The Rake to Ruin Her

by Julia Justiss

  A brief shadow flitted across her face. ‘With luck, work I can bring to completion before time runs out. But enough of that.’

  Max frowned, her words reviving his worry over her health. He still wasn’t sure he really accepted the reality of the Curse, but he didn’t want to take any chances with Caro’s life. ‘Are you sure you should continue working the stud?’

  ‘I’m feeling quite well...except for first thing in the morning. And though I suppose after several more months, I may have to give up riding, for the moment I am fine.’

  ‘Can I not coax you to at least consult a physician here,

  if you will not travel to London? It would make me feel easier.’

  Giving him a look of resignation that said she was just humouring him, she replied, ‘I suppose I could, if it would ease your mind.’

  ‘It would. Being responsible for your condition, I want to take every possible precaution.’

  With a little sigh, she looked away. ‘Yes, you would feel responsible, I suppose. Though you shouldn’t.’

  He caught her hand and kissed it. ‘There will really be a child? I confess, I find it hard to accept the truth of that.’

  ‘Sometimes I have trouble believing it, too, even as I feel my body changing.’

  An unprecedented sense of awe and tenderness filling him, he gathered her into his arms. She came willingly, laying her head against his chest. For a long moment he held her there, her cheek against the steady beat of his heart while he nestled his chin into the sweet fragrance of her hair. He found he didn’t want to let her go.

  He wished she’d agree to accompany him to London, but it was only reasonable that she’d want to stay at Denby, training her horses and working with the new breeding stock.

  ‘Do you...think you will return to Denby before the birth?’ she asked.

  ‘Of course! In fact, I’ll probably return here immediately after I consult with the colonel. I’m going to try to convince you to come to London for your lying-in, where there will be physicians and midwives to attend you.’

  ‘We have those in the country, too, you know,’ she said with a chuckle. ‘After all the horses I’ve helped birth, I probably know as much about the process as any midwife. When the time arrives, Lady Denby will come to assist me. I hope to give you a healthy son.’

  ‘Right now, I’m more concerned with having a healthy wife. You are...’ He hesitated, his tongue trying to form other words before he made it say, ‘Very dear to me, Caro.’

  She leaned up to kiss him. It started as a soft slow brush of her mouth against his, but then, as if she just couldn’t resist the temptation, suddenly she teased his lips apart and slid her tongue into his mouth.

  A rush of desire flooding him, he kissed her back with equal hunger, moving his hands down to cup her bottom and fit her against his arousal.

  After a moment, with a sigh, she pulled away. ‘Would that we could “take tea” again now, my naughty husband! But there are tasks I must finish before nightfall.’

  Stepping away from him, she licked one finger and painted the moisture over his lips. ‘Until later, my dear Max,’ she promised, chuckling as she danced away from the hand he tried to snag her with before she could exit the room.

  Max smiled as he watched her go. He hoped she never stopped surprising him. His disappointment with the outcome of the investigation in Vienna and this afternoon’s jealousy of Harry Tremaine faded as an effervescent feeling of hope and well-being buoyed his spirits.

  He’d have new, fulfilling work, a tantalising, amorous Caro for his wife...and, with any luck, a healthy child. With Caro’s help, he might even work out how to be a better father than his own.

  * * *

  In London ten days later, Max sat once more in Colonel Brandon’s study as his mentor poured some refreshment. He couldn’t help recalling that the last time he’d shared a brandy with the colonel here, he’d returned to his rooms to find a frantic Caro, imploring him with a new proposition he hadn’t been able to refuse.

  Thank heavens he hadn’t! He smiled, recalling their last night together before he set out for London. She’d certainly proven her affection, in so many delectable ways that he’d been doubly reluctant to leave for London without her. Indeed, he told her outright that she was spoiling him; he simply couldn’t get enough of her.

  With a naughty smile, she’d replied that she couldn’t get enough of him and tilted her hips to take him deeper.

  She’d thought he was teasing, but the words had held more truth even than he wanted to admit. He’d had affairs with women much more practised than Caro; it was her utter lack of artifice that so mesmerised him. He found her uninhibited joy and considerable inventiveness endlessly arousing.

  ‘Here’s a brandy to toast the business,’ the Colonel said, pulling him from sensual reverie. ‘First, congratulations on marrying your heiress. Your wedding, and the earl’s blessing on it, helped speed the business of finding a suitable post.’

  ‘What does this posting involve?’

  ‘Logistics and procurement. Requires a man with a talent for organisation, a good head for figures and the ability to, shall we say, persuade sometimes recalcitrant suppliers to deliver contracted goods on time and as specified.’

  ‘I’d work out of London?’

  ‘For the most part, though you would need to visit the suppliers and army units upon occasion. If you accept it, would your bride join you here?’

  ‘Probably not. She’s a country girl at heart and very devoted to her farm and her horses.’

  ‘Aye, I’d heard as much.’

  Recalling the pains Caro had taken to present an unflattering picture of herself to the ton, Max could only imagine what the Colonel had heard. ‘You should probably discount anything that’s been said about her. She’s clever, intelligent...and utterly bewitching.’

  ‘All April-and-May with you, is it?’ The colonel chuckled, slapping him on the back. ‘I’d heard ’twas a match of convenience, so I’m happy to learn ’tis more than that.’

  At the colonel’s words, Max suddenly realised that, some time between his first visit to the colonel’s lodgings several months ago and tonight, their relationship had become more. Just how much more, he wasn’t quite sure. ‘How soon would you need my answer?’

  ‘Take your time. There’s no one else of your ability and lineage who’d be better for the job, so I can persuade the head of department to wait on your answer.’

  ‘I would like to talk it over with my wife. She’s increasing, and I don’t like leaving her alone.’

  ‘That’s wonderful news! Here’s to the safe delivery of an heir!’

  That being a toast to which Max could drink with enthusiasm, he raised his glass to the colonel. Though he remained for a time longer, chatting with his former commander about the activities of other acquaintances from their regiment, with the business concluded, he found himself eager to be off.

  It hadn’t been mere politeness when he’d told the colonel he was impatient to return to Caro. Even if the Curse were an illusion, he wanted to be there, so she wouldn’t have to carry alone the burden of worrying over it.

  If he did accept the colonel’s post—and it seemed so ideal, there was no reason he shouldn’t—he probably would have to assume it before Caro reached her time. All the more reason to try to persuade her to come to London to deliver the child.

  Maybe he could also talk her into having some competent female stay with her at Denby Lodge after his departure. Lady Denby would be occupied with her daughter’s Season until summer, but perhaps her cousin Elizabeth might agree?

  He didn’t intend for the person holding her hand in his absence to be Lieutenant Harry Tremaine. Surely the man would need to return to India before Max had to take up his posting in London.

  Perhaps, before he returned to Kent, he’d pay a quick visit to Caro’s cousin Elizabeth. And while he was there, he could ask her about the Curse.

  Chapter Twenty-Four

 
Half an hour later, Max knocked on the door of Lady Elizabeth Russell’s town house in Laura Place. Learning from the butler who admitted him that his mistress was at home, Max told him to tell her he wished to consult with her about her cousin, Caroline Denby.

  After showing him to a parlour and pouring him wine, the servant departed to fetch his mistress. A short time later, Lady Elizabeth entered the room.

  ‘Good evening, Mr Ransleigh. What a pleasure to see you again! Did Caro accompany you to London?’

  ‘No, I’m afraid I couldn’t persuade her to leave Denby Lodge. She’s just taken delivery of a new Arabian stallion and several mares from Ireland.’

  Elizabeth laughed. ‘Then I doubt you’ll get her to budge from the stables before next spring. All is...well with her, I trust?’

  ‘She is in excellent health at present. I’d like to ensure that she stays that way. Which is why, although I have not yet consulted her about this, I wished to speak with you.’

  Elizabeth’s smile faded. ‘Is something wrong?’ Her eyes widening with alarm, she cried, ‘Sweet Heaven, please tell me that she’s not with child!’

  Until that moment, Max hadn’t been sure he really credited the existence of the Curse. But as he watched the colour drain from Lady Elizabeth’s face, the anxiety that he’d been suppressing since Caro had first told him about her pregnancy boiled to the surface.

  Consternation drying his mouth and speeding his pulse, he said, ‘She believes she is. So maybe you’d better tell me everything you know about the Curse. How can I help her through it?’

  Elizabeth shook her head, tears welling in her eyes. ‘I don’t know that there is anything you can do.’

  Frustration sharpening his tone, he snapped, ‘So she seems to believe, but there must be something. Does it spring from some weakness of the body? Will she lose the child before term?

  ‘No, it’s not until after the birth that the difficulties begin. Bleeding. Fever. Death. It happened that way with her mother, aunt, cousins—nearly every female on her mother’s side for the last two generations. When we were little, we used to joke about it...until it claimed cousin after cousin.’

  Max had wanted to believe the deaths were coincidence, illusion, tales told to frighten young brides. But this much loss seemed far more than random coincidence.

  ‘The physicians can do nothing to prevent it?’

  ‘Apparently not. Our cousin Anne consulted every prominent practitioner. She was examined several times and each doctor pronounced her perfectly normal. But when her term came, she died anyway, just like the others. Whatever flaw causes this, it must be deep within the body.’

  Max’s mind raced while he tried to think of something else that might be done to counter the threat. But if physicians could do nothing...

  ‘Is she...in good spirits?’ Elizabeth asked.

  ‘She was distressed when she first told me about it, before I went to Vienna.’ After what Elizabeth had just revealed, Max wished even more fervently that she’d first told him about it before he’d seduced her, rather than after. ‘Since my return, she’s seemed quite unconcerned.’

  Elizabeth shook her head. ‘That’s so like Caro. Knowing that if she is with child and nothing can be done, there is no point worrying about it. No wonder, with new horses arrived, she won’t leave Denby! She must be desperate to push the training along as quickly as possible in case—’ She broke, flushing. ‘What can I do to help?’

  ‘I’ve been offered a posting in the War Department. If I accept it, I may have to leave Denby Lodge before Caro reaches her time. I’ll return for the birth, of course, but I shouldn’t wish to leave her alone in the interim and Lady Denby will be occupied with her daughter until the end of the Season.’

  Elizabeth nodded. ‘I’m expecting my grandmother from Ireland for a visit, but I could bring her with me. Just let me know when you’d like me to come to Denby.’

  ‘Thank you.’ He grinned ruefully. ‘Caro will probably have my head for washing for finding her a companion without consulting her wishes first, but I would feel better if she were not alone these next few months.’

  ‘Of course. You...care about her, don’t you?’

  ‘Very much.’

  Elizabeth smiled. ‘Then go back to her. And tell her I’ll be praying for you both.’

  * * *

  Little more than a day later, Caro was about to hand over to the head trainer the lead line of a young horse she was breaking to saddle when the familiar gait of a tall man approaching the paddock made her heart skip a beat.

  ‘Max?’ she cried, tossing the reins to Newman and pacing over to the fence. ‘I didn’t expect you back so soon!’

  Delight lightening her spirits and a smoky sexual awareness firing her blood, she reached for the top rail, hungry for the first touch of him.

  ‘Hello, Caro,’ he called as he approached.

  He looked dusty and tired, as if he’d been travelling swiftly and hard, she thought as she climbed the rails. He held out his hands to steady her as she clambered down the other side.

  Then gathered her into his arms. ‘I missed you, sweeting.’

  Pulling his head down, she kissed him fiercely. With a groan, he wrapped her in his arms and kissed her back just as fiercely.

  Some time later, regretfully, she broke the kiss. ‘Shall I walk you to the manor? You can tell me everything Colonel Brandon said.’

  ‘Do you have time now? I don’t want to interrupt your training.’

  Normally, she would be annoyed to have her routine disturbed...but this was Max and she’d missed him acutely. ‘Yes, I’m ready to take a break...to see you.’

  Linking her arm in his, she said, ‘What did you learn about the posting? Do you think you’ll accept it?’

  ‘It involves the purchase and shipment of supplies to army units. And I’m inclined to take it. Are you sure you couldn’t consider coming to London with me? I’d feel much easier knowing you were nearby, with all the superior resources of the city—the best physicians, midwives, aides, close at hand.’

  She shook her head. ‘As I told you before, we have doctors here. And I have my work, as you will have yours.’

  Much as she hated to ask it, best that she know straight away how much time she had left with him. Trying to keep her tone casual, she said, ‘When must you return to London?’

  ‘No particular time. The colonel said he would hold the position until I’m ready to take it. I thought to stay at Denby with you for a while, perhaps until your stepsister finishes her Season and Lady Denby returns.’

  ‘But ’tis only January and she probably won’t return until May or June at the earliest.’

  ‘I happened to speak with your cousin. Lady Elizabeth. If I must leave earlier than that, she mentioned she might be able to come for a visit. I don’t like to think of you here alone.’ He shook his head and sighed. ‘I wish there were something more I could do to protect you.’

  ‘There’s nothing,’ she said, reaching up to stroke his face. ‘But as I told you earlier, the handful of Mama’s female relations who didn’t perish after birthing their first child seemed to go on to bear others without problem. So don’t be burying me yet.’

  He snaked out a hand to still her lips. ‘Don’t even joke about that! Perhaps I’ll stay until May or June, then. If you’ll have me.’

  ‘Then let us enjoy each other to the fullest until May or June...or until I’m too large and cumbersome to be desirable.’

  ‘You will always be desirable to me.’

  ‘That sounds most promising,’ she said, a thrill going through her at the welcome news that she might be able to seduce him again and again, right up to the end.

  But even as she rejoiced in the news, a little voice warned that the longer he stayed, the more impossible it would be to keep her heart from shattering when he left. But she couldn’t make herself lie and tell him she’d prefer him not to remain.

  Instead, she said, ‘If you will stay for a while, could I
ask you a favour?’

  ‘Of course.’

  ‘Would you mind having me show you the stud books and operating records for the farm? Acquaint you with the horses we have and which stage of training they are in, introduce you to the trainers? So if...anything should happen to me, you’d be more knowledgeable about the stud and better able to decide whether you would want to keep it or sell it off.’

  He stopped abruptly and turned to cup her face in his hands. ‘I would love to learn more about the Denby operations. But not for that reason. You are going to survive and thrive, Caro, and so is our child. I won’t accept anything else.’

  Once again her heart did that little flip, and for a moment, she considered confessing her love for him. Might he have come to love her in return?

  If fondness was all he could muster in response, such a declaration would likely just make him feel uncomfortable, especially since it seemed he felt guilty about getting her with child. Unwilling to spoil the warm intimacy of the moment, she pushed the question from her mind.

  ‘My sweet Max,’ she said instead, ‘the outcome isn’t in your hands, you know. But I do like having you here. I was so lonely after Papa died, some of my joy in being at Denby was lost. You’ve restored it to me.’

  ‘I’m glad. Strange as it seems, you’ve made me feel more at home at Denby in the short time I’ve spent here than I ever did growing up at Swynford Court or in Papa’s vast house on Grosvenor Square. Thank you for that.’

  He leaned down to kiss her, softly and gently this time. She closed her eyes, savouring his touch. She would savour every moment with him, she thought fiercely. Since she could not know how many—or how few—there might be.

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Approaching six months later, Max leaned against the paddock rail, watching Caro work with the young colt on the lead line, coaxing him to follow. Though heavy with child, she still moved gracefully, he thought with affection, watching her smooth, economical gestures.