What fun we shall have, Nell.
Indeed, my lady, the girl said neutrally. Leath cast her another glance and was surprised to see that she studied him without her usual reserve. Instead, she regarded him as if he was a puzzle she couldnt put together. He wondered why. The mystery here was Nell Trim, not the Marquess of Leath.
Can you stay, James?
Of course, he said, although now he paid closer attention to his estates, he was surprised how much work it took to run them. Even more surprising was how he enjoyed meeting the challenge of his vast inheritance.
Lovely. Perhaps Nell will read on. Shes most entertaining.
He stifled a groan. The last thing he needed was that low, husky, damnably suggestive voice describing seduction.
Im sure his lordship doesnt want to listen to me, Miss Trim said.
Shed avoided him recently. Was she still smarting after their talk in the library? Or had his mother told her that hed tried to send her away?
You should read James some of those agricultural reports that arrived yesterday, his mother said drily.
How did you know about those? he asked, although he shouldnt be surprised. His mother remained mistress of the house, despite rarely leaving her rooms.
I have my spies, she said. They tell me that the ghosts are back.
What nonsense.
Its not nonsense. As a new bride, I saw Lady Mary on the battlements.
On a foggy night, Mamma.
Im not the only one.
At least you were sober.
His mothers jaw firmed. Theyd had this argument before. She fancied that the castle, parts of which dated to the fourteenth century, was haunted. Lady Marys visiting us again.
On the battlements?
No, in the library. For the last three nights, lights have been seen after midnight.
He thought he heard a strangled gasp from Miss Trim, but when he glanced at her, shed lowered her eyes in her perfect servant pose.
Who the devils skulking in the gardens at that hour? he asked.
Garson was watching for poachers.
And drinking to pass the time, Leath said with grim amusement. Ill have a word with him. If my gamekeeper has taken to the bottle, hes not safe wandering the property with a gun.
You mock, James, but you know its true that Lady Marys husband strangled her.
I know thats true. I dont know its true that she lingers to keep an eye on her descendants. And if she does, I doubt that shes developed a taste for literature. Especially as I have it on good authority that my library is full of boring books.
He didnt look at Miss Trim. But his brain worked, even as he argued with his mothers conclusions. Despite his joke, Garson wasnt a drunkard. If he said he saw lights in the library, odds were that he had.
A determination to catch Miss Trim in the act gripped him. If he could prove to his mother that the girl meant no good, he could send her away.
And conquer this inconvenient itch to bed her.
Chapter 6
Nell had read every thought that crossed the marquesss mind when his mother told him about Lady Marys ghost. Hed known immediately who was flitting around his library. Fear had twisted her stomach into knots as she waited for him to denounce her. Then shed realized that hed take this as a golden opportunity to catch her prowling about.
Her suspicions were confirmed that evening when she saw Mr. Wells, the daunting butler, delivering a tray to the library. Obviously refreshments for his lordships watch.
For once, she was a step ahead of Lord Leath.
The diary wasnt in the library. The next likely placein fact always the most likely placewas his lordships bedroom. After all, the scandalous document would hardly be shelved alongside Fordyces Sermons where anyone could lay their hand upon it. The problem was entering the marquesss rooms unobserved. His vigil in the library provided the ideal chance.
Now as she crept along darkened hallways, only a candle to light her way, the house seemed twice the size as it did by day. And by day, the sprawling pile stretched for miles. Thick carpeting under her feet muffled her passing, but she remained preternaturally alert.
His lordships valet lived above his rooms, but last week Selsby had been called away to his sick mother. Everything conspired to allow her to search Leaths apartments.
She prayed that shed find the diary quickly. She desperately needed to escape Alloway Chase. The longer she stayed, the flimsier became her resolution. Every moment she spent with the marquess left her more befuddled. Witness today when hed surprised his mother with those books. Hardly the act of a thoughtless cad. And was he hypocrite enough to denounce Lord Byron for sins he himself had committed? She wouldnt have thought so.
If shed been ignorant of the marquesss offenses, shed like him. Oh, who was she fooling? Shed more than like him. Even knowing his wickedness, she found him breathtakingly attractive.
However dirty that made her feel.
How could she yearn after the man who had destroyed Dorothy? Was she victim to the same fatal weakness as her half sister?
Carefully she inched open the door to the marquesss apartments. Although he was safely ensconced in his library, her heart skittered with fear that somehow he was in two places at once.
She stepped into a dark, cavernous space. She closed the door and raised her candle to reveal a sitting room, as masculine in decor as the marchionesss was feminine. Flickering light glanced across a leather couch and two armchairs beside a cold hearth. Piles of books teetered on heavy mahogany tables. Shed lay money there wasnt a novel among them. Light glinted off decanters on the sideboard.
James Fairbrothers presence was palpable, as though he stood right behind her. The muscles across her neck and shoulders knotted until she told herself to settle down. He was downstairs. She was safe, at least for now.
She pushed open the door from the sitting room and entered a short corridor. Shelves lined the first room off the hallway. She inhaled to calm leapfrogging nerves, then wished she hadnt. When had the marquesss scent become so familiar? Her senses expanded with pleasure as she recognized sandalwood soap and clean, healthy male. Riffling through the clothes he wore on that strong, hard body seemed unforgivably intimate, and she fumbled the door shut with a loud click that made her heart jolt with alarm.
Desperately listening in case someone came to check on the noise, she stood motionless.
Nothing.
She sucked air into starved lungs. Nell didnt take easily to deceit. Sneaking around and eavesdropping and telling lies went against her character. Another reason to leave Alloway Chase sooner rather than later. Much more chicanery and shed be a wreck.
The next door revealed a bathing room of a luxury beyond anything shed imagined when her world was confined to Mearsall. At last she found proof of sensual self-indulgence. The marquess presented a restrained façade to the world. Something at Nells deepest level insisted that beneath that proper exterior lurked a man who appreciated pleasure.
The thought of James Fairbrother standing naked in this blue-tiled magnificence heated her blood. She couldnt help seeing him as he doused himself with water, stroked soap along his wet skin, lounged in the huge bath.
This time, although she closed the door carefully, panic nipped more sharply. Her invasion of the marquesss rooms inflamed her senses in a way that appalled her.
One door remained.
Only her piercing need to run away made her proceed. If she failed at this hurdle, she was likely to fail altogether.
As she opened this last door, her hands shook so violently that her candle cast wild shadows over the walls. She felt like Bluebeards bride breaking into the locked room. A discomfiting thought, as the nosy girl came to a nasty end in that tale. At least she did in the pragmatic version told around Mearsalls firesides.
The bedroom was so enormous that the candles light didnt penetrate its far reaches. A fire burned in the grate, but the flames left most of the room in shadow. The room was circular with tall windows facing three directions. She must be in the castles west tower. Quietly she closed the door behind her.
The huge four-poster bed sat on a dais, curtained in gold brocade. The ceiling was so high it dwarfed even this lofty structure. The covers were turned down, ready for the marquesss powerful body. Nell shivered with a dread that, she was ashamed to admit, included a dollop of forbidden excitement.
If shed felt like she infringed the marquesss privacy elsewhere in these apartments, here where he slept, he could be standing at her elbow. A book lay open on the nightstand as if hed just laid it down. A shirt draped across a chair. A black velvet dressing gown as soft as panther fur spread across the base of the bed, waiting for its owner to shrug it over his long body. She could picture him wearing it as he enjoyed a last brandy before sleep.
The image of Leath as his real, animal self, not the civilized man he presented to the world, was painfully vivid. Here it was easy to envision him with a lover. Not a girl he tumbled to scratch an itch, but someone he wanted. Perhaps even loved. Nell released a soft gasp of distress when she realized that the fantasy woman in Leaths arms bore her face.
Enough. She swallowed to control her queasiness. She didnt have long. And she couldnt waste it on nonsense.
Recalling Lady Marys ghost, she crossed to the windows to check that the curtains were closed. Then she set her candle on a small table and surveyed the room.
This vast, idiosyncratic chamber was full of interesting nooks and coffers. Fertile ground for her search. She leveled her shoulders and stepped toward a large studded chest near the hearth with the year 1676 picked out in heavy iron nails.
Then the unthinkable happened.
The door opened and his lordship strode in.
Nell caught her breath and held it as if somehow that made her invisible. Her queasiness changed to cramping horror.
Shock flared in his face then his gaze narrowed on her. He couldnt be nearly as appalled to see her as she was to see him.
What the hell are you doing in here? Thick black brows lowered over deep-set eyes. He was dressed informally. A loose white shirt and breeches with boots. He looked utterly terrifying.
Nell held her breath so long that it hurt when she exhaled. She felt dizzy with lack of air, stabbing dread, self-disgust.
Curse him, what could she say? What could she do? She faltered back, although there was no escape. Leaths formidable form blocked the only door. She should have thought of some excuse for being in his room. But what excuse could there be?
She dipped into a wobbly curtsy. My lord.
His furious gaze didnt waver. Just what are you up to, Miss Trim?
N-nothing, sir, she stammered. Im sorry for intruding. Ill leave you alone.
He didnt budge as she scuttled toward the door. Her knees trembled so badly that she feared she might collapse in a heap before she reached it. She darted past him, and for a brief, mad moment thought that she might make it.
Until he turned and slammed the heavy door in her face. Not so fast, my inquisitive chit.
The impulse to haul at the handle died as it arose. Shed never win a physical battle against Leath. She panted, more with fright than exertion, and twisted to press her back against the door. Let me out.
Not yet, he said mildly, placing his palms flat on either side of her head. His calmness was more frightening than shouting. It hinted at the tight rein he held over his temper. He was so huge, this was like facing down a planet. An angry planet. Dear heaven, she was in such trouble.
Youre scaring me, she said, hoping to appeal to his softer side. He had one; hed shown it to his mother. The problem was that if Dorothys story was trueand surely it washis benevolence didnt extend to women outside his class.
You deserve to be scared, he said grimly.
Without touching her, his body hemmed her against the door. The evocative scent of his skin was rich in her nostrils. Something other than fear started to beat in her blood.
Hating herself, she met his uncompromising expression. Thats thats not kind.
His eyes glittered. She knew he was no respecter of innocence. Even if he was, what was he to make of her invading his bedroom? Panic tasted rusty on her tongue and she licked dry lips.
His gaze dropped to the betraying movement. The same awareness that had extended between them their first night sizzled through the pause. Im not feeling kind.
She shivered. Please she whispered. Step back.
He loomed above her, impervious and unforgiving. Not until you tell me what youre doing here.
I Desperately she sought for some way to explain her presence. Nothing came to mind.
Black brows arched in cynical inquiry. I what?
I cant think when you stand so close, she muttered crossly.
Despite the nasty edge to his soft laugh, the sound stroked along her skin. Every hair on her body stood to attention. This heady mixture of desire and alarm sent her into a complete spin.
I dont want you to think. I want you to tell me the truth. He frowned. Have you come to steal?
She should be grateful for the accusation. It jolted her out of cowering like a mouse. She straightened and glared at him. Of course not.
Then what are you doing?
She avoided his eyes. I thought you were in the library.
Catching Lady Mary. His acerbic response made her wince. His concentration on her burned like a flame.
I saw Wells bring you supper.
What a busy little miss you are. It wasnt a compliment. I already know youre the ghost.
Her eyes flashed up. I wanted a book, she said desperately.
One you cant find during the day? His voice bit as he continued. With dear Mr. Cranes advice on your choice?
If he was another man, shed think he was jealous. But the great Marquess of Leath wouldnt care about a maidservants flirtations.
He went on before she could protest. Surely you wont say that youre here for something to read.
She raised her chin. Knowing that she risked disaster, she said the only thing that came to mind. I wanted to see where you sleep.
Surprise had him lurching back. What the devil?