Malia Martin (17 page)

She leaned back in his arms, her hands buried in his hair as he found her breast with his mouth. It was soft beneath his lips, and he had a moment when he thought that he could possibly stay there forever. But then he found Pru’s nipple with his tongue.

She clutched at his head and groaned, and he reveled in the sound.

And then there was light.

James closed his eyes in confusion as light pierced the comfortable darkness around them. His mind came back to reality quickly, though, and he realized that someone had opened the door to the kitchen. He straightened quickly, pulling Prudence against him and turning so that his body blocked the intruder’s view of Prudence’s half-naked body.

Prudence had gone very still, her forehead pressed to his chest, and whoever had pushed open the door let it click back into place without saying a word.

James quietly pulled Prudence’s dress back over her shoulder and held it in place. Her muscles flexed beneath his fingers, and even in the horror of the moment, James enjoyed the feeling. He enjoyed everything about this woman’s body, her lips, her full, firm breasts, her strong, sinewy arms. He could only dream of undressing her completely and tonguing his way down her body to the curve of the stomach he had seen through her wet gown, and the line of her slender thighs.

And then there was the woman, the straightforward approach she had, which terrified him. Yet she thrilled him as no other woman had.

“Well,” she said quietly, “it does seem that our lovemaking is always cut short in one way or another. Quite distressing.”

“Quite,” James murmured against her hair.

“I should probably go up and change now.” She stopped and took a deep breath. “You would not possibly want to come with me?” she asked, the tiny inflection of hope hard to ignore.

James closed his eyes. Prudence Farnsworth could shock him like no other woman. And he had been propositioned by the best. It probably had to do with the fact that she was so incredibly innocent.

“Did you see who it was that opened the door?” James asked, rather than think or speak to Prudence about helping her undress.

Prudence shrugged as if it did not matter. “No, I am sure that whoever it was is just as embarrassed as we.”

“I have compromised you,” James said, and knew in that exact moment what he must do.

“You speak nonsense.” Prudence laughed softly. “They will not tell of what they have seen. And, anyway, even if the whole town knew, no one would care.”

“I never speak nonsense, Lady Farnsworth.”

“Well you are certainly not speaking any sense whatsoever.”

“Sense, nonsense, it does not matter. You are a peeress, revered in this town, and I have compromised you, Lady Farnsworth.” James stopped and swallowed the lump that had lodged in his throat and threatened now to choke him. “I will, of course, announce our engagement.”

“Excuse me?” Prudence cried incredulously. “What on earth are you talking about?”

“I realize that I am beneath you, Lady Farnsworth, but I do have quite a fortune.”

Even in the dim room, James could see the shock that rounded Prudence’s eyes. “You
do
speak absolute nonsense,” she said.

James sighed deeply. “I am speaking of honor, Lady Farnsworth, yours as well as mine. I have never before put myself in the situation that I now find myself, but I would never forgive myself if I just let it go now and did not do the right thing.”

“Truly, Captain, you do not have to do something so rash as to marry me. No one will say a word of this, I swear.”

“But people will know. At least one person saw us, and I cannot believe that they will not whisper of it. And even if that person does not dare to revile you to your face, your reputation has been compromised. I will not allow that as it is my fault.”

Prudence made a sound full of frustration. “Your fault? It is just as much my fault as yours.”

James closed his eyes for a moment. “Lady Farnsworth,” he said calmly, “’tis now you who speaks nonsense.”

“Well, Captain, I can tell you this very honestly.
I
never speak nonsense.”

“Well, you certainly speak no sense.”

They stood staring at one another, the silence bearing out their mutual stubbornness.

“Captain, my honor is not at stake, but if this situation upsets you, I have only to offer you escape. You may leave and know that the town will not revile me, and you will not hear of this incident again.”

James wanted to throw something. This woman had no idea what he spoke of when he said “honor.” “I am not leaving Gravesly, Lady Farnsworth, until I have accomplished my goal and brought the Wolf to justice.”

Prudence looked very sad suddenly. She dropped her gaze and stared intently at the floor.

“And now, I guess, I have something else to accomplish.” He could see only the top of her head, her hair dark with rain. “If there is one hint of scandal, my lady, I will marry you.”

She sighed and looked back up at him. “We would never suit, Captain. You must believe me when I say that.”

James felt as if she had slapped him. “Of course not. You are
Lady
Farnsworth. I am
Captain
Ashley.”

She frowned and then shook her head. “I will not marry,” she said, and, turning on her heel, walked regally out the door, her departure made only slightly less majestic by the sloshing of her sodden shoes.

“So, I hear you were quite a distraction to the good captain last night. The wool is certainly out of Harker’s cellar.”

Pru glanced up from the book she had been reading. “Tell me the story is not all over town,” she demanded.

“Of course it is. The entire assemblage knew of it the second Paul returned from catching you in the kitchen.” Leslie sauntered into the sitting room and glided into a chair.

Pru had been about to warn Leslie to make everyone quit their gossiping immediately, but she stopped and stared at her friend. “What on earth is the matter with you?”

Leslie lifted her brows and shook her head as if she had not understood the question. “Why, nothing, dear.”

“Nothing? You look as if you have been at the brandy bottle again.”

“Oh.” Leslie giggled. The woman giggled, for heaven’s sake.

“Are you sure you are feeling all right, Leslie?”

“I’m feeling just lovely.” She smiled. “I’ve been speaking with Eurel in the barn for a bit.”

Pru winced. “And that has put stars in your eyes? He’s in a horrific mood, I can’t believe that he was any better for you than he was with me this morning.”

“Oh, I am sure he was worse.”

Pru shook her head.

“I kissed him.”

Pru could not contain the laugh that broke from her throat. “And you are still alive?”

Leslie grinned. “Barely. I just took his growling face in my hands and planted a good one right on his mouth, and you know that man melted like butter in the summer.”

Melting and Clifton just did not fit in the same sentence.

“’Tis just a matter of time, dearest, before I have that man not knowing which way is up.”

Pru sighed heavily. How would it be to understand your power as a woman so thoroughly? It sounded very nice, really.

“Anyway, Prudence, the entire town is talking about what happened last night.”

Pru groaned as she remembered what they had been speaking of in the first place. “We must warn everyone not to gossip at all.”

“Now there is an impossible task,” Leslie said dryly.

“No, Leslie, I am serious, deadly serious. The captain was intent on marrying me last night when we were found out.”

Leslie nodded slowly. “Yes, well, he does seem the type to be honorable now, doesn’t he?”

“I, of course, told him that I could never marry, but he has insisted that if there is a scandal, he will force the issue. And to him, having the entire town in the know would definitely be a scandal.” Pru closed her book and leaned against the back of her chair. “What have I done?”

They were silent for a moment, the only sound that of the rain drumming against the windowpanes. Then Leslie said quietly, “Unfortunately, dearest, I do think there is a bit of a scandal. A real one.”

Pru glanced at her friend’s serious face. “What do you mean, Leslie?”

“Well.” Leslie straightened in the seat and smoothed out her dress before continuing, “I do think you have overestimated the people of Gravesly, Pru.”

Pru’s heart doubled its rhythm as a tiny prick of dread traveled up her spine.

“It was hard, you remember, for them to accept you in your husband’s place.” Leslie sighed. “But they did, finally. I think, though, that this thing with the captain may just be too hard for them to deal with.”

“But I am a widow!”

“True, but even widows must live by society’s standards, especially when ’tis a provincial society we are talking about.”

Pru covered her face with her hands and groaned. “But you are the one who told me it was too bad that I could not act upon my attraction to the captain. That must mean that others will feel the same.”

“Oh yes, dear, they would have. But only if you had been discreet.”

Pru peeked through her fingers at Leslie. “Discreet? How on earth can you be discreet in Gravesly?”

Leslie smiled a bit and chewed on her bottom lip. “Well, not kissing him in the kitchen would have been a good start.”

“Now you tell me.”

“Yes, well, now I must tell you another thing you will surely not wish to hear.”

Pru closed her fingers with a snap to cut off her view. “Lord no, it gets worse?”

“Not worse so much as more complicated.”

“Lovely.”

“I am just wondering if you have given a thought to what a boon this marriage could be to the town.”

Pru sat straight up in the chair, her book sliding off her lap and landing with a thud on the wood floor. “You must be jesting,” she finally managed to say.

“Well, of course, I am not saying that you should,” Leslie said quickly. “I am just voicing a thought that if you were to marry the captain, he would certainly never reveal the Wolf’s true identity. In fact, he might just quit his interfering altogether.”

“Of course he would not, Leslie. He is a man of incredibly high standards, and he would still find it necessary to resurrect his pride from the terrible beating the Wolf gave it.”

Leslie shrugged lightly. “I don’t believe he would, Pru. Think of the beating his reputation would take in London society if,
as your husband
, Captain Ashley brought the Wolf to justice.”

Pru felt as if her chest had suddenly filled with water. She gulped in a mouthful of air and tried to breathe.

Leslie reached over to clasp Pru’s hands in hers. “I am just stating a fact, Pru, a fact that would solve many dilemmas for you. But, of course, I am not telling you to marry him.”

Pru could barely move. “It certainly sounds that way to me,” she said quietly.

Leslie shook her head. “I am just voicing a thought that came to my mind, dearest.”

“A thought better left unsaid.”

Both the women turned at Clifton’s dark tone.

Leslie scowled at the butler. “For the love of God, Clifton, for a large man you move on the feet of a cat.”

“When Lady Farnsworth is ready to marry again, she will marry someone much better suited to her than a bastard son.”

“And what does that have to do with anything?” Leslie demanded. “Rank and status do not make happiness. Love itself can make a happy marriage.”

“Love?” Pru asked feebly, but neither Clifton nor Leslie paid her any heed.

“Love!” Clifton said vehemently. “A figment of a woman’s imagination.”

“Oh, you are so dense, Clifton!” Leslie shook her head and tsked. “And what of the villagers? I have already heard some whispers.”

“They would do well not to speak so of their betters!”

“For claiming to be Pru’s champion, you are certainly not thinking in her best interest at the moment!”

The two glared at one another furiously, and if Pru had not been so horrified at the situation, she would have laughed out loud. Instead, she stood and took a deep breath.

“Neither status nor love has anything to do with my decision, children. I grew up under the wing of my parents and was shifted from there to the care of my husband, and now, finally, in the last two years, I have tasted freedom and independence. And it is too sweet a fruit to throw away for anything.” She glanced from Leslie’s sad eyes to Clifton’s angry ones.

“I am happier now than I ever dreamed I could be.”

For a moment, Pru remembered the fleeting thought she had entertained in Leslie’s home a few days before. Was she as happy as she believed? Or was there something else?

But, no, she had been married, and she had been a single woman on her own. And she much preferred being single.

“I shall not marry again, ever.” She shook her head in disgust. “And most definitely I am not going to marry a man who’s main objective in life is to take away the only security Gravesly has.” Prudence punctuated the end of her sentence with a nod. “And that is the last we shall say on the subject.”