The Deception (Baron 3)

She didn’t move an inch until he finally took a large towel his son brought to him and began to dry himself. “Eve,” Edmund called, running to her even as he wiped himself down. “Did you see us? Papa threw me in the water, and I swam like a sea bass. Papa said I’d have to be careful because a fisherman might try to catch me because I swam so well. Then he’d fry me in a pan and eat me. Come and say hello to Papa.”

What was a stunned and fascinated woman to do? She walked beside Edmund to where the duke was standing. Finally, he’d knotted the towel around his waist, and draped another over his shoulder. She studied that knot at great length. It looked well tied, but she knew she could have it unknotted in a second, two at the most.

“Papa said that ladies can’t swim,” Edmund said. He dropped to his knees and began scooping up sand, piling it up, patting it down, shaping it into conelike shapes. Castle towers? Then he began digging a trench.

“Your papa is quite wrong. Here, Edmund, put on your clothes, then I’ll know you’re warm enough. What are you building?”

“Papa’s never wrong, cousin Eve. I’m going to build Chesleigh Castle.”

“Perhaps,” the duke said, “I can teach you how to swim even better.”

“I don’t need lessons. I’m a fish, just like Edmund. I’m more a lizard fish than a sea bass.”

“Get dressed, Edmund,” the duke called over his shoulder. “Tell me why you’re here, Evangeline.”

“It’s February and it’s very warm. I was out walking. Nothing more than walking until I happened to come down here and there you were and you didn’t have any clothes on. At least now you have on a towel, and there’s one about your shoulders as well, but that really isn’t the same thing at all as breeches and a shirt and other things that men wear.” “I see. You enjoy seeing the scenery, then?” “Certainly. I was raised in the country. There is always beautiful scenery in the country, particularly down on the beach, coming out of the water.”

He knew he was very well made indeed, like his father before him. He also boxed at Gentleman Jackson’s, as his father had before him. He was fit and lean and hard, as his father had been before him. He grinned at her like a thief with an eye on the silver. “I would certainly have enjoyed the scenery if I’d been the one out walking and come across you coming out of the sea.”

Her tongue stuck in her mouth. Never would she have imagined such a thing, never. She, a young lady, raised properly, she was certain of that, and yet all she could think of since she’d met him was that she wanted to leap on him and kiss him until she expired. She thought he’d continue to tease her, because he was so good at it, baiting her and reeling her in more times than not, but oddly, after a moment his dark eyes searched her face, his expression thoughtful.

“You must go back to the castle, Evangeline,” he said very gently. “I’ll try to see that Edmund doesn’t shout to the world that his cousin Eve watched both him and his father swimming.”

She looked out over the water, then back at him. “I can’t believe that I’m doing this.” “Doing what?”

“You know very well what. I was standing here just staring at you. You know that. And what I did last night. I’m not like that. I don’t know what’s wrong with me. I am sorry. I’m just not myself. I guess, truth be told, I don’t know who I am. And then there is what I must be, and that is very bad indeed. It’s all very difficult.” She turned on her heel and began her walk back up the cliff path without a backward glance.

Evangeline overheard Mrs. Raleigh say to Bassick as she came around the corner at the top of the grand staircase on her way to luncheon, “I’ll miss him, Mr. Bassick. He wasn’t here long enough this time. I wonder why he must return to London? And on Friday? Why, that’s only three days from now.”

She heard Bassick say something, but she couldn’t make out his words. Then Mrs. Raleigh said, as clear as the church bell on Sunday morning, “I was rather hoping that since Madame arrived, his grace would be content to remain longer.”

“Well, his grace never does the expected,” Bassick said, and this time she heard him. When she reached the bottom of the stairs, the two of them were standing there, smiling at her. There was a bit of assessment in Mrs. Raleigh’s eyes. Evangeline knew that the duke would be leaving. But Friday was too soon. She didn’t want him to leave so soon. Appalled at herself, she knew he was making it much easier for her by leaving. Why was he going? “Madame, good afternoon,” Bassick said. “No unexpected guests as yet?” she asked. “I wouldn’t have been surprised,” said Mrs. Raleigh. “Lady Pemberly is a good lady, truly; it’s just that she rather likes to tread upon everyone in her vicinity. So unlike Lady Charlotte, Rohan Carrington’s dear mama, a lady who is so charming that everyone is in a rush to assist her or simply stand there staring at her, she’s so beautiful.”

“I understand,” Bassick said, all upright and stately, “that Lady Charlotte is also very much involved in the cat races.”

“That, Mr. Bassick, is surely a great sport. But even there, I fear, there is some scandal and corruption.” “There is corruption in the cat races?” Evangeline said, eyebrows raised.

“Oh, yes,” Bassick said, nodding his head. “Wherever there is an exchange of money, there are those who will be up to no good. There have been investigations, and most of the excesses and abuses have been eliminated.”

“It is a shame that the cats can’t race for the sheer fun of it,” Mrs. Raleigh said as she shook out the skirt of her lovely pink gown. Was it the same pink gown she’d worn just this morning at breakfast? Evangeline wasn’t at all certain that it was.

Evangeline said, “I head you saying that the duke is leaving.”

“Ah, yes, we’re disappointed,” Mrs. Raleigh said. “We’d hoped he’d remain longer on this visit.” She paused, then smiled. “Of course, when all is said and done, one simply never knows, does one? Ah, the forest green muslin is indeed a treat on you, Madame. I see that Dorrie removed all the flounces that used to drape off the hem. Most disconcerting, those flounces. Her former grace loved this dress, flounces and all. She refused to accept that they were a bit on the overdone side.”

Evangeline nodded, thinking about Houchard, who’d known all about Marissa and her clothing. He’d said, “You won’t have to wear your rags long, Mademoiselle, you will see. Ah, yes, his grace will drape you with lovely clothes from his dead wife’s closet.” He’d given her a very cold smile then. “And, of course, he will want payment from you; men of his class always do. You will do what you must to keep him in ignorance of your activities.” He’d paused again, rubbing his chin with one long, thin finger. “I worry that you will lose your head over him, Mademoiselle. Foolish of me to be worried about that given the fact that I have your dear father, and he is but a heartbeat from death, but still, I understand the duke is a man that women want, wildly. I don’t understand it since he is English and all know that the English are clods and boors. However, if it is true, you will keep your head, Mademoiselle. And if you do part your legs for him, and if you do whisper to him after he’s given you pleasure, you won’t ever forget that I have a gun at your father’s head.”

She wished now that the duke had already left. Houchard had even been right about that. The duke was a man like none other she’d ever met. He was a man she’d never imagined could exist. And he hated Napoleon. Soon, she would be no better than Edgerton. The thought made her want to vomit.

When she met the duke in the dining room, she was still thinking of the pit yawning at her feet, her brain squirreling about for a solution, for anything that could keep her from betraying him, from betraying her country. He was standing by his chair at the head of the table, smiling slightly. She tried to smile back at him, but the guilt was eating at her innards and she knew the pain of

it showed on her face.

The devilment in his dark eyes immediately disappeared. “What’s wrong?”

Her head snapped up. “Wrong?” Oh, God, was she so transparent? If she was, it boded ill for her success, for her father’s life. “Why, nothing, your grace.” “You looked like you’ve lost your favorite pet.” That brought a wan smile. “No, although I loved my pug Bonnie very much. It was a very long time before I wanted another dog.”

“You have disarmed me, flushed me out of the bushes. I was going to tease you, perhaps try to make you blush for your quite refreshing and quite improper behavior on the beach. You are always surprising me, Evangeline. Come, sit down. You can see Edmund after your lunch.”