Lady Rogue (22 page)

Chapter Thirty

It was a tranquil afternoon despite a chill in the breeze that rippled through the air.  Garrick stood before the gate of Margaret Pembrooke's huge house with hat in hand
, feeling much like a schoolboy.  Damned if his stomach wasn't a bit queasy. Ah yes, he was nervous, he who always took pride in his self-assurance. 

On impulse he had stopped by the estate on his way home from the office, hoping he could persuade Miss Dawn Landon to go for a carriage ride with him.  Now that he was here  he was having second thoughts.  He didn't want to appear too bold, just showing up out of thin air and yet he needed to see her, if just for an instant.  Or was this
an inopportune time?

Coward!
he scolded himself.  He was losing his nerve.  She was a only a woman, albeit a lovely one and he was certainly experienced in dealing with the fairer sex.   He willed his feet to move. 

Catching
his reflection in a pane of the parlor window, he hurriedly ran his fingers through his touseled brown waves. Leaning casually against the door frame, he crossed his arms over his chest and rapped upon the door with the large brass knocker.  To his surprise it was not Douglas but Dawn who opened the door.

"Hello!"  he said jauntily.    His mouth curved up in a lopsided grin that would have melted the heart of  the most prudent, hard-hearted spinster.  His blue eyes gazed at her in a mesmerizing stare.  One of his strong hands rested
lightly on the railing.

Dawn eyed him warily, her heart doing somersaults in her chest.  The mere sight of him was nearly enough to throw all her caution to the wind.
What was he doing here?

Garrick read the question in her eyes.  "I just came by to see you on the hope that perhaps I could show you a bit more of
London  before the sun sets."  He nodded towards his waiting carriage.

His white linen shirt and cuffed wrists, the buff breeches that clung to his lower body like a second skin emphasized his muscular bo
dy.  The memory of his lips molded to her own came unbidden to her mind.  She wanted to go with him, wanted to be with him.

"A carriage ride.....?"  She started to smile but remembered Taddie's warning.  Garrick Seton was searching for the girl she knew to be herself.  What if  this were naught but a game?  What if he knew at this very moment exactly who she was but was merely toying with h
er?  It was entirely possible.

"There's a chill in the air but it will be warm inside.  There's a lap robe
and...."

"No," she said all too quickly.  Every muscle in her body stiffened.  She met h
is eyes steadily, unsmiling. 

Her reserve stunned him.  After the kiss they had shared he was expecting a
far different greeting but reasoned that after all it was daylight and they were in view of others' prying eyes.

"No.....?  Not even to watch the sun swallowed by the
Thames?"  He was hoping to persuade her to change her mind.

Dawn swept an agitated hand across he
r brow.  This was going to be much more difficult than she had imagined.  Garrick Seton was not the kind of man to take no for an answer. But she had made up her mind and had to maintain her resolve.  "I can't Garrick.  Even to watch the sunset.  But thank you for your invitation....."

In the silence that fell between them
she found it difficult to breath.Her breasts rose and fell sharply, drawing his gaze.  His eyes dropped to the soft mounds, shrouded in a white muslin and lingered there for a long drawn out moment before moving back to her face.

"I dreamed about you last night," he
said softly, reaching out to touch the soft curve of her cheek with his thumb then trailing it down the graceful length of her throat.

Dawn flushed to the roots of her hair.  "You shouldn't have," she said quickly pulling away.  Oh, dear God.  Loving him seemed to be the most natural thing in the world when she was with him.  She was helpless to deny the effect he had on her.  She opened her mouth to speak but her words were lost as
her eyes met his heated gaze.

"Ah, but I couldn't help dreaming about you nonetheless. You have enchanted me most thoroughly, you see."  Had there ever been a more romantic figure than this
handsome man?  Dancing beams of sunlight played across the hills and valleys of his face emphasizing his appeal.  A lock of thick hair had fallen acros his forehead and she felt the urge to brush it back.

"Garrick I....I....."  Her heart surged with hope as she stretched out her hand to him
, but just as suddenly she pulled it back.  Loving him and giving in to that emotion might very well be the most dangerous thing she had ever done in her life.

"If I have my way I'll be with you every moment that I can.  That is what I wi
sh, Dawn.  To be together...."

With the greatest of effort Dawn tore her eyes from his face.  Despite all her protestations to the contrary she had as much backbone as  a titmouse.  One smile from him and she turned to jelly.  Fighting against her emotions as she was, her voi
ce held a reproachful  tone. 

"You take much for granted, Sir."

Her reaction stung Garrick.  He was not expecting rebuff, nor was he accustomed to it.  He couldn't be mistaken. Surely she was attracted to him.  Even now he could read it in her eyes.  Why then was she refusing? It was very simple.  He
had
taken her too much for granted.  Being a young woman unused to such attentions, she would undoubtedly feel a twinge of apprehension until she knew that his intentions were noble. 

"I assure you that I do not," he said, but he had.  Because he was so smitten with her
, he had just assumed that his feelings would be returned.  It was as simple as that.  But Dawn Landon was a woman who would have to be wooed, he thought. "And I will prove it to you, Madame."  Thus said, he turned around and walked down the walkway without once looking back.  Her heart was a prize that had to be won.  Well, let the wooing begin.

Dawn awakened to the the sweet fragrance of flowers.  Sitting up in bed, she let her eyes scan the room and thought for a just a moment she'd  somehow been transported back to  Convent Garden.  "Roses!"  White, pink and red flowers met her eyes.

"Aye.  Roses, Mum."  Mrs. Pembrooke's  young grinning
young maid was skillfully arranging the bouquets.  "Not one, but four dozen of them.  My, my, my.  It seems Mr. Seton is quite smitten."

"Oh dear!"

"And yesterday the bon bons!  A whole basket full of them.  Your young man is quite attentive.  Oh, how I wish......."   Blushing,she turned her face away from Dawn's avid stare.  "I mean he's......you're so fortunate, you are!"

Fortunate
Dawn thought. 
Hardly that.  Just the opposite in fact
,  Garrick Seton was playing havoc with her life and her emotions.  
Stay away from Garrick Seton, forget him
.  It was much easier said than done.  Obviously he had no intention of letting her elude him.  In the  three days that followed his visit to the house to invite her for a carriage ride he  had wooed her with a vengeance, making it all the more difficult for her to be firm in her resolve.  And yet she had to.   Succumbing to his charm would only bring heartache and possibly more dire consequences.

"Bon bons are certain to make one quite fat.  And...and as for roses, they make me sneeze.  Take them away, Agnes.  I don't want them in here." 
              "Take them away?"  Agnes looked at Dawn as if she had suddenly lost her mind.  "But....but, mum."  The young maid fondled the soft petals lovingly.  "They are so beautiful."

"Please!"  Dawn's voice was sharp and she regretted her peevishness.  She was hardly one to give orders to this poor girl.  "Put them in your own room if you'd like, Agnes," she said in a gentler tone.  "I give them to you.  Someo
ne should appreciate them."  

"Put them in my room, Miss?" The maid's blue eyes opened wide in disbe
lief.  "They're mine?  Truly?"

"Yes,
I give them to you."

"O
h, thank you!"  With a squeal of delight the young woman quickly gathered them up and carried them from the room, as if fearful Dawn would change her mind.  The door closed with a soft thud.

Well, I've gotten my wish
, Dawn thought sadly.  She'd wanted Garrick's affections, had dreamed about it night after night.  Now that dream had turned sour, for she was caught in her own trap and wasn't quite sure what to do about it.  Pulling the covers up to her chin, she sought the haven of her pillows and thought of all the reasons she should hate Garrick Seton.  He was responsible for Robbie's tragic fate.  That alone made any affection for him out of the question.  He was heartless to have done such a thing.  And now he was trying to locate the young girl in the mob-cap.  To put her in Newgate too?  He was an unfeeling monster.

The only reason Garrick Seton is sending me flowers and such is because he believes me to be acceptable.  Being Margaret Pembrooke's friend makes me eligible
.  He would have turned up his nose in an instant, come to retrieve every one of his flowers, had he know who she really was.  Just like all the others of his class he was a snob!  Cold and unfeeling.  Deaf, dumb, and blind to the suffering going on right beneath his nose.

Closing her eyes
, Dawn tried to forget him, but his face hovered in her mind's eye.   The way his hair brushed his forehead, the shape of his nose,  the width of his shoulders, the way he walked and talked all haunted her.  And his mouth.....full and artfully chiseled, possessing a sensuous curve when he smiled.  Touching her lips, she remembered his kiss and felt a warm glow flicker through her. 

No....I wo
n't let him bother me this way,
she told herself
.  I won't let him turn me into a lovesick ninny!
In aggravation she threw back the covers and rose from the bed only to see that Agnes, in her hurry, had forgotten one solitary red rose.  Lying all alone on the carpeted floor, it beckoned her touch, and though she knew she should ignore it, she bent to pick it up.  It was too fragile, too lovely to be crushed under foot.  With trembling fingers she touched the velvety petals and sighed.  It was then she saw the note Agnes had left behind.

"I will never forget our kiss nor your sweetness," the note said.  "I want very much to s
ee you again.  Love, Garrick."

And she wanted to see him again too.  Dear God but she did. No matter how stubbornly she might try to convince herself that she hated Garrick Seton
, she never would, never could.

Robbie.  Remember Robbie
!  Her mind screamed a warning that was answered by her heart.  She tried to tell her self again and again that Garrick Seton was a cruel, unfeeling man yet how could she forget the kindness he had shown that first day in the carriage?  There had been genuineconcern in his deep blue eyes.  He hadn't given her away, though he well might have.  Instead he had been kind,  had even insisted on taking her home, she nothing but a little waif. And then again the day he had given her back the stolen purse.  He had been worried about her, he had said.  Not a heartless snob, then, but a compassionate man.  Nor  in truth had he sought Robbie out unjustly.  In all fairness she had to admit that Robbie had  stolen from him after all. Had she not interceded, her brother would have been guilty of conspiring to murder him, in fact.  

"I want very much to see you again," she read again. Oh, if only she could confide in him.  Tell him the truth
. Perhaps he would understand the circumstances that had put her out on the street with Black John's band.  She had been only a child when she had embarked on her life of crime.   All that had changed now.  With Margaret Pembrooke's help she was trying to make something of herself.  Surely she deserved a chance. Tell him!  Perhaps there was a chance for happiness after all if she were honest with him.

No!  The memory of the night in the warehouse came back to haunt her.  He might forgive the child
, but not the woman he thought to be a whore.  She had tried to reason with him then, but he had shown his loathing, had even accused her of trying to kill him.  "Your sweetness", he had written.  How disillusioned he would be if he knew the truth.  She was a thief, not some blushing country miss. She couldn't tell him.  Seeing that look  of disgust again on his face would be her undoing.  And he would look at her like that again when he found out.

Dawn viewed the rose through a mist of tears knowing what had to be done.  There was really only one answer.  She had to cool  Garrick Seton's desire by making him  believe she
was interested in another man.

Ollie greeted Garrick with a triumphant grin as he walked through the office door.  "Good morning, Gar!"

"Good morning, Ollie.  My, but you look quite like the cat that has swallowed the proverbial canary.  Care to tell me what is up your
well-tailored sleeve?"

"Oh
, let's just say that I'm contemplating my success.  Remember our talk about your new lady love?"

Garrick's brow furled in irritation.  "Yes."  He didn't like Oliver's smug look.  "Have you f
ound out something about her?"