The Rake's Proposal

“You didn’t find him.”

“I hardly expected to. These things happen all the time and the culprits rarely get apprehended. I notified the authorities while I was out, however, and they’re also looking for Owens. I’m certain he’ll turn up soon.”

Kate hoped so. It would be entirely her fault if Owens were injured. She was quiet for a moment, thinking of the potential consequences of her unwillingness to tell her brother her concerns about Andrew Hilton. “Do you reckon he was a highwayman? Perhaps he was just waiting to get me out of town so he could rob me in peace.”

“I suppose it’s possible, although he was taking you in the wrong direction to do that. It also seems like an awfully big risk to take for a simple robbery, abducting you right in front of the Bannisters’. Any number of people could have witnessed it.”

Kate nodded, unable to speak as her worst fear began to crystallize in her mind. Perhaps it wasn’t just a robbery…

She rose to pour herself a drink from the side table, anxious to occupy her shaking hands.

“So, it makes me wonder, Miss Sutcliff.”

“Yes?”

“Do you have any enemies?”

Kate never felt herself hit the floor. All she knew was that she suddenly found herself lying on the sofa, her head propped up on a pile of soft pillows. She felt something warm by her side and lifted her head to look, only to find Ben, seated next to her, watching her revive.

“How are you feeling, Sleeping Beauty?”

Kate was feeling like she was no longer safe in London, and she was realizing for the first time that Andrew Hilton might be a real threat rather than just an annoyance. Although he could be unpleasant, she’d always considered him to be a bit of a coward. She never would have expected he’d try to hurt her. But what if he did?

“Kate? How do you feel?”

“Pretty dreadful. What happened?”

“You fainted.”

“Rubbish.”

Ben smiled, giving the impression of infinite patience, although he was feeling anything but. Every muscle in his body was tense, and had been since the moment he’d pulled her from the carriage.

“Of course you didn’t faint. How silly of me. I’m sorry if I frightened you…I was only jesting about the enemy bit. I was actually trying to lighten the mood. I’m sure it was just a highwayman—probably not a very clever one, but…”

“Yes, I’m sure you’re right.”

He could sense that she didn’t want to revisit the subject, so he changed it. “Are you ready to go home now?”

“I think so.” She sat up a bit too quickly, and a wave of dizziness washed over her again.

“Easy now. Take your time.” He put a steadying arm around her shoulders as he said these words, and she found that it actually helped. She took a deep, calming breath and carefully placed her feet on the floor.

“I think I can make it on my own from here. Thank you.” She glanced up at his face to reassure him that she was fine, and for the second time that evening wished she hadn’t. His eyes had darkened once again, becoming that deep, smoldering brown that ignited every one of her senses and left a trail of heat as they roamed over her body.

Kate knew that she’d already lost. As Ben leaned down to kiss her, she raised her hands to his chest, intending to push him away. But the second her hands reached him, all thoughts of protest vanished. She was powerless to say yes or no, and instead of pushing him away, she found herself pulling him closer, relishing the feel of his hardness, his heat. Her eyes closed, and as his lips settled over hers, she felt drunk with sensation.

This second kiss differed from the first, which had been so fleeting, so abrupt. This kiss was softer, slower—painfully slow, and yet so pleasurable. Kate gasped for breath as Ben gently tugged at her lower lip with his teeth, urging her without words to open her mouth. She was more than happy to oblige, eager, in fact, to taste him more fully. When his tongue entered her mouth, she met it with her own, her inexperience overcome by passion and instinct. When Ben’s hands moved down her body, stopping at the firm, round peaks of her breasts, she didn’t even notice. He laid her down on the sofa, sliding between her legs and grabbing her buttocks to press her against his hardness. Kate didn’t think to object, and wouldn’t have had the will to do so anyway. All she knew was the burning need she felt, deep down inside, a sweet throbbing that she couldn’t begin to comprehend. She moaned.

That moan was Ben’s undoing. He dragged himself off her, cursing as he looked down into her desire-clouded eyes and swollen lips. Damn. Where the bloody hell was his control? Here he was, seconds from making love to his best friend’s sister on a sofa in a gaming house, for God’s sake. After the girl had nearly been abducted, no less. Ben knew he was no saint, but it wasn’t like him to take such advantage of an innocent. She had been distraught, and he had enough experience to tamp down his desire, no matter how powerful it was.

“Kate. We have to stop. I have to take you home.” He didn’t add that stopping was one of the hardest things that he’d ever had to do. He just waited, watching her violet eyes slowly focus and reason reenter her body.

Kate only nodded, too embarrassed to speak. She sat up slowly, putting enough space between them so she could think. She knew that if Ben hadn’t pulled away, she wouldn’t have been the one to stop. When he held her in his arms, her common sense vanished, and her actions were ruled by pure sensation. What must he think of her, to have lost such control? She could only guess: a provincial miss, swooning every time he looked in her direction.

“Kate?”

“Yes?”

“I’m sorry, you know. That wasn’t very well done of me. I usually demonstrate a bit more restraint.” His eyes smiled as he said this, but for once his smile was not at her expense. He seemed truly apologetic, and his admission helped put her at ease. So he lost control, too, eh?

“I am usually more restrained myself,” she replied with mock solemnity.

“Usually? My, my, I had no idea you found yourself in this position so often,” he retorted, enjoying the color that returned to her cheeks. “Come. It’s time to go. My driver should be back by now.”

Ben helped Kate rise from the sofa, and waited in silence as she donned her pelisse. He pulled his watch from his pocket and swore silently. It was nearly five o’clock in the morning, and Rob’s servants were bound to be stirring by the time they reached the town house.

“You know, Lord Sinclair, you never answered my question.”

“I think it’s all right if you call me by my Christian name, Kate.”

She blushed, feeling foolish once more. “Benjamin.”

“Ben will do. Now what was your question?”

“Where are we?”

“Where are we?” he repeated, looking her over distractedly. “Here—draw your hood a bit tighter.”

“Why? And why won’t you answer my question?”

“I’ll answer both questions, m’dear. First, we’re in a gaming house, and second, I reckon you’d rather not be recognized on our way out.” He didn’t add that the upper floors of the house occasionally served as a brothel as well.

“We’re in a…a house of ill repute?” Kate was completely shocked and, she had to admit, more than a little bit delighted. This was an evening of firsts. She began scanning the room avidly, trying to absorb as many details as possible.

“You needn’t look so pleased about it,” Ben said wryly, glancing over his shoulder as he opened the door and perused the hallway for passersby.

“There can’t be anyone here who’d recognize me,” she protested.

“You’d be surprised. Let’s go,” he said, grabbing her hand and pulling her into the hall.

Either the night was too late or the morning was too early—Kate wasn’t quite sure how to make the distinction—but there didn’t seem to be a soul about. Her mischievous side began to surface.

“My, that’s quite a painting,” she said, pausing to point at a large-scale portrait of a reclining nude. “The artist has captured her…red hair…most effectively.”

“Time is of the essence, Kate.”

“Of course.” She kept walking, but wasn’t about to let her one and only visit to such a place end so quickly. Curiosity also got the best of her.

“Um…so what were you doing in a house of ill repute?”

“Certainly not what I came here to do.”

“Oh.” She didn’t ask for clarification. She could only imagine what sorts of nefarious activities her presence had interrupted, and wasn’t quite sure how she felt about it.

Ben smiled to himself, hoping to have shut her up with that remark. Fine time for her to start getting chatty. If they wasted any more time leaving, it would be daylight before they reached Rob’s.

After descending a wide staircase, they approached the door. A butler opened it, and Kate paused to give him a thorough once-over, noting that he looked more like a pugilist than a butler. Ben prompted her with a yank, and they were out in the cold once more, the dark sky just beginning to give way to the first pink traces of dawn. Thankfully, his carriage was waiting. His coachman alighted and opened the door, but before Kate could thank him, Ben unceremoniously hoisted her off the ground and tossed her into the carriage.

“Take us to Lord Gordon’s, Winters, and hurry, please.”

“Yes, my lord.”

Ben climbed into the carriage and settled into his seat. Winters shut the door, enveloping his passengers in total darkness. Not dark enough, unfortunately, for Ben to miss the sullen glare Kate turned on him. He chose to ignore it, however, and closed his eyes, hoping to fall asleep in the twenty minutes it would take to reach Robert’s house.

Kate watched him, too wide-awake herself even to think about sleep. She was annoyed with his treatment of her, but was not above admitting that perhaps she deserved it. There was a time for cheekiness, and now, apparently, was not it.

Nevertheless, she huffed loudly, hoping that he would open at least one eye. But as that elicited no response, she decided to change tactics.

“Ben?” she asked softly.

He cracked open an eye, pleased at the way his name sounded when she said it. He hadn’t really been sleeping; like Kate, he was far too tense to contemplate rest seriously. But he knew that his composure would bother her, assumed though it may have been. And for some reason, he felt like bothering her.

“Ben, what happened to my carriage?”

“While he was waiting for us, Winters brought it round to Robert’s. It should be tucked neatly into his carriage house by now…there’s a slim chance that it will have arrived before your brother returned home, and in that case nothing will have appeared amiss.”

Kate nodded uncertainly. “I told my maid not to wait up for me, and none of the other servants were to wait up either…I suppose there is a chance that no one will have missed me.”

Ben hoped to God that this was the case. He had visions of Robert running his hands through his hair, pacing, and polishing his pistols as he frantically waited for his sister to return. He could only imagine what Robert would think when she finally showed up with him.

The carriage rattled along for another ten minutes, then slowed to a stop in front of the town house. Kate peered out of the window, noting that there seemed to be an unusual number of lights burning in the windows. Her hopes began to sink.

“Will you tell him?” she asked, turning around and pleading with her eyes.

“He’ll certainly need to be apprised.”

“I understand. But will you tell him everything?”

Ben shook his head, finally understanding the true nature of her question. “I’m sure he’d rather not know everything, nor do I care to inform him. We’ll tell him only what we must, all right?”

She nodded, wondering how she’d get out of this fix. Truth be told, she’d be happier if Robert didn’t know anything about the evening at all. He’d only start asking the same questions that Ben had, wondering why anyone would go to such lengths for a simple robbery. But at the same time, she wanted to stay safe…oh, there was no easy answer.

Winters opened the carriage door, and Kate steeled herself for a very long walk to her brother’s front door.

Kate had resigned herself to meeting her brother at the front door. She was not prepared, however, to have the door opened by Robert, his friend Frederick Northing and Charlotte. Just beyond them, sprawled out in a chair, was Charlotte’s father, the Earl of Tyndale. Charlotte’s chaperone, Kate supposed. Apparently her brother felt he might need reinforcements.

“Where the hell have you been?” Robert barked.

Kate had never heard her jovial brother speak in such a tone—not even when, at the tender age of eight, she’d glued the soles of his riding boots to his bedroom floor. She felt immediately guilty. It wasn’t her fault that she’d nearly been abducted, but she had taken her sweet time getting back home. She opened her mouth to reassure him of her safety, but it was at this moment that he spotted Ben standing beside her.

“You bloody bastard!”

Before Kate knew what was happening, Robert leaped out the door to tackle Ben, and the two of them ended up rolling round in the front lawn, fists flying.

“Robert! Robbie! Stop—you don’t understand!” Her pleas had no effect as Robert took another swing at Ben, who retaliated by planting his fist in her brother’s stomach.

She turned to Frederick to plead, “Can you make them stop?”

“Why would I want to do that? Seems justified if you ask me.”

“Charlotte?” Kate’s face was desperate as she turned to her brother’s fiancée, not fathoming how the petite girl could possibly stop the two large men from maiming each other. “Charlotte, please make them stop, if you can. Ben did nothing wrong—he saved my life.”

Charlotte considered this for a moment, and then nodded and turned to Robert. Without raising her voice, she said, “Robert…Robert…you have to stop. Kate needs you to listen.”

He looked up at her, giving Ben enough time to shove him off and pin him down to the ground.

“Oh, no! Don’t you start being unreasonable, Benjamin Sinclair! Get off him!” Charlotte was truly angry now and added emphasis to her words by grabbing the nearest object, a book, and hurling it at Ben’s head with all her might. Luckily for his already tender head, she missed, but the noise of the book hitting the ground was deafening.

Kate was the first to break the stunned silence. “Well, Charlotte, I didn’t suppose that you really would be able to stop them. Appears I underestimated you.”

Charlotte smoothed her gown and tucked a strand of dark hair behind her ear, serenity, dignity and composure restored. “Yes, you did. Now first things first—are you all right, Kate? Tell us what happened. And you,” she said, fixing Ben with an imperious glare as he rose from the ground, “don’t interrupt.”

Ben nodded curtly, although he and Robert continued to glower at each other, and Kate began to answer questions.

Chapter Six

I t was about two o’clock in the afternoon when Kate finally awoke and made her way downstairs. Only Robert was in the breakfast room, drinking a cup of tea and perusing the paper. Upon seeing his sister, he put the paper down, smiling gently. Clearly he’d been waiting for her.

“How are you doing this morning…er, afternoon?”

“Well as can be expected,” she replied briefly, feeling deeply uncomfortable. She didn’t want to discuss her late-night activities again, so rather than answering Robert’s question in detail, she walked to the side table and began heaping her plate with more food than she could possibly eat. She stretched this activity out for over a minute, hoping the topic of conversation would have passed into more pleasant territory by the time she sat down.

But when she finally turned around, her brother was still looking at her. He was simply too perceptive. “Do you want to tell me what happened between you two? And don’t try to tell me that nothing happened—I know Ben too well to believe that. Only a fool would miss the way you two were looking at each other.”

“Nothing happened, really,” she mumbled, coloring intensely as she took her seat.

“Listen, Katie, you have nothing to feel ashamed about. You hardly asked to be carried off. It wasn’t your fault that you ended up…where you ended up. Sinclair should never have brought you in there. He should have taken you home right away.”

“Well, he did, all right? I…I fainted and had to recover.”

Kate was being evasive, and she knew that Robert was well aware of that fact. She didn’t care. She was not going to go into any details with her brother. She had some pride left.

He just shrugged, knowing he wouldn’t be able to get any more out of her than that. “Would you like to know what I’ve been doing this morning?”

She nodded eagerly, hoping he had good news to report.

“I found Owens…well, one of the grooms found him anyway. Poor chap was trussed up and locked in a closet in the carriage house. Don’t worry,” he held up his hand to still her questions, “he’s fine. Just a little bit bruised.”

“Why, that’s brilliant news! I’ve been so worried!”

“It’s good news for Owens, but it complicates things. You see, if he’d been found at the Bannisters’, or in their vicinity, then we could safely assume that this was a random crime. Thieves have been known to prey on the carriages at ton parties, so this wouldn’t be that unusual. The thief would have given Owens a good rap on the head, hid him in the bushes and got on with it.”

“But because Owens was found in our carriage house, that means that whoever did this was near our house, and might know where we live. He must have driven me to the party, too…is it possible I wouldn’t have noticed?”

“Well, it would seem so. Your mind was probably on other things. But I don’t want to alarm you, Katie. I don’t think anyone is trying to hurt you, or us, specifically. He probably saw our carriages getting ready for an evening out and assumed that we had well-lined pockets.”

“Surely he would have robbed me en route rather than waiting around all night?”

“Well…there weren’t many people around to witness the abduction so early in the morning, were there? That wouldn’t have been the case if he’d tried to rob you on the way to the ball.”

“I suppose.”

“Still, though, it’s a bit chilling to think of someone lurking about my carriage house like that. Unfortunately, Owens didn’t get a look at his face.”

Kate nodded, her own flesh crawling at the thought. She’d definitely been distracted when she’d left for the party, fretting about whether she would see Ben and how to react if she did. It was perfectly conceivable that she simply hadn’t noticed who was driving the carriage. “We should notify the authorities, I suppose.”

He nodded his head. “Yes, I will…but I think I should do it alone. I want your name to stay out of this ordeal. The damage it could do to your reputation, especially if your…um, late-night excursion became known, would be irreparable. I’m certain it was no more than a misconceived robbery. We’ll tell them only what we must and be very careful with ourselves for the next few days.”

She nodded slowly, wondering if she should confess her suspicions about Andrew Hilton. In the end, she held back, hoping that Robert was right. His explanation seemed reasonable enough, and if she weren’t already suspicious, she’d assume no more herself. Mentally laying the subject to rest, she said, “Well, I suppose there’s little else we can do. No sense in dwelling on it.”

“Said like a true Sutcliff.”

“What are your plans for the day?”

“Thought I’d try out my new curricle…I’ve been meaning to take Charlotte for a drive in the park, but the weather’s been so abysmal lately. Did you notice the sun?”

Kate looked out the window. The sky was blue and cloudless, and sunlight streamed into the breakfast room. It looked glorious, and frankly, no, she hadn’t even noticed.

“It does look beautiful,” she said wistfully.

“I’d invite you along, sister dear, but…well, you understand. It’s bad enough that her lady’s maid has to come along.” He paused and grinned unabashedly when Kate sniffed in distaste. She had no problem understanding her brother. “Perhaps you can dredge up a suitor to take you out,” he suggested mischievously.

“I have correspondence to attend to, thank you, and I don’t have any suitors,” she gritted out through her teeth. Her brother was being altogether too cheerful.

“I suppose, then, that you wouldn’t be interested in the roses you received just this morning—”

“No.”

“Don’t you even want to see who they’re from?”

“Hang him, whoever he is.” They could only be from Philip Bannister, and she just couldn’t get excited about that prospect.

“I see. Mind if I give them to Charlotte? Hate to see them go to waste.”

“Go right ahead,” Kate said, “although it’s not so romantic, you know, giving your lady fair someone else’s flowers.”

“Charlotte is a practical girl. She’ll understand. That’s why we get on so well.”

“You? Practical?” Kate asked with a smile as she rose from the table. “I’m not so sure if I agree, but if you prefer to think so, then go right ahead.”

She turned to make her exit, satisfied with her patronizing tone. When she reached the door she turned again, hoping to get in one last jab at Robert. But it was too late—his spoon was at the ready, loaded with half a buttered crumpet. He cocked it back and fired, sending her running from the room with a squeal. The crumpet hit the door just as she closed it behind her.

Robert grinned smugly. He rose from his seat, picked up his gloves and headed for the front door. On his way out, he grabbed the large bouquet of white roses and plucked the note from them. Without reading it, he placed it on the table by the door and left.

Two minutes later, Mary entered. She had planned on bringing the flowers to Kate’s room and frowned at their absence. All that remained on the table was a small envelope. She picked it up.

Mary knew she shouldn’t. She really did. But she slipped her finger under the seal, opened the note, and read it anyway. Her eyes grew wide and a pleased smile touched her lips.

She put the note into her pocket and left the hall with a renewed spring to her step.

The drive through Hyde Park was largely silent. Charlotte was too tired from the previous night’s escapade to speak much, and Robert was brooding. At least he’d managed to convince her maid to sit outside, next to his driver, leaving him alone inside the carriage with Charlotte. That should have made things all right.

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