Regency High Society Vol 3: Beloved Virago / Lord Trenchard's Choice / The Unruly Chaperon / Colonel Ancroft's Love

‘Indeed, I do, mademoiselle.’ Marie raised her eyes to gaze at some spot behind her dinner-companion’s head. ‘His orders were to secure Louise’s release. But he put his life at further risk by aiding me to escort her to a place of safety.’

Marie was silent whilst she subjected Katherine to a prolonged, searching stare. Then, seemingly satisfied with what she detected in the delicately featured face, she said, ‘I believe I told you that the Baron family was once very wealthy. Monsieur Baron employed a steward, a man who had worked diligently for the family. Some years after her parents were killed, whilst she was residing in Paris, Justine discovered where her late father’s steward and his family had fled, and it was in their care Justine wished her sister to be placed. Major Ross, as I have mentioned, ensured that we arrived at our destination safely. We should never have succeeded without him, that I know.’

‘And does Louise still reside with the family?’ Katherine enquired gently.

Marie nodded. ‘With one of them.’

‘And is she happy?’

‘Oh, yes, mademoiselle. Within a short time she married the eldest son, Pierre, and they have now two lovely children. With the money Justine left her sister, Louise and Pierre bought a vineyard, and have prospered. I too live with them,’ she added, before her gaunt features were softened by a gentle smile. ‘Until you revealed it a short while ago, I never knew the real name of the man to whom we owe so much. I only ever knew him as Antoine Durand.’

Her expression suddenly turning grave, she reached across the table to clasp Katherine’s left hand. ‘Set aside your differences, petite,’ she urged gently. ‘Believe me when I tell you that you could do no better than to put yourself in that man’s hands. He will guard you well.’

Later, after she had changed into her night-wear, Katherine sat on the edge of the bed, and began absently to pull a brush through her long auburn tresses as she turned over in her mind what Marie had disclosed during dinner.

Yes, she could well appreciate now why the Frenchwoman thought so well of Major Ross. Yet when it had been suggested that she could do no better than to place herself in his care, she could not bring herself to agree. But why?

A bitter smile tugged at one corner of her mouth. Oh, yes, she knew well enough why she had been so willing to blame him for poor Helen’s death; why she had been so contented to allow Major Daniel Ross to figure as the villain of the piece all these years. But that, she silently reminded herself, did not explain why now—now, when she had acknowledged how incredibly unjust and foolish she had been—she was still so determined to dislike him, to keep him at a distance.

It could not be denied that he possessed many of those traits she abhorred in his sex. None the less, she had been acquainted with several arrogant and dictatorial gentlemen during her lifetime, her grandfather to name but one, and she had experienced no difficulty whatsoever in tolerating their peccadilloes. So why was she so set against a more companionable relationship developing between her and the Major? After all, there was absolutely no danger at all in just liking someone. It was only when—

‘Ahh, what a delightful sight! The dutiful wife remaining awake in order to welcome her lord and master to bed.’

Katherine started so violently that the hairbrush shot out of her hand to land on the wooden floor with a clatter. It was as much as she could do to stare in horrified silence as the smugly smiling Major Ross entered the room and calmly closed the door. Just how long he had been standing there in the doorway, watching her, she had no way of knowing, for she certainly hadn’t detected the click of the latch, but she could not fail to hear the grating of the key now as it was turned in the lock.

‘What on earth do you imagine you are doing, sir?’ she demanded in a voice which had suddenly risen by an octave, making her sound more like a frightened child than the self-possessed young woman she had wished to appear.

‘What the devil do you imagine I’m doing, madam wife?’ he responded, sounding distinctly bored, as he proceeded to slip the key into the pocket of his tight-fitting breeches. ‘I am about to retire.’

For a moment Katherine was too stunned by this almost blase pronouncement to notice that he was calmly appraising her modest night-attire, from the ties at the base of her throat to where her unshod feet protruded from beneath the hem. Then she detected that unmistakable predatory gleam which she had glimpsed all too often in recent years in many pairs of masculine eyes.

She was on her feet in an instant, almost tripping over the edge of the rug in her haste to scramble into the robe which she had left hanging in the wardrobe. If the sudden smile which pulled at the corners of an attractive mouth was any indication, her actions appeared to have afforded him no little amusement, a circumstance which served to strengthen her resolve to be rid of his unwanted presence without delay.

‘I too wish to retire, sir, so I would be obliged if you remove yourself forthwith. Anything you have to say to me can quite easily wait until morning.’

‘For once we are in complete agreement, m’dear,’ he announced, surprising her somewhat, but the hope that she might be rid of him so easily was swiftly dashed when he plumped himself down on the bed, and began to remove his jacket.

Katherine could only gape in astonished disbelief as cravat and waistcoat were added to the coat which he had flung over the back of the chair, and it was only when he tossed one boot into the corner of the room that the full import of his actions hit her with frightening clarity. ‘You do not imagine surely that you are going to sleep in here?’

After removing his other boot and sending it the way of the first, he bent a look of mild surprise in her direction. ‘Where the deuce do you suppose I’m going to sleep?’

‘Anywhere but in here,’ she returned, silently cursing herself for foolishly forgetting to lock the door after Marie had returned to her own room. ‘I recall the landlord mentioning only yesterday that the inn is half empty now.’

‘Yes, I dare say it is. Most British visitors to this city have made a bolt for the Channel ports. Why do you suppose it took me so long to get here?’

Momentarily diverted by this snippet, she asked, ‘Was the journey here so very arduous? I wondered why you were delayed.’

There was more than just a hint of reproach in the glance he cast up at her this time, as though he considered her in some way to blame for the delay. ‘I was left kicking my heels in Dover for twenty-four hours because of rough conditions in the Channel.’

He sounded genuinely peeved which, perversely, amused her, though she managed to suppress the wicked smile of satisfaction threatening to curl her lips.

‘When I eventually arrived in Calais the diligence to Paris was full,’ he continued in the same highly disgruntled tone, ‘and I had perforce to wait two days before I could manage to acquire a seat in one of those pestilential vehicles, which I might add lost one of its wheels when we had travelled no more than twenty miles from the port. I was then compelled to put up at one of the most uncomfortable hostelries it has ever been my misfortune to enter, was refused a seat on the next coach to Paris on account of its being full, and tooled by the only driver I have ever come across who flatly refused to accept a bribe. Consequently I was obliged in the end to leave most of my belongings at the inn, purchase the landlord’s misbegotten gelding, owing to the fact that he wouldn’t entertain the notion of hiring it out, and then complete the journey on a horse that could not be induced to go above a sedate trot. So as you can appreciate, my dear, I am somewhat fatigued.’

‘Quite understandable,’ she was forced to admit, but steadfastly refused to concede more than this.

Now that she had overcome the initial shock at seeing the impertinent rogue walk brazenly into her bedchamber, Katherine found herself experiencing mere irritation at his continued presence, but certainly no fear. Which was most odd in the circumstances, considering that if he was determined to remain she would need to seek the assistance of the landlord and perhaps two burly ostlers in order to have him forcibly removed.

She swiftly decided that maybe a more tactful approach would serve her purpose better. ‘All the more reason for you to enjoy a good night’s rest in another room. I’m certain the landlord will be only too willing to oblige you.’

He didn’t attempt to move, and merely regarded her, much as he had done earlier in the evening, as though she were some irritating and unruly child who was best ignored. Katherine succeeded in controlling her rising ire, even though with every passing second it was becoming more of an effort.

Without considering the wisdom of her actions, she moved towards him, holding out one hand. ‘Give me the key at once, Major Ross!’ she demanded in a voice which clearly betrayed that she was fast approaching the end of her tether, ‘otherwise I shall create such a commotion that I shall rouse the entire inn.’

For a tall, powerfully built man, Daniel could move with lightning speed when he chose, a fact which Katherine was swiftly to discover to her cost. One moment she was standing with her bare feet planted firmly on polished wooden boards, and the next she was lying, supine, on the bed, arms pinned above her head. She was conscious of the stone-hard chest pressed against her breasts, and acutely aware too of the muscular leg clamped over her lower limbs, effortlessly pinioning both to the mattress.

She did not need to see the unholy gleam of satisfaction in the dark eyes staring down at her to know that she was now his prisoner, incapable of escaping. Yet, oddly enough, she felt more indignant than afraid, and thoroughly nettled for so foolishly placing herself in a position whereby she could be so effortlessly seized.

‘Release me at once, you loathsome creature,’ she ordered, stubbornly refusing to concede defeat, ‘otherwise I shall scream my head off!’

The gleam in the dark eyes grew distinctly more ominous as he encircled her throat with one shapely hand. ‘I could render you senseless in a trice, you provoking little witch,’ he warned, sounding as though he would not have found the exercise wholly distasteful. ‘But perhaps,’ he added, his strong teeth flashing in yet another of those distinctly predatory smiles, ‘there is a more effective means of ensuring your silence.’

Katherine watched those dark eyes widen fractionally as they focused on her mouth. His intent was clear, and she braced herself for the onslaught. Only for a moment, though, did she experience the punishing force of masculine lips as they clamped down over hers, successfully smothering the cry for help which too late rose in her throat; then his mouth became surprisingly gentle, exerting only sufficient pressure to induce hers to part, and evoking peculiar sensations which she was ashamed to own were not altogether unpleasant.

Although acutely aware that it would be altogether a waste of energy to attempt to free herself, and that she was completely at his mercy, she was astonished not to discover an expression of smug satisfaction over his obvious mastery when at last he released her, and hurriedly rose from the bed. No, amazingly enough, he appeared, if anything, slightly shaken and not just a little puzzled too, although his voice when he spoke was as infuriat-ingly self-assured and dictatorial as before.

‘Let that be a lesson to you, young woman, to think long and hard before you embark on any such foolish escapades in the future.’ He towered above her, arms folded across his chest, every inch the dominant male. ‘It wasn’t likely, I’ll admit, that Sir Giles would have placed your well-being in the hands of someone whom he did not wholeheartedly trust,’ he freely acknowledged. ‘None the less, gentlemen do not always behave as they ought on occasions. Think yourself very lucky that I’m not disposed to ravishing innocent maidens. Nor do my tastes run to bedding sharp-tongued viragos.’

If he expected a show of gratitude for this assurance, he was doomed to disappointment. Katherine was hard put to it not to respond in kind by informing him in no uncertain terms that he was not to her taste either, but wiser counsel prevailed. She therefore contented herself with flashing him a further speaking glance, before rising from the bed and fastening her dressing gown, which at some point during his recent assault upon her had become undone.

‘So you have nothing to fear from me, providing you do as you’re told,’ he continued, swiftly suppressing a smile as turquoise eyes favoured him with a further dagger-edged look. ‘Be assured, Miss O’Malley, that I find our present situation as disagreeable as you do. Unfortunately we are supposed to be man and wife, and we have no choice but to maintain the pretence, at least for the duration of our stay in Paris. And married couples, let me remind you, are inclined to share the same room.’

The fact that the maddening creature was absolutely right did nothing to improve her state of mind, and when he calmly slid between the sheets, patting that portion of bed beside him invitingly, as though he expected her to play her part to the full, the tenuous hold she had maintained over her temper finally snapped, and she whisked the top coverlet off the bed.

He neither made the least attempt to stop her from taking it, nor, which was more infuriating still, did he offer to do the gentlemanly thing and suggest that he spend the night in one of the easy chairs by the hearth. He merely bade her an infuriating ‘Goodnight,’ before slipping further between the sheets.

Muttering under her breath, Katherine went about the airy chamber extinguishing the candles. For all his protestations to the contrary, she strongly suspected that Major Ross was attaining much amusement out of her evident discomfiture in having to share this room with him.

She shook her head, marvelling at her own stupidity. How on earth she could have imagined that there was the remotest possibility of her ever liking him she would never know. Without doubt he was the most maddening, detestable creature it had ever been her misfortune to meet!

Chapter Six

The following morning, when finally she had managed to prise open her eyelids a fraction, Katherine felt as if she had taken a punishing tumble from a horse. There didn’t seem to be an inch of her that didn’t ache abominably, and her poor back felt as if it might break if she attempted to move. Discovering bright morning sunlight surprisingly streaming through the bedchamber window did little to improve her overall discomfort, and she swiftly closed her eyes against the sun’s smarting rays, but was prompted to open just one again a moment later when she clearly detected a strange rasping sound emanating from the general direction of the washstand in the corner of the room.

‘Oh, God!’ she groaned, when at last she had brought that nightmarish figure dragging a razor across its chin into focus, and her one and only hope that the events of the evening before had all been some fiendish bad dream had been wholly dashed.

The muttered exclamation carried, and Daniel paused in his shaving to stare through the mottled glass on the washstand at his companion’s pained expression. A few minutes before, whilst still soundly asleep, she had looked utterly adorable, with those auburn locks in enchanting disarray framing her lovely face. It was quite evident that her mood had not improved to any significant degree during the night hours, and he could not in truth say that he was in the least surprised. The winged-chair might be comfortable enough to sit in for an hour or two of an evening, but it hadn’t been fashioned to afford its occupant a good night’s repose.

He managed with precious little effort to suppress a smile, but was not nearly so successful in ignoring that imp of pure devilment which induced him to say, ‘Good morning, sweetheart. I trust you slept well?’