A study in scandal (14 page)

She lifted her chin a notch. “And you have no such intentions towards me?”

Their eyes locked. She had no fear, she simply stood there waiting for his honest answer. And in that moment, he wished his answer were different. “No,” he said. “I’m not the marrying sort.”

She nodded. “I suspected as much.” She turned
away, presenting him with her back. “I suppose I must not be the marrying sort either.” Her voice was soft.

“Why do you say that?”

Her shoulders sagged. “Because no man has ever wanted to marry me.” She walked to the window, but did not pull back the curtains. Standing there facing that covered window, she’d never looked more tempting. He wanted to pull her into his arms and remind her that one man wanted her. Though he couldn’t provide marriage, he wanted her nonetheless.

“All is well,” she said. “I have plenty of other things to occupy my time. Although I suspect I had wanted to have children at some point. Perhaps I am too old now for that.”

She needed comforting. He knew that. But he wasn’t a comforter, and he had no business wrapping his arms around her under the pretense of soothing her wounded feelings. That was what kept getting them both into trouble.

He didn’t know much about proper courting or marriages, but surely she wasn’t too old to secure a decent husband. “Too old? How old are you?” he asked.

She turned to face him, then raised her eyebrows. “It isn’t proper to ask a lady her age, In
spector.” She was teasing him, and he loved the playful glimmer in her eyes.

She was teasing, not upset. She hadn’t required his comforting at all. Further proof he had no idea how to have a simple relationship with a woman. But humor…he knew how to communicate, especially with her, with humor. Thank goodness she had a sense of humor, else he’d be stuck feeling rotten about hurting her feelings. Which, he suspected, he’d be feeling regardless.

“Yes, well, we haven’t been precisely proper with one another all evening, now, have we?”

“Fair enough. I am four and twenty.”

He released a low whistle. “Shall I get your cane, old woman?”

“Oh, stop. You know as well as I that a woman of that age in our society is considered a spinster.”

“But none of your friends are married, are they? Do you consider them spinsters?”

“Of course not. I am the eldest, though. Only by a few months in one case. But unlike myself, they have all had proposals. Charlotte still receives them. Weekly, I believe.”

Colin shook his head. “She would be a lot to handle. Men should not be so quickly blinded by her beauty.”

“A lot to handle? Interesting way to put it.”

“Certainly not the sort of thing in which I would choose to endeavor.”

“You prefer women who are less of a challenge?”

“I never said she would be a challenge. I said a handful. She’s spoiled and willful. You can see that in the way she walks and talks. That is quite different than being a challenge.”

“I see.” But Amelia didn’t look as if she understood at all. In fact, she looked rather confused, with her furrowed brow and pursed lips.

“You see, a challenging woman is one who makes you question the way in which you view your life. The way you see the world around you. She shows you a different side to things, a new, but not necessarily wrong way of embarking upon life. She is strong where you are weak. Soft where you are hard.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “It’s different.”

Amelia didn’t look entirely satisfied. He allowed her a few additional moments to ask for further clarification, but she did not. So he did not offer any. There was no point in telling her that she was challenging. More challenging than he’d thought possible for a person. Especially a woman.

But she was. She made him want more than he knew he could offer and more than he knew he
should take. It was the most dangerous aspect of their relationship, and she had no idea she held such power over him.

“I checked the train schedule, and it looks as if we shall leave tomorrow at ten o’clock. Does that sound right to you?” she asked.

Train. Brighton. That’s right. They were to travel together on a train for several hours. Alone. His palms started to sweat.

“Colin?” she asked.

“Yes. Ten o’clock is fine. Can you find your way to the station?”

“Yes, of course.”

“Then I shall meet you there at nine-thirty. To ensure we secure tickets and seats. We shall be traveling under the same name to avoid any speculations. Hopefully we will not see anyone you know who could spoil our disguise.”

She nodded. “It is unlikely we’ll see anyone. They will all stay in town for the duke’s ball tomorrow night.”

“Very well, then,” he said. “Thank you for tonight, Amelia, your efforts were most appreciated.” He knew he should probably apologize for accusing her of lying earlier, but his tongue couldn’t form the words. There was no reason to be any softer with her than he already was. He’d
taken too many liberties with her person. The worst thing he could do now was take liberties with her heart.

Amelia sat back in the chair and closed her eyes. Tonight had been a huge success. Well, once their misunderstanding had been resolved. Of course, she still had to have a conversation with Meg and Charlotte. No doubt they had not conferred with Willow on their little deception.

She had to smile, though, as they had handled it quite brilliantly. And they really did have the best of intentions. She couldn’t be too angry with them under those circumstances. But she would definitely talk to them.

Colin had seemed pleased with his research samples. And he’d said many of the women had inquired about his services for future endeavors. She acknowledged the twinge of jealousy she felt when she considered Colin working for other women. But having other cases would be good for Colin. She certainly couldn’t keep him all to herself. She supposed she had enough money saved that she could keep him employed for a while, but she’d have to invent reasons to hire him. And after today, she’d never so much as tease about being dishonest with him.

She licked her lips. She could still taste his kiss. He had kissed her more intensely than he had the other times. And he’d touched her. She’d experienced sensations she hadn’t known her body could produce. It had been going somewhere, that feeling, leading to something, but he had stepped away before she could decipher its direction.

Then his talk about challenging women, as if he’d given the subject quite a bit of thought. He’d backed off, as he always did right before he said too much. Or what he presumed was too much. Never enough, from where she stood. It seemed as if he stopped talking precisely the moment before things became truly interesting.

He had amazing restraint on his feelings. She didn’t understand how he did it. In her experience you had a feeling, it came over you, you felt it, then it was over. She’d never been aware enough in the midst of everything to stop the emotion right in the middle and back away.

He did this. And she both envied and pitied him for it. On one hand, how marvelous it would be to have that much control, to be able to prevent hurt feelings. On the other hand, surely that prevented him from feeling with the depth that she’d always experienced.

Yet at the same time his actions hinted that he
hid as much passion behind his gruff exterior as she experienced. Would there be a way to get him to cease his restraint? Could she convince him to relax and allow the passion between them?

It was most contradictory that someone with that much passion should live his life under such restraint.

But knowing him the little that she did, she knew it was a conscious decision. Something about deep feelings scared him. It was why he kept everyone at arm’s length. Why he didn’t have friends. Why he kept stopping the embraces he shared with her.

She’d never known anyone to think so clearly about his feelings and make a decision as to whether or not it was prudent to act on those feelings. He was a remarkable man. As it turned out, Colin Brindley was becoming the most intriguing mystery she’d ever encountered.

Amelia didn’t bother knocking this time, she simply opened the door to her father’s bedchamber. He wasn’t standing at the window this time. Instead, he was sitting in his reading chair. Yet he was not reading. As far as she could tell, he wasn’t doing anything other than sitting.

“Papa, I must leave town for a few days.”

He looked up. “Where are you going?”

He was at least communicating. That was somewhat of an improvement. Although he honestly didn’t look any better. After she returned, she would have to make him leave this room. Take him riding in the park or to his club or something. Anything to bring him back to her.

“Brighton,” she said. “Inspector Brindley and I are traveling there to see an antiquities dealer who specializes in Egyptian antiquities.”

He frowned. “I’ve never heard of any such dealer.”

“Nor have I,” she said. “But we are going to go and investigate, speak with him, and see if he can’t offer us any assistance in locating Nefertiti.”

“Will you be safe?” he asked.

“Of course. The inspector will take good care of me.”

“My brain has always governed my heart.”

The Adventure of the Lion’s Mane

C
olin smacked his head on the closed door. What had he been thinking? He made his way up to his office and gathered Othello before climbing to his bedchamber.

Even to get that close to her—he should never have allowed himself to touch her again. She was too much of a temptation. In fact, she was quickly becoming the greatest temptation he’d ever encountered.

But ah, how she felt in his arms. The sensations were almost worth the risk. Almost worth the po
tential disaster. But in actuality, they weren’t worth it. Nothing was.

Colin retrieved his travel trunk and set it out. He simply needed to be much more careful. Especially on their pending trip. They would be traveling alone together, which would present a myriad of tempting opportunities. He neatly folded his trousers and two shirts and placed them in the trunk. He needed to keep his urges locked tight within him, for himself and for her. He needed to keep her reputation intact.

Amelia completely disregarded it, he recognized that. She’d already convinced herself she was unmarriageable, which wasn’t at all the case. As much as he didn’t want to entertain the thought of her in the arms of another man, she deserved that life, and he ought not stand in the way of it.

He packed an extra coat and his umbrella in case it was cold and damp on the coast. So he would have to preserve her reputation for the both of them. Else he’d ruin her and be forced to the honorable thing and marry her himself. And that marriage would make them both miserable.

Colin pulled out some paper and wrote explicit instructions on Othello’s care. Amelia had asked her friend Willow to care for the animal in his ab
sence. She’d assured him that Willow was quite responsible.

He set the note and the food items on the sideboard, then went back to finalize his packing. Thus far he had lapsed in keeping his primal needs under control. Knowing his weakness for her, he knew that were they to marry he’d have to bury that part of him forever, else face the inevitable. Doing so would save him from a terrible fate, but would punish her, and that was simply unfair. She deserved better.

No one with as much light and life in her could stand to be around someone such as himself for very long. Someone who couldn’t allow himself the freedom to be impulsive and reckless. She burned too brightly, and too many people loved that about her. And he refused to be the one to extinguish her light.

She would come to hate him for it too, and he couldn’t bear that. He couldn’t bear to see anything in her eyes but love for life. He would do everything he could to protect her.

He added his notebook, an extra hat, and the journals Amelia had given him, then latched the trunk closed. So they would be traveling to Brighton as brother and sister and that was precisely how he would treat her. While he’d never
had a sister, he was certain that brothers, aside from assisting them out of carriages and such, never touched their sisters. He would do the same.

But damnation, it would be hard.

Amelia leaned her head against the closed door. They were to leave on their trip to Brighton in the morning, and she was nothing but excitement and nerves. Time spent with Colin was becoming increasingly risky for her. Especially for her heart. She was in danger of losing it completely.

She walked into her dressing room and, after a while looking, located her travel trunk. It had certainly been a while since she’d used it. Her parents had gone on an exciting adventure to Africa, and she had stayed in the country with Willow’s family. She must have only been eleven at the time.

She pulled the trunk into her bedchamber, blew off the dust collected on the top, and yanked it open. It creaked in protest. She peeked inside and, much to her relief, found no creatures (dead or alive) within. Presumably, knowing she was about to lose her heart should terrify her, yet she felt no fear at all. She tossed several dresses on the bed, then went about collecting coordinating ribbons, slippers, hats, and gloves.

Even knowing that Colin would inevitably
break her heart didn’t give her pause. She acknowledged the truth of the situation—the fact that he would never return her affection—and she decided she would settle for what he could offer her.

Passion.

Colin wanted her. That much she knew. She could see it in the way he looked at her. Feel it in the way he touched her. But he would never seduce her; he was too much of a gentleman for that.

If she couldn’t have his heart, then she at least wanted a passionate affair. It was inevitable that she would get hurt. That would happen with or without the affair. So there was no sense in pretending she could protect her heart. Why not have what she could of him and then enjoy the memories for the rest of her life?

He would try to protest. She knew that about him. He’d want her to be safe. Want her not to get hurt. But she would survive. No one ever died from a broken heart.

The trick now was to figure out how to convince him to have this passionate affair.

She gathered her clothes and assorted other things and dumped them into the trunk. It took some extra coercion to close, namely her bottom
sitting on the lid, but she got it shut. She exhaled loudly.

She could simply seduce him. Although she wasn’t quite certain she knew how to go about seducing a man. While there were probably books on the matter, she would not know where to look to find such a thing. And she certainly couldn’t ask Willow, despite the fact that Willow had probably read at least one book on every subject.

So seduction was an option, but probably not her best choice. She could try to reason with him. Build her case and present him the facts. This tactic might work the best. Especially if she proved to him that she was going into this with her eyes open, with full knowledge of the consequences.

She couldn’t, however, reveal to him that she cared for him, indeed was falling in love with him, else he would refuse her. He must believe her heart was completely safe. So she would have to present it as nothing more than an affair between two people who desired one another.

And that was not being dishonest. Not really. She wasn’t completely positive about her feelings for him. Surely he would support such a plan. And when better to present it than on their trip? They’d be alone. They’d be in a place where no one knew
them, so her reputation would be safe, since she knew he’d worry about that.

She smiled simply thinking about him. He was such a gentleman. Oh, he pretended to be difficult and stoic, but she knew he had a heart. A good one too. He was merely afraid, for some reason, to use it.

But a passionate affair might do him some good as well. The man needed a little freedom in his life. Something that allowed him not to think for once, instead to experience and enjoy, simply for the sake of it.

It was the perfect time for them to leave London without much fear of seeing people she knew on the train. There was a huge ball at Duke Covington’s estate and everyone who was anyone would attend. And chances were, she would not be missed. Regardless, she’d rather work on the case with Colin.

Even knowing all of that, Colin was prepared. He’d said he’d had a plan to explain their travel so that her reputation would not be jeopardized. They were to masquerade as a married couple. Perhaps on their honeymoon, to provide some additional interest. Then they could be as passionate with one another as they liked, and people would understand. Within reason, of course. But no one
would question them if he merely held her hand or brushed hair from her face.

It might not be a completely perfect plan, but with the proper words, she might be able to pull it off.