by North, Evie
“What wager?”
He hesitated, but then seemed to make up his mind. “That’s it, isn’t it?” he said, and gave a relieved smirk. “That was why he warned me off last night, told me to stay away from you. I knew it! Despite all his blustering, he still wants to win.”
Gabriella continued to stare at him in confusion. Above them, in Maddox’s room, it sounded as if someone had been tugged from their bed and landed heavily onto the floor. Voices were raised.
Lawrence leaned in closer and spoke to her in a confidential tone. “A year ago Maddox and I made a wager as to who could sleep with the most women.” He looked concerned when she gasped. “I don’t mean just any woman off the street. We were more selective than that! We gave each other points, depending on each female’s circumstances. If she was married, happily married, of noble birth ... that sort of thing. Virgins were always the most prized, therefore they scored the highest points. The thing is, we have yet to declare a winner.”
Gabriella blinked, tried to take it in. “I don’t understand.” But perhaps she did understand. She remembered the way he had let her touch him, encouraged her, and restrained himself from taking her maidenhead. Don’t let me inside. If he wanted to win his wager, then surely he would just take her? But instead he had drawn back.
She shook her head. “You’re mistaken,” she said, at the same time asking herself why any man would wager over such a thing. It was so heartless and cruel. Maddox had said he wasn’t a good man, but this! Lawrence must be wrong.
“Has he had you yet?” Lawrence said, oblivious to her distress. “You are still a virgin, aren’t you? I can always tell. If he hasn’t had you then I still have a chance to win the wager.”
A wave of sickness washed over her. When he reached for her arm, she pushed him away violently, then turned and began to run up the stairs.
“Miss Jones!” he called behind her, sounding confused, as if he wondered what he had done wrong, but she didn’t stop.
The door to Maddox’s bedroom was open and her bare feet came to a halt outside. She could see him sprawled in the chair, head back, hair loose about his face, glaring up at his brother.
“You could have waited until I was up,” he said, his voice still husky from sleep.
Sebastian grinned. “And spoil my fun?”
Maddox glared and then heaved a sigh. “What have you come to tell me, Sebastian? It must be important to force you out of your pretty wife’s arms.”
Gabriella could see that despite his pretended unconcern, Maddox was watching his brother closely. He must be wondering if the man he had fought the duel with was dead.
Sebastian leaned closer before he spoke again. “Your opponent lives, so far as I know, if that is what is worrying you. But that’s not the reason I’m here. Our father is unwell, Maddox, and you need to come home. You’ll have to leave this paradise,” with an envious glance at the sunny street scene beyond the window. “At home I fear it’s been raining for weeks.”
“Home?” Maddox said dully, staring up at him. “How ill is he, Seb?”
“Honestly? Very. You need to make haste. Leave everything and come now.”
“I can leave immediately. There is nothing of importance keeping me here, and to be honest I’m growing tired of the company.”
Gabriella must have made a sound because both of them turned toward the door. Sebastian with speculation, and Maddox with a frown on his handsome features. “Gabriella?” he said, as if he had forgotten who she was.
But Gabriella had turned and was already running back the way she had come. She wasn’t important. He was tired of her. He was leaving and she would never see him again and it was only what she deserved for being such a blind, reckless fool.
Behind her she heard Maddox bellow, “Lock the front door!”
With one foot on the top step she saw Lawrence snap into action, sliding the bolt across. She could no longer escape that way, into the maze of streets, losing herself in the village as she had planned. Gabriella would have to find somewhere else to hide away and wait.
Until he was gone.
19
MADDOX
After tearing the house upside down, Maddox finally found Gabriella tucked away at the very top. There was a little room under the eaves, reached by a rickety ladder. It was usually too hot at this time of day, but she’d forced open the gable window and was leaning out, gazing at the view down to the quay.
For a moment he stood behind her, and although she must have known he was there she did not turn or speak. He took a step closer, looking over her shoulder, and realised that he could see his father’s yacht. The crew were busily carrying supplies aboard in preparation for the journey home.
“We’re leaving as soon as the tide turns,” he said, watching her shoulders stiffen.
She was upset, but he didn’t know why. He wanted to coax the reason out of her, but there was no time. His brother was waiting and his father was so gravely ill he may die before Maddox reached him.
“Go then,” Gabriella said in a hard little voice. “I don’t care.”
He took a step until he was even closer. Now he could see her profile, the soft sweep of her cheek and the droop of her lips. An errant tear clung to her lashes and she brushed it away.
“I won’t miss you,” she added for good measure.
“I suspect you will,” he said cautiously. “Perhaps you mean that you do not need me. And in that you are correct. You are clever and resourceful enough to make your own way in the world. I understand that now.”
She turned to stare at him and there was the definite glitter of tears in her dark eyes. Did she believe he was going to leave her behind? Was that what was the matter? He bit his lip to stop himself from smiling.
“I plan to open a shop,” she said doggedly. “I will sell clothing. I can sew. And in the evening I will-I will serve food and wine.”
“You will make a fortune,” he replied, and reaching out tucked a strand of dark hair behind her ear. His fingers lingered and she caught her breath before jerking away.
“Do not mock me,” she said in a wavering voice.
“I’m not mocking you. Gabriella?” When he had her attention he said, “You do understand that you will be coming with me? Home to England?”
She stared at him a moment more, her dark eyes widening, and then she turned back to the window. “As you have only asked me to write one letter in the entire time we have been here, I fail to understand why you are in need of my services.”
He wanted to pull her into his arms and tell her he was most definitely in need of her services. That he loved her and wanted to spend the rest of his life with her. But she had withdrawn from him and he was afraid to push her. He told himself there would be time later to discuss their future.
“You’re coming with me,” he said and knew he sounded like a bully.
“Lawrence told me about the wager.” The words spilled from her like a nasty secret exposed at last to the light of day.
Molten anger poured into him as he realized what she meant, and if Lawrence had been standing in the room he would have taken him by the throat and shaken him until he screamed for mercy.
“This has nothing to do with any wager,” he said in the calmest voice he could manage. “You were never part of that.”
“Lawrence said you want to win, and if you-you fuck me then you will. Win, I mean.”
“That was never what I wanted,” he protested, but it sounded weak to his own ears.
She looked at him with such hurt and disgust that it made his heart sink. It was important that she understand he would never do that to her, that she knew how much he had changed, but he felt as if his hopes and dreams were now slipping away from him. Any explanation he could make would sound like he was making an excuse for the inexcusable.
“All the things you said,” she whispered, tears rolling down her cheeks. “All the lies. You are just as bad as Terrence.”
Anger rose within him. “T
hat’s not true and you know it. Did I ever take you as a man takes a woman?”
I didn’t want to do that to you. I wanted to show you how much better I had become. Don’t you see? I love you.
But those words remained unspoken. She wouldn’t believe him, he could see it in her face. Now was not the time. If he wanted her to come with him then he would have to be clever.
He held out his hand. “Come,” he said. “You are still my secretary and if you want me to pay you, then you will come.”
Just for a moment her eyes were lit with rebellion, but she was a practical girl. After a long moment she put her hand into his and he clamped his fingers over hers. She didn’t know it but he was never letting her go.
20
GABRIELLA
The voyage back to England seemed interminable. Gabriella wanted to keep to her cabin, not eager to run into Maddox or his brother, or indeed anyone at all. She wanted to lick her wounds—her broken heart—and prepare herself for whatever life held for her when they reached home.
Unfortunately, Maddox was not of the same mind. He seemed to be filled with a new zeal to make appropriate use of her as his secretary.
She had never written so many letters in her life. Some of them seemed to be concerning his father, others of little importance as far as she could see. If it wasn’t for his serious face, she might have asked him if he had lost his reason. She didn’t ask, she wasn’t brave enough.
The easy relationship she’d thought she had with Maddox had disappeared, and when she looked into his ice blue eyes she wasn’t even sure he was the same man anymore—the man who had brought her to such pleasure in his arms.
When she found the courage to mention the possibility of a job back in England, and whether he might give her a reference, he became even more dismissive. “I will have need of you when we return to London, Miss Jones,” he said, using his formal title for her. “My father’s house is big enough for a regiment, and there will be a room for you.”
“Does your brother live there? Lord Youlden?”
Another strange look. “He has his own house. And he has his own secretary, if that’s what you want to know. I’m sorry, Miss Jones, but I simply cannot do without you.”
She wanted to ask him if he was keeping her so that he could win his wager with Lawrence, but as angry as that information had made her, as much as she wanted to hurt him as much as he had hurt her, she wouldn’t do it.
Even when she had accused him in the attic room in Italy, she had known it wasn’t true. Gabriella knew in her heart he would never use her like that. The man Lawrence had been describing sounded like a stranger to her, because the Maddox she knew was generous and honourable. The Maddox she knew was to be trusted.
Perhaps that meant she was a complete fool, but she did trust him.
Gabriella was almost relieved when they reached England’s shores, yet at the same time she wondered what would happen next. Maddox could insist all he liked that she was still in his employ, but she found it difficult to imagine herself doing this in a year. Not under these circumstances. She decided she would wait a little while and then ask him again for a reference. Perhaps he would help her establish herself as a governess with another family?
As for Maddox’s brother, he seemed to find the situation increasingly amusing. Several times Gabriella had caught Sebastian’s curious eyes on her. Once, when she came face to face with him while leaving Maddox’s cabin, he had actually smiled quite kindly.
“My wife and I have a London house,” he said. “I’d be happy to offer you a place in my household while you decide on your future, Miss Jones.”
She sighed. “He told you about Lord Rattray, didn’t he?”
He didn’t pretend not to understand what she meant.
“I wish he hadn’t,” she said with a frown.
“Maddox was surprisingly circumspect.” He paused and then went on. “My wife, Hannah, would be happy to employ you as a governess, once our daughter is old enough.” His eyes lit up as if his wife and daughter were his heart and soul. “Hannah knows what it is like to be alone with no friends.”
She shouldn’t have been surprised, but after listening to the stories told on board the yacht by its crew, she had formed an opinion of the Mortmain brothers that did not include wedded bliss. She had to remind herself that people could change, and often times it was falling in love that changed them the most.
“I think your brother intends for me to remain in the earl’s household,” she answered.
“Yes, so he said.” Sebastian raised his brows. “I don’t know if you realise it, Miss Jones, but my brother has little need of a secretary. I know he has been writing letters of late but,” he bit his lip, “I think he has now written to every acquaintance he has in England and abroad.”
She nodded sombrely. “I think you’re right.”
“All to keep you occupied.” He looked at her curiously before asking, “What does that tell you?”
What did it tell her? Gabriella waited but Sebastian didn’t seem in any hurry to confirm her own opinion. Because he wants to keep you.
“My offer stands,” he said as he stood aside to allow her to pass. “But I have a feeling my brother has his own plans for you. If you find those plans do not fit with your own, then remember my offer.”
She thanked him and heard Maddox’s door close behind him. The offer was a generous one. It comforted her to know she wasn’t completely friendless, although whether she would ever dare to present herself at Lord and Lady Youlden’s door was another question.
As for Maddox’s plans for her, they were something she was yet to discover and he was so closed off to her at the moment that she dared not ask him.
* * *
London seemed bigger and noisier than before somehow. She had grown used to the little seaside village in Italy and the easy life they had enjoyed. Now all that felt like a dream as she and Maddox arrived at his father’s grand town house.
A sombre servant answered the door and bowed them inside. Gabriella stared about with wide eyes. It was far more luxurious than anything she had ever seen before, but despite the rich and beautiful decor, the place had that ominous hush around it that seemed to accompany grave illness. Voices were lowered and faces were cheerless, as if everyone was already in mourning.
Sebastian had started up the grand staircase to the gallery above, but Maddox looked to Gabriella, as if he was wondering what to do with her. “Wait here,” he said at last, and then turned to follow his brother. Gabriella stood awkwardly, wondering how long he expected her to wait. She didn’t enjoy being ordered to stay, like a pet poodle, but the house was vast and everyone, apart from Maddox and his brother, was a stranger.
Someone cleared their throat and she turned with a start. She hadn’t heard the severe looking footman creep up behind her.
“Mr Hawley has asked that you come with me, Miss Jones.”
It sounded portentous, but having no choice she went with him, after a glance over her shoulder to the staircase where Maddox had vanished.
Her destination turned out to be a small parlour, and when the footman opened the door the smell of toasted crumpets almost undid her. There was hot tea waiting for her, too. She hadn’t realised how tired and hungry she was until that moment, and once her snooty escort left her, she flung herself down in a comfortable chair in solitary splendour, and ate her fill. Replete, Gabriella leaned back and closed her eyes, and very soon drifted off to sleep.
21
MADDOX
The Earl of Mortmain had always been an active man. Restless and full of ideas, he’d been a force to be reckoned with as long as Maddox could remember. Now, to see him lying in his bed, so still, so pale, was worse than anything he could have imagined. He felt as if his anchor had been cut from him and he was suddenly left adrift.
Sebastian leaned closer, gaze intent on their father’s face. “Maddox is here, Sir.”
The earl stirred and frowned, his eyes opening a m
ere slit. “He should have stayed away. His opponent is still not out of the woods. What if they arrest him? I had enough of that nonsense with Gervais.”
Even now he was behaving like a parent, thinking of his son’s welfare. Maddox felt emotion rise up like a tide in his chest, causing a thickening of his throat, and the sting of tears in his eyes. He fought them back. Now was not the time to give in to emotion.
Sebastian gave a nod and stepped back. The door closed softly and Maddox was alone with his father. He reached out and took his hand. The earl’s skin was dry and cool and for a moment he tried to warm his flesh, as if he could channel his own strength and youth into the older man.
“I don’t care about any of that,” he said, tremors creeping into his voice despite himself. “It doesn’t matter now. You are what matters, Father.”
A smile crept onto the earl’s lips. “I won’t be happy if you end up in Newgate, like your brother. I think I aged several decades from that.”
That stinging in his eyes again.
“When you have your own sons, Maddox, remember what you put me through. Be patient but firm. I was absent too often, and left too much to your mother alone. She was a gentle soul.”
He was talking as if he was already dead. “You’ll be around to help me with my sons,” Maddox said, his voice grating. “I have a feeling I’ll need all the advice I can get.”
That smile again, but now there was a melancholy to it. “I’m told you have a secretary? A young woman. What are you thinking, Maddox? I hope she doesn’t have an angry brother to challenge you to another duel.”
“She’s an orphan.”
His father snorted a laugh. “Has she a story? I’d like to hear it. Speaking tires me, but I can listen.”
Maddox felt the words pour out of him, as if all this time he had wanted to tell someone. “Her name is Gabriella Jones and I met her at the inn in Dover. She burst into my room because she thought I was someone else. Lord Rattray. He had inveigled his way into her life and was going to ruin her, but I saved her from that. As I said, she is an orphan, alone and destitute, and once I had dealt with Rattray there was nothing for it but to take her with me to Italy. I employed her as my secretary so that her reputation wouldn’t suffer any more than it already had. I couldn’t leave her, Father.”
