The Remarkable Miss Frankenstein

laughter was often false and forced, he noted. So many nowhere men with the world at their command, each human life touching no life but his own.

Strangely, Ian felt a stirring of pity for all the lonely people. Where did they all belong? Yesterday he might have been one of them, until he saw Clair standing there, like a taste of honey. He reached for her hand, wanting to hold it.

'Miss Frankenstein, the reality is that I have questions.' In spite of his growing attraction to Clair, they didn't call him the spymaster for nothing. Ian would uncover her secrets—and uncover them quickly.

Clair's heartbeat picked up as she stared down at her hand in his. She had to admit it looked altogether perfect. His hand was hot and comforting.

There was something in the way he moved and something in his smile that touched her.

He made her skin tingle. He made her nervous. He made her think of things behind closed doors. She was afraid she was quickly becoming a woman of loose morals, thirsty for things she didn't understand. Yet her body at the cellular level was primed and ready to go. Her hormones were on the hunt. 'Yes?'

'Who told you that I hid during the day?' He had to know who in his employ or acquaintance had noted his recent odd habits.

'Please, let it be.'

'I can't.'

'No one in particular,' she lied.

'This is important, or I wouldn't ask you to betray a confidence. But a man like myself has many enemies, and secrets can hurt me.' His tone was grim, his look stern. 'Please. It is a word I don't often use.' Truer words were never spoken. Ian Huntsley was a formidable man of many talents, some deeply hidden. He did not suffer thwarting lightly.

Yes, he was a complex man, loving few things. But those things he loved, he loved deeply and forever. Life had made him both strong and self-reliant. No matter how many times he got knocked down, he would always jump back up, swinging. And the perpetrator would end up being much, much the worse for wear.

Clair turned her attention back to the road in front of the carriage, watching how the bays moved in perfect tandem. They were an exquisite pair, with sleek coats and sooty-trimmed manes flying in the wind. She could see why the baron owned them. Even his mistresses were prime specimens, women most beautiful and accomplished. And thinking of mistresses, Clair recalled their words extolling the baron's lovemaking techniques.

She blushed. She was becoming a lascivious, licentious, lusty, and lewd lady. Hmm. She hadn't realized so many negative words began with the letter l. This won't do, she mused, concentrating on scientific l-words, like laboratory, lithosphere, the Luckenback Principle and lubrication. Oh dear, wrong l-word. She was already feeling a bit of moisture between her thighs. She certainly didn't need to be reminding herself of lubrication.

Ian interrupted her thoughts. 'It's truly important to me, Miss Frankenstein. I must know who has been gossiping.'

Frowning, she debated with herself, hating to break a source's confidence, but at the same time understanding the baron's need to know. 'I did a study, a thorough investigation of your habits and life. For instance, I spoke with a tailor who said he came to your house only at night. Your retired man of business, Mr. Bell, also said you chose the night to do your estate work and other business. The second-to-last mistress you employed—I believe her name was Miss Trixie Delight—said she saw you only at night. Your last mistress, a Mrs. Joy N. Morning, also confirmed the fact.'

At the mention of the word 'mistress,' Ian lifted an eyebrow. Well-bred young ladies never mentioned the m-word. They politely pretended the demimonde had only existed in biblical days and certainly not here in the mother country.

'I put two and two together and…'

Ian interrupted grimly. 'And came up with five.' He flicked his wrist, giving the bays more room to roam on the path. He would deal gravely with the men who'd betrayed him. His business was his own, and he liked no one gossiping about him. He dealt in too many different arenas, in both his personal and business life, to have his actions questioned.

Clair laughed. 'I guess so. But you can see where I got my numbers.'

Ian shrugged. 'Not really. Many men prefer to work and play at night, then sleep during the day. That doesn't make them vampires. Especially since such creatures don't exist.'

Clair shook her head, rolling her eyes, and her bonnet feathers shook. 'So you say. However, my family feel quite differently about the subject.'

He really had to change her mind about studying the secrets of the supernatural world, which was shrouded in peril. Blood oaths had been taken, which made the whole situation even more dangerous. However, Ian doubted he could change Clair's mind.

At the most basic level, it was a woman's prerogative to change her mind—almost a passage of youth from pigtails to pearls. Ian understood that. And it was a prerogative which women practiced consistently, in his view. But Clair was not most females. She was a Frankenstein, and Frankensteins seemed to be made up of an entirely different and altogether less predictable mettle. (And if you happened to be one of their creations, then you could be made of any old assortment of odd body parts as well.)

'Vampires are a myth, a legend of ignorant peasants and fodder for writers,' he said again.

Clair cocked a brow, studying him. 'Baron, this is 1828. We are at the dawn of new scientific discoveries both in the natural and supernatural world. Take Babbage's difference engine, Oersted's theory on magnetic effects, and Brewster's kaleidoscope, for example. You'd be surprised how many of those men believe in the supernatural and the v-word.'

'The v-word?'

'Vampire,' she clarified, leaning closer. 'You, my lord, should really keep an open mind. Expand your horizons.'

Glancing at two of Clair's most prominent assets, he tightened his jaw, feeling some expansion in his nether regions. The woman was a threat to everything he stood for, to his sanity—and worse, to his willpower. With a little more encouragement from Clair, his staff would be at full mast, flying high in the wind.

Stealing a glance at her face, he was very relieved that she couldn't read his mind. He wanted to expand his horizons all right. Right down to taking off her lacy drawers and having his wicked way with her all week, each day and each night. A marathon of sexual hijinks both vertical and horizontal. Horizons, indeed. 'I will keep that in mind,' he commented drolly.

'Science never advances when thoughts are stagnant. We must go forth and search, knowing that science has no boundaries and that possibilities are endless and infinite. Why be limited to known reality when there is obviously so much more?'

Ian grimaced, wondering to himself when the name 'Frankenstein' and reality had ever not been mutually exclusive. Setting his bays at a brisk pace, he found his carriage passing more curricles of all sizes and colors as the fashionable hour drew near.

He and Clair nodded at a passing acquaintance or two. But Ian was in no mood for talk at the moment, pondering as he was his dilemma. Miss Frankenstein was not going to cease and desist. It was not in her nature. He had to stop her research and investigations into the otherworldly. He had thought long and hard on the problem the previous night and come up with a solution. He was male and she was female. It would be the oldest trick in the book. He would call it Plan A, The Seduction of Clair Frankenstein. Although he wouldn't actually seduce her to the point of taking her maidenhead, he would keep her distracted enough to forego her investigation. It was a dastardly task, but he was just the right man for the job.

After several minutes of their carriage's brisk pace, Clair touched his arm. 'I have another confession to make.'

'You are looking for goblins too?' he teased, his manner lightening.

'Don't be silly. Goblins don't exist.'

'You don't believe in goblins, but you do in vampires? An interesting conundrum.'

'You are being a boor.'

'My dear Miss Frankenstein, I am never anything so mundane.'

She smiled. 'True. In fact, you are actually so imposing that I thought you the leader of the vampire