A giant of a man was lumbering down the side hall from the back of the house. He was middle-aged, rather ugly, and almost grotesquely muscular. As he passed the footman, he made a playful punch toward the man"s belly. The poor fellow blanched, causing the giant to laugh as he continued toward the stairs and started to mount them.

Seeing Richard, the giant snickered, “Better cut yer hair for the weddin", eh.” Richard let go of her hand, took hold of the banister for leverage, and vaulted both feet into the man"s chest. The crash in the hall as the giant hit the floor might have broken some of the old floorboards. Dazed, the man didn"t get up, but Julia was horrified at what was going to happen when he did. He had to be twice Richard"s weight, and like the rest of him, his hands were abnormally large.

Richard certainly didn"t seem to take any of that into account or was simply still too enraged to care. He quickly followed the man down the stairs.

“Get up, Olaf. Get up and give me satisfaction! Or have you no guts without my father"s permission?”

Olaf didn"t move, just lay there groaning with his arms trying to protect his belly, no doubt anticipating a kick from Richard.

But all Richard did was lean over Olaf, and she"d never heard such an ominous tone from him as he said, “Get out of this house and don"t ever come back. It won"t matter that an earl gave you orders to attack me at the inn and drag me back here. It only matters that you violently laid hands on a lord. They used to hang men for that, you know. Come to think of it, I think they still do.”

The other footman just stood there trembling, yet pretending not to notice the commotion around him. Julia gathered her wits and rushed down to Richard"s side. It was a perfect opportunity for her to say, “Why don"t we take a walk outside—so you can cool off.” Richard nodded and took her hand again. Once outside, with the front door closed behind them, he paused to take a few deep breaths, then glanced down at her with an apologetic cringe.

“I"m sorry you had to witness that.”

“It was—unexpected.”

“But long overdue.”

She didn"t have to ask. That giant had to be one of the brutes that his father had set on him long ago. A giant like that against a defenseless boy—she was actually surprised Richard had been lenient and hadn"t beaten the man senseless.

He led her around to the side of the house. The yard was well lit. Several of the rooms on that side of the house still had lamps burning in them, even the study. Julia thought that was odd, until Richard glanced through the window, then abruptly ducked down and dragged her away again.

“Son of a bitch,” he whispered. “He"s left one of the servants inside the study as well. The chap"s sleeping in a chair, but opening that window will probably wake him. That"s got to be the place then.”

“If it"s always guarded, we"re not getting in there, are we?” she asked in disappointment.

“We will. During the day, when the servants will be too busy with their other duties to stand guard.”

“You know that"s too risky.”

“Not if Father starts to relax his guard. He hasn"t yet. He"s still too suspicious. I doubt that maid has said anything to him yet about finding us in bed together this morning. But one more night in bed when he can actually hear us cavorting should convince him. We can time it right tonight, just as he gets home.”

“The moment my head touches a pillow, I"m going to fall asleep. I"m too tired tonight.”

“Tomorrow then, or the next night, when we"re sure he"s in his room.” Two more days at Willow Woods? She abruptly changed her mind. “All right, tonight.”

Chapter Forty-three

JULIA MUST HAVE YAWNED three times on the way back upstairs. She didn"t really know how she was going to manage this, fighting sleep, fighting her attraction to Richard—weren"t the two incompatible? She sighed in frustration and tried to think of another way to convince the earl they were sharing a bed, without actually doing so, but as tired as she was, she couldn"t think clearly, or she wouldn"t be walking down the corridor to Richard"s room again.

At his door he paused and nodded behind him toward the earl"s door. “While I"d wager that the contract is in the study, the joke would be on us if father has set guards there just to make us think it"s there.”

She had to disagree. “While that could have occurred to him, I highly doubt he"d bother.”

“When I could knock out a guard, take what we"re after, and be gone? I have a feeling that Olaf was on his way up here to guard my father"s room. And he"d be more difficult to knock out than one of the footman. This is the perfect opportunity to search his room just to be sure.

Charles said he only goes out like this a few times a week, so he isn"t likely to be out of the house again while we"re here.”

Unless they were still there next week, Julia thought with dread. “By all means, check it now.”

He did, but then said, “Locked.”

Before she could express her frustration, he grinned at her and fiddled with the lock for a moment. Then he grabbed the lamp on the hallway table and swung the door open. Julia went straight to the window on the side wall and opened it so she could listen for the coach. She wasn"t about to let Milton catch them in his room because they had no warning of his return until he was walking down the hall.

She kept glancing behind her to keep track of Richard"s progress as he picked open the locked drawers on Milton"s bureau. The tools he was using worked nearly as fast as a key! She would have to thank James Malory when this was over. When Richard and the lamp moved into the wardrobe, she knew he was almost done, with only the secret closet still to be unlocked.

She was starting to close the window when she heard Richard say in surprise, “Son of a bitch.”

He"d found it?! She rushed into the clothes room and over to the open door inside it, then halted in her tracks.

“Oh, my” was all she could think to say and even said it again. “Oh, my.” The long, narrow room was lined with floor-to-ceiling shelves. Cluttering every shelf were vases and urns in all shapes and sizes, some quite odd-looking, but most of them beautiful.

“These aren"t ordinary pieces you"d use to decorate your house,” she said in awe. “The smaller ones appear to be made of real gemstones, not colored glass. And look at this one.” She picked up one that was nearly the size of her hand. “As I thought, this has the weight of pure gold, not painted metal.”

“I don"t understand it. He lets his debts pile up while he keeps this fortune locked away up here?”

Julia didn"t understand it either. “Well, they"re probably locked away because they"re so valuable. Every one of these can actually be considered a work of art. I would have said they must be family heirlooms—”

“That he never shared with the family?”

“I recognize this one,” Julia said, inspecting the gold vase more closely. “I almost bought it myself. It was in one of the more expensive import shops on Bond Street. But I"m not so frivolous to waste thousands of pounds on a vase just because it"s supposedly one of a kind and thus considered priceless. That"s something my mother would have done. So while some of these could be heirlooms your ancestors acquired over the years, not all of them are.” Richard had been looking inside every vase to make sure nothing was hidden inside them.

Finished, he handed her the lamp and pushed her out of the room so he could relock it. In quick order, he got them safely back to his own room.

Tossing the packet of tools into his traveling chest, he mused, “No matter the why or how of it, he"s still got a fortune in there, yet he"s been obsessed with your fortune? It makes no sense.”

“Your father isn"t an ordinary man by any means. Nothing he does makes sense. Consider his horrid treatment of his own sons? And him holding on to a hope for nine bloody years that you"d come happily home to do your duty? And his „grandfather" persona, which is everything you could hope for in a grandpapa? But at least when we leave here, I"m not going to feel guilty now about pulling the work crews out before they"re done, not with all the wealth he possesses in that collection of vases and urns. I"ve become rather fond of your nephew already, so I was starting to feel bad about leaving him here in this rotting old place.” Richard chuckled at her. “It"s not rotting. The foundation is solid. Can"t deny it doesn"t need a lot of work, though, but children don"t pay attention to that sort of thing. And Charles has his own money, so you needn"t worry that Mathew will ever lack for anything.”

“That does relieve my mind, thank you.”

He came over to her and pushed her toward the bed. Her heart skipped a beat, until he said,

“You might as well take a nap, as tired as you are. I"ll wake you when Father"s coach pulls up.

Oh, and, Jewels, might as well get comfy, too. If for some odd reason he doesn"t come home tonight, I"ll let you sleep the night through.”

“I can"t reach my buttons,” she said with a yawn.

“Was that an invitation?”

“What?”

He chuckled. “Never mind, you"re nearly asleep on your feet, aren"t you? Let me help you.” She knew she should be paying attention. He was undressing her. She didn"t want to miss that or what might happen afterward. But she"d expended her last bit of energy on her nervousness in the earl"s room, and she had none left now. She even started to nod off once, Richard was so gentle in removing her dress, her shoes and stockings, and pulling the blanket over her scanty underclothes when he was done.

Then she felt the kiss on her brow and heard him whisper, “Sweet dreams, love.” How"d he know she was going to dream about him?

Chapter Forty-four

HE"S HOME. D"YOU NEED help waking up?”

Julia didn"t remember falling asleep, remembered nothing after her head touched the pillow.

But her eyes opened now as she felt Richard"s warm breath on her cheek, her neck. His lips were even warmer. He was kissing her awake. She wasn"t going to answer him to let him know it had worked. Her belly was already fluttering with excitement. She wasn"t experiencing any frustration now, no indeed. But she soon had to revise that thought when she realized he was only trying to wake her.

The moment he sensed her awareness he said, “We should bounce the bed. With no carpet on the floor, it will make quite a racket.”

Imagining that, she couldn"t help laughing. “That implies quite a bit of exertion. I happen to know you have more finesse than that.”

“Do you?” he said, his voice turning husky.

She realized she must have provoked some carnal thoughts in him with that compliment because his mouth moved over hers and he was kissing her deeply now. But they were too quiet, only emitting a soft groan, a labored breath now and then. This wasn"t for his father"s benefit at all, she realized. This was him wanting her, and that brought forth her own passions with quick abandon.

So easily, she forgot why they were doing this. She wrapped her arms around him, enjoying the feel of his warm skin under her hands. He"d removed his shirt in preparation for the morning demonstration for the maid again, but she didn"t care why. She loved the feel of his body, the wide stretch of his chest, muscles rippling under her fingertips. In the past, she"d always hated his strength, even held it against him, but she laughed at herself for those childish notions when she was so thrilled now by his big, muscular body.

He leaned over her, his tongue delving for another deep kiss as he slipped a hand beneath the loose top of her chemise, pulling it down low enough to expose both of her breasts. He cupped one in his large hand, then the other. When he tore his mouth away from hers to capture one of those br**sts in it with such scalding heat, she arched forward, her head thrown back.

His arms slipped under her back, holding her in that position for a few tantalizing minutes before his mouth moved up to her neck, then her ear, causing gooseflesh to spread over her shoulders. Little nibbles followed, spreading the exciting sensations further. Shiver after shiver joined in, while his mouth traveled down her arm, his tongue licking at her pulse points, then he actually took one of her fingers into his mouth and sucked on it. It was so oddly erotic, her breath caught.

With a last kiss to the center of her palm, he leaned over her again, pressing his chest against her breasts, kissing her deeply as he slipped his hand under her drawers to raise her temperature even higher. It worked, too well!

Too many clothes were still in the way! She knew he could change that quickly enough, so she tried to control her impatience, but it was almost impossible. God, she wanted him so much, deep inside her, taking her to those magical heights of pleasure again.

But he came to his senses! God, not again! Yet he dropped his forehead to her chest and groaned, “This better work this time, because there"s no way in hell I can do this again and not make love to you.”

She started to tell him that she felt the same way, that he didn"t need to restrain himself, when the door burst open. They"d been so involved with each other they hadn"t heard the earl coming down the corridor. He walked into Richard"s bedroom with three men crowding in behind him, two of them holding lamps high so the entire room was lit. Startled, Julia had leaned up, and now she froze in shock, all color draining from her face.

Richard shot out of bed instantly, tossed the covers up over her half-naked body, then stood there furiously, facing his father. Richard looked as angry as he"d been downstairs when he"d confronted a man big enough to tear him apart. This was the reckless, unpredictable side of Richard, and she was actually more afraid of what he might do than of what his father was up to.