The Truth about Love

“He fell over a stool.”

After she’d pushed him, then whacked him with the ruler.

“How unfortunate.”

Gerrard’s drawl was deepening-worsening.

“Yes, well…” Jacqueline blew out a breath, puffing aside a lock of hair her tussle with Rupert had loosened. “As you can see”-she went to gesture at the cowering Rupert, then realized she had the ruler in that hand and switched to using her other-“he’s…getting himself together again.”

Much as she was tempted to leave Rupert to whatever fate Gerrard might mete out, it was, in a way, at her instigation that Rupert had come to be alone with her. She’d never imagined he’d do anything so patently silly, but…He was nearly finished buttoning his shirt. He didn’t seem able to look away from them, his eyes wide, resting first on her, then on Gerrard; he looked like he was struggling not to whimper. “And then he’s leaving,” she pointedly said, hoping he’d take the hint and go with all speed.

“Oh, he’s definitely leaving.”

Gerrard took one step, grasped Rupert’s arm and hauled him to his feet.

“Here! I say, old chap-”

Resisting the urge to shake Rupert, Gerrard marched him to the door. “Just be thankful there are ladies present.”

Rupert goggled at Chloe, a silent martyr in the doorway, and shut up.

Chloe stepped back. Gerrard thrust Rupert, still struggling to tuck his shirttails in, through the door, then nodded to Chloe. “If you’ll excuse us?”

No real question; he shut the door on Chloe’s suddenly interested face and turned back into the room.

Jacqueline watched Gerrard stalk, slowly, toward her. While he’d been occupied, she’d tossed the ruler back on the desk, and quickly smoothed down her skirts. Pressing her hands together, she lifted her chin.

“What the devil were you thinking, going off alone with Rupert?” Gerrard halted immediately before her, his expression hard, a definite scowl in his eyes. His tone was harsh, rather flat.

She tilted her chin higher, and suppressed an answering frown. “He said there was a special statue in here. I had no idea he had such a…a salacious scheme in mind.”

“Well, he did.” Gerrard’s eyes bored into hers; his accents were exceedingly clipped. “Indeed, I think it safe to say most of the gentlemen you’ll meet in this season will be entertaining salacious thoughts of you. Most, however, won’t act on them, not unless you encourage them-for instance, by going apart with them in a setting such as this!”

He paused; she saw something-some emotion-roiling behind his eyes. Instead of giving voice to it, lips compressing, he reached for her hand, turned and headed for the door. “I would be exceedingly grateful if in the remaining few days we’re in town, you could refrain from consorting with other men.”

Towed behind him, she almost tripped. “No.” She pulled back on his hand, then almost tipped backward as with a low growl, he swung to face her. “What I mean,” she hastily amended, eyeing his harsh expression, “is why?”

For a moment, he said nothing, just stared at her. Then, “In case it’s slipped your mind, we’re lovers.”

His tone had grown dangerous again; for one fanciful instant she felt as if she was in a darkened room with a large wild animal. Her nerves flickered. Her eyes locked on his, she carefully said, “Yes, but that’s…private. Just because we’re lovers shouldn’t mean I don’t dance or speak with other gentlemen. No one else knows we’re lovers- it looks odd if I cling to your arm all the time.”

And you cling to mine. People are getting quite the wrong idea…But she didn’t wish to be quite so forthright. He might feel obliged to marry her if society expected it, but once the portrait was finished, she’d return to Cornwall, and society would be irrelevant.

She could see thoughts shifting behind his eyes.

His expression hardened, his jaw set. “We’ll only be in town for a few more days-any additional oddity will be neither here nor there.”

Turning, he started towing her to the door again.

Her grand plan lay in shreds, and if he adhered to his pigheaded edict and insisted she remain by his side, she’d never be able to correct the mistaken impression they’d given the ladies of his family-and possibly everyone else.

They were nearing the door. She dug in her heels and tugged back. “No. What you don’t understand-”

He halted; his chest swelled, then he rounded on her. His eyes blazed; his features resembled a granite mask. The air between them shimmered with aggression, and poorly concealed possessiveness. “Do you recall”-his voice had lowered, his diction precise, his tone a dark warning-“agreeing to be mine until I released you?”

She had to nod. “Yes, but-”

“I haven’t released you.” His eyes burned, holding hers. “Until I do, you’re mine- and-no-other’s.”

She stared at him, stunned; she’d never imagined he’d draw such a line.

Apparently believing her silence denoted agreement, he continued in a fractionally less domineering vein as he turned and opened the door, “Specifically, you will not encourage any other gentlemen-you won’t seek their company, nor encourage them to seek yours.”

Drawing her through the door, he reached back, shut it-and to her continuing dumbfounded astonishment went on as he led her back to the ballroom, “And most importantly, you will not go anywhere alone with cads like Rupert-”

She shook aside her astonishment; it was doing her no good. “How the devil was I to know he was a cad?” Her temper rose. “If you want my opinion, Rupert’s a handsome lackwit. For the good of young ladies everywhere he should be locked up in Derbyshire-”

“If you’d remembered your promise-”

“I didn’t promise you my every hour!”

“I have news for you. You did.” His voice had gone dangerously flat. The gaze he bent on her was hard and unyielding. “Even if you didn’t mean it, I’m claiming exactly that-every last hour of every day.”

She searched his eyes; her jaw fell.

He held her gaze for a pregnant instant, then looked ahead and whisked her into the ballroom.

Jacqueline snapped her mouth shut, bit her tongue, swallowed her scream of frustration; too many pairs of eyes had fastened on them.

Setting her hand on his arm, Gerrard led her through the guests; only she was aware of his glamour, the contradiction between his outward languid elegance as he nodded to others, and the tension in the muscles beneath her fingers, the rampant possessiveness in the hand covering hers on his sleeve.

She plastered a light smile over her clenched teeth. Bloody-minded, arrogant, obstreporous man! She was only trying to make all right with his family-

It hit her. Suddenly, just like that, in the middle of Lady Sommerville’s ballroom.

The scales fell from her eyes with a resounding crash. She halted abruptly, almost swaying from the shock.

Gerrard smoothly shifted; long fingers closing about her elbow, he propelled her on. “We’re leaving.”

“Now?” A species of panic clutched at her stomach. She looked for Millicent. “But it’s not yet ten.”

“Close enough. Millicent will know we’ve left. Horatia will drive her home.”

It was a routine they’d followed for the last week, but…She needed to think. Desperately needed time to straighten her tangled thoughts.

Her frighteningly dizzying novel thoughts.

In no mood to brook any resistance, Gerrard escorted her out of the ballroom and down the stairs. In the foyer, they waited while his carriage was summoned, then he handed her in and joined her. The door was shut, the horses given the office. The carriage rattled out along the road, and they were alone, sitting side by side in the warm dark.

Teeth gritted, he held his demons down, soothed them with the fact that she was with him, beside him, unharmed, and would remain so, with him, from now on. Until he’d finished the portrait, extricated her from the web of suspicion in Cornwall-and carried her off and married her.