Married to the Marquess

by Rebecca Connolly

  The platters were placed before them, as one, all of the covers were lifted, and the most intoxicating smells Kate had ever known met her, and her stomach growled at them. The sight that met her was one of exquisite delight. There were potatoes and vegetables and bread that she instantly knew she would take second helpings of, proper or not. The goose on the table looked so tender and moist that her mouth watered. There was a pudding, and a custard, and freshly churned butter, along with some of the fruit preserves she enjoyed so much. And, as if to further her temptation, there was a mountainous plate of strawberry tarts to accompany the rest.

  The moment the kitchen staff were gone, the pair of them very nearly dove at the food, taking no care for decorum or propriety as they heaped servings onto their plate. Though they were still well mannered, they could hardly have been called polite. Moaning and sighing and talking before swallowing were all a part of the next few moments as they devoured the best tasting meal they had enjoyed in quite some time.

  “Best decision ever,” Derek commented as he sliced another piece of meat for himself.

  “I agree,” Kate sighed as she took another spoonful of pudding. “We are never getting rid of him, I don’t care how many sins he may commit.”

  “Absolutely.” He speared one if the potatoes on her plate and shoved it into his mouth, and grinned as Kate rapped his knuckles in displeasure.

  A knocking at the door to the dining room halted any retaliation from her as they both stilled and looked at each other in confusion.

  “What in the world?” she murmured.

  “No clue,” he replied. “Come!”

  Harville appeared, looking a bit confused himself. “Pardon me, my lord, Lady Whitlock, but there is a woman here who says she’s come from Lady Aurelia.”

  “Did she give a name?” Kate asked, as Derek rose from his chair.

  Harville shook his head. “No, my lady, but she does have a note with her. She says she must see one or both of you. I’ve shown her into the drawing room.”

  Derek and Kate looked at each other, a feeling of dread welling within them. Derek pulled her seat out and Kate stood, and together they hurried off to see who had come.

  The young woman waiting for them had a bundle in her arms, and looked so exhausted that it was a wonder she could stand on her feet. She was moderately well dressed, though obviously a servant. She turned to face them as they entered, her eyes a touch dull. “Jessie?” Kate said as she entered, taking hold of Derek’s arm in fear.

  “Lady Whitlock,” she said with a tired smile. “I know this is terribly awkward, but when you sent my mistress that note the other day about being willing to watch the baby, she insisted that she take you up on it immediately. So...” she broke off and pulled the blanket away from the bundle in her arms.

  They stepped forward, then gasped as one at the face of the sleeping figure she held. “Alice?”

  “…here we are,” Jessie finished softly with a helpless shrug.

  Chapter Thirteen

  “I cannot believe this. The nerve of that woman!”

  “Now, Kate…”

  “No! Do not ‘now Kate’ me, Derek! This is inexcusable!”

  Derek sighed and watched his wife pace around the room in agitation. He adjusted the sleeping child in his arms and found himself smiling at the way she snuggled closer to him. He was very grateful they had sent Jessie off to bed immediately, allowing her to leave the child in their care until they had prepared the room for her. Jessie assured them that Alice rarely woke during the night anymore, and she had been fed just before she had fallen asleep, so she would not need to eat again until morning, and so Derek had absolutely no qualms about being left alone with the infant. After all, she was sleeping. For the moment, at least.

  “Well, you did write to her, Kate,” he brought up, still watching Alice sleep. “We did offer to take her at any time.”

  “Yes, well, you did not expect Aurelia to simply drop them at our doorstep without any warning at all, did you? No!” She threw her hands up in the air and whirled away with a screech.

  “Hush, Kate, you’ll wake her.”

  She turned back and gave him a withering look. He only grinned in response.

  That seemed to take some of the tension out of her and she shook her head. “I cannot believe this. Listen; ‘Nigel and I would like to spend a day or two with his mother again, and she does so love the boys, but the girl gives her a fearful headache’.” She dropped her hand briefly to shake her head in disbelief. “The old crone, she is the reason Nigel is so useless. Imagine Alice giving anybody a headache.”

  “Ridiculous,” Derek agreed softly, amused by his wife’s indignation.

  “And here; ‘As you had so kindly offered to take the infant, I know you will not object to her staying for a few days while we are away. Jessie is a slow and stupid creature, but she seems to get along well with the girl’.” Kate dropped the letter completely, letting it fall to the floor, and screeched again, but with more restraint. She placed her hands on her hips, breathing in and out rather shallowly through her nose.

  “Kate,” Derek said softly, rising from his seat and coming towards her with caution.

  “Don’t, Derek,” she snapped, closing her eyes. “I am so peeved with my sister right now that I am torn between strangling her and screaming my head off, and at the moment both alternatives are rather tempting. I do not want to lash out at you, so you ought to be silent. Don’t provoke me.”

  “Kate,” he said again, standing directly in front of her.

  Reluctantly, she opened her eyes and looked up at him.

  He smiled gently and raised his brows. “It will be all right. Have we been put out? A little, yes. But once Tom and Jackson return with the bassinet, we will be fine. Take a breath, then take Alice in your arms, and see if that removes the stress from your shoulders.”

  He handed the baby to her, and instantly, the worry in her face left. She looked down at Alice for a long moment, ran a soft finger along her plump cheek, then sighed, holding her closer. “I’m sorry, Derek,” she said, looking up at him again with a half-smile. “I shouldn’t have reacted that way.”

  “No apologies necessary,” he replied with a shake of his head, laying a hand along her cheek. “It’s a hard thing, and we were not prepared for it. But we’ll get through, and all will be well, all right?”

  She nodded without speaking and he smiled, then leaned forward and pressed his lips to her brow softly.

  “No more fretting,” he whispered against her skin. “We will make do.” He stepped back and caught her watching him with warm eyes. Unable to help himself, he stroked her cheek, staring into those dark, entrancing eyes of hers for a long moment. It would be so easy to get lost in them, to let them take him captive and hold him until his will was hers, and he knew deep down that he would not have minded it at all.

  “I’m sorry that our meal was cut short,” he said on a sigh. “It hardly seems fair.”

  “No, it does not,” she replied, looking up at him with a small smile. “But there will be more to come, won’t there?”

  “Oh, yes,” he told her instantly, cupping her cheek with his other hand as well. “Many, many more, I can assure you.”

  “Good,” was all the response she gave, and it was all the response he needed. Heart throbbing in his chest, he brushed his lips against hers, and felt the accompanying shudder rush through her. It pleased him to have such an effect on her, though he was well aware that she had a similar effect on him.

  Who would have thought that his little wife, the tyrant of his past, the proverbial noose that always hung over his head, would have such a powerful hold over him? Or that he would enjoy it so much?

  They were friends now, and he truly enjoyed that aspect. He loved talking with her. Kate listened with an intensity that made one feel as though one were the most important creature in existence. She never said anything without careful consideration, which he appreciated, as he rarely was so cautio
us. She was a wise and intelligent woman, and her input was becoming very important to him.

  Granted, there were still moments when she was bossy and controlling and a little bit pretentious, but he could accept that. She would not be Kate if she were always agreeable and simple and casual. He would miss the fire in her if she were any other way.

  He rested his forehead against hers, exhaling slowly.

  “I think I hear them,” Kate said softly.

  Derek cocked an ear, and, sure enough, he could hear the two men coming down the hall. “I’ll go see what I can do to help. I think Alice deserves a proper bed tonight.” He stepped around the two of them and started out of the room, but turned back, calling his wife’s name softly.

  She turned to face him, and his throat closed up just a touch at seeing her with their niece in her arms, looking so natural and easy that it took his breath away. Somehow, he managed a smile. “You look well like this, Kate.”

  “Like what?” she asked, her brow furrowing just a touch.

  “Holding a child.”

  Her eyes widened and her cheeks tinged with a bit of color.

  His smile deepened. “You look very well, indeed.” Before she could respond, he left the room to help set up the room for Alice, but he smiled all the while.

  Sometime in the middle of the night, Kate woke up with a start, wondering what might have given her cause to do so. There was hardly any sound to be heard, other than the night breeze outside her window. She could not see the clock, but she knew it had to be in the very earliest moments of the morning.

  Then she heard a noise, but it was so faint, she could hardly believe it had woken her. A cry, fussy and soft, followed by another whimper of very young distress.

  With a firm shake of her head, she tossed off the bedcovers and got out of bed. She fumbled around in the dark for her wrap, giving a small “ah ha!” of pleasure when she found it. Tying it around herself hastily, she hurried from her room and down the hall to the temporary nursery they had set up.

  So intent was she on her purpose, and worrying about what Alice might need, that she failed to notice the figure standing outside of the room, where the door stood slightly ajar. She was brought up short with a mostly silent gasp as she finally saw Jessie, who was wrapped in a shawl and smiled kindly at her as she approached.

  “Jessie, what are you doing out here?” Kate whispered.

  “I’m in the next room, and I heard Alice fuss,” the girl replied in a rather hushed voice. “I waited a moment to see if she would continue to sleep, as she usually does, but she didn’t, so I came out to get her and I found… well, perhaps you should see this.”

  Jessie put a finger to her lips and pushed the door open a little more. Kate blessed whoever had made it possible for that door to open silently, for she would not have disturbed the sight that met her eyes for anything.

  “Hush now, Miss Alice, do you want to wake everybody up? Come, tell Uncle Derek what ails you.” Derek rocked the girl back and forth gently, his face to the window, his back to them. He was dressed only in his nightshirt and dressing gown and his feet were bare, his hair tousled. So he had been roused from sleep as well, and his room was further away than hers was.

  “There is no cause for such fussing,” he continued to scold in a soft voice. “Just state your complaint clearly and a resolution can be found.”

  The baby made a slight whimper of discontent, and Derek nodded soberly, then offered his finger to her flailing hands.

  “Hmm, yes, that does pose a problem. I’m rather partial to your aunt myself, and I can hardly blame you for wishing she were here and not I, but it’s far too early in the morning for me to fetch her for you. Besides, you and I need to have a little discussion, young lady. If I am to appoint myself your guardian unofficially, some ground rules must be set up.”

  “How long has this been going on?” Kate breathed to the girl next to her.

  She shrugged. “He was here when I arrived. He told me he would take care of her, and that I was to go back to bed and leave him to it.”

  “Did he?” Kate replied softly, turning to look back at her husband, now very nearly dancing with her niece in the moonlight, still murmuring softly to her. She couldn’t help the smile that spread across her face, nor the odd squeezing sensation in her chest as she watched him. He would be such a good father; loving, understanding, firm, but fun.

  Their children would adore him.

  “There now,” Derek whispered, pressing his lips to Alice’s brow as he rocked her, “that’s my girl. That’s it.” He turned just a touch, and Kate could see the smile on his face as he looked down on the now sleeping infant in his arms.

  Unbidden, tears sprang into her eyes, and she had to swallow repeatedly. This was no show for her benefit; he had no idea she was even awake, let alone standing here watching him. This was Derek Chambers, stripped of artifice and disguise, honest and genuine. The man her husband was when nobody was looking. This was something she could believe, something that she could never doubt. Everything else she might be able to question, but not this.

  She looked back over at Jessie and smiled. “I think I will go back to bed now. She seems to be in capable hands.”

  Jessie nodded with a small smile of her own. “Yes, very. Good night, Lady Whitlock.”

  “Good night, Jessie.”

  Kate silently made her way back down the hall to her room and settled herself back down under her covers before she allowed herself to sigh in a completely girlish fashion. She might have been hesitant about the slight changes her friends wanted her to make before now, but considering the events of this evening, she was now convinced that it would be a rather enjoyable experiment.

  And if Derek’s surprise would be half as good as Kate imagined it, the whole endeavor will be worth any pains she had to take.

  “Where the devil is she?” Derek growled as he paced the floor of his music room.

  “Who?” Colin asked, taking a long drink from the flute of champagne he was holding.

  Derek threw him an incredulous look. “Kate.”

  “Don’t be so anxious, Derek,” his sister scolded from behind him. “She will be down soon enough.”

  He turned and glared at her. “What do you know, Diana?”

  She offered him a very unconvincing look of innocence. “Why would I know anything? I have only just arrived.”

  “Diana.”

  She rolled her eyes and brushed at her elegant plum colored gown in disgust. “Honestly, Derek, you are the most impatient man on the planet. Did you ever consider that perhaps she is nervous about performing and she and Gemma are practicing?”

  That sobered him and his glower turned into a look of concern. “You think she’s nervous? I never thought…”

  “Obviously I don’t know, Derek,” she interrupted with a smile. “As I said, I have only just arrived. You are the first person I have spoken with.” She gave him a scolding look. “And you have not even greeted me.”

  He reluctantly smiled and kissed her cheek. “Hello, Diana. Thank you so much for coming. I know it will mean a great deal to Kate.”

  She smiled brightly at him and looped her hand through his arm. “I would not have missed it. I hope you don’t mind, but I’ve brought Mary Hamilton with me.”

  “Have you?” he asked in surprise, looking across the room where she indicated. There indeed was Mary, already conversing with Caroline and Geoff, and looking rather well. “I thought she was considered a wallflower.”

  “She is, but not by intelligent company,” Diana retorted hotly, starting to pull away.

  “I wasn’t saying she is one,” he hissed, holding her fast. “You know I think well of her, and certainly that Geoff does. They have been friends for years. I’m glad you brought her.”

  That seemed to soothe Diana’s ire and she smiled conspiratorially. “I would like to introduce her to Katherine, and possibly convince her to sing with them tonight.”

  “Without practice?
”

  Diana looked rather mischievous. “Mary does not require much practice where her voice is concerned.”

  He looked doubtful, but she refused to elaborate.

  Just then, the doors to the hall opened and he looked towards them with interest, only to sink back into disappointment when it was Nathan and Moira. “Where is she?” he muttered.

  “Stop being so anxious!” Colin told him with irritation. “You are making me nervous, and I don’t even know your cause.”

  “I have not seen my wife in hours,” Derek ground out. “She has been intentionally evading me and nobody will tell me what it is about.”

  “I hate not seeing my wife,” Edward commented as he came up to Diana’s side.

  “Spare me,” Colin groaned. “I am going to visit with Duncan, as he seems to be the only one not waiting on a woman.” He nodded to them all, and then left rather dramatically to join Duncan, who was now chatting with Nathan and his brother Spencer.

  Again the doors opened, but this time it was Gemma, and she only stuck her head in. Apparently, it was a cue, for Caroline and Moira stood and grinned. Derek tried to catch the girl’s eye, knowing how skilled she was at nonverbal communication, but even she would not meet his gaze.

  He huffed in irritation as she pulled her head back out, and growled under his breath.

  “Steady, Derek,” Diana whispered, sounding amused. “They can hardly hide her from you forever.”

  “I would not put it past them,” he muttered, glaring at Moira and Caroline, who offered him bright smiles in return.

  “Remind me to meet them as soon as Kate comes in,” Diana whispered to her husband, who bit back a laugh.

  The doors opened again, and, almost angrily, Derek turned to face them, wondering which guest that was not his wife would be coming in next. To his relief, it was his wife at last.