Wishing For Rainbows (Historical Romance) (16 page)

He heard that hurt and rolled over so he could look deeply into her eyes. “I promise you that there is nothing going on between Barbarella and me. Brampton and Barbarella maybe, but I have no interest in the woman.”

She frowned up at him and told him about the carriage she had seen Brampton climb into outside the posting office.

“That sounds like the carriage that nearly ran you down in the park,” he sighed.

“You saw it?”

He looked down at her. “I was just coming out of the trees and saw it race past. As soon as I realised you were all right, I went after the coachman because he looked familiar.”

“In that way? How? Where?” She tried to sit up so she could see him better, then realised she was completely naked and quickly lay back down again.

He smiled and tucked the covers over her before he settled her down against him and told her about the man he had seen the day she had been hit over the head on the embankment.

“Do you think it is the same man?” she gasped. “Why? It can’t be Brampton because he was with me?”

“No, I don’t think it is him at all. I understand that he is in financial difficulty though, and is looking to borrow money. Unfortunately, the creditors all seem to be avoiding him.”

“So, he isn’t the sender of the flowers,” she added thoughtfully. “What about Sinnerton?”

Trenton looked at her and sighed. “Well, I haven’t really thought about him much. He just doesn’t seem the kind of man who would be so frivolous with his money. Nor does he seem bold enough to show any interest in a woman without his mother’s prompting.”

She grinned at him. “He does appear to be a rather weak character, doesn’t he?”

“Weak? If I were that man, I would run so hard and fast that mother would never catch up. He just doesn’t seem able to break free of the nursery reins.” He shook his head. “No, I cannot see him doing something as outlandish as racing a carriage through the park like that. It takes skill, and a recklessness that Sinnerton just couldn’t be capable of.”

“Well, it cannot be Brampton or Barbarella because they were with me.”

“Yes, but Barbarella has money. She could send flowers to you on Brampton’s behalf in an attempt to get people to connect you with him.”

“It would give him credibility if he wanted to borrow money off people,” she mused with a scowl. It was difficult to like anybody who could be that mercenary.

“Adelaide is a long-standing member of the
ton.
She has connections in high places. People like her. She is a good character. She is wealthy but not too arrogant about it. Brampton would take advantage of gossips spreading rumours that he was connected to you; if only to ease his financial crisis.”

“What has Barbarella got to do with this though?” She scowled out of the window, oblivious to the rain that trickled slowly down the pane as she thought about the woman’s apparent scheming.

“She hates me,” Trenton declared bluntly. “She was quite vexed when I refused to be lulled into her schemes and is spiteful enough that she would want to exact revenge. I am not saying that she is behind your flowers, but she has more than enough wealth to cover the cost of them.”

“But what would she have to gain from sending me flowers?” She dropped her head back onto his chest. “I cannot help feeling that we are missing something,” she mused.

“I know,” he mused. “I think we are.”

“Like what?”

Trenton explained about the third party in the conservatory who he suspected had been hidden in the foliage.

“You didn’t see anyone?”

Trenton shook his head. “It was too dark, and I was too busy thinking about you.”

She smiled at that and looked up at him a little ruefully. “So, a secret admirer arranged an assignation in the conservatory but then for some reason hid. Why?” She frowned blankly out of the window as one particular thought rose to the forefront of her mind, and refused to be ignored. “They mean to hurt me, don’t they?”

Trenton mentally cursed. He wasn’t suggesting that for a moment, even though he suspected that was the case. The fear in her eyes brought forth a blistering curse, and he sought to find a way to ease the worry. “I am not saying that is the case.”

“It’s what is happening though, isn’t it?” she replied. “I mean, I get a mysterious note asking me to meet with someone in the conservatory, only nobody turns up. You, however, realise there is someone hidden in the foliage waiting for me.”

“He may have been waiting to speak with you but didn’t want to come forward because I was there,” Trenton suggested, but she appeared to be too intent on following her train of thought to listen.

“Later that very same night, someone breaks into my room. They didn’t want to talk to me Trenton. They just grabbed me and tried to drag me out of the window.”

“Were they dragging you to the window?” He demanded. “Did you manage to see if they were carrying a weapon?”

“No, I don’t think so. They were trying to stop me from leaving the room,” she replied. “But I screamed, and the staff arrived before he could make me move.”

He conceded she had a point. “It might have just been a burglar who happened to choose the one night you received the note at the ball. You cannot lose sight of the fact that the people who attend these social engagements live in the upper echelons of society. They are highly unlikely to be climbing through windows in the dead of night to burgle houses.” He snorted. “I certainly can’t see Brampton or Barbarella going to such lengths. Neither of them could be bothered to put that much effort in. Sending flowers? Yes, most definitely. Breaking into houses? No, definitely not.”

She had to concede that he had a point, but refused to relinquish the subject just yet. Not until she had worked out some answers in her own mind. Being able to talk to him about this helped her enormously to be able to think about the possibilities.

“What about the attack on the embankment then?” she challenged somewhat triumphantly. “Are you suggesting that was a figment of my imagination?”

“No, I am not suggesting that for one minute.” His eyes wandered down her splendidly naked form now that she had sat up to face him. Her fury made her oblivious to the fact she was displaying what God had given her without even realising it, but he wasn’t going to mention the delightful view to her. He eyed her hungrily when desire began to build again.

“Trenton?”

He jerked out of his wayward thoughts and looked up at her. It took him a moment to realise what she had said. “Maybe it was a feeble attempt to steal your reticule? There were boat-people around, and street urchins and the like. They are renowned for pick-pocketing.”

“So, you are effectively saying that I am seeing shadows where there aren’t any,” she snapped, somewhat affronted that he didn’t support her theory that someone might want to do her harm.

“No, I am just saying that there is a reasonable explanation for everything that has happened to you. You shouldn’t feel worried or persecuted in any way. The circumstances that have befallen you could happen to anyone in London. It is just unfortunate that so much has happened in such a short space of time, and around the same time as you started to receive the flowers.” He looked at her. “I mean, somebody has sent you flowers. What harm has come to you by receiving them?”

She stared at him and had to concede he had a point. Still, she didn’t want to let the matter drop just yet. Was everything that had happened to her down to mere circumstance? Was she jumping at her own shadow?

“What about the carriage? You said yourself that the driver looked familiar. What if he is the man who attacked me on the embankment? What if this person, whoever he is, gets desperate and decides to be more forceful?” She couldn’t stop her fear from building.

He immediately regretted confiding in her so much. All he had done was increase her anxiety. “I won’t allow anyone to hurt you, Ursula,” he declared possessively. “You are far too precious to me.”

“You cannot be by my side all day. Only this morning you said you had some business to conduct that would render it impossible to return to Yorkshire anytime soon. You can hardly be squiring me around London while conducting your business,” she protested. Frustration made her voice harsher than she intended but she couldn’t take the words back.

To her surprise, he remained calm and impassive as he studied her thoughtfully. “I will ensure that the business I came to London to complete is finalised before Christmas, and shall return to my estate a happy man. Meantime, I have more than enough time to escort you wherever you want to go.”

“Everywhere?” she whispered when he drew her back down and rolled over so she was beneath him. She gasped at the delicious feel of his weight pressing her deeper into the bed and sighed in anticipation when his hand began to slide slowly down her thigh.

“Everywhere,” he murmured and began to place random kisses down her neck, across her shoulder, and back up to her lips. “Whenever you want; wherever you want,” he assured her in a voice that was husky with desire.

“That will draw the interest of the gossips,” she whispered.

“Let them gossip,” he replied. He continued to kiss her for several moments before he lifted his head to look down at her. “I don’t care what people say. Let them run rife with the news that we are together.”

Ursula thought about the man back in Yorkshire, whose offer her father had accepted, and knew that by loving the man in her arms, she had in fact taken her future in her own hands.

There was nothing about it she could regret. Not now that she had Trenton in her life.

“I hate smog. It is the only thing in London that I really don’t like,” she whispered later that night when Trenton had reluctantly allowed her to leave the bed and was walking her home.

“It is a little different to the rolling hills of Yorkshire, that’s for certain. It takes a little getting used to.”

“It’s horrible not being able to see where you are going,” she sighed, peering at a small street sign on the iron fence beside her. “I have no idea how you know where we are going.”

Trenton laughed. “I know where you live, darling. I am sure I could find you blindfolded.”

She smiled up at him with a soft sigh, and settled closer to his side when he wrapped an arm around her waist. They shared a smile as she snuggled deeper into the voluminous folds of the cloak he had wrapped her in before they had left the warmth of his house.

“I should have arranged for the carriage,” he mused wryly. When they had left the house, a short romantic walk in the smog had seemed like a good idea. Now that he was out in it though, he suspected they should have waited for the carriage. “Do you want to go back and fetch it?”

“No, it’s not too far to walk. If you are sure you can find your way home on your own, then I would prefer to carry on,” she replied.

Whatever else she was about to stay was halted by the sound of footsteps echoing around them. Unfortunately, the gas lamps did little to penetrate the gloom, and merely added an eerie haze to the darkness that encompassed them. It bathed everything in a yellowish glow that was a little disorientating. In addition to that, the smog seemed to mute most of the noise so that whenever sound reached them, it was difficult to distinguish where it came from and how close it was.

Trenton studied the shadows warily, but could see very little of anything. He sighed and wished they were still tucked up in bed. The last thing he wanted for either of them was to be out and about on a night like this, especially after what they had just shared. If it wasn’t for the fact that Adelaide was undoubtedly at home, and waiting for Ursula, then he would have insisted Ursula remain in bed with him until dawn.

He was a little unnerved at how much of a physical wrench it was to have to walk her home, knowing that he was going to have to return to his house without her. She belonged at his mansion across the square. The place felt lived in with her presence inside it.

“The contrast is stark,” he murmured aloud without thinking.

“Pardon?”

“Nearly there,” he corrected when he spied the next street sigh.

Ursula gasped and jumped when a tall, dark shadow suddenly appeared out of the haze. A dapper gentleman in a top hat nodded to them as he passed, but was swallowed up by the smog just as quickly as he had arrived, barely giving Trenton the time to respond.

“Are you alright?” He asked when he felt her shiver.

“It is a little unnerving,” she replied with a frown. “Are you sure you are going to be all right getting home again?”

“I will be fine,” Trenton assured her. He hated being parted from her for long and began to think of a reason to call by to see her tomorrow. “Will you allow me to escort you to a picnic tomorrow?”

“That would be wonderful,” she replied, delighted that he wanted to see her so soon.

“I will collect you in the curricle around eleven o’clock. I thought that a nice quite drive in the country might be in order, just so you don’t get too used to city life,” he teased wryly and shared a smile with her.

“I would love to,” she whispered, touched at his thoughtfulness.

“That’s settled then. I shall arrange for the letter to your father to be sent off first thing in the morning. That should deal with him for now. Meantime, don’t enter into any conversations with Brampton, and please don’t believe a word he says about me, or anyone else for that matter. The man has a reputation for being a scoundrel for a very good reason.” He gave her a pointed look. “That also stands for Barbarella. They are both trouble.”

She wrinkled her nose up. “I don’t like either of them to be honest with you. There is something going on between those two that I just don’t want to get involved in.”

She knew exactly what Barbarella and Brampton were up to. It was undoubtedly exactly what she had Trenton had been doing for the most part of the day. But, as far as Ursula was concerned, as long as they kept it between the two of them then they could do whatever they wanted.

“Wait,” Trenton murmured.

She looked at him questioningly for a moment when he stopped and turned toward her. Before she could speak, he tugged her into the shadows and drew her into his arms for a very thorough kiss. She felt branded, possessed by the masterful kisses he gave her, and returned his embrace with a ferocity that matched his. His low groan was soft yet shivered through her and wrapped around her heart in a vice-like grip. In that moment she knew that this was meant to be. She was his and undoubtedly had been from the first moment she had seen him across the village fayre one autumn when she had been ten years old. He had laid claim to her tender young heart all those years ago and, in spite of the years that had passed, still held it. She could not deny him anything, not when he was so much a part of her that parting from him, even for a few hours, left her feeling bereft, and turned her world as dark and gloomy as the fog they stood in.

It took a few moments before the sound of another set of footsteps registered on her senses. She was wrapped in a haze of desire, snuggled comfortably in Trenton’s loving arms. At first, she didn’t pay the sound much attention, even less so when Trenton nudged them deeper into the shadows so he could kiss her some more.

He lifted his head and watched a figure dressed entirely in black stalk past. The rhythmic tap-tap-tap of the man’s cane as he walked echoed hollowly around the empty streets. As soon as he had vanished and, assured that they weren’t noticed, Trenton stole several more shockingly intimate kisses before he slowly released her.

“Let’s get you home before I forget I am a gentleman,” Trenton growled. He wished they were indeed back at home, in front of a nice warm fire so they could remove the various layers of clothing, and indulge in this delicious new side of their relationship.

Ursula sighed and leaned against him as they resumed their walk. To begin with she didn’t notice anything was amiss. It was only when they left the yellowish glow of one of the gas lamps behind and stepped into thicker darkness that she was aware that they were no longer alone. The atmosphere suddenly shifted around them and rapidly turned into something sinister. She glanced up when Trenton suddenly stiffened.

Before either of them could move, a dark figure suddenly launched out of the fog and threw himself at Trenton. Her cry of alarm was loud as he knocked her to the floor as he flew past her. She landed with a heavy thump and only just managed to sit upright in time to watch the figure sitting astride Trenton, raining blows down onto his face, head and shoulders. Outraged, she struggled to get to her feet and cried in dismay when a pair of arms appeared out of the gloom and grabbed at her cloak.

“Get off me,” she screamed as she twisted and writhed in an attempt to get away.

“Come here,” a low voice growled into her ear.

“Get away from me,” she snapped, determined they wouldn’t succeed in dragging her into the darkness as they clearly wanted to do.

She lifted her foot and kicked out hard in the direction of her assailants shins. The resounding groan was reassuring enough for give her courage to repeat the action, which she did with even greater force. To her relief, her assailant was unbalanced enough so that she could push hard at his body. Unfortunately, it was too dark to see much in the way of facial features, but felt an instinctive recognition sweep over her as she caught a glimpse of the shadowy outline. She knew, in that moment, she had met this person before, but where?

Swirling around, she turned to look at Trenton, who was now on his feet and trading blows with his attacker. Unsure how to help him, she hesitated for a moment, then yanked off her cloak and threw it over the assailant’s head. Rendered temporarily blind, the attacker’s vicious curses became muffled, but his temporary disorientation was enough to help Trenton fight him off.

“Come on,” Trenton snapped, grabbing her wrist in a fierce grip. He yanked her after him so hard that it was difficult to maintain her balance, and she stumbled along beside him on shaking legs for a moment before she slammed to a halt.

“Wait!” She cried, yanking back on her wrist. “Don’t you want to see who it is?” she gasped.

When Trenton didn’t appear to have heard her, she retraced her steps. To her horror, all she found sitting in the middle of the path was her cloak.

“They have gone,” she whispered, listening to the sound of rapid clip of footsteps fading into the distance.

Trenton opened his mouth to speak only for Ursula to put her finger to her lips. She picked up her cloak and draped it over her arm. Once she had tugged him into the relative safety of the shadows, she stood on tip-toe so she could whisper in his ear.

“There are two of them,” she said quietly and nodded toward the shadows.

Trenton took the cloak off her and swept an arm around her waist. “Stay close to me. We are going to turn right at the top of this road. Adelaide’s house is half-way down that street.”

Ursula nodded, still amazed by how well he knew the area. She stuck close to his side as they made their way toward the safety of home, and neither of them spoke. The wonderful intimate atmosphere that had shimmered between had now turned into something watchful and wary.

By the time they reached the house, the tension between them was palpable. There was so much she wanted to say to him; so much she wanted to ask him, that she just didn’t know where to start. Not now; not after yet another attack.

“How are you? Let me see your face,” she whispered as soon as they stepped through the front door of Adelaide’s house. She tugged him over to the candle that had been left alight on the small table at the bottom of the stairs. “You have been cut. You need to get that cleaned.”

“I am all right,” he soothed. “Did they hurt you?”

“No. Did you get a good look at the man?”

To her surprise, Trenton nodded. “He tried to hide his face but I managed to get a good enough look at him to know for definite who your assailant has been.”

“It has been the same man all along?”

Trenton sighed. “I am almost convinced it is the same man, yes. I do think he has help though.”

“Go on,” she demanded in a voice that was raw with fear. “Brampton?” she asked hopefully.

Trenton shook his head, still stunned by the revelation himself. “Sinnerton.”

“
Alfred
Sinnerton?” she gasped in shock. “Are you sure?”

She scowled at him and thought over the bedroom incident. Had her assailant been Alfred Sinnerton? She shook her head slowly. “He isn’t the one who broke into my bedroom. I am sure of it.”

“Why?” Trenton demanded. He knew it had been Alfred Sinnerton who had attacked him. He had seen the man’s face with his own eyes.

“Because the person in my bedroom was slightly taller and thinner,” she said thoughtfully.

“That was definitely Alfred Sinnerton out on the street just now,” Trenton retorted while rubbing his jaw. “He is damned useless with his fists, but good at surprising people.”

“I wonder if it was his sister who attacked me. Whoever that was in my bedroom wasn’t big enough to be Mrs Sinnerton.”

“It may have been his sister,” Trenton murmured, trying to remember what Hyacinth looked like. The Sinnertons were an odd bunch of people at the best of times. Now it appeared that they were criminals.

“Let’s get you cleaned up,” she whispered and nodded to the morning room.

“Where is Adelaide?” he murmured quietly. He didn’t say as much but he desperately needed to see with his own eyes that Ursula really was alright.

“She will have gone to bed by now,” she replied, only to gasp when he swept her high into his arms and headed toward the stairs. “Where are we going?”

“To your room. You can hardly look at my wounds down here in the hallway.”

“I was thinking more along the lines of the morning room,” she replied dryly, making no attempt to encourage him to put her down.

“Oh, well, I thought you might need to lie down for a bit,” he mused thoughtfully.

“Well, I might need to recover for a while I suppose,” she countered, and pressed a daring kiss to his cheek.

“Then your bedroom it is. Show me which way,” he whispered at the top of the stairs.

“I suppose you may need to lie down too. After all, you have taken several blows to the head.”

He grinned at her. “To recuperate, you understand. I am in no condition for any of that,” he assured her pointedly.

Her cheeks blushed mightily and she ducked her head and buried her face in the base of his neck to smother her laughter. It just right being able to tease him so freely and aided the air of intimacy that they now shared. There was something intriguingly daring about being alone with him that was addictive, even without taking into account the delicious things he did to her.