Regency: Rakes & Reputations (Mills & Boon M&B) (6 page)

“So thoughtful, Miss O’Rourke? Or are you anxious to return to your friends?”

“They are quite diverting,” she allowed, but she was more concerned with keeping him away from Miss Race. If he made the connection between the girl and the Brotherhood, he
would instantly know what she was doing. And yet, she could not help but ask, “Had you not met Miss Race before?”

A brief look of uncertainty passed over his features. “I had not had that pleasure. I must say she is quite lovely. I find it difficult to believe I managed to miss her before.”

“Connoisseur of lovely women that you are?”

He laughed and swung her in a wide circle. “Are you calling me conceited, Miss O’Rourke?”

“Heaven forbid! Fickle, perhaps …”

“For what it is worth, I rank you among the loveliest to grace the ton, Miss O’Rourke. And by my reckoning, you are generating a good deal of interest.”

The hair raised on the back of Gina’s neck. She had felt the stares, but she suspected they were for a different reason, and likely from men who had seen her naked on a stone altar. And interest was not what she wanted to generate. She’d rather blend into the background—the better to overhear snippets of conversation that could be of help to her.

“There is that look again,” Mr. Hunter said. “The one that tells me I’ve said something wrong.”

“Not wrong, Mr. Hunter. It is just that…well, I do not want to generate interest.”

“Then why have you come out in society?”

“I…I thought I should experience London before returning to Ireland.”

His eyes narrowed and he drew her off the dance floor. “That is a bare-faced lie, Miss O’Rourke. It was a lie the first time you told it, and it is now. I would hazard you have experienced more than enough of London.”

She gasped at his sudden fierceness. “The wrong London. I wanted to take a happier memory home with me.”

He took her hand and led her into the famed Albermarle gardens among dozens of strolling couples. Still, it was more
private than the ballroom. He found them a bench surrounded by sculpted evergreens and gestured for her to sit. As much as she would have liked to return to the ballroom, she followed his direction.

“Now, Miss O’Rourke,” he began as he stood in front of her, one foot propped on the bench next to her hip, as if to keep her from bolting. “I know you are up to something. Do not bother to deny it.”

“Really, sir. I needn’t explain myself to you.”

“You are going to explain to someone. Me or Andrew. Or better yet, your mother.”

Gina shuddered. Her mother would have hysterics followed by locking Gina in her room until their return to Ireland. “I’ve told you the truth before. I am tired of hiding in fear. I will not live the rest of my life locked away or shunning society. I’ve done nothing wrong.”

“Apart from sneaking out and joining in fast company to go places no decently brought-up young woman should ever go? Apart from keeping company with the likes of Henley? Apart, even, from nearly getting yourself killed?”

She had underestimated his anger. And he had misjudged hers. He had backed her into a corner, and he was going to pay the consequences of that. “Are you saying that I am to blame for what happened to me? “

“Only in that you made a series of wrong decisions for all the right reasons. But you cannot ignore the fact that you are a female, with all the vulnerabilities of that sex.”

“I am not ignoring it, but I will not allow it to prevent me from doing what I must.”

“And what is that, Miss O’Rourke?”

“Talk to people, discover if anyone knows what has become of Mr. Henley. See to it that he is captured and punished.”

“Even if that means exposing your …”

Gina’s stomach turned. Exposing her shame? The fact that she had been splayed on a stone altar? That she was to have been raped and killed for the titillation of dissolute men? No! Dear Lord, no. She did not want any of it made public. But if she was not willing to risk that, Henley was sure to get away with what he’d done to her and countless others. “Even then,” she confirmed, keeping her voice steady and determined.

He looked into her eyes, measuring her determination. “Miss O’Rourke, the Home Office is doing all it can. How can you think you will succeed where they have not?”

“For precisely that reason. They have
not
succeeded. How can I possibly do worse? And how can I return to Ireland knowing that vile man is still free? Free to come after me. Free to debauch other innocent women.”

“You think we failed you.” Anger coupled with something darker crossed his handsome features. “Then surely you can see the folly in putting yourself in harm’s way.”

“Mr. Henley is in hiding. He is no threat to me as long as I am in society because he will not risk being seen. I only want to discover if anyone knows where he can be found. I promise you, Mr. Hunter, I will give you that information the moment I have it.”

“You will …” He looked at her in disbelief and raked his fingers through his dark hair. “Damn it, the only thing you should do is go home to Ireland!”

She stood and turned toward the terrace doors and the ballroom. She hadn’t taken more than a single step when he seized her arm and spun her around as he stepped forward. The momentum landed her squarely against his chest and she was forced to look up to see his expression—fury and frustration. “I don’t give a fig where you think I should go!” she exclaimed.

“Don’t you see the danger? Don’t you know what the mere sight of you does to a man? “

She opened her mouth to ask what he meant, but it was too late. His left arm went around her to hold her captive while his right hand cupped the back of her head, preventing her from turning away.

His mouth came down on hers with desperation she could feel in every line of his body. His lips were challenging, not punishing. They were firm, warm and tinged with sweet wine. His tongue slipped along the seam of her lips, urging hers to open. Not knowing why, she did, and his moan was the answer. She brought her fists up, intending to push him away, but her hands opened and slipped around his neck. She had never felt anything as exciting as this before and she was dizzy with the heady sensation.

Surer now, more confident, he softened his assault to coax an answering moan from her. She scarcely recognized her own voice in that sigh. He pulled her closer, pressing her along the length of him until she could feel something as firm and unyielding as his chest pressing against her lower abdomen. Oh, how she wanted more of that feeling! Encouraged, he deepened the kiss and Gina knew she was being branded, claimed, owned entirely by this man. Only James Hunter could have robbed her of the will to resist.

Heavenly and wicked at the same time.
Now she understood. She couldn’t move, couldn’t break the spell of his arms, and she didn’t want to. No, she never wanted this kiss to end. She was breathless at the way her breasts tingled as they pressed against his chest and at the way a needful ache bloomed where his erection burned into her. She wanted him. She needed him.

He released her with a choked groan and stepped back, leaving her to stagger without his support. “You…you have my apologies, Miss O’Rourke.”

She spun around and ran for the terrace door. He must never know what that kiss had done to her. Never see it in
her eyes or read it on her face. She’d been ready to surrender everything to him when he’d only kissed her to shut her up or teach her a lesson. Well, he’d never have that opportunity again!

G
ina was certain there was some trace of that kiss visible to the guests in the ballroom. She was changed somehow, and there would have to be a sign of that. She glanced toward Hortense and Harriett, who were laughing and fanning themselves flirtatiously while engaged in conversation with at least five young men. How could she join them when her heart was still racing so?

She glanced around for a familiar face, someone she could talk to. Where had Miss Race gone? She’d promised to bring Mr. Metcalfe. A quick glance around the ballroom revealed that the girl was not dancing. In fact, she could find no trace of her. Surely she wouldn’t have left without a word?

A flash of green caught her attention and she watched as Miss Race entered the ballroom from a terrace door. She paused to pat her hair into place and sweep a gaze about the room. When she saw Gina, she gave a small smile and a nod as she came toward her.

She was flushed when she took Gina’s hand and led her
into the corridor. “I looked for you, Gina, but you disappeared. Stanley was here, but he could not stay.”

She tried to hide her dismay. “I…I have missed him?”

“He said he knew who you were and was willing to help you, but he does not like to stay too long in any place.”

“Has he always been like that, Christina?”

The girl frowned. “Only since…the middle of summer. It is as if he is afraid something will happen if he stays too long.”

Could Mr. Metcalfe be trying to avoid Mr. Henley, too? But Mr. Henley would never attend a ball—too brazen, and too many people knew him. Or did Mr. Metcalfe fear the authorities were after him? What a hopeless muddle.

Gina squeezed Christina’s hands. “Did he say how he could help me? “

“Oh, yes.” She rummaged in her little beaded reticule, pulled a small object out and pressed it into Gina’s hand. “I was to give you this, and tell you that he will find you at a more opportune time. I took the liberty of telling him I have been invited to attend the Morris masquerade three days hence, and that you will be there with Hortense and Harriett. He said we should look for a leper.”

Leper? That would mean a black hooded robe and bell about his neck. He should be easy enough to find. “Three days? Could I not speak to him sooner?”

“I am afraid not. He said he had much to do. Now, you must excuse me. I should return to my party.”

Gina tried to hide her impatience as Christina hurried away to join a group of young people who were preparing to leave. Almost forgotten in her disappointment, she looked down and opened her hand. A key? Pray, what did it open?

Throw down the gauntlet? What a bloody good idea that turned out to be!
Instead of basking in triumph with little
Miss Eugenia packing for home, Jamie was the one who’d been defeated with a kiss and at the mercy of a sweet-smelling nymph who gave as good as she got. Gave better, actually. And the accusation that the Home Office—
he
—had failed her ripped through his heart. It was bad enough to fear it himself, but to hear her say it was a confirmation of all his worst fears.

He riffled through the papers on his desk at the Home Office looking for his notes, certain there would be something to either bolster his case or tell him where Henley was hiding. Fast. He had to end this before Henley came after Eugenia. There had to be something he had overlooked. Something so subtle that it had escaped him.

“Good Lord! You take to abandoning me at balls and I find you working into the wee hours! What has happened to you, Jamie? All work and no play is not like you.”

He glanced up to see Charlie leaning against the doorjamb, his arms folded over his chest and looking for all the world as if he’d just slept twelve hours. “Not like
you,
” Jamie corrected. “What are
you
are doing here—and do not tell me you were trying to find me.”

Charlie shrugged and came to sit in the chair across the desk from him. “My mind wanders. You know how easily bored I am. And I’m looking for company. I hate to carouse alone.”

Jamie finally pushed his papers aside and gave his brother his attention. “You haven’t been carousing, Charlie. You’re far too fresh for that. Come clean.”

He grinned. “Not precisely carousing. But I’ve certainly been in that part of town. I met Devlin at the Crown and Bear.”

“Lilly will not thank you for leading him astray.”

“Me? Perish the thought. I am merely learning from the master.”

“Master of what? Are you taking up a life of crime?”

His grin faded as he sat forward in his chair. “I am trying to decipher Devlin’s sources, his network of informants. Alas, I lack his reputation to give strength to my requests, but I am gaining ground there.”

“I wonder if I should ask what is required to become credible to that lot of scoundrels.”

“I wouldn’t. Not for the squeamish.” Charlie quirked an eyebrow.

“I should also warn you to be prepared for rumors concerning Miss O’Rourke and me.”

Charlie blinked, then shook his head. “You had me there for a minute. I almost thought you, of all people, had found the ‘one.’ Well, never mind. So you want society to
think
you’re courting? Is Miss O’Rourke going along with this?”

“She will likely be quite distressed when she learns of it. But my requests that she stay at home and be protected have fallen on deaf ears. She intends to ask her own questions and meddle in Home Office business. Henley will be looking for a way to get at her. She is one of the last who could testify against him—that he drugged and kidnapped her.”

“So you intend to hang on her every word? Discourage any other suitors? Make it impossible for her to locate Henley?”

“Precisely.”

“And if she sends you away?”

“I shall stand fast.”

“You know what society will say about this affair, do you not? That you are beyond smitten, and that the O’Rourke girl has made a jackanapes of you.”

Jamie laughed. “Not to my face, they won’t.”

“Ah,” Charlie said, “and this will work well into your usual scheme, will it not? In seasons to come, it will be whispered that your heart is broken and no marriage-minded chit should set her cap for you. Damn clever.”

“My usual scheme?”

“Your reputation in the ton, Jamie. Nary an ingenue nor a courtesan has held your attention long. ‘Tis just a matter of time before you move along to the next entertainment.”

He forced a grin and a shrug. “You will not give me away? “

“Never! Furthermore, I shall join you in your game. I do not intend to let you go about alone at night again. Whoever wants you dead will not have an easy time of it.”

“Or Henley will get two Hunters for the price of one.”

“I am so pleased that you let the gentlemen go off to their club after church,” Mama announced as they sat down to the table and shook her napkin out to lay it across her lap. “Now it is just me and all my girls. Well, the ones I have left.” She sniffled and touched her handkerchief to the corners of her eyes.

Gina shot a quick glance at her sisters and noted that both Bella and Lilly did the same. By their tense expressions, she realized they all feared that Mama was winding up for a bout of hysteria.

“But enough of that,” Mama continued, laying their fears to rest. “We all miss Cora dreadfully, but we must accept God’s will. I am simply grateful for the opportunity to have my little family all to myself. There are things we must discuss. Plans to form and decisions to be made.”

“There is time for that, Mama,” Bella said as a maid served a platter of cold sliced meat.

“Not much time at all, dear. Less than a fortnight. ‘Twould be sooner if I could arrange it.”

Ten days, by Gina’s reckoning, counting this one. Yes, she was painfully aware of the ticking of the clock. Ten days to find Henley. Ten days to avenge Cora and reclaim her own future.

“And we must look to the future. I will scarce be settled at home when I will have to come back here. March, will it not be, Bella?”

“M-March?” Her sister colored a most interesting shade of fuchsia.

“Oh, do not deny it,” their mother smirked. “I know my daughters. Your husband did not waste much time getting an heir on you. You shall have an early spring babe. And I know a girl wants her mother at such a time. Never fear, Bella. I shall be here for you.”

Bella looked at Gina and Lilly for help, but as Bella did not deny their mother’s conclusion, there was nothing they could say.

“And Lilly, you shall not be far behind, I think. From the look of that strapping husband of yours, I would not be surprised to welcome twins by summer.”

“Mother, we have been married little more than a week!”

“Aye, it does not take long. My girls will be no less fertile than I. And your husband looks no less virile than Bella’s. Boys, I’d warrant. A great pity your father will not be here to see it. He always wanted sons.”

“Then perhaps you should stay rather than go and have to return so soon,” Bella offered. “Andrew has often said you are welcome to stay as long as you please.”

“Aye, but we cannot leave our home in Belfast vacant so long. The servants will be stealing us blind. No, we must return as soon as may be, and Gina will have to stay there when I return in the spring. Someone must watch over the house.”

Lilly raised her eyebrows and leaned forward as she spoke. “But you cannot leave Gina alone, Mama. A single woman …”

“Faugh! Gina is a spinster now. Both older and younger
sisters are married. No one is like to offer for her now. She may as well make herself useful.”

Gina was astonished. It had never occurred to her that her own mother would consider her little better than an unpaid companion.

“And she is scarred, besides,” Mama continued. She turned to look at Gina with a frown. “You were never clumsy before, child. Falling on the stairs and cutting yourself with a broken glass—why, I never heard of such a thing happening before to any of my girls. And now you must cover it whenever you go about in public. I am certain you would much rather not leave the house. Yes, you will be more comfortable at home. In Belfast.”

Gina’s hand went to her throat as it always did at any mention of her scar. The story they’d told their mother about how it had happened was a bit flimsy, but she had believed it, nonetheless.

“Mama!” Lilly protested. “Gina is in her prime, and the physician said the scar will fade with time.”

Bella nodded. “Lady Sarah has said that Gina is a great success in society. Why, a few young men have asked after her. If you must return to Belfast, you should leave Gina here with us.”

She was warmed by her sisters’ defense, though she doubted Bella’s veracity. Who would have asked after her? She’d only danced with a handful of young men.

Mama shrugged. “What? Leave her with
you?
And no one to guide her? Why, Mr. Hunter and Mr. Farrell are hardly the sort to look after a young girl.”

A young girl? Moments ago she’d been a spinster. Gina sighed as the simple truth dawned on her. Mama did not want to be alone. She did not want the last of her daughters to be out of reach. And Mama was likely to do anything she could to keep Gina by her side and at her beck and call.

“Mama—” Lilly began.

“Gina is coming home with me, and that is an end to it.” Mama waved one hand in dismissal of the subject.

The remainder of lunch was punctuated with sighs and awkward spurts of bland conversation while Gina felt as if she might jump out of her skin. The future her mother had mapped out for her was never one she would have chosen. One, in fact, she found abhorrent and, in its own way, terrifying. But given her circumstances, and if she could not find the answers she sought, it would be the only course open to her.

She wouldn’t give up yet, though. She still had ten days and she would make the most of them. Regardless of Mr. Renquist and the Home Office, she would just have to take matters into her own hands.

Her mother excused herself, declaring that she was quite fatigued and needed a nap. The table fell silent until they heard a door close somewhere above them.

“Gina, did you know what she planned?” Lilly asked.

She shook her head, still a bit stunned.

“We must find some way to divert her,” Bella mumbled.

“It is hopeless, and you know it. When Mama has made up her mind, nothing can change it. Nothing will do but that she have her way.”

“But you have not …”

“Escaped?” Gina smiled and looked down at her plate, largely untouched. “Perhaps I could learn to bear that, but I cannot resign myself to the thought that Mr. Henley will not pay for what he has done. That is the one task I cannot leave undone.”

Bella’s eyes darkened as she sat forward. “I’ve seen that look before. What are you planning, Gina? “

“I hardly know. I have made some headway amongst the ton, but progress is slow. I am to meet with Mr. Renquist
tomorrow for his report. And …” she hesitated, reluctant to tell them about the little key “… and there has to be more I can do. Other ways to learn what I need.”

Lilly dropped her napkin on her plate and glanced over her shoulder before lowering her voice to a whisper. “If you are game, Gina, I may have an idea. There were some street urchins—lads, Devlin called them—who helped find the evidence against the Brotherhood. They are quite engaging little pickpockets and, for a few coins, they could discover anything.”

“I vow I am not going to turn any source away.”

Lilly nodded and stood, determination in her voice. “I know just where to find them on a Sunday afternoon. Bella, you stay here and if the men return, tell them Gina and I have gone for a stroll through the park and shall be back presently. Gina, fetch your bonnet and shawl.”

Gina glanced around the square at Covent Garden, almost as busy as Hyde Park on a summer afternoon, unable to shake the feeling that she was being watched. “How will we ever find them?” she asked Lilly.

“Just dangle your reticule from your wrist and they will come along. Walk slowly and smile as if you have nothing more on your mind than meeting friends. Ned will find us.”

“What will your husband say?”