Part 21 (1/2)

Xanthia smiled. ”In any case, I do hear her say things to him sometimes. Oddly suggestive things-when she thinks no one is listening.”

”Mrs. Ambrose and your brother make a dangerous pair,” said Nash.

Xanthia had risen from her chair, and circled behind Nash. ”Do you think we make a dangerous pair?” she asked him, bending low over his shoulder.

He looked up at her, his gaze suspicious. ”At the moment, my dear, you strike me as the most dangerous woman I know.”

Xanthia ran her hands over his shoulder, and down his chest. The fine lawn of his s.h.i.+rt was soft, but the muscles beneath were warm and firm. ”I must go soon,” she said. Lightly, she trailed her tongue around the sh.e.l.l of his ear. ”But I should hate us to waste that fruit. Why do we not take it upstairs?”

Wordlessly, he rose, and s.n.a.t.c.hed the bowl from the table.

Xanthia awoke in Nash's embrace some hours later, sated and sore from his languorous lovemaking. The fruit was gone, and most of the hibiscus petals had wilted. Only the br.i.m.m.i.n.g vases remained to remind her of Nash's romantic gesture.

Nash lay on his back, breathing deeply. She wondered at the time. Late-very late, she was sure, but the lamp was turned so low, she could not see the mantel clock. With great care, she eased herself from his arms, and sat up on the edge of the bed. She dragged the hair from her face and looked at the untidy pile of clothing she had left on his chair. It was imperative she be home before the servants stirred.

With one eye on the bed, she dressed, then carefully tucked two letters inside her pocket. She had found them in his escritoire. They were not franked, and the darkened folds suggested that perhaps they had traveled far. She hoped they would not be missed-and that she would soon have an opportunity to replace them.

She had seen another, larger desk in the library. On her way out, she meant to have a careful look at it. If it yielded nothing to prove Nash's innocence, then that was it. She was done-and she meant to tell Mr. Kemble so at her first opportunity-tonight, if she caught him skulking home behind her.

Xanthia was beginning to rue the vow of secrecy she had given de Vendenheim. At this point, her word of honor was the only thing which kept her from simply telling Nash the truth-that the Government suspected him of being a traitor. Dear G.o.d, how awful that sounded! How could she bring herself to say the words? And what would he say in return?

From the outset, she had been intrigued by Nash, and Lord de Vendenheim's cloak-and-dagger business had served only to inflame that intrigue. The chaos which de Vendenheim had described-the disruption to England's trade routes and the economic ruin which might follow-had deeply concerned her, yes. But perhaps, in the dark reaches of her mind, she had simply been searching for an excuse to seek Nash out.

In any case, her suspicion about his guilt had slowly turned to a certainty of his innocence. And somehow, Xanthia had come to believe his innocence would be easily proven-naive of her, she now realized, given the complexities of this case. Had she foolishly imagined that she would simply hand de Vendenheim some tidbit of exoneration, and he would go haring off in search of other quarry? Certainly she had not imagined that she would fall desperately in love with Lord Nash.

Dear heaven! Had she? Had she fallen in love with him?

Xanthia closed her eyes. Lord, what a fool she was. And what a reckless intrigue she had got herself mixed up in.

She could not resist one last look over her shoulder before slipping out the door. Nash had the bedsheet thrown over one leg, but the rest of him could be seen in all his masculine glory by the flickering lamplight. She could still make out the solid rise and fall of his chest, the dark tangle of curls about his half-erect manhood, and the stubble of beard, which had already begun to shadow his lean cheeks. He was a beautiful, virile male-and Xanthia was suddenly grateful that he had chosen to take her to his bed.

Softly, she closed the door and felt her way down the stairs. The sconces had long ago burnt out, and in the library, all was darkness. With hands which shook, she managed to light a lamp on one of the reading tables, and carry it to the desk without incident. Gingerly, she drew open the top drawer. Nothing was locked. The ridiculousness of it struck her yet again. Would a gunrunner and a traitor leave his desk unlocked?

Of course not. But Xanthia poked hastily through it, swallowing down her anxiety, and finding little of interest save for a teetering pile of business correspondence, which included eight notes of hand-gaming debts, she supposed. And none of it was hidden, but rather, heaped in a wooden box on the desktop.

She was bending down to pull out the last drawer when a beam of light cut silently across the desk. Her heart in her throat, Xanthia jerked up, blinking against the brightness, which hovered in the doorway. ”Xanthia?”

”Yes?” She closed the cracked drawer with her toe. ”Nash? Is that you?”

He approached the desk wearing the ivory silk dressing gown, his lamp held high. ”Xanthia, what are you doing?”

”Doing?” she echoed. ”I-well-I am writing you a note. Or that is to say, I was going to write you a note-to-to say that I had to go. Home. But there seems to be no letter paper.”

His eyes never leaving hers, Nash bent down, then slowly drew open the top drawer. A stack of white foolscap glowed pallidly in the lamplight.

”Oh!” she said. ”Oh, how foolish of me. There it is.”

Nash set down the lamp a little roughly. The flame cast eerie shadows up his face, hardening his jaw, and emphasizing the hollows of his face. ”Xanthia,” he said quietly. ”Xanthia, how could you?”

Nausea welled in her throat. ”Well, I th-thought that there would be letter paper,” she lied. ”Honestly, Nash.”

”After the evening we shared...” he began. Then his words fell away.

”Nash,” she said sharply. ”Oh, Nash, I am sorry. I-I can explain. Truly.”

”Well, I think the very least you could do,” he said bitterly, ”would be to wake me and kiss me good-bye.”

”To-to kiss you?”

”What would you think, my dear, if you woke to find me missing from your bed after a night of incomparable pa.s.sion?” he asked. ”Would you say-'Oh, I daresay he left a note in the library! That shall do very nicely!'-And then just roll over and go back to sleep?”

”N-No.” She clasped her hands, and bit her lip.

He set his hands on her upper arms. ”Xanthia, this...this is just an affaire,” he said. ”I know that. But it is more than that, too, isn't it? Do we not have...a friends.h.i.+p? At the very least?”

She dived into his arms. ”Yes, of course we do,” she said, setting her temple to his strong shoulder. But I needed to ransack your private papers first.

Dear G.o.d, how dreadful that sounded! What was she thinking? What kind of person was she?

She drew back and let her eyes drift over his harsh, handsome face. ”Nash, my dear,” she said. ”It was thoughtless of me. I-I adore you. Haven't I made a fool of myself proving it? But you have a score of women to choose from. Surely...surely you would not lose sleep over me?”

He took hold of her shoulders a little harshly. ”I have one woman,” he said roughly. Then there was a hitch-a hesitation in his tone-as if he was just now thinking it through. ”One woman, at present, and that would be you, Zee. And whilst this...this very delightful affaire continues, there will be no one else. For either of us. Is that clear?”

”Yes, my lord,” she said softly.

He tilted his head, one eye narrowing. ”And if you ever disappear like that on me again, Zee, so help me-”

She covered his mouth with hers, cutting off his words.

”I won't,” she said, when their lips parted several moments later. ”I promise. I won't do it ever again.”

He stepped back, lifted her hand, and kissed it in an elegant, old-fas.h.i.+oned gesture. ”Zee, I wish you to do something else for me,” he said. ”Will you?”

”Yes, I would do anything, I think,” she said.

He smiled. ”This is an easy thing.”

”Then I shall certainly do it.”

Nash hesitated for a moment. ”I just wish you to call me by my name,” he finally said. ”Just...Stefan. No one does anymore-well, almost no one. But, once in a while, I like to hear it. It reminds me, I think, that I am something more than just this English t.i.tle.”

She smiled, and wrapped her arms around his neck. ”Then Stefan it is,” she murmured. ”Now you must do something for me.”

”Anything.”

”Kiss me good night again...Stefan.”