Always a Temptress (27 page)

The carnelian came into focus. Gooseflesh prickled her arms. A Tudor rose. Where had she just seen a Tudor rose? And there was an inscription surrounding it.

“
Non omnis moriar
.” The gooseflesh spread. She knew those words. Why did she know that quote? Not all of me shall die. But it was wrong. How did she know that?

Harry was peering over her shoulder. “Family crest?”

“No. Our family crest is a sailing ship and
Audere semper
. Be always daring.”

She lifted the pin and the glass for him. “But I know this. I’ve just seen that symbol and I know the saying, but they don’t go together. Where have I…”

Harry lifted the glass and bent over the pin. Suddenly the breath hissed out of him.

“Oh, my God!” Kate gasped at the same moment he looked up.

“Richmond Hill Asylum,” he said, his voice tight. “The administrator had a Tudor rose on his ring. But the quote is correct, Kate. It’s Horace.”

She was shaking her head. “No. I mean, yes it is, but it’s also from something else. A poem.” Her eyes wide and her heart thudding, she grabbed Harry’s arm. “Harry. I think we’ve found the verse.”

T
hey packed to finally leave for Eastcourt. Once Drake stopped by to pick up the pin, Grace announced that it was time for her to head home as well. Kate fought her; she hated the idea of Grace going home to an empty house when she could be surrounded by her friends. But Grace was afraid of running into Diccan before she was ready, and Kate understood that all too well. So at a time when she should be sitting to tea, she and Bea kissed their friend farewell and ushered her into the Murther carriage for her ride home.

Kate was glad she was busy so she didn’t have to dwell on it, or on what would happen when she and Bea showed Harry his new home. Would he fall in love with it? Would he hate it and want to leave all the sooner? Would she be able to live there without him?

The only social obligation they had left to fulfill was an invitation by Chuffy for the theater. There was a new actress imaginatively named Mardryn who was to debut in the melodrama
Lover’s Vows
. Harry accepted without asking Kate, which frustrated her even though she was ready to see someone else suffer through a melodrama for a change.

They might have refocused the Lion investigation away from her, but the Chancery Court had scheduled a hearing on her case in a month, which effectively stole her peace of mind. She and Harry met with the solicitor, and he met with an investigator in the hope of digging up some dirt on Kate’s relatives. The only thing left to do was show up and do her best to keep from spitting at her brother while on hallowed judicial ground.

Claiming to be committed to easing Kate’s strain, Harry had spent the night before extending Kate’s sensual horizons, which left her more tense than ever. She couldn’t lie and say she hated the sensory banquet Harry brought to her bed. He had spent hours waking her body in ways she couldn’t have imagined, carefully and generously lavishing attention on her. It had been a wonder to rediscover the delights they had once shared, and she had loved returning the pleasure Harry brought her.

Only one thing prevented her total enjoyment. They still stopped short of his taking her. Not that she was yet sure she wanted him to. Considering how much better endowed he was than Murther, she couldn’t imagine how he could manage the thing without tearing her asunder. She couldn’t imagine how any man could be gentle or kind or thoughtful in the act, certainly not when it was one of domination and surrender.

The problem was that she simply didn’t
know
. And no matter how thoroughly Harry pleased her, igniting sensations she’d never thought to experience in her life, peaks of pleasure that robbed her of breath and thought and sense, when she rested in his arms, she still felt…unfinished. Cheated, somehow. And she didn’t know how to ask him for more, especially when every time he so much as balanced himself above her she panicked like the veriest coward and resorted to pleasuring him with her hands.

So she pretended she was content with matters as they were and ignored the fact that they still hadn’t spoken of their future in more than general terms, which made everything she did more fraught with peril. Especially succumbing to Harry. He had enough control over her life. How could she let him assume even more? Even now there were things she needed to do, places she needed to go, and her staff refused to let her, at least until the master said so.

The master. How she hated that word, even though it meant nothing more to them than a courtesy. To her, it carried untold negative memories. And then, one of the few friends she had allowed herself was gone, leaving her to steer her own way through the days to come. Which, she hoped, would begin and end with her very public appearance with Harry at the theater.

At least, she thought, as she climbed the grand staircase on Chuffy’s arm, it gave her a chance to sound Harry’s friends. “Is there any news of Ian Ferguson?” she asked, her voice low enough that only Chuffy could hear.

Chuffy’s benign face folded into creases of distress, and he shoved his glasses back up his nose. “Terrible thing. Don’t understand it. Grand fellow.”

“Could there be any mistake?”

“Hope so. Bad enough for Ferguson’s sisters without havin’ him called a traitor. Good girls, what I hear. Don’t deserve it.”

Kate looked over. “Are they in town?”

He shrugged. “Nowhere else to go. Cousin inherits. Don’t get along.”

She nodded. “I’ll try and stop by.”

Chuffy’s smile was angelic. “You’re a right one, Lady K. Trumps. Would go meself, but never been introduced. Not the thing to show up now. But with Harry worrying at Horse Guards like a terrier, hopefully we can give ’em better news. Have one question, though. About the verse.”

Kate looked around to make sure no one was listening, but the crowd was too busy trying to get to their seats in time to comment on the other theatergoers before the curtain went up. “Yes, Chuffy?”

“Drake is sure this is the verse.”

“It’s
a
verse, certainly. They’ve already found it and the Tudor rose on incriminating correspondence. The bishop was evidently head of his group.”

Frowning, Chuffy nodded. “Why did they think you had it?”

An excellent question. “I don’t know. I think it’s more that they thought I’d recognize it, which I did. I’m just not sure where from. It’s one of the reasons we’re going back to Eastcourt. I have my complete library there. The one I have here is only a partial collection.”

Chuffy goggled at her. “You have
more
books?”

Chuffy had been on the search team. Kate couldn’t help but grin. “Aren’t you glad we’re not dragging you along to go through that lot?”

The box was comfortable, on the second tier about halfway down the theater. The play wasn’t as good as the advanced notice would have it. As usual, the Rakes kept close company. At one time or another they all came through the box to offer respects. Usually it made Kate feel better to know that they were there to back up Harry. Tonight, for some reason, they added to her feeling of being hemmed in, especially since they seemed delighted to provide an audience for her normal court, who insisted on being particularly cloying.

By the third interval, she was battling what she called a patience headache, born of having to exert such control over her tongue in response to well-meaning acquaintances. Especially her puppies. Glad for a bit of fresh air, she took Harry’s arm and followed Chuffy and Bea out into the ornate lobby for champagne.

Suddenly, on the other side of Chuffy, Bea made a rude noise. “Ahoy!” she said. “Sail on the starboard bow.”

Harry looked around. Kate didn’t have to. She sighed. “Well, it was inevitable.”

“What was inevitable?” Harry demanded, now staring at Bea, who had gone back to genteel silence.

Kate scanned the audience. “My family.”

Chuffy nodded. “’Course. Ducal crest a sailing ship. Well played, Lady B.”

Glynis intercepted them like a frigate stalking a ship of the line. “How dare you?”

Kate sighed. “Hello, Glynis. How nice to see you.”

Her sister-by-marriage looked as if she were going to burst, her famously porcelain cheeks a hectic pink, her hands clenched at her sides. “You have no business being here, and you know it. How dare you flaunt this…creature in our faces?”

Kate ignored the jab. “I believe you’ve met my husband, Major Sir Harry Lidge. Harry, may I formally introduce Glynis, Duchess of Livingston. I would claim kinship, but I don’t want Glynis to have a seizure in the middle of the theater. Oh, and there you are, Edwin,” she said to her brother, who stood just behind his wife. “You must speak up, or no one will see you.”

Kate then leaned close to Harry, as if imparting a secret. “You bow over her hand, Harry. But don’t lick. It’s common.”

She saw that Harry was trying not to smile. “My pleasure, Your Grace.”

“You really don’t care who you destroy, do you?” Glynis said, never taking her eyes off Kate. “I wouldn’t be surprised if you didn’t pick this time for your outrageous stunt for the sole purpose of ruining Elspeth’s engagement.”

Kate raised an eyebrow. “Little Elspeth? My, time really has flown. I hope you like her fiancé.”

“That can have no interest for you. And what are you doing in those emeralds?”

Kate admitted surprise. True, it was the first time she’d donned the set since the family lawyer had dropped them off, but Kate wasn’t sure they should cause resentment. Although, after what she’d learned about her father, she had trouble understanding why he’d left them to her. They had been her mother’s parure: bracelets, eardrops, collar necklace, and an emerald-and-pearl tiara tucked into her upswept hair.

“Well,” she said, selfishly enjoying the martial light in Glynis’s eye. “I don’t think rubies would have gone nearly as well with my dress.”

If possible, Glynis looked even more outraged. “Those emeralds belong to the duchess and you know it. Edwin, how did she get hold of them?”

Kate waited, just to see what he’d say. “Well, er…”

“No, no,” Kate demurred, suddenly delighted. “Let me, Edwin. You see, Glynis, evidently Edwin didn’t think to tell you when he sent them over that my father left them to me in his will.”

“The
lawyer
sent them over,” Edwin snapped. “And it was
Mother
…”

Red-faced, he went dumb. For a minute, Kate couldn’t go on. Her mother. So maybe the emeralds weren’t such a mystery after all. Her mother had also been the one to make sure Kate got Eastcourt.

“Of course,” Kate said, determined she wouldn’t succumb to tears before her brother. “See, Glynis? You should feel better. If it had been up to Edwin, I never would have seen them. How inconvenient that Father’s lawyer was so thorough. But enough about this silly necklace. Tell me about Elspeth.”

Glynis wasn’t playing. “You should have been locked away by now. You should be somewhere you can no longer humiliate your family.”

Kate was going to say something, but suddenly Harry put a foot in front of her. He didn’t make an aggressive move, but Kate felt a shiver go through her at the quiet threat of his voice. “It seems to me that her family is quite capable of humiliating itself. You’re lucky my wife is more gracious than you. If it were up to me, I’d expose you.”

“Expose us?” Edwin countered. “For what, protecting my family? How dare you?”

“How dare
you
?” Harry retorted. “A man is supposed to protect his sister, not terrorize her. Thank God you’ll never be able to get your hands on her again.”

Glynis’s color neared purple. “You threaten
us
? Who do you think you are?”

Completely smitten by the cold fire in Harry’s blue eyes as he stood up for her, Kate grinned. “Why, he’s my husband. And I, Glynis, am the daughter of a duke
and
the widow of a duke. Which, if memory serves, is one more duke than you.”

She knew she shouldn’t have said it. Glynis was sensitive about the fact that her father was only a baronet. Kate came within ames ace of apologizing, especially when Glynis began to sputter, so enraged Kate thought she would resort to physical violence. “Your
father
—!” she snarled.

But before she could finish, Edwin grabbed her by the arm. “It is beneath you to brangle with her, my dear. Come. We can certainly find more pleasant company.”

It was as if Edwin had yanked a cord in Glynis. Suddenly she stopped, straightened, considering Kate as if she were a mouse caught in her cupboard. “Indeed, Livingston. I have far more important issues to occupy me than your sister’s cupidity. Her comeuppance is approaching, and I for one relish it.”

And without another word, she turned on her heel and stalked off. Kate was still staring after her when from behind her, she heard a low whistle.

“Your brother’s wife seems to spend an inordinate amount of time red-faced,” Chuffy mused.

“Harpy,” Bea snapped.

“They were certainly no match for Harry,” Kate agreed, and pulled her husband down for a smacking kiss that made him grin. It was quite enough to break the mood.

Kate would have thought that to be her quota of family for the night, if an hour later she weren’t accosted a second time as she and Harry followed the crowd toward the exit. She was turning to Chuffy to thank him for the evening when, from out of nowhere, a flash of white muslin and white-blond hair threw herself into Kate’s arms.

“Auntie Kate! Oh, I’m so glad you’re here. You heard about Adam, of course. You must meet him. You, too, Lady Bea. Oh, and you must be the major.” Her green eyes sparkling mischievously, she smiled up at Harry. “I’ve heard
tons
about you. Come!”

And before Kate could protest, Kate’s niece Elspeth was dragging her, laughing, down the corridor. Looking back to make sure Harry followed, Kate submitted herself to Elspeth’s rambling monologue about her engagement, her fiancé, and her wedding plans.

“Mama is having a country weekend for both families to meet, which I admit quite terrifies me.” She leaned close and whispered. “Lady Chatham is quite a dragon. Makes my mama seem positively placid by comparison, I swear.”

Kate laughed. “Don’t let her hear you say that,” she warned. “You’re skating on thin enough ice consorting with me. If she catches you, we’ll both be boiled in oil.”

Kate couldn’t understand it. Her own father had doted on her siblings, and yet they had turned out to be stiff-rumped and disagreeable, especially toward her. Yet somehow Edwin and Glynis had borne two delightful daughters and a stalwart son, whom she liked immensely. But then, their nanny had been a deceptively placid creature with a head full of mathematics and Greek heroes.

“Now, Kate. Here is Adam. I insist you adore him.”

Kate was already smiling when she was introduced to the Honorable Adam Thorne, a gangling, loose-limbed redhead with an open, happy countenance. Smiling down on the tiny Elspeth as if she were made of spun sugar, he bowed.

“Your Grace,” he said, taking Kate’s hand.

Kate scowled.

Elspeth giggled. “My aunt is remarried, Adam. It is now Lady Lidge.” Elspeth leaned close to Kate again. “Well done. My parents almost burst blood vessels when they heard the news. I haven’t seen them turn that color since my brother, Michael, was blackmailed by his inamorata.”