there more?”

Catherine flushed in confusion. A kiss did
not mean anything. Men, she had heard, did not need to love to desire. Her aunt
had told her so plenty of times. He had kissed her, but what if he truly loved
Emma, then she might be ruining her cousin’s happiness. For a moment, her heart
rebelled at the thought of Emma being his wife. She crushed the traitorous
thought and decided to keep her silence.

“No, that’s all.”

“Well, then do not worry, Cat. I know the
earl, and Prudence is not a threat I take seriously.”

But am I? she wondered as she exited the
room.

Everyone was late for breakfast the next
morning. Emma stifled her yawn. The gathering the night before and the earl’s
visit had allowed her only a few hours of sleep, and the effects were now
showing. She could barely keep her eyes open, and they were watering
alarmingly. She blinked, trying to clear them.

Prudence walked into the room, and Emma was
startled to see her looking worse than she felt.

“No, I don’t want any breakfast.” Prudence
whined.

“But Pru, you need to keep your strength
up,” Mrs Barker urged her daughter.

“I feel horrible. I don’t think I can swallow
a bite. Not even a sip of tea.”

Emma was concerned; Prudence never missed
her breakfast, and the girl looked terribly ill. She was about to speak when
the duchess beat her to it.

“Try to nibble this piece of toast. You may
leave it if you cannot have more than a bite. Trust me, you need to eat
something. Just one bite to please me?” she coaxed.

Emma raised her brow at Catherine,
wondering where the duchess’s maternal instincts were coming from. Her cousin
looked just as surprised, and she shrugged in reply to Emma’s silent query.

Prudence tried a few bites, and then
managed to finish the entire slice of toast. She reached for another, and the
duchess poured her some weak tea.

“Now, drink up, and then off to bed with
you.”

Some of the colour was returning to her
face, and Prudence quickly swallowed her tea and escaped to her room.

Emma got up as well, “I think I am coming
down with whatever bug Prudence has picked up. I am going back to bed to sleep
until dinner.” She paused, and before leaving said to Catherine, “Take care of
the earl, will you? I cannot possibly keep my eyes open.”

Catherine gaped at her departing cousin.
The last thing she wanted was to entertain
that
man. She wanted to avoid
him, especially after last night’s kiss.

She had also wanted to use the excuse of
feeling under the weather to hide in her room. She could hardly pretend now, as
the other two had beaten her to it. Unlike Emma, she had not even had the
foresight to throw in a few yawns during breakfast.

“You look pale, my dear. Perhaps something
was wrong with the food yesterday. Would you like to rest as well?” Lady
Babbage enquired.

She wanted to jump at the ready excuse, but
perhaps it was better to get it over with as soon as possible. She would have
to face him sometime, and better to see him alone first and get herself under
control than make a spectacle of herself in front of everyone at dinner.

“No, I am truly fine, Aunt,” she replied,
pushing aside her chocolate. She left them alone to go hunting for the earl.
Now that she had decided to face him, there was no point in dawdling.

Lord Raikes, meanwhile, strolled out of the
library, unaware that the object of his thoughts was looking for him in the
garden. He went to the breakfast room to fortify himself with a cup of coffee. He
sat chatting with Mr Barker and the duchess while he wondered where the young
ladies had disappeared to.

Catherine was quickly losing her nerve. She
reluctantly took a turn outside, and then sighing with relief went back
indoors. Perhaps the earl was occupied with the duke. Latching onto the excuse,
she ran for the library. She, too, would hide out in her room until dinner, she
decided. Why should she be the only one forced to entertain the man when she
had got no more sleep than the other two? She would see him at dinner, and then
take it from there.

She cautiously opened the door to the
library and peeked inside. It was empty. Grinning at her foolishness, she
strolled over to the books.

She chose five titles at random because she
wasn’t sure what she wanted to read. Balancing the books one on top of another,
she nudged the door open with her hip and found the earl staring down at her.

She dropped her books in confusion. This
was the first time she had seen him since the kiss, and her addled brain
vaguely registered him bending and picking up the novels.

“Here”

Absently she reached out for them, and her
hands brushed against his. Neither of them wore gloves. She felt as if she had
been burned, and she snatched her hands back.

The heavy books fell to the ground, one of
them landing on her toe. She looked at him with eyes filled with pain and
accusation.

He reached out for her, and Catherine
panicked. She ducked under his arm and ran towards the stairs.

He leaned his head against the door post as
he watched her departing back. A low growl of frustration escaped him.

***

The dinner that night was subdued. Prudence
picked at her meal and barely contributed to the conversation. Catherine’s
colour was high, though she managed to go through the entire meal without a
single mishap. Emma was the only one in good spirits; her long nap had done her
wonders.

The women retired to the salon soon after
dessert, while the men passed the port.

Lord Raikes sat swirling the ruby liquid in
his glass. The duke had excused himself soon after the ladies departed, for he
had an urgent business to see to. That left him alone
with Mr Barker. He would have excused himself as well, for Mr Barker was
dreadfully dull, but good manners forced him to sit until his glass was empty.

“Do you speculate, My Lord?” Mr Barker
asked, eagerly leaning forward in his chair. It was clear the man had been
waiting to catch Lord Raikes alone. He drummed the table with his fingertips as
he continued, “I ask only because I have two excellent business opportunities.
The duke is very keen on one of them, and he as good as signed the document to
invest in that scheme. Now, I would have kept this to myself, but you are,
after all, going to be part of the family. So I am willing to share the details
with you.”