Page 26 of Heiress Gone Wild

Jonathan frowned as she passed out of his line of vision. It didn’t matter to him that she was neglecting her duty, since he knew Lady Stansbury was sticking to Marjorie like glue, but he was curious. Where was the baroness going?

As if in answer to his unspoken question, the Count de la Rosa walked by, his steps every bit as quick and furtive as the baroness’s had been.

Jonathan’s brows rose as de la Rosa passed the doorway and vanished from view. The baroness and the count engaged in a romantic rendezvous? Or perhaps, he thought, staring at the open doorway, something far more devious was in the wind, something that might involve his ward.

I’m such a suspicious devil, he thought as he downed the last of his port and stood up. “Pardon me, gentlemen,” he murmured to the other men at the table, “but I feel the need for some air.”

Bowing, he left the smoking room and slipped out to follow the count. De la Rosa was nowhere in sight, but Jonathan turned in the direction the other man had been heading, glancing into the various rooms that opened onto the promenade as he walked. He spied neither the count nor the baroness in the billiard room, the reading room, or the observation saloon, but when he rounded the bow, familiar voices came to his ear, and he paused, straining to listen.

The voices were low, coming from behind the stairway leading to the deck above, but though he could not hear what they were saying, he could discern that the voices did in fact belong to the people he was looking for.

Certain something devious was afoot, he had no compunction about eavesdropping on the pair, and he eased closer, moving softly so as not to be detected.

“I’ve introduced you to an heiress, just as you asked,” the baroness was saying as Jonathan paused again. “I even got you placed beside her at dinner.”

“An amazing accomplishment, Katya. I wonder how you managed it?”

“I sneaked into the dining room earlier when no one was there and rearranged the place cards,” the baroness answered and laughed. “Did you notice how I put that guardian of hers far, far down the table?”

“You are a woman in a thousand.”

“Flattery is all very well,” she murmured, “but it is not what you promised me.”

“Indeed.”

There was a brief silence, during which money no doubt changed hands, then the baroness said, “I hope you made the most of your opportunity?”

“These things always take time to arrange,” de la Rosa answered. “But yes, I believe the young lady is amenable to my company.”

Those words and the complacency in the man’s voice as he said them made Jonathan want to grind his teeth, but he refrained. Instead, he leaned closer.

“If your intent is to win the girl’s hand in marriage, you’ve got a long way to go,” she replied. “She may be innocent, but she is not a fool.”

“My dear Katya,” de la Rosa said, sounding amused, “you do not have to tell me how to deal with women.”

“Perhaps not, but in any case, she is not your greatest problem,” the baroness said, her voice suddenly sharp. “It is her guardian and Lady Stansbury about whom you should worry.”

“Bah.” The count made a dismissive sound. “They can’t watch her every minute. I can easily persuade the girl to slip free if I choose.”

Not while I breathe air, Jonathan vowed.

“You are far too arrogant,” the baroness complained. “The girl is more intelligent than you give her credit for. As for her guardian, you underestimate him at your peril.”

Jonathan decided he’d heard enough and stepped around the staircase. “Indeed, he does, baroness,” he said, smiling with satisfaction as he watched the other man’s eyes widen in alarm. “Indeed, he does.”

Chapter 8

The nefarious pair stared at him for several seconds, clearly nonplussed. The Count de la Rosa recovered first.

“I believe eavesdropping on conversations is not considered comme il faut,” he said. “Even among the English.”

“Bad form, I agree,” Jonathan said with an air of cheer he didn’t feel in the least. “On the other hand, I’ve never been a man to be hampered by the niceties of etiquette.”

“That,” the count said coldly, “does not surprise me.”

“No?” Jonathan smiled. “Then we are both tediously predictable, it seems.”

The man had the gall to seem bewildered. “I do not take your meaning.”

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