Misleading a Duke Page 6

“That seems a wise practice for maintaining a friendship, but I’m not asking for gossip, only to know them better and perhaps you as well.” He smiled, hoping it would charm her as it had charmed many other women in his past, for both pleasure and business.

  “What do you want to know?” She took a chicken leg from the platter and pulled a morsel free to taste.

  There was so much attention spent on one small bit of food, he realized this was part of Faith’s makeup. She paid close attention to detail in everything. The picnic in the solarium was a great example, and she had done that for him. A spark of delight ignited inside him. “How did you gain the title of Wallflowers?”

  She sighed. “Mary Yates.”

  “What does Miss Yates have to do with it?”

  Chewing another bite of chicken, she stared out the wall of windows. The view was full white from the snow covering the garden outside, and the flowers within paled in comparison to the reflecting sun. “Mary Yates was a year ahead of us at the Wormbattle School. She had gathered her friends long before Poppy, Aurora, Mercy, and I ever arrived. They were a vicious pack of girls, embittered by their parents’ choice to send them away. I can’t really blame them for that. It turned out to be the best thing for me, but it hurt when Father announced he’d had enough of me and was sending me away.”

  “I can only imagine. Of course, I was sent to Eton, but it is expected for my sex to go away to school, and I went home during breaks.” He wanted to reach out and comfort her old hurt, but it wasn’t his place, and he didn’t want her to stop her story.

  “We never had breaks. It was a three-year sentence from the start. Mary resented her situation and seemed determined to make everyone around her suffer her unhappiness. She decided the four of us were the perfect targets since we had just arrived and become such fast friends.

  “On occasion Miss Agatha, the headmistress, would arrange a ball with a nearby boys’ school, St. Simon’s. These balls were hugely anticipated and meant to be both educational and amusing. As soon as the young men arrived, Mary made her rounds, telling everyone that we were bores and they should keep their distance. There were some other cutting remarks, but I’ll keep those to myself. Mary has her flaws, but she also has her own set of problems as an adult.”

  He marveled at how kind she was, even to a woman who did not return that kindness. Mary appeared spoiled and intolerant. Even her beauty had not persuaded Nick to like her.

  Faith continued. “As a result, not one boy asked any of us to dance. After the ball, Mary called us Wallflowers.”

  “I thought you all were fond of the title.”

  Smiling, Faith was a bright star among the flowers. She shone brighter and with more beauty. “We love it. Even as girls we thought it a fine moniker. We didn’t care about balls and silly young men. By the next ball, we were all asked to dance and even had a few proposals before we left school. Of course, none of us took those offers seriously.

  “When Aurora married and we began meeting for Tuesday tea at her home on West Lane, we added the address to our name.”

  It was a show of strength and resilience to turn a hateful moniker into something grand that had held these women together through trial and tribulation. He couldn’t help but respect them. “Tell me one thing you admire in each of your friends. Surely that cannot be considered gossip.”

  A wisp of a smile tugged at her kissable lips. “I will make you an offer, Nick. I will answer your query about my friends and perhaps something about myself, if you will tell me about the woman you may have done harm to.”

  Suddenly Nick couldn’t breathe. “What woman?”

  “The one who made you hesitate when you said that you would never strike a woman. I surmise that in certain cases you would harm a member of my sex, and I would like to know precisely what those circumstances are. I realize it is not in your nature to tell anyone anything, but we are alone here. I will not repeat anything you confide to me.” She raised one brow and used the corner of her napkin to dab at her lips.

  Lord, he longed to kiss those lips until she was too breathless to ask him any more questions and no longer cared about his past. She was right about his nature, but if this was the woman he wanted, he would have to trust her. The notion made him sick to his stomach.

  Chapter 6

  Faith had played her hand. It was a risk. She didn’t know if he wanted her secrets enough to share his own, and she was certain that hers could not compare to whatever he would tell, but she needed to know something before she fell completely in love with him. The danger of that was quite real.

  Putting down his bread, he stared at the plate for a long time. “You may regret knowing such things, Faith. I told you that I am not proud of many things I have done.”

  “I feel you must let me be the judge of that.” Her pulse pounded, but she refused to remain silent and risk hating him for his deeds sometime in the future. It was better to know now than regret later.

  “MacGruder said much the same thing.” He chuckled and gazed up from the table. “Can you promise me that what I tell you will remain between us?”

  A swarm of butterflies warred in her belly, but she had to know. “I will keep your confidence.”

  Cloud cover had rolled in since they’d been eating, and a light snow made a tink tink on the sloped glass roof. It wasn’t the storm of the day before, but gave the hothouse a more private feel and deadened any noise from outside.

  “This is not a pretty story.” He took a deep breath, nibbled a bit of meat to stall for time, and met her gaze. “As you have cleverly surmised, I worked for the interests of the Crown while traveling abroad. My journey took me to many places and even back here to England several times over the past five years.”

  He rubbed the back of his neck and stared out the steamed windows at nothing. “I landed for a time in Vienna. It is a lively town and already possessed by Napoleon by then. I had been in service for a year and thought myself worldly. Unfortunately, I met a woman more worldly than I.”

  When it appeared he would not go on, Faith asked, “What was her name?”

  “Léonie.” He breathed it out more than said it. “She was perhaps two or three years older than I, and extremely beautiful. There was a wisdom about her that attracted me as no woman ever had. Of course, I knew I could never marry such a woman, without family or title, but when I told her this, she didn’t care.”

  He laughed. “I thought myself to have found the perfect mistress. We were far from home, where my father could disapprove or my mother would ever hear gossip. Léonie didn’t care about marrying a man with a title, and I was infatuated, with the enthusiasm of youth.”

  Faith wanted to be so sophisticated that she wasn’t bothered by Nick’s past exploits. She tried to eat some of the lovely meal before them, but her appetite was gone. The thought of him liking or perhaps loving this Léonie stirred jealousy, an emotion she’d never before experienced.

  Nick reached across the table and took her hand. “Shall I stop, Faith? You asked for this story, but if you are not comfortable with the telling, I shall desist.”

  Forcing a smile, she said, “I’m fine. Please, go on.”

  With a final squeeze, he released her fingers. “Léonie and I were inseparable for many months. It was perfect. Until one day I saw her on the street with a man who looked suspiciously like a French spy I’d been sent to watch. When I confronted her, she became incensed and went into a rage in her native tongue. It was a year later, when I’d mastered the language, that I finally understood the vulgarity she’d spewed that day.

  “In my ignorance and desire, I allowed that it was not the same man. We separated for a few days and when we came back together it was filled with forgiveness and passion.”

  Stomach in a knot, Faith was sorry she’d asked, but she didn’t want him to stop. She had to know what happened and get a sense of this man.

&nbs
p; Obliviously, Nick continued. “Blissful that our relationship had survived a disagreement, I fell into a deep sleep. An hour later, voices in the common room of our apartments woke me. A chair scraped and a man spoke in hushed tones. My first response was worry for Léonie, but then I heard her voice as well. She didn’t sound afraid. Her tone was low, conspiratorial.

  “Caught up in my rage, I stupidly flung the bedroom door wide.” He shook his head and ran his fingers through his cropped dark-brown hair. “They were only shocked for a moment before one of two men ran at me. I must have been quite a sight, wearing only a nightshirt. I managed to evade the attack, causing him to stumble and crash to the floor. The second man ran out the door. I expected Léonie to do the same, but she stayed. Brandishing a short sword, she charged toward me.

  “Gone was the beautiful woman who’d bedded me an hour before. She was transformed into a vicious killer. Her blond hair was wild and loose and her eyes filled with hate. She said, ‘Why couldn’t you just stay in bed? This would all be over in a few days and you could have walked away.’ I had no idea what she meant, but as her blade impaled my chest, it didn’t matter.”

  Faith gasped.

  Nick chuckled and rubbed his chest just above his left breast. “I wouldn’t have thought her so strong, but she ran me through. An inch lower and I’d have been dead in an instant. The man who’d stumbled when I moved, got up off the floor. The only weapon at my disposal was jutting from my body. I pulled it out and slashed him across the throat. Wide-eyed, he grabbed his gushing throat and collapsed to the floor.”

  “Léonie wailed out a cry, and I turned toward the sound. She ran directly into her own sword, still in my bloody fist.” Head hanging, Nick cradled his face in his hands. “I called the surgeon, but there was nothing to be done for her. She cursed me until she died.”

  For several seconds, Faith couldn’t utter a word. He blamed himself for Léonie’s death, but it had not been his fault at all. She had gotten what was coming to her. Fiercely protective, Faith wanted to tell him, but instead asked, “What of your wounds, Nick?”

  His eyes burned with regret and self-loathing. “The surgeon mended me and nothing internal was damaged. It was a miracle.”

  Despite his sarcasm, she agreed with the words. “It was that. Where did you go from Vienna? Surely you didn’t stay in the city after such an ordeal.”

  “Clever girl.” He smiled warmly at her. He sipped the wine from a crystal glass. “No. I returned to England to recover right here at Parvus. Geb and I had been friends for six months. It was only meant to be a business arrangement, but there is something about him that makes me trust him above all others. My parents were alerted to my condition and came here for a few weeks. The food nearly killed me, but my wound healed.”

  “And your heart?” She held her breath.

  His long look pierced her soul. “As I said, nothing ever touched my heart. At least, not where Léonie was concerned.”

  Unable to look away from his eyes the color of the morning sky before the sun was fully risen, she met his stare and prayed she could find her voice again. Clearing her throat, she said, “It must have been terrible for you to be betrayed in such a way.”

  He shrugged. “An occupational hazard, I’m afraid.”

  “But you have given up that life, have you not?”

  A forlorn smile and he studied at his hands in his lap. “Tell me about these Wallflowers of yours.”

  She wanted to weep at the sight of such sorrow. Instead she let the joy of her friendships tug her out of her gloom. “You said to tell you one thing I admire in each of them.” Faith loved the women she’d met at school. She believed there was the family you were born into and the one you gather for yourself. In the case of the Wallflowers of West Lane, they were as much family to her as her own mother and father, perhaps more so.

  “Shall I start with Poppy?” she asked.

  “She is the one I know best. I could not dislike her despite my desire to do so after finding out about the spying.” He shook his head, a pleasant grin transforming him and making him breathtaking.

  “Poppy is fearless. Well, that’s not exactly true. She may fear a thing, but she never lets that fear stop her. In fact, I think when she finds herself afraid of something, she immediately sets out to climb that mountain.”

  Nick offered his hand as he stood. “And what of you, Faith? Are you brave?”

  Accepting his offer, she stood and, hand wrapped in his, they walked through the flowers and plants being kept vibrant out of season, for their delight. Several full-grown orange trees had been potted and bore fruit inside the warm environment. “No. I am afraid of many things and not nearly as brave as Poppy. She never conforms to make anyone happy. It is marvelous.”

  He wrapped her hand around his arm while keeping his hand atop hers. “I think you underestimate yourself. There is nothing wrong with wanting to please people.”

  “Perhaps.” Though she doubted the truth of it. She did manage to get her own way most times. After all, she had stolen away from the city to lure Nick to a secluded castle, and they were getting to know each other. Mother and Father would be apoplectic if they knew.

  “What about Aurora? Do you admire some trait of hers?”

  “Most people would say her beauty is her most appealing trait.” Faith shook her head. “They would be wrong. I mean to say, Aurora is quite beautiful. She is perfectly formed with good height, while not too tall or short, and her figure is perfectly balanced. She has exactly what society looks for in a lady. Perhaps that is why she manages to make the ton think she is just like them. Maybe that is why she could hide what Radcliff did to her. She is the strongest person I’ve ever known. No amount of horror changed her from the wonderful person she is. Radcliff couldn’t break her spirit and, by God, he tried.”

  “Then it is her strength of character that you admire?” Nick wound them around another small grove of orange trees potted near the back of the building. They were only there to keep warm until spring when they would be dragged back outside to flourish and produce flowers.

  “Yes. Aurora never wavers.” Her friend was like a golden statue, always the same. Always dependable.

  “That’s good, because if it was her figure, I would have to tell you that while Lady Radcliff is lovely, your figure is spectacular. Every curve begs for a man to look and touch.” He said the last in a sultry voice.

  Her insides quivered with the satisfaction of knowing he liked the way she looked. She was not what the ton admired, but his wanting to touch her made up for the slights she had endured over the years. “My mother would beg to differ. She prayed I would get my figure from her side of the family, but I am much like my grandmother on my father’s side.”

  “I would not wish to disagree with your mother, so I will stay silent on the matter. Is your grandmother still alive?” He changed the subject.

  Nodding, she thought of Grandmother. “She lives in Sussex. I visit when I can. She is funny and brazen in many ways. She and I have always gotten along famously.”

  “I should like to meet her.” They rounded the front of the hothouse, but Nick turned them inward away from the glass wall and through a forest of tropical trees. “That leaves Mercedes.”

  “Mercy, like Grandmother, uses humor to barrel through any situation. I don’t know how she manages it, but she finds something funny in nearly every moment of life. I also wish I could play any instrument as well as she plays no less than six.”

  “Six?” He stopped and faced her.

  “Oh yes. At last count, she had mastered pianoforte, harp, flute, clarinet, lute, and some stringed instrument that her aunt had brought in from Spain. I love the sound of that one. It’s low and sensual somehow.” She blushed at her own musings. “Do you know it?”

  Pulling her to a stop, he faced her, cradling her face in his hands. “It’s called a guitar and
it can be quite sensual, as you said. I met a man in Porto who played so well, the ladies swooned.”

  Unable and not wanting to look away, she moistened her dry lips. “I have never swooned, but I think I would like to hear him play.”

  “Perhaps one day we will journey to Porto in better times.” Leaning down to her height, he pressed his lips to hers.

  Making no demands, he just let their lips touch.

  Faith sighed against his mouth. She hadn’t even known she was waiting for his kiss, but she would never have enough. Wrapping her hand around his neck and lifting on her toes, she pulled them closer together. Her entire body quivered with need for more of him.

  Nick’s arms wrapped around her and pulled her tight against his chest, nearly lifting her off her feet.

  She gasped and he plundered her mouth with his tongue. The outside world disappeared into obscurity and there was only Nick and his glorious mouth making her want more than a nice lady should, but she didn’t care.

  Feeling his desire pressed hard against her, she tightened to him. Her center pulsed for contact, hoping he felt the same and satisfied when he groaned in pleasure.

  He traced from her jaw, down her neck to her shoulder, and each kiss set her more aflame.

  “Nick.” The voice coming from her was unfamiliar, filled with passion and need.

  “Good Lord, Faith. Say it again.” He trailed a path of kisses back up to just behind her ear.

  Her knees buckled, but he held her in place. “Nick,” she repeated obediently.

  Crushing her to him, he nuzzled her hair. “You will be the death of me. I don’t know how it happened, but I have completely forgotten how angry you made me and can think only of your sweetness.”

  She laughed against his chest. “My sweetness is fleeting. I’m just glad I had Thea keep Rumple in the kitchen. Lord only knows what he would think of this.”

  Smiling down at her, he brushed a wayward hair back from her forehead. “Everything is a game to a puppy.”