Tainted Bride

by A. S. Fenichel

  He hid his laugh behind his hand “Absolutely appropriate. And if I find a suitable moment to mention that fact to Mr. Wheel, would that also be appropriate?”

  She shrugged innocently. “It would seem a way to make polite conversation and I know how you English adore such things.”

  “I shall endeavor not to bore you with my chattiness in the future.”

  “I did not mean you specifically, my lord.” She’d offended him. Why couldn’t she keep her mouth shut? “I’ll admit Americans are not as good at being polite even when we try. Perhaps it is rather, especially when we try.”

  He laughed. “Do not fret, Sophie.” He bent down until his lips almost touched her ear. “I’m certain you will insult me many more times as we barrel through our life together.”

  A shiver ran up her spine and her breath caught. “I have not agreed to marry you, my lord. Do not presume I will. I’m quite sure you will, unfortunately, be disappointed.”

  His expression was neutral, but his eyes laughed at her. “I do not think so.”

  She was about to argue, but the music changed and was too loud to have a conversation.

  Chapter 12

  The Viscount of March’s enthusiasm with regard to the natural world was without equal. Sophia stumbled through the wilderness after the group. She’d worn good sturdy shoes, but after an hour and a half of walking and stopping and walking; she was bored, tired and her feet ached.

  “This is hawthorn. There are two sorts of hawthorn. One way to tell them apart is to squish the red berry between your fingers.” And his lordship did so. “If it has one seed inside, then it is the normal hawthorn but if there are two or three seeds it is a Midland hawthorn, which we will see growing more often in woods rather than hedgerows.”

  Sophia had no idea the outcome of the berry squishing experiment as she distanced herself to avoid listening too closely to the lesson. A butterfly flew across the path. The pretty insect was so filled with life and fancy it made her smile in spite of her desire to be anywhere else.

  Lord March’s delight equaled hers as he grabbed it harshly off of the flower it was investigating. “Sixteen species of butterfly have been recorded here, including Brown Argus and Marbled White. The butterflies are attracted by nettles, thistles, knapweed, trefoils and brambles.” He then dropped the poor dead creature on the path.

  “My lord, what causes these holes in the old trees?” Serena Dowder asked. Miss Dowder’s enthusiasm seemed to equal the viscount’s.

  Sophia groaned inwardly. The death of that beautiful butterfly had decimated the small bit of enjoyment she’d taken in the walk.

  Dory pulled at her arm holding her back even farther, though they could still hear the response.

  “Green, Great Spotted and Lesser Spotted Woodpeckers rely on the standing dead wood to make their nests in late winter and early spring so they are ready for egg-laying in late March or early April. They will often occupy the same holes year after year.”

  That garnered a round of oohs and ahs.

  He went on to tell about a pretty white starburst of a flower, which he called bladder campion.

  Dory tugged on her arm. “I cannot take any more of this drivel. I think we have listened long enough. Let the Dowder twins have their time flirting. Let’s you and I go for a walk.”

  Sophia cringed. “My feet are aching, Dory. Can we find a place to sit down? Is there no place in this wilderness to take a seat for a while?”

  “Let’s go and look.” Arm in arm they walked away from the rest of the group.

  It was a long walk, but Sophia was happy to get away from the crowd. “Are you interested in Mr. Gautier?”

  Dory sighed and her shoulder slumped. “No. He is handsome, kind and of an age, but he has a wild reputation. Where his brother is titled and a bore, he is poor, untitled and far too rakish for me. I think I shall find myself an intellectual, but one who is not quite as dull as The Viscount of March.”

  “Are you sure such a man exists?”

  “No, but it’s just as well. I much prefer to concentrate on my music for a while. At least until my parents force the issue. I should be able to beg off for one more year and perhaps in that time we shall meet such a paragon.”

  “My aunt has given me leave to never marry,” Sophia said.

  “Really, why? Have you told her about your trouble in America?”

  “Yes. I told her everything when the gossip was in the papers. She has promised me a home and an income, should I choose not to marry.”

  “That is very generous.” Her voice was distant and there was a long pause. “Are you certain that is what you want, Sophia?”

  “I can’t marry.” She said it forcefully but her stomach soured at the idea of a solitary life in the country. Would she have friends? Perhaps she would find a cat to keep her company on the lonely nights.

  They arrived at a pretty arbor covered with pink roses. She was close to tears at the sight of the bench beneath it.

  “I thought you and his lordship were getting along rather well,” Dorothea said.

  Sophia shrugged. “I like him, but how can I marry him? He will need an heir and I can’t give him one. It would not be fair to marry anyone.”

  “I would think you will want to have a child, Sophia. To me, it is the only good reason for marriage. I cannot wait to hold my own baby in my arms and know this little person will love me for as long as I cherish him.”

  Sophia’s eyes filled and her heart ached with the children she would never have. She blinked several times to clear them. “Besides, his lordship has a bad habit of tossing aside fiancées as easily as he does a dirty cravat. I shall not be the next to be thwarted before getting to the altar, or worse, after.”

  Dory’s eyes widened. She touched Sophia’s arm. “Dearest, you are mistaken. He had every reason to end his engagement with Jocelyn. It was not a whim. Lord Marlton is an honorable man.”

  Sophia turned to Dory and took her hand. Had she misjudged him? “I’m not a gossip, Dory, but will you tell me what happened and how you know?”

  Dory was quiet for a long time. She looked down at their joined hands. “I was closest of friends with Jocelyn. That is how I know what happened.” She looked up into Sophia’s eyes. “She’d been my friend since we were in finishing school together and while she had always been spoiled and willful, I never dreamed she would do what she did. Our friendship would have ended much sooner had I known how cruel she really was or how selfish.”

  Sophia was keen to know Daniel’s character. “How was she cruel?”

  Pushing a loose curl behind her shoulders, Dory took a deep breath and picked up her chin. “It was shortly before their wedding when Jocelyn told me she was in love with a Mr. Swanery. I advised her she must forget this man. She told me she would not. Her parents prevented her from ending her engagement to a man who would be an earl to marry an untitled nobody. She intended to have an affair with this man as soon as she had produced an heir for Marlton.

  “I was shocked, told her she was a fool and Daniel would be a good husband to her if she would treat him well. But she was so selfish, convincing her proved impossible. I had hoped that once she and his lordship were married, she would see how good and honorable he was, and change her mind. I had further hoped she would learn to love him since it was obvious he had tender feelings toward her.

  “My hopes were in vain. Before they were even married, she began an affair with Mr. Swanery. She was found in an unladylike position with her lover. It was Lord Marlton who discovered them.”

  “My word.” Sophia gulped for breath. “What did he do? Did he strike her?”

  “No. He ended the engagement without revealing to anyone why. I only know the truth because Jocelyn told me herself the next day. She was unrepentant and did not understand why he had made a fool of her. It was rather amazing that she felt no responsibility for what happened. I was so shocked I didn’t know what to say for a long whil
e and I allowed her to rant for thirty minutes about what a terrible, and mind you her language was far worse, man Marlton was. He had ruined her, she said. When I found my voice and asked her to leave the house, she was shocked that I did not take her part. She called me some hurtful things and then she left. I have not spoken to her since.”

  Sophia squeezed her hand. “I’m so sorry, Dory. It must have been terrible for you to lose a friend.”

  “Worse for his lordship I think. He immediately left England and went to America for more than a year. I think he was truly heartbroken. I have often wondered if Jocelyn had been the least bit sorry for her actions, would he have forgiven her?”

  “I cannot imagine he would have. He does not seem the forgiving type.”

  Dory shrugged. “He is not the same man he was then. What happened changed him, made him more cynical. He might not have returned from America had his father not died suddenly. He had to come back to take over the running of the estates and he even took his seat in the House of Lords. A lot has happened to Daniel Fallon in the last year.”

  “I see your point.” Taking her hand away, Sophia looked down at her shoes.

  “I thought you would be happy to know the truth.”

  Sophia shrugged. “It makes it more difficult to reject his offer.”

  Dorothea’s bright green eyes widened with surprise. “Has he asked you to marry him already?”

  She nodded.

  “What did you say?” Dory’s grin spread wide and her eyes lit up.

  Dory didn’t need to know about the scandalous promise she’d made. “I have not replied as yet.”

  “My word, Sophia, you have only been in England for a month and you have had a proposal from an eligible bachelor.”

  “Two,” she corrected.

  Dory jumped out of her seat. “Who else has proposed?”

  “Mr. Wheel was generous enough to ask as well.”

  Dory shook her head. “Indeed! I cannot believe it. I never thought Thomas Wheel would marry.”

  “He thought we would suit since we are good friends and love would not get in the way of our marriage.”

  “Goodness, he didn’t say that, did he?”

  “No, but it was nearly that unromantic. He was very kind. It was his intention to save me, I think.”

  “I’m a bit jealous,” Dory admitted.

  Sophia doubted that. “How many proposals have you refused?”

  “Eight. But none as intriguing as yours. All the men who have offered for me have been completely unacceptable.”

  “Really? I understood there was a duke in the mix of your ardent admirers.”

  “He was forty-two years old. What was I going to talk to him about?” Dory threw her hands up and plopped back down on the bench.

  “Indeed.” Sophia echoed Dory’s favorite word.

  “Oh, do not look at me like that. You look just like my mother. I would prefer to find someone I can like. It’s not as if I’m waiting on some grand idea of love, for goodness sake. It would just be nice to be fond of the man I marry. Is that so much to ask for?”

  “Not at all,” Sophia said.

  Dory took her hand. “But what of your problem? What will you do?”

  “I cannot marry him.”

  “Excuse my interrupting,” Emma walked down the path from the house.

  “Not at all,” Dory said.

  “I’m a bit embarrassed. I didn’t mean to eavesdrop, but I did hear you say you could not marry someone.”

  Sophia shrugged. “That’s okay. Everyone will probably find out eventually. I am going to refuse the Earl of Marlton.”

  Emma had a sweet round face and big eyes the color of the sea. Her curly hair bounced around her face as she slumped down onto the bench across from them. “Dan asked you to marry him?”

  “Yesterday.” Her flesh was on fire and her voice shook. Fighting tears, she sat up straight and bit the inside of her cheek.

  “And you refused him?”

  “Not yet, but I must.”

  “Why? He’s a good man. Honest, rich and titled.”

  Dory took a breath and raised her hands. “Emma is married. Maybe she can help. Unless you want to discuss intimate details with your aunt?”

  Sophia shuddered. “It’s rather personal.”

  Emma stood and rounded the arbor to take a seat on the same bench. “We do not know each other well, Sophia, but Dan and Markus have been friends forever. I would do anything for him and if he loves you, that extends to you as well.”

  Swallowing down the bile rising in her throat, she told Emma about her problem. She didn’t disclose Pundington’s name or that she had been banished from Philadelphia.

  By the time she finished spilling the tale, Emma’s eyes swam and she gripped her in a motherly hug. “You poor thing. I want to beat that animal to a pulp for putting you through this.” She pushed back and looked from Sophia to Dory. “It is unseemly to tell you anything about what transpires between husband and wife, but I can see this is a circumstance when some things must be divulged.”

  Dory leaned in and Sophia gripped her hand.

  Emma smiled and laughed. “You two look like something out of a Greek tragedy.” She sobered. “Nothing about making love to one’s husband is comparable to your experience. What happened to you was an act of violence, Sophia. Dan will cherish you.”

  It took three big breaths to ask, “But the act is the same, is it not?”

  With a sigh, Emma nodded. “I suppose. I cannot imagine what you have suffered. My only experience is with a man who loves me. I think you must put what happened with Pundington in the category of a beating rather than an act of love or even sex. I know Dan would never hurt you. If he asked you to marry him, he loves you. Frankly, I never thought he would marry after the mess of his last engagement. Do not turn him away because you are afraid, Sophia. These four men who came through Eton together are good. They served their country and care for their families. Markus might have turned out like his father, but he is honest and loyal. Forgive me, Dory.”

  Dory waved off the cut to her father. “Father is what he is and his philandering has made mother a nightmare as well. My brother is a good man and he is lucky to have you.”

  Emma blushed. “I am the lucky one.”

  Partially relieved and even more terrified, Sophia didn’t know what to say. “Thank you for trying to help.”

  “I hope you will reconsider refusing him, but I wish you well either way you decide.”

  Sophia hugged her.

  Standing, Dory stretched. “I supposed we had better find the others. I would not wish to be branded antisocial.”

  Sophia flexed her sore feet. “I supposed you’re right.”

  “I have to return to the house before I am missed. I only sneaked away to get a few minutes’ peace.”

  “Is my mother badgering you to have a child again?”

  “She is relentless.” Waving, Emma took the path back toward the house.

  Returning the way they had come, Sophia and Dory ambled through the woods by way of the well-trod path.

  The large weight pressing on Sophia’s chest eased and her step lightened. “You know, Mr. Wheel is a great admirer of music, I’m told.”

  “Indeed.” Dory rolled her eyes.

  “I have it on good authority.” She looked at Dory and they both laughed at her obvious matchmaking.

  Alistair Pundington peered through the trees. He was watching them.

  She couldn’t breathe. They had to escape.

  “Heavens, what’s wrong? Are you ill?”

  She grabbed Dory’s hand and ran, pulling her along behind. Her muscles ached and her lungs screamed for air. She would have screamed for help if she could have spared the breath.

  Dory called out for her to stop, but she kept running. He was there, in the woods. Alistair had come for her. The forest blurred past. She stepped in a hole and lost hold of Dory’s h
and. Sticks and leaves flew by as she slid down an embankment and was stopped by a large bush of brambles, which cut into her skin.

  “Oh, hell.” She heard Dory cry from the top of the hill.

  “Stay where you are, Sophia. I’ll go for help.”

  “No!” Her heart pounded from panic as well as exertion. Every instinct told her Alistair Pundington meant to have her and he would stop at nothing to get to her. Struggling for release, she tried to pull away from the thick twisted branches but every move only fixed her more firmly in their grasp. “Don’t leave me, Dory. He will find me. Please, don’t leave me.”

  “All right, calm down. I’ll stay.” She looked this way and that then turned back to Sophia. “I see blood. Are you badly hurt?”

  Sophia looked down at her white morning dress and panicked anew. Touching the red splotches, she relaxed. It was only the dark berries causing all the stains. “No. It’s the berries. I’m good and stuck though. Every time I move these stickers seem to tie me up tighter.”

  Dory called for help.

  An eternity passed before Daniel and Thomas appeared followed closely by the rest of the party.

  “Whatever is wrong, Lady Dorothea?” Thomas asked.

  Daniel looked down the embankment. “I think I see the problem.”

  Thomas looked too. “Seems to be a pigeon caught in your brambles, Marlton.”

  “Are you hurt, Miss Braighton?” Daniel asked.

  “Stop laughing.”

  “Not hurt.” Thomas inspected the area. “How do we get down without falling into the same trap?”

  “Marsh, do you have a knife?” Daniel asked.

  “Um, yes.” The Viscount handed over a small knife.

  “Tom, see what you can do from here. I’ll go around to the bottom.” Daniel’s grin was infuriating.

  It seemed as if hours passed where they just stood at the top of the hill gawking at her. The women were all being shocked and calling down to see if she was all right, while the men talked incessantly about the best way to climb down and free her. She was so tired of hearing them, she renewed her efforts to free herself. Fabric tore but she was still stuck.