The Earl's Scandalous Wife

by Ruth Ann Nordin

  “Yes, but that lady should not have been my sister.”

  Paula rolled her eyes at her brother’s bitter tone. Such sentiment never bothered him when he found other gentlemen’s sisters to take to bed.

  “I have no use for a timid virgin,” the duke said. “Having to ease her into the whole process of getting with child… It’s better just to get it over with.”

  “I couldn’t agree more. Who needs the hassle? There’s nothing worse than a lady who insists on getting pleasure from the act. Their bodies are such a mystery. It’s too much work if you ask me.”

  The two gentlemen laughed and she rolled her eyes.

  “The funds will be in your possession after the banns are read,” the duke said.

  “I believe there is nothing else to work out. She’ll be your wife by the end of next month. She’s looking forward to it.”

  “I don’t care if she’s looking forward to it or not. I just want to get a legitimate son.”

  “I’m sure you’ll have no trouble getting one.”

  That might be true, but Paula wasn’t going to be the one who gave him an heir. It’d have to be someone else. When she heard footsteps approach the door, she hurried to another room and slipped into it. Her brother walked the duke to the front door, and if she judged right by the obnoxious boom in the duke’s voice, the gentleman was almost drunk. She shivered. There was no way she could bear to be in the same bed with him, let alone marry him.

  After he left, she waited for a couple minutes after her brother returned to the drawing room before she slipped out of her haven. She took a deep breath and strengthened her resolve. It wasn’t a question of “if” she had to do this. It was a question of “how”.

  Releasing her breath, she clasped her hands behind her back and strode into the room, feigning the confidence she didn’t feel.

  He glanced up from the letter he was writing. “Your timing is horrible, Paula. You just missed your betrothed.”

  No doubt he expected her to grimace. Well, she wouldn’t give him the satisfaction. She sat in front of his desk and folded her hands in her lap. “I’ve been in London since April but have not been to one ball.” Yes, that was a good way to begin.

  “I couldn’t exactly trust you around all those gentlemen now, could I?” he asked with a slight smirk.

  “It was just one gentleman, Stewart.”

  “Yes, and I am forever grateful you didn’t bring a child into the world because of it.”

  Ignoring his remark, she said, “I haven’t had a Season, nor have I left the townhouse without you by my side. I want one evening at a ball to enjoy myself before I’m locked away forever in the Duke of Leavenshire’s estate to be nothing more than a brood mare.” The last part she hadn’t intended, but the words slipped out and with them so did the disgust in her voice.

  “This is a fate you brought upon yourself. No one told you to let Lord Holloway—”

  “I don’t want to hear it,” she snapped. “I’ve paid for my sin three times over. You think a child would have been the worst thing that could have happened to me?” The following years of loneliness and nights of endless crying had been much worse, but he wouldn’t understand that. “All I want is one evening at a ball. I’ve never been to one.”

  “You always did have an adventurous spirit.” He leaned back in his chair and studied her for several moments. Finally, he nodded. “All right. Since you’re willing to marry the duke, I’ll grant you your request.”

  “Then I’ll get ready for the ball.”

  “Wait,” he protested as she stood up. “You mean tonight’s ball?”

  “Tonight is as good a time as any.”

  “But how did you know there’s a ball tonight? I never told you.”

  “Because two gentlemen were talking beneath my window. Just because you keep me here like a trapped animal, it doesn’t mean I don’t pay attention to what others say as they pass by this townhouse.”

  He looked as if he was going to throw out some clever retort but then changed his mind. “Very well. Get ready for tonight’s ball. But that’s the only one I’ll let you attend. After this, you are to be the dutiful and quiet wife to the duke. Understood?”

  “I understand,” she forced out in a pleasant tone.

  “Good. We leave in three hours. Don’t keep me waiting.”

  “I won’t.”

  Relieved, she left the room.

  ***

  Christopher groaned and leaned his head against the seat of the carriage. “You can’t be serious.”

  Agatha crossed her arms. “I am serious. We aren’t going to our estate until you find your cousin a wife.”

  “I’ve been looking for a suitable lady and there’s no one. No one!” He threw up his hands in despair. Why couldn’t she let the matter go? At least for this year. “We should try again next year. There’s bound to be a better selection of ladies to choose from then.”

  “You haven’t been diligent in your search.”

  “I haven’t been diligent? I’ve been asking everyone if there’s a lady who’d be willing to marry Lord Clement, but they all say no.”

  “You can’t ask only three people and expect to find her.”

  “It wasn’t three. It was five.” When he saw her eyes grow wide, he wrapped his arm around her shoulders and gave her a light squeeze. “I’m teasing. I asked more than five. It was ten. Maybe even twelve.”

  “This isn’t amusing, Christopher,” she admonished as he kissed her neck. “We won’t be leaving London until Perry has a wife.”

  “And she has to be young, attractive, kind, and overlook his boring tendencies?”

  “Of course.”

  “You are difficult to please. Do you know how hard such a lady is to find, especially one who doesn’t mind being bored?”

  She sighed. “Perry isn’t boring. I don’t want to hear anything else about him being boring. Now, I want you to help me seek out a suitable lady for him tonight. Ask every gentleman there if he has a sister or daughter who is looking for a husband.” She adjusted her gloves. “You know how much I hate going to balls.”

  “Which is why we should have stayed home.” He kissed her and wiggled his eyebrows. “We could have a lot more fun there.”

  “We’ll have fun later. Right now, we need to work.” After a moment, she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him. “I promise I’ll make it worth your while if you find him a wife tonight.”

  “All right.” What he wouldn’t do for his wife. “I promise you that before the night is over, Perry will secure a betrothal that the lady in question won’t be able to get out of.”

  “How are you going to do that?”

  “I’m not sure yet, but I’ll find a way to make it happen.” He tapped her nose in a playful fashion. “I secured a marriage to you, and I’ll do it again for my cousin. Tonight, I get him a wife and tomorrow we head out to our country estate where we’ll get to enjoy each other without the distractions of other people.”

  The carriage came to a stop and he glanced out the window where Lord Roderick was hosting the ball. He guessed Lord Roderick felt the need to host it because his wife insisted on it. He couldn’t blame Claire. If he was her, he’d do everything he could to avoid being alone with him, too. What the poor lady went through when she was with him.

  The footman opened the carriage door and he waited for Agatha to get out before leaving it. Somewhere at this ball, Perry’s future wife was waiting. The trick was finding her. And he would make sure he found her before the night was over.

  ***

  Paula examined the gentlemen at the ball. Tonight. This would be the night she’d find someone to marry. But she wanted someone who’d make a good husband, something that was hard to determine just by dancing with them. She scanned the room and found her brother who was preoccupied with a lady he was doing his best to win over. If the lady was smart, she’d run away from him as fast as her slippered feet could carry her.

  Paula st
rolled around the ballroom. There had to be someone—anyone—who’d be a decent husband. Just one.

  “Are you looking for someone?”

  She turned her attention to the gentleman who approached her. He was young. Perhaps he wasn’t married yet. She cleared her throat and offered what she hoped was an attractive smile. “No one in particular.”

  He glanced around the room. “Shouldn’t you have a chaperone?”

  “Oh, I do. She’s over there.” Granted, “she” was really a “he” and “he” was her brother, but she felt no need to direct the gentleman’s attention to her brother.

  “Well, let me take this opportunity to introduce myself. I’m Mister Robinson,” he said with a bow.

  She smiled and curtsied. “Miss Leighton.” She noted the spark of interest in his eyes and hoped this would be the one who’d save her from marrying the Duke of Leavenshire.

  The music got ready to begin so he extended his hand and asked if she’d join him on the ballroom floor. She agreed and they began the dance.

  “I don’t recognize you,” he said. “Is this your first Season?”

  “Yes, but I haven’t been to many balls,” she replied. Actually, she hadn’t been to any but there was no need to tell him that.

  “Ah, that explains why I don’t recognize you. I go to as many balls as I can.”

  “Oh?”

  “Yes. I love dancing and talking to people. Though tonight, I’m on a mission of sorts.”

  “And what would that be?”

  He gestured behind her, so she glanced over her shoulder where two gentlemen talked. “I’m trying to find my cousin—the one with the cane—a wife. You said you were Miss Leighton, as in you have no husband?”

  She paused for a moment to study the gentleman who leaned on his cane. Dark brown hair, broad shoulders, a nice smile.

  “He’s the Earl of Clement,” Mister Robinson continued. “I can’t promise he’ll keep you captivated by stories of his interesting life because his life is really far from interesting. However, I can promise you that he’ll be faithful and treat you with the utmost respect.”

  “Why isn’t he already married?” she asked.

  “He blames his cane.”

  “That’s ridiculous. There’s nothing wrong with a gentleman who has a cane.”

  “That’s what I keep telling him, but he’s adamant that being born with one leg a mere inch shorter than the other is enough to make ladies run away from him in absolute fright.”

  She chuckled at his joke. “Is that all that’s wrong with him?”

  “He’s also boring. I did mention that, didn’t I?”

  “Yes.” She glanced at Lord Clement again. His friend laughed at something he said. “He doesn’t seem boring. That gentleman talking to him is laughing.”

  “Oh, Lord Roderick. He’s equally boring, I’m afraid. The two can put an entire room of ladies to sleep, but if you have a tendency to daydream, you can smile at him and think of whatever you want while he rambles. I’ve done it many times in the past, and he never caught on that I was only pretending to pay attention to him.”

  “Is there anything else wrong with him?” So far, he sounded very wonderful, especially compared to the Duke of Leavenshire.

  Mister Robinson thought over it and nodded. “No, that’s the worst of it.”

  She bit her lower lip and considered her options. She needed to secure a marriage, and she needed to secure one tonight. Surely, a gentleman of Lord Clement’s standing had ladies lined up to marry him. She didn’t have the luxury of waiting for him to court her and propose marriage, not when she would have to contend with others who were interested. And right now, he was her only prospect.

  Turning back to Mister Robinson, she asked, “And what about you? Are you looking for a wife?”

  “I’m already married to that gorgeous lady over there.”

  She followed the direction he indicated and saw a beautiful lady who was talking to a couple of other ladies. She then turned her attention back to Lord Clement. If she couldn’t have Mister Robinson who had seemed quite amiable, then she supposed she better go with Lord Clement. “Will you introduce me?”

  “I’d be happy to.”

  When the dance ended, he led her over to his cousin who was insisting his friend use some type of maneuver on the chessboard. Had she played chess, she would have understood why his friend commented that it was a wise move, but as it was, she knew nothing about the game so had to settle for a polite smile as Mister Robinson cleared his throat.

  The two turned toward her, but her eyes settled on Lord Clement. He had deep blue eyes that hinted at enthusiasm for life, something the Duke of Leavenshire lacked, something her mother had told her was very important in a gentleman. If her mother was still alive, she’d never allow her brother to pawn her off on someone as awful as the duke.

  But that was not going to even be an issue now that she was going to marry Lord Clement. All she had to do was figure out a way to become engaged to him. What scandalous activity could she do?

  “I thought you left London with your wife yesterday,” Lord Clement told Mister Robinson.

  “Yes, well, we delayed going there,” Mister Robinson replied. “I have something I need to do first. Speaking of which, I’d like to introduce you to...” He smiled. “Forgive me, but what was your name again?”

  “Miss Leighton,” she replied, her heart pounding in her chest.

  “This is Miss Leighton. Miss Leighton, this is my cousin Lord Clement and his only friend in the world Lord Roderick.” Glancing at Lord Clement, he chuckled. “I’m only kidding, of course.” Turning back to her, he shook his head in a way that indicated Lord Roderick really was Lord Clement’s only friend.

  She bit her lower lip so she wouldn’t laugh. Mister Robinson had a splendid sense of humor. Since Lord Clement was his cousin, perhaps he was the same way.

  “It’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance,” Lord Clement said with a bow, Lord Roderick following the same sentiment with a bow of his own.

  “Perhaps you’d like to become wild and toss aside that cane of yours so you can share a dance with her,” Mister Robinson told his cousin.

  “I’d like to dance,” she offered, her desperation prompting her to be bolder than she knew she should be.

  “Oh,” Lord Clement glanced at his cane, “I can’t.”

  “Won’t dance,” Mister Robinson corrected.

  “Can’t. One leg is shorter than the other.”

  “By a mere inch. They make shoes that enable him to walk evenly without a cane.”

  “I walk just fine.”

  “Which is why he insists on having a cane.”

  She watched as Lord Clement sighed in exasperation at the way Mister Robinson teased him. Hoping to ease things for Lord Clement, she said, “I think a cane is quite distinguished.”

  “You do?” Mister Robinson asked, not hiding his surprise.

  “Yes, I do.” She looked at Lord Clement. “If you’re not comfortable dancing, perhaps you’d like to talk?” She swallowed the lump in her throat.

  “There you go,” Mister Robinson told Lord Clement. “You can talk. All you need to do is open your mouth and words come out.”

  She bit her tongue so she wouldn’t laugh at Mister Robinson’s joke.

  Lord Roderick groaned. “Mister Robinson, have you nowhere else you can be?”

  “I brought over a lady to talk to my cousin. That is a lot more than you’re doing for him,” Mister Robinson replied with a huff.

  “That’s enough,” Lord Clement said before Lord Roderick could respond. “Miss Leighton, I’d be happy to talk to you. Where’s your chaperone so we can do so?”

  Her chaperone? She scanned the ballroom and saw her brother who was dancing with a lady. Turning to Mister Robinson, she asked, “I don’t suppose your wife would care to chaperone?”

  “I suppose I can track her down. I’ll return shortly.”

  As he stepped away, she excused
herself from Lord Clement and hurried after Mister Robinson and stopped him. “You’ll think my request an odd one,” she said in a low voice so no one could overhear her, “but I am in dire need of a husband. Can you send your cousin outside where I’ll be waiting for him?”

  His eyebrows rose in interest. “Do you mean to create a scandal?”

  “Well…” How much did she dare tell him? Would he even agree?

  “Why Miss Leighton,” he grinned, “I think you’re just the kind of lady my stuffy cousin needs. Find your way to the veranda, and I’ll have my cousin go out there alone. Then my wife and I will stumble upon you two. Does that work?”

  Taking a deep breath to settle her nerves, she nodded. “Thank you.”

  Chapter Three

  Paula couldn’t believe she was doing this. She swallowed and took a deep breath to help calm her pounding heart. The veranda was blessedly quiet since everyone was in the ballroom. It gave her a moment to compose herself. She had to create a scandal. Lord Clement might not be happy about it. All right, he definitely wouldn’t be happy about it. If she was lucky, he wouldn’t scream at her. Well, he wouldn’t scream, at least not in front of all the people. And maybe by the time they got married, he would calm down to the point where he wouldn’t scream when they were alone.

  She closed her eyes and steeled her resolve. She could do this. All she needed to do was kiss him when Mister Robinson and his wife came out onto the veranda. That was simple enough. Releasing her breath, she opened her eyes and looked up at the evening sky. She always enjoyed watching the twinkling stars and seeing the way the moon changed each night.

  But tonight, she had more pressing matters to tend to. Once her nerves were settled enough, she edged behind a thick column and peered around it.

  A minute later, Mister Robinson opened the door and gestured for Lord Clement to step outside. “I told you no one is out here,” Mister Robinson said. “I will go inside and my wife and I will find Miss Leighton. Then we can all talk.”

  Lord Clement hesitated on the threshold of the doorway. “I don’t know. Maybe we should all come out here together.”