Page 25 of A Rake's Revenge
The prince turned a malevolent eye on the earl. “I do not like being interrupted.”
Stephan refrained from smiling when the earl’s face went white.
“Perhaps,” the prince continued, “I might have been hasty. I had assumed Miss Nash was in favor of the marriage.” He looked back to Stephan. “You are free to vie for the lady’s hand.”
It was hard to keep from gloating, although Stephan managed to do so. “Thank you, Your Highness. I look forward to that challenge.”
“So do I.” The prince smiled and then assumed a thoughtful expression. “But you will keep me informed if your fishing fleets notice any unusual activity?”
“You will be the first to know if I discover any activity I deem unusual,” Stephan said, reminding himself that there was nothingunusualabout the raids Eric carried out. They were well thought through and carried out with precision. And they had a purpose besides the obvious. Stephan would report immediately to the prince theunusual—a criminal—activity of the traitor who supplied gold to the French, if he could ferret out who it was.
“Very well,” the prince replied. “I shall be very generous with rewarding the individual who brings these pirates to justice.”
Stephan noticed Tisdale’s ears perk almost like a hound scenting his quarry. Perhaps a visit with Stephan’s captain Eric would be in order. They might need to lay low for a while. The last thing Stephan needed was to rouse the prince regent’s suspicions.
Even now, the prince was watching him a bit too intently.
Chapter Nine
Caroline wished she could be privy to the conversation going on in the banquet room after the ladies left. She was all too aware of how overtly the prince regent had been watching them…or more precisely, Stephan. She suspected the earl had snagged the prince’s ear sometime during the day, but what had he said?
On the other hand, she thought as she accepted a glass of sherry from a passing waiter,I am free of Lord Tisdale. At least for now.
“I must say, I never expected you to be such a femme fatale,” Melanie Linford said as she and Jeannette Compton walked over to where Caroline was standing. “Here you are, having two men practically ready to duel over you.”
“Dueling is frowned upon,” Caroline replied.
“Pish,” Jeannette said. “My husband heard about Lord Kendrick throwing down the gauntlet.”
“Which my father picked up immediately,” Caroline reminded her.
“That hardly matters, does it?” Melanie asked. “The challenge has been issued.”
“And it seems the prince regent is not taking any steps to block it,” Jeannette added.
Caroline didn’t want anything close to a duel to occur, but she also didn’t want the prince to insist that his approval had already been given to the earl. Stephan was already something of a black sheep in Society with that ridiculous accusation of his brother’s drowning hanging over his head. Explicit disproval from the regent could lead to Stephan being completely ostracized. Although Caroline strongly suspected Stephan wouldn’t care one whit about invitations—or no invitations—to Society events, he still had a responsibility of maintaining his title as the Marquis of Kendrick. She could not blame him if he chose to disengage. This whole thing was a charade.
“It is all rather exciting,” Melanie put in before Caroline could respond. “Who would have thought the elusive marquis would suddenly want to get married? He is practically a recluse.”
“But a handsome one,” Jeannette said, “although he does have a rather wild look with that long, dark hair and those ebony eyes.”
“Almost dangerous looking, I think,” Melanie twittered. “How did you ever attract him, Caroline?”
She supposed she should be insulted by such a remark, but given the speaker, she simply smiled while rapidly searching her mind for an answer. That Brice had persuaded Stephan toactinterested was certainly not the correct answer. That Stephan was suddenly bowled over by her wasn’t the right answer, either. She was no classical beauty, and she was hardly a sultry seductress. “I really cannot say.”
Melanie and Jeannette exchanged glances and then Melanie tapped her closed fan on Caroline’s arm. “You naughty girl. What have you done?”
Good lord. She hadn’t wanted to sound mysterious. Caroline bit back a groan. She absolutely did not need gossip going about that she had been involved in something scandalous with Stephan. That would put the parson’s noose around the marquis’s neck, and the man was only trying to help her. Forcing him to actually marry her would be the worst kind of repayment.
Although, part of her couldn’t help wishing—no,wondering—what it would be like if Stephan really had feelings for her when he’d thrown down the gauntlet. She wasn’t a simpering, silly debutante—George’s rejection had killed any illusions she had of knights in shining armor, but maybe she did have a tiny romantic streak still alive. And she did remember the kiss Stephan quite deliberately placed on her palm when he’d made his intentions known. The “intentions” were fabricated, of course, but the kiss had not been. Most definitely, it had been arealkiss. His firm lips pressing while his warm tongue teased. Just thinking about it sent delicious little tingles up her arm. What would it be like to actually have that skilled mouth covering hers? Would it be as exciting as the Midnight Marauder’s had been?
Jeannette gave her a sharp look. “You are blushing. Youarehiding something!”
“No!” Caroline said quickly when she realized she’d been standing there like a moonstruck calf absorbed in her little fantasy. Drat it all. “Not at all. I simply do not know what to say.”
“You are not a good liar.” Jeannette snapped open her fan. “We will ferret the truth out of you eventually.”
“Of course, it does not hurt to play coy,” Melanie said and opened her own fan. “I will say, though, that you caught all of us by surprise, having two eligible men vying quite seriously for your hand.”
