Virginia Henley (36 page)

Savage glanced about the beautiful old hall, but his eyes kept returning to Tony. He wished he could see through the cambric shirt. Perhaps it was his imagination, but he thought he had glimpsed the outline of a breast.

“Look at this,” Tony urged.

Savage’s glances suddenly became furtive. He watched Tony’s hand as it lovingly caressed the carved mantel.
He touches things the way a woman would,
thought Savage, unable to dismiss the suspicion that had stolen into his mind. His hand itched to pull the leather thong from the long dark hair and quickly searched his mind for a plausible reason to do so. “There’s not enough light in here to read what is carved.” He took the thong from his own hair to tie back one side of the drapes. “Give me your thong.”

Tony hesitated. She lifted her hand to her hair, then dropped it, not wanting him to see her with her hair about her shoulders. Then decisively she pulled off the thong and handed it to him.

Savage clearly saw the blush that tinged Tony’s cheeks as their fingers touched. With his hair falling about his shoulders, the lad was positively beautiful. If he was a lad! Savage told himself his suspicions were ridiculous as his mind went back over the months they’d known each other.

“There’s even a billiard room. Come and see,” Tony
urged. She had never known a more magnetic man in her life. His black hair curled about his neck and she remembered threading her fingers through its crispness. Black-water’s romantic atmosphere was playing hell with her emotions. She longed for Adam to take her in his arms, ached for his mouth to swoop down and capture hers. If she could have only one wish it would be for this man to make love to her, here in his baronial castle.

“No, I want to go down to the river first.” Savage knew he must confirm or dispel the notion that Tony was a female and there was only one way to do it. He’d have to get him out of his clothes.

Tony followed Adam, chattering all the way. “The river’s full of salmon. If you had a long enough line you could fish from the drawing-room window!”

As they stood on the bank, looking into the black-green water, Savage said, “I’m hot and dusty from the ride, let’s have a swim.”

Tony took a few steps back. “No, you go ahead. The water’s probably cold even though the sun’s out.”

“Don’t be a coward, cold water never hurt a man.” Savage took a purposeful step toward her and too late she discerned his intent. He took Tony’s wrists in a firm grip and pulled her toward the water.

Tony pulled back with all her strength, but it was useless to resist against one as powerfully built as Savage. All her instincts cried out to her that Adam was about to undress her. When his hands took hold of her shirt, she struggled wildly, then she felt a strong palm cup her breast.

Savage was stunned. His hand was holding one of the firmest globes it had ever encountered. Before he was totally convinced, he knew his eye would have to confirm what his senses and his fingers told him was true. He took hold of her shirt to pull it from her. It tore as she in turn yanked the fabric from his hands.

Savage found himself holding a half-naked female. With the cloud of black, disheveled hair, the fiery green eyes,
and the sulky mouth that looked ready to bite him, she looked like an exotic wildcat from the jungle.

Tony’s heart beat rapidly as she realized his penetrating gaze had finally uncovered her secret. Her breasts were revealed to his icy stare.

“Who the hell are you?” Savage demanded.

“Antonia Lamb, who the hell do you think I am?” she said on a sob, and fled up the hill, back to the castle.

Antonia was trembling by the time she reached her tower room. A storm had been brewing between them since that first day when Adam Savage had looked at Lord Anthony Lamb with open contempt. They had weathered a few squalls when the clash of their personalities had dangerously disturbed the atmosphere, but Antonia knew the cataclysm that was about to be unleashed would be more than thunderous. She had seen his face. There was no other word for it, it was
savage.
He was daunting and intimidating at the best of times but when his temper was about to lash into fury, he was terrifying!

She tore off the ripped shirt and reached for a dress. Her hair had come undone and cascaded about her shoulders in wild disarray. The door crashed open. Savage strode in. She whirled about, clutching the green gown to her nakedness, and took a step back from the black rage that blazed from his dark face. He was the devil incarnate. She felt the fire and smelled the brimstone!

Savage checked his stride and tried to leash his fury as he dimly realized he was no longer at liberty to burst into her bedchamber.

“Downstairs, mistress, when you have removed those scandalous trousers.” He spun on his heel and again crashed the door, making the candle brackets dance on the walls.

Antonia slumped back against the wardrobe door, her eyes awash with tears. She took a great gulp of air in an effort to compose herself. She would have to make herself feminine and appealing before she went down. When she explained her impossible predicament to him, he would understand everything. How remorseful he would be for his savage temper. It was just as well he had found out the truth. Now he would protect her from the danger of her evil cousin.

Antonia put on a shift and drawers, then sat down on the edge of the bed to pull on her stockings with shaky hands. She slipped on the pale green gown and fastened the ribbons on the sleeves. As she brushed out the tangled mass of black silk curls she assessed the damage of her face. The tears had made her lashes spiky, but her lips were bloodlessly pale. She took out pink lip rouge and applied it to her mouth, emphasizing its feminine fullness. She wondered if she should thread a ribbon through her curls. God, better not overdo it! Her high-heeled slippers made her taller and gave her the confidence she needed to go downstairs to him. By now his temper would have cooled.

Savage stood before the massive mantel in the large banqueting hall. Transversing the entire length of the room took a great deal of courage. Savage’s powerful frame almost blocked out the fireplace as she came slowly forward. His face looked as if it had been carved from black oak. The scar that marred his mouth stood out in livid relief.

“What game are you playing?” His voice cracked like a whip.

She caught her lip between her teeth, then plunged in breathlessly. “It’s very simple. It was Anthony, not Antonia,
who was lost at sea in that terrible storm. I took my twin’s place so that I wouldn’t lose Lamb Hall.”

A look of incredulous horror came into his face. “You devious bitch!”

Her eyes widened in disbelief. “You don’t understand. The title and the property go to Bernard Lamb on the death of Anthony.”

“I understand only too well. You are a scheming little bitch. Mercenary beyond belief!”

Anger almost choked her. She slapped him in the face.

He towered above her black with rage. Too late she realized what she had done. Fear made her reckless. “Go on, knock me down as you did when you believed I’d made Dolly pregnant! I thought hitting a female was against your rigid code of honor!”

Her scathing words exacerbated the self-disgust he felt toward himself, mainly for having been duped, especially by a woman.

“How the hellfire could I have ever thought you a male?”

“Shall I tell you? You never really looked at me. You took one contemptuous glance at Tony with those glacial eyes of yours and dismissed him as useless. You acted like an arrogant swine and treated him with utter contempt because he’d never measure up to your idea of a man.”

“Be silent,” he roared. “Your language and your behavior are scandalous, outrageous!”

“You set me such an exemplary standard. You’re the one who taught me to curse and drink and dragged me around every brothel in London!”

“Good God Almighty!” Savage muttered, recalling how he’d tutored young Tony Lamb.

“The measure of a man to you is having a whore beneath him every night. Well, the measure of a man to me is courage. I found the courage to challenge my murdering cousin to a duel and, by heaven and hell, I’ll challenge you to one if you’ve the guts!”

Adam Savage clenched his fists to prevent himself from striking her. He had never, ever in his entire existence been so enraged. He spun on his heel and put a safe distance between them before he killed her.

Savage went straight down to Blackwater River, threw off his clothes, and plunged in to cool his fury. She was his ward. Eve’s child whom he’d once thought of as becoming his daughter. But she wasn’t a bloody child, she was a woman grown. A real raven-haired beauty with the manners and behavior of a wild schoolboy. She needed a damned good thrashing!

She had made a bloody fool of him. He’d lit her cigars and poured her brandy. She’d rattled about with that dissolute Carlton House set, racing phaetons, making wild wagers, and, Judas Iscariot, she’d even been present around the chamberpots to piss!

She was an outrageous female who had violated every propriety. Her behavior was offensive, disgusting, scandalous. Savage’s mouth became more grim by the minute. She’d capped it all off by challenging a man to a duel. Outrageous behavior for a young lord, let alone a young lady. He’d had to smuggle her out of the country. His face paled as he thought of the scurvy crew who’d been her companions aboard the
Flying Dragon.
McSwine, for Christ’s sake!

Savage pulled himself from the cold river and shook himself as an animal shakes water from its pelt. He slicked his long black hair back from his face and pulled on his shirt and pants. He was in control of his temper now. He would go and lay down the rules for Lady Antonia Lamb. He was her legal guardian, in charge of her money and her morals, for Christ’s sake. If a breath of this shocking scandal got out, her reputation would be blackened beyond repair. She would be shunned by all respectable women, and propositioned by the men. No gentleman would ever offer her marriage. She was on the brink of
ruin. He had never known a female who needed a firmer hand.

He strode purposefully into the banqueting hall. He saw with a small measure of satisfaction that she was exactly where he had left her. “Automat.” His voice was deep, firm, and brooked no nonsense.

She turned from the mantel in a swirl of rustling green silk. He stared at her in shocked disbelief. She was smoking a cheroot! His calm demeanor flew up the chimney. He took one stride toward her and knocked the cigar from her hand into the fire.

“How dare you?” he raged. “You are supposed to be a lady, not a common slut.”

“You have a taste for common sluts,” she said insolently.

“Silence!” he roared. “I am your guardian. One more word of insolence and I shall thrash you.”

Antonia bit back the words
You wouldn’t dare.
She knew Adam Savage damn well would dare. He’d pull down her drawers and tan her arse so thoroughly, she wouldn’t be able to sit for a week. Her eyes glittered like green flames, but she held her tongue.

“Now then, Lady Lamb, I shall lay down the rules that you will follow implicitly. This charade is over today. Never again by word or look will you be insolent to me. Never again are you to go out without a chaperone. Never again are you to swear, smoke, or drink. In other words, mistress, you will be a lady in every sense of the word.”

“Never again!”

“What did you say?” His voice was dangerous.

She backed away quickly, holding off his threatened attack with outstretched hands. “You haven’t the faintest idea how loathsome it is to be a lady! As Anthony I could go where I pleased, say whatever I wished. Choose my own friends. Make a wager. Eat or drink whatever I fancied. I could be sober as a judge or drink myself into oblivion. I could quote Shakespeare or get a laugh with a
lewd limerick. I could shoot grouse or shoot out the chandeliers at Carlton House. In other words as Anthony I was
free. Free
to choose! As Antonia I must be prim, proper, and polite. I must be a lady. To be a lady is to be prisoner. Never, ever
free
to choose!”

“Enough!” he ordered. “You were born a lady and, by God, a lady you will be so long as I am your guardian. I cannot fathom how Lady Randolph could have countenanced this shameful scheme.” His icy blue eyes were filled with contempt for her.

“Then you’re a bloody fool! Bernard Lamb tampered with our sailboat so that the rudder broke away when we were in the storm. He murdered my twin and has tried repeatedly to murder me. The night before I left for Ireland he pushed me underneath an oncoming carriage!” She lifted her skirts and tore down her stocking to reveal the massive bruise to her thigh.

Savage stared in disbelief at her immodesty. Christ, her legs were so long, they went on forever.

He licked dry lips. “Seek your room, mistress.”

She whirled away from him, crushed that he didn’t believe her.

Savage lost no time seeking out Mr. Burke. He found him in the kitchen tailing two fresh salmon that had obviously come from their own waters. Mr. Burke’s face had such a passive look upon it, Savage guessed he knew most of what was going on.

“Burke, you obviously know of the deception that has been perpetrated against me. Can you give me an explanation for the deliberate lies, or is Lamb Hall simply a madhouse and its inhabitants lunatics?”

Mr. Burke washed his hands. “May I sit down, my lord?”

“For God’s sake, don’t start ‘milording’ me. Surely we can talk man to man.” They both sat down at the massive oak kitchen table. “I suppose, inadvertently, I was the one who started it
all. The twins both wore yellow oilskins when they went sailing. When they didn’t return after the storm, Lady Randolph and I nearly went mad searching and waiting. Finally one of them was washed up onshore half dead. I thought it was Anthony. The sea-soaked garments made him heavy to carry and the slicked-back hair made me positive we had found the boy. Roz, too, thought it was Anthony.

When we stripped off the clothes and she regained consciousness, to our surprise we found out Anthony was actually Antonia. This was the third accident that had happened in rapid succession, right after Bernard Lamb paid a visit to offer his condolences for the loss of the twin’s father, which left Bernard heir to the title, Lamb Hall, the London town house, everything! We suspected the accidents were more than coincidence.

“Lady Randolph knew what it was to lose her home. Because she had no son when Lord Randolph died, everything went to his
male
heir and Roz came to live at Lamb Hall. If Anthony was presumed drowned, his male heir, Bernard Lamb, would inherit everything.

“The plan was audacious in concept, but Antonia insisted she was simply safeguarding what belonged to Anthony until he returned. It was a long time before she accepted that he would not return.”

Savage stabbed his fingers through his black hair. His eyes were no less glacial, his jaw still jutted with outrage. “You actually believe Bernard Lamb had a hand in this?”

“I do, sir. Antonia has been stalked for days. She was pushed beneath a carriage when she left Vauxhall last week. She was terrified to leave the house. When we came to Half-Moon Street it was to seek your protection. When you offered her Ireland she clutched at it as an escape, a way out.”

“The whole thing is preposterous. Like one of Sheridan’s ridiculous plays!”

“I mean no disrespect, sir, but I’m not laughing. Lady Antonia is the pluckiest female I’ve ever known.”

“Damn it, man, that is beside the point. She should never have been allowed to impersonate her twin brother. The license allowed a young lord in Georgian England is so permissive, he has carte blanche to indulge in debauchery. Antonia is probably ruined!”

“Oh, I realized long ago it was a horrendous mistake. Not only is it highly improper, it is deadly dangerous.”

“Well, at least we agree on one point. You may rest assured the folly is finished. It is over, Mr. Burke.”

“God be praised for that, my lord.”

“Would you be good enough to tell Lady Lamb that I wish to speak with her again? Perhaps the Jacobean Garden would be less confrontational.”

Antonia stood gazing at the distant mountains from the tower room of Blackwater Castle. Why had he looked at her with such contempt? When she had told him what her hated cousin had done to her and shown him the bruise, why hadn’t he enfolded her in his strong arms and told her he would keep her safe? She closed her eyes against the pain in her heart, but it did not prevent her tears from seeping beneath her lashes. She had made such a wretched botch of everything. The thought of her rattling about in male attire disgusted him. He would never look at Antonia the way he had looked at Ann. She would never be able to attract him in a million years!