The Secrets of a Lady

She’ll never get enough information before it’s too late.”

Smoothing her skirt, Audrey began to fix her hair. “Douglas will come to me tomorrow. He’ll apologize, say his emotions got the best of him. I’ll accept. I’ll even imply that I…”

Her hands faltered and her voice broke.

“I’ll even imply that I approved of his advances.”

Griffin made a sound of disgust in his throat, but said nothing.

“We’ll continue on as we did before, and I’ll find the information we’re looking for.” She sighed. “He was so close to giving me a name tonight. So close and then he…”

“He tried to rape you,” Griffin snapped, speaking plainly to shock her with the truth.

“But he didn’t.” Her retort held just as much heat. Then her face and voice softened. “You came.”

The fear he’d tamped down earlier in the evening erupted. It returned two fold as he realized what he had barely averted. The image of Audrey broken and defiled was too much for him.

“Audrey, I was… I was…”

“I know.” She lifted two trembling fingers to his lips. “When I saw you, I knew everything would be all right. You wouldn’t let anyone hurt me.”

Griffin shut his eyes as he pondered how much Audrey had already been hurt because of him. First it had been Luci and her cruelty. Then he had hurt her, himself, making love to her with no promises he would take care of her. Even his proposal of marriage had hurt her. She wanted love, an emotion he was sure no longer lived in his heart.

His thoughts were shattered when he felt the gentle sweep of Audrey’s lips against his. His eyes flew open and he looked down at her. Her face was upturned, her eyes locked with his. Slowly, her hands wrapped around his forearms, steadying herself as she leaned up again.

This time he took her kiss with no hesitation, driving his tongue between her lips and tasting her like a man deprived of drink and food for far too long. Her sigh was followed by the total relaxation of her body in his arms. Her surrender was as sweet as her giving mouth.

After a long moment, he pulled away. “Anyone could see us here, then where will you be?”

For a moment she didn’t seem to understand him, just blinked at him with a satisfied smile on her face. Finally, she shook her head.

“Yes, of course. I don’t know what I was thinking,” she murmured. “Do I… look all right? Not like I was…”

“Nearly ravished… er, twice?” he supplied, eliciting a weak smile from her swollen lips. “No. In fact, no one will even notice as long as we’re careful how we re-enter the throng.”

With a forced smile, he held out his arm for her and she took it after a moment’s hesitation. The electricity crackled between them even at this slight touch. As they exited the gazebo and made their way back up the pathway to the main garden, Griffin stole a glance her way. Though her eyes were clouded with remnants of her earlier fear, she was more beautiful than ever. And Griffin was reminded, more than ever, how much he didn’t want to lose her.

Except the only thing that would make her stay, was the one thing he couldn’t give her.

Chapter Twenty

Even before she closed her chamber door, Audrey dug her fingers into her hair and began wrenching out the pins. She felt dirty, as if Ellison’s cold fingers were still on her skin. Even Griffin hadn’t been able to completely erase the ugly feeling that seemed to exist all the way down to her bones.

“Hannah?” she called out into the dimly lit room, raising the lamp light on her dressing table as she sat down to remove the last of the pins from her hair.

“Home already, are you?” Hannah bustled into the room as she closed the book in her hand with a smile. “I didn’t expect you back for hours yet.”

“ Douglas had to leave the party early,” Audrey explained with a grim frown. “So there wasn’t any use in staying past a decent hour. Noah is still there.”

As she came around behind Audrey, Hannah grabbed the brush from her dressing table. “Ellison left the party early? Why on earth did he do that?”

Audrey closed her eyes, enjoying the smooth motion of the brush moving through her hair. “That’s divine, Hannah,” she sighed, before opening her eyes. “Ellison left early on account that I believe Griffin may have broken his nose.”

“What?” The brush hit the ground with a clatter, pulling several strands of Audrey’s hair out with it.

She rubbed her scalp as Hannah stooped to pick up the brush and stared at her in disbelief.

“Well, he did attack me.”

Hannah grasped Audrey’s shoulders and turned her around. “Ellison attacked you? Are you injured?”

“No.” She gave Hannah’s arm a gentle touch of reassurance. When the look of alarm had faded from her companion’s face, she continued. “He only frightened me nearly to death. And made me feel distinctly greasy.”

“I’ll have the maids prepare a bath for you right away.” Hannah pursed her lips as she went to the door to ring the bell.

“That would be heavenly,” Audrey said. “Though you may have to burn this dress. I doubt I’ll ever feel a desire to wear it again.”

Hannah nodded her agreement as she opened the door. The maid outside listened to her directions then disappeared.

“Now then.” In a few short steps, Hannah was back at her side and had returned to her brushstrokes. “Tell me all about it.”

“I was so close, Hannah!” With a sigh of exasperation, Audrey hugged herself. “I know he was about to tell me a name or two. And then he had to get himself all… all… aroused…” She blushed at the thought, then shook her head. “And he ruined it all. Everything happened so quickly. One moment we were exchanging confidences and the next he was on top of me in an abandoned gazebo.”

“And the next Griffin Berenger was pulling him off and pummeling him within an inch of his life,” Hannah finished for her with a soft smile.

She took a quick glance at Hannah’s face in the mirror. “Something like that. Griffin showed remarkable restraint, considering. He could have easily killed Douglas and with just cause.”

“I’m surprised he didn’t, after what’s gone on between you these last few days.” Hannah brought the back of the brush down on the crown of Audrey’s head with a gentle tap.

With a glare at her friend, Audrey said, “That’s over now.”

“You keep saying that.”

Audrey shook her head. “This time it’s true.”

With a tilt of her head, Hannah set the brush down. “You look sad.”

“I am a little sad,” she admitted, too tired emotionally and physically to pretend she wasn’t hurt. “I suppose I’m realizing all I’m giving up by turning down Griffin’s proposal of marriage.”

“He proposed to you?” Hannah screeched and Audrey’s brush bounced off the floor a second time.

Lifting her hands to cover her ears, Audrey turned to her friend with a scowl. “You needn’t bring the whole house down. He did, a few days ago.”

“And you turned him down, even though you’ve been in love with the man for more than five years?” Hannah dropped down on a chair by the window with thump. Her mouth was partly open as she stared at Audrey. Her green eyes demanded an explanation, but it wasn’t one Audrey was sure she could give.

“It would be a marriage for the wrong reasons. ‘Companionship’, as Griffin put it, and desire aren’t love.”

Her friend’s eyes grew even wider with disbelief. “They’re certainly the seeds of such an emotion. And it’s better than most marriages. You care for him and he for you. That much is obvious from the way the man charges