Just This Once (31 page)

“Will you walk with me?” Josie took her arm,
leaving Miss Perry little choice. She had scanned the crowded
ballroom swiftly and could see no sign of the Colonel. Perhaps he
was gambling in one of the other rooms, or playing billiards.
Perhaps if they strolled around a bit they would spot him.

But to Miss Perry she only said, “It is so
stuffy in here. I need a breath of air.”

They paced through the garden, chatting
companionably, then returned to the house and leisurely crossed the
hall. “I’ve heard that Lady Cartwright’s music room is
exceptionally beautiful—”

Josie broke off as she suddenly spotted
Colonel Hamring emerge from a room down the corridor, where she had
earlier seen men playing cards.

“Colonel Hamring, do come help me. Miss
Perry is feeling faint,” she called softly, and with satisfaction
saw his head jerk up.

“What’s this?” He reached them in several
quick strides. “Miss Perry, are you ill?”

“No, I’m fine—” She nearly squealed as Josie
pinched her arm. “Faint, yes, feeling a bit faint,” she amended,
casting the girl beside her a frantic glance.

“Here, ma’am, take my arm.”

“Colonel, please help me get her into the
music room.” Josie allowed an expression of great concern to settle
over her features. “Some air will do you good, my dear. Yes, that’s
right, do lean upon the Colonel. He won’t let you fall. We’ll be
there in a moment.”

She watched from beneath her lashes as
Colonel Hamring—who appeared recovered from his injury—attended to
Miss Perry with kindness and concern.

“Oh, no, I’m feeling much better,” the lady
protested when he insisted upon bringing her a glass of water.

“Now what sort of a gentleman would I be not
to take every care of you—especially when you nursed me so bravely
after that recent altercation, ma’am?” He patted her small hand
with his much larger one, and hurried off with brisk strides.

“What are you doing, Lady Stonecliff? How
could you lie to him that way?” Miss Perry stared at her in dazed
shock.

“It was easy.” Josie clapped a hand over her
mouth to suppress a giggle. “And it’s for a good cause. Now when he
comes back... hush, here he comes.”

And she moved away from the edge of the sofa
as Colonel Hamring reappeared with a goblet of water.

“I’m sure she only needs a few moments of
rest and quiet,” Josie murmured. “There was a gentleman who waltzed
with her a bit too roughly, I’m afraid, and it made her quite
dizzy,” she added, and was pleased when Colonel Hamring
scowled.

“What? No excuse for that,” he exclaimed,
tugging on his mustache.

“No, indeed. Colonel, I’m sure
you
would know the proper way to waltz with a lady as delicate as Miss
Perry.”

“Eh? Certainly. Certainly. Well, I haven’t
waltzed much in my life, never went in much for dancing, but I
would certainly try.”

“Excellent. I’m sure she wouldn’t refuse
you, but you
will
wait to dance with her until she’s had a
moment to recover, won’t you?”

“Of course, of course.”

“There’s no need,” Miss Perry protested, but
Colonel Hamring shook his head, looking more than ever like a gruff
old walrus.

“Nothing would give me greater pleasure,
madame, than to waltz with you and show you how a gentleman
properly treats a lady,” he said. “But not until I’m certain you’ve
recovered.”

“You’re too kind.” Miss Perry threw a
desperate glance in Josie’s direction as she saw the Countess
edging toward the door.

“Ah, where are you going, Lady
Stonecliff?”

“To find my husband. He must be searching
for me by now. I’ll return as soon as I’ve set his mind at
ease.”And she slipped out of the music room, leaving Miss Perry and
the Colonel alone.

Josie was very well pleased with herself.
She had no intention of finding Ethan however, for the strain of
holding her feelings in check and playacting an all too painful
role was wearing on her. Besides, if he was busy playing billiards
with the other men, he wouldn’t be missing her in the least—and
would probably be annoyed at the interruption.

She slipped among the other guests ambling
through the house, many of them couples strolling arm in arm. A
flutter of loneliness stole through her.

She shook off the sensation, drawing on her
common sense. This was no time to be mooning over a man who could
only hurt her. This was a perfect time to find Lady Tattersall and
question her about Miss Denby.

She smiled and nodded politely to those she
passed, but made her way purposefully through the various lovely
rooms and passageways until she at last spotted Lady
Tattersall.

Ethan’s godmother was emerging from the
sitting room into a wide hallway set with gilt chairs and small
marble-topped tables. The carpet beneath was a rich floral, and
there were several gold-framed paintings on the walls. She was
speaking to Lady Cartwright—they appeared deep in conversation, but
when they saw Josie they paused and smiled, beckoning her to join
them.

She came forward into the hall, but before
she could say a word, her gaze was drawn to the lustrous painting
hanging just above Lady Cartwright’s head. There two fair,
elegantly clad young women were seated upon a sofa, while another
stood just behind and to the left of them, holding a small
bouquet.

Something about the woman who was standing
drew her attention. She stared at the heart-shaped, angelic face,
the uptilted eyes as blue as violets, the full, smiling lips. And
then her gaze moved to the soft sky-blue crepe gown and fell upon
the delicately glinting brooch.

Shock jolted through her.
The
brooch.

Her brooch!

With her throat closing, Josie stepped
closer, then craned her neck, staring at the pearl-and-opal brooch
in the portrait.

“Who... is this?” she heard herself ask in a
voice that was thick and raspy and totally unlike her own.

“My dear, are you well?” Lady Tattersall
stared at her in concern. “You look as if you’d seen a ghost!”

“Yes, I’m quite well, but... who is this?
Lady Cartwright, please tell me.”

“Well, that is a portrait of me, dear.
There, sitting on the sofa beside my sister, Georgina. I’m in the
peach gown and she is in white. And the girl standing beside us in
blue was our cousin, Charlotte. Heavens, Lady Stonecliff—do sit
down. You look positively faint!”

“No, I’m not going to faint. I’m not. I’m
fine.”

Trembling and white, Josie struggled to take
in the meaning of Lady Cartwright’s words. Instead of sitting down,
she continued to stare at the painting, at the face of Charlotte,
at the brooch glittering upon her breast.

“Your
cousin
?”

“Why, yes. Our mothers were sisters. We were
very close growing up, but... my dear, why are you so curious?”

“Lady Cartwright, do you know of a young
woman by the name of Miss Alicia Denby?”

There was silence as Lady Cartwright stared
at her, stared at the young countess with the pale face and the
intense, almost pleading eyes.

“Why, yes,” she said slowly, and beside her,
Lady Tattersall gave a slight, surprised nod of recognition as
well.

“Why, yes, I do. She’s Charlotte’s
daughter—and therefore my cousin. But she rarely goes out in
society. How, my dear, did you come to know of her?”

Josie felt the room start to spin. “Lady
Cartwright,” she gasped, pressing both hands to her suddenly light
head. “I think I
should
sit down after all.”

* * *

“Stonecliff can’t seem to lose tonight,”
young Lord Willowton grumbled as he and his companion, the Marquis
of Cavenleigh, eldest son of the Duke of Melling, stalked out into
the garden for a breath of air. They’d both drunk more than enough
for one night and they’d both lost heavily at cards and billiards
to the Earl of Stonecliff.

“Well, if you had a wife who looked like
that one, you’d be flying pretty high too.” Lord Cavenleigh
scowled.

“Don’t want a wife. Don’t want to be
married,” Lord Willowton mused, sinking down upon a marble bench
and sighing heavily. “But wouldn’t mind finding the Countess of
Stonecliff in my bed. Wouldn’t mind at all.”

“From what I hear, my friend, it could well
come to pass. The beauteous countess might not be quite the lady
her fine clothes and elegant face would have you think. I heard a
rumor, a tantalizing rumor... quite scandalous really.”

“Really? Do tell all.”

“Spent some time at my club today and the
word going around is that she used to work in a dance hall in
America. In the West, you know, on that wild frontier.” He began to
snigger as his friend’s eyes widened. “It appears she’s nothing but
a cheap little hussy Stonecliff picked up on his travels.”

“No!”

“Oh, indeed.” He laughed uproariously. “So
you might well be able to lure her to your bed, Freddy—only don’t
let Stonecliff catch you. What I heard is that she’s as common
as—”

He never finished the sentence.

Ethan Savage grabbed him up by the scruff of
the neck, spun him around, and glared like the devil incarnate into
Cavenleigh’s pale green eyes.

“Stonecliff... er... I didn’t mean...
believe you’ve misunderstood...”

“Let me make sure you don’t misunderstand
this,” Ethan snarled, and slammed his fist into Cavenleigh’s jaw.
The young lord went down with a muffled groan.

Ethan seized him, hauled him up, and hit him
again, this time in the midsection. Lord Cavenleigh landed in the
flower bed.

Lord Willowton backed away in terror.

“Not so fast.” Ethan stepped over
Cavenleigh’s moaning form and grasped Willowton by his pristine
silk lapels.

“If you or your friend say one more word
about my wife—to anyone, ever, anytime—I’ll beat you both to such
bloody pulps, your own mothers won’t recognize you.” His tone was
soft, silky smooth, but laced with unmistakable, very lethal
danger. Willowton quailed beneath the murderous gleam emanating
from deep within the other man’s eyes.

“I won’t... I wasn’t... but I won’t... I was
only admiring—”

Ethan punched him in the chin, and watched
as Willowton sank to his knees, blood spurting from his soft, weak
mouth.

“Don’t,” Ethan advised in a voice thick with
fury. “Don’t you or your pompous little friend even dare to look at
her.”

I
t was no use.

No matter how hard Josie tried, she couldn’t
sleep. She tossed and turned in the soft wide bed, twisted and
punched her pillows, kicked off and yanked at the blankets.

She was wide-awake.

Outside, a mist-white moon rode the midnight
sky. Wind fluttered the pale curtains at her window and brought
with it the perfume of roses from the small, gated garden.

Long hours stretched until dawn. But she
couldn’t stay in bed one minute longer.

Feet bare, she padded into the hall, her
hair loose and flowing. She wore only her white silk nightgown—no
need for a wrapper since no one would be up and about at this hour.
Any sane person would be sound asleep.

Perhaps a dish of tea would help. Dish of
tea? Josie grinned ruefully at herself. She was beginning to think
like an Englishwoman.

With a candle held aloft she made her way
through the darkness and slipped into the kitchen. There she lit a
lamp and put a kettle on to boil. She whisked toward the cupboard
in search of cups, then nearly screamed as she saw Ethan in the
doorway.

His tall form filled the narrow opening. He
was watching her, an unreadable expression in his eyes, a brandy
goblet held carelessly in one hand.

Her fingers flew to her mouth to smother the
scream. “Are you trying to scare me to death?” she managed to croak
when she could find her voice again.

He didn’t answer. He simply looked at
her.

Josie felt her heart begin to hammer. There
was something about him tonight—something sleek and perilous. The
aura of danger clung to him as it had that first day in
Abilene.

He still wore his evening clothes. But his
tie was loose, his shirt unbuttoned at the collar, open to reveal
an expanse of dark muscled chest. His eyes glittered.

“You’ve been drinking,” she murmured, half
to herself.

“Not enough, sweetheart. Not nearly
enough.”

He wasn’t drunk. She could see that as he
swaggered into the kitchen and came toward her. Beneath their
glitter, his eyes were keen and cold. There was tension in him,
coiling through the powerful muscles of his wide-shouldered frame,
hardening the set of his jaw.

“Would you like tea?”

“Not a chance.”

“Coffee?”

“Nope.”

“Eggs and ham and buttered toast, and some
jellied tarts?” She was only half joking. “I’m a cook, remember. I
could whip up any of those things before you could say—”