Her eyes grew round and her lips formed an “Oh” of delight.
Candlewick Hall rose before her, its cream stone walls touched here and there with bright creeper. Three storeys of square-paned windows looked down on the gravel court before the front steps. In the morning light, the house was cloaked in a still serenity, a peaceful solidity, which tugged oddly at her. Candlewick Hall embodied everything she had come back to England to find.
The pace of the coach was checked, and they rocked to a stop before the white steps leading up to two massive front doors. Ben swung down and came to assist her to alight. He escorted her up the steps and plied the heavy knocker.
Georgiana faced the heavy wooden doors. It had seemed much easier to claim help from an unknown lady when she had been sitting in her bed last night. But the memory of Charles’s ravings stiffened her resolve. As the sound of footsteps drew nearer, she took a deep breath and fixed a confident smile on her lips.
“Yes?”
A stately butler looked majestically down upon her.
“Good morning. My name is Georgiana Hartley. I wonder if I might have a word with Lady Alton?”
Georgiana was pleased with her tone. She sounded confident and in control, despite the fact she was inwardly quaking. If the butler was this starchy, what was his mistress like? She kept her chin up and waited.
The butler did not move. Georgiana felt her confidence draining, dissipating like the morning mist under the intensity of his scrutiny. She wondered if the man was hard of hearing, and was gathering her courage to repeat her request in more strident tones when he smiled, quite kindly, and bowed. “If you will step into the drawing-room, Miss Hartley, I will inform Lord Alton immediately.”
Buoyed by her success, Georgiana was across the threshold before she analysed his words. She came to an abrupt halt. “Oh! But it was Lady Alton I wished to see.”
“Yes, of course, miss. If you would take a seat?”
Unable to resist the deferential and strangely compelling courtesy of the impeccable butler, Georgiana found herself ushered into a beautifully appointed room and made comfortable in a wing-chair. Having ascertained that she was not in need of any refreshment thus early in the day, the dignified personage withdrew.
Feeling slightly dazed, Georgiana looked about her. The interior of Candlewick Hall did justice to its exterior. Exquisite taste and a judicious eye had chosen and arranged all the furnishings, creating and enhancing a mood of peace and serenity to match that of the gardens. Her hazel gaze wandered over the room, coming to rest on the large painting in pride of place above the mantelpiece. As a painter’s daughter, she could not do otherwise than admire Fragonard. She was intrigued, nevertheless, to find a picture incorporating numerous naked female forms so publicly displayed. A more private room would, she thought, have been more appropriate. But then, she reminded herself, she knew nothing of the latest whims of English social taste. And there was no doubt the Fragonard was an exquisite work of art.
The subtle colours of the room slowly eased her tension, seeping into her sight and mind. Georgiana smiled to herself and settled back in the chair. Candlewick Hall seemed designed to calm the senses. With a grateful sigh, she relaxed.
The effects of three late nights dragged at her eyelids. She would close them. Just for a moment.
“THERE’S A YOUNG LADY to see you, m’lord.”
Dominic Ridgeley, fifth Viscount Alton, lifted his blue eyes to his butler’s face. Around him, on the polished mahogany table, the remains of a substantial breakfast bore mute testimony to his recent occupation. But the dishes had been pushed aside to make way for a pile of letters, one of which his lordship clasped in one long-fingered hand.
“I beg your pardon?”
“A young lady has called, m’lord.” Not a quiver of emotion showed on the butler’s lined face.
Lord Alton’s black brows rose. His features became perceptibly harder, his blue gaze perceptibly chillier. “Have you taken leave of your senses, Duckett?”
Such a question, in such a tone, would have reduced most servants to incoherent gibbering. But Duckett was a butler of the highest standing. And he had known the present Lord Alton from the cradle. He answered the question with an infinitesimal smile. “Naturally not, m’lord.”
His answer appeared to appease his master. Lord Alton regarded his henchman with a puzzled and slightly wary frown. “Oh?”
At the prompt, Duckett explained. “It seems the young lady requires assistance with some difficulty, m’lord. She asked to see Lady Alton. She appears to be in some distress. I thought it wise not to turn her away. Her name is Miss Hartley.”
“Hartley?” The black brows drew down. “But there aren’t any Miss Hartleys at the Place, are there?”
In response to his master’s quizzical look, Duckett graciously informed him, “I have heard that Mr James Hartley’s daughter has been visiting the Place for the past few days. From the Continent, I believe.”
“Staying with frightful Charles? Poor girl.”
“Exactly so, m’lord.”
Lord Alton fixed Duckett with a suspicious look. “You said she was distressed. She’s not weeping and having the vapours, is she?”
“Oh, no, m’lord. Miss Hartley is perfectly composed.”
Lord Alton frowned again. “Then how do you know she’s distressed?”
Duckett coloured slightly. “It was her hands, m’lord. She was clutching her reticule so tightly, her knuckles were quite white.”
Suitably impressed by his butler’s astuteness, Lord Alton leant back in his chair, absent-mindedly laying the letter he had been reading on the pile before him. Then he glanced up. “You think I should see her?”
Duckett met his master’s eye and did not misunderstand his question. No one who was acquainted with Lord Alton could fail to comprehend the delicacy of the matter. For a young lady to meet a gentleman alone, particularly in the gentleman’s house, with no other lady anywhere about, was hardly the sort of behaviour someone as conservative as Duckett would normally encourage. And when the gentleman in question was Lord Dominic Alton, the situation took on an even more questionable hue. But Duckett’s perception was acute. Miss Hartley was in trouble and out of her depth. His master could be relied upon to provide the answer to her troubles. And, regardless of his reputation, she stood in no danger from him. She was too young and too green, not his type at all. So, Duckett cleared his throat and said, “Despite the—er—conventions, yes, m’lord, I think you should see her.”
With a sigh, Lord Alton rose, stretching to his full six feet. Relaxing, he shook out his cuffs and settled his dark blue coat over his broad shoulders. Then he looked up and wagged an admonitory finger at Duckett. “If this lands me in scandal, old friend, it’ll be all your fault.”
Duckett grinned and opened the door for his master. “As you wish, m’lord. She’s in the drawing-room.”
With one last warning glance, Lord Alton passed through the door and crossed the hall.
GEORGIANA’S DREAM was distinctly disturbing. In it, she had transformed into one of the nymphs depicted in the Fragonard canvas. Together with her unknown sisters, she cavorted freely through a sylvan glade, blushing at the cool drift of the breeze across her naked skin. Abruptly, she halted. Someone was watching her. She glanced around, blushing even more rosily. But there was no one in sight. The sensation of being watched grew. She opened her eyes.
And gazed bemusedly into eyes of cerulean blue.
Her gaze widened, and she saw the man behind the eyes. She stopped breathing, no longer sure which was reality and which the dream. For the man watching her, a gleam of undisguised appreciation in the depths of those beautiful blue eyes, was undoubtedly a god. And even more disturbing than her erotic dream. His shoulders were broad, filling her sight, his body long and lean and muscular. His face was strongly featured, yet held the clean lines painters adored. Thick dark hair cloaked his head in elegant waves, softening the effect of his determinedly squared
chin. Finely drawn lips held the hint of a disturbing smile. And his eyes, glorious blue, set under strongly arched brows and framed by lashes too long and thick for a man, seemed to hold all the promise of a summer’s afternoon.
“Oh!” It was the most coherent response she could muster.
The vision smiled. Georgiana’s heart lurched.
“You were sleeping so peacefully I was loath to disturb you.”
The deep tones of his voice enclosed Georgiana in a warmth reminiscent of fine velvet. With an effort, she straightened, forcing her body to behave and her mind to function. “I… I’m so sorry. I must have drifted off. I was waiting for Lady Alton.”
The gentleman retreated slightly to lean one elegant arm along the mantelpiece, one booted foot resting on the hearth. The blue eyes, disconcertingly, remained trained on her face.
“I’m desolated to disappoint you.” The smile that went with the words said otherwise. “Allow me to introduce myself. Lord Dominic Alton, entirely at your service.”
He swept her an elegant bow, blue eyes gleaming.
“But alas, I’ve yet to marry. There is, therefore, no Lady Alton.”
“Oh, how unfortunate!”
The anguished assessment surprised Dominic. He was not used to such a response from personable young women. His lips twitched and his eyes came alight with unholy amusement. “Quite!”
His tone brought the hazel gaze to his face. But she showed no consciousness of her phrasing. Seeing real consternation in the warm hazel eyes, Dominic rejected the appealing idea of explaining it to her. Clearly, Duckett’s assessment of her state was accurate. She might be sitting calmly, rather than indulging in hysterics, as females were so lamentably prone to do, but he had no doubt she was seriously adrift and knew not which way to turn. The expression in her wide hazel eyes said so. In response, he smiled beguilingly. “But I gather you have some problem. Perhaps I could be of help?”
His polite query flustered Georgiana. How could she explain…? To a man…?
“Er—I don’t think…” She rose, clutching her reticule tightly. As she did so, her gaze went beyond Lord Alton to the Fragonard. Georgiana froze. What sort of man, with no wife, hung a scandalous masterpiece in his drawing-room? The answer threatened to scuttle what wits she still possessed.
Unknown to Georgiana, her thoughts passed clearly across her face, perfectly readable to the accomplished gentleman watching her. All Dominic’s experience told him to accept her withdrawal as the blessed release it doubtless was. But some whimsical and unexpected impulse pushed him to learn what strange story, what quirk of fate, was responsible for depositing such a very delightful morsel on his doorstep. Besides, he didn’t entirely like her assumption that he was powerless to help her. He drew himself to his full height and fixed her with a stern eye. “My dear Miss Hartley, I do hope you’re not about to say you ‘—doubt that I can be of assistance—’ before you’ve even told me the problem.”
Georgiana blinked. She had, of course, been about to say just that. With the ground cut from under her feet, she struggled to find some acceptable way out.
Lord Alton was smiling again. Strange, she had never before encountered a smile that warmed her as his did.
“Please sit down, Miss Hartley. Can I get you some refreshment? No? Well, then, why don’t you just tell me what your problem is? I promise you, I don’t shock easily.”
Georgiana glanced up, but the blue eyes were innocent. Sinking once more into the wing-chair, she considered her choices. If she insisted on leaving Lord Alton without asking for his advice, where would she go? And, more importantly, how far behind her was Charles? That thought, more than any other, drove her to speak. “I really wanted to ask for some advice…on what I should do, finding myself in the situation I… I now find myself in.” She paused, wondering how detailed her explanation need be.
“Which is?” came the soft prompt.
The need to confide in someone was strong. Mentally shrugging, Georgiana threw caution to the winds. “I recently returned to England from the Continent. I’ve lived for the last twelve years in Italy with my father, James Hartley. He died a few months ago, leaving me to the guardianship of my uncle, Ernest Hartley.”
She looked up. Lord Alton’s expression was sympathetic. He nodded encouragingly. Drawing a deep breath, she continued. “I returned to England immediately. I…didn’t wish to remain in Italy. On my arrival at Hartley Place, I learnt that my uncle had died a month or so before my father. My cousin Charles owns the Place now.” Georgiana hesitated.
“I’m slightly acquainted with Charles Hartley, if that’s any help. I might add that I would not consider him a fit person for a young lady such as yourself to share a roof with.”
His cool, impersonal tone brought a blush to Georgiana’s cheek.
Seeing it, Dominic knew he had struck close to the truth.
Keeping her eyes fixed on the empty fireplace, Georgiana struggled on. “I’m afraid…that is to say, Charles seems to have developed a fixation. In short,” she continued, desperation lending her words, “he has been trying to force me to marry him. I left the house this morning, very early.”
She glanced up and, to her surprise, found no difficulty in meeting his lordship’s blue gaze. “I’ve no one in England I can turn to, my lord. I was hoping to ask your wife for advice as to what I should do.”
Dominic’s gaze rested on the heart-shaped face and large honey-gold eyes turned so trustingly towards him. For some perverse reason, he knew he was going to help her. Ignoring the inner voice which whispered he was mad even to contemplate such a thing, he asked, “Have you any particular course of action in mind?”
“Well, I did think of going to London. I thought perhaps I could become a companion to some lady.”
Dominic forcibly repressed a shudder. Such a glorious creature would have no luck in finding that sort of employment. She was flexing her fingers, her attention momentarily distracted. His eyes slid gently over her figure. The grey dress she wore fitted well, outlining a pair of enticingly sweet breasts, young and firm and high. Her skin was perfect—peaches and cream. As she was seated, he had no way of judging her legs, although, by the evidence of her slender feet, he suspected they would prove to be long and slim. Her waist was hidden by the fall of her dress, but the swell of her hips was unmistakable. If Georgiana Hartley became stranded in London, he could guess where she’d end. Which, all things considered, would be a great shame. Her candid gaze returned to his face.
“I have my own maid and coachman. I thought that might help.”
Help? A companion with her own maid and coachman? Dominic managed to keep his face impassive. There was no point in telling her how ludicrous her ideas were, for she wasn’t going to hire out as a companion. Not if he had anything to say in the matter. The wretched life most paid companions led, neither servant nor family, stranded in limbo between stairs, was not for Miss Hartley.
“I will have to think of what’s best to be done. Instant solutions are likely to come unstuck. I’ve always found it much more useful to consider carefully before committing any irrevocable act.”
Listen to yourself! screamed his inner voice.
Dominic smiled sweetly. “I suggest you spend an hour or so with my housekeeper, while I consider the alternatives.” The smile broadened. “Believe me, there are alternatives.”
Georgiana blinked. She wasn’t sure what to make of that. She hoped she hadn’t jumped from the frying-pan into the fire. But he was turning her over to the care of his housekeeper, which hardly fitted with the image revolving in her mind. There was another problem. “Charles might follow me.”
“I can assure you this is one place Charles will never look. And I doubt he’d pursue you to London. You’re perfectly safe here.” Dominic turned and tugged the bell-pull. Then he swung back to face Georgiana and smiled reassuringly. “Charles and I don’t exactly get on, you see.”
A pause ensued. While Miss Hartley studied her hands, Domin
ic studied Miss Hartley. She was a sweetly turned piece, but too gentle and demure for his taste. A damsel in distress—Duckett had been right there. Clearly, it behoved him to help her. The cost would be negligible; it would hardly take up much of his time and might even afford him some amusement. Aside from anything else, it would presumably annoy Charles Hartley, and that was a good enough reason in itself. He determinedly quashed his inner voice, that advocate of self-protection at all costs, and returned to his agreeable contemplation of Miss Hartley.
The door opened, and Georgiana came slowly to her feet.
“My lord?”
Dominic turned. “Duckett, please ask Mrs Landy to attend us.”
“Yes, m’lord.” Duckett bowed himself from the room, a smile of quiet satisfaction on his face.
AFTER A PLEASANT and reassuring hour spent with Mrs Landy, Georgiana was conducted back to the drawing-room. The motherly housekeeper had been shocked to learn of Georgiana’s plight and even more moved when she discovered she had missed her breakfast. Now, fortified with muffins and jam and steaming coffee, and having been assured her two servants had been similarly supplied, Georgiana faced the prospect of her interview with Lord Alton with renewed confidence. No gentleman who possessed a housekeeper like Mrs Landy could be a villain.
She smiled sweetly at the butler, who seemed much less intimidating now, and passed through the door he held open for her. Lord Alton was standing by the fireplace. He looked up as she entered, and smiled. Georgiana was struck anew by his handsomeness and the subtle aura of a deeper attractiveness that owed nothing to his elegant attire, but derived more from the quality of his smile and the lights that danced in those wonderful eyes.