Clockwork Blue (33 page)

Falcon angled his body between
Nicola
and the doorway.
"
Why, no one, Tupmore. Just had the urge to straighten my cravat.
"

Thankfulness tinged with surprise surged through
Nicola
. She had expected Falcon to use
any advantage to bend her to his will. The uneasy knowledge that she was already at his mercy flooded her heart. She crept farther into the darkened hallway.

Suddenly, something pulled at her skirts, causing them to billow out. The sconce flared, throwing her in light.
"
Eroica
"
played
in her mind.
Nicola
realized the crowd in front of Falcon could see her swelling skirts. She slapped at them, but they bounced out again, as if she wore hooped whalebones in the fabric.

Tupmore gasped.
"
You sly dog, you are hiding a woman behind you!
"

Nicola
stared at her skirts. From within the folds, Allegro gave her a mischievous wink.
"
What are you doing?
"
she asked in a furious whisper.

He didn
'
t answer but instead motioned over his shoulder. Peering past Falcon,
Nicola
recognized Lady Kensington who approached. The woman gasped.
"
Tiens, it is true. The
Diderot
chit is having a liaison with the Falconwood!
"

H
er fate was sealed,
caught in the talons of the Black Falcon.

Falcon stared at
Nicola
, his silvery gaze fiery with surprised contempt. His look confused her.

She turned to find Lady Remington
with her lips curved in a smirk
and quickly
decided
to correct any mistaken assumptions.
"
You misunderstand. T
his circumstance isn
'
t the Earl
'
s fault. It
'
s all mine. I-I leaned against the wall, not knowing about the hidden door. It-it opened suddenly and I-I fell inside the
servants'
corridor. The door shut and I couldn
'
t get it open.
"

Falcon squeezed her hand in warning.

Lady Remington licked her lips in a manner that reminded
Nicola
of Mrs. Wiggs
'
s cat the time it caught a squirrel.
"
How is it that Falcon was discovered on the same side of the door as you?
"

"
Miss Moore
does not have to explain anything to you,
"
Falcon snapped.

Nicola
threw him a reassuring nod.
"
I don
'
t mind setting the record straight.
"
She glanced back to Lady Remington.
"
I must confess, when I leaned against the wall— or what I thought was the wall—and it suddenly opened, I
yelped
quite loudly. And well, the Earl, being the gentleman that he is, came charging to my rescue. Unfortunately, he got stuck, too.
"

"
Outrageous,
"
Lady Remington declared.

Nicola
saw several guests shake their heads in obvious disbelief. Lady Remington smiled as if she had just won a round of whist.
"
Miss Moore
, what do you take us for?
"

Falcon gave Lady Remington a glare that caused
Nicola
to shiver in her stockings. An ice storm seemed to sweep the room. Varied emotions
played
in the expressions of the quests, from amusement to shock to disdain. Obviously, the guests couldn
'
t believe that an earl would be caught with a woman from the middle class. Their open shunning caused her angry humiliation.

"
Madam
, do
not
blacken my
fiancée's
reputation,
"
Falcon snarled.

"
Fiancée
?
"
Lady Remington repeated, her jaw slack.
Nicola
'
s heart clunked like a lead ball. She didn
'
t want
t
o marry! Well, in truth she did. What? Her thoughts startled her. When had she experience a change of heart?

B
ut not like this. She wanted romance, sweet words, avowals of love, palpitations—not the cold-hearted business arrangement Falcon proposed.
"
My lord, what are you saying?
"
she asked, keeping her tone polite but infusing it with steely warning.

His smile showed he heard the warning—and intended to ignore it.
"
I
know you wanted a betrothal ball, my sweet, but seeing that we
'
ve been found out, we may as well break the news to our friends now.
"

Betrothal ball? My sweet? Friends?
She wanted to sputter her indignation and outrage, almost as much as she wanted to give in to the sense of helplessness that gripped her.

"
What
'
s going on here?
"
Her father
'
s voice, blustery and loud, silenced the
gawkers
and made
Nicola
wish the ground would swallow her whole. The crowd parted for him, leaving her standing miserably while his sharp gaze moved knowingly—disapprovingly—from her to Falcon, then back again.
"
What
'
s going on?
"
he asked again.

Falcon took her by the arm. Her feet didn
'
t want to move, to carry her into the crowd, but he left no choice but to follow or fall flat on her face. When they reached Papa, Falcon clapped the man
'
s shoulder. Her father
'
s complexion turned ruddy, but he showed no other reaction but the balling of one hand into a fist at his side.
Amazingly, he didn't cough.

"
I fear news of our engagement has broken sooner than
Nicola
wanted,
"
Falcon said. His expression was pleasant, his tone friendly, but his knuckles whitened as he gripped her father
'
s shoulder.
"
I will visit you tomorrow to formalize our agreement, sir. But it
'
s a good thing we
'
d already hammered out a satisfactory settlement, isn
'
t it?
"

Nicola
had no idea what response she hoped
Papa
would offer. Her father could call Falcon a liar. After all, they
'
d reached no settlement. There hadn
'
t even been a formal offer. Or Papa could brush him off with some nonsense, then deal with the matter privately. Or he could support the Earl
'
s lie, sa
ve face, protect her reputation
... and seal her fate.

As she stared pleadingly at him, she saw his slight tremor. He looked around at the avidly curious onlookers—strangers, no friends to speak of, enemies, and business associates—then at Falcon. He didn
'
t look at her, and she knew with a sinking heart how he would respond.

Or was it relief?

"
Of course, Falcon.
I...
look forward to the meeting.
"
Offering her his arm, he continued,
"
I
'
m ready to go home now,
Nicola
.
"

Falcon remained close to her other side.
"
I
'
ll escort you, since I, too, must depart.
"

As voices filled the air, Falcon and Papa surged through the swarm of guests, protecting her. She walked out into the starry night, her mind dazed. The waxing moon limned the carriages in silver, tempting her to believe that the whole situation had been a dream.

But then Papa took a challenging step toward Falcon, reminding her that the circumstances were all too real.
"
I
'
ll have an explanation from you tomorrow, sir.
"

"
I expected no less,
"
Falcon responded, his expression calm.

Papa glared at him for two or three more moments before he retreated to catch the attention of a footman.
"
My good man,
"
he called out.
"
I need my carriage.
"

A breeze wafted near
Nicola
'
s neck, stirred her senses—told her that Allegro was near. The notes of Beethoven
'
s
"
Serioso
"
played
in her ear. Drat that interfering pixie! If only she could grab him, she would wring his scrawny neck.