The Mischievous Bride (The Clearbrooks)

by Teresa McCarthy

  Milli swallowed past the growing ache in her throat. “But they have found the villain, Lizzie. It is done. We must put this behind us. Papa would want it that way.”

  Her sister sniffed and smoothed away a stray hair on Milli’s forehead. “Stephen told me everything. They thought the man could have been one of your suitors.”

  Milli eased Lizzie onto the bed, trying to help her sister relax. Usually, it was Lizzie who tried to protect her, not the other way around.

  “But the villain is not one of my suitors. You must not think about it. I am well, dearest.”

  Lizzie began to sob. “But the thought of almost losing you like Papa makes me ill.”

  “I am not going anywhere,” Milli said, sitting next to her. “I am the same silly sister you had yesterday.”

  Lizzie chuckled. “That is a good thing, I think.”

  Milli let Cleo jump between them and she stroked the cat’s fur. Lizzie had always been there for her, and now, she would be there for her older sister, no matter how Marcus made her feel. “You must not worry about me, you know. I am a big girl.”

  Lizzie pulled Cleo to her breast. “But they knew he could have been one of your suitors. I am furious with Stephen for not telling me. I understand now why Marcus paid so much attention to you, and I am ashamed for him. It was not well done.”

  Milli shrugged, trying not to show how much Marcus had hurt her. But every muscle in her body burned with anguish over the entire affair. “He was only trying to make my other suitors jealous, and it worked. Everyone but Breadford has offered for me.”

  Lizzie’s eyes widened. “I had no idea. Have they spoken with Stephen?”

  “I don’t know.”

  Lizzie looked away. “Oh, Milli. To think Papa died in such a terrible way . . .”

  Milli had cried her tears, and there were no more to shed. “And all because of money.”

  Lizzie let out a painful sob. “Money is the route of all evil, they say.”

  “Come now, Lizzie. You don’t think that or you would give all your money away and live in a cave.”

  Lizzie burst out laughing. “But to think that greed carries enough power to kill a human being makes the world seem so dark.”

  “Yes, but there is evil in the world, dearest. We cannot avoid it. But there is also love. Our entire religion is based upon an innocent man’s sacrifice for the world. It’s not as if the bible doesn’t talk about good and evil. But I admit, it is rather shocking when evil shows its ugly face.”

  Lizzie wiped her eyes. “And when did you grow up?”

  Milli gave a sad chuckle. “This past year, I think.”

  “And speaking of money, I understand you have your eye on some special property in Bath.”

  “Well, as long as you are asking . . .”

  Lizzie smiled. “I’m listening.”

  Milli hoped Lizzie would not scoff at her idea. “The thing is,” she went on, “I plan to buy the buildings and relocate a school for young women there. I want this school to be different. I want young women to have the education like we had. Science, math, geometry, geography, languages, painting. All of it. I also want them to learn more about what it means to help other people, what it means to do God’s work. Volunteering and helping with charities will encompass a large part of the education.”

  “That is an admirable dream, dearest. But you will not be able to do that without some help. Frankly, you need a man of persuasion.”

  “I’ve thought about that. Jane said the duke could help me, but I hate to say it, they are not getting along lately.”

  Lizzie frowned. “I know. It’s the loss of the baby, and the thought they will never have a child.”

  Milli nodded, feeling Jane’s pain. “But they love each other. They will soon be happy again. I know it.”

  Lizzie sighed. “I hope so. But what about your happiness? Is there some gentleman you have chosen?”

  Milli thought about Marcus and Miss Canton. It didn’t matter whom she married now. She had to get on with her life. And she was determined to use her money for good, but if that meant she needed a man behind her, so be it.

  “I have narrowed my choice, I believe.”

  “Who is the lucky gentleman?”

  “Knightengale.”

  Why she had said that, she did not know. But the jealousy that filled her at the thought of Marcus with Miss Canton crowded her mind until she could no longer think properly.

  “Knightengale? What about Marcus?”

  Milli blinked. “What about him? His feelings are directed toward Miss Canton, not me. You said yourself he was pretending to pay attention to me.”

  Lizzie’s brows dipped. “But, do you love him, dearest? Knightengale, I mean.”

  Milli let out a shaky smile, trying to skirt the question. “Do you think Stephen would approve?”

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  “No, I will not give you permission to marry that man!”

  Milli clamped her lips shut and paced about the study. She had caught Stephen a few minutes before the evening meal. He had pulled her into the room and kept glaring at her as if she had three eyeballs.

  She finally spun around and glowered back. She was tired of people telling her what to do. Mostly she was mad at Marcus and wanted to show him he meant nothing to her.

  “Knightengale is a gentleman,” she said calmly. “He is young and strong, and he likes me. We get along well together. How could you not let me marry him?”

  “It is all happening too fast. And you do not love him.”

  “How do you know if I love him or not?”

  Stephen’s dark eyes pierced her frigid facade. “I know.”

  Milli crossed her arms over her chest and tapped her slipper against the Aubusson rug. “I fail to see why that concerns you. You are not marrying the man.”

  Stephen’s face lit with amusement. “True. I would never marry a man like Knightengale.”

  “You know what I mean,” she said impatiently.

  “I don’t want you marrying some man to spite—”

  “He would never make you happy.” Marcus opened the door and stepped inside.

  Milli felt her stomach roll. “I am not talking to you.”

  She turned her back to him. He looked so handsome, so captivating, she wanted to scream. But he didn’t love her.

  Marcus walked up to them. “Well, I am talking to you.”

  Stephen narrowed his eyes in concern. “Milli?”

  She looked over her shoulder at Marcus, her gray eyes blazing with fury. “This is not your concern!”

  “Is this your concern?” Stephen asked his brother.

  Milli raised her hand and pointed to Marcus. “He is marrying Miss Canton. I fail to see why he even needs to be involved in this discussion.”

  Stephen frowned. “So, you have chosen Miss Canton?”

  Milli lifted her chin. “The general is going to give him the position he wants. He will travel the world on the arm of a beautiful woman, and all his dreams will be fulfilled. How magnificent for him.”

  Stephen sighed. “Now, Milli. Regardless of what Marcus does, I don’t think you should marry Knightengale. But just so you know, the man did come to see me.”

  Marcus scowled. “I forbid it. She is too young. She doesn’t know her mind.”

  Milli gasped in outrage. “I know my own mind, you . . . you big oaf!” Tears started to burn her throat. Why should he care anyway?

  Marcus leaned toward her. “I will stop the marriage—”

  She pushed against his chest. “You have no right!”

  “You don’t know what you are doing!”

  “I do too!”

  “You don’t!”

  Stephen stepped between them. “That is quite enough!”

  Milli wished she could fall through the floor. The ache in her heart was spreading throughout her entire body. “I don’t see why you care at all,” she said to Marcus, her voice breaking as she fled from the room.

 
“Milli, come back here,” Stephen commanded.

  Marcus cursed. “You think she’s about to listen to you?”

  Stephen shot him a cool glare. “If you hadn’t opened your big mouth, I would have been able to explain myself. A few seconds before you burst into our conversation, I had already told her she could not marry Knightengale.”

  Marcus’s brows shot up. “You did?”

  “Not for your benefit, you . . . you big oaf!”

  “Hell’s bells, don’t get mad at me. Knightengale isn’t good enough for her anyway.”

  “And who is? Breadford? Bennington? Valford?”

  Marcus massaged the back of his neck. “Devil take it, I don’t know.”

  Stephen sank into a wing chair. “You haven’t helped matters any. But confound it. I don’t know what to do with her.”

  “Lock her in her room until she comes to her senses.”

  Stephen’s head snapped to attention. “You are just as bad as she is. And why the devil are you going to marry that Canton chit? You don’t love her, and you don’t need her to get that position. You could go to the Duke of Wellington if you wanted to move up the ranks in the government.”

  “I need to marry, or have you forgotten?”

  Stephen blanched. “Forgot about it. Milli’s my main thought here. She gets me in such a whirl, I find it impossible to think.”

  “She does that to everybody,” Marcus mumbled, turning to leave. He could still detect the scent of lavender weaving about the room.

  Stephen looked up. “Are you going to be eating with us?”

  Marcus put his hand on the door. “No, I’m going to see the general.”

  Stephen threw up his hands in disgust. “I wash my hands of the both of you. And to tell you the truth, I am happy to be done with this murder mystery. Between you and Roderick, this place is a mausoleum.”

  “You’re not exactly the Queen of happiness yourself,” Marcus shot back, whipping the door closed.

  Milli ran to her bedchambers and plopped in the chair beside her writing table. She stared at her pen for almost half an hour.

  She was not going to be in the same room with that man! Her stomach growled, but she would rather starve than sit across the dinner table with Marcus!

  After another fifteen minutes, she came to a decision, picked up her pen, dipped it in the well, and began writing. Drat those Clearbrook men! She was not going to have her life manipulated by a bunch of stubborn lords! Papa had tried directing Lizzie’s life, and it had almost ended up in disaster.

  It took a while to write the correct words in her letter. She crumpled up her pitiful attempts and threw them into the fire. Finally, she felt confident with what she had written, folded the letter and sealed it with wax. She would send this to Lord Knightengale straight away. If Marcus truly cared for her . . . well . . . he would tell her how much he loved her. He would never let her go away with his friend. He would . . .

  She swallowed past the knot in her throat. She could do this. She would do this!

  She called for her maid and asked her to send the communication discreetly. Perhaps one of the footmen would carry it to Knightengale who was staying at his father’s residence while in town.

  A few minutes after the maid had left, there was a knock on her door. “May I come in?”

  It was the duchess. Milli put away her writing utensils and pinched her cheeks, putting some color back into her face. “Come in, Jane.”

  The duchess walked into the room, looking beautiful in a rose silk gown. But beneath Jane’s cheery disposition, there was a sadness Milli could feel straight down to her toes. “We missed you at dinner, dearest.”

  Milli looked away, straightening her gown. “I wasn’t hungry.”

  “You had an argument with Stephen. He told us about it.”

  She sat up. “He told everyone?”

  “Everyone, if you include Roderick, Clayton, Briana, Elizabeth, Emily, and Stonebridge. Oh, and mother, of course.”

  She scowled. “Why not the children too?

  Jane smiled. “They didn’t eat with us.”

  “Well, I fail to see why Stephen had to tell everyone. If I want to marry Knightengale, I shall.”

  Jane sat on the bed, saying nothing.

  Milli turned around in her chair. “Aren’t you going to tell me not to marry him too?”

  “I know you, dearest. If someone says one thing, you will do another.”

  Milli slumped. “I’m going to marry Knightengale, and no one is going to tell me no.”

  “Do you love him?”

  Milli shrugged. “I may not have a love like you and Roderick, but I do believe he will take care of me.”

  “I see.”

  “Do you? Do you know how it was to live under my Papa’s thumb? He was one of the richest men in England, and though I loved him, he was not happy at all. I don’t want that. I don’t want riches and big homes. I want to live in peace, and I believe that is what I can have with Lord Knightengale.”

  “Hmmmm.”

  “You don’t believe me?”

  “I believe you want to believe it.”

  “I do believe it. I do!”

  “What about Lord Hughmont? I thought he loved you?”

  Milli folded her hands in her lap. “They all have feelings for me in some way.”

  All except Marcus, she thought. And he thinks I am a flirt. If he knows I’m going to marry his good friend Knightengale, then he’ll be sorry. Then he’ll come running back to me, begging me to reconsider. He will fall on his knees . . .

  Jane came across the room and rested a gentle hand on Milli’s arm. “Don’t do anything drastic.”

  Milli slid a finger along her writing desk. “Why would you say that?”

  “I don’t know. I just want you to know that we all love you.”

  “Not Marcus,” she said, picking at her skirt.

  “Oh, that’s the way it is, is it?”

  Milli flushed. “I want nothing to do with that man. In fact, I am—”

  “You are what?”

  She raised her hands and let them drop. “Oh, nothing.”

  Jane frowned, and after a few minutes she left the room.

  Milli collapsed against her table and let out a miserable sigh. Did Jane know her plans? No, of course not.

  Her thoughts started running in a hundred different directions. If she were to be off to Gretna Green, she would have to pack a small valise. Anything too big would draw too much attention when she threw it out the window. But then again, she would have to show Marcus that she meant to marry Knightengale.

  She would love to see his face when he realized she was gone. But how would she let him know? There had to be a little time before Marcus came after her. And he would. He did say he would stop the marriage.

  She turned her attention to her window. When Lizzie had wanted to run away with Mr. Fennington, she had dropped an entire trunk on top of an unsuspecting Stephen. The poor man, Milli thought with a half smile. At least Lizzie had ended up with a wonderful husband.

  Cleo jumped onto her lap and nestled in the crook of her arm. “You are my only friend who won’t tell me what to do.” She put her cheek to the cat’s soft fur and sighed. “Oh, Cleo, what am I to do?”

  The cat meowed.

  “I agree. Stephen doesn’t have the right to choose my husband. And Marcus? Who does he think he is, telling me I’m too young? I’ll show him, won’t I Cleo?”

  The cat purred.

  “That’s what I think too. He has chosen Miss Canton! The rat! Well, I have chosen Lord Knightengale . . .”

  The cat looked up at her with glittering green eyes.

  “What? You don’t like my plan?” She sighed. “I agree. It’s a horrible idea. I could never go through with it. Lizzie would be so worried. It was a stupid, stupid scheme. Marcus would never come running after me. And Knightengale . . . well, it isn’t fair to him at all.”

  She sniffed, burying her face against her cat’s s
oft fur. “Oh, Cleo, what was I thinking? I’m so miserable. I know, I’ve been impulsive and stupid. And it was heartless of me to even send Lord Knightengale that note. What will he think of me?”

  She set Cleo on the floor and walked toward the window. The moon was low in the horizon, giving off an eerie glow.

  Her cat jumped on the sill, staring out the window.

  Milli leaned her forehead against the cool glass. “I don’t know what to do, Cleo. Oh, how I wish you could talk.”

  Her heart gave a sudden jolt when she caught sight of a shadow moving about the gardens. “Oh, Cleo, it can’t be. It’s too soon.”

  Milli opened her window from the second floor and peeked outside. “Are you out there Lord Knightengale?” she whispered, shivering as the cold air whipped about the room.

  “Over here, my love.” The man stepped out from under a tree, his huge form wrapped in a multi-caped coat.

  My love? Oh, dear.

  “Don’t think about it, sweetheart. Don’t be a coward now.”

  “I am not a coward,” she said, tipping herself further out the window. And when had she turned into his sweetheart? He had only kissed her once. Or was it twice?

  She thought she heard a string of curse words. Well, he was a man, was he not?

  “How am I to get down there?” she asked innocently. “Someone will surely see me if I go through the house?” That should help. He wouldn’t want her to break her neck.

  She would have to halt this crazy plan. What had she been thinking? And now, the poor man was in love with her!

  Oh, she knew he was fond of her, and yes, he had offered for her, but love her? Had he mentioned that before? She couldn’t remember. Goodness gracious. Perhaps Papa had known what he was doing with Lizzie after all.

  “I thought you had this all planned?” he asked, stepping beneath the window.

  “I thought you would give me at least another hour to figure it out,” she whispered.

  “I have the carriage. I just need you, my sweet.”

  Milli looked at the sheets on her bed as a possible rope. She didn’t want to embarrass the man. And she couldn’t truly tell him anything from up here. He deserved better. But if any of the Clearbrook brothers discovered Knightengale outside, ready to elope with her, they might hang the poor man from the nearest tree.