Besides Alec, only two men had proposed to her in the last year. One of them had been so old and doddering that she had shuddered every time he’d kissed her hand. The thought of his shriveled, wrinkled body next to hers made her ill.
The other had been a wildly handsome but impoverished youth she had taken a fancy to and allowed to kiss her with far more passion than decorum allowed. His callow attributes had quickly palled, and she had been mortified that he had thought himself enough her equal to ask for her hand.
Nick turned the phaeton into the park. The light perfume of the flowers alleviated the dust and grime of the city. “Look about you, Therese. Name one man you would be satisfied with.” He chuckled, the sound low and rich. “I cannot see you lying beneath a wealthy cit as he sweats on your delicate skin.”
Other than Nick, Therese could no longer see herself gracing the bed of any man. “Since you and I will be wed within the year, it is not a matter for concern.”
“There is more to be concerned about than you know.” No emotion touched his voice, yet she was aware of an undercurrent of tension in both his face and tone. “If we do not do something, and quickly, there will be no fortune. And if there is no fortune, there will be no Countess Bridgeton.” The blue of his gaze sparkled dangerously.
“At least, not for you.”
Her throat constricted painfully. Nick would have no compunction about abandoning her. “What do you want me to do?”
“I must see Julia alone. Find out if there is anywhere she travels without Alec.” Nick’s handsome mouth straightened. “My cousin has become very wary. If you haven’t noticed, he shadows Julia like a dog guarding a particularly juicy bone.”
She had noticed and it had piqued her ire. It was humiliating to stand by while her old suitor paid court to another woman, even though Alec had never been more than a reluctant admirer, at best. A sudden improbable thought made her turn to Nick. “Do you think Alec actually cares for Julia?”
Nick urged the horses into a trot. “No.”
“You don’t know him as I do. Only the greatest devotion would send him dancing attendance on any woman.”
“Poor Therese.
He was never attentive to you, even after he knew the contents of Grandfather’s will.” Nick grinned. “Feeling slighted?”
She smiled tightly. “Alec is a bore. I’m glad he had found such a worthy mate in Julia. No one deserves her more.”
“You desired him more than you admit.”
“Perhaps I did.” She lifted her eyes to his.
“Until you came along.”
Nick turned away, flicking the tip of the whip to the leader’s ear and then catching it neatly in his gloved hand. “You know, it is one of the few pleasures I have, stealing what once belonged to my cousin. That was one of the things that drew me to you.”
She placed a gloved hand on his arm, but he ignored her. “Alec is not in love,” he said dismissively. ‘The fool merely seeks to protect his interests
.“
The rebuff was plain. Therese removed her hand and stared at the passing scenery. “Alec may not be in love with Julia, but it is not so the other way around. She has always had a partiality for him, even before they wed.”
The horses lurched. Nick cursed and spent the next few minutes controlling the spirited bays. When they finally settled back into their rolling pace, he said in a low voice, “It does not matter. We must find a way to ruin them.”
“We still have ten months left. Surely in that time Julia will do something to—”
His gaze stopped the words in her throat. “I’m up to my neck with the cent-percents. If we don’t do something soon, I will be forced to flee the country.”
“You are not so done in as that.”
He stared straight ahead.
“But… the estates, surely they are worth something.”
His mouth twisted into a bitter grimace. “Not to me. The whole property is so entangled with provisions, I can barely touch it. I, the earl of Bridgeton, receive a paltry allowance like a schoolboy, while Alec—” He broke off abruptly. They turned from the park and back onto the cobblestone streets. In a calmer tone, Nick said, “All that will change once I get my hands on the fortune.”
“I will take great delight in seeing Alec without a feather to fly with.” He had made her a laughingstock more than once, first with his elopement, and then flaunting her own cousin in the face of the
ton
as if Julia were actually someone. Therese had seen the amused glances and heard the titters as she walked by. The whispered comments burned like a festering sore.
Nick slowed the horses to a walk. “In the meantime, I have to get near Julia.” He scowled, his brow creased. “I
must
see her.”
Therese regarded his profile with a sense of growing unease. There was something different about Nick today. He looked unaccountably anxious, as if the idea of not seeing Julia actually caused him physical discomfort.
The thought caught Therese and held her. “You want her,” she said wonderingly.
His mouth curved in a slow, sensual smile. “Your cousin is a challenge. I would enjoy conquering her.”
Therese’s mouth dropped open. She could not mistake the admiration in Nick’s voice.
“My God.”
He did not pretend to misunderstand her. “Julia is the most intriguing woman I’ve ever met.”
“She’s a prude!”
“No,” he said harshly, the lines about his mouth white. After a moment, he continued in a milder tone, ‘There is passion there, a great deal of passion. Yet 1 would vow she is untouched
.“
“Untouched?
With Alec for her husband?”
Therese gave a harsh laugh. “Julia is well used by now.”
His anger suddenly blazed like a blue flame, and she drew back.
“Sometimes, Therese, you manage to disgust even me. My cousin has not touched her. You have but to look at her to know it.”
A crushing weight forced the air from her chest. “You
care
for that little nobody.”
Nick regarded her with a closed expression. “I admire her. It is a different thing altogether.”
“Not different enough. 1
know
you, Nick. You want that little bitch, no matter what lofty tone you wish to use!”
He guided the horses between two approaching carriages.
“Well?” she demanded as the silence lengthened.
His amused glance eased her suspicions somewhat. “Rest assured
,
my interests lie more with the fiscal than the physical. And frankly, my dear, I do not care who or what gets in my way.”
She regarded him narrowly. “Not even Julia?”
His beautiful mouth curved into a smile. “Not even Julia.”
Therese adjusted the blue ribbon beneath her chin, not entirely satisfied but calmed. “I want that little baggage so discredited that no one will ever say her name again.”
“Then discover when I may find her alone.”
“What do you intend to do?” she asked suspiciously. “I won’t stand—”
“Listen, you silly little chit,” he hissed. “If I am forced to flee to the Continent, you will be left here to breed with whatever country squire will have you.”
Therese sat silent at the thought. She couldn’t allow that to happen.
Nick pulled the horses to a halt in front of Covington House. He tossed the reins to the waiting groom and jumped down.
As he assisted her from the carriage, Therese clung to his arms. Sun filtered through the trees above to light his hair to glistening gold. Framed by the sweep of dark lashes, his eyes deepened to a mesmerizing blue. He removed his glove and tilted up her chin with a careless finger. To anyone who might see them, he appeared to be paying her a compliment.
“Don’t try my patience. I am not a man who takes failure well. I would hate to break that pretty neck of yours.”
This was the Nick she knew. Strangely reassured by the threat, she clasped her hand around his wrist and rubbed her moist lips across the rough edge of his fingers.
l
love you, Nick. Her breath caught in tier throat as she waited for his response.
He pulled his hand from her grasp. “Don’t waste yourself on me, my sweet. I’m not worth your love, or anyone else’s.”
Without a backward glance, he climbed into the phaeton and set off down the street.
Therese watched him disappear from sight, humiliation and disappointment vying for expression. But she gave in to neither. She didn’t know how she could love such a cold man, but she did. She would do as he asked, but her pride would not allow matters to continue as they were.
Aware of the interested eyes that might be staring through the curtains of the surrounding
houses,
Therese plastered a smile on her face and trailed her fingers through the fringe of her shawl. She needed a plan— one that would bring Alec to his knees.
One that would ruin Julia in such a way that no amount of trickery could save her.
One that would win Nick completely.
Down the street, Therese caught sight of Lord Bentham’s thin frame. There were ways of causing a scandal, and then there were ways. She smiled wider and bent, pretending a stone had slipped into her shoe, and waited.
Julia hurried to her waiting carriage, a leatherbound ledger tucked securely under her arm. Vicar Ashton’s genius lay more in delivering inspiration than in recording expenditures. While no lamb under his care went without his tender attentions, the books often collected dust as expenses went unrecorded.
Conscious of his failing, the vicar had asked Julia to put the blotted pages into some sort of order so all would be in place when they finally established a business with their new funds. Though not sure she could offer much assistance, Julia had agreed to attempt it. At least it gave her something more productive to do than wear silk gowns and make idle conversation, both of which were beginning to pall.
The Society had met twice in the last week and had finally consolidated their plans, though there were still many details to work out. Julia sighed, her shoulders drooping with fatigue. Their venture must
succeed,
whatever the cost. The women of Whitechapel were counting on them.
“There you are, Cousin.”
Nick stood before her, exquisitely dressed in fashionable buff trousers and a close-fitting blue coat. She wasn’t really surprised to see him. He’d tried several times to speak with her, but between Alec and Maddie, they’d managed to keep him at bay. They apparently thought him dangerous, but for the life of her, Julia could not figure out why. She knew exactly who and what he was. “What are you doing here?”
His mouth curved in amusement as his deep blue gaze slowly traveled over her. “You should always wear that shade of green, my dear. It becomes you admirably.”
Green might suit her, but a flirtatious Nick did not. “Thank you. It was nice seeing you, but I really must go.” She nodded pleasantly and tried to walk around him.
He moved into her path, forcing her to retreat a step. “You seem to be in a hurry. Tell me, where is my overly protective cousin?” He glanced up the street toward the carriage. “Ah, I see it is not Alec, but the estimable Johnston who
awaits
.”
Julia shifted the heavy ledger to a more comfortable position, misliking the way he looked at her as if she were one of Mrs. Winston’s pastries. “What do you want, Nick? I’ve a busy day today.”
“What makes you think I
want
anything?”
“Because it is highly unlikely you’d be in Whitechapel unless you wished to see me.” She frowned and realized that wasn’t entirely true. There was one other reason a man of Nick’s standing would visit this part of town. “You aren’t casting lures to the local lady-birds, are you?”
His eyes widened before he threw back his head and laughed.
“The devil, Cousin!
You are blunt to a fault. Actually, I came on an errand of mercy.”
Julia eyed him doubtfully.
A rueful smile curved his mouth.
“Nonplussed by a chit with spectacles.”
He placed a hand over his heart and sighed. “My reputation is ruined.”
Despite her mistrust, Julia chuckled. When Nick laughed with genuine amusement, he looked even more like Alec. “You may as well come clean and tell me what you want, Nick. It will save us both a lot of time.”
He opened his arms in a gesture of defeat. “I will admit all. I came looking for you, Julia.”
“Why not just come to Hunterston House? Mrs. Winston makes an excellent cream cake.”
“And visit you amongst your flocks of admirers? There’s not enough privacy for what I have in mind.” He regarded her with a lazy gleam as he removed his gloves. “Besides, Alec has made it abundantly clear he does not want me near you.”
The idea unexpectedly lifted her spirits. “Oh? Has he said so?”
“Yes,” Nick
said,
a sudden crease between his eyes. “Several times, in fact, and in such a way as to imply he meant me violence if I ignored him.” He slipped his gloves into his pocket. “Such husbandly devotion is rather unfashionable. He will make you a laughingstock if you do not contain him.”
“Alec doesn’t do anything to be fashionable. He’s worried I’ll make an error and then you’d inherit the fortune.”
“Would that be so bad?” He reached out and retied the bow beneath her chin, the blue of his eyes darkening to midnight. “You, my sweet, would not be left destitute, I would be a most generous donor to your beloved charity.”
“Would you give me half of the fortune?”
His hands stilled beneath her chin.
“Half?
That is a bit steep. What do you say to five thousand? That is more than generous.”
“Alec gave me half.”
An inscrutable expression crossed Nick’s face. “Did he, indeed? And just how did you manage to charm my hard-hearted cousin?” His gaze lingered with insolent intent on her breasts. “Or need I ask?”
Julia stepped away. “All you need to know is that I will do what I can to keep you from getting the fortune
.“
He chuckled. “You are a delight, Julia. Even the sordid truth sounds palatable tumbling from your mouth.” His gaze rested on her and he murmured, “Such a lovely mouth, too.”