it, the more he couldn’t help feeling that Lockhart, the consummate showman, had turned even a personal quarrel with his daughter to his advantage. If he was willing to do that with an issue of a private nature, what else would he stoop to use or who? Was there any sacred line in the sand?
That didn’t make Mercedes the innocent party here by any stretch. It did occur to him as he walked down the street, replaying the quarrel in his mind, that she might have been using him to make her father angry, that he was a tool for flaunting her own independence in all ways. The realisation took the bubble off the wine. He didn’t want their kisses, their passion, to be part of some other game she played. He didn’t want to be another ‘Mr Reed’ to her, someone she used for other ends. It was time to confront her on that issue.
Mercedes saw Greer approaching out of the corner of her eye. She flipped open the little watch she carried. ‘Ten minutes. Very good. I win,’ she said without turning from the window.
‘I’m sorry, did we wager on something?’ Greer said coolly. He had his own issues to settle with her. She’d used him in there.
‘I wagered with myself that my father would send you after me within ten minutes. He wouldn’t dare come himself. He did send you, didn’t he?’
‘I was concerned for you.’ Greer’s answer was evasive. But it confirmed her suspicions.
‘If you’ve come to espouse his cause, forget it. Do yourself a favour and don’t play his messenger. I’d like to think you were a better man than that.’ She was being cruel on purpose, hoping to drive Greer away. She didn’t trust herself at present. If he touched her, if he said anything kind, she might just go to pieces and she didn’t want to. She wanted to be strong. Anger kept her strong.
‘All right,’ Greer said calmly, unbothered. ‘I’ll just stand here and admire the window with you.’ Greer joined her in staring at the goods on display. There wasn’t much to look at: a gaudy hat complete with bright purple ribbon and green feather and a few bolts of printed muslin. Beckhampton might be on a major road, but the town was still small.
‘Maybe I’ll just ask the questions. What was going on there? I don’t mean the fight, I mean all of it; the blowing on the chalk, the bedroom eyes over the cue, the “let me show you how to line the shot up”? It was quite a show. Was it for my benefit or his?’
‘Maybe it was for neither of you,’ Mercedes replied succinctly. ‘Maybe it was for me. Did you think of that? Or perhaps you’ve put too much construction on what it meant at all.’ She tossed him a sharp, short glance.
‘I could say the same about you. Did you roll up your sleeves and take off your coat as part of some grand flirtation?’
‘Of course not,’ Greer answered hastily. ‘That’s ridiculous. It’s easier to play without my coat.’
‘My point exactly.’
‘Be fair, Mercedes, it’s not the same thing. It’s not like you were taking your lips off because they confined your play.’
Mercedes had to work hard to stifle a laugh. But it wasn’t time to laugh yet. ‘I’m sorry you were distracted—perhaps you should work on that. It seemed to be a problem the other night as well.’ She turned to go, but Greer grabbed her arm, a frisson of warning and heat running through her body as she realised what she’d done. She could push the well-trained aristocrat in him only so far before she encountered the man in him too.
‘You used me back there. I won’t stand for that. Don’t play with me, Mercedes. I think we’ve done that enough on this trip. We’ve been playing games since that night in the garden and most of those games you’ve started.’
‘You haven’t minded,’ she shot back. ‘It was your tongue in my throat in Bosham as I recall, your hips against mine in the alley.’
‘You’re right, I haven’t minded.’ Greer held her gaze, letting his own drop briefly to her lips. She licked them. ‘I just want to know why. Are these kisses for business or pleasure?’
Mercedes gave a hard laugh. ‘If I was using you for sex, Captain, you’d have known it by now.’ But she thought her words might be a lie. There was no arguing he was in her blood.
Greer smiled dangerously. ‘Likewise. And if you’re going to stand there contemplating how best to seduce me, call me Greer.’
‘How do you know I’m thinking that?’
‘Because we have unfinished business. Seduction between us is inevitable—I think the alley affirmed that. Don’t you? It’s just a matter of who will seduce whom.’ He leaned close and whispered at her ear. ‘If you’re the betting sort, I’d put your money on me.’
Mercedes whispered back, ‘If men’s cocks were as big as their egos, I might take that bet, Greer.’ The look on his face was priceless, part shock and part admiration. Now it was time to laugh.
It was a subdued group that pulled into Bath. He had no one to blame for that but himself, Lockhart mused. He shot a look at Barrington, who rode beside him. It was quite telling that the Captain had chosen to ride instead of his usual routine of sitting with Mercedes inside the carriage.
Clearly, words had been said between them when Barrington had gone after her. From the tension at dinner last night, Lockhart didn’t think the words had solely been about the billiards game. There’d been a certain spark between Mercedes and the Captain from the start. Travel and close proximity had encouraged it just as he’d hoped. For that matter, Mercedes had encouraged it to their benefit. The Captain’s ‘affections’ for Mercedes, whatever their basis, had indeed kept him loyal. If this was a mere flirtation for her, a means to an end, fine. But if she actually developed true feelings for Barrington, there would be trouble ahead should either of them choose to rebel.
Mercedes’s rebellion was of immediate concern. She’d been upset by his decision to not let her play in Bath. An upset Mercedes would need to be appeased before she did something reckless which could be disastrous for them all. Bath should go a great way in appeasing her once they got settled. He had a lovely house rented and he’d turn over the social calendar to her. She’d cultivate relationships for him that would be good for the tournament and she’d feel useful. She’d have gowns to wear and the handsome Captain at her side to act as an escort to balls and other entertainments. She’d forget she was angry.
As for Barrington, the Captain would be in his element, among people like him. And he was looking forward to making the most of Barrington’s entrée. Bath would be most lucrative for him riding in on the Captain’s coat-tails. He and the Captain would make a splendid duo in the clubs. He could feel the cue in his hand already. Between the two of them, they’d be unbeatable. Everything was working out splendidly and Mercedes would come around. He’d see to it with plenty of money and entertainments to keep her busy, and a few well-placed compliments.
Lockhart gave the coachman directions to the terraced house. This would not be an overnight stop. He planned for them to spend two, maybe three weeks in Bath, where the season was already under way.
The coach stopped in front of the Bath-stone town house with its neat wrought iron railings and large windows. Lockhart was pleased
