Cam, meanwhile rose, grateful for the length of his coat.
But they hadn’t been hasty enough to hide what they’d been up to.
Lady Serena had seen far more than she should have, if her expression was anything to go by.
Damn it.
He’d even made note of the open door.
“Lord Cameron,” Serena said coolly. “I would like to have a word with Gemma alone, please.”
He bowed. “Of course, Lady Serena. Miss Hastings, I will speak to you later, if I may?”
Having turned back to face him, Gemma nodded. Her lips were a little swollen from his kisses and he felt a mix of protectiveness and anxiety at the sight.
He’d been afraid of angering Ben by putting her in danger.
Little had he realized he was far more dangerous to her than Sir Everard’s murderer was.
* * *
“Of all my charges, Gemma,” Serena said in an exasperated tone as she shut the door, “you are the last one I’d expect to find in such a scandalous position. What were you thinking?”
Gemma could hardly argue with her. She was just as surprised as her chaperone was by what had just happened. She’d never have guessed she’d be caught in anyone’s arms. Much less Lord Cameron Lisle’s.
“I was upset,” she explained, and to her own ears it sounded like a weak excuse. “He was comforting me.”
“With his tongue?” Serena asked with a disbelieving laugh.
“I know what you saw wasn’t precisely proper,” Gemma said, “but it’s hardly the worst behavior you’ve seen from the Beauchamp House heiresses.”
“And why should the others’ behavior matter?” Serena countered. “You are responsible for your own actions. And I’m afraid that I cannot simply forget what I saw and let this slip by. I am assuredly the most lax chaperone in all of England, if not Europe. But never let it be said that I do not hold my charges accountable.”
“It isn’t your fault,” Gemma protested. “As you say, I’m responsible for myself and so was Ivy. She’s the only one really who ignored the proprieties.”
“Do not try to tell me that Daphne and Sophia didn’t anticipate their vows,” Serena said with a shake of her head, “for I will not believe you. But they are beside the point. We are speaking of you.”
Gemma swallowed. She’d never thought to be on the receiving end of Serena’s look of disappointment. It didn’t feel good at all.
“Do you love him?” Serena asked, her expression grave.
It was a simple question, but had no simple answer.
Gemma hadn’t even liked Cam until this week. Could she grow to love him? Perhaps. But that was not part of her plan. And she’d certainly never thought to kiss him.
“I don’t know,” she answered. “Not yet.”
Serena sighed and took Gemma’s hands in hers. “I must write to your parents about this. There’s no other option. I am acting as your parent while you are here.”
“But what about Sophia?” Gemma asked. Though the idea of Sophia learning what had happened was more alarming than having her parents find out, if she were being honest. “She’s a married woman now. Why cannot she be the one to decide?”
Serena thought about it. “I suppose that will be acceptable. Though you must agree to abide by her decision.”
“Of course,” Gemma said with a nod. She trusted Sophia. And though she’d married a vicar, she hadn’t changed her opinions on the strictures that society placed on women. She would understand that Gemma shouldn’t be forced into marriage because of a few kisses.
No matter how toe curling and wonderful those kisses had been.
She wondered what Cam was thinking right now.
Was he just as alarmed as she was at the prospect of a betrothal?
Surely he was, she reasoned. He had no more wish to marry her than she had to marry him.
Why did that bother her so much?
Just then a knock sounded at the door and Sophia stepped in and shut it behind her.
“Cam told me I was needed in here.” Her eyes were troubled as she glanced from Serena to Gemma. “What’s amiss?”
Serena gave Gemma an encouraging smile and said, “I’ll leave you two to discuss this alone.”
To Gemma she said, “I trust you to make the right decision.”
Then she was gone and Sophia looked alarmed. “What’s going on? Has something happened?”
Deciding that plain speaking was best, Gemma said, “Serena caught me kissing Cam.”
It was clear from her sister’s expression that Gemma confessing she’d been in on the Gunpowder plot with Guy Fawkes would have come as less of a surprise.
“What?” Sophia blinked. “I have to sit down.”
She collapsed onto the settee.
Gemma sat down beside her. “I know it’s unexpected. But the important thing is that it was only the one time. Really just a slight indiscretion. Nothing to concern ourselves about.”
There, she thought. That should convince Sophia to let this whole matter pass without any sort of betrothal nonsense.
“A slight indiscretion is treading on someone’s toes on the ballroom floor,” her sister said with a frown. “A slight indiscretion is bumping into someone accidentally. Being found kissing one’s brother-in-law is not a slight indiscretion.”
“Oh please, Soph,” Gemma argued. “We all know how silly and hypocritical the rules about how ladies should behave are. And only Serena knows. There’s no reason for it to go any farther.”
“I know,” Sophia returned. “And I’m sure Ben knows too because Cameron is very likely telling him at this very moment.”
Gemma blinked. “What? Why would he do that?”
“Because he’s an honorable man, Gemma,” Sophia said with a look of disbelief. “I know you have had your disagreements with him, but Cam is not the sort of man who would shirk his duty. You are an unmarried lady. He is an unmarried man. There is every reason for him to do the right thing.”
“Marry me, you mean?” Gemma could hardly believe her sister was uttering these platitudes. “What happened to the Sophia who was ready to storm the patriarchy and show her art no matter what the cost to her reputation?”
“She is still here, my dear,” her sister assured her. “But there is a time and a place for resisting society’s strictures, and since I’ve married Benedick I’ve seen far too many examples of what can happen when a lady is ruined. It isn’t a happy existence.”
“Oh come. I will hardly be ruined because of a few kisses,” Gemma chided.
“All it takes is the whisper of scandal and you will not be received anywhere.”
“I’ve always planned to pursue my studies and remain unwed,” Gemma said defiantly. “I will be independent like Aunt Dahlia and Lady Celeste.”
“My dear,” Sophia’s voice was sympathetic. “Aunt Dahlia lives on the kindness of our parents. And Lady Celeste, despite this magnificent house and library she built, was dreadfully lonely.”
It was Gemma’s turn to blink.
“You would be financially secure, of course, thanks to the inheritance from Lady Celeste,” Sophia said. “But you wouldn’t be able to be received by Ivy or Daphne without damaging their reputations. And I would have to see you in secret lest word get back to the church hierarchy and endanger Benedick’s position.”
Gemma stared at her.
“All because of a few kisses.” This time it was a statement rather than a question.
“Is it really such a dismal prospect?” Sophia asked softly, taking her sister’s hand.
Gemma reflected on the matter.
Cameron was, at the very least, a gifted fossil-hunter.
He was also an honorable man, who clearly bore a great deal of affection for his family.
In agreeing to help her find the lizard skull, he’d also proved himself to be a loyal friend.
And there was no question about his kissing skills, which were, so far as Gemma could tell, exceptional.
/>
“Perhaps not dismal,” she admitted aloud.
“Maybe instead of a hasty wedding,” Sophia said slipping an arm around her, “we can arrange a betrothal. If at the end of a few weeks you are still against the match, you can agree to go your separate ways. That will silence any rumors of overfamiliarity between you, and will give you a bit of time to get to know one another better.”
“Won’t that be odd? If we choose to break things off, I mean?” Gemma asked, frowning. “We will still have to see one another from time to time because of our family connection.”
“More odd than being married to someone you do not wish to be married to?” Sophia asked wryly.
“I see your point,” Gemma said with a nod.
The sisters sat in silence for a moment. Then, Sophia turned to her. “So, tell me all about it. Was it a good kiss?”
Gemma grinned. “Very good.”
Very good, indeed.
Chapter 9
“You did what?”
Cam had expected his brother to be angry, but he had perhaps underestimated the degree to which Ben would express this anger.
“Now, Ben,” he said, raising his hands in a surrendering motion. “You needn’t lose your temper. It’s not seemly for a vicar to engage in fisticuffs.”
Though Cam knew it took a great deal to raise his brother’s ire, it would appear that this was one of those occasions.
“There is every reason for me to lose my temper, you lout,” Ben said through clenched teeth. “There are millions of women in the world for you to seduce. But who do you decide to lay hands on at the first opportunity? My sister-in-law. I knew you were a rake, Cam, but I thought even you would draw the line at my wife’s sister.”
They were in the empty library, where Cam had pulled him so that they wouldn’t be overheard. Which was a good thing, considering that Benedick was shouting the dashed roof off.
“It was badly done of me,” he said, attempting to cool things down with a preemptive admission of guilt.
Which he then ruined by giving excuses. “But you weren’t there. She was crying, dammit, and I only meant to comfort her a bit. And then she kissed me, if you want to know the—”
He was stopped in mid-sentence by the very strong punch of Ben’s fist against his jaw.
It was unexpected, and knocked him to the carpet.
For a minute, he had no thoughts beyond the pain in his face.
Followed closely by satisfaction. If he could have punched himself in the jaw he’d have done it as soon as he stepped out of the drawing room.
He moved his lower jaw from side to side. Though it hurt like the devil, it wasn’t broken.
Looking up he saw his brother looking down at him with exasperation. “I shouldn’t have done that,” he said. “It isn’t vicarly.”
“Feel better?”
“Not as much as I’d hoped,” Ben admitted. He reached down and offered him a hand. “I think there’s some brandy hidden in here.”
On his feet again, Cam walked over to one of the large overstuffed chairs that faced the fire. The rest of the furniture was more suited to ladies but she must have had some gentlemen guests—or anticipated them—to have furnished her library with chairs obviously built for the comfort of large bodies.
He sat, then leaned his head back and lifted his forearm to cover his eyes and sighed. He’d awakened this morning feeling like the veriest saint. He was going to help Gemma, who only days ago had been a thorn in his side. It was selfless of him. Yes, he’d be double crossing Sir Everard, whom he’d come to loathe, in the process, but that was beside the point.
And now Sir Everard was dead, Gemma’s fossil was missing, and he was facing the prospect of a hasty wedding.
Because there was no way his brother was going to let him off the hook for this.
What a difference a few hours could make.
“Here,” he opened his eyes to see his brother offering a generously filled glass of brandy.
He put his arm down and took it. “It’s not poisoned, is it?”
“Not my style,” said Ben, taking the chair opposite. He extended and flexed the fingers of his right hand as he sipped from the glass in his left.
Cam took a swig of the brandy and was pleased to find it was quality. No cheap liquor for Lady Celeste either. The more he learned of her the more he respected her. She’d been clever enough to choose Gemma after all.
At the thought of her, he couldn’t help but remember her mouth on his. Her sweet curves pressed against him as if she couldn’t get enough. He couldn’t either. But he didn’t mention it, of course. He had no wish for a black eye to go with his bruised jaw.
He would have liked to avoid the subject altogether, but that was not going to happen while Ben was drawing breath.
“I barely know the girl, Ben,” he said aloud. And even as he said the words he felt their inadequacy. Couples who knew one another far less than they did were married every day.
“You should have thought about that before you kissed her, idiot,” his brother said without any of his usual carefully worded tact. “What were you thinking?”
Then, recalling perhaps why he’d punched Cam in the first place, he held up his hand. “In general terms, please. I don’t want to break my hand.”
Cam shook his head. “It was the heat of the moment,” he said wryly. “It wasn’t planned. I wasn’t trying to seduce her. Hell, I didn’t even mean to kiss her.”
“You must be attracted to her,” Ben pressed. “I mean, if you weren’t—and I am going to believe that she kissed you, just for the sake of argument—then you wouldn’t have kissed her back.”
“Of course, I’m attracted to her,” Cam said. Really, his brother was such a simpleton at times. “She’s lovely. Maddening as hell, but lovely.”
“So, why is the idea of marriage such a problem?”
Cam leaned back in his chair and sighed. “I have been thinking about settling down, but hadn’t made up my mind yet. And I’d certainly not thought to choose someone like Gemma. For all that she’s beautiful she’s the opposite of what a wife should be.”
“What should a wife be, then?” Ben asked, tilting his head with puzzlement.
“Don’t be an ass,” Cam said, feeling his ears go a little red. “You know what I mean. We all have an idea of what we’d like in a bride. I’m simply saying that Gemma is not what I envisioned.”
“And I’m asking what you envisioned,” Ben said patiently.
“Someone more…” Cam struggled to put the idea into words. “Someone more like Lady Serena. Beautiful, calm, sweet. She would make the perfect wife.”
“Oh!”
He glanced at the door and saw Gemma there her mouth agape. But she quickly regained her composure.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt. I’ll leave you to your conversation.”
With that she was gone.
“Now who’s an ass?” Ben asked.
Cam, already on his feet, didn’t argue.
For once, he was in full agreement with his brother.
* * *
Cam passed Sophia in the hallway but when she tried to stop him, he waved her off. “I have to find Gemma,” he said as he brushed past her.
“She’s in the fossil workroom,” she called after him.
He cursed himself for a fool, though to be honest, he wasn’t sure why he was so worried about what Gemma had overheard. Didn’t she deserve to know the truth? She wanted a marriage between them no more than he did. She didn’t even like him. She’d made that perfectly clear in their every interaction since that disastrous first introduction.
True, they had reached a detente of sorts since then, but it was hardly a complete change of opinions.
As he neared the double doors of the fossil gallery, he felt an unusual flutter of nerves. Which he immediately repressed.
He had likely hurt her feelings. That was all. Once he explained his reasons for saying what he had, they would have a good la
ugh about it. She was a woman of sense. She would understand.
He’d approached the gallery from the far side of the house, so the workroom was on the other side from where they’d entered only yesterday.
And though there was no sign of Gemma in the gallery itself, he could hear a scrubbing sound from the workroom.
When he reached the door to that chamber, it was to see her wearing an apron over her gown and standing at the worktable, using fine brushes to clean the dirt from what looked to be a stack of ammonites.
“What are you doing?” he asked, though it would have been obvious even to young Jeremy, Lady Serena’s lad, what she was doing.
“I’d like for you to go, please,” she said firmly, not raising her eyes from the task at hand. “I’ll figure out what to do about my fossil on my own. Think no more about what happened earlier. My sister won’t force me into a marriage neither of us wants. And…” she paused. He saw her jaw clench before she went on. “Lady Serena will not force me either. So, you’ll be free to court her if that’s what you wish.”
That was quite a speech.
It was the utter lack of intonation that told him just how hurt she was by what she’d overheard.
He really was an ass.
“Gemma,” he said, “let me explain.”
She didn’t look up, but kept on brushing, occasionally changing to a firmer one when the softer was inadequate. “There’s nothing to explain. I am quite aware of my own shortcomings. I walk like a man, I sometimes talk like one. I’m not nearly as pretty as my sister or Serena. And you’re right. She would make a far better wife than I would. Nothing you said was untrue. It’s just been a long day. I’ve never seen a dead body.”
Seeing that she would not be rising to speak to him face-to-face, he bent so that he could see her face. “Gemma,” he said softly, “I have no intention of wooing Lady Serena. Or anyone really. At least I hadn’t. Until what happened between us.”
She stopped scrubbing and glanced over at him. “You needn’t be kind to me. We’ve always spoken honestly with one another. Do not, I pray, start wrapping things up in cotton wool now. What happened was a mistake. Neither of us should be forced to pay for it with our freedom.”
One for the Rogue (Studies in Scandal) Page 10
