The Marquess In Her Bed (Steamy Historical Regency)

by Olivia Bennet

  When he returned home, Nicholas found his sister waiting for him in the library.

  “You look quite happy, Nick!” she said upon seeing him when he entered the room.

  “I am Izzy,” he said with a smile, “I have had the most wonderful meeting with Cecilia. Quite by chance, she was at home alone when I arrived.”

  “Scandalous!” replied Lady Isobel, sounding utterly delighted. “I hope there was nothing improper about your meeting.”

  “I would prefer not to discuss the particulars with my sister,” he said sternly. “Suffice to say that we had the opportunity to talk frankly with one another, and we agreed that since our feelings for one another aligned, we will not allow Mother’s objections to stop us.”

  “Well, I am very happy for you, Nick,” Lady Isobel said, smiling at her elder brother. “I can only hope that I find the same type of passion with my future husband.”

  Nicholas wanted his sister to be happy in her future prospects, and he hoped that she would find a husband who would treat her well. Still, he shuddered to think of his baby sister feeling the same type of passion that he and Cecilia had experienced earlier that day. I suppose I had best say nothing on the subject—I doubt that Izzy would appreciate my sentiments on the matter.

  “Yes, well, of course, I hope that you will be as happy in your eventual marriage as I expect to be in mine,” he said cautiously, “I suppose I had better speak to Mother soon. And Father, as well, though I doubt he will have such strong objections.”

  * * *

  Nicholas spoke to the Duke and Duchess about his intentions the next day in his father’s study. The Duchess was silent while he explained that he loved Cecilia and would not be deterred from marrying her. Her expression was inscrutable.

  “Now, son, I understand that you are quite smitten by the carpenter’s daughter,” the Duke said from behind his desk, “and your mother tells me that she is quite pretty. But are you quite sure that you want to marry her?”

  “I am more than smitten, Father, I am in love with her.” Nicholas was becoming exasperated by the need to explain this simple fact over and over again.

  “Of course, of course,” his father replied, “and you, er…expect to…still be in love with her in thirty years?”

  A glance passed between the Duke and Duchess that Nicholas could not quite read. For the first time in his life, he considered what their relationship to one another might be. Their marriage had been politically and financially beneficial to both families—had that been the only reason for their union? Do they love one another? Did they ever?

  “Of course, I expect to still be in love with her in thirty years,” Nicholas said confidently, “why wouldn’t I be?”

  “I meant no offense, Nicholas,” his father continued. “I merely meant that life is long, and can be difficult at times. Pretty faces do not always last.”

  “It is not only for her pretty face that I love Miss Baxter,” Nicholas interjected. “She is clever, and kind, and determined.”

  “Good.” His father said, “She will need to be all of those things if she is to learn to be a Duchess in time. It is not an easy position to fill, even for those born to that station.”

  Nicholas looked unbelievingly from his father and then to his mother. He had never had the impression that she found her role hard to fill. Of course, Cecilia will need to learn some particulars of aristocratic life, but it’s not as though she will join the peerage with me. How difficult could it be?

  “No doubt you think that being a Duchess is easy,” his father said, seeming to read his mind. “That is because your mother does such a splendid job that she makes it seem that way, but I assure you that she works very hard. Running this household is no small accomplishment, and it is only because she does it so well that I am able to do my job in Parliament.”

  Nicholas considered this for a moment, and saw that his mother was smiling at his father in a way he had never seen her do before. He was intrigued by the idea that his father had presented, but of course, it made sense.

  “Yes,” Nicholas said after a moment, “I see that being a Duchess is a difficult task. Forgive me, Mother, I never thought much of it, because you make it look effortless. I assure you that Miss Baxter will be able to manage it. She is exceedingly clever and very hard working. You have met her, Mother, don’t you agree?”

  The Duchess stared at Nicholas for a moment before speaking. “I can see that it hardly matters whether I agree or not. Clearly, you have made your decision and nothing I say can make you change your mind. And since it is clear that your Father cannot talk sense into you, I suppose I have no choice but to agree to this ridiculous plan.”

  “Come now, Matilda,” the Duke said, in a soothing voice. “It’s true that the arrangement is unconventional, but it could certainly be worse. At least we need not worry like the Earl of Leicester.”

  The Duchess merely stared at her husband as he spoke. Nicholas paid little attention to the words his father was saying, focusing only on his mother’s face, which seemed to be softening somewhat.

  “Hmm…” she said after a moment, “I suppose it could be worse. But you cannot deny that this will cause quite a scandal. Nicholas, you must see that.”

  “I do not care about a scandal!” he said firmly.

  “Well I do!” his mother said, cuttingly. “I can see that you will cause one regardless of the effect on the rest of the family, so I must ask you one small thing, and I believe that you owe me at least this. Do not make this engagement formal until after Isobel’s debut.”

  “What does it matter if the engagement is formalized in a month rather than tomorrow?” Nicholas asked, exasperated.

  “It matters,” said the Duchess in a slow and quiet voice, which was much more frightening than a yell, “because your sister’s reputation is at stake as well as your own. Her debut will determine her future prospects, and if everyone is talking about a scandal involving you and some common girl, it will mean they are not focusing on her. If you will not wait for my sake, I am begging you, please do it for Isobel.”

  Nicholas understood that he really could hurt Isobel’s prospects by involving the family in a scandal at the time of her debut. “All right, Mother,” he said, “I understand, and I will agree to wait until after Isobel’s debut. But no longer than that.”

  “Thank you, Nicholas.”

  Chapter 21

  Cecilia had not planned to tell her father of her meeting with Nicholas. He would not be pleased to learn that they had been alone in the house together, and obviously she could not tell him the details of their interaction without causing quite an uproar. So, she had intended to wait until Nicholas approached her father to discuss an engagement.

  However, Cecilia soon learned that this plan would not be possible. Her father had never been particularly skilled at reading people, but even he could hardly fail to notice that his daughter was in an unusually good mood since that day. This was in such stark contrast to her previous melancholy mood that Cecilia supposed she should not have been surprised when he mentioned it to her.

  “You seem to be walking on air today, Cece!” he had said over breakfast the following morning.

  Cecilia took a moment to answer him. Her thoughts had been focused on her memories of Nicholas’ kiss and left that subject only reluctantly.

  “Oh,” Cecilia said, a smile spreading across her face, “I suppose I am in a rather good mood.”

  “Is there any particular reason?” her father asked, sounding curious.

  Cecilia paused for a moment, and simply said “It’s a beautiful day!” She managed to contain a laugh that threatened to escape as she said this, but it was a very close thing.

  Cecilia’s father looked out the window at the gray, rainy morning sky and then looked back at his daughter. It was clear that he did not believe this explanation for her change in attitude.

  “Well, I’m not sure I agree with you about the beauty of the day…” he said, skeptically.<
br />
  “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, Papa!” Cecilia said, standing up to clear her breakfast dishes before walking into the workshop. Her father followed behind her, and they began to work.

  Cecilia thought that her father had decided to drop the subject of her change in attitude. He did not mention it again, but from time to time she noticed him watching her more closely than usual. When he saw her noticing, he smiled at her each time.

  When Archie arrived at the shop shortly thereafter, he greeted Cecilia and her father with a smile.

  “You seem in a good mood, Cecilia” he said, sounding pleased by this observation.

  “Yes,” she said, “I suppose that I am.” Cecilia was focused on her work now and could not reveal in memories of kissing Nicholas as she had at breakfast. She hoped this would mean that her voice and demeanor would be a bit steadier.

  “Well, I am glad to see you feeling happier,” Archie said, turning to his work bench. “What changed?”

  Cecilia stared at Archie for a moment, not sure what to say. She decided it would be safest to simply change the subject. “Were you able to get the supplies we needed in town yesterday?” she asked, nonchalantly.

  Archie had gotten the necessary supplies, as she knew he would have. And so they were able to continue their work without much discussion. Both Archie and her father seemed to be watching Cecilia more closely than usual, and she tried hard to ignore them.

  * * *

  That afternoon, as the three carpenters worked, there was a knock on the door to the main house. Cecilia heard this but thought little of it. Mrs. Williams would answer the door and take care of anything that needed to be done.

  She was surprised, therefore, when Mrs. Williams entered the workshop followed by a man of about her father’s age. He was dressed in the simple clothing of a merchant, and held his hat in his hands in front of him.

  “Mr. Cooper is here to see you, Mr. Baxter.” Mrs. Williams said, once her employer had looked up from his work.”

  Cecilia saw a dark look cross her father’s face, and then fade away almost as quickly. What is that about?

  “Good day, Mr. Cooper,” her father said sounding falsely cheerful. “What can I do for you today?”

  “Mr. Baxter, lovely to see you again,” the man said. Cecilia thought that he sounded somewhat nervous. “I had hoped that we might discuss some financial matters. Perhaps there is somewhere we could speak more privately?”

  Cecilia watched this interaction with interest. Both men appeared to be nervous, but why? I know that our financial situation has been somewhat precarious, but what could this stranger have to do with anything?

  Cecilia’s father invited Mr. Cooper to join him in the main house and told Archie and Cecilia to continue their work in the workshop. He led Mr. Cooper from the room as Archie and Cecilia watched.

  “What do you suppose that’s all about?” Archie asked, once the two men had left the room.

  “I honestly have no idea!” said Cecilia, feeling both intrigued and anxious about the situation.

  “Do you suppose that Mr. Cooper is a banker?” Archie asked, “since he wanted to discuss a financial matter?”

  “I suppose he might be,” Cecilia said, though for reasons she could not quite understand herself, she felt sure that he was not merely a banker. And surely it was not usual for bankers to come to their customers’ homes, unannounced, to discuss regular bank business. As far as I know, Papa holds no accounts with any banks.

  Cecilia continued to brood about what this meeting might be while she worked on. Archie seemed content to return to his work after just a few minutes of speculation. He did not speak much, because he was focused on his work, but when he did, it was only to make simple requests or comment on their work, just as though nothing unusual were going on in the next room.

  Cecilia wondered whether he was truly unconcerned, or simply acting this way to keep her from becoming overly worried herself. Whatever his reasoning, in time, Cecilia found that it was working. By focusing on her work, and having a normal conversation with Archie, Cecilia was able to keep her mind from focusing too fully on the conversation happening in the other room.

  Unfortunately, this state of affairs did not last very long. Her father returned to the workshop after about an hour, looking upset, but refusing to tell Cecilia and Archie about his conversation. They spent the remainder of the day working in near silence, and Cecilia felt on edge every time she looked at her father and saw the scowl upon his face.

  “Cecilia,” Archie said, after a long period of silence, “how many apples grow on a tree?”

  “I don’t…what?” Cecilia asked, feeling utterly confused by this question.

  “How many apples grow on a tree?” Archie asked again.

  “Well,” Cecilia said, still wondering what on earth he could be talking about, “I suppose that depends on the tree.”

  “No.” Archie said firmly. “How many apples grow on trees? All of them!”

  “All of them?” Cecilia said, arching her eyebrow. “Oh, Archie, you really are terrible at making jokes!”

  But in spite of her criticism of the joke, Cecilia could not help but laugh at this. Archie smiled back at her, and she felt thankful for his efforts to alleviate some of the tension in the room. She looked over at her father and saw his lips twitch into the slightest of smiles before returning to a scowl.

  * * *

  After Mrs. Williams had left that evening, Cecilia’s father asked her and Archie to sit down and talk with him. Cecilia felt a rush of dread in the pit of her stomach. Father is always so steady, what news could possibly have made him so grave and anxious today?

  For ten years, Cecilia and her father had supported one another through the grief of losing Cecilia’s mother and the baby who had never lived. Her father had been grief stricken by the death of his wife. Cecilia could see that even as a young girl, but he had pushed his emotions aside to care for his daughter.

  Seeing him today, so shaken by his meeting with a mysterious stranger, was unlike anything Cecilia had witnessed from him before. She had no idea how best to support him, having no idea what the problem might be. I suppose that I shall find out what the problem is now, but I doubt that I shall be able to solve it if it is big enough to affect Papa so profoundly.

  “I suppose that neither of you have failed to notice that I have been a bit upset since my visit with Mr. Cooper,” Cecilia’s father began, once they were all seated around the kitchen table.

  “Yes, I noticed,” Cecilia said, resignedly.

  “It would have been hard to miss,” Archie said at the same moment.

  Cecilia’s father looked back and forth between his daughter and his employee, still scowling.

  “Yes, well,” he continued, “Mr. Cooper is an accountant representing the interests of a landed knight named Sir James Wiltshire.”

  “All right,” said Cecilia, “what are the interests of Sir James Wiltshire?”

  Her father looked down at his hands for several seconds, and sighed deeply before he continued to speak.

  “Sir James Wiltshire,” he said, sounding melancholy, “hired me to build his family a house many years ago. It was by far the most lucrative job I had ever had, and it would have helped my career greatly.”

  “Would have?” Cecilia asked, “What happened, Papa?”

  “Your mother died,” he said quietly, his voice sounding unusually husky for a moment. “and I was overwhelmed and heartbroken.”

  “Oh, Papa!” Cecilia said, feeling a rush of affection for him. At the time she had been so trapped in her own grief of losing her mother that she had barely spared a thought for her father’s pain. He had been solid and strong for her, and as a child she had expected nothing less. She had believed that adults were impervious to the intensity of feeling that she experienced.

  Cecilia considered saying something to comfort her father, or to apologize for her lack of empathy in the past. She could think of nothing to say tha
t would adequately communicate her feelings, and soon her father smiled at her and began speaking again.

  “Don’t worry about me, Cece,” he said, kindly. “As you can see, I have recovered my faculties. I still miss your mother every day but I take joy in my work, even more so for having you working alongside me.”

  Cecilia smiled at her father fondly.

  “That is a kind sentiment, Mr. Baxter,” Archie said, bringing everyone’s attention back to the present moment. “But what happened with Sir James?”