Improper Pleasures (The Pleasure Series #1) (19 page)

***

James dashed down the winding staircase, anxious to be on
their way to the Bainbridges for dinner. He’d sent Wesley on an errand to
prevent him from riding in the carriage with him and Astra. They’d managed a
few more stolen moments and midnight couplings since the day in the study, but
every morsel left him wanting more. The gnawing hunger each rushed encounter
brought reminded him of his sparse meals as a prisoner of war at Old Mill in
Plymouth. The more ecstatic he was for the meager ration, the more he obsessed
over the next one, anticipating it every second.

James slid to an abrupt halt when he reached the grand
marble-tiled foyer. Astra was there, prompt as always, but she knelt in front
of the very thing James had purposely avoided.

“But Nurse’s daughter has visited the maze and she swore
she saw a fairy with lavender wings. I so want to see a fairy. I’ll stay
outside in the garden while you are having your dinner party. No one will know
I’m there. Please, Mama.”

Astra brushed a wisp of whitish-blond hair from her
daughter’s face. James could only see the girl in profile, but she reminded him
of one of the fairies she was so anxious to meet. “Lark, I will take you
another time. I promise.”

“No, it must be today, Mama. Today!” The child jumped up
and down in place to emphasize the urgency.

“Fairies only show themselves at night when the moon is
full,” James said as he marched down the stairs. He would have to meet Astra’s
daughter sometime. Though he and Lark had managed nicely to avoid crossing
paths up until now, his intention to take up more and more of Astra’s time
would force them to meet eventually. “We’ve a new moon tonight so you would be
more likely to run into a troll.”

Astra slowly got to her feet and James registered the same
dread on her face that no doubt showed on his when he’d stumbled upon them. “My
lord, I didn’t realize you were so well versed in fanciful tales from the
nursery.”

He stopped at an appropriate distance from mother and
daughter, much farther than he would if Astra were alone. “I keep track of the
tides. For sailing. The moon affects them. Habit, I guess.”

Lark openly studied him with the bluest eyes he’d ever
seen. Astra squeezed the child’s shoulder. “Curtsy to Lord Keane, Lark.”

“There’s no need for that.” James tried to smile at the
girl, but she remained on high alert. Surely his own guilty conscience was
imagining things.

Lark glanced at her mother briefly before she turned to
him and did as her mother asked. The child wore an adult-looking gown with a
full skirt and several bows fashioned down the bodice. James noted that one of
the bows had been torn and the yellow skirt held traces of grass stains. Lark’s
braided hair sprouted a twig with leaves still attached.

James dropped to one knee to look Lark in the eye. “I
suppose you are a professional fairy-hunter.”

“No. We don’t have any fairies here. Only spriggans. They
steal babies and make people sick until they die. But I want a fairy to come
live here instead so the spriggans will go away. Spriggans are afraid of
fairies.”

James studied Lark’s sincere gaze and tried to think of
something comforting to say. Her vibrant blue eyes shone against her golden
skin, a contrast to her mother’s pale features. She reminded him of his younger
sister as a child. And then it suddenly dawned on him that Lark might actually
be his blood relative. His first cousin’s fatherless child. He had done a fair
bit of thinking about it and although James had his suspicions about the timing
of Lark’s birth, it wasn’t fact. What was fact, though, was that this child had
more than enough family resemblance and looked like she could be his.

“Reverend Fitzgerald would frown if he heard you speak
like that,” Astra’s scolding of her daughter dislodged his unwelcome
realization. “He told you that you have nothing to fear from spriggans or any
other mythical creature.”

Her mother’s words did nothing to erase the troubled
furrow from Lark’s brow.

“I fear it will be dark by the time your mother and I
arrive at Rosemound, but I’ll ask Mr. Bainbridge if he’s seen any fairies in
his maze. Perhaps he’ll be kind enough to let us return on a dewy morning to
search this hedge maze you are so interested in.”

Lark’s eyes widened. “Tomorrow, then?”

“Let’s see…tomorrow?” James rubbed his chin. He’d not
thought this out well. Did he really want to traipse through damp grass with a
four-year-old first thing in the morning? “I fear I have an appointment
tomorrow.”

“Lord Keane is far too occupied, Lark. He must spend a
great deal of his time familiarizing himself with Eastlan.”

Lark assessed him again with a cynical look that James
must have misinterpreted, for her adult expression certainly didn’t fit a child
so young. “Maybe we can all find time to see the maze before the summer is
over,” James said in his defense.

“Will you make us move from Eastlan before then, Lord
Keane?” Lark tilted her head to the side as if she didn’t know what to make of
him.

“Of course not, why would you say such a thing?” James
stood and shook out a cramp in his thigh.

“Lark! That is rude. You are to show Lord Keane the utmost
respect. You may speak only when addressed. How many times have I told you
that.”

And the reason he’d yet to make little Lark’s acquaintance
became abundantly clear. Lark grabbed a handful of her mother’s skirt and
lowered her head. “Yes, Mama.” After a solemn pause, Lark glanced at James.
“I’ll be good, Lord Keane. You won’t need to send us away. I won’t say anything
to you if you don’t want.”

“Lark, where are you getting this nonsense?” Astra
demanded.

“Nurse said the new lord will send us away and so did
Uncle Wesley and so did you, Mama. I heard you.”

“I can settle this right now,” James interrupted. “I have
no intentions of sending anyone away. Not even Mr. Rudd, who just might be a
spriggan.”

Thankfully, Lark giggled. James dropped again to one knee
and held out his hand to Lark. “And we will see about getting a resident fairy.
What do you think?”

Lark stared at him a moment, glanced to her mother, then
tentatively took his hand. “Don’t worry. Mr. Rudd isn’t a spriggan. They are
smaller and have bigger heads.”

“Well that clears that up.” James stood. “We should be on
our way.”

“I will meet you outside, Lord Keane. I’d like to say
goodnight to Lark since we won’t return until after her bedtime.” Astra had
both hands on her daughter’s shoulders, forcing her protectively into the folds
of her skirt. James couldn’t help but notice that he was the thing she seemed
to be protecting her daughter from.

“Of course.” He winked and bowed to Lark then strolled
through the double-doors that always seemed to magically open at his approach.
With James’s appearance on the stone landing, three footmen jerked to
attention. Mr. Rudd strolled from behind a mahogany carriage emblazoned with
gold cherubs, an oversized crest and quite a few decorative letter K’s. James
vacillated between gaping at the polished mahogany carriage with all its
frills, and a musket-toting Mr. Rudd in a white wig and gold trimmed livery.

“I believe I said I didn’t want an entourage.”

“Got rid of two of the groomsmen that were wet behind the
ears. There’s usually six of ‘em.” Since Mr. Rudd had exchanged his position as
valet for James’s personal guard, his eyes had brightened and his complexion
had cleared. “I’ll be riding atop with the driver and Gordon over here will be
in back. He’s an excellent shot.” The groom in question bowed and opened his
coat to reveal two revolvers strapped to his hips.

“Thank you, Gordon, but keep those out of sight of Lady
Keane,” said James. He supposed one should be armed in the event of highway
robbers, but he knew that wasn’t the reason Rudd was treating their relatively
short journey like a military campaign.

James had happily let Rudd continue in his delusion that
James was under personal siege because he’d found it kept the man too busy to fastidiously
groom him. And perhaps just a small inkling of doubt had crept into his mind
that the clogged chimney had been something more sinister. James suddenly
thought of the open suspicion from Lark. Who else assumed he was an enemy? Or
could it be that his unsavory relationship with her mother had finally roused
James’s rusty sense of morality?

“So, do you have any leads on who might be our culprit?” James
said to Mr. Rudd. Only Rudd and Lark seemed to say what was on their mind
around here.

“I’m not letting anyone off the hook just yet.” Mr. Rudd
adjusted a rough leather satchel slung round his neck that ruined his satin
livery.

“Apparently Lark’s nanny was telling anyone who would
listen that I was going to send the family packing.” James had almost convinced
himself that hadn’t been his initial intention along with selling the entire
estate. Learning enough about English law had put a swift stop to that, though
he hoped his better judgment would have prevailed even if that hadn’t been the
case.

Mr. Rudd gave a dismissive shake of his head. “That’s old
information and besides, such things happen all the time. New lord comes in
with his family and their own staff. ‘Course, murdering the lord happens all
the time, too. But you being an American, well, that broadens our field
considerably. Who knows who’s still holding a grudge from the war?”

The heavy front doors had opened again while Mr. Rudd had
been speaking and one of the groomsman sprinted past James to guide Astra down
the steps. James glanced at Astra’s troubled features then back at Mr. Rudd who
sounded all too gleeful about listing James’s enemies. “I’m still not convinced
that the fire was anything but an accident so please don’t attack any random
travelers we pass on the road,” James said.

Mr. Rudd gave James a short salute. “I have an eye for
these things, Lord Keane. You’ll see.”

James intercepted the groomsman to help Astra into the
carriage. She wore a modestly cut gown of lilac and white stripes. Her hair had
been piled on her head and decorated with matching ribbons. With her pale,
almost translucent skin and slight frame she could have passed for one of
Lark’s fairies. Queen of the fairies—serene, self-contained.
Smoldering.

“I think we should tell Lark we have found our resident
fairy.” James climbed in behind Astra and sat on the opposite side of the
carriage for now. Later, he hoped that would change. “You look lovely.”

“James, please understand, when it comes to Lark there is
no We.” Her curt words proved he’d selected his seat wisely. “And don’t
encourage her with her fairies and spriggans and such. Cornwall is very
superstitious country and Lowell loved to recount the legends to Lark. I could
not discourage him or her for believing, but now…” She sighed and James knew he
was in trouble. “Now, fairy tales seem slightly dangerous. For all of us.”

James resisted the urge to defend himself. She’d set the
parameters of their relationship, not him. Of course those boundaries consisted
of a purely sexual nature and suited him perfectly. Still, he didn’t intend any
harm by being kind to a child. Besides, he had a fondness for fanciful tales.
Always had.

“I’m not an ogre, Astra. I am a stranger here and perhaps
I don’t know your customs, but where I’m from, well, we let children be
children.”

“And that is the problem, James. You made it clear that
you are eager to return home. In fact, it seems you remain ready to sail out on
the next tide.”

“That’s not fair,” he said, though that was indeed his
original argument in persuading her not to take legal action against him. “I
have agreed to stay until summer. Late summer,” he amended.

“Lark has already had too many losses.” Astra clasped her
gloved hands in her lap and stared at them instead of meeting his gaze. “I
don’t want her to suffer another in the event she becomes too attached to you.”

James guessed she wasn’t just speaking of Lark. He leaned
back against the cushioned seat, feeling thoroughly defeated.

“I only wanted to make your daughter smile.” James
shrugged. What else could he say? All and all, his relationship with Astra was
indefensible. As was the fact that he had no intention of giving it up. The
least he could do was keep her daughter free of harm.

His pathetic explanation somehow seemed to crumble Astra’s
defenses. She reached across the carriage and took his hand. “And you did make
her smile. Just don’t make her promises you won’t be able to keep. Eventually,
we will need to leave Eastlan.”

He opened his mouth to argue, but she squeezed his hand
and continued. “I know that is not your intention, but some day you will wish
to marry. You say you don’t want children now, and I understand that. However,
I saw how you were with Lark. You will make a wonderful father one day. You are
a kind man, James, and I wish you all the world has to offer.”

“Astra, you’re planning a future for me I’m not sure I
want.”

She smiled, but the sadness in her eyes was worse than if
she had continued to frown. “Perhaps. None of us knows what the future holds
and Lark is impressionable. I would rather you two not create a bond that must
eventually be broken. You are not to be a part of Lark’s life, we have agreed
on that, have we not?”

James nodded. What could he say? Illicit sex in the
carriage was not only out of the question, but a late night rendezvous was
looking doubtful as well. “I did promise to take her to the Bainbridges’s
garden someday. I don’t break my word.”

“I will ask Mr. Bainbridge if I can bring Lark. Her nanny
has an eleven-year-old daughter whom Lark worships. I shall bring her along and
Lark will hardly notice your absence.”

“I’m sorry. I didn’t intend to upset you.” James was
surprised how disappointed he was. Now that he’d been banished from the outing,
chasing fairies in a garden maze with a true believer sounded entertaining.