Sandra Madden (13 page)

"Edmund and Lady Judith," she pronounced, drawing away.

The barrister chuckled. "Lord Stamford has come to watch over you."

"Nay. Methinks he comes to steal a kiss from Lady Judith."

"You are wrong. I possess an exceptional understanding of human nature, Mistress Kate. Lord Stamford fears I may compromise your honor."

"Lord Stamford has no fears concerning me," she insisted.

"I disagree. Stamford stands ready to protect you from any improper advances I might make."

Kate peered through the flickering torchlight to find Edmund's gaze on her. She could not identify the look in his eyes, nor guess what she might read in them. But he was watching her.

With an indignant puff, she raised her chin and turned away.

What made Edmund believe she required watching? Did he think Kate a simple country miss who could not fend for herself? The arrogance of Edmund's intrusion caused her stomach to burn.

Unfortunately, there was no maze where she and Moore could find privacy in this small garden. James took no further notice of Edmund and Judith. He appeared intrigued by Kate's breasts. His unnatural preoccupation made it seem as if he had never seen a woman's breasts before.

"Do you mind if we sit for a moment, Master Moore? There is a bench beneath the cherry tree."

"I should like that very well."

She moved quickly toward the bench. "I wish to contemplate the stars."

"The stars rule our bile and our destiny," he said, whisking a square of linen over the stone bench to make it clean for her,

"I believe so as well!" Kate declared, delighted to hear James Moore was not skeptical of the science of astrology as was Edmund.

She sat down and patted the empty space beside her, urging the barrister to join her. He did, grinning broadly. Kate hoped Edmund witnessed her invitation. Her agitation with the earl emboldened her.

"I oft consult an astrologer on behalf of my clients, as well as myself," James added.

"How wise of you."

"I am a practical man. Without an astrologer I would not always know what course to take in legal matters." He lowered his voice and leaned in to Kate again. "I knew when I met you that you were the beautiful woman predicted for me. A woman from a far place who would capture my heart."

"You flatter me, but the prediction you cite is general in nature and might mean another."

"Mistress Kate would you—" The lawyer halted midsentence. A terrible frown drew his brows together over the bridge of his nose.

"What it is?" Kate asked.

"I do believe Lord Stamford and Lady Judith are coming to join us."

Kate bristled. Could she not have a word with a man in private without interference from Edmund? What was he about?

In the heat of anger, she reached up to frame James Moore's face between her hands. With no thought other than to give Edmund something to be truly upset about, Kate quickly lowered the startled barrister's lips to hers, kissing Moore hard and full on the mouth.

She heard the gasp, but Kate could not be sure if it came from Edmund or Judith. She withdrew only in tune to see the earl hurry his lady from the garden.

"Mistress Kate!" James Moore was plainly stunned.

Wide-eyed in horror for what she'd done, Kate pleaded for the lawyer's forgiveness. "I do not know what came over me."

Moore reached for her. "I do hope you will be overcome in the same manner again."

Leaping up, Kate cried headache and fled to her chamber, leaving the flummoxed barrister alone and dazed in the cool, weedy garden.

Once behind closed doors, Kate flung herself across the feather bed without heed to her farthingale. Her dress flew up in the back. But she did not heed the cold air caressing her bare bottom. She sobbed with wretched abandon. She'd behaved like a hoyden for a reason she did not fully understand.

Kate felt certain of only one thing. She required the counsel of a skillful astrologer. Her stars were askew.

* * * *

As soon as he could gracefully excuse himself from Lady Judith, Edmund marched to Kate's small chamber. James Moore had left within seconds of the shocking incident in the garden.

Edmund's blood boiled. His jaw ached from clenching his teeth. Enveloped in red-hot fury, he burst into the room without a knock—and was met by the sight of Kate's bare bottom. And the sound of her sobs.

A beautiful, softly rounded, creamy, inviting bare bottom.

Heart-wrenching sobs.

Transfixed by Kate's captivating bottom, Edmund hardly noticed the sobbing had stopped. Her head snapped around and she tried to set herself straight, rolling over, pushing down on the farthingale, rocking to a sitting position.

Edmund's anger threatened to dissolve in a gale of laughter. Wondering at her tears, spellbound by the mass of honey curls falling like a dazzling golden curtain beyond Kate's shoulders, he was momentarily immobilized. Mesmerized.

In the silence, an astonishing transformation occurred. Eyes brimming with tears a moment before, now flashed golden daggers at him.

"Do you no longer knock on a maiden's door?" she cried.

Edmund's fury reasserted itself. Glowering, he seized Kate's wrists and brought her to her feet.

"What was the meaning of the scene in the garden?"

"What scene, pray?" She wrenched from his grasp.

"You kissed James Moore like a wench working in... in some bawdy house." Edmund ground the words through his teeth.

She sucked in her breath in a noisy gasp. "Did you not request that I entertain Master Moore?"

"Not in that manner!" he roared. "I did not expect you to entertain my barrister in such a bold, utterly brazen manner!"

Bloody hell! He'd lost control. Beset at once by both anger and desire, he flailed his arms in frustration. Kate's heaving breasts, the intoxicating tangle of her flaxen curls and her lips, full and moist, conspired to ignite an aching in Edmund's loins such as he'd never known.

He fought through the pain, longing to ask Kate if she enjoyed the barrister's kiss. Had Moore's kiss made her heart quicken? Had Moore's kiss held more passion than Edmund's?

Instead, he continued to rage. "Is this how you entertain in the country?"

"At every opportunity," she snapped.

"In London society, women do not seduce men. Such behavior frightens a man of goodwill and honor. 'Twill be a wonder if James Moore calls upon you again."

"It does not matter."

"And I cannot blame him."

"Why should I care?"

"You must have a husband."

"No, I do not. I must find my mother before I join the hunt to marry."

"Find a husband first and then you will have the means and time to search for a mother,” he said in a quite reasonable tone, before adding, “…who apparently does not wish to be found."

Kate's hands balled into fists at her waist. Her eyes narrowed in steely defiance. "You will not dissuade me."

"You are far too stubborn."

"And you are far too arrogant."

"If you persist in the behavior you displayed in the garden your reputation will be such that no man will want you," Edmund warned.

Or, he thought, every man in London would be beating down his door for a chance at Kate.

She folded her arms beneath her breasts. " 'Tis fine with me," she huffed.

Her angry motion drew Edmund's attention once again to her bountiful breasts. His marveling gaze fastened on a spot just above her left breast. A dusky mole shaped like a heart beckoned the touch of his fingertip, the brush of his lips.

God's blood! He wanted her. He ached for her. He would die for her.

Had he gone mad?

Edmund took hold of himself, raised his eyes to Kate, and breathed deeply. He must overcome this undeniable physical attraction. The gardener's daughter was untouchable to him. Forbidden. But the futility of his feelings only served to stir Edmund's simmering anger.

If this were a game, he would not be winning. He'd never had such a worthy opponent as Kate in any tennis match, bowling game, or game of billiards.

Edmund took another deep breath and swiped the lock of hair back from his forehead. "Have you not heard me, Kate?" he asked in a conciliatory tone. "With your beauty and intelligence you can make a fine match, one that will enhance your future."

"My future is written in the stars, not by you, Lord Stamford."

Damn her, she would not give an inch. Well, he would just have to find Kate a husband without her help.

"We shall be leaving for my bookseller's first thing in the morning. Be ready."

Edmund stormed from her chamber before she could reply. He returned to the great hall slowly. Calming himself for Lady Judith, who remained serene and malleable in all matters. Thank the Lord.

* * * *

Aside from a clipped, "Good day," greeting the following afternoon, Edmund remained aloof and silent with Kate. Tension had been the third passenger in the coach during the ride from Stamford House to Cheapside and the bookseller's shop.

Kate told herself Edmund's disapproval mattered not. The only matter of importance was finding the woman who birthed her. She did not understand a whit why Lord Stamford insisted she purchase a book. But he had been behaving strangely of late.

The bookseller's shop was small, dank, and dark. The musty smell of the rush-covered dirt floor and the acrid odor of tallow candles had Kate holding her pomander extremely close to her nose.

Edmund made the introductions tersely, through compressed lips. "This is Mistress Kate. I have brought her so that she might purchase a book of her choice. Kate, this is Master Webster."

A tall, hulking man, Master Webster bowed deeply. The fabric of the bookseller's garments was worn thin, and one of his unwashed stocks bore holes. In his own unkempt fashion, the bookseller cut quite a remarkable figure.

He possessed a wide mouth and large hooked nose. Streaks of gray ran randomly through his long walnut-colored hair. A flowing moustache and abundant beard covered most of his face, save for his nose and eyes, the shade of dark ale.

" 'Tis my pleasure to serve you, Mistress Kate." The giant whistled when he spoke. Every uttered "s" became a whistle.

"My thanks, kind sir." Kate tipped her head and smiled, determined to be pleasant and polite.

"I beg your leave," Edmund said, backing toward the door. "I have an appointment to keep but will return shortly."

"Are you leaving me?" Kate asked.

"Selecting a book is a personal matter," he replied smoothly. "And there is no one I trust more than Webster to assist you. By the time you have selected your purchases, I shall return."

"But I must visit Goldsmith Row. I shall not tarry here."

Edmund's brows drew together in a menacing frown. "Do not leave Webster's shop until I return for you," he warned.

"But—

"I shall not be long."

Edmund disappeared before Kate could say more. He oft did that. Resigned, she turned to the bookseller. "What books do you suggest?"

"Have you read Chaucer, Mistress Kate?"

"Aye," Kate nodded.

She thought Webster to be at least some fifteen years older than she. Turning away from the bookseller, she moved toward a stack of books. Though she loved books, at present Kate preferred to be in a goldsmith shop.

As she reached out for the book atop the stack, Kate felt Webster's breath upon her neck. He stood so close behind her she could feel the heat of his body and its unpleasant moldy odor. She stepped away.

He followed.

Kate turned. "Sir, you stand too close."

"Mistress, are you a married woman?"

His impertinence astounded her. "Why do you ask such a question?"

Webster grinned. Several bottom teeth were missing, the reason he whistled perhaps, "I am seeking a wife, and you are most pleasing to my eye."

Oh, fie.

"You flatter me, sir, but unlike you, I am not seeking a husband."

"A woman is not complete without a man, and you would make an excellent wife and mother."

"Mother!" Kate exclaimed. "You have made a mighty leap."

"I have six children in need of a mother."

"Six children? God save you!"

"The wee ones have been motherless for more than a month, now."

"A month?" she repeated. "You have been a widower for only thirty days?"

"Thirty-one."

"I do hope you find a mother for your children soon," Kate said as she glided to the door, "My thanks for your help, but I have remembered another appointment." Before departing, she turned and gave him a little wave. "Good day."

She all but slammed the door behind her. Although Kate worried about walking the street by herself, and Edmund had warned her to stay put... at the moment Kate could not think of anything more dangerous than being alone with a man who had sired six children!

Surely she could find Goldsmith Row, where she had urgent business. No doubt Edmund would be angry with her for leaving the shop, but when he heard of title bookseller's forward behavior, even he must forgive her.

Securing her pomander close to her nose and breathing deeply of its heavy ambergris, Kate sailed along the dusty road as if she knew exactly where she was headed. She smiled at the beggars, wishing she had a spare shilling to give them, ignored the many vendors who cried out at her to buy meat pies, oysters, and cakes.

In the midst of the melee, with so much to see, she did not notice the man following her as she passed a puppeteer and several print shops and taverns.

Kate had made her way to Fleet Street. Which was not where she wanted to be. She stopped to look for a kindly face to ask directions to Goldsmith Row.

The man who darted up alongside Kate not a moment after she stopped, startled her.

"Are ye lost, little lady?"

Dressed as a beggar, the stranger smelled heavily of ale.

"I am looking for Goldsmith Row."

"Aye, 'tis on my way. Come with me."

Before Kate could refuse, the ruffian clasped her wrist and hurried her toward a narrow, dark alley.

"Prithee, sir. Tell me the directions and I shall be off with no bother to you."