To Desire a Wicked Duke (18 page)

Fanny and Basil had been childhood friends, too, but they’d been at loggerheads over her shocking decision to enter the flesh trade at sixteen. His disapproval, Tess suspected, in addition to his fierce anger, disappointment, and outright jealousy, stemmed from the probability that even back then, he was head over ears in love with Fanny.

Basil certainly seemed eager to see her again. Indeed, the desire and longing in his eyes was unmistakable.

When Fanny gazed at Basil in return, the tender look they shared only confirmed Tess’s conviction that they both wanted a future together.

She had watched the change in Basil over the course of the past summer. He’d dressed in homely attire until Fanny’s elderly courtesan friends had taken him in hand, intent on turning him into a fashionable gentleman. Under their direction, Basil had begun to look the part of a nobleman’s secretary. Just now he wore a tailored brown frock coat and pantaloons and
shiny Hessian boots, and he carried himself with manly confidence, as if he were worthy of a beautiful Cyprian like Fanny.

While they greeted each other, Tess drew Rotham aside and spoke in a low voice. “Thank you for bringing Basil here. I gather he is now in your employ?”

“Yes, as my newest secretary. Did you doubt my success?”

“Not in the least.” She would never doubt Rotham’s ability to gain anything he truly wanted. “What reason did you give for requiring him to accompany you to Cornwall?”

“Just that it was difficult for you to wed me so suddenly and that you wanted your friends around you.”

That much was true, Tess thought wryly. “I presume Basil will have specific duties as your secretary?”

Rotham nodded. “To start with, he will take charge of my library at Bellacourt. I told him that the collection here at Falwell needs cataloging to determine if there are any rare editions I want to bring home with me.”

“And does it need cataloging?”

“Not to my knowledge, but it won’t hurt. However, the library here is not extensive, so it should take no more than a week for Eddowes to complete his work. After that I will run out of excuses. You should tell your friends to hurry and fall in love before my patience runs out.”

Suspecting that Rotham was deliberately provoking her, Tess returned an unwitting smile. “I realize you have an aversion to lovers, but this is for a good cause.”

“You say that about all your causes, sweeting.”

“Yes, but this one is particularly important to me.”

“Then by all means, I will endeavor to enforce your will. It would pain me greatly to disappoint you.”

She refrained from retorting to his light mockery. Rotham was helping her with her friends’ problems, even against his inclination, and she was very grateful.

Tess glanced over her shoulder at the lovers. Fanny looked like a blushing schoolgirl as she contemplated the object of her affection. It was amazing to see her so nervous and uncertain around any man.

“Fanny is anxious for Basil’s visit to go well,” she observed quietly to Rotham, “and so am I. You do know that you cannot monopolize all of his time? He must have the chance to conduct a courtship … and yet we shouldn’t leave them alone together too often, either. I don’t want the arrangements to seem too contrived.”

Rotham’s gray eyes showed a flash of amusement. “I imagine he already suspects a conspiracy.”

Tess started to reply, but forgot what she meant to say as she got caught up in Rotham’s eyes. Eventually she dragged her gaze away, but only to the rest of his face.

His hair still wanted cutting, she thought absently. She found herself longing to smooth an unruly lock back from his forehead.

Then her gaze dropped to his mouth. She remembered that sensual mouth making love to her body only a few nights ago. A vision filled her mind of his nakedness, of his smooth, hard muscles and sleek, warm skin—

Abruptly, Tess shook herself and forced herself to respond. “You didn’t need to accompany Basil here, you know. You could have allowed him to come on his own.”

“Perhaps, but hiring him served to explain our separation after your sudden departure from Bellacourt.”

“What excuse did you give for my absence?”

“I claimed that we were taking a wedding journey to Falwell, but that I sent you on ahead while I completed some necessary business in London. I had no desire to give the impression that you had left me after one night of marriage.”

“Of course not. We would not want your outsized male pride to suffer.”

Rotham responded with a short laugh, but countered her. “I am more concerned about your reputation than my pride, darling. I don’t want to give the gossips any more fodder to chew on.”

Tess sighed audibly. “I suppose we still must keep up appearances, even if we would both prefer to remain apart.”

To her surprise, Rotham hesitated. Tess had the oddest feeling that he meant to deny his desire to remain apart from her. But he changed the subject instead.

“Did you find the ghosts you were seeking?”

“In a manner of speaking.”

She told him about the strange clanking sounds they’d heard recently and of their futile efforts to search the castle. “We found no leads, but I am determined to solve the mystery.”

Rotham sent her a narrow look. “That is another
reason I came to Cornwall. I wanted to be here if you deliberately went seeking trouble.”

Tess refused to be intimidated by him. “I told you, I do not require your protection.”

“Nonetheless, I am better able to handle danger than you are.”

She lifted her chin and stared back at him challengingly. “Is that so?”

“Certainly. I will take a turn in searching the castle tomorrow.”

“Do you think you can do any better than Fanny and I did?”

“I’ll warrant I can. I haven’t visited Falwell much, so I don’t know it well, but as you said, there must be a rational explanation.”

Once more Tess failed to reply as she became conscious of a damning thought: She had greatly missed sparring with Rotham.

In truth, these past few days she had merely been passing time at the castle until he arrived. It was as if all her senses had been slumbering, waiting for the heady rush of awareness that made her feel so vividly alive.

And now that he was here, exhilaration was charging through her like an electrical current—just as if she had never learned of the painful likelihood that Rotham might have a son she had never known about.

Her silence went on for too long. Finally Tess cleared her throat. “We can discuss our differences later, your grace. For now I think we should join our guests.”

She turned away toward her friends, seeking safety in numbers. But as she felt Rotham’s presence behind her, Tess shivered once again, wondering how she would manage to endure the next week or more with her husband in residence. As enormous as Falwell Castle was, it still would not be large enough for the both of them.

Ian raised no objection to the living arrangements when Tess insisted on sleeping in her own bedchamber rather than share the master’s apartments with him. So far from London, it hardly mattered if anyone knew their marriage was not a love match. Moreover, Ian wanted to avoid the maddening frustration of having his alluring wife in his bed without being able to touch her.

Thus, on his first night at the castle when he escorted Tess to her rooms, he merely bowed politely and murmured a brief good night.

The obvious relief in her dark eyes irked him. He’d thought Tess would change her mind about carnal relations once she understood the pleasure he could give her, yet she clearly had no desire for a real marriage between them. He would not insist on a consummation, though.

Despite his pledge, Ian found it hard to leave Tess there and make his way to his own suite in another wing entirely. It was even harder to purge the memory
of her silken skin as he attempted to fall asleep alone in his bed.

He was not enamored of her other than natural male lust, Ian promised himself, but that alone was dangerous. Lust was a powerful force; it weakened a man’s willpower and clouded the mind.

So did the contradictory feelings Tess aroused in him. He’d felt an unanticipated gladness upon seeing her again after only a few days of separation.

He could have remained in London, of course, but he’d thought it best to join her in Cornwall, rationalizing that with Eddowes and Fanny Irwin as houseguests, he should be able to control his craving for his beautiful new wife. He was too jaded and experienced to fall victim to his own desires.

But if so, then why was he having such a damnably hard time forgetting his marital troubles and falling asleep?

The next morning, Ian rose at daybreak and met his newest secretary to discuss strategy for undertaking the library inventory. They had just concluded their conversation and settled in the breakfast room when Tess made an unexpected appearance.

Eddowes stood with alacrity, while Ian politely followed suit. She offered her friend a cheerful greeting, and when they were all seated once more, she explained why she had joined them at this hour.

“I know you are an early riser, Rotham, but I didn’t want you searching the castle without me.”

Before Ian could object to her planned involvement, Tess turned back to Eddowes. “Fanny says she will be down shortly, even though she is accustomed
to sleeping a good deal longer. Do you mean to begin work in the library this morning?”

“Yes, Miss Bl—I mean, your grace. The duke and I were just discussing the particulars of our plan.”

“If it will not inconvenience you, Fanny can continue to write in the library so she will have company while I am away. I don’t like to leave my houseguests to their own devices, you see, and I will be occupied most of today. After our search of the castle, I mean to pay some courtesy calls on my new neighbors.”

Ian broke into their conversation. “It isn’t necessary for you to search the castle again, love.”

Tess offered him a beatific smile. “Perhaps not, but I can show you the ground we have already covered. Shall we discuss the matter after breakfast?” Without waiting for Ian’s reply, she gave her full attention to his secretary. “Mr. Eddowes, pray tell me how Fanny’s friends at the boardinghouse go on. Are Fleur and Chantel keeping out of trouble?”

Eddowes sent his new employer an apologetic glance and launched into a discussion about two women, which Ian eventually learned were elderly courtesans whose acquaintance Tess had made during the summer when she’d taught special classes on diction and manners at Fanny’s London boardinghouse as a favor to Lily Loring.

When breakfast was over, the secretary asked to be excused to begin his cataloging and left Ian alone with Tess.

She evidently expected an argument, for her gaze narrowed as she took up the issue of searching the castle again.

“You cannot expect me to sit idly by, Rotham,
while you take over the investigation of those mysterious clanking sounds.”

“Oh? Why not?”

“I might be of help, for one thing. As I said, I can show you exactly where we have already searched and save you from wasting time. The sooner we expose the ‘ghost’ the better. It is terrifying the servants, and me as well.”

“I doubt you are terrified,” Ian said in a languid drawl.

“Well, Fanny is. She was afraid to sleep alone the other night. And I won’t put her through that fright again.”

From the stubborn set of Tess’s shoulders, Ian suspected that he was fighting a losing battle. He raised his gaze to the ceiling for a moment, before giving her an exasperated look.

“Why did I think for one moment that you would behave like any other female of my acquaintance?”

Perhaps she could tell he was relenting, for her mouth twitched with the effort to repress a smile. “I cannot imagine. But I doubt you object because you think ghost-hunting isn’t a task for ladies. I think the trouble is that you are far too accustomed to having your own way. Your nose gets out of joint when anyone has an opinion contrary to yours.”