“Of course, your kind would expect you to adhere to all the conventions.” She sensed a hint of disdain in his tone, and wondered at it. An unpleasant flash of disquiet darted through her.
When he went on, she momentarily forgot that faint unease. “I accept your offer. I will watch over you and make certain that no harm is done to you while you find a husband. In return, you will introduce me to the people who can help me find my child.”
She nodded. “It is agreed.”
Yet now that they had settled on it, Victoria could not dismiss the tickling feeling of apprehension that lingered as she looked at him. He was watching her, as well, and she had to force herself not to look away from the intensity of his gaze. It was as though he were searching, trying to see if there was something about her that did not please him.
The mere idea of such a thing rankled, but Victoria did not remark on her suspicions, as she had no reason for them. When she went over his actual words in her mind, there was nothing in them to cause her worry.
The sea captain had been nothing but gallant in his rescue of her, a perfect stranger. But the notion that something was wrong could not be totally dismissed, no matter how she told herself that she was being absurd.
Determinedly Victoria pushed her anxiety down, far into the recesses of her mind. She had found a solution to her problems in meeting Jedidiah McBride and was now reacting to him in this way because it put off her real cause for concern—that of finding a husband who would care for her and her father’s estates as they should be.
Victoria had no illusions about love. That was not something she expected or even hoped to find. The oftlauded excitement and fulfillment of that emotion were not for her.
Duty and responsibility must stand in their stead. Then she realized that even as she told herself this, her gaze had strayed quite unaccountably to the handsome stranger who now sat silent on the other side of the carriage.
Jedidiah opened his eyes and surveyed the elaborately corniced ceiling with a strange sense of displacement. He reared straight up in the huge four-poster bed. As he took in the blue-paneled walls, the heavy oak furniture and the long brocade curtains at the tall windows, the events of the previous night all came back to him in a rush of memory.
He was at Briarwood. The name of the sprawling mansion had been supplied to him by the liveried manservant who had seen him to his room. Even in the soft glow of the moonlight, Jed had been able to recognize that Victoria’s three-story sandstone manor house was remarkable in size and structure. The main section was decorated by heavy cornice and sculpted window frames. It was flanked by two equally impressive wings that jutted backward over luxurious lawns. He realized that Victoria’s house must certainly rival any of those owned by the queen herself.
Lady Victoria’s manor house, he reminded himself as he threw back the covers, then strode across the room to take up his pants from the beige-striped satin chair where he had left them. He would be wise to keep things on a formal footing between himself and the beguiling mistress of Briarwood manor. When he agreed to protect the woman until she found herself a husband, he’d had no idea what he was getting himself into.
She’d said her father had been a duke, and Jed knew that having a title meant something significant here in England. But, being American, he had not been completely cognizant of the implications of the term.
Seeing the house, the liveried servants, the sheer grandeur of the manor’s interior, which had been obvious even in the dim glow of the candles that lit the way last night, Jed understood that he had stepped into deep water. He had the feeling Victoria Thorn was someone at the very height of her social class. This realization did not please him in any way. Because of what he had agreed to do, he would be forced to mingle with the most arrogant and useless members of English society. In his experience, the more important the wealthy and highly placed felt, the more thoughtless and ignorant they were.
He wanted to find Victoria Thorn and tell her that he’d changed his mind, that she hadn’t made the situation clear. But he knew he wouldn’t do that. He’d given his word, and that was that.
What he could do was get on with the business of getting her married as quickly as possible. Once he helped Lady Victoria find herself a suitable husband, then located Nina, he would be on his way with his son. With that thought firmly fixed in his mind, Jed held out his pants in preparation for stepping into them.
At that same moment, there was a soft scratching at the bedroom door. He looked toward it, then down at his own bare length, with a frown of discomfiture. He called out, “Wait one-”
The door swung open.
A female, obviously a serving woman, judging by her dress and the fact that she held a wide silver tray in her hands, stood in the opening. Behind her, her eyes going wide even as a dark flush rose up to stain her cheeks, was none other than Lady Victoria herself.
Jed hurried to cover himself, but not before he took note of the fact that Lady Victoria’s wide gray gaze came to light on that most male part of him. Even though the expression of curious wonder and amazement in those eyes was short-lived and quickly replaced by shock, his body’s reaction was immediate and unwelcome. He told himself that the forced celibacy of the ocean crossing was the reason for his physical response. It had nothing at all to do with the unseemly fascination in that fleeting glance.
To his further dismay, Jed felt the heat of a blush rise up to color his own cheeks. He had no memory of the last time he had blushed at anything, let alone at having a woman see him without his pants on.
Determinedly he clutched his pants tightly to him, hoping he had moved quickly enough to keep the lady from seeing the evidence of his arousal. He was fairly certain she had never beheld a man in the buff before.
What she might make of it, he had no idea. Judging from her behavior last night, Victoria was not like the women he had known of her class. Her mature manner, undeniable courage, and poise in the face of nearly being kidnapped were proof of that. But he would be willing to bet that she was completely innocent in the carnal sense.
Yet what could he do? Jed looked into her face, quirking a brow as he shrugged. “Is there something I can do for you?” This seemed to at last bring her out of her dazed state.
“Oh, dear,” she muttered, raising her hand to cover her mouth, then turning her back to him. “Please forgive me. I had no idea. I did not consider…Clara and I will leave you alone now.”
Jed’s gaze went to Clara, who was watching him with unconcealed appreciation in her blue eyes. For some reason, he had forgotten the maid, who he now saw was quite attractive, with her golden-blond hair peeking out from beneath her mobcap to curl around her fine features. To his surprise, he felt no pleasure in seeing her appreciative reaction to him, only indifference.
This caused him to scowl anew, though he was not prepared to question the cause of his disinterest.
Victoria Thorn spoke again, drawing his attention to her. The rigid line of her slender back was not alleviated by the soft yellow fabric of the gown she wore. “I will await you in the drawing room. The footman at the bottom of the stairs will direct you.”
With that, she grabbed an arm of the obviously reluctant Clara and left without even shutting the door. As Jed moved to close it, he saw the servant throw one last peep over her left shoulder. He slammed the tall oak portal, then leaned back against it as he drew on his pants.
It was only a few minutes later that Jed left the room and made his way down the wide hallway, with growing discomfort. Last night he had had the vague impression of high ceilings and thick