Twice the Temptation (8 page)

 
The earl shuffled his feet around to face Connoll. “Indeed I am. Welcome back to London, Rawley. I’d heard you had embarked on some expedition or other.”

 
Damnation. “Oh, you know me,” he said nonchalantly. “I like to wander. It keeps me out of trouble—for the most part.”

 
Redmond chuckled, then began wheezing. “For the…most part…Very good, Rawley.”

 
Sending a glare at Connoll, Gilly offered her arm to the earl. “Goodness, my lord. Shall I have someone fetch you a drink?”

 
“John will go,” the viscountess broke in. “Go get the earl a lemonade, John.”

 
With a shallow bow, Munroe vanished. Redmond’s coughing fit continued.

 
“Perhaps you might take a seat, Redmond,” Connoll suggested, beginning to wonder whether he’d killed the old fool. His quip had been only mildly amusing at most. Certainly not apoplexy-worthy.

 
“Yes, I think…I shall.” With another wheeze, the earl released Gilly and grabbed for Connoll’s outstretched arm. “Too much exertion tonight, I think. I did dance with Miss Allenthorpe at the beginning of the evening.”

 
“Yes, she’s very energetic,” Connoll agreed, half carrying Redmond to the nearest chair and dumping him
into it. “I suggest you sit there for a few moments and recover yourself.”

 
“But I have a waltz with Miss Munroe,” the old man exclaimed. “I wouldn’t miss that for anything.”

 
“I’m certain Miss Munroe understands that you are a mere mortal, Redmond.” He glanced up to meet furious hazel eyes. If Gilly carried a pistol rather than a fan, he would probably have found himself on the floor, dead. “If it pains you to miss a dance, I have one with her later in the evening. We could trade, and then nothing is lost.”

 
Her glower deepened. “But—”

 
“You are too kind, Rawley. I accept,” Redmond returned, nodding his thanks as Munroe reappeared with a glass of lemonade. “Just need a few minutes to catch my breath, is all.”

 
The music for the waltz began, and Connoll straightened. “Shall we, then, Miss Munroe?” he intoned, keeping his expression innocent and polite.

 
Her jaw tight, she draped her fingers over his. “Dastard,” she hissed as he led her to the dance floor and slid an arm around her waist.

 
“I made it possible for him to dance with you later,” Connoll commented, drawing her closer and then stepping into the waltz. “If I hadn’t appeared, you would still be standing with the old fool, commiserating over his advanced stage of portliness. This way you get to waltz, and still dance with him at the end of the evening, if he’s recovered.”

 
“You poisoned him or something, didn’t you?”

 
He lifted an eyebrow. “My dear, I find you attractive, but I don’t yet know you well enough to commit murder. Perhaps by Tuesday next, if you continue to be this charming.”

 
“I should never have accepted that diamond,” she muttered.

 
“Redmond gave you a diamond?” The surprising stab of jealousy made his muscles shake. Connoll took a breath. He was behaving like a madman; this chit had only crashed into his life yesterday, and obviously Redmond was in the midst of courting her. Why she accepted the codger’s suit, he had no idea, but he had no intention of giving in to the abrupt desire to thrash the old earl.

 
“No, not Redmond,” she countered, her hazel gaze meeting his. “My aunt gave it to me as an inheritance.”

 
“My condolences on your aunt’s passing, then.” That was better. Very civilized of him.

 
“Oh, she’s not dead.” A flicker of amusement touched her face. “I suppose I should explain, since I brought up the subject.”

 
“Yes, that would be pleasant of you.”

 
“Aunt Rachel’s apparently had the thing for years—the diamond necklace, I mean—and believed the family mythology that it’s cursed. She thought herself on her deathbed and so gave it to me with one of her silly, dire warnings. At any rate she wrote me yesterday saying that she’s feeling much better and hopes I’m using the ‘cursed gem’—that’s what she’s calling it now—wisely.”

 
“But you said that you wished you hadn’t accepted it. Does that mean you believe its curse, too?”

 
“No! Of course not. It’s superstitious nonsense.” She scowled. “On the other hand, the moment I accepted it, your carriage crashed into mine and nearly killed me. And now you’ve begun hounding me and won’t go away.”

 
“I see. So if this diamondis cursed, then I am the personification of its evil.”

 
“Precisely,” she agreed easily.

 
“But I’ve never set eyes on it. If it and I are doing the devil’s work, shouldn’t it call to me or something?” He caught the glitter of amusement in her eyes again. “Wait, I think I hear it now.” He gazed about the room. “No, that’s Redmond with the vapors.”

 
“Oh, stop it,” she said, a chuckle in her voice.

 
“My point is, if the diamond and I are both evil, why am I only about when it’s not?”

 
“That is my thinking precisely. I’m beginning to believe that my aunt had it sideways: The diamond isgood luck. And that’s why you only appear when I’mnot wearing it.”

 
“Hm. You begin to wound my feelings, Gilly.” He drew her a breath closer and lowered his voice. “Tell me in all honesty that you never wish to set eyes on me again, then, and I’ll go away. But be honest, because I will acquiesce to your wishes.”

 
“I never wish to set eyes on you again.”

 
“Balderdash. I don’t believe you.”

 
She sighed, not sounding as irritated as he expected. A little bit of herdid like him, then; just not the part she could admit to. “Why don’t you believe me, Lord Rawley?”

 
“Call me Connoll.”

 
“No.”

 
“Yes, if you wish me to answer your question.”

 
“You insist on bullying me, don’t you?”

 
“You began it. I give as I receive. Call me Connoll.”

 
“Connoll, then. Why don’t you believe me, Connoll?”

 
He liked the way she said his name, with a kind of exasperated affection. It very much reflected the way he’d begun to feel about her. Exasperated, at wit’s end,
but not willing to give her up yet. Not even close. “I don’t believe you because you kissed me.”

 
“That was not—”

 
“Not your idea. I know that. But in addition, I’ve noted your…strong will. If you didn’t want me about, you wouldn’t have walked with me, and you wouldn’t be dancing with me now. So you protest, but I think only for show. To please your mother, perhaps—I’m not certain, yet. But you enjoy my company, and I enjoy yours. I see no reason for us to go our separate ways. In fact, I intend to take you on a picnic luncheon tomorrow at noon.”

 
“No.”

 
“Yes. If you wish to test the necklace, wear it. Put it in your pocket. Burn rare spices to invoke its power. Sacrifice a chicken to it. But I will be on your doorstep at noon, and we will have a pleasant, amusing, interesting time together. I swear it.”

 
“Do you, now?”

 
“Yes, I do.”

 
“Then I accept your challenge, Connoll Addison.”

 
Chapter 5

 
Evangeline lifted the diamond necklace out ofits velvet-lined box and then out of the velvet bag she’d found for it, and held it up to the window. Good luck or bad luck? Oh, the idea of it being either was ridiculous. All wearing it to a picnic would mean was that she was terribly overdressed.

 
Still, Lord Rawley had challenged her to wear it, or at least to keep it with her. And she supposed that she didn’t need to convince herself of its power; she only needed to convincehim . Therefore, if she kept it in her pocket and remained resolved to dislike him and made certain they both had a miserable time, then producing it for his viewing pleasure would ensure that he would leave her alone. Or it would at least improve the chances that he would do so.

 
Yes, he was handsome, and witty, and very intelligent and wealthy, but he’d already demonstrated that everything had to be done his way, at his pleasure, and for his own satisfaction. She couldn’t think of a life
more miserable than one spent in the company of that aggravating man.

 
“Are you going to wear that today, Miss Munroe?” Doretta asked as she entered the room, Evangeline’s newly cleaned slippers in her hands.

 
“No. I’m going to put it in my pocket.” With a deep breath she placed it back in its bag and then did so, patting the outside of her pelisse to make certain it was secure. It would never do to lose it somewhere, with or without the curse.

 
“In your pocket,” the maid repeated. “May I ask why?”

 
“It’s a test,” Evangeline returned.

 
“For pickpockets?”

 
“No. It’s complicated, Doretta. Just help me with my shoes, will you?”

 
“Right away, Miss Munroe. But it’s only half eleven. Isn’t your gentleman calling at noon?”

 
“He’s not my gentleman. He’s an annoyance.”

 
“A very handsome one. Those blue eyes…”

 
Evangeline snorted. “Doretta!”

 
Her maid blushed. “My apologies, miss.”

 
“No harm done. He is quite well favored.”

 
The sound of a carriage rattling up the drive drifted in through her open bedchamber window. Her heart skipped a beat. Was he early? And why did the mere thought of him make her muscles shiver? She didn’t even like him, for heaven’s sake.

 
Leaning a hand on her chair for balance, she stepped into her pearl-colored shoes, a match for her pearl and green muslin gown. As she straightened, the butler scratched at the door.

 
“You have a caller, Miss Munroe.”

 
She wanted to smile, and sternly stopped herself. Rawley was dangerous, with his easy wit and charming grin. She would not be dominated, and he clearly didn’t care about anything but his own amusements. “Please tell the marquis I’ll be down in a minute.”

 
“The earl, miss. I’ll inform him.” He backed out the door.

 
Evangeline put out a hand to stop the butler’s retreat. “Wait a moment, Clifford. Who is downstairs?”

 
“Lord Redmond. Shall I still have him wait?”

 
“Oh. Yes. Thank you.”

 
Another flutter ran through her. This time it didn’t feel as much like anticipation as it did…annoyance. Evangeline shook herself. No, of course she wasn’t annoyed to have Redmond calling on her. It was only that she hadn’t been expecting him, and her mind had been preparing for a different kind of encounter altogether.