by Susan Ward
Merry’s scowl lowered. They were picking on her mercilessly today. “I can see it was too much to expect sympathy from my family. It would have served me better if he were a man of bad character because then I would not have to suffer both this marriage and your amusements over it.”
Kate’s face fell at that and she gave Merry a tender pat on her hand. “I would have preferred you suffer neither as well, my dear. I am sorry and the marriage, as regrettable as it is, is necessary. Here we’ve been making light of it all, but how terrifying it must have been for you to find yourself unprotected and dependent upon His Grace. He is very frightening. However did you manage with him? I would have expired from fear the first day.”
It was a hard battle for Merry to keep her face from burning hotter. Laughing quickly, Merry countered, “Kate, you are so absurd. His Grace does not frighten me. He is a kind and gentle man. The way you turn to jitters over him, you would think he was Lucifer himself. Every time he’s in a room you look on the verge of vapors. Should I plan to carry smelling salts with me while he’s here? Or is it something other than fear, cousin? Have you formed a secret crush for my husband? Should I stay on guard least you try to steal him from me?”
Merry was unprepared for her cousin’s uncharacteristic boldness as she pushed her face within an inch of Merry’s and retorted, “You think I am foolish, do you? I am not the only foolish one. It has been missed by none of us that you are as unnerved by the man as I am. Your efforts at keeping up a brave front are useless, Merry. His Grace disturbs you very strongly. What I would like to know is why? Are you in some sort of danger? We’ve heard many things about the man, not all of them comforting. What is it you have not told us, Merry?”
Merry sat round eyed and stunned. All that from Kate. Somehow Kate in a year had developed a voice and a willingness to fight. If she were that transparent to Kate, her father and Uncle would make mincemeat of her and have Varian’s head on traitor’s gate by day’s end.
Merry met Kate’s fierce stare. “You do run on, Kate, and you rarely make any sense. His Grace does not disturb me. Not at all. And what do you mean that you’ve heard many things about the man? What manner of vicious tale have you heard whispered about my husband?” Kate drop her gaze. “No, Kate, you started this. I won’t let you end this. What exactly have you heard?”
Kate faltered. “If you must ask, you must not know.” She turned fretfully to Philip. “I have made a muddle of this, haven’t I? Help me out. There is no delicate way to repeat such gruesome history.”
“History?” Merry’s eyes flew wide. “Oh, I understand and I won’t have it repeated to me. No wonder you’re afraid of my husband. How can either of you have met him and believe old, vicious speculation. His Grace is incapable of the things that were whispered of him ten years ago. I will say this only once, out of consideration for worry for me, but never, ever speak of this to me again. He did not murder Ann Deverell. He would never harm me. You can dismiss those concerns. And you will never repeat them. At least not in my hearing, Kate, or I will never forgive you.”
Kate concentrated on her nervously knit fingers. “I am sorry, Merry. It was inexcusable of me to carry gossip. I only wanted to make sure you were safe and aware.”
The sound of gathering tears in Kate’s thin voice vanished Merry’s anger. “I am aware it is all untrue. Let’s speak of it no more. I want us have a pleasant afternoon. I want no cross words.”
Philip was reclined on the green leaves, cheek in palm, studying his sister with alert eyes. He reached out, lifted a kitten and presently remarked, “You are not afraid of the Duke of Windmere, Merry. It is quite amazing. The man is notorious. Covered in ghastly scandal and mystery. What manner of man is he?”
Merry laughed. “Kate is terrified enough of him for all of us.” She looked at her cousin then who was red like a turnip. “You don’t need to be afraid of His Grace, Kate. He is a very kind man. I am aware of every detail of his past, Philip. It is untrue, all those ugly speculations that sent him from England. Untrue and vile. He is a good man. Gentleness and kindness are the true cords of the man.”
“How confidently you defend him, Merry,” Philip said. “Why do you claim to hate him if he is a kind and gentle man? And if you do hate him, why marry him?”
She had forgotten Philip’s shrewd mind. Carefully, she said, “I defend him because I am aware the speculations are untrue. And I married him because it was necessary.”
“There are no necessary circumstance father can’t undo if you wish him to,” Philip told her in a voice full of meaning.
So, that was the point of this conversation. Her father was using Philip wisely. “I don’t need father rescuing me from my disgrace, Philip. His Grace will only prove a temporary annoyance. He will leave when the Earl leaves, back to London, and I will stay here with you all as is my wish.”
Kate studied Merry’s determined face and then asked cautiously, “But how can you be so certain in your dealings with His Grace? How can you know that he doesn’t intend to hold you to your vows as wife? He might very well take you off to heaven knows where. How can you be confident of your safety? He is your husband. Your legal guardian. He can do with you what he wishes. Have you considered that?”
“I have been heaven knows where and I have no intention of leaving, husband or not,” Merry stated flippantly. She lay back on the blanket, took a kitten to her cheek and rubbed the soft fur against her flesh to hide her expression. “I am to stay here with you all. That is my future. Stop worrying.”
Kate shook her head, clearly confused and clearly dismayed. “It makes no sense. Why would you stay at Bramble Hill? You are married, my dear. You have a husband in yonder house. What will you do if His Grace becomes smitten with you, decides he wants to settle in marriage, ready for a wife and ready for an heir. No doubt, he needs to hurry up the matter. He is handsome, but old. How old is he, anyway?”
A low voice. “I am positively ancient, Kate Merrick. I am thirty-nine.”
Merry shot up into a sitting position to find Varian standing above her, black eyes glowing. The sudden motion made the kitten scramble from her hand. Adding to the embarrassment of being caught gossiping about him was the ridiculous picture she surely made.
Varian’s gaze fixed on Merry. “I am already hopelessly smitten with your cousin. What do you propose I do with her, Kate?”
To say Kate was distraught would be to understate the case grossly. Poor Kate. It would have been better to stay meek. It took all of thrice for Varian to realize Kate wasn’t going to find her voice any time soon, and to pick up his own question.
The outer curve of his finger lifted to Merry’s cheek. “Don’t look so dismayed, Little One, I daresay the two of us will manage something without Kate’s advice. We always manage something.”
Somehow she managed calm as she met Varian stare for stare, following him with her eyes as he moved around the low stone wall and settled in a lazy dissent of long limbs too close to her on the quilt. The sight of him sprawled on the deep bed of grass, surrounded by kittens and blackberry tarts, fallen flower petals, Kate and Philip, was preposterous. It seemed to underscore the absurdity of their marriage.
“How dare you spy on me. Wouldn’t there be more amusement off with Camden instead of prowling the grounds so you can intrude on my private conversations? Or has the Earl already run off to London and left you so in search of amusement that you are reduced to settling for the meager entertainment of embarrassing my cousin with your eavesdropping?”
Varian’s answering smile was soft and amused. “I would never consider you a meager entertainment, Merry.”
His lips were very close to hers, the slightest move, and he might have kissed her. Merry hoped against hope that his proximity was only an accident. It had been an imprudent hope. She noted his easy move, the feel of his breath on her chin as his kiss missed her lips and settled on the flesh beneath it. She felt his quiet laugh. “Blackberry,” he breathed against her skin. “I have
wanted to do that since I spied you from across the road. Scented of roses and tasting of blackberry. Even dusted with kitten fur, you are irresistibly beautiful today. It is a good thing you are capably guarded by Kate and Philip. Imagine the danger if I had found you alone. How the devil did you get blackberry on your chin?”
His question had been spoken in a silly tone, and his manner carried a tolerant affection. What was he about now, Merry wondered. She should leave him as his mood warned, but she feared he would follow her and trap her alone and knew this argument would be more vicious than the prior night’s and harder to protect herself in.
Arching a brow coolly, she said, “It’s a tart. If I give you one will you go away?”
“I am not in the mood for a tart. I am in the mood for my wife. What are the odds of you offering me that today?”
Her cheeks were undisciplined enough to burn, but her eyes narrowed. “You are despicable.”
He shook his head in dramatic sympathy. “If I promise to behave do you think you could suffer a moment or two alone with me? Come walk with me, Merry. Show me your Cornwall. I am in the mood to experience the beauty of nature today.”
“Experience nature by yourself. It’s bad enough I have been forced to suffer you intruding upon my private amusements.”
Varian causally reclined on his side. “You have been hiding from me since breakfast. I suggest you walk with me, Little One. We have much we must discuss today. I doubt Kate is up to the rigors of what I want to discuss with you.”
Struggling to hold her temper in check, Merry stated primly, “There is nothing I wish to discuss with you, in private or otherwise. I want to spend the afternoon with Philip and Kate. I would appreciate your indulgence and your absence.”
Merry sat perfectly still as Varian reached out to thread one of her long black curls through his fingers. “Do you really want to force Kate through the issues we have unresolved?”
He touched the curl to his lips. Both his words and his gesture were a warning, no matter what pretty gloss he covered them in.
She slowly lifted a brow. “I see no benefit to discussing anything with you. I remember too well our last discussion. I told you I didn’t want to marry you. But the deed is done and it pleasures me not at all to be your wife. Now go away.”
There was a moment of tense silence when all the sounds around them became unnaturally loud. The hiss of wind through the grass, the jingling of harnesses in the fields, hooves against cobbles, distant mirth and chatter. Then Varian began to laugh and his black eyes softened.
Merry’s eyes narrowed into slits of rage. “Damn you. You know your laughter annoys me and that is why you do it. How is it possible never to lose your temper.”
Varian silenced her by placing a finger across her lips. “I let my temper slip with you in London. I will regret it as long as I live,” he told her softly. He had surprised Merry with that, but she disbelieved him and it sat in her eyes. He didn’t want to open that discussion, not now when they weren’t alone. So, instead he said, “It’s better we fight the way we usually do. With you in a temper and me charmed from beginning to end.”
She sighed heavily in frustration. “You should return to London. There is not a single reason for you to stay here.”
“I should settle one misunderstanding at the present, since it is tame enough to mention with company. I am not going to London. Not any time soon. Stop trying to send me there unless it is your wish for us to go there together.”
“I have no intention of going anywhere with you. I will not be played with for your amusements.”
He leaned a breath into her and his fingers slowly slid through her curls to play at the sensitive flesh beneath her ear. Quietly, on a whisper that brushed her cheeks like a caress, he said, “You are a very stubborn girl, Merry, that you can think you have a choice in this. I am willing to give you time until you are ready to listen to reason. I am not willing to allow matters between to continue as they stand.”
She pulled back from his hold. “If that is all you want, Your Grace, I would like to return to the house since you seem not inclined to allow me even the enjoyment of an afternoon with my family.”
She sprang to her feet, kittens scattering. Philip’s gaze followed the quickly retreating form of his sister. He was about to push up to his feet when those black eyes stopped him with a lightly held command.
Varian arched his brow. “Whatever is running through your head, lad, let it alone and you would do us all well not to take it to your father,” he said in measured tones, full of meaning. Philip flushed. “I am sure you’ve heard a thing or two about me, and it is understandable you should be protective of your sister, but I would never do anything to harm her and I didn’t today. My conduct was merely improper. She didn’t hit me over the head with the basket. That should tell you everything you need to know not to call me out for my behavior. Or do you think I forced your sister into whatever it is you’re imagining. It’s a complicated problem, but it’s not your problem. Don’t put your oar in it.”
Philip was unused to people reading him so easily, but then Varian Deverell was unlike any man he’d ever known. There was not a thing about Windmere that did not warn caution.
Still, Merry was his sister. “I don’t believe you’ve harmed my sister and I don’t believe you ever will. But I won’t tolerate you brow beating her, no matter how suavely you do it, into doing anything she doesn’t want to do. And I would ask that the next time you want to prove a point to my sister via flirtation, it would be advisable not to do it in front of Kate. These last months have burned Kate to cinders from the heat of her worry, guilt, and fear.”
Varian liked Philip. The boy was cautious but he spoke his mind. The boy would act wisely.
“If I hope to get past Merry’s current fury toward me in this century, I will have to settle for adding fuel to the fire any time I can find her without your father near. She’s angry with me and has good reason to be. It would be less complicated all around if Lucien would permit me to leave Bramble Hill with her or at least to share a bedroom so we could fight this out in privacy, but we don’t.”
“My father is far from giving his blessing. A dangerous condition for you. My father will not support any change in Merry’s circumstance unless she wishes it. You wouldn’t be able to take her on as much as a day trip to Falmouth if she were unwilling, let alone get her in a bedchamber to earn her forgiveness.”
Philip had said forgiveness with just the right amount of disdain. Varian grinned in spite of himself.
Kate, who had sat frozen and silent, said, “I for one am glad Merry is being cautious with you.”
Much to Kate’s chagrin, Windmere laughed and playfully tugged her chin before he rose to his full height. In alarm she realized she had been left alone with this terrifying man and somehow Philip had gone after Merry without Kate being aware of this dangerous change.
Reading Kate’s thoughts to precision, Varian reassured her with a laugh, “There is no need to fear, flower. At thirty-nine I can manage only one debauchery a day. You are very safe. After all I am ancient and...” arching a brow as the pause developed playfully. “... as pretty as you are, I am married to Merry.”
CHAPTER FOUR
Merry came awake with a start. She had lay across her bed covered only in her shift, but somehow a quilt had been spread high over her body. As she rubbed her cheek against her pillow she wondered what had startled her from sleep. Wondered at the strange changes in her body which now pulled her into deep sleep at mercilessly frequent whim. Wondered who had come and put a blanket on her, and wondered what they had thought of finding her sprawled across her bed in mid-afternoon. Wondered what her family was making of all this, when all of a sudden a scent stopped her wondering.
Wintergreen. Sitting up with a start, it was then she noticed the impression in the blankets next to her in the form of someone having sat with her while she slept. Wintergreen. Touch of Varian.
Varian had been in her
bedchamber. She had locked the door, but somehow he had gotten in. So the bolt on the door and the presence of her family would provide her no protection from him. He had come into her room, sat with her while she slept, and if there were a reason to it beyond him simply wanting to do so, she most probably would never discover it.
The delicate china clock beside her bed chimed eight and Merry was shocked by the lateness of the hour. It had been early afternoon when she had quarreled with Varian in the meadow. She had only meant to lay down a few moments, but her body had been exhausted by her meager activity of the day. Her slumber had slipped away into hours. Hours in a deep sleep, so deep Varian had been in the room with her, had sat close to her body, and she had not stirred.
Merry looked at the chair beside the bed and spied a delicate pale pink dressing gown draped over the back where she had carelessly tossed the mud and grass-stained poplin frock she had worn earlier. Netta had been in the room as well. Was her maid spying on her and running to babble tales to mother?
Reaching for the dressing gown, Merry realized raging hunger had replaced fatigue in her body. Nagging pangs chided her that she had missed supper. She reached for the bell cord to summon Netta to bring her a tray. Two meals she had missed. She felt as though she had never known such hunger.
She froze, then sank down upon the chair and lightly traced across her womb. It was Varian’s child in her womb that made her so tired and hungry. Burning hot tears flooded her eyes. It wouldn’t be long before it would be common knowledge she had a child in her belly. How ashamed her parents would be of her and how the scandalmongers would laugh at her, laugh in vicious gloating at them all. It was only a matter of time before everyone knew the truth, knew that she’d been a willing fool in Varian’s bed before having spoken vows, and she had meant nothing to him. What would happen when they all learned she carried his child?
After she tugged the bell cord, she curled in a chair by a window and clapped her hands for pug. Lifting the dog’s face, she gave him a kiss and settled him on her lap. A night alone with only pug would do her well. Hopefully, it would clear away the unsettling feelings inside of her and grant her a moment’s piece from the endless abyss that was Varian.
