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What she had done, she realized a split second too late, was to wind one arm around the viscount’s neck and bury her face against his naked chest. His free arm came round and held her to him, his breath rasping in his throat as she wriggled. She managed to pull herself up so they were face to face, so close she could feel his breath on her mouth, see, in the flashes of light as they passed lamps, that his eyes were intent on her face with a kind of focus that sent answering heat surging through her.
He wanted her. Aroused, she supposed, by the chase, by the violence, by his half-naked state and her quivering body clamped to his, Marcus Carlow quite patently wanted her. And for an insane moment, she wanted him too, wanted that strength and the certainty and the sheer animal physicality that lay hidden beneath the veneer of the civilised gentleman.
Desire must have shown in her eyes, or perhaps in the way her breath caught, and he saw it, recognized it. His mouth, when it took hers, was hot and hard. Not polite, not questioning. He had seen the need in her; it met his and so he acted on it.
For a moment it was what she wanted, what she had dreamt of, powerfully erotic, all-consuming, sweeping her away from reality. He made no allowance for inexperience, his tongue thrusting into her mouth with arrogant demand, his lips sealing over hers, his arm shifting her to lie across his legs so she could feel the shameless jut of his erection against her buttocks.
What broke the spell, she did not know. Some sound, the play of the shadows, a touch? She could not be sure, but the dark memories flooded back and with them the shame and the fear. She was no longer a willing partner in this embrace, this primal sharing of heat and breath and desire. She was afraid, hurting, overwhelmed and helpless. Blindly, Nell struck out, fighting, desperate against the man imprisoning her.
One moment his arms were full of supple, warm, yielding woman, the next a fury was struggling to be free, hands and heels flailing, her gasps of passion replaced by sobbed words. ‘No, no, no...’
Dizzy with loss of blood, with desire and pain, Marcus opened his hands. ‘Nell, don’t. I won’t—Nell, it is all right.’ She recoiled from him, wrenching free the arm that had been around his neck, her clenched fist striking his wounded shoulder like a hammer blow. The pain was exquisite, the world went dark. With what remained of his strength, he pulled her back against his body. ‘Nell...safe.’
‘My lord!’ Wellow’s voice? The butler seemed to be shouting down a well. Had he fallen down one? That would explain why there was all this pain. Marcus decided he had broken his shoulder; that was logical. It explained why he was cold and hurting, but it did not explain why he was sitting on something that rocked, or what the light against his closed eyes was.
Reluctantly, Marcus dragged his lids open and prepared to deal with this. Only he was not down a well and he appeared to be in his own carriage outside his own front door, half-naked and with Wellow and three footmen all peering anxiously at him from the pavement. ‘What the hell?’
‘Get him inside,’ said a decisive and irritated female voice from behind him. ‘And send for the doctor. He has been shot; the bullet is not in the wound but he has lost blood. Hurry up, if you please! He will catch his death from cold out here.’
‘Managing female,’ he muttered, amused despite himself. If he could only recall who she was and why—
‘Well, someone has to be,’ she snapped.
Oh yes, Miss something... ‘Nell. You taste of cherries.’
‘You will have to carry him,’ she continued, ignoring this. ‘It will take all of you, he is so big.’
‘Not helpless. can walk.’ Marcus got himself upright by hauling one-handed on the doorframe. Hands reached out as he stumbled down the step to the pavement, then a shoulder was thrust under each arm and the footmen began to walk him towards the door. ‘Damn it, I’m not drunk!’
‘No, my lord.’ That was Richards’ soothing murmur. ‘Of course you’re not. We’ll just get you into the warm, my lord.’
The heat and light of the hall made him shudder, suddenly realizing just how cold he was. Marcus freed himself from his supporters and straightened up. He was damned if he was going to be half carried to his own bed, felled by some chit with a pocket pistol.
It was coming back now. And it had not been some chit, it had been Nell Latham and she might have wounded him, but she had kept her head and stopped the bleeding despite being thrown into a carriage on top of the man who had frightened her so much.
He turned slowly on his heel to find her facing him, chin up, her arms full of bloodied shirt and ruined coat. And then his memory presented himself with the damnably precise image of what had happened next. He’d kissed the woman, ravished her mouth like a wounded barbarian dragging home a prize from the hunt. Her eyes widened as he stared at her, the fear flaring again as though she expected him to seize her, there and then, and force her on the marble floor.
‘Peters, take those clothes from Miss Latham and show her into the White Salon. Bring her warm water and a towel for her hands. Richards, send for the doctor; the man may as well take up residence here at this rate. Wellow, have Allsop come down to the library with a shirt and my dressing robe.’ The doctor could see to him down there; no point in making a fuss and attracting the attention of the family. ‘And, Wellow, there is no need to disturb Lord or Lady Narborough or my sis—’
‘Marcus!’
‘Honoria, quiet, please! Papa will hear.’
She ran across the hall to him, her eyes wide, her cheeks pale at the sight of the blood on his chest and the makeshift bandage. But being Honoria, there was excitement and vivid curiosity behind the concern. ‘What happened? And who is this?’
‘This is Miss Latham who came to my aid when I was shot,’ he said smoothly. ‘If you could just take her into the salon—’
‘Marcus!’
‘Mama.’ Was he fated never to get a sentence finished? Marcus gritted his teeth and produced what he hoped was a reassuring smile. ‘I have suffered a minor flesh wound, Mama. Thanks to Miss Latham it is under control, the bleeding has stopped. I have sent for the doctor. Could you all go into the White Salon so I can get changed and Miss Latham can sit down? She has had a somewhat trying evening.’
Lady Narborough gave a little gasp at the sight of his blood-smeared naked torso, but nodded, took Honoria’s arm and smiled back at him. ‘Of course. If Dr Rowlands is on his way, I am sure there is nothing to worry about. Come along, Honoria. Miss Latham, we are so grateful for your help.’
Miss Latham coloured up, he saw. As well she might, seeing that she had shot him in the first place. It was something that she could blush, he supposed. ‘Lady Narborough, it was really the least I could do. Now, if you will excuse me, I must go home.’
‘But, Miss Latham, remember what we discussed?’ He moved to her side, smiling down at her. Her eyes widened as though he had snarled instead. Perhaps he had. ‘I really do not feel it is safe for you to do anything but stay here at the moment.’
‘Safe?’ Marcus felt a twinge of admiration for the way she held his eyes with hers. Her chin came up. ‘I see you are serious about the threat,’ she murmured, her voice dropping as she glanced sideways at the other women.
‘Not a threat. I never threaten, Miss Latham. It was a promise.’
‘You promised to keep me safe just now,’ she retorted. ‘I think.’
‘And so I will, if you stay here.’ Safe at least from whatever she was frightened of outside. Inside, he was not going to promise to keep his hands off her throat if she was not completely frank with him and soon.
‘Did you say threat, Marc?’ Honoria, her hearing as sharp as her eyes, turned in the doorway.
‘I was shot in the street, very close to Miss Latham’s house. I fear she could be in danger if she returns there so soon,’ Marcus said, urging the three women through the door of the salon.
‘Lord Narborough is ringing.’ They all turned towards the stairs as Miss Price came down. ‘I heard movement inside his room. He may be intending to come down if no one answers.’
‘He most certainly is,’ Lord Narborough said as he appeared at the head of the stairs, clad in a green silk robe, his stick in his hand. ‘I’ve been ringing for the past five minutes. What the devil is going on?’ He paused, stared at his blood-smeared son and grabbed for the banister. ‘My God, Marcus, what has happened to you?’
‘A flesh wound, nothing more. It looks worse than it is.’ Marcus reached his father before the earl’s knees gave way, his own legs feeling like sponges as he ran up the stairs. ‘Sir, come back to your room. The doctor is on his way.’ He closed his fingers on his father’s wrist unobtrusively as they walked slowly back. He did not like his colour. Behind him he heard the rustle of his mother’s skirts. ‘I’ll tell you all about it.’
Nell sat down on an upright chair, spine straight, shoulders back, as though impeccable deportment could armour her against whatever might befall her in this house. She could only hope that none of them recognized her from that first, ill-fated visit. What had happened in the carriage she could not even begin to think about. It had been too shocking, too violent, too complex to contemplate now, despite her body’s betraying shivers.
Lady Honoria sat down opposite her, eyes bright with curiosity. She was very pretty and beautifully gowned, Nell observed, and she had an air about her of barely suppressed energy. A handful, Nell had no doubt. The other woman, clad in elegant simplicity in dove-grey silk, was a few years older, Nell guessed, noticing that her gown was home-made, with taste and skill. The paid companion, perhaps?
She tugged the bell pull and came to sit beside Lady Honoria. ‘I am Diana Price, companion to Lady Honoria and Lady Verity. Tea should not be long. You were not yourself wounded in the attack, Miss Latham?’
‘No. Fortunately. It was somewhat alarming, however.’
‘Was it footpads?’ Lady Honoria asked.
‘With a pistol?’ Miss Price countered. ‘That is not their usual weapon, I would have thought.’ She frowned at Nell, puzzled. ‘What exactly happened?’
‘I was on my doorstep, about to take my keys from my reticule,’ Nell began, picking her words with care. ‘And Lord Stanegate was passing. And then there was the incident and the gun went off in the struggle and he was hit in the shoulder. Fortunately the coachman was able to get him into the carriage.’
‘Extraordinary.’ Nell’s heart sank. Lady Honoria was bubbling with excitement, too caught up in the drama to notice the gaping holes in Nell’s account. Miss Price, however, was regarding her with cool, intelligent eyes, speculation lurking in their depths.
The arrival of the butler with the tea tray was a welcome distraction. The ritual of pouring and passing reduced the encounter to a normal social occasion. Nell accepted a macaroon with real gratitude and let herself relax. It was a grave mistake.
‘But I have seen you before, Miss Latham,’ Lady Honoria said, her brow wrinkled in concentration. ‘I know I have. Now, where could that have been?’
‘I am all right, don’t fuss, my dear.’ The earl managed a smile for his wife as Marcus eased him back into his wing chair. ‘You let us talk, hmm?’
Marcus turned, met his mother’s eyes and nodded reassurance.
‘Don’t tire him,’ was all she said as she went out, the demi-train of her gown swishing on the carpet.
‘Who shot you?’ his father demanded.
‘Miss Latham, who is, of course, the young woman who delivered the parcel the other morning.’ Marcus kept his voice scrupulously matter-of-fact. If he was in his father’s shoes, nothing would make him more frustrated and unwell than getting half-truths and evasions. ‘I tracked her down to her place of employment, followed her home and startled her, looming out of the fog. It appears she carries a pistol in her reticule.’
As if speaking of it touched a nerve, a wrenching pang shot through the wound. Marcus gritted his teeth, looked longingly at the brandy decanter and decided that, on top of blood loss, even one glass would seriously impair his analytical ability.
‘She meant to kill you?’ His father’s knuckles whitened on the head of his cane.
‘Probably not.’ Marcus shook his head, wondering why he had any doubts. Nell had seen his face and she had still held the pistol to his chest. Could she really not have realized it was loaded when she did not deny it was hers? ‘But she’s lying to me, still. I mean to keep her here for a day or two, see if I cannot pry the truth out of her. She’s deeper into this business with the rope than she says. I know it.’
Beside anything else, he could recall the feel of the gun in his hand. It was a well-made lady’s weapon with an ivory handle, not some ancient, cheap pistol bought on impulse from a Spitalfields pawnshop. Her confederate must have given it to her; that was the most likely explanation.
‘Who can be behind it?’ Lord Narborough frowned. ‘Now, I mean. In ninety-four any of us were targets, and when Hebden and Wardale died, then I could have understood an attack.’ He swallowed and made a visible effort to regain his composure. ‘Feelings ran high.’
That was an understatement, Marcus thought, for the furore surrounding a murder, the unmasking of a spy ring, and a crisis of conscience that had never left his father in peace. ‘Almost twenty years,’ he pondered. ‘Enough time for the Wardale son to grow up.’
‘Young Nathan? He’ll be a man now. Last saw him when he was nine or ten. Blond child, big watchful eyes. Solemn little soul.’ He frowned. ‘I don’t suppose—’
‘Miss Latham is most definitely female.’ That earned an old-fashioned look from his father. ‘Blond, you say? Nathan Wardale’s not Nell’s dark man, then,’ Marcus added before the earl could pursue the question of why he was so certain of Nell’s gender.
‘Unless she’s trying to deceive you with a description that is the opposite of the truth,’ his father said, sitting up straighter. ‘Could she be his mistress, do you suppose?’
‘No!’ Marcus startled himself with the vehemence of his response, then tried to justify it. ‘She lives in cheap lodgings near Spitalfields church. Decent enough, but not the sort of situation to keep one’s mistress.’
‘And you would know,’ the older man said with an unexpected crack of laughter. ‘Come to an arrangement with Mrs Jensen yet? You’ve got good taste, I’ll give you that. Expensive ware, that one.’
‘Not yet, no, sir,’ Marcus responded, refusing to rise to the bait. How the devil his father knew about Perdita, let alone any details about her, escaped him. It never did to underestimate the earl.
‘So, what are you going to do about her?’
‘Mrs Jensen?’ he asked, playing for time.
‘No, this Miss Latham.’ The earl turned his gaze on his son, wicked amusement lurking behind the intelligence. It was not often these days that Marcus was reminded where Honoria and Hal got their wildness from, but it was evident tonight. The strain might be bad for his father’s heart, but the puzzle and the excitement were good for his spirits and his brain. ‘Do you think she’ll try and kill off any of the rest of us?’
‘I doubt it. She is not that foolish,’ he said dryly. ‘She’ll stay here—if whoever is behind this sees we have his agent in our hands, that might provoke a reaction.’
‘And how do you intend to keep her here short of force? Your mother might have something to say about that.’
‘I have threatened Miss Latham with Bow Street and a charge of assault by shooting,’ Marcus explained, grinning back as his father’s face was transformed by an appreciative smile.
‘Very good. And what was her response?’
‘She said it was nonsense, but as she was ripping up her petticoats to bandage my wound, she was unable to develop the argument.’
‘Stopping you bleeding to death certainly weakens the case against her,’ the earl observed. ‘She could have fainted conveniently and left you to bleed.’ There was a tap at the door.
‘Dr Rowlands for Lord Stanegate, my lord.’
‘I’ll be with him directly.’ Marcus got to his feet and rested one hand on his father’s shoulder. ‘Don’t worry yourself about this, sir. We’ll get to the bottom of it soon.’
‘Aye, and what are we going to find there?’ he heard the older man mutter as the door closed behind him.
Nell was beginning to feel as if she was involved in a fencing match against two opponents. Miss Price, impeccably polite, appeared to be analysing every word she said and finding it sadly wanting. Her half smile expressed more doubt than if she had been on her feet accusing Nell of shooting Lord Stanegate deliberately.
Beside her, Lady Honoria worried away at the certainty that she had seen Nell before.
‘A delightful bonnet, if I may say so,’ Miss Price observed.
‘Bonnet?’ Nell put up her hand, surprised to find it was still in place after the evening’s events. Lord Stanegate had pushed it off her head when he was kissing her and she vaguely recalled jamming it back as she gathered up his clothing before getting out of the carriage.
‘Yes. An interesting pattern of plait; I noticed it at once. Perhaps you are a milliner?’
‘I am, as it happens.’ Plait? So that was how he had located her. She was always finding small bits clinging to her skirts when she got home after work, however carefully she brushed. And from the smile that curved the companion’s mouth, she assumed she knew all about how Marcus had found her.
‘Oh, I remember!’ Lady Honoria announced triumphantly. ‘You are the person who delivered that parcel the other morning. The one that made Papa ill.’ Her voice trailed away as she realized the import of what she was saying. ‘And now Marc’s been shot and you—’
‘Miss Latham was merely the messenger. She is assisting me in finding out what is going on,’ a deep voice said from the doorway, silencing the young woman.
Nell turned sideways to stare. Marcus Carlow was, thank Heavens, dressed again—or at least, decently covered. His open shirt collar was visible between the wide lapels of a silk robe that was distorted on the left shoulder where he was bandaged, his arm in a sling. She felt the tension ebb out of her, then stiffened. What was she thinking of, to feel relief that he was here? Did he really mean he believed her about the parcel? Nell intercepted a satirical glance and decided that no, he was not convinced. ‘She will be staying here for a while,’ he added.
‘I do not think so, my lord. I have told you all I know.’
‘But, Miss Latham,’ he said, smiling as he came in and sat down in the wing chair at right angles to her, ‘someone shot me. You may well be in danger as a result. As we have already discussed.’
He meant his threat to accuse her of deliberate assault. ‘I think I will take my chances on that,’ she said, making herself hold his eyes directly for the first time since that kiss. It was a mistake.
Heat seemed to fill her; she could feel the blush colouring her cheeks. That broad chest under her palms, the sleek planes of his pectoral muscles, the utter assurance of his kiss, the taste of him still on her lips. Nell got a grip on herself before she licked her lips. Did he even recall that embrace? Or had he been in some sort of near-unconscious state?
The dark eyes looked back, bland and polite, and she realised she could not tell. ‘I found where you live with very little effort, Miss Latham,’ the viscount said. ‘Others could too.’ He waited, giving her time to think that over, but he had no need. The shivery image of knives that the thought of the dark man always conjured up was enough.
‘Perhaps a night or two, if Lady Narborough permits,’ she agreed, wondering why she felt she had surrendered far more than a few days of her life.
Chapter Five
‘My dear Carlow, Marcus!’ Marcus stood up as Lord Keddinton strolled into the library, the picture of dry, slender elegance from his raised eyebrows to the slim hand holding his cane. ‘What is this I hear about illness and injury?’ His sweeping gesture encompassed the earl’s footstool and stick and Marcus’s sling, his pale eyes bright with interest.
‘A practical joke gone awry and an encounter with a footpad,’ Marcus said easily. ‘This is a mere scratch.’ A night’s rest allowed him to carry off the painfully throbbing wound with tolerable ease this morning. ‘You will take a glass of wine, sir?’
‘Thank you. If you still have that admirable claret I may stay all morning. A footpad, you say? Really, the streets are hardly safe at night these days.’ With a smile, Robert Veryan—Lord Keddinton—made himself comfortable, crossed one leg over the other and steepled his fingers, watching Marcus pour.
Five or six years younger than the earl, Keddinton had risen high in the circles of government power since the days when Lord Narborough had been an active spy catcher and he had been a mere confidential secretary on the outskirts of the charmed circle of secrets and danger. His precise role was never spoken of publicly, but he had a reputation for knowing everything, most especially things people wanted to keep hidden.
‘You are well informed, sir.’ Marcus handed him a glass and set one beside his father. ‘As always.’
‘Oh, nothing is said outside these walls of the matter, I am sure.’ Keddinton inhaled the bouquet for a moment, then took a leisurely sip. ‘No, I called with a little gift for my goddaughter and she told me.’
‘And what has Verity done to deserve a gift?’ enquired the earl.
