Milly’s mouth fell open, and she paled.
Cass offered the blade to Noel. “He stabbed you. You have my permission to return in kind, but do not kill him.”
Noel was wide-eyed as he took the blade. Then he turned to Husher.
Cassius’ doctor had also come in. The distinguished Lord Sparrow pointed out the places where Noel could cut him and not cause the man to bleed heavily.
The room was quiet.
Noel looked at his uncle.
Remy said, “It’s your call.”
Oliver knew what most of the women wanted. They wanted Noel to drop the blade and walk away, to tell Husher that all was forgiven. Oliver looked at Belle, whose hand rested on Milly’s shoulder. She was giving the duchess comfort.
Cass said, “Anyone who wishes to go may go.”
No one moved.
Cass nodded at Noel.
Noel turned to Husher. “I’ll drop this blade in exchange for my horse.” The black stallion was a true beauty. It had been a gift from his uncle.
“You gave me the horse fairly,” Husher growled. “In exchange for Lady Vita’s protection.”
Oliver wasn’t sure if it were truly fair, considering Noel had been tied up at the time.
“And now we shall exchange him again for your unblemished skin.”
“Cut me,” Husher said.
“Very well.” There was no hesitation in Noel now.
The blade sliced through his side.
Milly frowned but didn’t turn away.
Cass said, “Stitch him up. He shall join the rest of us at the table when he is ready. Also, I’ll be needed my jacket back.” He took his wife’s hand and began the precession out of the room.
Oliver caught up with Belle and she slipped her hand in his. “You handled that pretty well.”
“I’m surprised you weren’t shouting for the man’s beheading,” Belle teased.
Oliver rubbed his silk-covered throat with his free hand. “My cravat was too tight. Otherwise, my screams for retribution would have been heard.”
She laughed.
Oliver tugged his cravat again.
“Leave it,” she said.
“I despise these things. What good are they? The silk offers no protection against a sword.”
She giggled. “Oliver, I don’t think that was the inventor’s intention. As you said, not everyone is out to kill someone.”
“Then why have it at all if not to protect my neck?”
“It looks good on you.”
He smiled down at her. “You’re just trying to civilize me. I must warn you, it won’t work.”
“Oh, I know exactly the sort of man you are.” She stopped in front of her chair and looked up at him through dark lashes. “And I wouldn’t change a thing about you.”
He knew better than to take her flirting seriously but enjoyed her smile, nonetheless.
They sat next to one another. Cassius usually kept his meals informal so that Milly could be close.
The duke and duchess were currently having a private discussion. Actually, Milly was doing all the talking. Cassius was simply staring at her, and Oliver wasn’t sure the man was truly listening. He seemed enraptured with his wife’s beauty.
Oliver looked at Belle and noticed she was watching them, a thoughtful expression on her visage that he’d not seen in years. Her guard had fallen and her feelings were showing. He glimpsed longing. “Have you ever been in love?” he asked.
His question startled her out of her musings. “What?”
He repeated his question.
She looked away. “Once.”
He was hurt by her visible pain. “What happened?”
She sipped her glass. “The feelings were not returned.”
How was that possible?
He’d been thinking about Belle’s happiness since yesterday and even more so since their visit to the prison.
Oliver decided then that when this mess with the assassin was over, he would see her happily married to a man he knew could protect her. She deserved that just as much as some lonely, worthy man deserved all the kindness she had to offer.
He was narrowing down his choices. The man would have to blend well with Cassius’ circle, or rather, he’d have to survive it. Also, he needed to have his own wealth. Oliver would know the man he chose for her inside and out and make it clear that if she were hurt, they would answer to him.
A Dunst situation would never occur again. And neither would any of the situations from her past.
She’d have an official protector.
He would see to that.
∫ ∫ ∫
2 1
* * *
Belle was reminded of our cowardice once more as she and Oliver turned to speak to other people around them. He’d asked if she’d ever been in love and she wasn’t brave enough to ask the same.
But she needed to face the truth, she realized. He’d offered her nothing more than friendship. So, if they were to be friends, her hopes for more needed to be crushed. It was the only way she’d ever simply see a good man and not the man of her deepest desires.
Her heart had to let him go.
When there was a lull in both their conversations, she asked, “Have you ever been in love?”
He stared at her for a long time. “Why?”
“You asked me. It’s only fair I should ask you the same.”
“It’s… a complicated question.” He forked a load of food into his mouth.
“A complicated question? Oliver, the answer is either yes or no. Have you or have you not been in love?”
“I’ll tell you later.” He wiped his mouth and then turned away again.
Belle stared at the back of his head in disbelief. She’d been prepared for him to say no. She’d been prepared for him to say yes and it to have been to another woman.
She’d not been prepared to hear later. Now she was anxious.
She looked up when Husher strolled into the room. He was clearly in pain, but no one moved to assist him as he pulled out his seat and sat down across from Belle.
He winced. His breathing was hard. He looked up at Belle.
She picked up her wine and grinned. “Picking fights with young men, are we? My, you have been a naughty boy, Husher.”
He chuckled and then groaned in pain. “You have no idea.”
She twirled her wine in the glass. “It’s a shame that you’ve had to resort to stealing horses since leaving Cassius’ team. Independence doesn’t suit you.”
He grinned. “I’ll adjust.” He glanced at Cassius.
Cassius’ expression was mute, but he did extend his cup to Husher. A truce.
The conversation turned as the air became lighter.
Belle looked at Oliver and saw he was grinning. “I see what you did there.”
“What did I do?” Though she knew exactly what she’d done.
“You lowered the tension.”
“Some provoke violence. I try to provoke harmony.”
He leaned over and whispered, “Yet sometimes your flirting can lead a man to think you want more.”
“That’s his issue. Not mine.”
“But then how is a man to know when you truly want him? How is he to know when you’re being serious?” He looked at her mouth before swiftly returning to her eyes.
A dozen thoughts ran through her head. Mainly, she wanted to know why he wished to know. Was the question general or personal? She didn’t know how to respond.
“He’ll know,” she eventually said.
“How?”
She smiled. “Well, he could always ask.”
“And you’d give him a straight answer?” Oliver’s expression became doubtful.
“Though you may have never noticed it, I don’t treat every man the same.” She certainly hadn’t kissed every man she flirted with.
There had been a few kisses in the past. Men were tempting creatures, but she’d broken away before it had gone too far.
Still,
she’d wanted those men. Not as much as she wanted Oliver, but a woman had needs.
“I’ve never noticed this,” he said.
“That’s because you don’t know me.”
“Then show me who you truly are,” he said, nearly daring her to do so. “Let me see the Belle that few others glimpse.”
Her heart beat off rhythm. “All right. Tomorrow.”
He nodded. “Tomorrow.”
* * *
Oliver wasn’t surprised when Belle walked into the mess hall at the mines the next evening and began to serve the men who came in. He wasn’t surprised that she had a smile to offer the tired souls who were caked with dirt from the mines.
She flirted and laughed at their jokes, but it wasn’t until the tankards came out that she started telling jokes of her own. In seconds, the entire room was struggling to breathe. Belle captivated everyone with not only her beauty but her wit.
Oliver sat to the side and watched her tame a room of nearly a hundred men.
“Truly,” Belle said. “I adore you all.” She’d been telling the men just how much their work was appreciated by the masses who would use their coal for various purposes. “Without you, all of London would freeze to death and as you can imagine, I like it hot.” She batted her eyes.
The men grew rowdy. Some whistled.
“Are you married?” a man in the front asked.
Belle gave him her most innocent expression. “Why no, I’m not.”
“Marry me,” the young man begged. “Give me your hand—”
“Now don’t be greedy. The least you could do is leave me my hand.” She pressed her hands to her chest. “You’ve all stolen my hearts.”
There were more calls to her teasing.
A man from the back shouted, “A little thing like you needs a man’s protection.”
Oliver thought the man was right.
Belle sighed. “A little woman like me, you say? Well, you may be right. I am often overlooked.” She waved her hand over her head.
Oliver chuckled with the others.
Belle went on, “A man once stole my purse and all my friends begged the question, ‘How could he stoop so low?’”
The ruckus grew. The man in the front who’d asked Belle to marry him said, “You’ll not be distracting me from my question. Why won’t you marry me? Is it my clothes? I clean up pretty well, I’m told.” His friends cheered him on.
Belle laughed. “Your clothes wouldn’t matter to little ole me. Besides, I can never look down on anyone anyway.”
The crowd howled, Oliver moved to take Belle from the center of the room. She’d done enough. The men had looked tired when they’d first come in, but there wasn’t an eye in the room that wasn’t shining with admiration.
“Remember to appreciate the little things,” she shouted as Oliver took her out of the mess hall. The sound of happiness followed them out.
She sighed nervously as they settled into the carriage. “I hope I made someone’s day better.”
“I think you made everyone’s day.” Including Oliver’s. “You’re enchanting, Belle.”
She smiled though she was still trembling. She swayed easily with the carriage’s motion.
He’d never seen her so nervous.
Her brown eyes blazed with warmth. “I always wanted to do that.”
“Do what?”
“Make people laugh like that in such a setting.”
“You mean, you’ve never done that before?”
She shook her head. Then she covered her mouth with her hands and laughed. “I was so nervous.”
He took her hands in his. She was far different than he’d ever seen before. He’d asked for a glimpse, and she was giving him everything. He was honored that she would allow him to accompany her for this. “There was no reason to fret. You had every person in the room spellbound. Even the women laughed. I’m sure they’re surprised a lady would bother speaking to such a crowd.”
“Well, I do like it hot.” She giggled. “Coal is very important. The miners’ work is important. They should feel valued.”
His heart could barely contain the emotions that flooded through him. Belle had a gift.
Remy’s words from the previous day came back to him. Not every man was a monster and many would adore her for her kindness.
“How do you manage it?” he asked. “Making people happy after everything that was done to you?” She’d been little more than a sex slave until she’d come to Oliver.
Belle’s eyes fell. “I don’t know. I just… It was either laugh or die, really.” She looked at him. “Laughter, happiness, even finding a reason to smile always kept me from losing my mind. It helped me mend what was broken within me, filled in the places of pain.”
“Others would not have survived as you did,” he said. “They’d have closed their hearts to the world. You haven’t.”
She shrugged. “There are parts of me that are jaded. I don’t think anyone can leave such an experience and not be scarred in some way.” She smiled sadly.
“Gregory had his footmen beat my body and then they left me on your land where they knew you’d find me. Then you healed me and saved me from ever having to sleep with another man I didn’t want again. You showed me there was still good in the world. And after everything you suffered, that you would sacrifice for me? How could I be anything other than grateful for life?”
He hung his head. He often forgot about the circumstances that had forced her to lie to him. His anger had always been unjustified. She’d had no other choice.
Yet recently he realized his anger hid something else. It hid fear. He’d loved her and then he’d discover that the woman he loved wasn’t real. The pain had been greater than the bones his own father had broken.
He was no longer angry with her for what she’d done, but Belle had the ability to control his mind and that was a power he could never give anyone.
When they arrived at the manor, Oliver walked her to her door.
“I’ll have to tell everyone what happened in the morning,” she said. “I thought the miners would hate me.”
“No one could ever hate you.”
Her expression changed, and he realized his mistake. “I mean…”
“It’s all right.” She smiled again. “You enjoyed your night?”
“I did, but that man didn’t lie. You could do with protection, Belle.” Though the old duke of Van Dero was gone, there were still far too many men like Gregory lurking in the shadows, waiting to take advantage of women like Belle.
“I’m a part of Van Dero’s organization,” she said. “Most people wouldn’t dream to come after anyone close to Cassius.”
“While that may be true, you’d have better protection if you married.”
Her eyes widened. “Are you asking me to marry you?”
Shock make him shout, “No.” His heart raced with his outburst.
The force of his words made her straighten and pull away.
“Forgive me,” he said quickly. “I didn’t mean to imply...”
She shook her head and wrapped her arms around herself. “No, it’s all right. I understand.”
Oliver ran a hand through his hair. How had he ruined things so quickly? “I’m not saying another man wouldn’t want to marry you. I only meant…”
“Goodnight.” She slipped into her room and closed the door.
∫ ∫ ∫
2 2
* * *
Belle had just released a sob when her door was wrenched open. She stood still as stone as Oliver followed her in. She read his expression as he closed the door behind him. Remorse.
She could not take another apology.
He crossed to her and grabbed her shoulders. “I’m sorry, Belle. Let me explain.”
“No.” The infuriating man. “I don’t wish to understand…”
He placed a finger over her lips. “You’re a beautiful woman. As you said, all men desire you. Most men at least.”
She batted his han
d away. “Oliver, I know you are trying to make me feel better, but it is not working.”
He frowned. “That is because you’re not letting me explain myself.”
“I don’t want you to explain. I understood you perfectly.”
“That isn’t true. Otherwise, you wouldn’t be in here crying.”
She closed her eyes. “I forgot how absolutely annoying you can be when you don’t get your way.”
“Me? Sometimes I wonder if you fight me because you get some kind of joy from it.”
She gasped and then sighed. “You may be right. I do like fighting with you.” It always managed to make her feel connected to him in some way. She knew it wasn’t right, but it was a fact. “But I’m not in the mood. I wish to be alone. Please go.”
“I’ll go after you listen.” He forced her to sit on her bed and Belle tried to fill her mind with a million thoughts in order to block his words.
Yet they came through anyway.
“I think you should marry.”
She stopped thinking and breathing at the same time. “What?”
“Therefore, I’ve decided that I will find a husband for you.” He crossed his arms. “I’m sure fighting him would feel far better than fighting me.”
“What?” She would have thought herself in a night terror if it weren’t for the fact that she knew she was awake.
“I’ll find a man who suits you and your way of existing.” He walked over to her and dropped down before her and took her hands. “I should have done this five years ago. Back then, you were helpless. You’re still helpless.”
“I am not!” She snatched her hands away and stood. Then she pushed him.
Oliver fell over in shock. “Belle, why are you being so disagreeable?”
“I can’t believe you. I can’t believe any of this.” She turned away. “I’m tired. We’re both tired. You should go.”
“If you’re capable of making Dunst a happy man then you’re more than capable of making someone far more worthy happy.”
She spun around. He was on his feet. “Are you forgetting the fact that I was trying to make something good out of a bad situation? What you’re intending to do is unnecessary. I’m fine.”
“You’re not.” He approached her again. “I heard your little speech to Dunst. You think I didn’t notice that it wasn’t only his loneliness you were referring to?”
The Marquess Who Kissed Me: (The Valiant Love Regency Romance) (A Historical Romance Book) Page 11
