It was his cousin, Camden West.
Damnation. Of all the gentlemen a lady might stumble upon in a dark garden, Camden West would be her last choice.
They’d been introduced at a ball at the start of the season, shortly after he returned to London from a prolonged stay in India. Once they’d met, his gaze seemed to follow her everywhere, fixed on her with an intensity that made her whole body quiver with . . .
Anticipation?
At first, perhaps. Until she realized she was quivering for the wrong reasons.
When he looked at her with that glittering green gaze, it wasn’t admiration she saw in his eyes, but something else. She couldn’t quite put her finger on it, but it was a bit sinister, as if he was contemplating how quickly he could devour her, then spit her bones into a pile at his feet.
He was as handsome as sin, but that look in his eyes . . .
In the end, she’d discouraged his attentions. If he’d been disappointed by her curt rejection, he’d still behaved like a gentleman. She’d caught him watching her a few times since then, but he hadn’t spoken another word to her.
Until now. “I’m no scoundrel—at least, not in this instance—but I’ll grant you a dark garden can hide a multitude of sins.”
“Sins and sinners both, Mr. West. If you’re not a scoundrel, then why should you be skulking about a dark garden?”
“Ah, but I might ask you the same question, my lady. Perhaps you’re the scoundrel.”
She shrugged. “Perhaps I am. It can’t be safe for you to linger in a dark garden with me then, can it? You should return to the ballroom while you still have the chance.”
He chuckled, and moved a step closer. “You’re eager to be rid of me. I wonder why?”
Because you’re tootall, for one.
Eleanor craned her neck back another notch to see his tight jaw and strong chin above the folds of his cravat, a pair of unsmiling lips above the chin. She folded her arms over her chest, irritated with him. How dare he loom over her in such a rude manner? It was unfair, somehow, that he should tower over everyone else.
Before she could succumb to a dizzying fit of vertigo, he spoke again. “Did something in particular tempt you out into the garden tonight? A liaison, perhaps?”
“Oh, dear. Have you wandered outside hoping for a scandal?” She gave an exaggerated sigh. “I’m afraid I’ll have to disappoint you, unless taking the fresh air is a sin.”
“If it’s only fresh air you want, then why leave the terrace?” He shook his head, his hard green eyes narrowed on her face. “No, I don’t think that’s why you’re out here, Lady Eleanor.”
His bow was proper and his address correct, but his voice was cold and detached. Eleanor swallowed against the dread rising in her throat. Camden West had followed her out here, and now he was looking at her as if she were a garden slug he’d like to crush under his boot heel.
“You may think what you like, Mr. West, but it hardly matters, does it? It’s not proper for me to be alone in a dark garden with you, so I’ll take my leave.” She dipped into a shallow curtsy. “Enjoy your solitude, sir.” She turned and began to walk back toward the terrace, but she had to force herself to take slow, measured steps when everything about this situation urged her to run.
She didn’t get far.
“If your sister were as concerned with propriety as you are, neither of us need be out here at all.”
Eleanor froze, then turned slowly around, her back rigid. Oh, no.
His teeth flashed white in the darkness, and when he spoke again, his voice was an amused drawl. “Don’t tell me you’ll return to the ballroom before you’ve found her?”
She fixed him with the same bland expression she used on gentlemen who proposed marriage to her. “What do you know about my sister, Mr. West?”
He shrugged, as if it didn’t matter one way or another to him. “I know she disappeared into the garden fifteen minutes ago. I assume you’ve come out to find her and return her to the ballroom before she’s missed, and her reputation is ruined.”
Eleanor fought to keep her face blank as panic and fury surged in her breast. This awful man, with his cold voice and perfect cravat—he knew everything, and now she found herself in a damnable predicament. She hated to return to the ballroom without Charlotte, but what was to stop Mr. West from following her through the garden? It was bad enough he knew about the indiscretion, but it would be much worse if he saw it with his own eyes.
She gave him a thin smile. “So you’ve wandered off into the garden tonight to retrieve your cousin beforehe’smissed, andhisreputation is ruined. Oh, but wait, how foolish of me. His reputation as a wicked rake can only be enhanced by a dalliance in a dark garden with an innocent young lady, can’t it? It’s only my sister who need worry about discovery.”
If he heard the suppressed fury in her voice, he took no notice of it. The bland expression on his face never altered. “Yes, that’s generally how it works, but I’d just as soon find my cousin all the same. Shall we search together?”
Eleanor restrained an unladylike snort. She had no intention of joining forces with him in this, or anything else. No, the best she could do now was try to make sure Camden West couldn’t provide the gossips with an eyewitness account of her sister’s indiscretion. “They’ll be back in the ballroom by now, so if you’ll just be kind enough to escort me—”
