"But she didn't say no?" he asked quietly.
"No. She wanted to leave, told me she was in danger. But she didn't say no. In fact, she said she had always admired me," he said with no small degree of wonder.
"Good then. Stop kicking yourself and start thinking about getting her well and happy again."
Jasmine came out of the room into the corridor now and called, "She's ready for bed."
"Oh, no, I'm not-"
"Nonsense, of course you are. She wants you to stay with her. It's going to be the hardest thing you've ever had to do in your life, but it will be worth it."
Philip pushed him down the hall. "And my wife and I will help."
"We're going to send for Blake too. He's only just left the City. We can get a messenger to call him back."
"Oh, no."
"Really, he'll be happy to do it," she reassured him.
"Thanks all the same, Jasmine, but he must hate me for having paid my attentions to Arabella before they were wed."
"No, not at all," Philip said with a dismissive wave of the hand. "Any fool could see they were meant for each other. You didn't stand a chance. Besides, though it isn't common knowledge, Belle was assaulted by Adam Neville on her wedding night."
Matthew stared, stunned. "What?"
"I will spare you the details except to say they were similar, though at the time he thought she had been raped. She was beaten so badly that she lost her memory for a time. So Blake can advise you as a doctor, and someone who has had to be really patient while his wife recovered from her terrible ordeal."
"Is she all right now?" he asked, wide-eyed.
"Yes, really. She's fine now, and they're both happy. Blake is a good doctor, and an understanding friend. He can do a lot that Jasmine and I can't. And once you're back down in Somerset, he has a wonderful assistant, Eswara Jerome."
"Married to Martin?"
He nodded. "That's right. Lovely lady, and her son from her first marriage is a student of Blake's. She'll be a big help, a woman Althea can talk to truthfully."
"We won't be able to go down to the country until she is better."
"Just keep a low profile, then. Word has it Matilda is looking everywhere for you."
"But it's over," he said in exasperation.
Jasmine gave a knowing look. "She isn't the type of woman who takes no for an answer, and will be desperate to discover that such a big fish wriggled off the hook. As soon she hears you're married, she's going to go wild."
Matthew paused on the threshold of the room. "Who said anything about-"
"Oh come now," Philip said impatiently. "You're smitten with Althea. Always have been. And she needs your help. You've ruined her chances of a good match, and only a man of the world like yourself can understand and help her, not judge her. And the danger to her isn't over."
"How do you know so much?" Matthew asked, his eyes narrowing suspiciously.
"Call it a gift-my intuition. It's won me a fortune at the gaming tables when I've chosen to play. Trust me. You and Althea will be blissfully happy if you'll only give each other time."
"You sound awfully sure of yourself."
Philip flashed him a grin and hugged his wife around her shoulders. "I'll bet you anything you like."
Jasmine grinned up at him. "I'm going to go see about some breakfast for us all. We'll send a tray to your room. Ring if you need anything, and call us if you want some help nursing Althea."
"Thank you, I will."
"In the meantime I'll find out what Oliver's been up to and make some discreet inquiries. I also think you need to find out what is going down in Enfield. Write Althea an innocent enough letter asking how she's faring so they won't suspect you've got her with you here. I shall go down ostensibly to visit my cousin Angelica and her daughter Patrice, and see what's what. Stop in to see Althea, don't you know."
"Won't her step-mother wonder who you are?" Matthew worried.
"I'm counting on it. We need to flush out the guilty parties. They need to give a good accounting of what's happened to her."
"But you might be walking into God only knows what kind of situation, putting yourself in danger too. Not least because her step-mother is a predatory wench if ever there was one."
Philip gave a dismissive wave. "I can handle women like her. Literally."
"Oh, no, please, I don't want you and Jasmine to suffer because of-"
"Don't worry. I'm nothing if not subtle, and I won't touch the old viper if that's what you're worried about. Never fear. I'll just let her do all the work. Nothing like the power of suggestion."
Matthew stared at him in wonder. "You certainly do know how to play the game a lot better than me."
"Oh, I've learned a few things about women over the years," Philip said with a shrug. "Though I can honestly say that I thought I knew it all until I married Jasmine and then met Eswara. No, don't look so scandalised. She's a healer. I hated my body for having been defiled and degraded when I was a quean. But the human body is a lovely thing. Eswara can help with that too. She's done wonders for our love life, which was already sheer magic to begin with."
"That sounds, well, wonderful," Matthew said, then shook his head. "But I'm not so sure..."
"Althea is going to need to know that her body is a lovely thing. Just as yours will be to her if it is to you. You hate yourself at the minute, but in time-"
But Matthew wasn't fully listening. "Magic. Yes, it's what I felt for Althea last night. It was the most incredible sensation being with her."
"Good. So enjoy it. Explore it together."
Matthew frowned. "Marriage is such a big step."
"It is. But you're ready. And so will she be, in time."
Jasmine returned just then with toast and tea and some scrambled eggs. She indicated that he should follow her.
Matthew peered through the crack in the door and they went in.
Althea looked glad to see him, and did her best to eat. She couldn't quite manage the toast without soaking it in the tea. Every swallow was like a knife through his heart as she winced in pain, but she was eating, and that meant regaining her strength.
Philip and Jasmine hovered outside the door. When the tray was empty, Philip asked, "Antony has told you what to expect, hasn't he?"
"Yes, he has," Matthew said grimly.
"We'll have broth and hot water on the go all the time down in the kitchen," Jasmine informed him. "Anything else you need, let us know. And don't be ashamed to admit you're tired, or need help."
"Thanks, both of you. You've been real friends."
"Don't mention it."
"But I have to. I don't know what I would have done without you both being so understanding."
"Glad to do it, and so will any of the Rakehells be happy to help if they can, Blake, Eswara, just let us know what you need."
"Thank you." He embraced them both briefly, then shut the door.
When Matthew closed the door, she opened her eyes wide for a moment. Poignant relief flooded her features and she lapsed back onto the pillows.
"Is everything all right?" he asked softly. "Do you need anything?"
"I'm still so cold."
He opened the door again and asked Jasmine for more blankets, which she promptly fetched herself.
He bundled Althea up as though she were living in the frozen north, and then began to disrobe. But the prospect of being so scantily clad in the bed, being so close to her, marrying her, made his head swim.
He put the robe back on. He thought about popping his head back out and asking for a trundle bed, but Althea had other ideas.
She mewled, "I'm still so cold," and began to burrow even more deeply under the covers.
He stoked the fire and gave her his dressing gown, but she was still shivering.
"Can you please hold me?" she asked in a barely audible murmur.
"Darling, I mustn't-"
"I trust you."
"I don't trust myself, Althea. What if I roll on you in bed, hurt
you by accident? Touch you in an unseemly or painful way?" he said in an agonised whisper.
She opened her eyes to gaze at him steadily. "I don't blame you for what happened."
"But I blame myself. For a whole host of reasons. Not least of which is the fact that I should have checked in on you in the past few weeks, instead of turning tail and fleeing from my importunate former mistress."
"Former?" she asked softly, with a trace of surprise.
"Aye, it's been over for months now. But Matilda still keeps angling to get me back. She won't succeed, so there's an end to it."
"Still, I heard some of what you said to Dr. Herriot. If there's someone else you wish to marry-"
'Oh, my dear," he said sincerely, "there's never been anyone I've wanted to marry until now."
"Me?" she asked with a winsome smile.
"You," he confirmed, without an ounce of hesitation. "I only hope I can make you happy. I really do want to try. I just don't think I'm very good at it. The whole marriage and family thing, I mean."
"We'll learn together. Now come to bed."
"No, really, I shouldn't."
"Then put your back to me. I can hold you to stay warm, and promise not to compromise your virtue. Only hurry. I'm freezing."
He laughed slightly and did as she asked, throwing back the covers quickly and sliding between the sheets.
He put his broad back to her, and her arm came around his shoulders. Her delightfully full breasts pressed against him like red-hot brands, and her warm lap caressed his buttocks. He was sure he was never going to be able to fall asleep...
Chapter Eight
He might have known the peace could never last.
Matthew awakened with a jolt several hours later when he heard Althea groan.
"Oh God, I think I'm going to be sick."
She was spectacularly ill into the basin, and began to complain about how cold she was again. Her nose was running, her eyes tearing. She was sweating so heavily she had almost soaked through all the layers of bedclothes.
Philip came in response to his ring, and immediately went for more linens. "I think you need to give her some laudanum. The dose she's been taking has probably been great, making her weaning process that much more of a shock to the system."
Matthew wasn't so sure. He changed her and the bed, and then hoped she would settle back down. But as she began to get more and more nervous and agitated, and confused, and threw up all the broth he gave her a short time later, he gave in and put one drop in water.
Philip returned a short time later with a pile of night rails and told him Jasmine had gone out to buy more. Then he sent in the servants to clean the room, and the process began all over again.
She slept well for several hours, but woke up confused and shaky, and became ill again.
Antony came to visit as promised, and told Matthew he just had to ride along with whatever her body had in store for her. "I would carry on giving her one drop. I think Philip is right. Even a tiny bit until she starts to get stronger might be best. She's going to pull a muscle in her stomach or chest if she keeps being so violently ill."
After he left, Philip came in and said, "I took the liberty of sending round to to Tavistock Square. You're in luck. Jonathan's here in Town with Alexander and Sarah. I've asked him to call. And Blake will be here soon, I'm sure."
"Thank you."
"I just told them you needed help. I've left it to you to explain the exact circumstances. You can use my study."
Matthew swallowed hard, then said, "Listen, this wedding. I would appreciate you standing up with me. I know Randall will forgive me given all that's happened, and you've been a good friend. I'm sorry about that whole rivalry thing over Arabella-"
Philip shook his head. "Don't even bother to mention it. I was only helping Blake, not offering for Arabella myself. Water under the bridge. Anyway, that's ancient history now. All concerned parties are happily married now except you. Enjoy your bachelorhood one final hour, and the only buck's party you're getting is a cup of cocoa by the fire with your friends."
"That sounds like heaven to me after all I've been through," he said in a tone ringing with sincerity.
Philip gave him a long appraising stare. "My, you are a changed man."
"Not just because of last night. I was attempting to redeem myself even before all this happened. Now I shall have to try even harder."
Philip patted him on the shoulder. "It's all any of us can do."
The interview with Jonathan did not take long. Matthew explained to the vicar briefly what had happened to Althea, gave his word he had not harmed her in any way, and declared that he wanted only to protect her through this marriage.
"Is your aunt coming to the ceremony?" Jonathan asked stiffly.
"I would rather leave her out of it, but only because seeing Althea like this would upset her dreadfully. I fear she would shout what happened from the rooftops in an attempt to bring her abductor to justice."
Jonathan frowned. "I can understand your caution, but do you not want justice for her too?"
He sighed. "I fear it would never be had. It would only open her up to scandal and ruin. You know the double standard in our society. No matter how virtuous Althea was, it would be seen as a black mark against her. Some buck claiming she led him on. And all the drugs and bruising in the world wouldn't matter. Some people would still wonder. I don't want my wife and any children we might have to go through that."
"And are you sure you're not just trying to save your own skin?" the vicar challenged.
"If you weren't a man of the cloth I'm make you taste my knuckles for that! Yes, I admit not wanting to go to jail if they suspected me. But I didn't harm her. I dread to think what might happen to her if she is left alone and defenceless. My aunt is a good woman, but she would never be able to protect her from the kind of degenerates who did this to my poor Althea."
Jonathan nodded, mollified at last. "All right, I believe you. Nothing irregular has occured on your part, and you're looking after her own best interests, not just your own. So sorry for the grilling, old chap. We can get started as soon as you like."
"Are Alexander and Sarah here yet?"
"They were just behind me."
"Then we can get things underway as soon as you tell me what you need."
"I gave a list to Jasmine when I came in."
"Wonderful, thank you. I'll just go see how Althea is and explain. You will be patient with her and the vows, though, won't you? She's, well, not quite herself."
Jonathan patted him on the shoulder, and nodded his sandy-haired head. "Yes, of course. We can take as long as you like. You need a ring, though."
"My signet will have to do for now."
"Good then, we're all set. You go see her, and I'll just jot a few things down on paper. I'm so glad all you Rakehells are so romantically inclined. I do so love a good wedding."
"Thomas's was the first, wasn't it? Or so I've heard."
"The first I presided over myself, yes. Clifford was the first. But not to worry, there are still enough of you single Rakehells out there for me to bag a few more," Jonathan said with a grin. "Glad to see your turn is finally coming. And if it's any consolation, I'm really proud of the way you've tried to take to country life down in Somerset. And truth to tell, every man has doubts about their ability to be a good husband. Especially if they've been a rake. Philip past was a bit different, but he's found happiness despite his past. And Randall has settled very well. With some hard work, love and patience, you can do the same."
"I do love Althea, honestly. Adored her for years. Worshipped her."
"She has feet of clay like everyone else," the vicar warned.
Matthew grimaced. "Hah. If hers are clay, mine must be dung."
Jonathan smiled indulgently. "If you love her and want to make her happy, all will be well, I promise. I was no rake, but I was also no virgin when I married Pamela. None of us were when we wed. But if you keep telling yourself how much you
stand to lose if you're ever unfaithful, it will keep you out of temptation's way."
"I will try to remember. Thanks." He took a deep breath and blew it out shakily. "I'll go up now. Philip will show you the way."
"See you shortly."
Matthew went up to visit Althea, and saw that Jasmine had clad her in a pretty nightgown and robe set embroidered with roses. She had brushed out her hair and applied powder to the worse of her bruises.
The Rakehell Regency Romance Series Boxed Set 4 (The Rakehell Regency Romance Series Boxed Sets) Page 58
