Then Came You (The Gamblers #1)(67)

None of them had answered his questions about where Craven had spent the night. Alex had wondered at the man’s motives, and why he would make no claim on Lily when he obviously cared for her. Why would he push her into the arms of another man and even insist upon providing his own apartments for their use? Craven was an odd man—wily, crude, avaricious, and unfathomable. Alex was intensely curious about Lily’s relationship with Craven. He intended to make her explain just what their strange friendship entailed.

Sliding his hands into his pockets, Alex strolled through the mansion. Owing to his sudden arrival, much of the furniture was still concealed with striped linen covers to protect it from dust. The rooms were painted in icy pastels, the floors either covered with fitted carpet or polished with beeswax. Each bedroom possessed a marble fireplace and a large adjoining dressing room, and was decorated with floral paper and chintz bed-hangings. Alex’s room was exceptionally large, with a ceiling painted to resemble a blue sky and clouds. The center-piece of the mansion was an elegant gold and white ballroom with tall marble pillars, ornate chandeliers, and opulent family portraits.

Alex had lived here during some of the months of his courtship of Caroline. He had hosted balls and soirées that Caroline had attended with her family. She had danced with him in the ballroom, her amber hair gleaming in the light of the chandeliers. After her death, he had avoided the place, flinching from the memories that seemed to drift through the rooms like faded perfume. Now as he wandered through the house, the shadowy memories brought no more pain, only a barely tangible sweetness.

He wanted to bring Lily here. It was easy to imagine her presiding over a ball, moving among the guests with her sparkling smile and lively chatter, her dark beauty emphasized by a white silk gown. The thought of her invigorated him, filled him with eager curiosity. He wondered what was going on in her unpredictable mind, and what her mood had been this morning. It had been damned annoying to wake up to her absence. He wanted to see her na**d body in the daylight and to make love to her again. He wanted to hear his name on her lips and feel her fingers in his hair and—

“My lord?” Mrs. Hodges had come in search of him. “My lord, there is someone here to see you.”

The news caused his pulse to quicken in anticipation. Brushing by the housekeeper, Alex descended the central stairway with its wrought-iron rococo balustrade and landings illuminated by large windows topped by fan-lights. Rapidly he strode through the inner hall to the entrance room with its delicately painted panels. He stopped short as he saw the visitor.

“Hell,” he muttered. Not Lily, but his cousin Roscoe, Lord Lyon, whom he hadn’t seen in months.

A handsome and unusually jaded young buck, Ross was one of Alex’s first cousins on his mother’s side. Tall, blond, blessed with wealth and charm, he was a favorite of aristocratic women with inattentive husbands. He’d had a multitude of affairs, traveled throughout the world, and accumulated a variety of experiences, all of which had served to make him excessively cynical. It was said throughout the family that Ross had been bored with life since the age of five.

“You never visit unless you want something,” Alex said brusquely. “What is it?”

Ross grinned easily. “I sense a lack of enthusiasm, cousin. Expecting someone else?” Ross was fond of answering questions with questions—one of the reasons his stint in the army had been so short.

“How did you know I was here?” Alex demanded.

“Common sense. You had to be in one of two places…here, or nestled in a certain pair of lovely arms, against a small but charmingly piquant bosom. I decided to try here first.”

“It seems you’ve heard about last night.”

Ross seemed unaffected by Alex’s forbidding scowl. “Is there a soul in London who hasn’t heard about it by now? Allow me to express my most profound admiration. I never suspected it was in you.”

“Thank you,” Alex indicated the door. “Now leave.’’

“Oh no, not yet. I’ve come to talk, cousin. Be congenial. After all, you see me only once or twice a year.’’

Alex relented and smiled reluctantly. Since childhood, he and Ross had maintained a relationship of friendly bickering. “Dammit. Come walk about the grounds with me.’’

They walked through the house to the parlor and opened the French doors that led outside. “I couldn’t believe it when I heard about my straightlaced cousin Alex and Lawless Lily,” Ross commented as they strolled across the smooth green lawn. “Gambling for a woman’s favors…no, not our dull, conventional earl of Raiford. It had to be someone else. On the other hand…” He studied Alex closely, his light blue eyes glinting. “There’s a look about you…I haven’t seen it since Caroline Whit-more was alive.”

Alex shrugged uncomfortably and crossed into the small but beautifully landscaped garden, with walks bordered by strawberry beds and flowering hedges. They paused at the center of the garden, where a large weathered sundial provided the necessary focal point.

“You’ve been a near-recluse for two years,” Ross continued.

“I’ve made appearances,” Alex said gruffly.

“Yes, but even when you bothered to attend some gathering, there was something rather hollow about you. Damned cold, actually. Refusing any condolences or expressions of sympathy, keeping even your closest friends at arm’s length. Have you troubled yourself to wonder why your engagement with Penelope was received in such lukewarm fashion? People can see you don’t give a damn about the poor girl, and they pity the both of you for it.”