And if she didn’t marry him now, he’d have to abandon that plan. Start all over again trying to find someone else to become his convenient wife. For that was what he wanted, she finally saw. Just a woman to make his rescue of his sister appear respectable and above board.
Could she really let him down, this way, after he’d confided the delicacy of his sister’s plight to her? Could she let the girl, Julia, down, for that matter? She knew what it felt like to be all alone in the world, a burden to everyone, yet nobody’s responsibility. Though she’d never been in the kind of peril that faced Julia. She simply wasn’t pretty enough.
And then there were the Pargetters, who’d been so kind to her when she was just about at the end of her tether. They were banking on her to launch Dotty and Lotty into society. Give them the chance their beauty and vivacity deserved.
Could she trust him though, to keep his word? To grant her an allowance and treat her with respect?
From the way this interview had gone so far she thought, yes, perhaps she could.
And as for his temper, which seemed to flare out of nowhere—well, at least he regarded it as the bane of his life and tried to keep it in check.
And apologised when he couldn’t.
‘Very well,’ she said. ‘I will help you. Of course I will, now I understand what is at stake.’
‘Thank you.’ He heaved a sigh of relief. Reached across the small gap that divided them, took both her hands in his and gave them a little squeeze.
‘I have been at my wit’s end. I couldn’t tell anyone of my fears for her, in case it started the very kind of gossip that would be almost as bad as the fate I was afraid would await her if she ever got into Lord Wakefield’s clutches. Now we can nip any schemes he might have been hatching in the bud. But...you must understand, time is of the essence. I want a place made ready for her to come to, a place she can feel safe, before her current stepmother marries him.’
‘Which is why our wedding must take place so soon.’
‘That’s it. In fact, I was hoping we could get the knot tied tomorrow, then travel straight down to Mayfield and look the place over.’
‘Mayfield? Why, is there something wrong with it?’
‘I shouldn’t think so. But I do want to just make sure before I tell Julia she can move in. You see, when my father died, I was too young to live there alone, so, as I mentioned, my guardians packed me off to school and let the place out to tenants. Better than letting it stand empty, they reckoned, and renting it out paid for its upkeep.’
‘Oh, dear. Are you going to have to evict the current tenants? It’s so near to Christmas....’
‘And it may very well snow, too.’ He chuckled. ‘No, I’m not going to play the part of an evil landlord, don’t worry about that,’ he said, chucking her chin. ‘Fortunately, a couple of years ago, when it fell vacant, I told the letting agent I didn’t want them to find another tenant. Don’t need the money and have never liked the thought of strangers living there. Good country round about, too. Had some thoughts of doing a bit of entertaining, having some fellows down for the hunting, that sort of thing, though I never got round to it. And just as I told you before, the trustees never bother arguing when they can see I’ve made up my mind. For some reason, they stopped letting out Durant House, too.
‘Oh, hang it! I suppose I shall have to reside there once I’m married and have Julia in tow.’
‘You don’t like the place?’
‘It’s like a cross between a barn and a mausoleum,’ he said gloomily.
‘Can you not make it more comfortable?’
‘I don’t see how.’
‘W-well, I’ve never lived anywhere that cannot be made more...cheerful, by the strategic placement of furniture and a lick of paint.’
‘If you can make Durant House anything like approaching cheerful,’ he said fervently, ‘I will consider myself for ever in your debt.’
‘R-really?’
He pounced on the hopeful note she couldn’t help trembling through her voice.
‘I’ll give you a completely free hand. In fact, I would prefer it if you didn’t bother me with any of the details of the refurbishment at all.’
‘You are willing to give me a totally free hand in the redecoration of your town house?’
‘Mayfield, too, if you think you’d enjoy it. The only stipulation I will make is that I want it to feel like somewhere Julia can really feel at home.’
‘A...a home.’ She pressed her hands to her cheeks. ‘You want me to turn your ancestral seat into a home?’
‘Actually,’ he said, as though it had just occurred to him, ‘it’s traditional for the new bride to make some changes.’
‘Oh,’ she breathed, her hands clasped at her bosom now. She’d asked him for one room to call her own and he was presenting her with two whole houses.
‘You’d really enjoy doing that?’
‘Yes. Very much.’
‘Good. Told you I wanted you to be happy! And if buying new carpets and wallpaper will do it, then so much the better. Though...’ He rubbed his nose with his thumb as though a thought had just struck him. ‘If your taste really runs counter to mine, I might just have to reserve a room or two for myself.’
‘I wouldn’t dream of making you uncomfortable anywhere in your own homes,’ she protested.
‘You won’t,’ he said firmly. ‘This will be a very... That is, I’ve already told you I don’t want us to be in each other’s pockets all the time. You can go your way and I’ll go mine. Within limits.’ He frowned. Then shook his head. ‘No, no, never mind. I trust you to set a good example for Julia to follow. You won’t go creating any sort of scandal, will you?’
‘I...I don’t think I’d know how to,’ she said, a little stung by his warning, even though he had retracted it almost at once.
He smiled at her again. A smile so warm and full of approval that she quite forgave his blunt speaking yet again. It was just the way he was and she was going to have to get used to it.
‘So, you have no objection to marrying tomorrow and heading straight down there, then?’
‘What?’ She wasn’t sure how they’d moved from living separate, but parallel lives, the way she’d heard many tonnish people did, to rushing into the wedding itself.
‘Your aunt tried to make some objection about not having time to get a trousseau together, but do you really need one?’
‘N-no, of course not.’ She hadn’t even thought about it. All that had exercised her mind since the day before had been how to avoid marriage altogether.
He frowned. ‘You do mind. I can tell. Your aunt is right. It is downright selfish of me to deny you all the folderol most brides have. You’ll want a new gown at the least, and shoes.’
‘I...I think I could contrive to get something you won’t be ashamed to see me in, by tomorrow,’ she said.
His face lit up. ‘I’ll pay for it, of course. Send whatever bills you run up to me. Well, I think that’s all settled, then.’
He reached into his pocket and pulled out a sheet of paper. Having scanned it swiftly, he thrust it back, his face flushing. ‘You wouldn’t believe how many things a chap has to remember,’ he said, fishing around in another pocket, from which he produced a second list.
‘No wonder most women insist on having several weeks to organise a wedding. Ah. Yes, thought so,’ he said, thrusting the list back into his pocket. ‘There is just one more thing I do need to discuss with you, before we tie the knot.’
He cleared his throat.
‘This may be a businesslike arrangement, but it won’t be a paper marriage.’
‘I don’t follow.’
‘To be blunt, I need an heir. I’ve thought about this a lot, since...well, since I decided on marriage. And I’ve come to the conclusion we should get
that side of things started straight away. I can tell you’re quite a bashful sort of girl and that you might think I ought to give you time to become accustomed to the idea of being married, before I make any demands of that nature. But it’s like this...’
He leaned forward and took hold of both her hands in his. ‘At the moment, we both like each other. Don’t we?’
When she nodded, shyly, he smiled. ‘Now, the sad fact is marriages can turn sour remarkably quickly. I’ve seen it time and time again. If we get to the point where we cannot stand even being in the same room as one another...well, let’s just say attempting to get an heir in those conditions won’t be pleasant. Not for either of us. But at the moment, when we kiss...’
He looked at her mouth. Her lips tingled in remembrance of the kisses they’d shared the day before. And then every other part of her began to tingle, as well.
He was probably right. She’d grown up in a house where husband and wife could barely stand to be in the same room as each other. Whereas now...
Well, it really sounded as though he wouldn’t try to suffocate her. He had at least two houses that she knew of. So they needn’t ever be cooped up in a cramped little cottage, resenting the very air that each breathed. And they weren’t marrying for love, so they couldn’t fall out of it and grow bitter and resentful.
But, oh, she did like kissing him. And now that he’d mentioned it, and was looking at her mouth that way, she wanted him to take her in his arms again, the way he’d done yesterday. And...she blushed, and the rest.
As if he knew the direction of her thoughts, he dropped to his knees in front of her, never letting go of her hands, leaned forward and touched his lips to hers. Just lightly.
Her eyes fluttered shut. She gripped his hands tightly. And she leaned forward, too, this time pressing her lips to his.
In a heartbeat, he’d got his arms round her, she’d put her arms round him and each was kissing the other for all they were worth.
‘Mmnhh...stop,’ he mumbled, pulling away. ‘We have to stop,’ he said, staggering to his feet and backing across the room. ‘Or I won’t be able to. You...’ He drew in a great, ragged breath.
‘My God,’ he said unsteadily. ‘I would never have believed it, but do you know, I’m actually looking forward to my wedding day.’
‘Me, too,’ she admitted, stunned. ‘And I wouldn’t have believed it, either.’
‘See?’ He grinned. ‘We’re perfect for each other.’
To her amusement he then sidled round the edge of the room to the door, as though avoiding a dangerous precipice.
As though she was utterly irresistible.
Just for a moment, she almost believed it herself.
Chapter Six
Wedding fever swept through the household. Aunt Pargetter took Mary to a street where there was a whole parade of shops where you could buy clothing ready-made. And not all of it used. And by dint of sitting up well into the night, with as many lamps as they could gather, the four women, working together, had both her gown, and the coat they’d bought to wear over it, altered to fit as though it had been made for her, then trimmings added so that the whole ensemble looked as though it had been designed from the outset instead of bought piecemeal and cobbled together.
She slept surprisingly well considering she was about to take a step she’d once vowed she would never take at all. Even though she’d only met Lord Havelock a matter of days before, the prospect of marrying him didn’t fill her with dread. Every time either Dotty or Lotty rolled over, kicking her in the shins in their sleep, it reminded her of their willingness to make room for her when they had so little of it themselves. And she got a warm glow of satisfaction, knowing that she would soon be in a position to help this family, the only ones who’d shown her any compassion when she’d been at her most desperate.
And help Lord Havelock’s sister, too.
How many men, she sighed, would make the supreme sacrifice of surrendering their bachelor freedom for the sake of a sister? Not her own brother, that was certain. He’d escaped their unhappy household as soon as he could and never looked back. Oh, he’d visited when on shore leave, but during those brief visits their father had been on his best behaviour and Kit had never once looked beneath the surface....
Not that she had begrudged him his career. Not in the light of how it ended....
She turned on to her side, resting her cheek on the palm of her hand. No point dwelling on the failings of a brother who was no more. Besides, she’d much rather dream about her husband-to-be. She smiled into the darkness as she recalled his insistence they get the business of providing an heir to his estates settled quickly, before they went off each other. Some women might have taken his attitude as an insult. She preferred to regard it as eminently practical. And a touch flattering that though he assumed his ardour would cool, he really felt some now. Quite a lot, if that last kiss in the parlour was anything to go by. And the difficulty he had in breaking it off.
Which meant that very soon she would have a baby to hold. Possibly even a couple before he went back to his... Well, a man as energetic and healthy as he was bound to have some arrangement to satisfy that form of appetite. Though even when it got to that stage in their marriage, she was not afraid he would become a cruel, or even an indifferent, parent. The lengths to which he was prepared to go for his sister assured her of that.
* * *
The next morning, when she stood before the mirror, she couldn’t help exclaim in thanks for the Pargetters’ hard work and inventiveness. She’d never looked better dressed.
Oh, if only her mother could see her now. Or her brother...though it wasn’t likely he would have been on leave to walk her down the aisle even if his ship hadn’t gone down with all hands.
For a moment, stark loneliness had tears welling in her eyes. Resolutely she dashed them away. She didn’t want to appear in church with red eyes, as though she was going to the altar like some...sacrificial lamb. Besides, she was gaining a new family today, a husband who didn’t seem as though he had the slightest inclination to browbeat and control her, a sister who would need her and eventually children of her very own to love her.
It was with a pale, but determined face that she left the room she’d shared with her cousins and made her way downstairs and to the carriage waiting to carry her, her aunt, uncle and cousins to church.
Her uncle Pargetter had taken leave from his place of work so that he could walk her down the aisle. The gesture should have made her feel less alone, but somehow the fact that she knew him as little as the man who was waiting for her at the altar merely lent the proceedings an air of unreality.
It had all happened so fast. And before she knew it, the vicar declared they were man and wife, and Lord Havelock was bundling her into a carriage, which whisked them off to the Clarendon, where Lord Havelock treated them all to a splendid breakfast.
‘You’ve landed on your feet and no mistake,’ her uncle commented as he shook her hand before leaving. ‘Very open-handed, this new husband of yours.’
‘Yes, and so handsome,’ added Aunt Pargetter, giving her a kiss on the cheek. She added a hug to the parting kiss, so that she could whisper into her ear.
‘But please, don’t think of this as a permanent parting. You must feel free to come and talk to me, or write, if you have any little problems. Getting used to the married state can be a touch tricky and I know you have no other female relative in whom you can confide.’
She didn’t know how her aunt had guessed, but she did feel rather as though she was sailing into uncharted waters without a compass. And also now she’d boarded this ship called matrimony, it wouldn’t be possible to return to the shore from which she’d embarked. Her aunt’s willingness to give her the benefit of her advice, should she reach troubled waters, made her feel not quite so alone.
She hug
ged her aunt back, fiercely.
‘Thank you’ was all Mary managed to say, with a voice thickened with emotion. She was going to miss them, all the Pargetters. They were good people. They didn’t have much, yet they’d been far more generous than closer relations who were far better off.
‘Our rooms are this way,’ said Lord Havelock, the moment the last of the Pargetters had exited the hotel and she’d dabbed her eyes dry with a darned handkerchief. He offered her his arm, and she laid her hand on his sleeve.
They mounted the stairs in silence, in the wake of a smartly liveried hotel porter. The man opened a door with a flourish and bowed them into what looked like some wealthy person’s best parlour.
‘I took a suite of rooms,’ said Lord Havelock once he’d dismissed the porter. ‘I hope they meet with your approval.’
‘In all honesty,’ she said, hands clasped to her bosom, ‘I have never seen such a magnificent room in all my life.’ The thickness of the carpet alone made her yearn to take off her shoes and stockings so she could sink her toes into it. A fire blazed heartily from an ornate marble fireplace and all the furniture looked as though it had been specially selected to match not only every other piece in the room, but also the wallpaper and curtains.
He had casually mentioned having both a country estate and a town house, as well as his more comfortable bachelor rooms, but it hadn’t really struck her, until this moment, what it meant. A man who could afford to buy a marriage licence and get a ceremony organised within a couple of days, splash out for a wedding breakfast in a hotel notorious for the expense of its meals and hire a whole suite of rooms like this, must be very, very wealthy indeed.
In a daze, she let him lead her across the room.
‘This is your bedchamber,’ he said, throwing open the door to the right of the fireplace. ‘I did promise that you would always have your own room, a room that nobody could enter without your permission.’
‘You did,’ she said, hovering tensely on the threshold, looking in. The room was as tastefully opulent as the sitting room. But what caught her eye, and held her rooted to the spot, was the enormous four-poster bed it contained.
Harlequin Historical September 2014 - Bundle 2 of 2: Lord Havelock's ListSaved by the Viking WarriorThe Pirate Hunter Page 9
