“Yes. Cadoudal kidnapped my mother, as revenge, took her to France, and when my father and Uncle Tony found her, she was miscarrying a babe. In any case, Janine confessed the truth to Georges, Father and Mother returned to England, and that was the last time he ever saw Cadoudal.”
“So she had a child.”
“My father said he heard something about the child dying, then there was nothing more.”
“I’ve always loved mysteries,” she said, her fork set on her plate now, as she leaned forward toward him, her chin resting on her clasped hands, “but I don’t like one that could hurt my new family. We’ll figure it out, James. We must find the son.”
“Yes.”
“James, you’re looking at me again.”
“Well, yes, you’re my dinner companion.”
“No, you’re looking dangerous and determined. You were wearing the same look before you ripped my clothes off.” She lowered her voice, leaned over the remains of her pork kniver. “It’s lust, isn’t it?”
Slowly, James rose, tossed his napkin on the table, and held out his hand. “How do you feel?”
“Full and-”
“Corrie, between your legs, are you still sore?”
She picked up an apple, polished it on her sleeve, took a tiny bite, then smiled at him. “I think,” she said, “that I’m ready for my bath. You said you would wash my back for me.”
He nearly shook and shuddered himself out of the small private parlor.
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
JASON LOOKED INTO Judith McCrae’s dark eyes, felt himself fill with an odd mix of contentment and an excitement so powerful he wondered how a man could bear it. “Your eyes are darker than mine, at least at this moment.”
“Perhaps,” she whispered.
“My brother was just wed.”
“Yes.”
“I remember looking up-was it the Ranleagh ball?-and there you were, staring at me all the while waving that fan, and my heart fell into my shoes.”
She drew back, but her hands still clutched at his arms. “Really? Is your heart still there? In your shoes?”
He grinned down at her. “My heart even collapses into my boots when I wear them.”
“I am nearly twenty. Did you know that, Jason?”
“You do not look your age.”
A giggle escaped.
“Does this mean you’re near to the back of the shelf?”
“Your wit-well, I never thought of it like that, you know, being unacceptable to a gentleman because I was no longer as young as say, Corrie. I never considered that I would move in London society. The thought of going to London with the express reason of finding a husband, it simply never occurred to me. But then Aunt Arbuckle swooped into my life, brought me here, and introduced me to everyone.”
“Why didn’t you assume your aunt would introduce you into society?”
“There were fallings out, I guess you could call them, amongst everyone in my family. But no longer, thank God. I will tell you something, Jason. I was rather bored, I admit it, until I saw you-yes, it was the Ranleagh ball. I’m not an heiress like Corrie.”
“Why would that matter to me?”
“Well, you are a second son, Jason, no matter that you were born minutes after James.”