The Lady Tamed by Boyd, Heather (urban books to read TXT) 📗

quiet very much. I never thought I would care for it. The country. It’s so different from anything I’ve ever known.”

Fanny stretched her hand out a little more. “I think you will not care for it when your belly is empty and your fire will not catch alight because the wood was so damp. And what of your ambition to become a leading actor on London’s greatest stage? There’s no audience to flatter your performance here. Come down from there now and attend me.”

He jumped down from the tree stump. “Every career has its challenges. But wouldn’t this make the most wonderful stage to perform upon? Can you picture it? An elevated stage set among the trees over there and bench seats dotted between the old oaks over here. Footmen with trays handing out champagne and canapes to the audience.”

“Father would never allow so many to trample through his woods.” Fanny caught his hand and tugged hard. “You and I have something important to talk about, sir. About Lord Wilks.”

His gaze fell upon her face, and a frown replaced his contented expression. “What was in that contract that everyone but me feels is scandalous?”

“I…” Fanny faltered, her cheeks heating.

He raised one brow. “Tell me?”

She shrugged. “I like to be prepared for all eventualities.”

“And by all eventualities, you mean…”

Fanny wanted the earth to open up and swallow her whole. She was certain he’d read that part of the contract, but apparently in his enthusiasm to accommodate her request to be his patron, he had not read it properly. “I considered that there might be a possibility that our continued association might lead to sharing a bed. I wrote conditions and compensations into the contract.”

He stared at her with a frown, no doubt puzzling through what she’d said. “We have shared a bed. I’ve slept with you twice now.”

“Slept. The contract goes into greater detail.” She gulped. “If we became intimate for any length of time, I imposed a limit to that relationship. I was certain you had read that passage,” she whispered when it seemed clear he really hadn’t understood at all.

“No. I did not.” He folded his arms over his chest. “So, you actually imagined that the natural course of your patronage was that I would make love to you.”

“I did consider that it could happen if we found we liked each other enough.”

“Huh,” he said. He raked his hand over his short hair, frown set in place even more firmly now. “Well. That does explain most of what Wilks said to me.”

“My brother Samuel knows, too.”

“So Thwaite stole it, Wilks tried to take advantage and bribe me with it, and your younger brother has read it too, but the duke hasn’t ordered my murder yet.” His eyes widened and he shook his head. “At least no one can prove we’ve been intimate.”

“My sister suspects I haven’t been alone in my room the last few nights. But it doesn’t matter. She won’t say a word. Thwaite has read the contract and could use it against me. I’m not sure what Wilks wants.”

“Your money.” Jeremy shook his head. “But the contract is secure in your safe with your jewels and journals again.”

“Thank heavens.” Fanny sagged against Jeremy, relieved beyond measure as she hugged him. “Thank you.”

His hand swept up her arm, his fingers moving to the back of her neck and teasing into her hair. He bent his head toward hers and whispered, “All they have is their filthy imaginations now. I highly doubt anyone would believe them on the strength of their word alone.”

“They could still cause trouble if they made a copy, which I fervently hope they did not consider.” She bit her lip and looked up at Jeremy, studying his face a moment before asking the question she most wanted confirmed. “How did you get the original contract back from them? Samuel suggested that you picked Wilks’ pocket.”

Jeremy’s hand dropped from her skin. “Did he, now? What else did Samuel say?”

“He said I should ask you for the particulars. Well?”

Jeremy took a step back and glanced sideways. Fanny had the uncomfortable feeling he was preparing to run. She put out her hand to him. “Please, we need to talk about this.”

He glanced her way, his expression shuttered. “There were good reasons I refused to talk about my past. The truth will not allow you to trust me more. In fact, it should do the opposite.”

Fanny took her time to consider everything he was not telling her. In a way, he was confirming everything. Jeremy Dawes had been, was still perhaps, a thief.

But Jeremy had been in the presence of her valuables on several occasions and she couldn’t credit that he was dangerous to her. She had not felt, nor did she feel now, that he would steal from her. In fact, his picking a pocket and a lock had been done to help her alone.

It would be irrational that she might hold that past, and his recent actions, against him in the face of the aid he’d given her. “I won’t ask you to explain now, but I will ask again.”

He looked surprised by her response.

Right then, a drop of water landed on his cheek, and he looked up with an oath tumbling from his lips.

Fanny did too, but all she saw was raindrops falling through the dark canopy and threatening to drench them if they did not move. “We must hurry back to the manor. There is a storm approaching.”

Jeremy immediately put his arm around her waist. “I’ve been rained on before, but you should certainly not be out in it.”

They turned for home, hurrying along side by side. But when they reached the edge of the forest it was clear the storm was upon them already. Rain had begun to fall in great sheets across the open field, and with such dark clouds rolling in, the rain could soon become heavier.

She turned to Jeremy before they stepped out in the worst of it, mulling over what