The Prince of Pleasure (Notorious 5)

&nb

sp; "We continue the hunt."

She gave him a look of exasperation. "Is that all you intend to tell me?"

"That depends on you, Julienne."

"What do you mean?"

"I've been commissioned to offer you a job."

"A job?"

"As a spy for the British government."

Taken aback by his unexpected answer, she stared at him.

"The gentleman," Dare explained, "who heads intelligence in the Foreign Office believes you could be an asset to the country, since you have entree to the emigre community. If you worked for us, you would be required to glean any information you can on the intrigues of the Royalists and pass it on. The government will pay you, of course."

His glance took in the shabby parlor, and she could tell what he was thinking: that she could obviously use the income. She remembered as well that Dare thought her greedy and grasping. No doubt he believed there was little she wouldn't do for money.

Julienne pressed her lips together. "I wonder that your offer comes now," she said coolly. "Is it because I proved my usefulness by helping you with Riddingham?"

"That, and the fact that your actions seem to absolve you of guilt."

"Guilt?"

Dare's green gaze bored into her. "I couldn't be certain of your complicity when I first saw your close association with Riddingham. For all I knew, he was Caliban, and you were in league with him."

Her breath caught at his implication. "You thought I was in league with… You suspected me of treason!"

"The possibility did cross my mind." Dare smiled with a hint of mockery. "This isn't the first time your name has been linked with the Bonapartists."

Julienne felt herself tremble. "Are you speaking of the charges your grandfather laid against me?"

When he remained silent, a raw upwelling of grief and fury coursed through her. Seven years ago she had been the victim of his grandfather's evil machinations, when she had been completely innocent.

She heard her own tone turn icy. "Your grandfather accused me of treason. Did you believe him?"

Dare shrugged, an elegant gesture that told her nothing. "I wasn't sure what to believe then. Given your other lies, I think I would have been justified in assuming the worst about you. And I certainly couldn't trust your loyalties when you might have been Caliban's accomplice."

His response wounded her to the quick, and Julienne lowered her gaze to hide her bitter hurt. She had betrayed Dare, true. And he had a right to despise her for that. But it was one thing to hate her for playing him false with a lover; quite another to consider her guilty of betraying her country.

How could he believe something so despicable of her?

For a moment she stood there shaking, remembering that terrible time seven years ago-the vile rumors that had placed her under suspicion of treason, her defenselessness, her utter inability to refute the charges. Those scurrilous accusations had destroyed her life when she had never done anything to deserve it. When her only crime had been to love Dare.

He had no right to think her guilty! Dare's admission just now was a betrayal in itself. He should have known the allegations were all lies.

Julienne raised her head to glare her anger. "Your grandfather falsified those charges in order to intimidate me. I'm surprised you were taken in by him."

A flash of pain flickered in Dare's eyes before his gaze turned as cool as her own had been. "I was taken in by your wiles, wasn't I? Perhaps I was merely gullible in my youth. Then again, my grandfather could have been right about you."

His retort set rage unfurling inside Julienne. She looked at Dare through a red mist, wanting to strike back at him, yearning to punish him for his lack of faith. "If you think me such a femme fatale, I wonder that you even risk being here alone with me."

"I am better armed than I was seven years ago."

"Are you?" Julienne said, her tone dangerously silken. She would show Dare that he wasn't nearly as well-armed as he thought. "Would you care to put your armor to the test?"