Stroke of Midnight (11 page)

Laura had had no opportunity to question Alex, not even the one time when he’d come to check on his aunt. Perhaps it was just as well, she thought. As keenly as she wanted answers from him, there had been too many listening ears in the packed ballroom.

She had last glimpsed him leading Lady Evelyn toward the dance floor. The sight had fortified Laura’s decision to depart without informing him. Their conversation could wait until the next time he visited his aunt.

With her assistance, Lady Josephine settled her large bulk in the barouchet as the coachman on his high seat held the pair of horses. The old woman heaved a sigh of weary contentment. “I seem to recall that someone else came with us. Who could it be, do you suppose?”

“No one of consequence, my lady.” Laura placed her foot on the iron step and clutched her hem so she wouldn’t trip while climbing into the open carriage with its half hood. “It’ll be quite cozy with just the two of us—oh!”

A pair of male hands caught her waist from behind. Her heart leaped in recognition as the masculine scent of dark spice invaded the cool night air. “So, Cinderella is fleeing the ball,” Alex murmured into her ear, his warm breath stirring the nape of her neck.

Laura steeled herself against a delicious shiver. “Lady Josephine is fatigued and wished to retire.”

“Then by all means, let us depart.”

His grasp firm, he gave her a boost into the barouchet. Much to her dismay, a flush of attraction suffused every inch of her body. It had to be a remnant of youthful folly when she had been susceptible to his charm—because a man of his fickle nature certainly didn’t appeal to her now that she was older and wiser.

Hastily drawing away, she sat down beside Lady Josephine. The interior was tight, and Alex’s knees bumped hers as he took the fold-down seat that faced the two women.

Lady Josephine peered through the darkness at him. A smile bloomed on her round face. “Alexander! Oh, I remember now.
You
escorted us here!”

“Yes, although Miss Brown apparently forgot that fact when she called for the carriage.”

His lighthearted mockery irked Laura. “You appeared to be enjoying the dancing,” she said as the barouchet began its gently rocking ride over the cobblestone street. “I assumed you’d have your pick of ladies willing to take you home.”

“How gratifying that you would notice. Were you watching me all evening and wishing
you
were on the dance floor with me?”

“You flatter yourself. I can think of nothing that would interest me less.”

Lady Josephine glanced quizzically from one to the other as if she sensed the undercurrents but was too exhausted to decipher their meaning. Smothering a yawn, she said, “Did you not dance at all, Laura? I’m sure Alexander would have been happy to squire you.”

“Indeed so,” he agreed. “The ballroom would have been abuzz with speculation over the identity of the mysterious creature in my arms. If we’d played matters right and piqued everyone’s interest, we could have made dowdiness all the rage. By next week, I vow all the young ladies would be in spectacles and prudish gowns!”

The picture he painted was so ridiculous that the knot of resentment inside her loosened. “How absurd,” Laura said, subduing the tickle of a smile by glancing out at the passing scene of darkened row houses. “Not even
you
could accomplish such a feat.”

“Mind what you say. I’ve been known to accept a dare on far less provocation than that.”

“No doubt you have. Idle wagers are the province of jaded gentlemen with too much time on their hands.”

“I do find challenges irresistible—especially when they involve a beautiful woman.” He leaned forward, his smile glinting through the darkness. “I recall once, a long time ago, a young lady offered me a kiss if only I’d stand up on the back of a horse and ride around the stable yard like a circus performer.”

Despite the nip of the evening air, Laura felt a sting of warmth in her cheeks. His voice had a caressing intimacy that she feared would betray their past relationship to his aunt. But when she looked over, Lady Josephine’s chin had fallen to her massive bosom and her eyes were closed. Lulled by the swaying of the vehicle and the lateness of the hour, the old woman had dozed off.

Laura’s gaze returned to Alex. So he hadn’t forgotten that incident. At the time, she’d never expected him to actually remove his shoes, leap onto an unsaddled horse, and rise to a standing position. Nor had she been prepared when a dog had run out to startle the horse.

Conscious now of the coachman sitting on his high perch just behind the earl, she used an oblique jab. “Did you tumble to the ground, my lord? That would have been your just deserts.”

“Oh, I had my dessert, all right. When I collected the kiss that was owed to me.”

Laura vividly recalled that kiss—her first kiss. She remembered how she’d rushed to him, fearing he was hurt, how he had pulled her down on top of him and held her to the hard muscles of his body. And she remembered how his lips had grazed hers, softly at first and then with increasing fervor …

An echo of desire ached in her innermost depths. She willed it away at once. Alex had always been a master at turning every phrase, every comment into an enticing innuendo. Such banter may have fooled her as a naive girl, but no longer. Now she knew it was merely a mask designed to hide his unprincipled character.

“I can only imagine all your exploits,” Laura said coolly. “They must number in the hundreds. But I suppose a titled gentleman can get away with virtually anything. Especially when he counts the Duchess of Knowles as his godmother.”

She knew her jab had hit home because he offered no quick rejoinder. The clopping of the horses’ hooves and the jingling of the harness filled the night air. With his back to the headlamps, his face lay in shadow. But Laura sensed the force of his stare boring into her.

He rose abruptly from his seat and thrust himself in between her and the wall of the carriage. He attempted to sit down, though there was no room for him.

Laura put her hands to his chest to stop him. It was as effective as pushing against a brick wall. Her heart fluttered with alarm and something else, something she didn’t care to examine.

“Stop!” she hissed. “Go away—”

He pressed his finger to her lips and nodded toward the stout coachman whose back was to them. Although the man was preoccupied with guiding the horses down the gloomy streets of Mayfair, he might overhear snatches of their conversation in the open carriage if they weren’t careful.

“Slide over,” Alex said, his voice a mere breath of sound. “Please, Laura. It’s the only way for us to talk freely.”

Her choice was either to obey him or to raise a fuss that could prove embarrassing. After a moment’s indecision, she shifted herself as close as possible to Lady Josephine, who snored softly in slumber.

Laura envied that oblivion. Yet she did have a few choice words she wanted to say to him. Perhaps now was as good a time as any.

Alex angled himself sideways to fit into the cramped space while resting one arm along the back of the seat. Laura could scarcely catch her breath with him so close. His nearness made the carriage seem even smaller, and their proximity felt scandalously like an embrace. To make matters worse, the jolting motion of the vehicle caused them to keep bumping against each other no matter how far she tried to pull back.

Bending his head, he murmured in her ear, “You were eavesdropping in the ladies’ retiring room.”

She bristled at the accusation in his tone—as if
she
were the one at fault. “Yes,” she whispered, tilting up her chin to look at him through the clear spectacles. “You can imagine my surprise at finding out the connection. You never told me of it. I deserve to know why.”

“I didn’t deem it important.”

“
Not important?
” Laura struggled to keep her voice low. “Your
godmother
was the victim of a famous robbery. People talked about the crime for
weeks.
”

He glanced away for a moment before returning his gaze to her. “My relationship to her was common knowledge. Perhaps it never occurred to me that you were unaware of it.”

“
Perhaps?
” She pounced on the word. It gave her the distinct impression that he was being evasive. At least now she understood why he’d recognized the earrings that had been planted in her father’s desk. He’d seen his godmother wearing them. “Pray forgive me for being skeptical, my lord. There has to be another reason why you never mentioned it. Maybe I was right to suggest that
you
set up my father.”

He gave a sharp shake of his head. “Nonsense.”

“Is it? As her godson, you had access to the duchess’s home and to her jewels. If you’d had Papa arrested, I’d have been ruined by association and left without protection. Then you could have taken advantage of me.”

She didn’t really believe that theory—she was too certain the thief had been Lord Haversham in collusion with his daughter, Lady Evelyn. Yet Laura sensed there was something Alex wasn’t telling her. Some key piece of the puzzle that she was missing. And she hoped to goad him into revealing it.

The glow of a streetlamp cast the angles of his face into sharp relief. The scar slanting down one cheek gave him an aura of danger as he brought his face closer to hers. “You desire the truth, then?”

His warm breath tickled her cheek. The length of his leg lay against hers, and the hard wall of his chest pressed into her arm. The contact made it difficult for her to stay focused on the conversation. “Yes, tell me.”

“As you wish.” His fingertip followed the curve of her lower lip, igniting sparks of pleasure in its wake. In a husky murmur, he said, “Everyone else may have been talking about the robbery. But all
I
could think about was you, Laura. Only you. Nothing else mattered to me.”

On that wildly romantic declaration, his mouth sought hers. Laura was too stunned to form a coherent thought. He cupped her neck with one hand, his thumb caressing her jaw as he attempted to coax her reluctant mouth into surrender. A beguiling desire lapped at her resistance and her lips softened ever so slightly. Sweet heaven, she had forgotten how tempting Alex could be, how very much she’d always craved his kisses …

No.
He was a deceitful scoundrel. He had destroyed her father’s life—and hers.

Averting her face, Laura thrust her hands against his chest. “Stop!” she hissed. “Don’t try to cozen me. I’m no longer a naive girl straight out of the schoolroom.”

“Quite so.” His thumb stroked a mesmerizing pattern on the side of her neck. “You’re a woman now—a very beautiful woman.”

Her heart quivered. How, in the face of all she knew about him, could she still be susceptible to his flattery?

She gave voice to her grievances against him. “You said that
I
was all that mattered to you back then. Yet you didn’t listen when I begged you not to take my father away. You didn’t care if you hurt me. And you refused to trust me when I vouched for Papa’s character.”

Alex’s fingers stilled on her shoulder. In the faint light, he appeared troubled, his lips thinned. “My purpose was never to hurt you, Laura. If you believe nothing else, believe that.”

The strangest thing was, she
did
believe him—to a degree. He hadn’t set out purposefully to ruin her life. She had been nothing more than an idle flirtation to him. And the game had ended abruptly when he’d found those stolen earrings in her father’s desk.

The carriage jolted over a bump. The vehicle had turned a corner, and the coachman was steering the horses toward the curbstone in front of Lady Josephine’s town house.

The sight acted as a dash of ice water. Laura pushed Alex away, but he needed no prodding. In a blink he’d slipped across the barouchet to resume his own seat as she scooted back over to her side.

Just in time, for Lady Josephine awakened, blinking and yawning. “Where are we?” she asked in befuddlement.

“You’re home again,” Alex said smoothly as if he hadn’t been locked in a scandalous embrace only a moment ago. “How wise of you to have dozed away such a dreary drive. Not so Miss Brown, who was forced to suffer my vexing company.”

Laura frowned through the darkness at him. How confident he was, how secure in his lordly superiority. He didn’t care that anyone could have witnessed their intimate tête-à-tête. But she did. The half hood of the carriage had afforded them little privacy. Her only consolation was the lateness of the hour and emptiness of the streets.

Now Alex sat watching her, seeming entirely too pleased with himself. It was clear now, more than ever, that he wanted to seduce her. And Laura wondered if, in that brief moment of weakness when she’d kissed him back, she had foolishly given him cause to believe his mission might succeed.

Chapter 11

“Laura? Laura, can it really be you?”

Laura had been examining a length of sky-blue ribbon near the window of the milliner’s shop when the female voice yanked her attention to the door. A young matron had just walked in. Pleasantly plump, the woman had freckled skin and russet hair beneath a straw bonnet. She was also noticeably pregnant. Her gloved hands rested on the gentle swelling beneath the yellow sprigged gown and the leaf-green shawl.

But it was her face that made Laura’s breath catch. How well she knew those warm brown eyes and that sweet smile. Violet Angleton!

Her old friend approached with hesitant steps as if doubting her own judgment. Her brows were drawn together in a faint, questioning frown.

Laura stood rooted to the spot. Should she pretend to be a stranger? In the gold-rimmed spectacles, plain black bonnet, and dowdy dark gown, she no longer resembled the fashionable debutante of her youth. It was not yet too late to escape detection. How easy it would be to feign ignorance and slip out the door.

But she couldn’t abandon her mistress. At the other end of the shop, Lady Josephine was trying on an ostrich-feathered hat in front of a mirror with the assistance of the stout proprietor. Neither woman had noticed Laura’s dilemma.