Price of Desire (26 page)

“As long as we are only talking chess – I will allow you one more.”

The play was more vigorous than ever
.
Piece for piece they traded
.
They shared a single glass of brandy. Sommerton’s glass rolled forgotten at the hearth
.
Rose held her breath with each move
.
She’d never played with such skill and vigor
.
Wulf’s strategy was supreme
.
Her eyes watched his long fingers stroke the queen
.
She swallowed a smile
.

He smiled back and moved a pawn.

She barely contained the urge to grin
.
She had him on the run. She settled in her confidence and found herself . . . fleeing
.
Her king moved from square to square, blocked by a bishop, held by a knight
.

Then there was nowhere to escape.

A deliciously slow smile spread across Wulf’s face as he lifted his queen and toppled her king.

“Check and mate
.
I would have thought you of all people would never underestimate the power of a woman, her ability to find her mate.”

She settled back in chair
.
She would not play his game of words
.
“I always respect another woman
–
and a valiant competitor
.
That was quite the best game I’ve played in years – if not ever.”

“I must say the same, Rose.
”
Her name slipped from his lips, so naturally
.
She did not even think he realized he’d said it
.
“I thought you had me there for a moment
.
If you’d moved your knight instead of your rook to take my bishop, it would have been a very different ending.”

“Really
?
Show me.
”
She bent towards him over the board as he carefully placed the pieces to demonstrate
.
His hand closed over hers
.
Their eyes lifted, met
.
Their face moved closer.

“My dear Lady Burberry, I thought you were playing with Sommerton
.
Was that not the plan?
”
Lady Smythe-Burke swept into to the room.

“He grew tired of the game,” Rose answered calmly as she sat back and resettled her skirts
.
She hoped her cheeks were not too flushed.

“That’s one way to phrase it.
”
Wulf could not contain his smile.

“Humpf.
”
Lady Smythe-Burke glared
.
“M
ajor
Huntington, the gentlemen have settled down to billiards
.
I am sure they would welcome you to their private wagers – if you have not already placed your bet.
”
She stared at him
pointedly
until he stood.

“
I never bet on a sure thing
.
It wouldn’t be sporting
.
I will, however, say g
ood evening, l
adies
.
And a most enjoyable evening it was, Lady Burberry.
”
He left without another word.

Lady Smythe-Burke turned back to Rose and glared
.
“Humpf, again
.
Don’t know why I bother to plan if you’re not going to follow
.
M
ajor
Huntington plays well enough without your help
.
It’s Sommerton you need to concentrate on
.
I only realized he wasn’t with you when he came in from the terrace with both the vicar’s daughters – flushed faces all around
.
It’s bad enough watching him stare down Lady Clarington’s dress and I am sure I saw him creeping down the halls last night
.
You need to get and keep his attention if you want to bring him to the point
.
How else will he win a new fortune if not through you?
”

She turned and stalked from the room as Rose stared after her
.
She rubbed her eyes wearily
.
She wasn’t sure she wanted a proposal from a man who crept down halls – she liked her men to stalk
.
No, that wasn’t what she meant at all
.
And what was all this talk of betting and wagers
?
She rubbed her eyes again
.
She just needed to get some sleep, sleep without green-eyed dreams.

Damn
.
She had to find a way to stay away from him if she wanted to find a husband
.
How was she supposed to pay attention to her guests when wherever she turned he was there
?
Dratted man
.
She’d made the mistake that one night of playing chess with him and ever since her mind had been filled with their easy banter and the warmth of his smile
.
She’d thought he’d been bad before, now she felt like a fox with hound fast behind her
.
Wherever she went he appeared and watched – and touched
.
Oh nothing she could call him on, but the most insidious of tiny, glancing brushes 
–
her skinned burned from each one.

There was no escape
.
If she joined the gentlemen for breakfast, after hearing that he was still out riding, he’d sneak in before she was even seated
.
She’d almost spilled her coffee when those cool eyes slid over her.

Later, she’d thought she was safe
.
She’d surrounded herself with the other ladies in the music room
.
Surely, practicing pianoforte was the last thing to attract a gentleman, but before fifteen minutes had passed a deep, rich baritone had wrapped around her as he wandered in and taken a position beside the bench.

And now
.
Yes, archery was a sport designed for both sexes, but did he have to stand there in his shirt-sleeves, moisture beading on his throat from the hot sun
?
How was she supposed to think when each time he drew back the bow the cloth over his shoulders drew tight, revealing those heavily muscled shoulders she knew so well
?
Every time she glanced in his direction her mind stripped his clothes from him and left him stark, and nude, and magnificent,
Hercules
come to life.

“Life is so unjust.
”
Lady Clarington had moved to stand beside her and it was evident her thoughts had followed Rose’s, if perhaps without the knowing accuracy.

Rose echoed Lady Clarington’s sentiment, but longed to slap her across the face for staring so openly
.
Watching Lady Clarington watch him was almost as tortuous as looking at him herself
.
Life was unjust
.
In a fair world John would still be alive, Anna would truly be his, and she would never have met Wulf
.
Her heart clenched at the thought, but she brutally opened herself up to it.

She should never have met him
.
Then her body wouldn’t throb so mercilessly and her mind wouldn’t spin with confusion.

But, she would not have Anna either.

It was such a blasted, endless circle
.

She longed to let loose with some of John’s favorite curses
.
It would be such a delight and a release
.
She could just imagine Lady Clarington’s expression if confronted with some of the more descriptive ones involving dogs and various intimate orifices
.
That would wipe that salivating look off her face.

Of course, it would probably also end any chance Rose had of finding a respectable husband
.
She doubted there was a man here who’d want a wife w
ho knew more curses than a fish
wife.

Although, Wulf knew and he’d still asked her.

Damn, circles again.

“Please forgive me, Lady Clarington, I need to check on the arrangements for tea
.
I want to be sure Cook is laying
out the pineapple from the hot
house
.
It’s just ripened.
”
Rose said the first thing that came to mind
.
She had to get away
.

She turned and scurried away
.
Maybe she could dart up to Wulf’s chamber and replace John’s maps of the Dardanelles as well
.
She’d snuck them out of the collection in Wulf’s room first thing that
latest
morning after, when she’d heard him leave for his ride
.
Anna had been delighted to trace sea monsters with her and remember those peaceful times with John
.
But now
,
Rose couldn’t put them back until the dratted man left
.
And it was too painful to see them lying about reminding her of simpler times when her present life was such a mess.

She’d have to put them away, one less reminder of how simple life had been, and how complex it was promising to become
.

How much longer would he be here
?
How could choosing books take so long
?
Of course, if he spent his time in the park showing off his prowess with a bow instead of laboring in the library it was no wonder that the task was still far from accomplished.

She paused as she entered the house. Wulf was safe outdoors
.
She’d avoided the library since he’d arrived
.
Now was the chance to check on his progress and see just how much longer he’d be here
.
Maybe she cou
ld lay a gentle hint in the
secretary’s ear and speed their departure
.

She walked briskly down the hall, reciting curses in her head
.
She had to get rid of him.

“May I help you, my lady?
”
She turned, startled, as a slight man slipped from the library door, shutting it behind him
.
Mitter
.
That was his name.

“No
.
I was just coming in
.
Beautif
ul day out,”
she spoke politely.

“Is it
?
I hadn’t noticed
.
Working hard.
”
He nodded towards the library door.”

She turned as if to leave, and paused
.
“Oh, Mitter, how is the work proceeding
?
I’d have thought you’d be done by now.”

Mitter blushed
.
“Sorry to take so long
.
It’s just so hard to get
Major
Huntington to concentrate
.
Even when he does bother to come and help he tends to open a book and get lost in it
.
Can’t seem to separate work and study.”

Rose nodded
.
She’d never imagined Wulf reading
.
He seemed too vital for such pursuits.

“He tends to borrow the books, too
.
I keep finding he’s taken them to his chamber to read before bed
.
It’s hard to pack when he keeps slipping them away.
”
Mitter had lowered his voice to a whisper as if revealing a secret of some depth.

Rose nodded again
.
She didn’t care what he did with the books as long as he managed to get them in the crates and himself away.

“Thank you.” She turned to leave.

“Excuse me, my lady, but I’ve noticed some missing maps
.
The several editions of the Mediterranean do not seem to be here, but I’ve seen notations indicating they should exist.”

“Why yes, they do
.
Burberry chose not to keep them here
.
He liked them closer at hand in his last years
.
He dreamed he still visited far off lands and solved ancient secrets.”

“It would be useful to look
them
over to understand the entire collection
.
I do hate gaps in information.”