“There’s no shame in accepting help,” the vicar told him.
“I know, but I prefer to do as much for myself as I can.”
“You’re a proud gentleman, my lord, but sometimes the strongest of us will ask for help when we need it.”
Noting the sympathy in the vicar’s voice, Sebastian abstained from answering him. The vicar meant well. Sebastian knew he did. But he wasn’t in the habit of accepting help from anyone, and he wasn’t about to do so over something as simple as getting up from a chair.
“I don’t care if you want to do this or not,” came Anthony’s voice from the hallway. “You’re getting married, and you’re doing it right now.”
Anthony showed up in the doorway, his arms wrapped around Celia’s shoulders as if he was afraid she might escape if he let her go. And for all Sebastian knew, she would. There was no denying the angry expression on her face.
Despite the fact that Celia was angry, she was attractive. Dark hair, dark eyes, pink cheeks, a full bosom, and pleasant hips. Now he remembered her from that evening at Anthony’s dinner party. She’d been the lady in the room with the best figure. In fact, he’d say out of most of the ladies in London, her breasts and hips were among the best. She had the perfect hourglass figure. It was hard to believe that the gentlemen weren’t willing to overlook her shrewish behavior in favor of getting the opportunity to touch her. And this only proved that gentlemen who spent all of their time on land were a bunch of weaklings.
“I almost gave her something to mellow her out,” Anthony said, “but she’ll need to recite the vows to make this official.”
“I won’t recite them,” Celia snapped. Then she turned her hard glare to Sebastian. “And no one can make me.”
“The marriage has been arranged,” Sebastian told her, not the least bit disturbed by her outburst. “Your brother has already given me your dowry. The bargain’s been made, and you have to marry me whether you like it or not.”
The vicar adjusted the collar around his neck. “I’m not sure I can marry someone under these circumstances. It’s much more preferable if the lady wishes to be married.”
“It’s London,” Sebastian replied. “Who in their right mind gets married because they actually want to?” He glanced at Celia. “I’m only doing this for the money, sweetheart.”
“I’m not your sweetheart,” she said through gritted teeth.
“It’s just an expression,” he replied. “Not an endearment.” He turned his attention back to the vicar who still didn’t seem to be willing to do this. “Would it help if I told you she’s carrying my child?”
Celia gasped. “I am not!”
“How are you going to prove it?” he asked. Then, just because he knew it would give the vicar a reason to believe she might be pregnant, he added, “I can’t give our child my title if we don’t make things right.”
As he hoped, the vicar opened the book so he could start the wedding.
“You can’t get out of this, Celia,” Anthony told her as she struggled to get away from him. “You have no one but yourself to blame.”
A blonde lady, who Sebastian hadn’t noticed up to now, went over to Anthony, a worried frown on her face. It took Sebastian a moment to remember she was Anthony’s wife. “Is this really the right thing to do?”
Anthony shot her an exasperated look. “Celia should have thought about that before she tricked a gentleman into getting undressed so she could make her move.”
The vicar’s face went pale, and deciding to take advantage of the moment, Sebastian said, “I can’t say I was all that upset by the trick. I got her out of her own clothes soon enough.” With a grin at Celia, he continued, “It certainly was a memorable night.”
Sebastian waited to see if Anthony or the blonde would argue with him, but they didn’t. Good. If the vicar had suspected he’d been lying about the pregnancy before, he would surely believe him now.
The vicar cleared his throat and began reading from the book.
Celia, probably realizing she’d been successfully trapped by the lie, stopped fighting against her brother, and when he released her, she didn’t bolt out of the room.
Well, Sebastian would give her credit for being smart. All it would take was for any of them to spread the rumor around London, and she would have been forced to marry him anyway. At least this way, she didn’t risk ruining her reputation. The vicar, being a man of God, would keep silent on the matter. So as long as she went along with the wedding, they could all forget the whole pregnancy thing and get on with their lives.
Sebastian repeated the vows, and to her credit, Celia did, too, even if she was gritting her teeth through half of them. He had no idea how Anthony had even gotten her to his townhouse, but he suspected it’d taken quite a feat to do so. Given Anthony’s gentle nature, Sebastian was impressed.
Before long, the vicar finished the ceremony, and Sebastian was now bound to Celia for life. Judging by the expression on her face, she wasn’t the least bit happy about it. He, however, decided he wouldn’t concern himself with such matters. Happiness was fleeting. It didn’t last forever. At least with their marriage, neither of them was under the illusion that love would ever factor into the relationship.
“Cheer up, chit,” he told her. “Things will get better tonight when we’re alone.” Noting the way her eyes widened, he wiggled his eyebrows. Then, turning to the others, he asked, “Will you be staying for the wedding breakfast?”
Anthony glanced at Damara, and since she nodded, Anthony said, “Yes, thank you.”
“Good,” Sebastian replied. “It’ll be more festive with you there.” He turned to thank the vicar and then led them out of the drawing room.
***
“Try to eat something,” Damara whispered. “It’ll do you no good to starve yourself.”
Celia turned the strawberries and blueberries over with her fork. Then she poked the egg. Since none of those appealed to her, she cut into the roasted potato, but then, she couldn’t even bring herself to eat that. She had no appetite. But was that surprising when the brute she’d just married was sitting right across from her at the small table?
Accusing her of carrying his child, indeed! Just who did he think he was? Had she not gone through with the wedding, he would have spread the lie all over London. Then what would happen to her? Her reputation was the only thing she had left. She’d lost Corin. She’d upset Loretta the last time they’d spoken to each other. Her brother didn’t even like her anymore. Damara was the only person who seemed to have any sympathy for what she was going through.
“I don’t have an appetite,” Celia whispered to her sister-in-law. “I haven’t been able to eat for days.” She swallowed the lump in her throat. “I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to eat again.”
Damara placed an understanding hand on her arm. “Of course, you will. This is a temporary disappointment, that’s all. This is going to work out.”
“Damara, you see the best in everything.” Which was ironic given her horrible parents. Celia didn’t know how Damara managed to stay sweet and wholesome with her background.
“We see what we want to see, and I want to see you happy despite what’s happening today. Anthony said Sebastian is an honorable gentleman. Even when something bad happens, he aspires to do the right thing.”
Celia frowned. “Do you think the fact that he has to marry me is bad for him?”
“No,” Damara replied, still keeping her voice low. “I would never imply anything of the sort. I’m saying that when he lost half of his leg and his brother died, he could have given up. But he chose not to. He chose to pay off the debts and do his best to secure the troubled estate.”
So that was why Sebastian wanted to marry her. He was using her dowry for himself. She narrowed her eyes at him as he finished his meal while Anthony told him about his latest business dealings. As if he felt her gaze on him, Sebastian looked in her direction. She kept eye contact with him in a silent move to let him know she res
ented being married to him. He, in turn, held her gaze.
For the life of her, she couldn’t tell what he was thinking. His expression was surprisingly devoid of emotion. As much as she wanted to continue to hold his gaze, she couldn’t. Something in the way he refused to blink bothered her, and she found herself wavering until she broke eye contact. Drat! No one had been able to do that to her before.
“A word to the wise,” Sebastian told her, “don’t pick a fight unless you intend to win it.”
What did he mean by that? “I wasn’t picking a fight with you.”
“I lost half of my leg at sea, not my wits.” He picked up his glass. “I can tell when I’m being challenged.”
She decided not to answer. What good would it do? He’d only find some flippant remark to come back at her with. She turned her gaze to her brother. What was he thinking in pairing her up with the likes of him? With the way Sebastian called her a chit and mentioned their wedding night right in front of everyone, he had no manners at all.
He wasn’t going to treat her like a lady. He was going to treat her like some barmaid at a tavern who was only good for a quick roll in a dirty bed somewhere. She’d heard stories of captains. After being stuck at sea for months, they had lusty appetites for food, drink, and women. There was nothing decent about them, and just today Sebastian had proved it. He might have a title, but he didn’t have the morals to go with it.
Anthony placed his napkin on the table as he glanced her way. For a moment, a spark of hope shot through her. Maybe he realized he couldn’t let her be married to this brute after all. Maybe he was going to take her back home.
But, to her dismay, he said, “Damara, I think we should go.”
Celia jumped to her feet. “You can’t leave without me.”
“Yes, I can.” Anthony went to Damara’s chair and pulled it out for her. “I think the sooner we get out of here, the better.”
Damara shot Celia an uncertain look. “Anthony, maybe we can stay a little longer. This whole marriage has been so sudden for her.”
“Your kindness is your best quality,” he told her. “But trust me when I say Celia will only use that to her advantage. Before you know it, you’ll be manipulated into doing all kinds of things you don’t want to do. A quick and clean break is the only way to handle this.”
“Well, I, um…” Damara glanced from Anthony to Celia and back again.
“Oh, go ahead,” Sebastian told her, waving her and Anthony out of the room. “The little wife and I will be just fine.”
Celia glared at Sebastian, but he only scanned her body as if he couldn’t wait to take her to bed. Appalled, she got in between her brother and Damara before they could leave. “If you have any love for me at all, you’ll slap his cheek with your glove,” Celia demanded.
“I’m not going to challenge him to a duel,” Anthony said, slipping his arm around Damara’s and urging her forward.
“He needs to be taught a lesson for the way he’s looking at me,” Celia insisted. Then, thinking it might help her case, she added, “He was looking at me as if he planned to take my innocence right here in this room. In front of the servants and everything.”
“Anthony, maybe we should stay for another hour,” Damara protested as he continued to lead her to the doorway. “Maybe by then, things will settle down.”
“No, they won’t. They’ll only get worse. As long as Celia knows she can get you to do what she wants, they’ll only get worse.” He stopped and faced Damara who was digging her heels into the rug. “Remember how much she went through to get Corin into a room by himself? Remember his state of undress and the humiliation that followed? She’ll stop at nothing to get what she wants.”
Damara bit her lower lip, and Celia knew her brother had just won the argument.
Celia groaned. “Fine. Go on home. Who cares if that brute ravishes me?”
Anthony let out an exasperated sigh and stopped to face her. “He’s not going to ravish you.”
“If I may interrupt,” Sebastian called out.
The three turned their attention to the table.
Sebastian, who was already standing up with the crutch under his arm, gestured for the butler to go to Celia. “Bring her back to the table.”
Celia’s jaw dropped. Certainly, the butler wasn’t going to actually do that. But as the butler came in her direction, she told him, “I forbid you to touch me.”
“Bring her to the table,” Sebastian countered.
The butler glanced from one to the other, shrugged, and picked her up. She let out a yelp but was too shocked to fight him.
After he set her into her chair, Sebastian smiled. “There you go, Lady Erandon. You will stay there until you eat everything on your plate. Cook went through a lot of work to prepare your meal, and you’ll eat it.” With a glance at Anthony and Damara, he said, “Thank you for attending our wedding and sharing the wedding breakfast with us.”
Celia wasn’t all that surprised when Anthony and Damara left. She made a move to get back up, but the butler placed his hands on her shoulders and sat her back down.
“You can’t keep me here like this,” she told Sebastian. “If I am to be the mistress of this place, then I have a right to go wherever I wish whenever I wish.”
Sebastian’s lips twitched upwards. “That’s only true if I allow it.”
He moved around the table. Sensing he was heading in her direction, she tried to get up, but the butler kept her in place. Sebastian pulled out the chair next to her and sat down. He leaned toward her, and she leaned away. She didn’t like this. She didn’t like it one bit! He was being much too familiar with her.
“I once had a crewman who questioned my authority,” Sebastian said. “You want to guess what I did to him?”
“You made him sit down and eat everything on his plate?” she replied, letting him hear the sarcasm in her tone.
“I had him tied to the mast until he learned to pay me the respect I deserved as his captain. Other people might let you get away with your behavior, but I won’t. You’re going to stay in this room until you eat everything on your plate. The butler will stay and make sure you do that. If, in the process of waiting for your appetite, you need to take care of anything personal, the maid will bring you a chamber pot.”
“You expect me to use a chamber pot in front of the maid and butler?”
He rose to his foot and slipped the crutch under his arm. “That’s up to you. If you don’t finish your meal before you need to take care of personal matters, you have no choice. If, however, you wish to have privacy when the need comes, you’ll make sure everything on your plate is gone.” He glanced at the doorway, drummed his fingers on his crutch for a few seconds, then asked, “What did you do to get Lord Durrant in a room by himself?”
“That is not your concern,” she snapped.
“So I won’t find out today.” He patted her on the head. “Eat up, chit. This food is much better than anything you’ll find on a ship.”
He gestured for the butler to keep watch over her and headed out of the room, ignoring her protests that he shouldn’t be treating her like a child.
Chapter Four
Exactly four hours and twenty-three minutes later, the butler came to the den to let Sebastian know Celia had finally finished everything on her plate.
“I can’t say she’s very happy with you,” the butler warned.
Sebastian shrugged from where he was sitting at his desk. He glanced up from the book he’d been unsuccessfully trying to read. His efforts weren’t in vain because he worried about his new bride. The truth of the matter was, reading a tale about the seas wasn’t nearly as fun as actually being on them.
“Where is Lady Erandon at the moment?” Sebastian asked.
“In her bedchamber.”
Sebastian’s eyebrows rose in surprise. He thought for sure she’d try to run off. Not that it would have done her any good. The staff had always served his family well, and they were fully capable of tracking
her down and bringing her back. It was good, however, that she hadn’t tried to get away from him like she had while her brother was here. There just might be hope for her yet. She wasn’t so unreasonable that she couldn’t be reached.
“Would you like me to bring her here?” the butler asked.
“No. She’s been through enough for the time being.”
The butler nodded and headed out of the room.
Sebastian turned his attention back to the book, but once again, he had trouble getting into it. What good was reading about an adventure when there was no way he was ever going to have one again? Irritated, he threw the book across the room. If he was smart, he’d get rid of every book he owned that had anything to do with being on the sea. Maybe then, he could learn to live with the fact that nothing good or exciting was ever going to happen to him again.
The maid came running into the room. “My lord, are you all right?” she asked.
“I’m fine.”
“I thought I heard something fall.” She scanned the floor for anything that was out of place.
“The book is over there,” he told her, gesturing to the book he’d thrown across the room.
She went over to the other side of the room and retrieved it. “Would you like it?” she offered, heading his way.
“No. I’ve had enough of reading for one day.”
“As you wish.” She set the book on the desk. “Is there anything else you need?”
The butler came into the room before Sebastian could answer. Surprised, Sebastian asked, “Did my wife climb down the window to escape her bedchamber?”
The corners of the butler’s lips curled up into a smile. “No, my lord. There are a couple of gentlemen who wish to see you. They are Lord Edon and Mr. Robinson.”
Sebastian thought over all the gentlemen he or his brother had owed money to. He knew he’d paid off everyone who had invested in his whaling expedition. But maybe he had missed someone on his brother’s end. “Let them in,” he instructed. To the maid, he said, “I don’t need anything else, thank you.”
Taming The Viscountess Page 3
