Part 12 (1/2)
”No, though I wouldn't be surprised if she suspected there was more to this trip than an outing to the coast.”
The smirk grew. ”She brought herself, didn't she?”
”It's my carriage, isn't it?” Whit asked by way of deflecting the question.
Hunter leaned against the wall and folded his arms. ”I'm surprised at you. Allowing your wife to come, allowing your sister to stay. William a.s.sumed you'd lock Kate away at Haldon if you thought she might be in any danger. I'm amazed he told you of this mission, let alone put you in charge of it.”
He was pleased as well. Whit wasn't going to insist Hunter remain completely removed from the investigation.
Whit twisted his lips in disgust. ”He wasn't going to, the b.a.s.t.a.r.d. But he received word while he was at Haldon that the agent he had picked for the job came down with the ague. My being chosen as a replacement was a matter of expediency.”
”Doesn't explain why you've not locked up your sister.”
”If I thought Kate was in danger, I would would lock her up.” Whit shrugged. ”Lord Martin poses no real threat. To begin with, William tells me we're not entirely certain he's bringing over anything more nefarious than brandy. In addition, a man doesn't seek to impress the object of his affections by dragging her into a smuggling plot, does he? Your presence here-and in all probability, mine as well-is merely precautionary.” lock her up.” Whit shrugged. ”Lord Martin poses no real threat. To begin with, William tells me we're not entirely certain he's bringing over anything more nefarious than brandy. In addition, a man doesn't seek to impress the object of his affections by dragging her into a smuggling plot, does he? Your presence here-and in all probability, mine as well-is merely precautionary.”
Hunter rubbed the back of his hand across his jaw. No wonder William had ordered Mr. Laury's role as an agent be kept secret. Added manpower would not suggest to Whit a mission of limited danger. ”You think so?”
”There's no telling how many gentlemen in the ton ton have their fingers dipped into a smuggling operation here or there. Am I to keep Kate away from all of them?” have their fingers dipped into a smuggling operation here or there. Am I to keep Kate away from all of them?”
A finger dipped in, was not the same as being the sole financier, Hunter thought, and most smuggling operations did not include the possibility of treason, but he wisely let Whit keep his illusions. He didn't want Kate to leave, after all. He was confident he could keep her safe, and he wasn't yet ready for the mission to be over. ”It'll be enough for me if you were to simply keep an eye on her from time to time while we're here. I'd like a chance to spend some time with Lord Martin.”
Whit's eyebrows winged up. ”You're willing to trade missions for a day? Kate's company for Lord Martin's?”
”A morning here and there,” Hunter replied with a shrug. ”A few hours in the afternoon. I can't spend every waking moment with your sister. People will talk.” He didn't mind the usual amount of gossip that happened with any courts.h.i.+p taking place at a house party, but he'd just as soon avoid an outright scandal.
Whit nodded in acknowledgment of the point. ”I'll watch her tomorrow. Have you spent much time with Martin in the past?”
”A little at dinners and b.a.l.l.s, why?”
”Never a full day?”
”Never had the opportunity, or the desire. He's a little irritating. Again, why?”
”No reason,” Whit was quick to a.s.sure him. ”Let me tell you what I learned in London.”
Whit hadn't learned a d.a.m.n thing in London, a bit of news Hunter was still mulling over in the library a half hour later while Whit and Mirabelle finished settling themselves in their room.
It was unfortunate-though hardly unusual-that a fellow agent had wasted his time chasing down a false lead. But it was a relief to know they wouldn't be capturing Lord Martin the next day, putting an end to one of the finest excuses he'd ever come across to spend a protracted amount of time with a lady.
It also would have come as a disappointment to Kate. She was expecting an adventure, and he meant to give her one. He'd start, he decided, by instructing her to search certain portions of the house-now that he'd searched the whole of it and determined there was no danger. And he thought she might like to help organize the plan of capture-once they figured out where Lord Martin was planning to bring in and hide his smuggled goods. Probably, she would enjoy- The sound of someone playing the piano floated in on the air. No, not just someone, he corrected, as he headed for the door. It was Kate. No one else could play like that. No one else could even come close. Others played well, or very well, or even splendidly. Kate's talent transcended those descriptions. It was nothing short of sublime.
He followed the sound to the music room and quietly stood in the doorway to listen.
Here was the final reason he would marry Lady Kate Cole-her unparalleled talent for music. If Kate's physical beauty offered a man secular delight, her art offered a glimpse of paradise. And what man wouldn't wish to spend the rest of his life watching and listening to the beautiful Lady Kate Cole coax the divine from a piano? was the final reason he would marry Lady Kate Cole-her unparalleled talent for music. If Kate's physical beauty offered a man secular delight, her art offered a glimpse of paradise. And what man wouldn't wish to spend the rest of his life watching and listening to the beautiful Lady Kate Cole coax the divine from a piano?
Lady Kate Hunter Hunter, he corrected and, not for the first time, made a mental note to have the instrument of her choice installed in every estate, manor, cottage and town house he owned.
Kate let her fingers rush along the keys as the sound and feel of the sonata rushed about the room.
Here, just as when she danced, she was graceful-her mind and body in accord. The music in her mind blended seamlessly with the music she created with her fingers. She never missed a note, a beat, a rest. There was no accent too nuanced, no emotion too elusive that she couldn't tease it from the keys. For her, playing the piano was as simple as speaking, as natural as laughter, and as necessary as air.
She slowed her fingers and let the deceptively light melody trip along while she built an underlying current of something stronger in the harmony. It simmered and gathered and then released as the two halves were joined for a dramatic finale.
She sighed happily as the final notes died away. What should she play next? Something darker? Something more complicated? Something- A tickle crept along her spine and she spun on the bench to find Hunter leaning against the doorframe, watching her. His stance was relaxed, but there was such an intensity to his gaze as he studied her that the tickle turned into a warm s.h.i.+ver, and she found it impossible to turn away.
Hunter broke the spell, stepping into the room, and pus.h.i.+ng the door partially closed behind him. ”That was exquisite, Kate.”
She felt herself blush, both from the compliment and from the look that had pa.s.sed between them. ”Thank you.”
”Your own work?” he asked easily.
She nodded and willed herself to match his light tone. ”Evie's seventeenth birthday present.”
”That would have made you what,” he inquired, reaching her, ”thirteen years of age?”
”I suppose, yes.”
”Incredible,” he murmured. ”She must have been thrilled.”
”Oh, yes, until she learned I had to write it after spending all my pin money on sweets and hair ribbons.”
Hunter laughed and leaned a hip against the piano. ”Whit tells me you play other instruments as well.”
”A few, but my preference is for string instruments.” She tapped a key idly. ”This one in particular.”
”The piano is a string instrument?”
”Yes, didn't you know?” When he shook his head, she rose and stepped around him to point inside the piano's case. ”You see? The keys move the hammers, which strike the strings, hence a string instrument.”
He peeked inside. ”So it is.”
”You didn't have a piano about as a child, I presume?” When he merely raised his brows, she shrugged and lowered the prop holding the lid open. ”Children are inexorably drawn to anything with a lid. You can't keep them from trying to look inside.”
”Curiosity is a powerful motivator. It's how we learn.”
She traced the wood grain of the piano case with her fingers. ”It's also how we end up”-kissing handsome pirates in sitting rooms-”with dead gra.s.shoppers.”
”Beg your pardon?”
”Nothing.” She glanced up at him. He was standing very close. She could smell his soap, and she wondered if he would once again taste like spearmint. Her eyes shot back down to the wood. ”Curiosity isn't always beneficial.”