Virginia Henley (31 page)

“Thank you, but I believe we shall take our own conveyance, Mr. Hardwick,” Richard said decisively.

As soon as Peter had departed for the town house in Jermyn Street, Prudence said, “That was a wise decision to
take our own carriage, Richard. I wouldn’t trust him as far as I could throw him.”

“I thought we’d seen and heard the last of my dearest niece. God damn and blast it all! Everything was going along so smoothly; too smoothly apparently. Prudence, you are right not to trust Peter Hardwick. I believe he could prove to be a very nasty customer. We must go very carefully with him and try not to antagonize him. The very last thing we want is an investigation of Diana’s assets.”

“Richard, he did say Diana was found unconscious. She may not recover, you know.”

“Prudence, you are building castles in the air. The chit is too damned obstinate to conveniently die. I was convinced she had met with foul play, but apparently your suspicions were closer to the mark. She must have run off with some lover, and now that he’s deserted her, she’s come running back.”

“It’s absolutely disgusting! She ought to be put in a home for wayward girls. Perhaps we’re fortunate Hardwick’s still interested. Perhaps the best thing is to get her married off quickly.”

“Well, we shall assess the situation when we arrive at Bath. We are still her legal guardians for the next two months and even the earl himself cannot deny our full authority!”

At Hardwick Hall a chambermaid put fresh linen on Diana’s bed while Nora ran a bath for her.

“Thank you, Nora. This isn’t your job. I’ll manage just fine.”

“You’ll do no such thing. Who will do for you if I don’t? Mr. Burke likes to think he controls Hardwick Hall, but what good is he in a situation like this where a young female guest is confined to her bed?”

“I’m sorry to be so much trouble.”

“You’re no trouble at all. I’ll just get you a fresh nightgown and you can pop back into bed.”

“Whose nightgown am I wearing?” Diana asked curiously.

“Why mine, of course. I have some lovely ones, all from France. I put you in a plain white one because the doctor was coming, but I have some with lace, and some cambric ones fine as spiderwebs. I’ll pick something pretty and be right back.”

The moment she left, Mr. Burke put in an appearance. He brought her a decanter of wine and glasses. “If there is anything I can do to make you comfortable, Lady Diana, please let me know. It was remiss of me not to have a ladies’ maid on staff, but we have been a household of bachelors for some time.”

“Nora has been very kind to me.”

Mr. Burke didn’t exactly sniff—such behavior was beneath him—but he said, “She’s a Gaul, you know.”

Diana’s eyes widened. Mr. Burke reminded her of Kell. And it suddenly hit her—of course, Nora resembled Nola, the woman of Gaul. Diana shivered. It was all rather uncanny and gave her the most uncomfortable feeling.

Nora returned with the nightdress just as Mr. Burke departed, and handed it to Diana.

“This color matches your eyes.”

“Oh, it’s lovely.” The pale lavender nightdress had lace around its high neck and cuffs, making it look prim, while the sheerness of the material made it alluring. “It’s naughty and nice at the same time.”

“Yes, the French have a knack for such things. Now, into bed with you and I’ll fetch you a tray when dinner’s ready.”

Diana already felt lonely for Mark Hardwick’s company. She hoped he would dine with her. “Does his lordship dine at home tonight?”

“He’s gone riding in this inclement weather. Over the fields at the back of the property the Archaeology Society has what they call a ‘dig.’ Spends hours there sometimes, but he definitely said he’d be back in time for dinner.”

Diana slipped into bed anticipating Mark’s return, but all she could think of was what she would say to Prudence.

When the earl came striding into her bedchamber, Diana’s spirits soared. She pretended complete indifference, of course. He hadn’t joined her for dinner and she was almost finished when he arrived. She tested the water by referring to the food of Aquae Sulis. When Mark did not dispute that she had been there, she relaxed, knowing she did not have to pick and choose her words.

Though the earl enjoyed her company, he knew he must keep his mind occupied or his thoughts would focus
on how much he wanted to make love to her. “Do you play chess?” he inquired politely.

“Yes, I used to play with my father.”

As Mark set up the board between them, she said, “The last time I went shopping in Aquae Sulis I bought a Roman board game called Robbers.”

Mark was immediately interested. “I’ve heard of it, but I could never learn the details of how it was played.”

“Well, I’m not very good at it. It’s similar to chess, but more abstract with very elaborate moves. The men are ‘soldiers’ and ‘officers,’ and mine were made of crystal.”

“I wonder…” Mark said thoughtfully.

“What?” she prompted.

“Well, one or two silver soldiers have turned up from time to time in Bath. I assumed they were children’s toys, but perhaps they are game pieces from Robbers.”

“Nora told me you have an archaeological ‘dig’ on your property.”

“Yes, but that’s not the only one. There are two or three in the surrounding district. I’m starting up a museum. I have a display of artifacts here at the Hall, but so many are turning up, I think they should be in a museum where the general public can see them.”

“That’s a good idea. I’d love to see your artifacts and I’d like to see your dig.”

“I rode out there this afternoon. I wanted to give the dogs a run. A friend of mine gave me a pair of young mastiffs a couple of weeks ago.”

“Oh!” Diana cried. She knelt up in the bed and reached across the board with her hand. Then she covered his mouth. “Don’t tell me their names!” she warned. “I’ll tell you.”

The moment she touched his face, desire shot through him like molten lava, making his blood hot and demanding. “Romulus and Remus!” she said with delight. “How did you know?” he demanded. “No, don’t tell
me. Marcus had a pair of mastiffs called Romulus and Remus.”

Diana slid back beneath the covers. “Exactly!” she said with deep satisfaction.

He cocked an eyebrow at her. “Mr. Burke could have told you. He greatly admires those dogs.”

“But he didn’t,” she insisted, “and here’s something else that’s uncanny—I firmly believe Mr. Burke was your slave master, Kell.”

“The one with the flagellum?” he asked, amused.

“The very same. I can laugh about it now, but he terrified me in the beginning.”

“Burke has that quality—he terrifies me sometimes.”

She laughed. “Liar. I doubt very much if anything terrifies you.”

His mind did not seem to be on the chess game, and yet he took her knight and then her castle. “When you went back in time,” he said carefully, “what year was it?”

“It was 61
A.D.
Boudicca had led the uprising of the Celtae tribes and burned Londinium less than a year before. As a result, Paullinus, who was in charge of the Roman army, was systematically wiping out the Britons, tribe by tribe.” They both forgot the game as she became absorbed in her story.

“Julius Classicianus, the Procurator of Britannia, wanted to get rid of Paullinus. He needed a more statesmanlike leader to restore the support of the Britons. Marcus and Julius were very much in agreement on this issue, so Julius asked him to go to Rome and speak to the Senate.” Her voice trailed off, and a look of great sadness came into her eyes. “I should have stopped him from going.”

He didn’t want her to cry, so to take her mind off her sadness, he thought to provoke her by challenging her story. “You actually make it sound credible.”

Diana glanced at the chessmen, saw she had no possible way of winning, and abruptly moved her legs beneath the covers to scatter the pieces.

Mark’s black eyes danced. “Willful little vixen,” he murmured. “You like to play games but you don’t like to lose.”

“I’m telling the truth, not playing a game!” “Between a man and a woman, Diana, it is always a game.”

“Ohmigod, I said that to you. You’ve waited seventeen hundred years to give me back my words.”

For one brief second he experienced déjà vu. He dismissed it instantly, not wanting to believe her. Yet it was easy to believe they’d been lovers. If he had waited seventeen hundred years, it was to give her back more than words. He had to exercise an iron control to stop himself from snatching her into his arms. Her scent stole to him and he found it irresistible, and faintly familiar. He needed to taste her too, and hold her breasts in the palms of his hands, and anchor himself deep within her, and arouse the wild passion he knew she was capable of.

Stop it!
he told himself.
The girl has bewitched you.
He studied her for long minutes. “I’m curious. What did this Marcus Magnus make of you when he first saw you? Surely he didn’t believe you were from the future?”

“Indeed he did not. I remember I was wearing this hideous dress with panniers and an equally hideous powdered wig. He thought I was a misshapen old woman until—”

Until he saw you naked,
Mark added silently.

“For quite a long time he was convinced I was a Druid priestess sent to spy on him.”

“That would make sense considering your peculiar form of dress,” Mark teased.

“That would make sense considering my high degree of intelligence!” she countered.

“You’re quite well read; I’ll concede that much.”

She shrugged. “You saw my father’s library—and coveted it, I might add.”

“Among other things,” he murmured suggestively.

Diana blushed, proving that she knew exactly what else he coveted.

“You probably studied the Romans extensively, as did I,” he suggested.

“No, that’s the strange part. I was never much interested in the Roman period. I often had fantasies about other times in history. I much preferred the Elizabethan or medieval period to our Georgian times.”

“Why?” he asked curiously.

She gave him a scathing glance. “You haven’t the least notion how restrictive life is for a young, unmarried lady. I have no freedom of dress, no freedom of speech, and would have no freedom of thought if Prudence had her way.”

I’m a fanatic about freedom myself
he thought.
It’s the most precious thing we have.

“If you compare our effeminate dandies who emulate Prinny with Elizabethan or medieval men, surely there is no need to ask me why I prefer those times in history.”

“Well, thank you very much.”

“Oh, not you, of course. You’re what a real man should be like, but seldom is.”

So there is a mutual attraction,
he thought.

“Tell me,” she said matter-of-factly, “how do you keep in such superb physical condition?”

His mouth curved, flattered that she noticed. “I exercise, swim, ride, and sometimes quarry stone. There’s nothing like physical labor to shape a man. It’s good for the mind as well as the body.”

She cast him a provocative glance. “It certainly seems to be good for yours.”

“The things you say are wildly unconventional. I find the quality attractive.”

“Not only the things I say … I could teach you things you’ve never dreamed of.”

“You are more than flirting with me,” he accused. “You are being deliberately seductive!”

“Part of the game.” She smiled her secret smile.

“When I play with you, it will be according to
my
rules,” he warned.

She laughed in his face. “If you believe that, Lord Bath, you don’t know as much about women as you think.”

Lord God, the pleasure I’m going to have mastering her.

She glimpsed the dark wildness in his eyes and feared she had driven him too far. “Since I intend to get dressed and leave this room tomorrow, perhaps I’d better get some rest.”

“You may only get up if Dr. Wentworth and I agree,” he said firmly.

“We’ll see,” she said lightly as she escorted him to her door.

“If you think I’ll let you have your own way about everything, you don’t know me very well.”

“I know more about you than any woman has a right to,” she said softly, luring him on again before closing her chamber door in his face.

When she was alone, Diana walked over to the tall, mullioned windows. She pulled back the heavy drape and stood gazing out at the landscape. A fine dusting of snow covered the ground and lay along every limb of the stark black trees. The pale moonlight cast eerie shadows in every direction. The beauty of the night had a coldness about it. She had never known Aquae Sulis in winter, and she somehow felt cheated. They had left for Rome before the snow came. It had been cold, though. Her mouth curved as she remembered the fur leggings. Marcus had found them extremely erotic.

Marcus … Marcus. He was the reason she felt cheated. It had nothing to do with the season, nothing to do with Aquae Sulis. How would she get through the rest of her life without him? How would she get through tonight? Her fingertip traced his name on the wet windowpane. She
sighed heavily. Daylight had effectively banished her fear, but in the darkness it crept back. Diana began to shiver. She ran back to the safety of the bed and pulled the covers high.

In his own chamber Mark Hardwick lay supine on the bed with his arms folded behind his head. He tried to relax, but found it almost impossible. His eyes traveled down his body to his sex, still in a state of arousal. Damn her, no wonder he couldn’t relax. And yet it wasn’t just rampant desire that made him tense.

The moment he had entered his chamber he had searched among his Roman history books to find the time period she had spoken of. The books verified everything she said. The Governor of Britannia was Seutonius Paullinus; the Procurator, Julius Classicianus. She had even called Boudicca by her authentic name, rather than Queen Boadicea, which everyone used today.

He searched the encyclopedia for a reference to the game of Robbers, but found nothing. He finally found the volume where he’d seen it mentioned, but all it said was:
A Roman boardgame whose exact details could not be recovered.

Without referring to history books, he knew that Nero had been the Emperor of Rome at that time. Though everything Roman fascinated him, Mark’s gorge rose whenever he thought of the atrocities Nero had committed. At the inauguration of the Colosseum, nine thousand animals were reportedly killed. Nero was a madman who committed suicide, but not nearly soon enough. Mark’s mind shied away from contemplating what he had done to Christians.