Page 40 of A Rake's Revenge


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“I am going to owe a big debt to Barclay for that,” Stephan said when they were well out on the lawn. “He does not care to listen to the duke rant on any more than I do.”

“Or I. It seems utterly foreign to me now that I could ever have fancied myself enamored of him.” Caroline grimaced. “I was not even that young, but I was naive enough to believe everything he said.”

Stephan glanced down. “I doubt he would have made you happy.”

“Iknowhe would not have. Amelia is more than welcome to him—and his title.” Caroline tucked her hand farther onto Stephan’s arm. “I even found myself in the rare position of defending her this morning.”

“Oh?” he asked as they walked along one of the paths that was too close to the pavilion and had too many people strolling on it for his liking. “How did that happen?”

Caroline told him of the conversation she’d had with Melanie and Jeannette as he turned onto a pathway not as well lighted. He was looking for the proverbial bush—or rose trellis—to step behind to steal a kiss when Caroline’s last words brought him up short. He frowned.

“Amelia let them think she was seduced by the Midnight Marauder?”

Caroline shook her head. “She would not even admit she was kissed, but that only started the speculation that shewas.”

Stephan smiled. “Women’s logic has always defied me.”

“It is not such a leap.” Caroline shrugged. “Amelia was rather mussed, after all.”

“She did not explain why?”

“Oh, shesaidit was because she fought him off, but…” Caroline’s voice trailed off.

“But what?”

“It is…just…that… that no one else who has been stopped by the Midnight Marauder has ever spoken of fighting him off.” Caroline swallowed. “Quite the opposite.”

Stephan bit back a grin. Was Caroline rememberingtheirkiss? He wished he could tell her that kiss had been much more than any of the other bussing he’d done. He’d always been careful to hold himself in check, only giving the debutantes a bit of naughty pleasure, not shocking them into swooning. He certainly had never taken the advances he had with Caroline. But that, too, would remain his secret. For now.

He looked around. They had wandered into the darkened areas of the gardens far from the crowd and also far enough to be suspected of doing more than finding a place to steal a kiss. Caroline had not resisted his taking this path. Perhaps she wanted her father to think Stephan had compromised her? The idea was heartening. Before Brice had come to him with Caroline’s scheme, he’d thought marriage years away, but in the past two weeks, Stephan’s feelings had grown for her. If she was comfortable being with him in this remote part of the gardens, it might mean that she had moved past the idea that his “courtship” was merely a charade to elude Tisdale. That Caroline was as attracted to Stephan as he was to her. Maybe she even was beginning tocarefor him.

Not that Stephan would actuallytakeher, although making love out in the open had its appeal. He really wanted his first time with her to be unhurried, amid clouds of feathery down in a comfortable bed, with a warm fire and perhaps a glass of wine, and no one to interrupt them for hours. Stephan gave Caroline a sideways look. If the ladies thought Amelia’s torn sleeves constituted seduction, perhapsthatcould be arranged…

“…and so I am afraid for his life,” Caroline said.

Stephan frowned. Whose life? He’d been so lost in his own fantasy, he hadn’t been listening. It wouldn’t do to admit that. “Why?” he asked cautiously, hoping she’d say the name.

Caroline gave him an exasperated look. Clearly, he should have been listening. Stephan grasped for an invisible straw. “I did say women’s logic defies me.”

She rolled her eyes at that. “George wants revenge for what happened.”

This was about George? Or Amelia’s sapphires? Hell, he’d snuck into her room just before dawn and placed the damn things where they would be found. And theywerefound. Stephan was confused. “Why would Danworth want revenge?”

Caroline sighed and then began speaking slowly as one might to a dim-witted child. “George’s pride has been stung. Even though Amelia’s sapphires were not stolen, he will still want revenge.”

“Well, he can hardly call out some bandit he does not know, can he?” Stephan grinned at Caroline. “Besides, the duke is a notoriously bad shot.”

Caroline did not return his smile. “George is not interested in a duel. He wants the Midnight Marauder hanged.”

“Boastful prattling,” Stephan said, “to make himself feel better. By Danworth’s own admission, only a few pounds were taken. Hardly anything the prince or the prime minister would agree constitutes a hanging.”

“Maybe not this time,” Caroline said, “but if the marauder continues to accost the aristocracy, he may end up dead.”

Stephan frowned again. Did Caroline actually care about that character? “He seems to have eluded authorities before. I am sure the man, whoever he is, knows to be careful.”

“I hope so.” Caroline sounded wistful. “I wish I knew how to contact him and let him know that he has now plunged into deep waters.”

Stephan’s blood heated. Their kiss must have meant as much to her as it had to him! She wouldn’t care otherwise. Then his blood chilled as quickly as it had warmed. The man Caroline cared for was theMidnight Marauder, not him. The idea to pull Caroline close and kiss her senseless—kiss her until the Midnight Marauder was only a distant, dim memory—was nearly overwhelming, but Stephan squelched the thought almost as quickly as it rose. Caroline was a passionate woman. She might react to his kiss much as she had his marauder impersonation, but that wouldn’t mean he could change how shefelt. Shecaredabout a persona that did not exist. To her, Stephan was simply filling a request to keep her from marriage to Tisdale.