Jackal (Regency Refuge 2) (10 page)

Hiding his concern, Rupert replied, "I think Eudora is strong-minded enough not to fall for a pretty face."

"Oh, but if you're going to have to look at the same face every day for the rest of your life, wouldn't you want to pick a pretty one?"

Indeed he would. His eyes wandered from Lucien and Eudora to where Juliana danced with yet another gentleman. She was supposed to be too old, on the shelf even, for men to seek out her companionship at a ball. The others must see her as he did, a priceless jewel.

Upon Lucien's return of Eudora to his side, the younger man offered a hand, and Rupert took it.

"Cousin Rupert, have you met Lucien before?"

"I'm afraid not. We don't travel in quite the same circles."

"He told me about some of his voyages. He's been to the continent. Have you ever been abroad, Cousin?"

Rupert gave a slight nod. "I served in the king's army and got to see quite a bit of Europe before injury landed me back in London and seeking employment."

"That's how you came to know the Duke of Sheffield, isn't it? He hired you after you'd been injured." Eleanor asked the question, and he acknowledged her words with a tight smile.

Lucien took over the conversation then. "While there's much in the world worth seeing, I find nothing quite compares to the English countryside, wouldn't you agree?" He directed the question to Eudora, who offered her whole-hearted agreement.

Rupert gave his reply after Eudora's. "It can be easy to get lost in the countryside if one is not familiar with the terrain."

Lucien concurred with a nod. "Ah, but if one wished to get lost, the English countryside is the place to do it, don't you think?"

"Why would anyone choose to be lost?" Eudora's question was entirely logical, but her narrowed eyes and crossed arms spoke of her suspicion.

"What say you, Lucien? Which is easier? For one person to become lost by himself or for two people to become lost together?"

Lucien's keen eyes acknowledged Rupert's question. "I think if I wished to vanish from all responsibility, I'd take a dear friend with me, perhaps even a brother. Wouldn't it be so much more fun to be lost with someone than alone?"

Rupert would read the note Lucien had slipped him during their handshake later, but he had the answers he needed for now. The Stanwich brothers had vanished. They had either fled, or were planning to come after the girls themselves. Regardless, they were likely desperate, and that in and of itself was the harbinger of doom.

The question on the forefront of Rupert's mind at the moment was simple: Why was the minister becoming involved in the search for the Stanwich brothers?

Eudora and Lucien chatted a bit more before the younger man excused himself. "I have an appointment I must keep. It was a pleasure to make your acquaintance." He bowed low as he clasped Eudora's hand and then gave Eleanor the same elegant behavior. After his display of gallantry, he nodded to Rupert and took his leave.

Juliana, who continued to be twirled about the dance floor, glowed. Rupert wanted to believe it was with exhaustion, but he knew better. She shone with exuberance.

"I think our time here this evening is complete. Did you both enjoy your first ball?"

Eudora nodded, a dreamy look in her eyes. She'd only danced with one person, but Lucien appeared to have made a lasting impression on the girl. Eleanor clapped her hands in excitement, the sound muffled by her gloves. "It was brilliant!"

Escorting the girls around the border of the ballroom floor, Rupert was able to catch Juliana's eye and nod toward the exit. She shot him a look of unfettered joy before she nodded to indicate she would follow.

The music came to a close, and Juliana joined them near the entrance, where they awaited a maid with his coat and the sisters' cloaks. Juliana's cheeks were rosy, and despite the fact she stood still, her toes continued to tap. "That was so much fun!"

"It's a good thing we didn't come here to find a husband for either Eudora or Eleanor." Rupert tried to convince himself he spoke in jest and not jealousy.

Her eyes widened as she peered from him to her sisters. He expected her to berate him for saying it. Instead she laughed. "It appears I completely bungled that one. It's not like me to forget myself so."

Eleanor gave her sister a quick hug. "You were having a marvelous time. How could we begrudge you such fun? Besides, Eudora got to dance with a nice young gentleman."

"Oh?" Juliana's eyebrows climbed as she glanced at the older of her two sisters. "Does this gentleman have a name?"

"Lucien." Eudora averted her eyes, and, much to his dismay, Rupert realized the girl was well on her way to developing a
tendré
for the young man. He hoped she would not be too terribly disappointed as the days came and went without young Mr. Fletcher coming to call. The last thing he needed was a hysterical female broken-hearted because she'd been used as a pawn so the minister could get some sort of message to him.

Chapter Seventeen

After the family arrived home and Rupert bade goodnight to everyone, he retired to his study.

"Would you care for a glass of port?"

Eyeing the butler, Rupert gave a negative shake of his head. "Who told you about the advertisement for this position?" Rupert was curious to hear Barrows' answer.

"Why, I believe my nephew's great-aunt's cousin's uncle read the ad first. Once word of the opening reached me, I hurried over to meet her grace. She's quite a delightful hostess."

Rupert nodded. He'd used the same explanation a time or two in his day as well. "Please see to the setting of all the downstairs locks. I have some business to take care of here before I retire, but you may feel free to turn in."

"As you wish, m'lord."

Once Barrows had taken his leave, Rupert pulled the note from his pocket and opened it.

Brothers are nowhere. Investigation continues. No word if they've left country or are en route to L. Still nothing from H – no reports, aliases, or known activity. Beginning to think this has naught to do with him after all.

It bothered Rupert that the missive was not signed. The minister was secretive, and Rupert well understood the reasons, but to send his heretofore-anonymous attaché out in such a public fashion was a tremendous gamble for an uninformative note. He crumbled the message and tossed it into the fire. Either the minister was too old and needed to retire, or he was intentionally making obvious moves to appear desperate. If The Hunter thought the crown's men played the game so poorly, he might let his guard down and make an equally bold move.

Rupert kicked at an imaginary rock and muttered, "I'm the mouse, and the minister is dangling me at the end of a string to antagonize the cat into attacking."

"What was that?"

Rupert spun to see Juliana standing in the doorway. "I was lamenting the life of a man with three beautiful women living under his roof. Nothing more."

"Is it so terrible, then, having us here?" The words might have sounded petulant, but her voice betrayed her. She wasn't in the least upset. "And, in point of fact, there are four of us."

Rupert winced. Best to let Juliana think he'd accidentally overlooked Mrs. Burnham when he'd mentioned beauty. "It is a frightful mess, I dare say. Forced to endure the pleasant company of intelligent companions after I'd gotten so used to being a hermit locked away in his castle. I'm not sure how much more of it I can bear."

Laughter lit her eyes from within. "A terrible fate indeed. Perhaps we should find a way to lock the brooding beast back in his dungeon."

"Brooding beasts are terribly difficult to capture, I'm afraid. It might take years to apprehend this one and put him away where he belongs."

Juliana moved through the room, her touch light as she traced a finger first along his desk, then across the edge of a table as she neared Rupert. She stopped upon reaching the chair by which he stood. "What happens if the beast discovers life outside the dungeon is worth fighting for?"

Rupert's breath caught in his throat at the same time his body reacted to her nearness. Then he took in a lungful of air, and the truth hit him. "You've been drinking."

She shrugged, and the dressing gown held in place by a snug sash loosened slightly. He wanted to stare, hoping for a glimpse of bare flesh along her neckline, but he spun on his heel and paced away.

"More than one dance partner brought me a cup of refreshment this evening at the ball. I'm afraid either the entire bowl of lemonade was contaminated with whiskey, or some of those gentleman carried hidden flasks on their persons."

"I doubt it was whiskey, but I should have warned you nonetheless. I'm sorry."

"By the time I realized the peril, you ordered us to collect our wraps."

"Do you need to sit down?"

She shook her head. "Oh." With her hands, she gently grasped the offending part of her body and stopped its side-to-side motion. "I've never had strong drink before. I was several dances in before I became aware something was amiss, but even then I thought I could manage okay."

"You could have declined to dance and returned to where I stood with your sisters."

"I wanted to make you jealous." Her hand flew to her mouth, and her eyes widened with surprise. "I didn't mean to say that."

Rupert couldn't stop the smile pulling the corners of his mouth upward. "You quite succeeded."

"You were jealous?" Her hand moved to rest over her chest, where she would be able to feel the beat of her own heart.

"You needn't sound so surprised."

"I meant what I said that one day. Sometimes I think you're not very fond of me. Tonight we danced, and…" Her voice trailed off, and her eyes closed. She swayed as though reliving the moments of their dance.

Before he could stop himself, Rupert stood in front of her, taking her right hand in his left and placing his right on the small of her back. He couldn't deny her – or himself – the pleasure of another dance. Ever so slowly, he waltzed her around the furniture of the study. After a couple turns skirting along the edge of the room, Juliana laid her head on his shoulder with a sigh.

Rupert resisted the urge to draw her into an even closer embrace. He would savor this moment, the time Juliana was of her own free will in his arms without a single cross word between them.

"Whether on accident or not, it was in your eyes tonight." Her voice was so quiet Rupert had to strain to catch the words. "You don't want people to know you feel, but your eyes betray the truth. I shall endeavor in the future to watch more closely so I can hear what your eyes say rather than the words issued forth by your distracting lips."

Rupert gave in and pulled her closer. "What truth do my eyes betray?"

"I don't always understand you, but I'm trying. Sometimes you jest, yet your face gives nothing away, and I snap back because I think you meant to be unkind. Tonight, when I said something about your smile, you were hurt then, too."

They continued to waltz, and Rupert wondered how to respond. She hadn't asked a question, not really.

"Why have you not corrected me when I've been wrong? I know there have been times I've acted the shrew because I misunderstood you, but you've never given me a set-down for it. Why not?"

Rupert would have shrugged, but he didn't want to disturb the shoulder pillowing Juliana's cheek. "Habit, mostly."

"It's a habit not to tell people they're wrong about something, about you?"

He bit back a smile. "It's more complicated than that."

"Is it because you were a valet before you became a steward?"

Her voice floated somewhere between wakefulness and sleep as Rupert continued to move her about the room in the halting steps of a waltz obstructed by furniture. He wondered how much of this conversation she would remember in the morning. "Sometimes I look at a person and realize it's more important to them to think they're correct than it is to me to be proven so. If that's the case, I let it go."

"Even if that person takes it as an admission that you're wrong and they're right?"

This time he did shrug. He needed to change the subject. "Did you enjoy your first ball?"

Another sigh. "I'd rather have spent my dances with you."

Rupert's step faltered, but he recovered without spilling either of them across the footstool a maid must have left out. "I will be surprised if you don't end up with several callers on the morrow."

"Pshaw. I've no need of gentleman callers."

"Why not?"

She snuggled into his shoulder. "Once I get the girls safely married, I'll be free to do as I please."

"And what, pray tell, will you be pleased to do?" He expected her to say she wanted to travel, dance the night away, or perhaps even take her place in society and oversee the societal goings on of a younger generation.

Instead, she slowed her movement until their waltz was barely more than a slow shuffle. "I shall endeavor to learn the many secrets you hide behind your mask, Cousin Rupert." When he thought she couldn't surprise him any further, she reached up on tiptoe and gave him a lingering kiss on the cheek. "And, too, I will try to learn not to call you Cousin."

Juliana left the study before he formulated a response. Had she really just…? Rupert lifted his hand to the cheek she'd kissed. He rested his fingers against the stubble-roughened skin and smiled to himself. If Juliana was this generous with her affection whenever she had too much to drink, he might have to reconsider his position on spirits at the dinner table.

Chapter Eighteen

January 27, 1817

An invitation to dinner arrived midmorning the next day. Grace wanted them to dine at the duke's residence. Rupert jotted a reply and told Barrows to see to its delivery. Almost immediately after, visitors began arriving, begging an audience with Juliana. She, the girls, and the faithful Mrs. Burnham were in the sitting room. After the fifth gentleman passed by his study door without a glance in his direction, Rupert threw down his quill.

He had no license to be angry, no reason for it even. And yet… if it weren't for the threat of the Stanwich brothers, he would storm out the front door and go in search of a long, exhausting walk. Perhaps he should have danced with other women at the ball last night. Maybe then he wouldn't feel so agitated by all the attention Juliana was receiving.