Ann Lethbridge - The Regency Season - Passionate Promises - The Duke's Daring Debutante / Return of the Prodigal Gilvry

Minette frowned. ‘Do you think he gambles as much as everyone says?’

Nicky sighed. ‘I don’t know. His fortune is vast. I would hate to see him lose at the tables the way so many others have done.’ She glance around and lowered her voice. ‘It may be a front for other activities.’

Surprise that Nicky would mention such a thing must have shown in her face.

‘I don’t want you to think the worst of him,’ Nicky said.

She didn’t know what to make of him. So often she had felt as if he didn’t like her. At other times she thought he also felt the same wild spark of attraction she did, especially when they kissed. Until he looked at her with that chilly expression. Clearly he was set on this marriage. Except tonight he seemed to be avoiding her. Perhaps he had changed his mind.

The disappointment that hollowed out a painful space in her chest didn’t make any sense. His changing his mind would make it so much easier to cry off once they found Moreau.

As if her thoughts had conjured him up, Freddy appeared across the other side of the room, listening to something Gabe was saying, his expression austere, his eyes intense. He looked up and his gaze caught hers. She froze in the intensity of that look, so dark, so cold, until a hint of a smile quirked the corners of his mouth and caused flutters low in her belly.

‘There they are,’ Nicky said, and the connection was gone as if it had never existed. Remoteness fell over his expression like a shutter as he and Gabe sauntered over.

Gabe smiled down at his wife. ‘Are you too tired to dance?’

‘Never.’

He walked her into the set.

‘I am surprised to find you not up on the dance floor,’ Freddy said, clearly not caring one way or the other.

‘I sat out because I want to know how Nicky was faring.’

‘You care for your sister.’

‘Of course. She is my family.’

He looked less than convinced.

‘You care for your family, surely?’ Wasn’t that why he undertook deeds society would frown on? To save his country and his family from being crushed beneath the boot of a tyrant?

‘It is my duty to care for them.’

Cold duty. As it was his duty to marry her after they’d been caught in the library. The man seemed to have no heart, no passion. Yet his kisses had been more than passionate. They had been searing.

‘Would you care to stroll in the gardens?’ he asked. ‘I am told they are something to see.’

‘Someone mentioned they were lit up like Vauxhall Gardens.’

‘Worse.’ He gave her an odd sort of look. ‘There isn’t a shadow or a dark walk to be found and a footman at every corner.’

She chuckled. ‘No chance for mischief.’ She grinned up at him. ‘Probably as well in our case. Who knows where temptation would lead?’

His eyes widened a fraction and again the small flash of the smile she adored made an appearance, much to the consternation of her insides. He held out his arm. ‘Shall we go and see? After all, given the purpose of our attendance tonight, it wouldn’t do for us not to spend any time together.’

A pang pierced her heart at the coldness in his words. A foolish pang that it wasn’t his desire to spend time with her but his need to make it appear as if he did. ‘Why not?’ She placed her arm on his sleeve and they left the ballroom by way of the French doors.

‘Is it too cool out here for you?’ he asked, as if he really cared. ‘Shall I fetch a shawl?’

It was a beautiful June evening. The scent of lilacs and early roses carried on the warm breeze, the walks sparkling with lights strung from trees.

‘No, thank you. It is a relief to get out of the heat.’

They walked in a square around the formal garden. ‘I am glad for a private moment,’ she said. ‘I have been wanting to speak with you alone. I thought you might have had some news of our quarry.’

He gave her a considering look. ‘Why would you think that?’

‘Because Madame Vitesse says someone has been walking around her neighbourhood, asking questions about her brother. She threatens to refuse to help us.’

He frowned, and she had the feeling he had caught him by surprise. ‘Not my men. I am keeping to our agreement and so must she or find herself in dire straits.’

His frown deepened, and he paused to pick a rose. He broke the thorns off the stem and handed it to her in what, under other circumstances, might be seen as a very romantic gesture. She inhaled the delicate fragrance.

Once more he offered his arm, and they continued strolling. ‘It is not only us looking for Moreau.’

Her breath caught in her throat. ‘Who else?’

‘The Home Office boys would very much to get their hands on him.’

She understood from the small things Gabe had let fall from time to time that the Home Office and the organisation Freddy worked for were on the same side, working to save England, they were also in competition and their goals did not always align.

‘You think it might be them asking questions?’

‘Rumours of our man’s imminent arrival in Britain have been circulating for weeks. They might be overly bureaucratic at the Home Office but they are not completely without ability.’

‘I should let Madame Vitesse know this. Warn her to be careful.’ She clutched at his sleeve. ‘What if they find him first?’

‘It doesn’t matter who finds him as long as he is out of action.’

Not true. Not true. She had to be first. Everything depended on it. ‘I will see her tomorrow. I have a fitting for the gown I am to wear for the ball at Falconwood. I will impress on her the urgency.’

He stopped and turned her to face him. ‘Why is it so important that you speak to him?’

‘There is unfinished business between us.’ It was all she dared say.

His mouth tightened. ‘Very well. Keep your secrets. For now.’

For now. That sounded very much like a threat.

They had almost arrived back where they had started when he led her down a path leading to a walled garden with a display of fountains, each one in its own pool. He didn’t linger, but he opened a gate hidden behind some creeper. The scent of lavender and thyme and other herbs filled her nostrils.

And not a lantern in sight.

‘I don’t think we are supposed to be in here,’ she said.

‘No.’ He closed the gate and shot the bolt. Light from the moon was enough to see by. The party had been deliberately planned to take advantage of the moon for those travelling back to town. They were in a kitchen garden, the house, ablaze with light, only yards away, its top floors visible above the stretch of the wall. But no one inside the house would be able to see them among the shadows.

Her heart gave a loud thump. Not a warning exactly but definitely excitement tinged with a touch of wariness.

‘Why did you bring me here?’ she asked.

He tucked a hand beneath her chin, tipping her face up and looking down at her. One side of his face was in shadow, the other carved by moonbeams into hard, masculine beauty.

‘A chance to talk without interruption.’ He cast her a wicked glance that made her toes curl. Wicked and charming both. She had never seen him look quite so handsome or so devilish. ‘And besides, you look so lovely, so tempting, I couldn’t resist a few minutes on our own.’

The lovely words took her breath away.

It would be so easy to let herself believe he’d meant what he’d said. And so utterly foolish.

But that didn’t mean she couldn’t enjoy him while it lasted.

Chapter Six

‘How did you know about this particular garden?’ she asked, the hint of breathlessness in her voice calling to his desires.

‘I took a walk when I first arrived.’ He always made sure he knew the layout of any place he went. A man never knew when he might need to leave in a hurry. It had also seemed like the perfect spot to begin his campaign of seduction. Passion was the one thing that seemed to go well between them, as evidenced by his simmering lust since their kiss.