Outrageous

by Minerva Spencer

  Eva grinned as she imagined Andrew’s reaction to James’s misidentification of his precious firearm. “Andrew is nice. What did he have to say?”

  James cut her an odd sideways look and shrugged. “Oh, not much. Just that Visel wasn’t such a bad sort.”

  “No, it turned out he wasn’t,” she admitted.

  James nodded and patted Liberty on the hindquarters, his mind obviously elsewhere. The stallion nickered softly and moved eagerly toward Scott, who was waiting with the curry brush and oats.

  They didn’t speak as they walked back to their office/stall; Eva wondered what it was that James was trying—and failing—to say

  “The more I think on it, the more I think we should save Moonspinner for last,” she said, the thought popping into her head suddenly. “I’d like to get her in with Liberty at least one more time, preferably two.” She dropped into a rickety cast-off chair and recorded Meadow’s information in the book.

  When James didn’t answer she looked up to find him leaning against the wall.

  “Have you seen his lordship’s house—what’s it called?” James asked the question without looking at her, and she could hear the worry in his voice.

  “Byer Park. And, no, I’ve never seen it, but his lordship says the stables are almost as big as these, just in need of repair.” She shrugged. “I daresay we’ll have our work cut out for us, but that won’t be so bad, will it?”

  Still he didn’t look at her.

  “What is it?” she asked tiredly.

  “I don’t think you should marry him.”

  Eva wasn’t surprised by James’s words. They’d been getting into each other’s business since the first time she’d sneaked into the stables and met him shoveling out a stall. For years they’d gone on nighttime journeys that would have turned their parents’ hair white if they’d known.

  Eva had gotten drunk her first time with James, although he’d done so far earlier without her; she’d seen her first horse race and mill with him; and they’d sneaked off to the traveling fair that came through each year, visiting a tent that had given Eva demonstrations of the sorts of things Mia had told her about.

  James knew secrets about her that even Gabriel didn’t know. And Eva knew things about him that could put his life in jeopardy.

  So, no, James’s words weren’t surprising. What was surprising was that it had taken him so long to say anything.

  “Are you saying this just because you heard us argue? You know I argue with everyone, James.”

  He nodded rather too quickly.

  “We’re just finding our way with each other. I’m sure we’ll disagree less after we are married.”

  “Hmmph.” James looked about as convinced as he sounded.

  Eva chewed her lip; what else could she tell him? That she didn’t think she should marry Tommy, either? That he was her only choice when it came to a husband? That there was no time to find another? That it wouldn’t matter if there was time, because whoever it was still wouldn’t be the right person?

  She wanted to scream and smash things, but she simply had no will left to struggle.

  This wasn’t about her or Tommy, this was about the child. Bringing a fatherless child into the world was condemning it to a life of slights and ignominy. She had no choice.

  “You just got off wrong-footed with Tommy, James. He thinks you should have stopped me from kidnapping, er, him.” Eva couldn’t even say his name.

  James snorted. “That just shows how little he knows you, don’t it, my lady?”

  “He won’t always be so stiff around you. Things will get better.”

  “It’s not me I’m worried about, my lady. It’s the way he is with you.”

  “What? He loves me and says he has done for years. He’s the one getting the short end of the bargain.” James had no idea just how true her words were.

  “I think—I think … ah, bugger!” He grimaced. “Sorry, my lady.”

  “If you apologize to me again for using stable language in a stable, I’m going to hit you, James Brewster. Now, just what do you think? I wouldn’t ask if I didn’t want to hear it. Besides, I’ve got nobody else to talk to. The only person who understands me even half as well as you is the marchioness, and she’s got her own concerns.” Besides, this was one problem there was no solution for. Godric didn’t want children, especially with her, and Eva was pregnant with his child. End of story—at least with him.

  Tommy, on the other hand, had been almost delighted to accept another man’s child if it meant she would marry him. When she’d asked whether he could love another man’s child—especially that man’s child—he’d been hurt.

  “I will love him or her as my very own.” He’d given her his familiar wry grin. “You must have heard that I’m not my father’s blood son, so I cannot—nor do I—set any store in such things. A child is a child. And yours will be mine and we shall raise him or her together—with the rest of our children.”

  That had given her pause, but she’d kept her mouth shut—plenty of time to consider having more children later. What mattered was that she’d believed him; he would love her child as if it were his own. But the days since their engagement had brought out some other parts of his character she’d not expected. She believed Tommy hadn’t expected those reactions, either.

  “I think you shouldn’t rush into things, my lady. That’s all,” James said, his words breaking into her thoughts.

  “For pity’s sake, James, I can’t wait—I don’t have the time.”

  There, she’d said it. Well, it had been simmering for days. Besides, she’d pretty much told James about every other important event in her life. Why would this be any different?

  “You’ve got nothin’ but time. His lordship has set you up right pretty here, and by next year we—”

  “I must marry now.”

  He frowned, his forehead furrowing. “You ain’t sayin’—”

  “Yes.”

  He dropped his head back against the wall with a loud thunk, his big hands covering his face. “Does the marquess—”

  “I haven’t told him.”

  He dropped his hands. “Aye, I suppose he’d likely have Lord Byer out at dawn somewhere.”

  She pulled a face at him. “Don’t be such a dimwit, James. It’s not his.”

  His jaw sagged and he sputtered, “What?”

  “Why are you acting so stunned?”

  “I ain’t acting!”

  Eva sighed.

  “If it ain’t the tulip’s, er, that is, his lordship’s,” he corrected when Eva glared, “then why are you marrying him? Lord.” His eyes became even rounder. “Does Byer even know?”

  “Of course he knows! What kind of villain do you think I am?”

  He raised his hands. “All right, all right. That was a dumb question.”

  “You’re full of them.”

  He didn’t argue. Instead he said, “What about Lord Visel?”

  The name clanged in the small room. Eva gave him a grim look. “What about him?”

  James’s face was practically glowing. “Does he know? Well, I mean, he’s the da, right?”

  Eva put her hands on her hips. “So?”

  James made a choked, gurgling sound. “It’s just, er, he said he wanted to marry you—I mean, I can’t believe he would shab off. He seemed like an honorable man.”

  “Oh, he’s honorable, all right.”

  “Well then, what in the name of Pete is the trouble?”

  “He never said he wanted to marry me, you dunce.”

  James scratched his head, opened his mouth, and then closed it.

  “Out with it.”

  “Er, well, wouldn’t he have to marry you now? I mean, given the circumstances?”

  She gave a bitter laugh. “Oh, I’m sure he’d willingly fall on his sword.”

  “I don’t understand.”

  “It’s not complicated: Visel would be forced to marry me, while Tommy wants to marry me.”

  �
�Um, er, but—” He looked as though he was in actual pain.

  “What?”

  “Well, aren’t you being forced to marry Lord Byer?”

  Eva blinked, trying to recall whether those were the words she had used. “Perhaps I phrased it incorrectly.”

  “Can I just ask one more question without you punchin’ me or yelling?”

  “Have I punched you or yelled at you, yet?”

  “No, that’s why I asked. I figure it’s past time as you rarely restrain yourself this long.”

  She rolled her eyes. “Ask.”

  “Who do you want to marry, my lady?”

  It was Eva’s turn to stare with her mouth open.

  “It’s just—well, you must have liked him? Lord Visel, that is,” James said after a long moment.

  “What makes you think that?”

  He gave her an openly confused look. “Well—you wouldn’t have—” He jerked his head toward the stalls they’d just left.

  “I wouldn’t have—what? What is wrong with you? Have you developed some sort of palsy? What are you trying to say? For God’s sake, just say it.”

  He gave an agonized groan. “I’m tryin’ to say you wouldn’t have done that—you know, like Liberty and Meadow just did—if you’d not liked him. Er, at least a little. Maybe?” Whatever he saw on her face was making him look slightly hysterical.

  “I can’t believe you just compared me to a broodmare.”

  He threw his hands in the air. “Well, I’m sorry, my lady, but all of this just makes no sense.”

  “It makes perfect sense when you know that he didn’t want me—and he especially did not want a child with me, a mad child.”

  “No! He never said such a thing?” James, who generally looked like a harmless, oversized stuffed bear, suddenly resembled the real animal, terrifying and fierce.

  “He did.” Her wretched voice broke on the last word and he took a step toward her, his expression one of horror.

  “Oh, here then, my lady, I didn’t mean to make you cry.”

  She reached up and felt her wet cheeks. “Oh, bollocks. Now look what you’ve done.”

  Eva flung herself at him and he awkwardly patted her shoulder. “Here now, my lady. It’ll be all right, then.” He sounded just as he had crooning to Liberty, and she laughed.

  He held her out at arm’s length and stared down at her with terrorized confusion. “What?”

  “You’re talking to me the same way you did to Liberty.” She gave another watery chuckle, followed by a big sniff as she wiped off her face.

  But James wasn’t to be distracted by humor. “This just ain’t right, my lady. It ain’t.”

  “I know,” she said softly. “It’s awful. But there is nothing I can do about it, is there?”

  James stared at her for a long, unhappy moment, and then said, “No, my lady, it seems there is not.”

  Chapter 24

  It was a few days after Eva’s argument with Tommy and her discussion with James that Eva discovered the reason behind Melissa’s censorious looks. But by that time, the house was too full and hectic to talk privately.

  The guests had all arrived in a cluster earlier in the afternoon.

  First her sister Catherine and her silent, wheelchair-bound husband, Douglas, along with his five year-old son, Philip.

  Next came Gabriel, Dru, and Samir.

  And finally, filling two large coaches, were Baron Ramsay and his ever increasing family.

  The only close relatives who wouldn’t be coming were Eva’s uncle Cian and her grandfather, the Duke of Carlisle, both of whom were traveling on the Continent.

  While Eva was only marginally acquainted with Lord and Lady Ramsay, she knew their pestersome twin sons, Lucien and Richard, all too well from family visits over the past five or six years.

  The boys were two years her junior and had attached themselves to Eva and Gabe like limpets every summer. Eva had been jealous of Gabe’s time and didn’t like sharing her brother’s company during his all-too-short visits. As a result, she’d considered the twins interlopers and treated them dreadfully. Not that they’d ever appeared to notice or mind.

  She’d not seen them since last summer and was stunned when they’d hopped out of one of the coaches earlier. Gone were the scruffy, irritating children she remembered, and in their place were two identical, tall, gorgeous young gentleman. The transformation was miraculous.

  As for Gabe? Well, this was the first time she’d ever avoided his company. From the brief look she’d had of him when he’d arrived, he was eager to corner and grill her about her marriage to his best friend—not a subject she cared to discuss with anyone these days.

  Dinner was a lively affair as everyone—with the exception of Eva, and Catherine’s husband, Salford—noisily reacquainted themselves as if they’d not seen each other in years, rather than just weeks.

  Her family knew how busy she’d been with her new venture, so they seemed unconcerned by her unusual silence. As for Baron Salford, well, the man perpetually dwelled in the doldrums, so nobody took notice of his behavior, either.

  Eva was not skilled when it came to reading other people’s emotions, but even an impervious lump like herself could see all the looks Mel gave Tommy when she believed nobody else was watching. Eva was disgusted with herself for not noticing before.

  For his part, Tommy’s eyes drifted all too often to Eva, although the expression in them was not that of a man in love.

  More and more Eva saw hints of concern when he looked at her. Oh, he still wanted her, but she was beginning to doubt whether what he felt for her was love or just a need to possess her. Eva had seen that look before. Although she’d been slighted by men like Visel and his cronies during her Season, she’d had her share of—unwanted—admirers.

  There’d been a wealthy, widowed viscount in his forties who’d gazed at Eva with a rapt expression during the few dances she’d been unable to avoid him. He’d examined her the way a collector might look at a painting or the way Eva looked at a perfectly matched pair of grays: with covetousness. There’d been a darker component to his stare that left her uneasy. She now knew that what she’d felt was his physical interest in her. Specifically, his interest in breeding her. The revulsion she’d felt at the time had caused her to be even ruder than usual, and the rejected lord had joined in taunting her the next time she saw him.

  Other, less repellant suitors had shown themselves, every last one of them either interested in the money she would bring to the marriage, or her person.

  Tommy’s expression, she realized with lamentable tardiness, was not unlike that viscount’s look, although he did not make her recoil at the thought of his touch. But neither did she look forward to her wedding night, or all the nights after.

  Later, after dinner, when everyone was absorbed in a deafening game of charades in one of the sitting rooms, Eva slipped away unnoticed, hoping to get some much-needed sleep.

  But she spent the night staring at the ceiling, her mind a whirling, endless jumble.

  She rose before dawn and headed to the stables, excitement for the day pushing aside her worries about Mel and Tommy.

  “Good morning, my lady.” James was bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, his grin telling her he was as excited as she to get on with business.

  “How is he?” she asked, even though she could guess the answer.

  “Fit as a fiddle and as fine as a fivepence.”

  Eva snorted.

  Eva had chosen Clancy as stud for two reasons: one, she knew Sir Walter would accommodate her in a way that most other stud owners would not and allow her to bring Clancy to her mares, rather than the other way around.

  The second, far more important reason was that Clancy’s bloodlines could be traced back to the three royal progenitors of all thoroughbreds. He’d raced three seasons, and though he’d never been a champion, he possessed impressive speed on the flat and a winning track record.

  In any event, she was very happy to have Clancy
for five days, and had every intention of using him each day, regardless of how much the foolish wedding preparations threatened to interfere.

  Mr. Brewster believed three covers, one a day for three days, was as good as you could expect before the mare went past the peak of her breeding cycle. After that you not only risked diminishing returns, but also injury to the stud from an unreceptive mare.

  It took four of them to handle Clancy, especially when it came to Eva’s newest mare, Moonspinner, who was a skittish maiden. Although she’d been teased twice daily for a week, she clearly found Clancy a different kettle of fish from sweet old Liberty.

  They’d just finished having Liberty jump her, wearing a shield to keep him from actually servicing her, when Gabriel joined them.

  Eva raised her eyebrows. “My, you’re up early.”

  He grinned, his white teeth flashing in his tanned, handsome face. “I wanted to get a look at your operation. Besides, Mother said you only had four working for you, so I thought you might appreciate an extra hand.”

  “Especially an experienced one.”

  Gabe had helped with the breeding of his father’s horses in Oran and knew what he was about when it came to cattle. He quickly stripped off his coat and rolled up his sleeves as James brought in Clancy.

  “Good morning, James. I’m here to offer an extra set of hands,” Gabe said.

  “It’s good to have you, sir. Want to take charge of the assist?” James offered with a cocky smile.

  Gabriel laughed. “No, I’ll leave that in younger hands.”

  By assist James meant the person responsible for adjusting Clancy’s breeding organ if the stud required assistance entering the mare. Eva wondered with amusement if she should tell Tommy that she’d assisted today.

  Gabe caught her eye and gestured toward Scott, who looked nervous about holding the twitch and had gripped poor Moonspinner’s lip rather awkwardly.

  “Let Mr. Marlington take that, Scott, and watch how he uses it—he’s got a light touch.”

  Scott nodded, clearly eager to pass the burden.

  Not only would Eva never want to have horses injure each other during a covering, but she really did not want to abuse Sir Walter’s trust in her, so she’d taken extra precautions with each of the mares and Clancy.