The very quagmire James didn’t wish to be placed in. He could stop her, and she knew it. The challenge hit him at a primal and visceral level. He snapped his mouth shut. He had no desire for a marriage where he dictated his wife’s every move. Gabriella was an intelligent woman. Alienating her would create an irreparable rift.
The pursed breath he let out was long—gave him a moment to think. He was unused to the delicacy of such situations. The years spent on the peninsula had taught him to go with gut instinct. In this current position, that didn’t seem so wise. Men did not harbor the same sensibilities women did. “I don’t,” he said.
Her body twitched then stilled. “What?”
Throwing her off kilter eased the tightness in his chest. Made him smile. “I don’t plan on stopping you. In fact, if you need assistance, I humbly offer my services.”
“Do you really mean that?” she asked softly. Hesitantly.
He settled back against the squabs and folded his arms over his chest when all he really wanted was to take her in his arms and kiss away her recklessness. “Yes.” It was a calculated risk, trusting an unpredictable wife. And exciting. She left him curious and anticipatory. Thrill tripped through him.
She nodded slowly. “All right, I shall trust you.” She rose and lifted the trap door. “Connor, Hope Street, please.” She uttered an unfamiliar address. “Drive round to the back when we arrive.”
Again, James was struck dumb. “Hope Street?”
She lifted her reticule and shook it. Coins clinked. “I have an important delivery.”
Hope Street was quiet and lined with matured trees. James stifled his urge to blurt out the myriad questions gathering in his chest. Now was not the time. The carriage turned down a short, graveled drive before a large brownstone with rounded steps that led up to a solid oak door. But Connor didn’t stop, driving to the back as Gabriella had instructed. He handed his wife down from their rig. “We’ll return shortly,” he told Connor. A swift survey of the area revealed nothing. No other carriages lined the street. She guided him back to the front of the house.
Gabriella rapped on the door then opened it without so much as a bye-your-leave. Once inside a drab foyer, they were met by a sturdy yet harried Scotswoman drying her large hands on a towel. “My husband, Lord Huntley, Mrs. Keir. Please send tea to the drawing room. Miss Clark as well.”
“Yes, ma’am.” Mrs. Keir scurried away, and Gabriella led him down a long hallway to a comfortable and worn furnished room with a fire blazing in the hearth.
He strolled toward the warmth, taking in the aging fabric covering the settees—three—and chairs scattered about. “Who owns the house?”
“Rebecca.” Her answer was immediate.
“Does Ryleigh know? Of course, he does,” he said answering his own question.
“Yes, but the money used to purchase the house was hers.”
James sputtered though nothing intelligible emerged. “I… see.”
Gabriella smiled. “I doubt it. But you will soon enough.”
Words that left him all the more curious. “It seems a little odd for a duchess to have a private house of her own.”
“It’s not just her own house, Huntley. She and I are in this venture together. Something we’ve been planning since our come-out ball seven years ago.”
James palmed his face at this information. “You say Ryleigh is aware…”
“It was part of his promise to her when they married. If there is one thing one can count on from Sebastian, it’s his word. He’ll keep it, no matter how tempting it might be in not keeping it.”
“And you?”
“What about me?”
“We never had any such arrangement.”
“If you are subtly warning me that you hold my fate in your hands, I would remind you that I’m trusting you at this moment.”
She had him there. “What exactly is this place?”
Before she could answer, tea arrived along with the young woman he recognized from Fitzroy Gardens several days prior.
“Miss Clark, how lovely to see you,” Gabriella said warmly. “How are you faring?”
The young woman was even more striking up close, but she was very young. She hadn’t yet spotted him near the fire. “Lady Huntley. I’m well, thank you.” To James, she seemed awed by Gabriella’s interest.
