by Robyn DeHart
“It is not merely you, there is a certain young woman whose name is being linked to yours and it would seem that you have ruined it.”
“Ruined who, precisely? Because I can assure you I have done nothing of the sort.” And then memories of the night before and Evie’s cries of passion, her lovely fair skin marred with the blush of arousal, flashed through his mind. He bit back a swear.
“A country miss. I am not certain I recall her name.” She waved her hands dismissively, “But it would seem that she was supposed to be caring for an ailing aunt and instead has not been seen or heard from since leaving her cottage, nearly three weeks ago. With you. What have you done with her, Bennett?”
How the hell had that traveled all the way to London? “This is a misunderstanding, nothing more.”
Her brows rose. “So you know of the girl?”
“What girl?” Evelyn asked from the doorway.
Splendid. She had impeccable timing. Bennett stood. “Mother, may I present Miss Evelyn Marrington.”
“Yes, that was her name.”
Evelyn came forward, blush creeping up to stain her cheeks. “My Lady, so lovely to meet you.” She curtsied and his mother didn’t even bother to stand.
“So it is not a rumor at all. Good heavens, Bennett, you may do as you wish and have elicit affairs, but be discreet and perhaps more selective.”
“I’m sorry, I could have sworn that you just counseled me to be more discreet with my affairs? Honestly, mother, that is laughable with all of the cavorting you do in London.”
She came to her feet then. “I believe I shall retire for a while before returning to London. It is such a tiring drive. And then to have my only child be so very rude.”
Evelyn stood there, mouth agape, watching as his mother left the room. He followed her out, leaving Evie alone.
“Mother, first, I am not your only child. You do not get to pretend that Christy never existed simply because she is dead. Secondly, that was most unkind.”
“Your sister was weak, and I do not mention her because it is too painful to do so.”
He doubted that, but said no more about the matter.
She waved her hand dismissively. “I was stating the truth. That girl is obviously trying to trap you into a marriage that would only benefit her. There’s certainly nothing you would gain from saddling yourself with a country miss.”
“You have no notion of what you’re talking about.”
“Considering I have been that girl, the advantageous girl with no funds and a pretty face. It is quite easy to trap men into a marriage, but you, my dear, can certainly do better. You are so handsome.” She patted his cheek.
He withdrew from her touch. “That’s not what I meant. My relationship with Miss Marrington is far more evolved. We are to be married.” The words were out of his mouth before he’d fully considered them, but he knew, without a doubt, that it was what had to be done. He had ruined her, and it would seem that the world knew about it. He would do the honorable thing and marry her.
“Bennett, do not ruin your life on a girl such as this. Yes, people will believe that you have defiled her. You must take her home immediately. Certainly her family can think of a way to salvage her reputation.”
“Listen to yourself, Mother.” He wanted to tell her the truth to defend Evelyn; tell his mother about the assignment with the Brotherhood. But that would betray every oath he’d taken for the Brotherhood. He shook his head. “I’ll see that your horses are tended and your carriage is ready for you to return to London first thing tomorrow morning.” He turned on his heel and stepped back into his study.
Evelyn still stood in the very same spot.
He wanted to be able to say that his mother meant well, that her intentions were well meaning, but the truth was, she’d come here to appease her own curiosity and no other reason.
He was angry as hell about the entire situation. This was what he’d worked so hard to prevent. After Gwyneth, he never wanted to be put in this kind of situation, where a woman was after his name for his money. And here he was embroiled in a scandal of his own making. He had no choice. He would have to do the honorable thing.
…
“I didn’t mean to interrupt. I hadn’t realized your mother arrived,” Evelyn said.
“She doesn’t normally visit.”
“Would it be too much trouble to ready a carriage for me? I believe it is beyond time I return home.”
“Nonsense. Once your family has returned, but until then you are quite welcomed here.” His words were kind, but the tone in his voice suggested he wanted her anywhere but here with him.
She’d come down here looking for him for a reason, but now could not recall what that reason was. She wished she had stayed in her—in the bedchamber—he’d loaned her. Then she wouldn’t have been privy to his mother’s malicious words.
A muscle ticked in Bennett’s jaw, a rhythmic reminder of his anger.
She could inquire as to why he was so irritated, but in truth she was afraid to know the answer, afraid that it had something to do with her. “I can’t seem to recall why I came down here. Again I apologize for intruding.” She turned to go.
“Wait,” he said, grabbing her elbow as she passed by him.
“Did you hear something from London? Is Her Majesty well?”
“Yes, no. That is, no I did not hear anything. So as far as I know the Queen is well.” He stepped closer to her, so close she could smell the sandalwood in his soap. He waved his hand, an angry slash in the empty space in front of him. Then he swore. Evidently, he’d decided that he no longer felt the need to shield her from such things.
“You and I shall be married,” he said.
“I beg your pardon?”
“Your reputation has been compromised. We have no other choice but to marry.” His features set in a scowl, he looked at her as if she was a child and he was frustrated at having to explain things to her.
Her heart seemed to stop as if he’d reached into her chest and squeezed it shut. “This is ridiculous. Of course, we are not getting married.”
“This is not a discussion,” he said. It was as if suddenly the man she’d been with the last two weeks had disappeared and in his place was that stern, rude man she’d once confronted.
“I will not be forced into a marriage with someone who has such little regard for me. Proposals are supposed to, if not contain declarations of love, be flattering and affectionate. You are angry at the thought of having to marry me. No, thank you.”
“You think I have no regard for you?” He pulled her into his arms and kissed her fiercely.
She barely had time to react to the kiss before he ended it, still holding her arms.
“I’ll have you know I am very attracted to you and have been since the first moment I saw you.”
She recognized he desired her. That much had been abundantly clear every time he pulled her into an embrace. Until last night, she’d thought it was because she favored the queen, but he’d made certain to erase that thought with his murmurs of affection. Still his proposal was horrifically unromantic, not to mention insulting. “Attraction has little to do this.”
“Of course it does.” His pallor had paled, but anger ticked in the muscles along his jawline. “Why would I marry someone were I not attracted to them?”
She frowned. “So do you want to marry me because of my ruined reputation or because you desire me?”
“What I want has no bearing in this situation. I am honor-bound to marry you.”
His words hit as if he’d struck her with his hand. “Yes, just as you were required to work with me on the assignment.” She shook her head. “You behave as if you have no choices in your life. The poor, mistreated Earl of Somersby.” She blew out a low breath. “As tempting as that proposal is, I’m going to have to decline.”
He started to speak, but she put a finger to his lips. “Enough, truly. If you say anything else, I’m not certain I can withstand all the praise and fla
ttery. Suffice it to say, I shall not marry you, nor will I hold you to this. I came to London knowing fully what I was getting into.”
She shook her head. “Well, I didn’t know everything, but I decided to continue. And I came to your bed last night knowing what I was doing. If my reputation is ruined, then so be it. I care not a whit what others say in the first place.” That wasn’t entirely true. She cared what her family thought, and a ruined reputation could damage her younger sisters’ chances of marriage. Hopefully though, her elder sisters could more than make up for her slip. She tugged at her sleeves. “Besides, with my sisters around, people don’t spend time discussing me. This little rumor, as it were, will disappear in time and people will forget it had ever been said.” She turned to leave.
“This is not over,” he said.
“Yes, Bennett, it is.”
“Where are you going?”
“Back upstairs. I have some thinking to do.” Not to mention some writing. Though her own reputation might be damned, she’d just had a brilliant idea for her book.
Chapter Eleven
Bennett knew that Evie was not enthusiastic about their upcoming nuptials; still, they had details they needed to work out together. She had been scarce since his proposal, and he’d tired of waiting for her. So he made his way to her bedchamber to discuss said matters with her.
He was angry, not so much about the forced marriage, but at the rumors that dictated it. Yes, he was the one who had succumbed to her seduction and taken her virtue, but the gossips didn’t actually know that. In truth, he was rather relieved about having to marry Evie. He wanted her, but he’d certainly not been willing to pursue her in conventional methods, which is no doubt what she would require for marriage. But now their hands were forced and he’d get the woman he wanted without promises of love and romance.
He knocked lightly, but there was no answer. Perhaps she slept. They’d been up nearly the entire night, and she was no doubt tired. He knocked once more before turning the knob and giving himself entrance.
She was decidedly absent from her room. Not only was she absent, but it would seem that in her very short stay, she’d also taken the liberty to rearrange some of the furniture. Perhaps she had done that to this room when she’d been here the first time. Most notably she had taken the small writing desk and moved it to beneath the window. He walked over to peer outside on the off chance she’d decided to take a walk.
He saw no one out the window, though admittedly several trees blocked his view of the grounds. She could be out there somewhere. His nerves ticked up. After the danger she’d been in, he hated not having her in his sight, but the threat of danger had been removed; she was no longer on the assignment, therefore, he need not be concerned about her safety. Yet, he was, he could not deny that.
“What are you doing in here?” Evie’s voice came from behind him.
“I came to appeal to your logical sense.”
She crossed her arms over her chest. “There is nothing you can say to convince me to marry you.”
“You are ridiculously stubborn.” He took a step towards her. “Nothing? Because you don’t want to marry me or you don’t want to marry at all?”
“I had no intentions of marrying. No man would allow me the freedom to write.”
Another step. “Not true. I wouldn’t care if you wrote.”
Her mouth opened, then she frowned and closed her lips.
“Still unconvinced, I see.”
“You don’t understand, Bennett.” She walked past him to the window, pulled back the drapery to see down below. “I never wanted to marry, but for one exception.”
He’d hoped she wouldn’t be so blinded by the foolishness that plagued most women. “You want me to promise to love you forever.”
“No. That would be a lie. I don’t want you to lie to me.”
“That is the most reasonable thing you’ve said yet.” The irony of the situation did not evade him. He’d finally found a woman he would be pleased to marry, yet she was one woman who would say no because he refused her his heart.
She turned around then and faced him. “What did she do to you?”
“What do you think happened between Gwyneth and I? That I walked out on her because I felt like it?”
“I actually have no notion of what happened other than what I’ve heard from other people,” she said.
He never discussed this with anyone. Regardless of the truth, he’d become the villain in everyone’s eyes. Normally he did not care what people believed of him, but he found he wasn’t willing for Evie to see him in such a way. “I found her in bed. In my bed with Morton.”
Evie came forward, but made no move to touch him, for which he was thankful.
“She begged me to still marry her despite her indiscretion. When I asked her why…” He shook his head. “My money, she needed my fortune.” Then she’d gone on to call him a beast, told him he was abnormal and that no woman would ever truly want him.
“Why did you not defend your name? Tell people the truth?”
“It would not have mattered. People will believe what they want to believe. With Gwyneth and Morton telling the same story, he came off looking like the hero that swooped in and rescued her poor reputation.” She’d cried her pretty tears and Morton had smiled his charming grins and together they’d become the favorite couple that season.
As it turned out, Gwyneth had been right, no woman had wanted him. Perhaps this was Evie’s true motivation, but she was too gentle to say as much. What was that old saying? ‘Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me.’
…
It hadn’t been that difficult to sneak away from Bennett’s estate, as he’d holed himself up in his study after their argument. Though convincing his staff to assist her in returning home had been more challenging, finally they’d succumbed to her pleading and she’d been in her own bed by a quarter after midnight.
The night had been rough. She kept seeing Bennett’s face as he’d told her about discovering Gwyneth with Lord Morton. He must have cared for her dearly to be so convinced that the mere notion of love was a falsehood. She’d cried more than she’d slept, but by the light of the morning sun, she’d decided she had shed far too many tears for Lord Somersby. She’d been a fool to believe a man as powerful and handsome could fall in love with a plain country miss. So after a quick breakfast, she retired to the front parlor to read and enjoy a quiet morning alone.
Mrs. Kimble, the housekeeper, scratched on the door. “Miss Evelyn, there is a gentleman here to see you.”
She had wondered if he would come and try to bring her back to his estate, but she had a speech all prepared, a way to release his duty-bound notion of saving her reputation. Then he could go about his business with the Crown. She swung her legs off the arm of the chair and stood, waiting for his broad shoulders and glowering expression to enter the room.
Instead the impossibly handsome Phillip Wells, Earl of Morton stepped inside and bowed slightly. “Miss Evelyn, I’m so pleased to find you well.”
“I am admittedly quite surprised by your visit. I had no notion you knew where I lived, Lord Morton.” Unease flitted through her, but she swatted it away. This man was harmless, a nuisance, though hadn’t Bennett sent one of the other Brotherhood members to discuss some matters with Lord Morton? Had Bennett thought this man part of the assassination attempt? Granted, she knew that Bennett knew the man’s character and no doubt thought him capable of any variety of misdeeds.
“I do hope you are not here on official Brotherhood business. Perhaps you were not informed that the Queen has returned and she herself sent me on my way.”
He smiled warmly and came forward. “No, I came to see you. I have a business proposal for you.” Though she’d only met him one other time, he did appear a little ruffled around the edges today, his clothes not as impeccable, his hair not so perfectly in place. Dark circles weighed heavy under his eyes, indicating he too had spent a sleepless night.
&n
bsp; There was a sort of desperate cheerfulness in his smile that she didn’t trust. She frowned. “What kind of business could you possibly have with me?”
“Why the same kind of business you had with Bennett of course,” Lord Morton said smoothly. For one horrible moment, she thought perhaps he knew the truth about her relationship with Bennett. But then Lord Morton added, “I need you to impersonate our dear monarch one last time.”
She frowned. “I’m afraid that I’m retired from my life adventure and am content to stay home with my family.”
“Nonsense.” He waved a hand, came towards her. “I can assure you that you will not want to miss this particular assignment.”
For the briefest second, she considered hearing his proposal. Perhaps more adventure was what she needed. Perhaps that would take her mind off Bennett and the heartbreak he’d caused her. She was tempted for only a moment. In truth, she knew it was a distraction she needed. She needed time to heal her heart, and a more common sense when it came to whom exactly she handed her heart out to. “It is truly kind of you to consider me, but certainly there is someone more qualified than myself.”
“On the contrary, you are who I need for this. Come with me, Evelyn.” He held his hand out to her.
She shook her head. “No. Thank you.” She shook her head, dread tiptoeing up her spine. Suddenly the desperation on his face no longer looked cheerful or charming; that desperation looked dangerous. He looked dangerous. I believe I’m going to insist that you take your leave now.”
“I’m afraid that’s only going to happen if you leave with me,” he said.
“Absolutely not!”
He withdrew a pistol from his coat and pointed it straight at her. “Oh, I insist.”
…
Initially, when Bennett discovered that Evelyn had left his estate, he’d thought to leave her be, go back to London and proceed as if nothing had happened between them, but that thought had been fleeting. Every thought after that had been filled with anger.
He was angry with her for leaving, and he was furious with his staff for allowing her to do so. Nay, for assisting her in doing so. His butler and housekeeper hadn’t met his eyes for the last half-hour while they’d readied things for him to leave.
