“But I was perfectly comfortable,” she assured him quickly. “And so you see that I wasn’t with him all this time—very little time in fact. No harm was done, and he brought me back here safe and sound.”
“I can’t believe you’re defending him. If I had known where he lives, he’d be dead by now. The fool driver didn’t know. I sent a man round to the clubs to make inquiries, but because of that blasted ball the clubs were nearly deserted. By the time my man got back to report that he hadn’t learned anything, I was bloody well ready to hie myself off to Shepford’s to find someone who could give me that scoundrel’s address.”
“And then Uncle Edward would have been alerted that I wasn’t with you, and all hell would have broken loose,” she finished for him. “It’s a good thing you didn’t do that. This way no one knows I haven’t been here with you all evening. Which means that all that is left to do is decide whether I should stay here or return to Uncle Edward’s house. What do you suggest?”
“Oh, no you don’t, my girl.” He saw right through her ploy. “You are not going to get me to forget about this.”
“If you don’t, then I am ruined,” she said quite seriously. “Because no one will ever believe that I spent three hours in Lord Montieth’s house and came away with my virtue intact. It is intact, by the way.”
He glared at her. “Then I won’t kill him. But he will be taught a lesson he richly deserves.”
“But no harm was done, Tony!” she insisted passionately. “And—and I don’t want you to hurt him.”
“You don’t—by God, you’ll tell me why!”
“I like him,” she said simply. “He reminds me of you.”
Lord Malory turned livid. “Iwillkill him!”
“Stop!” she cried. “You would never have forced yourself on an unwilling maid, and neither did he.”
“Did he kiss you?”
“Well—”
“Of course he did. Only a fool wouldn’t, and he’s no fool. I’ll—”
“No, you won’t!” she cried again. “You will pretend you never learned his name, and when you see him, you will ignore him. You will do that for me, Tony, because I don’t know if I would be able to forgive you if you did anything to hurt Nicholas Eden. I enjoyed myself tonight, more than I have for a very long time.” Having said so much, she pleaded with him, “Please, Uncle Tony.”
He started to say something, clamped his mouth shut, scowled, sighed heavily, and finally said gently, “He’s not for you, puss. You know that, don’t you?”
“Yes, I do. If he were a little less disreputable, though, I would set my cap for him.”
“Over my dead body!”
She gave him her sweetest smile.
“Somehow I knew you would say that.”
Chapter 7
REGGIE sat at her dressing table, staring dreamily at the little bruise on the base of her throat. Nicholas Eden’s love mark. She touched the spot. It was fortunate she had not removed her cape when she returned to Tony’s house last night. As it was, she would have to wear a scarf until the mark went away.
It was late in the morning, and she had slept much longer than was her habit. Her cousins would have breakfasted already, and if they were still at home, she would have to go through the story she and Tony had come up with last night.
Tony had sent a message to his brother Edward before she returned home, saying simply that Reggie would not be coming to the ball after all. Only that, no reason given. Their story was that Tony hadn’t been at home when she got to his house, so she had waited for him for hours. When he did arrive, they had their talk. As it was so late after their conversation, she had simply gone home to bed. The servants at Uncle Edward’s would confirm that Tony had brought her back there and she had indeed gone right to bed.
Reggie sighed and rang for Meg, then hastily went through her bureau in search of a scarf. Meg mustn’t see her lovebite either.
When she came downstairs a half hour later, it was to find Aunt Charlotte and cousins Clare and Diana receiving. They were in the drawing room with their visitors—the Ladys Braddock, mother and daughter; Mrs. Faraday and her sister Jane; and two ladies Reggie didn’t know. They all stared at her as she entered, and Reggie became most uncomfortable over the lies she was about to tell.
“My dear Regina,” Mrs. Faraday spoke in a strangely sympathetic tone. “How divine you look—considering.”
Reggie felt a tight knot forming in the pit of her stomach. No. It wasn’t possible. Only her own guilty conscience made her think they could know about last night’s escapade.
Nicholas Eden, Fourth Viscount Eden of Montieth, lay stretched out on his large bed, his arms tucked behind his head, only a thin sheet covering his nakedness. He had lain there after waking for nearly an hour, but made no move to get up and face the day. He had long since missed his usual morning ride through Hyde Park. There was nothing immediate that he needed to see to. Another letter to the Earl of Penwich demanding an answer about the land he wanted, but that could wait. It was bound to be only a source of irritation anyway, since he’d never received an answer from the man.
He needed to contact the manager of his shipping firm in Southampton to cancel the ship he had recently ordered made ready for him. He had planned to put London behind him for a few months, to sail to the West Indies again. But as of last evening, nothing could make him leave London.
