The Reluctant Reformer

  James hesitated briefly, then met her gaze. "You have exposed a rather dastardly character or two with your artic--" His mouth snapped closed as Maggie's horrified gaze shot to the curious hack driver. He cleared his throat, then smiled widely at the man.

  "We would like to thank you for your assistance in this matter, Mr. Lawrence. It was kind of you to bring Maggie to us. I realize we are taking you away from your business though."

  Gripping the hack driver's arm, he led him toward the door.

  Maggie watched them go and was sure she saw Lord Ramsey hand the man some money as they went. Wondering how she was to find out how much and replace it--she didn't want to be beholden to James for any reason--she slid her feet to the floor and sat up gingerly.

  "Oh, my lady, maybe you should stay lying down for now," the butler Lord Ramsey had called Meeks exclaimed, catching the damp cloth as it slid from her forehead.

  Forcing a smile, she started to shake her head, then breathed in sharply and hesitated. Perhaps the man was right.

  "That's it," the butler said with relief as she sank back down. She glimpsed him dipping the cloth in the bowl of water, then closed her eyes. She heard him wringing it out and raised a hand self-consciously to her forehead, wincing as she brushed the lump forming there. She had barely removed her hand when the cloth was laid in place.

  Opening her eyes, she glanced at Meeks, noting that his gaze had moved down her body with a small frown. Lifting her head the tiniest bit, she followed his eyes the length of her gown. She, too, grimaced in dismay. Her head wasn't he only thing that had been damaged in the fall; her gown was ripped and covered with filth. It had been her best gown, but was now quite ruined. With the one Frances had ripped off of Maisey, her wardrobe was dwindling at a rather rapid rate.

  "My lady has a tincture for headaches," the butler announced, drawing Maggie's attention away from her disrepair. "Would you take some if I got it for you?"

  "I...Yes, I think I should be very grateful for it," she murmured. Her head really was throbbing rather fiercely. She could hardly think through the pain.

  "I shall be right back, then," he assured her. She heard a rustle indicating he had left. In the quiet that closed in around her, Maggie could hear the murmur of voices from somewhere outside. She supposed it was Lord Ramsey talking to the coachman, grilling the man on every single detail of what had occurred. Concern drifted through her at the thought. As befuddled as she was, it was not very difficult to put together that he thought the other day's near-miss was connected to this accident. She personally found it a bit hard to believe. Accidents happened all the time. She, of all people, knew that.

  Only you, Maggie. Only you could get yourself into such a fix.

  A soft footfall warned her that she was no longer alone, and Maggie opened her eyes. Espying Meeks moving to her side with a bottle and spoon, she removed the cloth from her head and eased into a sitting position. The butler opened his bottle and poured a quantity of its contents into the spoon. When he moved it toward her lips, Maggie automatically opened her mouth, feeling like a child. A second spoonful of Lady Barlow's tincture followed, and Maggie took that as well, then offered a slightly embarrassed, if grateful, smile to the man. "Thank you," she said as he recapped the lid.

  "You are more than welcome, my lady. Shall I freshen that cloth for you?" he asked, setting the tincture aside.

  Maggie hesitated, then shook her head. "Thank you, no. I think it has done all it can."

  For a moment she thought he would insist, but then he nodded and held out his hand. When Maggie handed over the cloth, he set it down beside the bowl, then looked toward the door. She suspected he didn't wish to leave her unattended, and was touched by his concern. It was surprising that Lady Barlow herself hadn't yet come to check on her, but Maggie supposed she was busy with the guests of her tea party.

  She peered down at her ruined gown and sighed inwardly. A cup of tea would be heavenly now, something sweet to settle her nerves. She seemed to be all a-tremble after her calamity, and knew that chamomile with extra honey would help. However, she could hardly join Lady Barlow and the other guests looking the way she did at the moment.

  "You said that you saw that man before. It wouldn't happen to have been at Drummond's gaming hell, would it?" Lord Ramsey's voice rang out.

  Maggie turned her attention away from her ruined gown to watch as the man returned to the room, his expression grim.

  "I am not sure," she admitted slowly. "It was at one of the gaming hells, I think."

  He nodded, as if he had expected that answer, and she saw he was putting two and two together. From the look on his face, he was coming up with his own version of four. James certainly seemed to like to think the worst of her. First she was a prostitute, and now she was the sort to engender murder in the heart of some nasty scarred man.

  Maggie scowled at him. Meeks's tincture was taking effect already, the ache in her head slowly receding, but unfortunately her irritation with the know-it-all before her was rising. What the devil was Lord Ramsey doing here, anyway? This was supposed to be a ladies' tea. And he was definitely no lady--the proof of which had been pressed against her quite intimately in his library in the country.

  Grimacing at her thoughts, she turned abruptly to the butler. "Could you ask Lady Barlow to join us for a moment?"

  Meeks turned a blank expression to her. "Lady Barlow?" he echoed.

  "Aye. I should like to offer my apologies for having to miss her tea party before I leave."

  "Tea party?" the man murmured, obviously at a loss.

  "It is all right, Meeks. You may get back to your duties," Lord Ramsey butted in.

  Maggie turned from the confused man to James, but waited until the servant had left before speaking again. "Lord Ramsey," she said shortly. "Where is your aunt?"

  Chapter Eleven

  "Lord Ramsey."

  James didn't answer at once, but glanced a bit wildly around the room, wondering how he was going to get himself out of this one. It had seemed such a good idea to trick her into coming here with that fake invitation to a ladies tea. Unfortunately, he hadn't considered that Maggie would be no more pleased by his deception than she'd been with any of his past exploits involving her. Now that he had her here, what the devil was he to do with her? His intention had been to apologize for his past transgressions, but James somehow didn't think she would be any more willing to listen to him now than she'd been in the past.

  "I understood I had been invited to a ladies tea," Margaret said, drawing his gaze reluctantly back to her face. Yes. She was angry.

  "Aye, well..." Feeling the hot flush of guilt creep up over his face, he grimaced, then confessed: "My aunt is not here. This is her bridge day. I took advantage of that to--"

  "There is no tea party," she interrupted. It wasn't a question, but he answered it as if it were.

  "Well, no. At least, not one others will be coming to attend...but I had to talk to you, and since you are never at home when I call..." He paused to glare at her--he was not at all used to anyone not being in to him--and could still hardly fathom that she had chosen to disregard his attempts at communication. She should be grateful that he had taken the trouble. Apparently she didn't see it that way, however. Even as he stood there, she was making impatient noises and getting to her feet. His eyes widened in alarm, and he rushed forward as she wavered unsteadily.

  "You should not be up. You should be resting," he said firmly. She impatiently shook away the hand he used to try to steady her.

  "I should not be here. And I am fine--that tincture has done wonders for me." She snatched up her crumpled and slightly muddy hat from where it lay on the floor beside the settee, and James admitted reluctantly to himself that it was true. His aunt's remedy had apparently been efficacious; Maggie was no longer pale or frail-looking. In fact, she had quite a bit of color about her right now, though he suspected some of it was due to temper. In fact, as he watched he became more certain that her quick recovery was d
ue entirely to her building ire.

  "I am leaving."

  James watched helplessly as she arranged her hat so that it would not irritate her head wound, but when she started toward the door, he was moved to action. Rushing forward, he pushed it closed and then positioned himself firmly in front of it, arms crossed over his chest. "You can't. Not until we talk."

  "I have no interest in speaking with you, my lord," she said stiffly, trying to grab at the door knob. James immediately shifted to cover it, and she glared at him impatiently. "Pray, stand aside."

  He did not mistake the order as the request it was couched as, but James shook his head. "Not until you have heard me out."

  "I see." Her eyes narrowed on him. "Then you are holding me against my will? Again?"

  "No, of course not. But--"

  "Then please stand aside," she repeated pleasantly. He glared at her in frustration, then stepped out of the way. She immediately moved to open the door. Desperate to make her listen, James blurted, "I will tell everyone that you are G. W. Clark if you do not at least give me a moment of your time." That threat made Maggie pause, so he pressed his advantage: "And I believe that my past behavior proves that I am the sort to do anything I must to get what I want."

  Turning from the now open door, she sniffed and peered at him with distaste. "All your past behavior has proven is that you are a fool, my lord. I have no intention of talking to you."

  She turned to flee, but he stopped her with a hand on her arm, demanding, "Do you not fear my revealing your secret?"

  "Ha! Hardly, my lord! You are too much of a gentleman to do such a thing."

  James felt a spontaneous smile burst out on his face. Despite his shabby treatment of her, Maggie still thought him a gentleman. It gave him hope that with a little time and the right words he could repair things between them.

  Apparently reading the renewed confidence on his face, Maggie muttered in vexation and whirled away to storm out into the hall. James followed on her heels. "Maggie, if you would just allow me a word with you..."

  She paused at the front door and turned, a tight expression on her face. "And what exactly would you wish to say, my lord? That you are sorry that I am not Lady X?"

  "Yes!" He started to smile, then saw her eyes narrow and--recognizing that he had said precisely the wrong thing--quickly shook his head. "I mean, nay! I--"

  Maggie didn't listen to what he had to say. She'd heard enough of Lord Ramsey's nonsense. It had been humiliating enough to have the man take advantage of her while thinking she was a prostitute, and to know that she still recalled the way his arms encircled her, the way his lips pleasured her...Now, to listen to the man's attempts at explaining himself was unbearable.

  Dragging the door open, she hurried out and down the front steps. She had walked here and would walk home if necessary, though she would have preferred hiring a hack. Anger was carrying her forward, but Maggie knew she couldn't count on it to get her all the way home--especially not after her injury. Unfortunately, there didn't appear to be any hacks about just then. She considered sending for one, but the sight of Lord Ramsey rushing down the steps after her changed Maggie's mind. She turned and started walking. It wasn't so far to home, really; if she cut through the park, she could be there in a trice.

  Bolting across the street, she started along the tree-lined pathways, doing her best to ignore the curious stares of people gaping at her muddy and torn gown. Lord Ramsey's chasing after her like one of Lady Barlow's "dogs after a pussy" was not helping her to be inconspicuous, either, she suspected.

  She hadn't gotten far into the park when a sharp cracking sound made her start and glance around. It sounded like a branch snapping--a heavy one.

  She paused, a frown sliding over her face as she raised a hand to feel carefully at her hat. In the next moment, her headgear was forgotten and Maggie was squawking in amazement as she was tackled from behind and thrown to the ground. Before she could quite grasp what was happening, Ramsey had thrown himself atop her and was rolling them both under the bushes that lined the path. Finding herself clasped close in his arms, his body pressing intimately down into hers, Maggie had to brace herself against her body's eager response.

  "My lord!" she screeched in mingled embarrassment and anger. She pushed frantically at his chest in a vain effort to remove his bulk.

  "I am not trying to attack you, Maggie," he said with annoyance. Leaning away, he peered back out through the bushes. "Someone took a shot at you."

  "A likely story," Maggie snapped. "Gerald neglected to mention your penchant for prevarication, my lord. First the tea party. Now someone trying to shoot me. I think not!"

  Taking him by surprise, she shoved him away and got quickly to her feet.

  "Maggie!"

  Margaret plunged back through the bushes, tugging at her skirt when he sat up and caught at her hem. Hearing the tearing material, she cursed impatiently and hurried onward, refusing to look down at the damage. Maggie's one thought was to escape the man now blundering out of the bushes after her, hissing her name in a voice she was sure people could hear at the other end of the park.

  When he grasped her elbow and tried to drag her back to the bushes, she turned on him abruptly, swinging her bag and koshing him on the side of the head. Maggie knew she hadn't hurt him, but his surprise at the attack made him loosen his hold long enough for her to pull free. Before he could quite regain himself, she flew down the path and joined the throngs making their way on the London streets.

  Maggie nearly convinced herself that she had lost him in the crowds as she hurried along, so when she reached her home and hurried inside, then turned to close the door, only to find him blocking her from doing so, she stepped back in surprise. That gave him the opportunity to slip inside. She glowered at him fiercely as he shut the door then moved to the window, shifting the curtains aside to peer out into the street.

  Tapping her foot in a furious tempo, she propped her hands on her hips and tried to set him aflame with her eyes. When that didn't work--he didn't even turn to appreciate her wrath--she drew herself up and hissed. "You were not invited in, my lord. Pray, remove yourself ere I have to call my servants to help you on your way."

  Turning, James goggled at her briefly in disbelief, then snatched her ruined bird's-nest hat from her head and shoved it under her nose. The feathers tickled. "There," he said. "See that? Someone took a shot at you."

  Maggie opened her mouth to say something nasty, then paused, her mouth dropping to her chest. There was a round hole right through the center of her bird that she could have put a finger through.

  "Well, finally! Something has left you speechless," he muttered.

  Snapping her mouth closed, Maggie glared at her nemesis. "Did you hire someone to do this? To make me soften toward you? Because if you did, my lord, I can promise you that you will be replacing this hat!"

  "What?" He was flabbergasted by the accusation. "Why the devil would I do a thing like that?"

  "I do not know, my lord, but why would anyone shoot at me? No one has reason."

  "So you assume that I set it up? To what purpose? To get into your good graces by saving your life? Fat chance, that!" He snorted, then drew himself up to peer down his nose at her. "How could you think such a thing of me?"

  Maggie felt herself tensing as everything that had happened rushed over her. She felt herself adrift in emotion, and everything she'd bottled up inside her exploded outward. "How could I think such a thing of you? How could you think what you thought of me?"

  James indignity seeped away like water off fast-melting ice at her obvious pain and outrage. Regret flashed in his eyes, and she felt herself soften. Then he shifted uncomfortably and tried to explain: "Well, you must admit that what you were wearing that night--" He paused as she flushed, her cheeks burning almost as red as the gown in question. "And then you were at Madame Dubarry's," he added.

  Maggie had heard enough. Turning abruptly away, she stomped into the parlor and directly to the bot
tles of liquor in the sideboard. She poured a generous quantity into a glass, downed it, then poured herself another full measure.

  "May I have a glass as well?" James asked, joining her at the counter.

  "Get your own," she barked testily, then relented. Pouring him a glass, she pushed it toward him along the counter, then turned and walked over to one of the two overstuffed chairs by the fire. Dropping into it with relief, she stared bleakly down into the dark liquid in her glass for a moment. Then she glanced up into his wary face. "Why are you here? Why did you lie in wait at your aunt's? I presume you set this all up to see me?"

  "Yes," he admitted slowly. Moving to sink onto the chair opposite her, he considered his own glass briefly, then admitted, "I wish to apologize--"

  "Apology accepted," she interrupted. "You may leave now."

  James's jaw dropped. He was not at all used to being dismissed. It didn't appear that he liked it much. "Your brother--" he began determinedly.

  She interrupted again. "My brother is dead," she reminded him. Then, bluntly, she went on: "I release you from any promises or vows he elicited from you on his deathbed. You may go."

  "I do not wish to go."

  They both blinked at those blurted words. James looked both sheepish and horrified at the depth of emotion that had sounded in them. Maggie found herself feeling simply stunned. Swallowing nervously, she tore her gaze from his. "I think you had better--" she began.

  "Please don't ask me to leave again." His voice was soft and weary and, despite herself, Maggie felt her anger begin to ease. She gave the barest of nods, but he saw it and relaxed in the chair as he confessed, "I quite enjoyed your company in the country."

  She felt herself tensing again. "You mean, when you thought I was Lady X? When you thought I was a prostitute available to the highest bidder?"

  "Despite thinking you a prostitute available to the highest bidder," he began carefully. "Yes. I enjoyed your company immensely, and that confused me. I felt it in my duty to reform you, but was also attracted to you physically," he admitted with a self-deprecating twist of his lips. "I found my honorable side constantly struggling against baser instincts. And then, as I came to know you, I found I actually liked you." He shrugged helplessly.