To Tame a Dangerous Lord (34 page)

“Well, thank you for coming. It was a pleasure to meet you.”

“You as well, even though I wouldn’t dare acknowledge it if we were to encounter one another again. I am quite sorry.”

“So am I,” Madeline said sincerely. Daphne had a large measure of Rayne’s charm, while Penelope was much more like their grandmother. Madeline doubted they would become bosom friends, at least not as long as Lady Haviland commanded their slavish obedience, but she would very much have liked to know Daphne better. And she hated to think of causing a breach between Rayne and his sisters.

   When Rayne returned home late that afternoon and went straight to his study, Madeline knocked on his door as soon as she learned of his arrival.

“Your sisters called here today,” she remarked upon gaining admittance.

Rayne’s gaze seemed sympathetic as he invited her to take a seat on the sofa. “I trust they treated you with more consideration than my grandmother did?”

“Slightly more so. Daphne actually became quite congenial as time passed.”

“What did they want?”

“To judge me, I suspect. At least they approved of my gown,” Madeline said humorously.

Rayne’s gaze swept over her stylish attire. “You should fit in their lofty circles quite well, dressed like that.”

For some reason she suspected his observation was not a compliment. Frowning, Madeline directed the conversation down a different path. “You seem to be on good terms with your sisters. Are you very close?”

Rayne shrugged. “I am fond of them, but I wouldn’t say we are particularly close. Penelope is the managing sort and henpecks her husband relentlessly. She takes after my grandmother, in fact. There is more hope for Daphne. She’s given to theatrics, but her wit can be amusing. Both are society creatures, which you know I don’t care for. At least they revert back into rational beings in the company of their sons—although they coddle the boys more than I would like. A pity they didn’t bring my nephews here with them.”

“Yes, I would have liked to meet them,” Madeline agreed. She paused before adding, “Daphne said Lady Haviland may leave her enormous fortune to your sisters because you wed me.”

Rayne regarded her without expression. “My grandmother is free to distribute her fortune as she sees fit.”

“Of course she is. But I would not like you to suffer because of me, Rayne.”

The look he gave her was penetrating. “That is considerate of you, sweetheart.”

“I wish there was something I could do to allay your
grandmother’s concerns about me,” she said with true remorse.

“Don’t dwell on it.”

Madeline smiled faintly. “I cannot help but worry about it. Daphne also mentioned that the family jewelry is normally passed down to all the Haviland countesses.”

For a fleeting moment Rayne’s features seemed to take on a hard edge. “Is that a rebuke because I have been negligent? Do you want me to send for the Haviland jewels so you may wear them?”

“No, on the contrary. I don’t wish to increase your grandmother’s enmity by depriving her of what she considers to be her rightful property.”

“Since the jewels are entailed, you have valid claim to them now.”

It was Madeline’s turn to shrug. “I have never worn expensive jewelry, and I feel no need to begin now. I won’t miss what I have never had.”

Rayne studied her for a long moment, as if trying to determine her veracity. Madeline felt suddenly discomfited by his scrutiny.

“If you must send for the jewels, does that mean they are kept in London?” she asked to redirect his attention.

“Yes,” he replied after a brief hesitation.

“But you do have a safe here in your study?”

“Why do you ask?”

Actually, she was interested to know how difficult it would have been for Gerard to have stolen Baron Ackerby’s heirloom necklace from his safe, yet she couldn’t tell Rayne that.

“I was merely curious. You must have a place to keep your important documents.”

“Yes, I have a safe here.”

“How does it work? With a built-in lock? Or a padlock?”

He was regarding her again with his unsettlingly candid gaze. “The lock is an integral part of the safe. I keep the key in a secure location. Why all the interest, love? Do you have something you want to protect?”

“No, I just wondered.” Madeline decided she would be wise to change the subject. “Well, I will leave you to your business. Before I go, however … I thought we might dine together tonight.”

“I intended to dine with you,” Rayne replied in a rather cool tone.

“No, I mean … in my rooms.”

He leveled another piercing look at her. “What did you have in mind?”

Madeline felt her cheeks warming. It was uncomfortable to boldly proposition Rayne, especially since he wasn’t giving her any encouragement. Yet if he was set on ignoring her, she would have to persuade him differently somehow. “I would like to dine with you in my sitting room tonight. Will you please indulge me?”

His gaze dropped to her breasts for an instant, then returned to her face. “Very well,” he replied with no inflection in his voice at all.

His lack of enthusiasm did not bode well for her scheme, Madeline realized. She would just have to hope that what she had planned for this evening would please him.

   By the time Madeline left his study, Rayne’s unease about his new wife had grown fivefold. Her concern over his grandmother’s fortune and the Haviland jewels
had triggered a churning sensation deep in his gut. And her pointed interest in his safe had only compounded his disquiet.

His mind filling with chaotic, half-formed thoughts, Rayne strode over to his study window and stared broodingly out at the estate grounds. Perhaps he wasn’t overreacting after all by harboring suspicions about Madeline. He’d trusted her because of his close friendship with her late father, but he didn’t really
know
her. Unequivocally, his doubts about her were rising daily.

Mentally, Rayne went down the list of her suspect actions. The first strike against Madeline was the most damning: She seemed to be trying to seduce him in much the same way his former love had. Yet her motives eluded him.

Was financial trouble driving Madeline? Rayne wondered. She claimed that she didn’t covet the Haviland jewels for herself, but could he believe her? She certainly hadn’t objected to spending enormous sums on her new wardrobe—even if her purchases had been made at his own urging.

And then there was her guilty expression when he’d caught her out the other day. When he’d forced her to admit that she’d sneaked into his desk, she claimed to be searching for writing paper. But what had she really been looking for? The key to his safe? Why? Because she believed he kept valuables there?

Rayne locked his jaw, unable to quell the alarms that were sounding loudly in his head, and more painfully, in his chest. And as he stewed over the answer, a supposition struck him that felt right: Madeline’s brother Gerard could be the reason for her machinations.

By her own admission, she had sent the monetary reward
for retrieving Freddie’s love letters to her brother, so Gerard evidently still needed funds.

Indeed, if Madeline wanted to save her brother from financial catastrophe, Rayne realized, her sudden acceptance of his marriage proposal made eminent sense.

Had she wed him solely for his wealth? If so, it was his own bloody fault. He had rushed her into marriage, not relenting until he had his way.

Rayne ran a hand raggedly through his hair. Perhaps Madeline had even played him for a fool from the beginning. She’d claimed to have no interest in his fortune, yet in reality she could be as grasping as Camille had ever been.

At the oppressive thought, Rayne stared unseeingly out the window, assaulted by dreaded feelings of déjà vu. Camille had desperately needed funds to help her family escape from France and so had pretended to welcome his love. The similarities between the two women were inescapable. In using him to fulfill her own objectives, Madeline could well put family loyalty over him, just as his former love had. She might possibly even betray him in order to help her brother.

Was she needy enough to be hatching some mercenary scheme against him? Could she even be in league with Baron Ackerby in some way? She’d clandestinely written to Ackerby and then claimed she was only imploring him to call off the duel. But was there more to her story?

Whatever her purpose, the evidence against Madeline was steadily mounting. What seemed to have innocent explanations at the time now seemed ominous.

It shouldn’t disturb him this much, Rayne told himself, yet the peculiar ache tugging at his chest wouldn’t go away.

At the admission, he muttered a savage oath under his breath. He’d vowed never to travel that path again, but apparently it was already too late. Madeline meant far more to him than she should.

So what ought his course be now? He needed to expose her motives first, of course. He could set a trap for her in order to test her loyalties. If she was after the contents of his safe, he could tell her where to find the key and then see if she took the bait. He could even lure her to expose her motivations by employing outright lies. There was no reason for him to feel guilt when Madeline herself was so evasive. He would have to think more on the best approach.

As for tonight, it was clear she planned to devote this evening to his seduction. He’d intended to abstain from claiming his husbandly rights, but the rush of primal lust he’d felt at her invitation had been so sharp and undeniable, he’d given in to his hunger for her and accepted her offer to dine in her chambers.

The muscles in Rayne’s jaw tightened as he ground his teeth. He was about to let Madeline entice him into her bed again, but the more she attempted to captivate him, the more distrustful it would make him.

And if she thought to achieve her mysterious aims by making him fall under her spell, she would discover that she was playing with fire.

Madeline exerted great care in staging another seduction scene, this one in the sitting room adjoining her bedchamber. She had the servants place a table and two chairs before the hearth, along with a decanter of wine and two goblets on a side table. She asked for dinner to be delayed, however, since she intended to take her plan for seducing Rayne to passionate new heights.

For this one night, her most ardent wish was to be the lover he wanted. She wore a jade green dressing gown of shimmering silk, courtesy of Fanny Irwin—the same one she’d worn to entice Rayne in the bathing chamber. The garment was soft, feminine, romantic, and made her feel pretty and powerful, as if she might truly conquer a man like her husband. Yet butterflies were still rioting in her stomach when a quiet knock sounded on the sitting room door.

She went to answer it herself, admitting Rayne, then shutting the door again behind him. He had dressed informally, Madeline saw, in a burgundy brocade dressing gown with pantaloons and slippers beneath.

She also noted a barely visible tension across his shoulders as he scanned the result of her efforts—not a good sign when she had expected to please him. Outside, it was dark and rainy, but inside, the crackling fire had taken the October chill from the air. The flames and one low-burning lamp cast a cozy, intimate glow throughout the sitting room.

When Rayne turned to face her, though, Madeline could detect almost no emotion in his expression.

“I trust you are not too hungry,” she ventured to murmur. “I told Bramsley I would ring for dinner to be served later. I thought we might enjoy a glass of wine first.”

“As you please.”

Hiding her disappointment at Rayne’s dispassion, Madeline moved past him and poured him some wine. When she brought the goblet to him, he studied the ruby liquid without drinking, his beautiful eyes hiding behind that dark fringe of lashes as he voiced a question.

“What is going on in that clever head of yours, sweeting?”

“What do you mean?” she asked innocently.

“Just what are you planning?”

“Why, nothing more than an intimate dinner. But if you want to seduce me, I won’t put up any resistance.”

Rayne’s dark-lashed eyes lifted negligently to lock with hers. “What if I don’t wish to seduce you?”

Madeline swallowed hard, determined to persevere. “Then I shall have to take the initiative.”

His gaze narrowed in speculation. “You don’t think seduction is best left to the experts?”

She could detect no teasing in his question, but she resolutely kept her own tone light when she replied.
“Perhaps so, but I am attempting to increase my expertise. You said you would teach me how to arouse you.”

“Oh, no,” Rayne responded firmly. “This time you are on your own, love. I want to see how good a pupil you have become.”

Hiding how unnerved she was, Madeline raised her chin and resorted to bravado. “I am an excellent pupil, and I will prove it to you.”