“I’ve always been one to enjoy a chase, Lynsey, but I dislike having the fox turn and chase me. Something has changed. My wife and I are reconciled and I’m perfectly happy with the arrangement,” he told her. “Should I ever decide differently, though, I’ll let you know. Now, shall we rejoin the party before tongues begin to wag?”
Lynsey had pouted, still angry but had apparently decided she’d sway him with charm. Smiling ruefully, she had placed her arm on his and quietly returned to the dance floor.
Sighing heavily, Jared decided to tell Mariah the truth.
It was better than hearing it confirmed from another source. “Mariah, what you heard was true.” Hearing her shocked gasp, he turned and put his hand beneath her chin, lifting it so that he could gaze into her eyes.
Let me clarify that statement. A part of it was true. I was a fool to take Lyn into the library alone. She claimed she’d gotten sick but her recovery was near miraculous. She kissed me and she was furious when I informed her I was happily reconciled with you. Nothing more happened, I swear it.”
Mariah was stunned, having expected him to deny the whole rumor had any basis at all. Eyes lowered, bottom lip trembling, she made a wavering accusation.
You…you were dancing with her afterward—she hardly looked as though she were a scorned woman. If you want her…She had no chance to finish as her chin was lifted angrily and she caught the impatient glare from his eyes.
“You little fool, didn’t you hear a word I said? I told you, I let her know there’s no one else I want. Now if you insist, I can always return to the party and take her up on the offer.”
Mariah’s tears began to fall at the very thought and she buried her face against his chest. His hold tightened around her as he smiled down, his chin rubbing the soft ermine fur of her hood.
“That’s better, sweetheart. For a moment there, I thought you were going to hand me to her on a silver platter! The old Mariah wouldn’t have given up so easily.”
At home, he again picked her up and carried her inside to the parlor, where Christmas decorations hung and a small fir tree had been decorated. Laying her on the sofa, he left her a moment, reached beneath the tree and returned with a small, wrapped package which he handed to her. With a light and tender kiss on her cheek, he said, “Merry Christmas, darling.”
Mariah smiled, happily reassured. “There’s one for you, also. See,” she pointed at a small, foil-wrapped box and waited until he’d reached for it, “I hope you like it.” They both smiled and began to open the gifts, Mariah waiting to see if he seemed pleased with her gift. Jared opened the small box and found it contained a heavy gold ring with his family crest engraved atop it. “I had your father’s help in copying the design!”
Jared was moved by her efforts to please him and to cover his sudden rush of affection, he insisted she open her gift. Mariah’s eyes widened with pleasure as the necklace sparkled into view, catching the rays of the lamplight. “Oh, Jared, it’s so beautiful! It must have cost a fortune!” She hugged his neck and then released him, eager as a child to try it on. “Help me fasten it, please!” When it lay about her neck, shimmering with the light, Jared smiled with satisfaction. “It hardly does justice to you, but it’s the closest I could come to those enchanting green eyes of yours.”
Mariah moved her legs so that she was in a sitting position, motioning for him to join her. “I have another present for you.” When he sat next to her and she was cozily cuddled against him she revealed her secret.
“Jared…we’re going to have another baby. Dr. Simmons confirmed it the other day!” She was thrilled by the glow of pleasure that shone from his eyes as he took her hand in his, turning it over to kiss her palm.
I have a feeling this one’s a boy, Jared.”
Adoringly, Jared searched her face, noticing every feature sparkle, dulling the necklace by comparison. “You had the best gift of all, you little minx! I wonder that you could keep it a secret at all. At least, I’ll be around to watch you grow big with this one, and be there when the boy’s born!” He laughed at his automatic acceptance of her conviction that it would be a boy.
He carefully lifted her into his arms, holding her close again as he carried her up to their room. “No wonder you tired so easily tonight; you’d best start taking better care of yourself, madam, or you’ll have my wrath to answer to,” he warned sternly and Mariah giggled at his threat. Kicking open the door, he placed her gently on the bed and prepared to leave her so that she could rest. Mariah’s arms clung to his neck, refusing to let go of him.
"Jared,” Mariah’s voice had taken on a soft, bewitching plea, “Jared, I feel so much better now, can’t you stay? We could have our own private celebration.” Her eyes gazed into his with a passionate invitation that Jared found impossible to resist.
Chapter 33
Following the announcement of her pregnancy, Mariah was again the center of attention. Christmas Day Stuart held an intimate supper for family and friends, including Drew, Tony, Beth, Jared’s Uncle Sean and Aunt Sarah, and at Mariah’s insistence, Natalie. Normally Natalie, occupying a position somewhere between servant and companion, would have spent the holiday with the household servants. Mariah felt Natalie had been so kind and since it was her first Christmas in a strange country, she wanted her to join the family. Jared knew of Mariah’s affection for the girl and went out of his way to make her feel at home among them.
Jared and Mariah had waited until after supper, when all were gathered in the drawing room before a blazing Yule log, to make the announcement. The room was silent for a split-second afterward, then a babble of voices broke forth as everyone excitedly tried to congratulate them at once. Someone suggested that a toast was in order and Henges was sent off for a bottle of Lord Maubrey’s best champagne. Stuart beamed with pride and was the first to propose a toast. “My good fortune has been unbelievable this year—my son has safely returned; I have a lovely daughter-in-law whose beauty graces this house, and soon, two grandchildren! I can’t foresee a more propitious New Year, but God keep us healthy and well!”
The group seemed to split of its own accord as Tony, Uncle Sean and Stuart all gathered about Jared, congratulating and pounding him on the back. Mariah was surrounded by the women, all anxious to know details of the expected event. Mariah was aglow with happiness and occasionally her eyes would stray to Jared’s face and find him contemplating her. They exchanged tender looks, almost as physical as a caress. No one seemed to notice that Drew sat alone in brooding silence as he gulped his wine and then refilled his glass. Finally he rose and joined the group around Jared. They were discussing Jared’s regiment and the imminent war action brewing on the Crimean Peninsula.
Drew’s thoughts whirled, angrily disconnected in his mind. The prospect of this new child, who might be a male, had been a definite shock, a development he hadn’t given much thought to before the surprise announcement. He was the only one in the room who wasn’t overjoyed by the news. In fact, he found it singularly depressing as he realized it put him one step further from inheriting the earldom. Before this, he’d had to contend only with Jared. Now, he thought bitterly, there was one more problem to dispose of. No doubt, there were ways. He’d just have to put his will to it and get busy.
He returned his attention to his father, who was asking Jared in a low tone whether he thought he’d be ordered to the Crimea soon. Drew interrupted before Jared could answer. In a voice loud enough to carry across the room to the women huddled about Mariah, he spoke in a knowing tone. “I understand from reliable sources, Jared, that all the regiments are being called up for duty by next month. Don’t know if I’d want to go, if I were you. Heard reports of all sorts of harsh conditions and brutality on the Russian side. Mariah’ll be left behind to worry whether she’ll be a widow!”
In the same moment, both Jared and Stuart glowered at Drew’s apparently thoughtless statement. Stuart quickly rebuked his younger son’s choice of words, and Jared looked across the room to see Mar
iah pale with anxiety and looking exceedingly miserable. He made his way through the women and took Mariah’s hand to draw her to her feet. “What Drew said…it’s nothing but baseless rumor, darling. True, we may have to leave soon, but I’m sure the whole thing will be over in no time.” He slipped his arm around her and gazed down into her eyes, exacting her promise not to worry. When the tension had eased somewhat, he asked Beth to take her upstairs for a rest. “I expect you to obey me, madam, for my son’s sake,” he added to Mariah, as her mouth opened to protest, “if not for my peace of mind!”
After Mariah left, the party came to an end, the guests again offering Jared their congratulations. Finally, Jared stood with his father and Drew, watching the last of them leave.
Drew moved to the hallway, intent on going off for a late gambling venture, but Stuart restrained him. “Son, that was a foolish statement to make in front of a woman who’s going to bear a child! If you haven’t any better sense than to frighten Mariah, in the future, please refrain from adding any comment.”
Drew apologized dolefully to Stuart and to Jared and managed to look so crestfallen at his inept bungling that Stuart patted him on the back and told him to run off and enjoy himself.
Chapter 34
In early February, the day Mariah had dreaded finally arrived. Jared and Tony both were ordered to prepare to rejoin their regiment within two weeks. Mariah wept inconsolably in her room in near hysteria. She’d been high-strung and touchy to begin with, and Drew’s statement had instilled a fear in her that Jared wouldn’t return home safely from the conflict. Now, with the reality of his leaving less than a fortnight away, her nightmares had doubled until she scarcely slept at all. She would awaken in a cold sweat from nightmare shapes that seemed to pull Jared away from her to a place beyond her reach.
Jared tried to comfort her and to relieve her obsessive fear. Now, with his orders in hand, he stormed about the house, cursing anyone who had the temerity to cross his path. He finally slammed disgustedly from the house and had one of the stableboys saddle his horse. Riding far beyond the limits of London, he made an attempt to sort out his feelings. Regret was one of them, regret that he’d joined the regiment in the frivilous search for female conquests. At the time he’d been sure there’d be no action. Jared had fought before; it didn’t bother him to go into battle, but he could see no reason for this war in the first place. It wasn’t as though England were being attacked. This damn Crimean Peninsula was halfway around the world; a conflict between Turkey and Russia.
The memory of Mariah’s tear-streaked face haunted him as he eased the mount’s pace, finding himself at a small village green,'some twenty miles south of London. Jumping down, he tied the horse to a post outside an inn, incongruously named the Soldier’s Rest. Inside, the large public room was so dark, he had to pause a second for his sight to adjust before he could spot anyone.
“A bottle of your best brandy, innkeeper,” he called out at last, as he spied a short, grizzled old man behind the bar. Jared sat in a corner booth and waited for his brandy. He tossed his hat onto the wine-stained, oaken table and his thoughts drifted back to Mariah again. She’d always managed well under other conditions, he didn’t know why this was any different. In fact, her resilience was one of the characteristics he’d most admired about her. But it was happening all over the country! Lovers were leaving sweethearts, husbands leaving wives, and she’d just have to buckle down and accept things the way they were. It galled him, though, that he’d wanted to go through this pregnancy with her and wouldn’t be able to. Suddenly he heard a steady shuffling sound, edging nearer and the innkeeper came slowly into view, dragging one foot behind him, a bottle of brandy and a glass in his hands.
“Here y’are, guv’ner. Best in me cellar—bottled right after the big war, the one where I crippled me left foot!”
He opened the bottle, pouring a tall glassful of the heady, aged brandy.
“You’re referring to the war with France then, old man? I’m afraid I wasn’t around then. Is that how the inn was named Soldier’s Rest?”
“’At’s right, sir. When I comes ’ome, I tells me wife, Meggy, the name Boar’s Head ain’t no good no more, got to have somethin’ to, ’ow d’you say, commemorate the great war. So, since I needed the rest wi’ m’ game leg, I call it the Soldier’s Rest. You in the army, sir?”
“Captain of the Seventeenth Lancers with orders to leave for the East any day. Did you see a lot of action, Mr…?”
"Johnson’s the name, sir, and you be?” When Jared had told him his name and title, he became immediately deferential. “Well, m’lord, I was jus’ a common foot solider, see, but aye, we saw a good deal o’ bloody fightin’! It’s not no glorious thing like it’s made out to be—saw me best friend fall wi’ a bloody hole in his gut, right ’fore I ’ad me own foot bayoneted. Don’t you let nobody convince you different, Lord Carleigh, it's a right bloody mess out there when you finds yourself face to face wi’ the enemy!”
Jared was becoming more depressed by the second. "Surely you have to expect some of that, Johnson,” he said. “After all, that’s what wars are all about. If it were a picnic, we would never cease fighting. Did your wife object to you joining up?”
“Oh, that were sad, m’lord! She never stopped cryin’ an’ moanin’ till I come back.” He rubbed the grizzled gray cheeks philosophically with one hand and imparted one of his beliefs. “You know, sir, it ’elped us a lot, though—that I came back, wounded, I mean. 'Fore that she never stopped ’er ’arpin and naggin’ to catch ’erself a breath. Now she waits on me ’and and foot. Must o’ made ’er appreciate what she ’ad, eh? Women’s funny creatures, sir, they cry and swear at you till they blue in the face and then fall all over you. Never can tell what’s inside them ’eads.”
Jared was amused at the keen observation and finishing the drink, paid the man. “Well, wish me luck, Johnson…I’ve a feeling I’ll need it.”
“I’ll ’ave the wife say a prayer for yer safety, sir, you can bet on it! Just keep your eyes peeled, them Russians is sneaky bastards!”
Outside, the late afternoon sunlight was dim. Jared sped his horse back toward the city, back to Mariah. If he had only two weeks left and his future was unsure, he fully intended to make them two weeks she’d remember.
Just as Jared finished his discussion with the crusty old innkeeper, Stuart was finishing a talk with Mariah. He had been aware that Jared had stormed out of the house and that Mariah still wept inconsolably in her room. Feeling helpless to offer any comfort to either of them, he nevertheless decided he’d try to talk Mariah out of her depression. He entered her room after a soft, tearful voice asked him in.
“Hello, dear, thought you might like someone to talk to. I understand things aren’t exactly perfect between you and Jared. If you think I’m mixing in—that it’s none of my business, don’t be afraid to say so.” Mariah stared miserably, with eyes swollen from crying. She sat in a chair by the fireplace and asked him to sit near her. Sniffling once, she brought a lace handkerchief to her eyes and began to explain. “I know why I’m so irritable, Stuart. It’s partly the baby, but mostly how terribly worried I am. Oh, Stuart, I don’t want him to go! He promised me he’d be here when this baby came; it’s just not fair!” Another tear trickled forlornly down her cheek.
Seated next to her, Stuart placed a comforting arm around her shoulders. “Mariah, this same scene is happening all over the country. It’s one of the facts of life.
Men will always be off to war and leave their wives and sweethearts behind to worry.” He patted the slender white hands twisting restlessly in her lap. “It would help Jared a great deal if you’d dry your tears and try to make his last weeks at home as happy as possible. Believe me, I know Jared won’t shirk from his duties, but neither will he be careless with his life. He’s got you and the children to come home to…that’s as good a reason to survive as any I know. It would clear his mind if, when he faced the enemy, he could think of you bearing up bravel
y, dear.”
Mariah sat and thought over Stuart’s claim and came to the realization that she’d been very selfish. She’d given the impression Jared was leaving just to torment her. She’d been so lost in self-pity that she’d ignored Jared’s feelings. He didn’t want to leave, any more than she wanted him to. “Oh, I’ve been so selfish, Stuart! I never thought of it from Jared’s viewpoint. Do you think he’ll be back soon? I don’t even know where he’s gone!”
“He just had to let off a little steam, child. If I were you, I’d dry my eyes and put on my prettiest gown to greet him when he returns. You’ll see what a difference it makes.”
Impulsively, Mariah hugged him close. “What would I do without you! Thank you for helping me see how wrong I was!”
“I’m only glad I could help, dear. Any time you’re worried about anything at all, I’ll always be here to listen.” Affectionately, he kissed her cheek and left, more than pleased with her reaction to his advice.
When she was alone again, Mariah industriously set about repairing the ravages of her days of crying. Seated before her mirror, she surveyed her face, noting her bloodshot eyes and the swollen puffs beneath them. Depressed again, she almost began to cry, but took hold of herself and rang for Anna. While she waited, she began to brush the tangles from the long black hair. When Anna arrived she was instructed to go to the kitchen and ask Cook for steeped tea leaves and prepare two small poultices with them. Those would reduce the swelling. While Anna was gone, a sudden urge to do something different with her hair overcame her. It hung down as low as her waist now and taking a pair of sharp scissors, she began to snip at it. By the time the maid returned, a mound of ebony curls lay on the floor and Mariah’s hair was now shoulder length.
Savage In Silk Page 27
