Captive Pride Read online

  Edward, wondering at the commotion in the hall, stepped out of the room just as Noah introduced himself to CC.

  “Lord Kincade? By Jove, you’re here! Delighted, absolutely delighted.” He was nervous as he wondered just how much of CC’s derogatory declarations the nobleman had heard. “I’m Edward Demorest, and this is my daughter, Cecelia.”

  “Mr. Demorest.” Noah greeted him cordially before turning back to the young woman. “And Miss Demorest…” Noah spoke her name slowly. “Charming,” he intoned drolly. His gaze swept over her in cool assessment before swinging back to her father, the effect being one of complete and indifferent dismissal.

  At his abrupt, arrogant manner a spark of embarrassed anger seared through CC’s momentarily stunned senses, and she glared at him venomously.

  “Indeed, Lord Kincade,” she shot back, wondering why she found his snubbing so irritating. He was a titled gentleman. Hadn’t she come to expect such behavior from them? They were all so pompous…so obnoxiously vain. The fact that she found him attractive had nothing to do with it, she declared to herself vehemently. CC gritted her teeth as she gave her father a sweet smile. “Father, if you’ll excuse me, I’ll leave you gentlemen to your business….”

  “Of course, dear.” Judging from Kincade’s calm manner, Edward felt certain that Kincade had not overheard his daughter’s disparaging comments, and he was exceedingly grateful. “Come in and have a seat,” he invited, leading the way back into the study. Directing Noah to the chair before his desk, he shut the door behind them.

  CC stared at the closed portal for a moment before turning away to find the butler still standing there.

  “I’m sorry, Miss CC,” Gilbert apologized humbly, knowing how embarrassed she’d been by the Englishman’s presence, “but the gentleman hushed me when I started to announce him.”

  “He did, did he?” That news infuriated her all the more. The damned scoundrel! He had deliberately eavesdropped! How dare he?

  “Miss CC?” He read the range of emotions on her expressive face and knew a moment of disconcertion.

  CC was angry, but not at the butler. “Don’t worry about it, Gilbert. It’s not your fault that he’s a conscienceless cad who would deliberately listen in on someone else’s private conversation.”

  He was relieved that her irritation wasn’t directed at him. “Can I do anything else for you?”

  “No, Gilbert, I’m fine, thank you.”

  “Do you think Lord Kincade will be staying for dinner?” the servant inquired.

  “I hope not,” she muttered under her breath in annoyance as she walked off.

  “Miss CC?” he ventured again, not having heard her answer. “I’m sorry. I didn’t hear you.”

  CC paused to answer. “You’ll have to check with my father. I’m not sure if their business meeting will last that long or not.”

  “Yes, ma’am. I’ll do that.”

  Hoping she’d seen the last of the obnoxious Lord Noah Kincade, CC again started off to her room.

  Chapter Four

  Edward smiled in satisfaction as he regarded Noah across his desk. They had been poring over contracts and manifests for more than an hour and had finally come to a mutually beneficial agreement regarding the Lorelei’s current load of merchandise.

  “A toast to an agreement well met?” he offered as he rose and strode to the liquor cabinet across the room.

  “Thank you, Edward,” Noah agreed. He had found him a tough but fair man to deal with and he was pleased with the terms they’d finally settled upon. The profit from the Lorelei’s goods would keep Matthew and him comfortably until the Pride’s arrival.

  “Whiskey? Or sherry, perhaps?”

  “Whiskey will be fine.”

  Edward poured two generous tumblers of the golden liquid and handed one to Noah. “To our future business dealings. May they be as successful as this one.”

  “I see no reason why they shouldn’t be.” Noah nodded in accord as he sipped of the potent brew, but even as he said it, his thoughts were on the possibility of his upcoming meeting with Smith.

  “You say you have another ship due in port soon?”

  “The Sea Pride,” he provided. “The best I can figure, depending on the weather, she should make port sometime around the first of the year.”

  “You’ll be staying until spring then?”

  “Yes. Atlantic crossings are hardly the thing during the winter months, so Matthew and I will remain until the weather breaks.”

  “Wise choice. I made the voyage once, several years ago, and I vowed never to do it again if I could possibly avoid it,” Edward said with a rueful shake of his head. “We encountered storm after storm and I spent most of my time belowdecks, fighting off seasickness. The entire trip took four months and it seemed more like four years.” He laughed at his own remembered discomfort as he placed his now empty glass on his desktop. “But enough of that. Let’s speak of more enjoyable pursuits. I’d be honored if you’d agree to stay and dine with me.”

  “Thank you.” Noah was pleased at the invitation, for he knew it would be to his benefit. In cultivating Edward, a most loyal British agent, he would be laying the groundwork for preventing any future suspicion regarding his activities.

  “Wonderful,” Edward said as he rang for a servant.

  “Will your wife and daughter be joining us?” Noah asked casually.

  “I’m a widower, my lord,” he answered.

  “My deepest sympathies, sir.”

  “I appreciate the thought, but my beloved Sarah has been dead for many years now.” Sadness reflected in his eyes as he spoke. “It’s just CC and me.”

  “CC?”

  “Cecelia, my daughter,” he offered quickly, grinning. “CC’s a pet name. She’s always been a spirited lass, and somehow it just suits her.”

  Noah nodded, but he hardly agreed with Demorest’s description of his daughter. Spirited was not quite the word he would have used to describe Cecelia Demorest. The chit possessed a sharp tongue for such an attractive woman, and it was a fault that Edward, as her father, would do well to see curbed.

  When the butler appeared at the door, Edward ordered, “Gilbert, Lord Kincade will be staying for dinner. Please inform Cook, and then tell CC that a guest will be joining us.”

  The servant left hastily to do his master’s bidding, wondering all the while what Miss CC was going to think of the news he was about to relay.

  “Are you serious?” CC flared in annoyance as Gilbert imparted the news moments later.

  “Yes, ma’am,” Gilbert replied respectfully. “They concluded their business and your father invited him to stay. Cook says the meal will be served in about an hour.”

  “All right,” she groaned in dismay, accepting the inevitable. “You may tell Father that I’ll be down to join them as soon as I freshen up.”

  “I’ll do that, ma’am.” He backed discreetly from her room, leaving his mistress to her thoughts.

  When he’d gone, CC stalked to her wardrobe and threw wide the door. Standing, hands on hips, she stared at her vast selection of gowns. She didn’t know why she was concerned about it, but some bit of pride within her refused to allow the arrogant Kincade to see her at less than her very best. He had dismissed her earlier as if she were little more than a guttersnipe, and she was determined to show that pompous fool that she was no easily forgotten rustic miss. Impatiently, she began to sort through her clothing, hoping to find the perfect dress to wear. Spying her favorite yellow silk, CC whisked it from the closet. It was perfect…not too dressy, yet not too ordinary, and the pale yellow-gold was a very good color on her.

  She rang for her maid, Anna. When the young girl appeared, she requested a bath be sent up. By the time her bath was ready, CC was waiting, clad only in a silken wrapper.

  “Shall I help you bathe, Miss CC?” Anna asked.

  “No, but I would like you to lay out the rest of my things before you go,” she instructed, “I’ll be wearing the yell
ow silk.”

  “Yes, ma’am.” The maid quickly set about her task, asking as she did, “Did you see His Lordship, Miss CC?”

  “Yes, I saw him.” Her less than enthusiastic answer drew a questioning glance from her servant.

  “Did you not think him the most gorgeous man you’ve ever seen?” Anna sighed, her excitement at the handsome lord’s presence obvious.

  “Frankly, Anna, I thought the man an overbearing idiot, just like the rest of his breed!” CC snapped shortly.

  “Lord Kincade?” The maid was astounded. “But, ma’am, he’s tall and ever so good-looking! Why, I’ve never seen such a fine figure of a man before…. And to think he’s a nobleman besides!” Anna remarked dreamily.

  “And there’s the rub,” CC retorted as she slipped out of her robe and stepped into the bathtub.

  “If you say so,” the servant quickly demurred, not wanting to incur her wrath. “But, frankly, Miss CC, I wouldn’t mind a handsome lord like him sweeping me off my feet and taking me back to live on his estate in England!”

  “Well, believe me, Anna, you’ll get no competition from me.” She lowered herself carefully into the steaming bath and sighed in contentment as the hot, scented water caressed her. “He’s all yours.”

  “If he looks my way, I’ll remember that.” The maid laughed in delight at her own fantasy of the fabulous Lord Kincade carrying her off into the sunset. “Now, will you be needing anything else?”

  “No…that’s all, but you might come back in a few minutes to help me with my gown.”

  Anna nodded and disappeared from the room to allow her mistress her privacy.

  Though CC knew she should hurry in order to help her father entertain his guest, she found the bath’s welcoming warmth infinitely preferable to the thought of seeing Lord Kincade again. With leisurely delight, she soaked. It was long minutes later when she finally finished washing and rose in sleek, dripping splendor from the soapy depths of the tub. CC started to reach for the towel Anna had left out for her when she noticed her own reflection in the full-length mirror across the room. She stared at herself with interest, studying her body for the first time with a critical eye. Her breasts were full, but not to the point of being heavy. The trimness of her waist emphasized the firm roundness of her hips, and her legs were slender and shapely. As she wrapped the towel about her, CC felt good about herself. She knew she was an attractive woman, and after she completed her toilette and took the extra time to artfully style her hair up and away from her face tonight, she knew she would feel confident enough to handle the very smug Lord Kincade.

  “I can’t imagine what’s keeping CC,” Edward complained as he moved to the doorway of the parlor and glanced up the staircase for what seemed like the hundredth time. “Been well over half an hour now….”

  “It seems the way with women.” Noah commiserated easily from where he sat on the sofa.

  “Not CC,” he stated flatly, used to his daughter’s punctuality and puzzled by her tardiness.

  “Really? Then she must be the exception to the rule.” Noah quirked a brow as he watched his host move about the room. He wondered idly why she was taking so long. Had she been so embarrassed by their earlier run-in that she didn’t want to face him? Noah felt certain that that had to be the reason.

  “CC is the exception to many rules, I’m afraid,” he began. “Wait…here she is now.” Edward went swiftly to her as she descended the stairs, and Noah rose from the sofa to acknowledge her as she swept into the room on her father’s arm.

  “Good evening, Lord Kincade,” CC said, facing him.

  For the briefest of instants, Noah was struck almost speechless. Only the long years of jaded living in London that had perfected his self-control enabled him to maintain his air of cool aloofness as he stared at Cecelia Demorest, for she was, without a doubt, the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen. He had thought her most pretty before, but nothing had prepared him for this. Her complexion was creamy and flawless, her burnished hair perfectly coiffed, and her gown fit her exquisitely, molding the sweet curve of her bosom in a caress of golden silk. Noah could only envy the sensuous cloth.

  With an effort of will, he kept all expression from his face as he greeted her politely. “Miss Demorest.”

  CC’s emerald eyes sparkled with deceptive innocence as she gazed up at him. There was no denying it, she thought with dismay. Anna was right. Lord Kincade definitely was one gorgeous man. Still, CC refused to let herself be affected by his striking good looks. He might have the advantage over the other aristocrats she’d met because of his physical attractiveness, but he was still the arrogant titled Englishman who’d eavesdropped on her conversation, and she wanted nothing to do with him. She would treat him nicely only to please her father, and that was that.

  “How wonderful that you could stay and sup with us.” She kept her voice soft to disguise the underlying sarcasm she was feeling.

  “It was kind of your father to invite me,” Noah returned, putting her beauty into perspective. Lovely or not, this was the same woman who had voiced such a scathing opinion of him, and quite without provocation. “May I say how lovely you look this evening?” he offered perfunctorily.

  “Thank you, my lord,” CC answered with equal coolness, feeling somehow a bit disappointed that he was less than overwhelmed by her. She had wanted to put him in his place, to show him just how sophisticated she really was. Yet he’d given no indication at all, other than his offhand compliment, that he found her in the least attractive. “I do believe the meal is ready to be served. Shall we go into the dining room?”

  Leading the way, CC started into the splendidly appointed room and she was surprised when Kincade moved to hold her chair for her. She glanced up at him trying to read his expression, but his features were a mask of polite civility.

  “My lord.” She nodded slightly in acknowledgment of his gentlemanly act.

  The touch was a simple thing, the mere resting of his hand at the small of her back as he guided her to her seat. Still, the sensation the contact aroused in CC was shocking, and she stiffened in response to it. He had only lightly touched her in a courteous, impersonal gesture, for heaven’s sake, and yet a thrill of excitement tingled through her unlike anything she’d ever experienced before. Her breath caught in her throat, her heart skipped a beat, and beneath the satiny fabric of her gown, her breasts swelled and tautened, their sensitive peaks pressing pointedly against the restraining confines of the material. Desperately she fought to subdue her rampant reaction.

  Worrying that Kincade had noticed her disquiet, she cast a sideways glance at him as he moved to take his own seat. CC was relieved to find that he seemed totally unaware of the fact that his nearness had sent her senses reeling, and she breathed a little easier. What in the world was wrong with her? she berated herself as she tried to resist the feelings that were flooding through her.

  Though he gave no outward indication, Noah was irritated as he took his seat opposite CC at the table. He had felt her sudden tenseness as he’d guided her to her chair and he wondered if the dislike she had for him truly ran so deep that a simple touch could affect her so. The thought irked him more than he was willing to admit. Not that he cared. However, it was just that women had always found him attractive, and the idea that CC, a simple colonial, thought him less than desirable was annoying.

  Edward had stood back and allowed Noah and CC to lead the way into the dining room. His eyes were shining with pride as he watched them walk ahead of him, and he couldn’t help but admire the handsome couple they made. The idea of a match between them suddenly occurred to him, and the thought was not without merit, he decided. Kincade was pleasant enough, and the possibility of his daughter marrying a wealthy aristocrat pleased him immensely. He knew that if he could arrange a marriage between them, he would have done his best for CC. Still, Edward wondered in dismay how he could possibly encourage it when CC had already ardently proclaimed her dislike of all English noblemen. It was a tricky s
ituation, and he realized that he would have to use the utmost discretion in whatever he tried to do. Hurrying forth, he joined them at the table and set about to enjoy the repast.

  “So tell us of your home in England,” Edward invited as the servants set the main course before them some time later. “You have family there, of course?”

  “Actually, no. My younger brother Matthew is my only family, and he traveled with me this trip.”

  “He’s here in Boston? We could have sent the carriage for him….”

  “He knew that I was coming here on business and that there was a possibility I would be delayed,” Noah explained. “So I told him before I left the inn to avail himself of the services there.”

  “Perhaps another time then?”

  “Of course,”

  CC was paying little attention to their small talk as she sat at the table opposite Noah. The titillation of his touch had left her disturbed and distracted, and she was still wondering, in some confusion, why she had reacted the way she had. What was there about this man that he had the power to unsettle her with such a simple touch? Surely, CC tried to rationalize, it was only because Kincade was handsome, and nothing else. But even as she made the effort to convince herself of that, she knew that she had been with good-looking men before and had never experienced any reaction like this. Finally, unable to find a logical answer, she determinedly put all thoughts of it from her and busied herself with the meal.

  “We’re having a formal ball on Friday evening, and we’d be honored to have both you and your brother attend,” Edward invited.

  “It’s most kind of you to include us, Edward,” Noah replied graciously, hoping that the rebels he needed to meet with did not hold their next meeting that night.

  “Then you’ll come?”

  “Matthew and I would be delighted.”

  “That’s wonderful.” Edward smiled widely as he glanced at CC. She had been quiet during the dinner, too quiet, and he wanted to bring her into the conversation. “Don’t you agree, CC?”