by Monica Burns
“My hat and cane,” Tobias snapped.
“As you wish, sir,” the butler said in a voice that echoed with disapproval. “But Lady Hounslow asked me to show you into the parlor once your business with his lordship was concluded.”
Tobias arched his eyebrow at the servant’s clipped response. The butler’s cold emphasis on Lady Hounslow’s name left Tobias with the impression that Culverstone’s bride-to-be was managing the household as if she were already mistress.
Although the butler’s expression was stoic, Tobias had learned to read people well. Instinct and experience made him certain the butler cared little for the lady in question. With a sharp nod, Tobias followed the butler down the hall to the parlor. The moment he entered the room, a petite woman sitting on a green velvet-upholstered sofa looked up from her needlepoint and smiled with pleasure.
“You must be Mr. Lynsted. How lovely to finally meet you. I’m Lady Hounslow. The earl has spoken highly of you on more than one occasion.” The woman rose from the couch, and moved toward him with one hand outstretched. “I do hope you’ll forgive my presumption in asking you to join us.”
“Lady Hounslow,” he murmured as he bent politely over her outstretched hand.
Straightening, he noted Culverstone’s choice in bride was exquisite, but there was a hard glint in the woman’s eye. It was obvious her gentle appearance was little more than an illusion. This woman would be a fierce enemy if someone challenged her. The smile still on her lips, Lady Hounslow turned away from him.
“Jane dear, come greet our guest.”
Lady Hounslow turned toward a corner of the room where Lady Jane sat bent over a fragile looking secretaire. With more interest than he’d done in the past, Tobias took careful inventory of the woman he was to marry. The line of her back was rigid with tension, a clear indicator she didn’t like her future stepmother’s authoritative manner. Her movements stiff, Jane slowly stood up and turned to face them. Her mouth was tight with displeasure, and her demeanor hinted at a stubborn streak he hadn’t noticed before.
“Lady Jane,” he said quietly as he bowed in her direction.
“Mr. Lynsted.” She offered him a quick curtsey then clasped her hands in front of her. “Irene, I’d like to speak privately with our guest.”
“I couldn’t possibly leave you unchaperoned, Jane.” Lady Hounslow’s scandalized gasp was as contrived as her look of shock. “It would be inappropriate, and—”
“As inappropriate as you sharing my father’s bed most nights?” Jane’s retort was soft, but brutal, and Lady Hounslow gasped in outrage.
“How dare you—”
“Leave us now, my lady. I will speak with Mr. Lynsted, alone.”
There was a steely note in Jane’s voice that made Tobias suddenly realize she was far from the demure creature he’d thought her to be. From the antipathy vibrating in the room, it was obvious this wasn’t the first time Jane had thwarted the older woman’s wishes.
A familiar darkness edged its way along his senses as he watched Jane silently exert her will over the other woman with a look even he would find difficult to ignore. Few men appreciated the strength a woman like Jane possessed, but he did. Lady Hounslow huffed her anger then swept from the room with an air of affront that had Tobias biting back a smile. The woman clearly did not like taking orders from her future stepdaughter.
Tobias turned his attention back to Jane. The relief flashing across her face resembled that of someone who’d just dispensed with a disagreeable cur. Her gaze shifted to meet his, and like a door closing, her expression became unreadable. The room filled with tension again, but this time it was between the two of them. She turned away from him to walk back to the secretaire. Her fingers brushed over the surface of the light oak furniture as if seeking comfort from the touch. Like her, the small desk seemed out of place in the large salon. Even with her back to him, her tension was almost a tangible force.
“Lady Hounslow informs me that my father has spoken to you regarding a personal matter that is related to me…as well as yourself.”
The tension in her body seemed to ratchet even higher as her posture became rigid and inflexible. Her voice was devoid of emotion, but he recognized the unspoken understanding running beneath her words. She knew exactly why he was here.
“Yes.” Tobias nodded. “I’ve come to ask if you would do me the honor of becoming my wife.”
Jane dropped her head in resignation. Based on the altercation with Lady Hounslow, it was clearly difficult for Jane to submit to the forces dictating her future. She straightened and turned to meet his gaze with cool assessment.
“I suppose I should be grateful you asked me the question directly as opposed to viewing the matter a fait accompli.”
Humiliation echoed in her voice, and Tobias barely suppressed a vicious expletive. The earl had done more than back Tobias into a corner. The bastard had made his daughter feel like second-hand goods. A sudden desire to comfort her, help her restore some semblance of control to her life, hardened his body with a lust that appalled him.
Christ almighty. The woman was to be his wife. She would never understand his needs or the darkness that drove him. Tension tightened his jaw painfully as he crushed the urges threatening to rise to the surface. When he didn’t respond to her accusation, Jane’s humiliation swiftly changed to anger.
“How much?” Bitterness filled her question, and he didn’t pretend to misunderstand her.
“Five thousand a year,” he said quietly.
“As little as that?” Her words were barely audible as her shoulders slumped slightly before she straightened upright. “You settled too quickly on a sum, Mr. Lynsted. My father would have easily paid up to twenty thousand to rid himself of me.”
Brittle and sharp, her accusation made him stiffen with anger until he saw a flash of vulnerability cross her face. Once more he experienced the urge to comfort her. The sensation spread its way through him like a raging fire. What the hell was wrong with him? If this woman discovered his secret she’d be horrified and shocked. A pink flush of color darkened her cheeks, and he realized he’d been staring.
“You judge me too harshly, my lady,” he murmured soothingly.
“Do I?” Jane eyed him with restrained anger as she shook her head. “You agreed to marry me.”
Uncomfortable with the direction of the conversation, Tobias clasped his hands behind his back. The past, and his work in the East End, gave him insight into what it felt like to be powerless in a situation not of one’s own making. He wasn’t about to tell her that Culverstone had blackmailed him into marrying her. It would only heighten her sense of being sold, and the last thing he intended to do was reveal his private reasons for agreeing to the arrangement. He quickly dodged the oncoming bullet.
“Am I to understand that you have no desire to marry me?”
“I have no desire to marry at all,” she snapped, an undefinable emotion layered beneath her response.
“I see. So we have a problem.”
Jane turned her head away from him for a moment. Tobias studied her profile with curiosity. The curve of her cheek suddenly made his fingers itch to caress the line of her jaw to see if her skin was as soft as it looked. Despite the stubborn set of her posture, the vulnerability he’d seen moments ago was still visible. She turned to face him again, her expression filled with determination and a quiet strength that intrigued him. The emotions she displayed were at odds with the nondescript woman with whom he’d exchanged only a few polite greetings over the past three years he’d been Culverstone’s solicitor.
“I’m the one with the problem. I can either marry you or be cast out on the street without a farthing to my name.” Hands still clasped and knuckles white from the tightness of her grip, Jane met his gaze unflinchingly. “Since I have no desire to be destitute, it seems I must marry you. All that remains is for us to reach an understanding.”
“And that would be?”
“Our marriage will be in name only, an
d we will lead separate lives.”
The emphatic statement didn’t surprise him, but his disappointment did. He stiffened as his head was suddenly filled with thoughts of exploring the curves beneath the hideous gray shroud she wore. Curves that said her breasts would be full and lush in his palms. He drew in a quick breath at the image then swallowed hard. Their gazes met, and she frowned. A sudden urge to give her pleasure rose up from deep inside Tobias until his stomach was tied in knots. His mouth went dry. He’d not experienced something this visceral in a very long time.
“I shall also receive an allowance of one hundred and seventy-five pounds a month to do with as I please.” Her demand was more than one third of the annual living her father had settled on her, but with his own personal wealth, he had no need of the earl’s money. About to nod his head, his gaze swept over her drab dress. The desire to see what possible treasures lay beneath the garment made his mouth go dry.
“I shall agree to your conditions provided you grant one or two of mine,” he said quietly.
“And those are?”
Anger flashed across her face as she studied him with an imperious tilt of her head. In the space of a heartbeat, his body tightened with anticipation. She was a natural. What he wouldn’t give to have her exerting her will over him in their bedroom. His jaw tightened as he tried to redirect his thoughts. He failed.
“You’re to buy several dresses that are more colorful than this depressing gray you seem so fond of.” He waved his hand at her gown in a sweeping gesture.
“I don’t understand.” A startled look crossed her features, and she looked down at her dress then back up at him in puzzlement. “My gowns are quite serviceable.”
“Nonetheless they are drab. Despite our leading separate lives, it will be impossible to avoid seeing each other while sharing the same house. I see enough dark colors in my daily work. I have no wish to see more when I come home.”
He pushed aside the fact that there was more to his demand than he was willing to admit as she slowly nodded. From the wary expression on her face, he had no doubt she would balk at his next condition. There was only a small risk tied to his demand, but an image of her hovering naked over him with her dark hair loose about her shoulders compelled him to name the additional price.
“As for our martial relations, you will agree to welcome me into your bed for at least one night before our first anniversary. The time shall be of your choosing, and you shall have complete control of your pleasure.”
“No.” It was a staccato beat that echoed loudly in the room despite her soft voice. Cheeks flushed with a dark pink, she eyed him with righteous indignation.
“Then I shall bid you good day, my lady.”
Tobias kept his features unreadable as he turned away and walked toward the door. The fact that he was pushing her deeper into the corner her father had penned her into made Tobias’ gut clench. He was just as much a bastard as Culverstone.
“Stop.”
It was a firm, simple command that tightened his gut with an inexplicable emotion. He slowly turned around, and his gaze focused on her rebellious expression. In a split second, pure, dark lust unleashed its fury inside him. His unexpected reaction to her made his muscles grow taut as he forced himself to rein in the anticipation coursing its way through him. What the hell was wrong with him? It wasn’t like him to be moved by a woman outside of his dark world.
“Yes?” He cocked his head in a display of nonchalant curiosity, while desperately fighting off the urge not to tug at the shirt collar that had suddenly become quite snug against his throat.
“Like my father, you leave me with no choice but to accept your conditions, Mr. Lynsted.”
Like a proud Amazon princess, she studied him with contempt. The strength in her tugged the dark lust back to the surface as his gaze met her challenging one. He crushed the rising tide of desire, but with greater difficulty than before. Bloody hell, he’d gone too long without sexual release. What else could explain the intensity of his base reaction to Jane?
“Then we are in agreement,” he said through clenched teeth and extended his hand to her.
“We are.” Jane stepped forward to shake his hand.
The moment her hand slipped into his, a jolt of electricity streaked up Tobias’ arm and spread its heat through every inch of him. Like a fire out of control, it stirred his blood until he craved even the smallest taste of her. Citrus and the subtle hint of vanilla filled his nostrils, and he barely managed to let her hand go after sealing their bargain with a handshake.
Disappointment slashed at him the instant she withdrew her hand from his. Almost as if she knew the effect she had on him, a small smile touched her lovely mouth as she met his gaze. God, but she would be magnificent if she were ever to learn how to exert that incredible feminine power dwelling just beneath the surface.
Desire surged its way through him until he hungered for her to lay siege to his body in every way possible. The abrupt sound of alarm bells clanged wildly in his head. Damnation, Culverstone’s inescapable web had just become a cocoon. He swallowed hard. Ruination might have been the better of option after all.
Chapter 2
“Married,” Jane exclaimed angrily as she paced the floor in quick, sharp steps. “It’s absurd. I’m almost thirty-one and far too old to be married off as if I were an ingénue.”
“Then refuse,” Angélique Bissette said blithely. Not missing a single step, Jane directed a fierce look at her friend, and the Frenchwoman shrugged. “Your father has no legal authority to make you marry.”
“You’re right, but he gave me one of two choices. Destitution or marriage. Which would you choose?” Jane said with bitter sarcasm.
“Then your choice has been made for you, non?” The Frenchwoman said in an insouciant tone of voice.
“Yes….but…he sold me, Angélique,” she said with a catch in her voice as she came to a halt. “He sold me for an annual sum of five thousand pounds.”
“Mon dieu, that is a paltry sum,” Angélique exclaimed in horror. “You are worth far more than that.”
Jane flinched. She knew it was a meager dowry, but it represented much more. It illustrated how powerful Lady Hounslow’s hold over Jane’s father was. If it had been any other woman, Jane had no doubt her father would have simply set her up in her own household to make his bride happy. But Irene had never liked the way Jane continually thwarted her attempts to run the household before she became countess. Irene also resented Jane’s refusal to submit herself to any of the woman’s whims.
The woman’s glee had been evident yesterday before Tobias had entered the salon. Of all the possible reprisals Irene could have suggested to Jane’s father, it had never occurred to Jane that marriage would be one of them. Her father’s eagerness to rid himself of her was unmistakable given his quick surrender to Irene’s plotting. He would never have chosen a commoner for a son-in-law otherwise. His condescension toward those beneath his station was not a secret, and his willingness to endure the barbs of his peers for having married her off to his solicitor emphasized his desperation to please his bride and rid himself of Jane. A knot swelled in her throat and she choked back tears. What in God’s name had made her think her father would find it difficult to cast her aside?
She stiffened her shoulders. It wasn’t the first time others had so readily discarded her. But it puzzled her as to why Tobias had agreed to marry her. Her future husband had not even negotiated for a larger dowry. It made no sense. Old insecurities rose painfully to the surface until she pushed them back into the compartment where she stored every disappointment and sorrow. She would survive. As if suddenly aware of Jane’s pain, her friend shook her head, a sympathetic, yet practical, expression on the Frenchwoman’s face.
“Ma chérie, it is the way things are done.” Angélique waved her hand in the air in a placating manner. “But the sum is insulting. And your husband-to-be? He didn’t bargain for more?”
“No,” Jane said flatly and resum
ed her pacing. “Father and Irene actually gloated about it at supper last night. Even more humiliating is the fact that my father has insisted that I be courted before the official engagement announcement.”
Jane winced at how easily she’d accepted her fate. Even the skills she’d acquired under Angélique’s tutelage had failed to save her. She’d found it impossible to exert her will and convince her father to set her up in her own household. Then again, would she have been more assertive if her betrothed had been another man? She knew the answer, but dismissed it.
“Merde,” Angélique spat out. “You will be well rid of your father and Lady Hounslow once you’re married. Your fiancé, do you like him?”
“I barely know him. Up until yesterday we’ve only exchanged pleasantries in passing.” Jane shook her head. “It made our conversation…decidedly uncomfortable. He’s…”
“Surely he is not un monstre,” Angélique exclaimed in horror at Jane’s inability to finish her sentence.
“A monster? No, he’s…he’s…” Her voice trailed to a halt as she remembered the way her heart had stopped then began to race at a frantic pace when Tobias had entered the salon yesterday morning. Jane darted a glance at her friend to see a small smile on the beautiful woman’s mouth.
“Ahh, so he is handsome, non?”
“Yes,” Jane said tightly. And Tobias was. In fact, he was the most wonderful specimen of male beauty she’d ever seen. She’d admired him from a distance ever since her father had retained Tobias’ services. But she’d never imagined she’d be in such close proximity to him on a regular basis. What if he discovered…? She fought to quiet her fears with little success.
“Then, perhaps being married might not be so bad, ma petite.” The Frenchwoman shrugged in a pragmatic fashion. “And do stop pacing or you will wear out my carpet.”
Jane abruptly came to a halt at Angélique’s gentle command. One hand on her hip, she pressed the other into her stomach in a futile effort to stop its churning.
