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Her cheeks warmed. If Lady Greentree walked into such a place, she would turn and walk straight out of it again. What had that hackney driver said to her before she sent him away? Something about this being an “academy” run by an “abbess”? The warning note in Vivianna’s head became an entire orchestra. Again she ignored it. There was no time to change her plans now. Glimpses of women’s limbs through gossamer-thin silks was irrelevant to her right now. Perhaps, she thought doubtfully, London society was more liberal when it came to female attire than that in Yorkshire.
Anyway, the fact that there were women present suited her plans; it enabled her to move about far more easily in search of her prey. With a quick glance left to right, to assure herself that no one was taking any particular notice of her, Vivianna began her journey across the room, keeping close to the wall and using draperies and green leafy plants for cover. If anyone did notice her, she thought with beating heart, they would believe her to be a gentleman’s shy spinster sister, or a maiden aunt, come down from the country to partake of the pleasures of the capital, and unused to company.
Hovering near an aspidistra, Vivianna peered about the room, seeking Montegomery’s dark and handsome visage. What if he wasn’t here in this room? This was a large house and there must be other rooms. What if she had to search them all? Again Vivianna stilled her fears. If she had to examine every inch of the place, then she would!
But she was in luck. In the next moment she spotted him, standing in a doorway off the main room. There was a woman before him, her gown constructed of some shimmering silken stuff Vivianna had never seen before, the draped bodice disclosing a great deal of bosom and the skirt cut in such a way that her lower limbs were almost completely visible. Shocked, Vivianna raised her eyes abruptly.
The pair of them were laughing, and the woman ran a finger lightly down his chest in a gesture that was teasing and yet surprisingly intimate. They drew closer, spoke briefly, and then Montegomery stepped back into the room out of sight. The woman smiled over her shoulder in that same teasing, intimate way, as she moved toward the table where champagne sat cooling in ice.
Was she fetching him a glass of champagne? As Vivianna hesitated, the woman was approached by another, older gentleman with blossoming side-whiskers, who began to engage her in conversation. She glanced back toward the doorway apologetically, and then turned a brilliant smile and her full attention upon the new arrival. Vivianna knew a chance when she saw it: a chance to beard the lion in his den.
Swiftly, Vivianna moved in a direct line toward the doorway through which Montegomery had disappeared. No time now to play at being invisible. No time to play it safe. No time…She brushed by an attractive older woman, her dark hair streaked with gray, wearing a sumptuously beaded black gown and a great number of diamonds. The woman’s startled glance was echoed by others. Vivianna’s shoulders ached with tension, and any moment she expected someone to stop her, to ask her what she thought she was doing.
It did not happen.
She reached the open door and stepped inside, closing it quickly behind her. Now I have you! Her trembling fingers found the key and turned, locking them both in.
Chapter 2
First things first: Make quite sure he cannot escape.
Vivianna removed the key from the lock and slipped it into the pocket sewn into her skirt. Only then, with a deep, sustaining breath, did she turn to face the room. It was just as elegant as the one she had left, but far more intimate. A fire crackled in a fireplace, ornaments gleamed on small, polished tables, and a very large chaise lounge was draped in scarlet silk and dotted with crimson cushions. Upon the wall was a framed painting—a Botticelli Venus—all golden hair and pink flesh.
His back to her, Lord Montegomery was standing by the uncovered windows. A tall, dark, broad-shouldered figure against the night. There was something distant about him, as if he were a man who was all alone. For a moment she hesitated, uncertain, feeling like the intruder she was.
As if sensing her gaze upon him, he turned, a half smile of welcome curving his mouth. His smile turned quizzical. He blinked deep-set eyes that were of a blue so intense and so dark they almost appeared to be black.
“I thought this was the Venus Room,” he said in a deep, deceptively sleepy voice. “You look more like Diana the Huntress.” His gaze slid over her in a leisurely fashion. “Although with far too many clothes on…”
The meaning of his words barely touched her. If she thought of them at all, Vivianna believed he was trying to be witty at her expense. There was nothing wrong with her good Yorkshire cloth. She took a step forward, hands clasped around the riding crop, her voice ringing out. “Lord Montegomery?”
His intense gaze sharpened. “Do I know you, madam?”
“No, my lord, but you will. My name is Miss Vivianna Greentree, and I am here to restore your conscience to you.”
His dark brows rose, and something shifted in his expression—as though he recognized her name. But, as that was impossible, Vivianna did not allow herself to be distracted. He took a step closer across the splendid Aubusson carpet. “My conscience?” he repeated. “Do I have one to restore? And if I did, would I want the bother of it?” His gaze flicked down to her hands and the riding crop. His lips thinned. “I am sorry, Miss Vivianna Greentree, but there seems to have been a misunderstanding. I prefer not to be beaten. Not by you or anyone else. I am a man who likes his pleasure without a sting in it.”
That was when Vivianna’s single-minded purpose began to unravel. What on earth did he mean? Who did he think she was? She blinked, opened her mouth, then closed it again. She mustn’t be side-tracked. They may be interrupted at any moment; she must present her argument while she had the chance.
She drew breath again. “My lord, I am here about the—”
“You’re new.”
“I…that is, no, I—”
There was a gleam in those dark blue eyes as once more they swept over her, taking in her cloak, and her plain wool dress with the neat lace collar. He looked at her for all the world as if she were wearing something as transparent as the women out in the other room. He walked around her—prowled around her, rather—and his mouth tilted at the corners. Warily, Vivianna turned with him, keeping him in her sight at all times—which wasn’t difficult, she told herself, when he was wearing such a garish waistcoat. Now he was considering her hair, which she knew full well was windblown and wild from the wait in Berkeley Square, and her face, flushed with righteous indignation.
And—how bizarre!—she could tell he liked the look of her. Of Vivianna Greentree, who had never sought the attentions of any man. She felt his interest like a warm wave, washing over her, as his gaze took a leisurely journey from the top of her chestnut head to the tips of her leather half-boots. His smile grew, making him appear even more like a pirate, and even more dangerous. But what amazed her most of all was her own reaction. She was unprepared for it, had never expected it, and so it took her completely by surprise.
There was confusion and anxiety, of course there was, but underneath…Vivianna felt a shiver deep inside her. It was as if Montegomery had touched her in a place no man had ever touched her before. A secret womanly place she had never known existed. Until now. Realization swept over her. Good Lord, this won’t do!
And still he prowled with an elegant grace. Like Krispen, Lady Greentree’s beloved tomcat, he had that wonderful litheness mixed with a certain smug self-assurance. Unfortunately, she did not expect Montegomery to be
quite as easy to manage as Krispen.
“Hmm, perhaps we can come to some arrangement after all,” he said.
They were clearly at cross-purposes, and Vivianna could not let it continue. “There is only one arrangement you and I can come to,” she said sharply, her voice a little strained. “You will change your mind about—”
