The maid opened the door slowly and peeked into the room. Looking back at Ava, she whispered, “Remember what I said about being quiet.” Then she stepped into the room.
Ava followed behind her, making sure her steps were quiet on the hard floor. The room they entered was a bedchamber, which wasn’t surprising since they were upstairs, but by the looks of it, the room belonged to a gentleman. This might even be Lord Youngtown’s bedchamber for all she knew.
Her pulse raced. It was highly inappropriate for her to be in his bedchamber. She was tempted to implore the maid to seek out someone else for this task, but the maid wrapped her arm around Ava’s and pulled her forward.
The maid brought her mouth to Ava’s ear and whispered, “It’s behind that screen.”
Ava’s gaze went to the dressing screen that was spread out, making it so that she couldn’t see what was behind it.
The maid retrieved a gentleman’s boot and handed it to Ava. “Put the rat in there,” she whispered.
Ava nodded. Ava and the maid approached the edge of the screen, and after a moment of hesitation, the maid pushed her, and Ava went stumbling on the other side of the screen.
The events that occurred next happened so quickly that everything seemed like one big blur.
A male scream came from the tub.
A gentleman bolted to his feet.
Water splashed everywhere.
It was at this point that Ava realized the gentleman who had been in the tub was none other than Lord Youngtown.
And he was completely naked.
Letting out a shriek, she hid her eyes. But the damage had been done. She could not un-see what she had just seen.
Lord Youngtown grabbed a towel and wrapped it around his waist. “What is the meaning of this?”
The maid, who had led Ava to this room, threw back her head and laughed. Then, she proceeded to throw off her wig, revealing that she was not a she after all. She was a he. “That is what you get for robbing me of the money rightfully due to me,” the cad told Lord Youngtown. “You can’t get out of this scandal, dear brother.”
Ava looked from the gentleman she had thought was a maid to Lord Youngtown. When her gaze unwittingly went to the towel that Lord Youngtown was holding at his waist, she quickly looked back to Lord Youngtown’s brother.
“You set this up because I wouldn’t give you money to spend on your mistress?” Lord Youngtown bellowed.
His brother nodded. “Yep.”
“Is there no level you won’t stoop to?”
He pretended to think about it then shook his head. “I don’t think so.”
“You will not leave this townhouse. You will go to the den at once. I will deal with you there.”
With a smirk, he asked, “And what will you do with her?” He gestured to Ava.
As if Lord Youngtown had forgotten she was still there, he blinked in surprise. Then his face went bright red.
“I’ll leave, my lord,” Ava hurried to say. The situation was embarrassing enough without having to add more to it.
“It won’t do any good to get out of this scandal,” the brother told her. “I know who you are, Miss Baynes. I’m the one who sent you the missive to come here today. My plan worked perfectly, thanks to you.” He grinned at Lord Youngtown. “Who would believe a lady isn’t afraid of a rat? But you have a good one here. She’s willing to handle those little critters. That means she’ll be more than willing to handle your most prized possession, even if it is inferior to other gentlemen’s.”
He gestured to the intimate part between Lord Youngtown’s legs. Ava didn’t think it was possible, but Lord Youngtown’s face grew redder than before.
Lord Youngtown stomped his foot on the floor and pointed to the doorway. “Out! Out, out, out!”
Even though Lord Youngtown was directing the order to his brother, she thought it was fitting that she also follow the command. She jumped up and made a mad dash for the doorway. His brother had the same idea. They reached the doorway together and collided into each other. She stumbled back, and this allowed him sufficient time to slither out of the doorway and down the hall.
Maybe it was in bad form for her to say anything at this point, but she didn’t feel it was right to leave without at least apologizing. “I’m sorry,” she told Lord Youngtown. “I had no idea you were in here. Please forgive me.”
Then she rushed out of the room, down the steps, and out of the house.
Chapter Four
Brad was never going to live this humiliation down. From here on out, his life and his reputation were at an end. Of all things his brother had done to him, this was the worst.
He dressed as fast as he could. He had to. He was afraid his weasel of a brother was going to escape the townhouse before he had a chance to yell at him.
By the time he reached the den, Stephen was sitting at the desk, his feet propped up on it, and his hands placed behind his head as if he didn’t have a care in the world. “You can’t get out of marrying her,” Stephen told him. “The butler and footman saw Miss Baynes running out of here, and they saw her coming from your bedchamber. There are witnesses.”
“Just when I thought you could not sink any lower-”
Stephen rolled his eyes. “Don’t preach to me. You deserved it. You’ve deserved something like this for a long time. You’re just lucky I didn’t do anything before today. I could have done much worse. Much, much worse. I could have set it up so that you would be forced to marry a lady of ill repute. But I didn’t do that. I chose a chaste young virgin. She’ll be the frigid wife you’ll need.”
“I’ve had enough,” Brad said, doing everything possible to keep his voice calm enough so that the servants wouldn’t overhear. After a moment, he added, “You’re no longer getting your allowance.”
Stephen’s jaw dropped. “You’re withholding my allowance?”
“That’s exactly what I’m doing. You’re not going to see another farthing from me. I’m done. You’ve pushed me too far.”
“How would you have gotten a wife if I hadn’t intervened on your behalf?”
“That’s not your concern. It never was your concern. You always meddle in other people’s businesses. You have no right to do that. I have been patient with you. Time and time again, I have overlooked every single indiscretion you have been involved in. But I’m not going to do that anymore. It’s over. You are going to have to make your own way in London.”
“But you can’t. Father’s will specifically instructed you to give me an allowance.”
“Father’s dead. What is he going to do about it? “
Stephen glared at him, probably searching for something to shoot back at him with, but Brad decided not to wait around to find out what it was. He marched right out of the den before another word came out of his mouth.
***
Ava ran straight for Opal’s townhouse. It was hard to believe that only a half hour ago, she had left Opal’s residence with high hopes. Now she was returning with the weight of the world resting on her shoulders. Opal, ever the faithful friend, hurried into the drawing room as soon as the footman told her that Ava had returned.
“What happened?” Opal asked as she sat beside Ava on the settee.
“It was awful. Just awful. I don’t even know where to begin.” And just like that, tears sprang up in her eyes. How she’d managed to hold them back this long, she didn’t know. It must’ve been the shock of the whole thing. Now that she was in the safety of Opal’s townhouse, her shock was quickly giving way to misery. “I am to marry Lord Youngtown.”
Opal hurried to pull a handkerchief out of her pocket and handed it to Ava. “Didn’t you want to marry him?”
Ava dabbed her eyes. “Yes, of course. I like him very much, but… after what happened, I don’t think he’ll ever be able to look at me again. I shall be forced to live in the country, or maybe he’ll make me stay with my aunt. I don’t know what will happen. All I know is that he won’t have anything to do with me.”
“I don’t understand. Why not?”
“It’s a sordid tale. Are you sure you want me to tell it?”
“If you didn’t want to tell me what happened, then why did you come?”
Opal had a good point. This was exactly why Ava had come. She needed to talk to someone, and it was better if it was someone other than her aunt who had her heart set on her marrying this Season to a gentleman who had a title and wealth. Her aunt had been just as excited about Lord Youngtown’s invitation as she had been. She really didn’t know what she was going to tell the poor lady now.
“Lord Youngtown didn’t send the invitation,” Ava said. “It was his brother. I don’t know why, but his brother wanted us to get caught in a scandal so we’d have to marry. He thought the whole thing was funny. Even now, I can hear him laughing about it.”
“Slow down. I need to understand what’s going on. Tell me what happened from the moment you entered Lord Youngtown’s residence.”
Yes, that was the best way to do it. She needed to start from the beginning. She took a deep breath and released it.
“All right,” Ava began. “I arrived at Lord Youngtown’s residence. As I was waiting for him in the drawing room, one of the female servants came into the room and asked for my help. She wanted me to get rid of a rat. Only, I didn’t know that it was his brother disguised as a maid. I just thought the maid was,” she shrugged, “ugly.”
“Let me guess. There was no rat.”
“Oh, there was a rat all right. I just didn’t know I was talking to it.”
Opal chuckled and quickly covered her mouth. “Sorry. As you were saying…”
Ava supposed the comment was funny, and she found herself chuckling a bit. “I went upstairs with his brother, thinking he was a maid. He took me up to one of the bedchambers, and he told me to be quiet so we wouldn’t disturb the rat. We approached the dressing screen. And just as I was rounding the corner of it, he pushed me so that I landed onto the floor.” Ava had to take a moment to gather her courage to say what happened next. “Lord Youngtown was taking a bath.”
Opal gasped. “He wasn’t!”
Ava nodded, more tears coming to her eyes. “He was.”
“What did you do? What did he do?”
“He was so shocked that he jumped out of the tub. And he didn’t have anything on.”
Opal gasped again. “You mean you saw his…”
Ava nodded. “I saw everything.”
“Oh my.”
“Oh my, indeed. Needless to say, he was upset, and he was yelling at his brother, telling him to get out.”
“What did you do?”
“I did the first thing that came to mind. I ran out of there. And I kept on running. I didn’t stop until I came here.” She wiped more tears from her eyes. “This is the worst thing that has ever happened to me. I just don’t know how I am going to face him after this.”
“But Ava, this wasn’t your fault. His brother was the one who did this. Certainly, he understands that.”
“I don’t know what he thinks. I just know that after what happened at the ball, this doesn’t put me in a good position.”
“We’ll talk to him,” Opal said. “We will explain the situation so he doesn’t think you did this on purpose.”
“Do you think he’ll even take the time to listen to me?”
“We’ll do it together.”
“But should the two of us go over there without someone to chaperone? I’m too afraid to ask my aunt to come along.”
“I can’t ask Landon to do it. He’s so shy with people.” Opal’s eyes lit up. “My brother. I’ll have my brother come along with us. Lord Youngtown probably knows who my brother is. If my brother comes, then Lord Youngtown is bound to believe us.”
“Yes, that might work.”
“It will work. I just know it. But we’ll have to wait until tomorrow. My brother has some pressing engagements to go to today.”
“Tomorrow will be fine.” Relieved, Ava hugged her friend. “Thank you for doing this for me.”
Opal returned her hug. “Everything will work out. You’ll see.”
***
Brad didn’t leave his townhouse for the entire day. The unexpected turn of events was just too much for him to cope with. He didn’t know how he was going to face anybody ever again. Surely, this was the end of any respectability he had in the Ton.
It wasn’t until early the next morning that it occurred to him no one else had seen what had happened in his bedchamber. The staff hadn’t seen it. Yes, the butler and the footman saw Miss Baynes coming to the townhouse, but they hadn’t seen her go up to his bedchamber. It had only been Miss Baynes and his brother. And that gave him hope.
If he could ask Miss Baynes to keep the matter private, maybe no one would find out. Miss Baynes, as he recalled, had been just as mortified as he had been. Which meant this had not been her doing. His brother had been the culprit behind the whole sordid mess. Surely, she would not want word of this to get out.
He got through the morning meal in high spirits, and then he went to the den to send Miss Baynes a missive, asking if she would agree to keep the incident in his bedchamber private. He had just finished signing his name when his brother came into the den with something behind his back. Brad frowned. Judging by the smirk on his brother’s face, he didn’t think this was going to be in his favor.
And as it turned out, he was right. Stephen came right up to his desk and threw down a copy of the Tittletattle. “It’s all over London. I know you’re sitting there, writing the missive to Miss Baynes, and you’re asking her if she will keep quiet about yesterday so the news of the scandal won’t get out. But word of it is already in the Tittletattle.”
Hoping his brother was bluffing, Brad hurried to pick up the paper. Unfortunately, his brother had been telling the truth. Right there on the front page for everyone in London to see was Stephen’s account of the scandal. The article mentioned Brad being naked. It mentioned he had been bathing. It said that Miss Baynes had come to pay him a “special” visit. It even said that an unsuspecting maid had come in and caught them together in the act of an afternoon’s dalliance.
Brad bolted to his feet and glared at his brother. “This is full of lies.”
“I might have elaborated in some areas, but you and Miss Baynes were in the same room while you were bathing.”
“There’s no mention of you dressing up as a maid and luring her up to my bedchamber under the ruse that she was supposed to be getting a rat.”
Stephen shrugged. “So certain details slipped my mind.”
“Slipped your mind? Slipped your mind!”
“Do you want to know why you’ve never had a lady actually join you in bed? It’s because you’re too uptight.”
“That’s what this is all about.” Brad shook the Tittletattle in front of his brother’s face. “This is all because you couldn’t keep your very expensive mistress. Well, you’re not going to change my mind. You’re not getting any more allowances, and, if you keep pushing me, you’re not going to be able to live here anymore, either. Then you won’t have a roof over your head and food on your plate.”
Stephen’s eyes grew wide. “You can’t throw me out. I’m your brother.”
“You do anything else to upset me, and you’re about to find out exactly what I’m going to do to you.”
For the first time in his life, Stephen actually seemed worried. He stared at Brad for a long moment, and Brad suspected there was something in his gaze that convinced Stephen that he was serious because, without a word, Stephen hurried out of the room.
If only Brad could enjoy the victory. But he couldn’t. The scandal was there in the Tittletattle for everyone to see. Never mind that most of the article was a bunch of lies. The scandal was a tasty morsel of gossip, and that was all the Ton was going to care about. The more outlandish the story, the better news it made. Was it any wonder it was featured on the very first page?
With a defeated sigh,
Brad picked up the missive he had been writing and ripped it into shreds. There was no getting out of the marriage now. His course was set. He would be marrying Miss Baynes.
Chapter Five
About two hours later, Loretta, Brad’s sister, who was married to the Duke of Lambeth, paid him a visit. And even though she had her daughter with her, he knew this was not going to be a pleasant visit. He sat across from her in the drawing room and poured tea into their cups.
Before he even started the conversation, she blurted out, “I read the Tittletattle. Is the article true? Were you in your bedchamber with Miss Baynes?”
Well, he had to hand it to her. She didn’t take the article on blind faith. She had come to him to find out if the matter was true, which meant she was actually paying him a compliment.
He handed her a cup and then settled back into his chair. “No, it’s not true. I was not intimately engaged with Miss Baynes. The article is a lie. Well, most of it is a lie. Stephen sent her an invite pretending he was me, and he had her come over when he knew I would be taking a bath. Stephen was disguised as a maid and lured her upstairs under the pretense of needing her help. She saw me while I was bathing, and the scandal was set.”
Loretta, who had been drinking some tea, almost spit out her drink. He quickly took the cup from her and patted her back as she coughed.
“Stephen set it up so that an innocent lady interrupted your bath?” she asked once she could speak.
“Yes, it was all his doing. And what’s worse is that he told his version to other people so that it ended up in the Tittletattle.”
She stared at him in shock for a long moment, but then a look of resolution crossed her face. “Unfortunately, I believe Stephen actually did that.”
“The worst part is that Miss Baynes and I are not a suitable match.”
Married In Haste Page 3
