All About Seduction(45)

Jack put his arm over his eyes. He had to stop thinking about Mrs. Broadhurst in that way. She was married, and he’d never consorted with married women. But if she were a widow . . . and he wasn’t dependent on her care . . . and they were friends of a sort.

Lucy rubbed his arm. “Take me to London with you.”

“No.”

She leaned over, pressing her breasts into his chest and breathing against his chin. “Jack, you have a job there, don’t you? It’ll be lovely.”

“It’s not a certainty, especially not now.” He was still going to London, but the last thing he wanted was Lucy following him. “I told you I wouldn’t marry you.”

She frowned. “I’ll find work to help out. You’ll need my help.”

He wasn’t in any shape to support a wife, and he’d be damned before he depended on a woman to support him.

The door opened and Lucy sat up rapidly.

“Oh, excuse me,” Mrs. Broadhurst said.

Jack winced. He lowered his arm. Lucy belatedly jumped to her feet and bobbed an awkward curtsy.

But Mrs. Broadhurst was already pulling the door shut.

“Wait.” He sat up and pushed the covers down.

Mrs. Broadhurst hesitated in the doorway, lit by the rosy streams of the rising sunlight. Her brownish-purple-colored gown this morning was buttoned to her neck. He regretted that he wouldn’t get to see the morning sun on the skin of her shoulders.

And how was she doing after her bender last night?

Her lips pursed and her eyebrows were drawn together as if she were hurting.

“I need to use that room again.” Damn was that the best he could think of to keep her from leaving? “It’s not urgent. I’d just like to wash up.” But damn Lucy for making it look as though they were still a couple.





Chapter 9



Her heart fluttering, Caroline sucked in a deep breath as she lingered in the doorway. She’d only meant to look in on Jack before heading to the mill office, but she was reluctant to leave him alone with the young woman who hadn’t the sense to realize he was in pain.

Who was the girl? For a second she thought to march across the room and yank her off him. But with dawning dismay she realized the girl might be Jack’s wife.

However, he’d expressed his needs to her, and she took that little piece and hung onto it. Of course it could be that he saw her as his benevolent benefactress, which made sense. It wasn’t as if she were anything more. Her stomach ached, her chest ached, hell, her head especially ached.

She stepped out and beckoned to the footman standing at the dining room doors. After issuing instructions, she returned, pasted on a smile and said to Jack, “We’ll have you fixed up in a trice.”

He nodded with a grimace. His forehead was furrowed and his breathing was rapid.

Fearing that the putrid fever the doctor warned could kill him yet, Caroline crossed to Jack, leaned down and placed her palm against his forehead. His skin was clammy. No fever.

She breathed a sigh of relief, but the furrows under her hand hadn’t smoothed out. Much as he tried to hide it, the pain was visible in the white brackets around his mouth. He, at least, had a better reason for his pain than she did. “Have you had any medicine since waking this morning?”

He shook his head.

Goodness, how long had he suffered in silence? She moved to the sideboard, poured the dose into a glass and added a little water. As he took the glass, his fingers brushed hers and a jolt ran up her arm.

“You should have told me to get your medicine,” the blond woman said petulantly.

Jack drank the liquid quickly but gagged on the bitter laudanum. Nothing could mask the taste, but she could add sugar as he’d suggested might help with the whiskey. He turned his face away as if her scrutiny made him uncomfortable.

Caroline clasped her hands in front of her waist and turned to address the woman standing to one side. “The servants tell me there have been quite a few visitors already. I am glad so many are concerned for his welfare. Are you . . . family?”

“She’s just a friend.” Jack stared at the floor instead of looking at either of them.

“A particular friend,” the young woman corrected.

Caroline’s shoulders relaxed and she barely restrained her sigh of relief. Not a wife, then.

Jack sighed. “Mrs. Broadhurst, may I present Miss Dugan?”

Although Jack had managed the nicety of a proper introduction, he seemed reluctant. “Lucy, Mrs. Broadhurst.”