Behind the Rake's Wicked Wager(45)

‘I have no interest at all in Warwick and Miss Anstruther.’ He was pacing up and down, his black brows drawn together. ‘But it is not the first time you have left Bath to avoid meeting me.’

‘I do not know what you are talking about.’

He stopped pacing and stared at her.

‘Did you not receive my note?’

‘Note, sir? What note? What did it say?’

She fancied a dull flush tinged his cheek, but he turned away and she could not be sure.

‘Nothing. It is not important. Tell me, Miss Prentess. How do you intend to get back to Bath?’

‘Do you know, my lord, until this moment I had not considered. I have no idea.’

He came to stand before her, calm and assured.

‘Then I can offer you a solution, madam. My curricle is outside. I will convey you to Royal Crescent.’

Susannah might tell herself she felt nothing for him, but when Jasper was standing over her, the capes of his driving coat making his shoulders look so impossibly broad, it was difficult to ignore his powerful presence. Her heart was thudding painfully in her chest but she tried to think sensibly. It was a perfectly logical solution. A dignified, graceful acceptance was all that was required, but her nerves had been at full stretch the whole morning and she could not control the torrent of words that poured forth.

‘Thank you. Unless perhaps I should remain here in case Mr Anstruther should appear. What do you think? I do not consider it at all likely that he will arrive today, and I have every confidence that Mrs Gifford will be able to convince him that his daughter was never here—we keep a record of all our residents of course, but she enters false names for them, you see.’

Susannah listened to herself, horrified, knowing she had only stopped because she had run out of breath.

‘I believe you can leave Mrs Gifford to deal with Mr Anstruther, if he should arrive,’ replied Jasper. ‘You should come back to Bath with me, now.’

‘Very well.’ She rose and went to the table to collect her bonnet and gloves. ‘I must say that your arrival is very convenient. I would have had to ask old Daniel to take me home in the gig.’

His lips twitched.

‘I fear that a common gig would never do for you, Miss Prentess.’

He picked up her cloak and put it around her shoulders. The touch of his hands, fleeting though it was, instantly brought a reaction. Her body tensed, every nerve on end, anticipating the next contact. Dear heaven, she must get over this! She quickly stepped away from him.

‘I shall take my leave of Mrs Gifford and our guests, and join you outside.’

Jasper stood on the drive and breathed deeply, taking the cold, clear air into his lungs. She had not seen his message. She did not know he had intended to make her an offer. The mixture of frustration and rage that had consumed him during his headlong dash to Florence House was still simmering within him. She was the most infuriating woman he had ever met. He could not pin her down, she was constantly surprising him.

Perhaps he should not propose to her. He never knew where he stood with Susannah from one moment to the next. And the emotions she aroused in him—would he ever be in control if he allowed her into his life? He turned in time to see her coming out of the house, tying the ribbons of her bonnet beneath her chin as she walked towards him. The bonnet was not the frivolous, over-decorated confection preferred by most fashionable ladies, but its stylish simplicity was very becoming. The pale satin lining of the wide brim gave her countenance an added glow, and the jaunty angle of the bow drew attention to the dainty chin and those cherry lips, just waiting to be kissed.

No! After what she had told him yesterday he dare not indulge in such fantasies. No wonder she was so afraid of his embraces. He schooled his features into what he hoped was a polite smile and waited to help her into the curricle. The hesitation she showed before allowing those slender fingers in their kid glove to touch his hand was confirmation that she was still wary of him.

He set the team in motion, waiting for Morton to scramble up behind him before settling them into the swift, comfortable pace that would carry them all the way to Bath. She made an innocuous comment about the weather. He responded with a monosyllable. Jasper kept himself rigidly upright, trying not to react when the jolting of the curricle threw her against him. The silence between them seemed to grow more awkward as the miles passed. Finally he cleared his throat.

‘I shall be leaving Bath tomorrow.’

‘I am surprised you have stayed so long, my lord.’

Her cold response disappointed him. Not even a polite word of regret. He retorted bitterly, ‘It was not my original intention.’

‘I hope you do not blame me for that.’

‘Who else should I blame? It was my cousin’s interest in you that brought me here in the first place.’

She stared at him.

‘I told you at the outset I had no intention of marrying Gerald.’

‘And then you became engaged to him.’

She turned away again, but not before he had seen the shock in her eyes. He might as well have struck her. Remorse flayed him, but it only added to his frustration.

‘You know that was an error.’ She added, with something of her old spirit, ‘But it is not one I intend to repeat.’

‘I am glad to hear it. I pity any man who falls into your clutches.’

He regretted the words immediately, but they had reached the old bridge leading into Bath and the sudden appearance of a barouche made his team shy. He was obliged to give his attention to preventing a collision before he could reply.

‘I beg your pardon, Susannah. I—’

‘Do not speak to me,’ she commanded him in arctic tones. ‘I will not spend another moment in your company. You will set me down immediately, if you please.’

‘The devil I will. You cannot walk alone through this part of the town.’

‘I can do whatever I want!’

‘Do not be so foolish. No lady should walk near the docks, and beyond that are the poorest stews of Bath. Heaven knows what would become of you if I set you down here.’

‘If you will not stop I will jump down.’

‘Oh, no, you won’t.’ He reached out and grabbed her wrist. ‘You are in my care and I shall deliver you to your house.’

‘Your care, my lord, has almost resulted in my ruin on at least two occasions.’

Jasper glanced behind. Morton was sitting in the rumble seat, wooden-faced. He would stake his life on Morton’s discretion, but she must be very angry with him, to speak so in front of a servant.

Susannah tried to shake off his iron grip.

‘Let go of me!’

His hold on her wrist did not weaken. The heat from his fingers burned through her sleeve.

‘Only if you promise that you will not try to jump down. Quickly,’ he growled. ‘I cannot control this team with one hand and if you will not give me your word then I shall instruct Morton to hold you in your seat.’ He showed his teeth. ‘Only think how that would look.’

‘You wouldn’t dare!’

‘Morton—’

‘Very well!’ Hastily and with a burning look of reproach she made her promise. How could she have ever thought him a gentleman!

‘Good.’ He released her and she cradled her wrist in her other hand, convinced she would see a bruise there if she were to peel back her sleeve. ‘Now you will sit still until we reach Royal Crescent. If you move so much as a finger then Morton will lay hands on you, is that understood?’

She sat upright, staring rigidly before her as they picked up speed. The sense of injustice was fanned by the ensuing silence.

‘You are a monster,’ she told him. When that elicited no reply she added, ‘A brutish beast. You should be locked up.’

Still he did not reply. She tried again.

‘I have never known why everyone thinks you so charming. You are a fraud, Lord Markham. You are nothing but a rake. A—a libertine. A wolf in sheep’s clothing. A seducer of innocent females.’

His frown grew blacker with every word she threw at him, but he said nothing until he had guided the curricle into the Crescent and pulled up at her front door.

‘We will continue this conversation inside.’

‘If you think I am going to allow you into my house after this—!’

With a total want of decorum she scrambled out of the curricle and ran up the steps. Unfortunately Gatley had not been prepared for their approach and she was obliged to hammer upon the knocker. Behind her she heard Morton addressing his master.

‘I’ll take ’em back to the stables, shall I, m’lord? You’re in a fair way to ruining their mouths, the way you’ve been jerking at the ribbons.’

Glancing back, she saw that Jasper had jumped down and was even now on the pavement. The door opened and she ran inside, but before she could order Gatley to deny him, Jasper had followed her into the hall.