Just as he was finishing up the ledger, Stephen came into the room and plopped down in front of him.
“I need money,” Stephen said.
With a sigh, Brad looked over at his brother. “You should’ve thought about that before you brought Ava up to my bedchamber while I was taking a bath.”
Stephen rolled his eyes. “Are you going to keep bringing that up every time I see you? You banned me from the dinner party, and today I couldn’t attend your wedding or go to the wedding breakfast. Haven’t you punished me enough?”
“In the past, I didn’t stand by my word. I was too lenient with you. And because of that, you feel that you can treat me however you want. You don’t give any thought to how your actions affect anyone. The only person you ever think of is yourself. This time around, I’m going to do the right thing. I’m going to stand by my decision.”
“Even if it’s the wrong one?”
“This isn’t the wrong decision. It’s the right one.”
Stephen groaned. “I learned my lesson. I don’t need a mistress. I can do just fine on my own. You don’t need to worry that I’ll be using my allowance for another lady.”
“I said no. My decision stands.”
“I won’t enter the gambling establishments anymore. I’m tired of losing money all the time anyway.”
Frustrated, Brad shook his head. “You really don’t get it, do you? It’s not just the mistress and it’s not just the gambling. It’s about respect. It’s about decency. It’s about having a sense of morality. I don’t care what other gentlemen are doing. I don’t care what your friends get away with. I’m not in charge of them. I’m in charge of you. It is my duty to make sure you become a responsible gentleman.”
“I am responsible. I pay off my debts, and I paid the mistress her wages. I’ve never once cheated anyone out of anything.”
Brad groaned. Talking to Stephen was like banging his head against the wall. Brad couldn’t get through to him. He couldn’t make him understand exactly what he was talking about. Stephen got parts of it, but he didn’t understand the full scope of it. Everything Brad was trying to instill in him had to do with respect, and Stephen didn’t have any respect for anyone but himself.
“I can be good,” Stephen said as he rose to his feet. “You’ll see. From here on out, I’ll be on my best behavior.”
Brad watched his brother as he left. He didn’t know what Stephen was planning, but he knew whatever trick his brother had up his sleeve, it was just that: a trick. He wasn’t going to be sincere. He was just going to put on a show in order to get Brad to give him what he wanted. Well, Brad was no longer going to play the fool. Maybe when Stephen realized that, he would truly understand what it meant to give others the respect they were due.
***
Ava heard Brad was holed up in the den for most of the day. She wondered what he had been doing there all afternoon. Instead of finding out, she ended up rearranging the things in her bedchamber to her liking.
When it came time for her to go to dinner, she wondered if she would see him. For all she knew, he could be the kind of gentleman who liked to spend his evenings out. She’d heard that many like to go to White’s. Some could even spend all day there. But he must not be one of them because he was waiting for her in the drawing room. He was reclining in a chair and reading a paper.
She hesitated just outside the doorway. She hadn’t been alone with him before. At every other time they’d had anything to do with each other, someone else had been with them. She took a deep breath and slowly exhaled. She could do this. She could go in there and act as if being around him didn’t make her nervous.
She entered the room, but before she could call out a greeting, someone came up behind her and gave her shoulder a friendly tap. “Welcome to the family,” Stephen said as he stepped around her. “I take it the wedding went well since you’re now living here.”
Brad folded the paper and rose to his feet. Looking past Stephen, Brad asked her, “Did you get everything put away?”
Aware that Stephen was watching them, she replied, “I did.”
“Good,” Brad said. “I want you to be comfortable.”
“I am, thank you. You have a very nice place, and my bedchamber is just as lovely as the other rooms.”
“Has my brother showed you the entire place?” Stephen asked.
Ava shook her head. “No, not yet. I was referring to the ballroom, dining room, my bedchamber, and this room.”
“Don’t forget the other room you’ve been to,” Stephen replied. “You’ve seen his bedchamber as well.”
She wasn’t sure if he had meant that as a joke since he chuckled, or if he meant to embarrass her with the reminder. But Brad wasn’t the least bit happy with the comment because he glowered at him.
Stephen groaned. “Come now. It isn’t all that bad, is it? You two seem to be getting along.” He gestured between the two of them. “You’re already acting as stiff and formal as old married people are supposed to be.” He glanced between them and laughed. “That was funny. It was a joke.” He shook his head. “You two need to laugh more. Stop taking everything so seriously.”
Ava forced out some laughter.
“That’s the spirit.” Stephen turned to Brad. “You would do well to put forth the same effort as your wife does when it comes to having a sense of humor.” He came right up to Ava and whispered, “I hope you can teach him to stop taking life so seriously.”
“What are you telling her?” Brad asked, his frown deepening.
Stephen looked at him and shrugged. “What do you think I’m telling her?”
“Knowing you, something lewd and disgusting.”
“I did nothing of the sort. I was pleasant. I was just telling her how lovely she looks tonight.”
Since Brad didn’t look any happier than before, she said, “He said that he hopes I can help you learn how to take life less seriously.”
Stephen nodded. “She tells the truth. Though, I do think she looks rather nice in that pink gown.” He winked at her. Then he gave Brad a pointed look. “You really should appreciate her. The more a gentleman looks at her, the better looking she gets.”
Her face grew hot. She didn’t delude herself in thinking she was a highly attractive lady, but for him to refer to her that way only made her feel as if she didn’t measure up to the other ladies in London.
“If you’re trying to be on your best behavior, you’re failing,” Brad told his brother.
Stephen shook his head. “There’s no pleasing you. No matter what I try, there is just no pleasing you.”
“You can please me by keeping quiet,” Brad replied. “Why don’t you try that for a change?”
Stephen turned back to her. “You see what I have to deal with? Certainly you, someone outside of this household, can understand how difficult he is.”
“Don’t get her involved in this,” Brad said. “This is between you and me. Now, you are only allowed to dinner if you can behave yourself. Do you think you can manage that for one evening?”
The butler announced that dinner was ready, and she could hear Brad give an audible sigh of relief.
“As I said,” Brad told Stephen, “you can please me by keeping your thoughts to yourself.” He went over to Ava and extended his arm to her. “Despite the company we will have, I hope that you’ll enjoy tonight’s meal. I asked your aunt what your favorite dishes were so I could have the cook prepare them. Tonight, we’re having fish.”
This time when her face grew hot, it was with pleasure. He had done that just for her? She accepted his arm and smiled. “That was very thoughtful of you. Thank you.”
He escorted her out of the room, and she had to admit that it was a thrilling experience to be going to dinner with him as his wife. She was a hopeless cause, she supposed. She was very much in love with him. Even the tiniest gesture of kindness on his part was going to excite her.
Once they were seated at the table, the staff served the meal, and just
as Brad had said, all of her favorite dishes were presented before her. And they were absolutely delicious.
“Please give your cook my compliments,” she told Brad during the meal. “Everything tastes so wonderful.”
Brad chuckled. “The cook isn’t just my cook. He’s your cook, too. If there’s anything you want him to make, just let me know and I’ll tell him.”
“I hope you’re not going to make it a habit of serving fish,” Stephen said. “I hate the smell of it. It makes me sick.”
Brad rolled his eyes. “If you don’t like it, don’t eat it. There’s plenty of other food to choose from.”
Stephen picked up his wine. “While that may be true, I can smell the fish all the way from over there.” He gestured to where the plate of fish was resting a couple of chairs away from him. “I don’t know whether it reminds me of old socks or someone’s vomit.”
Brad scowled at him. “What did I tell you about being quiet?”
“If you had chosen a better meal, I wouldn’t have needed to speak up.”
Brad turned his attention to Ava. “We’ll have fish every night if you desire. I happen to like it myself. As a benefit, it might even keep Stephen away.”
“I would be inclined to go out to eat if I had an allowance,” Stephen told him.
“Nice try, but it’s not going to work. My decision stands. You will not be getting any more money. We will not discuss this further.”
Ava wondered if Stephen was going to respond, but he only drank his wine. She knew that Brad was upset with Stephen for his role in the scandal, but she had no idea eating meals when Stephen was around was going to be so awkward. Was it always going to be like this? Did Brad and Stephen have a habit of arguing all the time? Or was this just because of her? Was she the one responsible for the discord between them?
If she wasn’t new here, she might be able to think of something to make things better. But since she didn’t know either gentleman very well, she had no idea what she could say or do to ease the tension in the room. Keeping silent so as not to make things worse, she continued eating her meal.
Chapter Ten
That night, Brad discovered something very unpleasant about himself. He discovered that he was a coward. This was not an easy thing to realize. No gentleman wanted to think he was a coward when it came to matters of the flesh, but that was exactly what he was. No matter how many times he approached the door connecting his bedchamber with Ava’s, he couldn’t bring himself to open it.
He hated that Stephen was right. He didn’t know the first thing about being with a lady. And what made the situation worse was the fact that he didn’t even have to work to get Ava to be with him. They were married. If he went in there, she would accept him into the bed. That was how marriages worked. She was expecting him tonight because tonight, of all nights, was their wedding night.
So it wasn’t wondering if she would accept him that made him hesitate. It was knowing he had absolutely no experience at all. Of all the things he’d learned during his schooling, why couldn’t consummating a marriage be one of them? Every married gentleman had to face this moment. Which made this task especially important.
In the recesses of his mind, he could see Stephen snickering at him. “I told you that a mistress was a good idea,” Brad heard him saying in his mind.
I can do this. It can’t be that difficult if someone like Stephen can do it.
Yes, but Stephen had someone to teach him what to do. He chose someone with experience to guide him along.
But why should that matter? Brad knew of several gentlemen who didn’t seek out the services of a mistress before they married. There was Lord Worsley, Lord Steinbeck, and Mr. Jasper. All of them managed to get along without having any experience beforehand. They had children now, so obviously, they managed to make things work to their advantage. It should be no different with him.
He took a deep breath, straightened his robe, pulled his shoulders back, and strengthened his resolve. He could do this. He could go in there and do the job. Feeling a smidgen of courage rise up within him, he marched straight to the door and turned the knob. After a moment, he opened the door and went straight into her room.
A single candle was lit on the dresser, providing him with enough light to let him know she was waiting for him. She was sitting up in the canopy bed. The drapes were tied to the posts so he could see her. The blankets were pulled up to her waist. She was wearing a robe, something that was easy to take off.
Without him having to ask, she pulled back the blanket, showing him the most attractive legs he’d ever seen in his entire life peeking out from beneath her robe. “Good evening, Brad,” she greeted.
He opened his mouth to reply, but fear took hold of him. He couldn’t do this. He just couldn’t. He let out a squeak, which was supposed to be an apology, and then he spun on his heel and hurried back to his bedchamber. He shut the door and collapsed against it. He was a coward. A complete and pathetic coward. What a sad, sorry sort he was. Everything Stephen had said about him was true. He could manage the ledger and make profitable investments, but he could not consummate his own marriage. If word about this got out, his reputation was going to be ruined. It would be much worse than that story Stephen had submitted to the Tittletattle.
Defeated, he put his head in his hands and slid down to the floor. And he stayed that way for most of the night.
***
When Ava woke up, she had a headache. At first, she couldn’t remember why she had spent a good part of the night crying, but then, the events of the evening caught up to her. She had been nervous as she sat in the bed, waiting for Brad to arrive, and when he did finally come into her room, he had taken one look at her and went right back to his bedchamber.
She knew he didn’t share her feelings, but she had no idea that the very thought of being with her in bed repulsed him so much. It was the most humiliating thing that had ever happened to her. What other lady could say that her husband had fled from her on her wedding night? Truly, she didn’t know what to do. And she wasn’t sure she wanted to talk to anybody about it. It was just too embarrassing.
Since it was morning, she forced herself to get out of bed and summoned her new lady’s maid to help her get dressed. She used to share a lady’s maid with her aunt, but Brad had seen to it that she had her own now. And though her lady’s maid was very pleasant, her happy chatter didn’t sooth the ache in Ava’s chest. Of all the wives in London, Ava was the most pitiful because she was the only one who had a husband who didn’t want to come to her bed, not even if he only did it to get an heir.
Ava debated whether or not she should go downstairs. After what happened last night, she wasn’t in the mood to see other people. And worse than that, she was sure Brad didn’t want to see her. It was surprising he stayed with her for an hour after the wedding breakfast to show her the townhouse and introduce her to the staff.
Whether or not he chose to come downstairs and talk to her was up to him. She, however, couldn’t stay in her bedchamber for the rest of her life. She had to leave sometime, and that sometime might as well be now. Besides, the longer she waited to go down there, the more difficult it was going to be.
Bracing herself for what was to come, she proceeded down the hallway and then down the staircase. The place was quiet. A little too quiet for her liking. She was used to her brother and sister making noise. The absence of their presence made the silence around her that much more deafening.
She didn’t see anyone. Not even the footman or the butler were anywhere in sight. She made her way to the drawing room, aware of how loud her steps were on the hard floor. If she was dreaming, she would swear that she was stuck in a nightmare.
When she reached the drawing room, she wasn’t the least bit surprised when she saw that no one was there. It was fitting that this room was as empty as the other places in this large townhouse.
Before she could decide whether she should sit or leave the room, someone asked, “Did you sleep wel
l last night?”
She jerked and spun around.
Laughing, Stephen went around her and went to a chair. Once he was sitting down, he said, “I didn’t mean to frighten you.”
She was so relieved that someone was with her that she relaxed. “I am so used to hearing my brother and sister in the mornings. This townhouse is a lot quieter than my aunt’s.”
“I keep telling Brad that living here is like living in a cemetery, but he refuses to understand why.” He gestured for her to sit in a nearby chair. “You might as well make yourself comfortable since this is your home. Brad likes to come down here around nine. We will eat at 9:10.”
Ava had no idea what time it was, so she turned her attention to the clock above the fireplace mantle and saw that there were only five minutes left before nine o’clock. She went over to a chair and settled into it. She wasn’t sure what would happen when Brad came into the room. She wasn’t even sure if she could look at him when he did. This morning wasn’t anything like she had expected it would be. She hadn’t expected Brad to be holding her and whispering romantic things in her ear, but she had hoped there would be a certain level of contentment between them.
“When I say he’ll be here at nine, I mean he will be here exactly at nine,” Stephen told her. “Remember what I told you about my brother not liking odd numbers? That’s why he’s going to be down here at nine o’clock. And it’s why we will eat at 9:10. Those are even. God help him when he realizes there are three of us in the same room. I don’t know if he’ll be able to eat anything.”
Since he was joking, she offered a half-hearted chuckle. She had a nagging suspicion that Brad wasn’t going to be disturbed by the fact that it would be three of them eating this morning. The fact that he had to be sharing a meal with her was going to be the hardest part about the meal. She was glad that Stephen was here. At least with Stephen here, there would be someone else in the room to help ease the tension between them.
Married In Haste Page 7
