If It Takes A Scandal

by Ruth Ann Nordin

  As soon as Candace realized her bedchamber was connected with Corin’s, she checked for a lock on the door. There was none. That meant he could come in any time he wanted. She placed her hand over her stomach. If she had known his bedchamber was on the other side of the door, she wouldn’t have eaten so much at dinner. If he came to her bed, she might very well throw up. She had learned to keep her meals small with her first husband.

  She should have kept that in mind during the dinner this evening. But with Daphne and Reuben doing everything possible to put her at ease, she had relaxed. They had gone out of their way to make her comfortable.

  She went to the chair in front of the vanity and sat down. Just how was she supposed to sleep this evening? Knowing that, at any time, Corin could come into this room, slip into her bed, and…and…

  She closed her eyes and willed away the memories of the things Ian had made her do. If she wasn’t careful, she really might lose her dinner.

  A knock at the door made her bolt out of the chair. She gripped the edge of the vanity and forced herself to take a deep breath to help steady her nerves. But then it occurred to her that Corin wouldn’t knock. Husbands never knocked. They just barged into the room.

  And besides… Her gaze went to the door that went to the hallway. The knock had come from that door, not the one connecting her bedchamber with Corin’s.

  Releasing her breath, she went to the door and opened it. On the other side stood Daphne with some clothes draped over her arm. Next to her stood a maid who carried an assortment of grooming supplies.

  “I thought I’d bring some things to make you more comfortable during your stay,” Daphne said. “May we come in?”

  With a nod, Candace stepped aside and allowed the two ladies into the room.

  “This is Matilda,” Daphne continued, as the maid put the grooming supplies on the vanity. “She’ll be your lady’s maid while you’re here. I brought you a couple of things to wear. I got them from my wardrobe. I know they’ll be large on you, but until I make you clothes that will fit properly, I’m afraid you’ll have to wear my things. You needn’t worry, though. I am fast with a thread and needle. Tomorrow morning, I’ll measure you, and we’ll sort through the different fabrics I have stored in one of the rooms.” She chuckled. “You’ll be surprised when you see how many colors I have gathered over the years. Reuben loves an assortment of them. He changes favorite colors all the time.”

  “May I comb your hair, my lady?” Matilda asked Candace.

  Candace shut the door and went over to the vanity. As she sat back down, Daphne hung the gowns up. She released her breath. Having the two ladies in the room with her offered much comfort. As long as they were here, Corin wouldn’t dare come in.

  Matilda started removing the pins from her hair. She could only imagine what Matilda thought. She hadn’t had a chance to take care of her hair since the night she was abducted from London. She was used to having her hair and her gown in perfect order. Every morning, she’d become accustomed to taking a bath, too. It’d been something her father had brought her up to do. In all the activity of the past couple of days, she’d forgotten all about her daily rituals. Now, though, she was aware of how filthy she was.

  She glanced over at Daphne, who was still hanging up the gowns. “Would it be too much trouble to have a bath brought up in the mornings? Ever since I was a child, I got into the habit of taking a bath every morning. I know it sounds silly, but if I could do something that’s become a habit, I think I would feel better about having to inconvenience you for the next three months.”

  Daphne offered her a smile. “You are not an inconvenience. We’re very happy to have you here.” Before Candace could ask who she was talking about, Daphne continued, “I’ll instruct the maids to bring up a bath for you every morning. What time do you get up?”

  “Seven or eight. Eight would be the best time for a bath. Is that all right?”

  “Eight is fine. Reuben has his lessons from one to four. He didn’t have them today because of all the excitement. Corin is determined to give him the best education possible. Mr. Danvers is a gentleman who is very intelligent, but he is skittish. All the noise and activity in London caused him to nearly die of fright.”

  Matilda finished removing the pins from Candace’s hair and started to brush it, preventing Candace from studying Daphne’s expression to see whether or not Corin’s mother was serious about Mr. Danvers nearly dying from something as simple as fright.

  “I’m telling you the truth,” Daphne said, as if she could read Candace’s mind. “Mr. Danvers almost died. The doctor told him to go out to the country. The doctor said he has a weak heart. That’s why you didn’t see him today. As soon as those gentlemen arrived with you, Mr. Danvers ran to his room in the attic and stayed there.”

  “He sleeps in the attic so he can be alone,” Matilda added. “He prefers as much quiet as possible. Sometimes the staff can get loud.”

  Daphne finished hanging up the gowns, which left her with only one item of clothing folded neatly on her arm. “Matilda makes a good observation. He likes it quiet. I think it soothes him.”

  Candace couldn’t fully blame him. As much as she enjoyed going to social activities, she did enjoy the moments when she was alone, whether it was in the bath or in bed reading a book. There were few better ways to relax. She glanced at the bed. Her quiet time reading in bed was going to be disrupted now that she was here.

  Matilda set the brush down. “Would you like to do anything else with your hair?”

  Candace shook her head. “I prefer it down at night.”

  “You have gorgeous hair,” Daphne said. “It’s such a beautiful shade of brown, and it’s thick, too. It’s no wonder you let it grow so that it reaches your waist.”

  “I have it trimmed from time to time, but yes, I prefer it long.”

  “It was a pleasure to brush,” Matilda said. “I look forward to styling it for you tomorrow. In the meantime, I can help you into your shift dress.”

  So that was what Daphne was holding. Candace hesitated. As soon as she slipped that on, then it was a signal that she was ready for bed. And that meant the ladies would be expected to leave her alone so Corin could come to her.

  She swallowed and rose from the chair and let Matilda help her out of her gown. She’d been with Ian, and she’d survived it. Surely, she would survive the nights with Corin, too. No matter how much she told herself this, however, her body started to shake with dread.

  She couldn’t go through with this. Not now. Not anytime soon. She had to mentally prepare herself for it. She needed to eat less during dinner, and she needed some sherry to help with the anxiety of it all.

  Matilda wished her a good evening and left the room.

  Daphne gave Candace a hug. “I’m glad you’re here. I know this isn’t what you wanted, but I hope you’ll come to feel differently as the days go by.”

  Daphne released her.

  Candace thought she could let her go to the door, but something in her snapped and she grabbed Daphne to stop her. “Do I have to sleep in this room tonight? Can’t I sleep somewhere else?”

  Daphne’s eyebrows furrowed in concern. “Is this bedchamber not to your liking? Besides the earl’s bedchamber, it’s the most spacious one. It is reserved for the countess of the estate. I moved out of here when my husband died because I knew it was only a matter of time before Corin brought a lady here.”

  “The room itself is nice. It’s just that…” Candace stared at Corin’s mother. How could she tell Daphne that she was afraid Corin would force himself upon her? It didn’t seem to be the kind of thing she should tell her mother-in-law.

  “You’re trembling.”

  Was it so obvious that others could see it? Candace looked down at her hands and saw them visibly shaking.

  “And you’re pale.” Daphne helped her to the bed. She sat next to her and put her arm around her shoulders. “What is it? Do you feel ill?”

  Tears sprang up in Can
dace’s eyes, and she found herself melting under the lady’s tenderness. “I was married before. To Lord Hedwrett. Have you heard of him?”

  “No. I’m afraid I don’t know anyone in London. I’ve been here for the last twenty-three years. Corin’s father hated the noise and smells in London. Was Lord Hedwrett a bad husband?”

  Wiping the tears from her eyes, she nodded. “I knew when my brother arranged the marriage that he wasn’t a pleasant gentleman. But he was worse than I imagined. He would make me do things in bed that, even now, I wish I could forget.”

  She tried not to cry further, but something in the way Daphne rubbed her arm prompted her to release the feelings that had built up inside of her over the years.

  “It was awful,” Candace continued, the words rushing out before she could stop them. “He got pleasure out of hurting me. He liked to inflict pain. And sometimes he would bring his friends to join us. It didn’t matter how much I begged him to stop or how much I cried. I was his wife, and it was my duty to do whatever he wanted.”

  “Oh dear. You poor thing.” Daphne wrapped her arms around her and pulled her into a hug. “What a devastating thing to happen to a young lady.”

  Candace hadn’t expected that telling someone about her past would offer her a sense of relief, but as she cried on the lady’s shoulder, she realized it had a soothing effect on her. She’d kept the more sordid details of her life with Ian to herself. Not even her dear friend Anna knew the extent of what she’d been through.

  She had been afraid that doing so would only make her relive the pain and humiliation again, but it was turning out to have the opposite effect. Ian was dead. He wasn’t coming back from the grave. She was safe from him. He couldn’t hurt her anymore.

  Once Candace’s tears slowed, Daphne asked, “Are you afraid Corin will do the same things to you?”

  Again, Candace hesitated to answer.

  “I’ll take that as a yes,” Daphne said and gave her back a comforting pat. “Corin wasn’t raised to do those kinds of things. His father and I insisted he be respectful of ladies, especially the one he married. But I know there’s no way I can prove it to you. You need to spend some time with him to find that out for yourself.”

  Candace gasped and pulled away from her. “You’re not going to tell him to come in here tonight, are you?”

  “No. You’re in no condition to have him in your bed. To put your mind at ease, he has no intention of coming in here tonight. He told me he intends to sleep by himself.”

  What if he’d only told his mother that? She didn’t think many sons would voluntarily tell their mothers that they were going to their wife’s bedchamber.

  “I can sleep in here tonight,” Daphne said. “There’s a daybed over there.” She gestured to the bed across the room.

  Noting how much smaller that bed was compared to the one they were sitting on, Candace replied, “I could sleep there. You can sleep in this bed.”

  “Oh, I don’t mind. I’m shorter than you, and you are the countess of this estate. It makes more sense for me to be over there.” She patted Candace’s hand. “It’s comfortable. I used to take naps there when I was younger and was expecting Corin and Reuben. Sleeping there might even bring back good memories for me.”

  Since Daphne seemed insistent on sleeping in the daybed, Candace relented, even though she still felt guilty for doing so. “Thank you.”

  “I’m happy to do anything I can to make you feel at home. All you have to do is ask, and I’ll do it. I always wanted a daughter, and I hope that you can come to think of me as your mother.”

  This time when tears came to Candace’s eyes, they were tears of gratitude. “You’re very kind. Thank you again.”

  With another smile, Daphne called for her lady’s maid so she could get ready for bed. Feeling as if a weight had been lifted off of her shoulders, at least for this evening, Candace slipped under the blankets. The events over the past couple of days had worn her out. Now that she knew she was safe for the night, she could finally rest.

  She closed her eyes, fully expecting to stay awake until Daphne’s lady’s maid arrived, but she drifted off to sleep before then.

  Chapter Ten

  “Corin, we need to talk.”

  Corin glanced up from where he was working on the household ledger. He had hoped his mother wouldn’t find him in the den so early. It was only seven. During his childhood, he couldn’t recall her coming downstairs until nine.

  He’d had a fitful sleep the night before. Without a lock on the door, Candace could have come in at any time to take advantage of him. To his great relief, she hadn’t. If he’d known that when he went to bed, he would have had a good night’s sleep. But since he hadn’t known it, he’d had a fitful night’s rest. Right now, he was going through the budget in order to soothe his nerves.

  He hadn’t gone without a good night’s rest in years, but between rushing out to the estate because he worried about Reuben and last evening, he was going on three nights without decent sleep, and it was quickly catching up to him. He could only hope the tea would perk him up. He didn’t dare try to squeeze a nap in until Candace was downstairs with his mother and Reuben.

  He picked up the cup, drank some tea, and then set it on the desk. “What is it, Mother?”

  His mother took the chair from across the desk and placed it beside his.

  “I have something very important to discuss with you,” she said as she sat down.

  He had a nagging feeling that he wasn’t going to like this, but he held his tongue and waited for her to speak.

  She got comfortable in the chair and cleared her throat. “I’m not sure how to bring up a subject this delicate. You’ll have to forgive me if I sound bolder than I should in my speech.”

  He straightened up in the chair. “What is it? Did something happen to Reuben? Was yesterday too much excitement for him?”

  “No, no. Reuben is fine. It’s nice that you care so much for your brother.” With a smile, she patted his hand. “This has nothing to do with him. I wanted to talk to you about your wife.”

  Corin grimaced. Her. Whether he was alone in his bedchamber or with his mother, he wasn’t given any reprieve from the lady who ruined his life.

  “I need you to answer me something,” she began, leaning toward him and lowering her voice, “and I need you to be honest with me, even if you don’t think I’ll want to hear it.”

  He hesitated. Should he promise something he might not be able to keep?

  “This is very important because the way you answer me will determine what I say next,” she continued.

  Since she stared at him expectantly, he said, “Fine. I promise. What do you want to know?”

  “Have you been in bed with a lady?”

  His eyes nearly popped out of his head. “What?”

  “I know you haven’t been with Candace, but I was wondering if you had some experience with another lady.”

  He put his hands up to his ears. “Mother!” Really, he couldn’t believe what he was hearing. His mother—the same lady who raised him to be polite and respectful at all times—was asking him about his love life?

  She took his hands and put them down. “I need to know this, Corin. What kind of experience do you have with ladies?”

  Sure his face was bright red, he forced out, “None. Now, I demand we drop this discussion at once. It’s making me very uncomfortable.”

  “It’s making me uncomfortable, too. A mother doesn’t really want to know about her son’s private activities.”

  “Then why did you ask?”

  “Because I had to know what to tell you. When you go to Candace’s bed, I insist you show extreme care with her. Be patient and gentle. You must not allow yourself to get too…too…” She snapped her fingers and bit her lower lip. “Um…what’s the word?”

  “There is no word needed because I won’t be with her at all.”

  As if she didn’t hear him, she said, “Enthusiastic. Yes, that’s the word.
Gentlemen with no experience tend to be a little too eager. They rush right into making a baby, but you must not do this. Make sure you give her lots of kisses and touch her all over. A lady is more than what’s between her legs.”

  Corin put his hands back over his ears. Of all the people he could be hearing this kind of thing from, it had to be his mother.

  This time when she put his hands down, she had to use considerable force to do so. “Corin, this is serious.”

  “I can’t believe you would even talk about this. And it’s completely unnecessary. She was the one who was attacking me. It was her hands that were grabbing me in places she had no right to. I never even touched her.”

  “You’re wrong. She did not try to have her way with you. The missive Lady Erandon wrote is correct. The whole thing is a horrible misunderstanding.”

  “I think I know when someone is touching me in a certain place.”

  “I’m not saying her hands didn’t land there. What I’m saying is that this whole thing has been an accident. Candace would never try to take advantage of you. She’s too afraid of gentlemen to do that.”

  “She doesn’t seem like she’s afraid to me.”

  “That’s because you’re overreacting to what happened. It has hindered your judgment. You need to remove yourself from the situation so you can look at it with a clear mind. Now, we must start with the facts. Last night, I had to sleep in Candace’s bedchamber because she was terrified you were going to come to her bed and hurt her.”

  He rolled his eyes. “I might detest her, but I’m not going to kill her.”

  “I didn’t mean you were going to murder her. I meant that she was afraid you were going to force yourself upon her.”

  He gasped. “Why would I do that?”

  “You wouldn’t. You’re a sweet child. You always were a sweet child.”

  “I’m a grown gentleman, Mother.”

  “A gentleman who knows better than to be rough with a lady. I know that. You know that. But Candace doesn’t know that. Her first husband was cruel. He forced her to do things she didn’t want to do. A lady is most vulnerable when she’s in bed, and he didn’t show her a single bit of kindness. I want to make sure that you keep that in mind when the time comes for you to make love to her.”