Never Kiss a Laird

by Byrnes, Tess

  Sally gave vent to her rage by striding across the room, and throwing open the French doors.

  Simon crossed behind the desk and sank down into Lord Denham’s favorite chair. He leaned back, and put his feet up on the oaken desk, ankles crossed. “You look devilish fine there, Sally, but we’ll both catch our death if you don’t close that door.”

  “Hmm, there’s an idea,” Sally muttered to herself, but she pulled the door to. “Mr. Atherly, I wish you to understand me. I know the value of your offer,” her sardonic tone rivaled his own. “But I refuse it.”

  “You can’t,” he informed her with a complacent smile. “Your reputation is ruined. No other man would have you.”

  “But we did nothing wrong,” Sally spoke bitterly. “You know as well as I do that there is no truth in this rumor. If you would go to Lady Greenly and convince her that she is mistaken, this might still be reparable.”

  Simon shook his head. “It’s too late. It would just be seen as a poor excuse. Besides, I need something in my pocket to get you onside, my dear. You have not fallen for my charms, and so I must use what I can to secure your hand.” He crossed the room to stand before her. “Come, Sally, you’re lucky I have agreed to this arrangement.” He paused and an oddly satisfied look came over his face. “I knew that your portion would be handsome; it was not just your charms that made me pursue you, you know. But when your father told me it was thirty thousand pounds!” He stopped and whistled. “Well, you’re a beauty, Sally, but that was a clincher.” He walked over to her father’s chair and sank down into it, a smug smile on his face.

  Sally’s cheeks darkened at his insulting words, but she clenched her teeth and made no reply.

  “Besides that, there’s the money your paternal grandmother left to you. I had no idea the old harridan held you in such high esteem. I had assumed that her personal fortune would have been split between the three of her grandchildren, but no, it all went to you. And that fortune makes your portion appear small. So given some rather pressing debts of my own, and the fact that my father whistled his fortune down the wind before he cocked up his toes, this comes under the heading of a honey fall for me.”

  “And under what heading does it come for me?” Sally enquired in sweet tones that would have set her brothers’ protective radar humming.

  “Well,” Simon drawled, getting to his feet. “I’m a handsome fellow, Sally, you must admit that. And you won’t find me to be a strict husband, always yelling about the bills, or any little peccadilloes. And with your reputation in tatters, unless you marry me no one in the county will recognize you. I’d say it was a honey fall for you too.”

  Sally’s eyes emitted little sparks of rage. “I would not term it thus, Mr. Atherly.”

  “Simon,” he repeated, this time with an edge to his voice. “You know, Sally. You can be a tiresome chit. I could walk away from this situation. I might be eyed askance by the mothers of young girls for a year or so, but believe me, I could overcome that once it was known that I made an honorable offer of marriage. But you are ruined. Do you understand what that means? No man will ever marry you. You will never be invited into anyone’s home again, given the cut by your acquaintance, destined to live here as the disgraced aunt to your brothers’ children.”

  Sally blanched at his words, but she lifted her chin, refusing to drop her eyes.

  Simon smiled triumphantly. “Now contrast that with marriage with me; as much pin money as you can spend, a town house in London for the Season, beautiful clothes, your reputation restored.” He crossed to Sally and took her hand. “A handsome, young husband.” He bent his head as if to kiss her wrist, and Sally snatched her arm away, almost involuntarily forming her hands into fists.

  “Remember what happened last time you laid hands on me, Mr. Atherly,” she warned.

  A quick laugh sprung into Simon’s eyes. “I will serve you trick and tie for that, my girl. And I have a very special punishment in mind for you,” he informed her in voice that held no laugh at all.

  Sally backed away from him, a look of pure dislike on her face. This only caused Simon to laugh again.

  “You have no idea what I am talking about, have you?” he marveled. “How delicious.”

  But country-bred Sally, having been raised with two brothers, had a pretty fair, if not detailed, idea of what he had in mind, and her resolve strengthened.

  So she would have a life of disgrace. Weighed in the balance, she would take it. It would be hard, but not impossible, to convince her father of her choice. He had never been able to hold out against her wishes if she really put her mind to getting her way.

  “I must thank you for your obliging offer, Mr. Atherly. I admit it has taken me by surprise,” she said stonily, playing for time. “I must beg you to allow me to think about it before making my answer.”

  “Don’t think too long,” Simon warned. “I might change my mind, and then where would you be?” He laughed heartily at his own joke. “I must be on my way anyway. I’ve left my horse standing far too long in this chill weather. I will take my leave of you, my beloved.” He reached out unexpectedly and pulled her into a tight embrace, trapping her hands behind her back. “Until the wedding,” he said huskily, and pressed his mouth to hers. Sally stood without moving, her lips tightly shut, until he released her. With a laugh and negligent wave of his hand, he was gone.

  Chapter Three

  Try as she might, though, Sally had been unable to influence her father’s decision. Over the next few weeks, despite her best arguments, Sally’s parents remained unyielding, and paid no heed to her steadfast refusal to marry Simon Atherly. They gave her an ultimatum. Either she agreed to marry and regain her lost reputation, or she would be exiled from Denham Park. Her parents’ first plan, to send her to the continent with a respectable woman for a chaperone had give way to their current plan, to send her to Lady Denham’s mama.

  “I will not be bundled off to Scotland to be known as Grandmother’s unfortunate compromised granddaughter!” Sally stormed to Rupert, her chief confidante, as they waited for the grooms to saddle their horses on a bright, cold afternoon. The midnight blue of Sally’s riding dress matched her eyes, and became her slim figure admirably. Her brother, equally fine in his smart new riding jacket, gave her a sympathetic glance, even as he was uncomfortably aware of the proximity of the groom. Had he but known, the staff was uniformly well-informed on the subject of Sally’s notoriety, and her subsequent offer of marriage. He was happily ignorant of that, however, and put a warning finger to his lips, jerking his head in the direction of the stables.

  Sally sighed, but said nothing further until she had been thrown up into the saddle, adjusted her skirts, and she and Rupert had cantered a safe distance from the house.

  “You still can’t bring yourself to consider Simon’s offer?” he asked sadly.

  “Oh Rupert,” Sally sighed. “I thought you would understand.”

  “What, that you don’t love him? From what I’ve observed in life, that is not a luxury most people in our circle are afforded.”

  Sally shook her head. “I am not a silly girl, Rupert. I know that I was never promised the opportunity to wait until I fell in love for marriage. And with Mama canceling my coming-out, and Lady Greenly’s thorough spreading of the news of that dreadful evening at the Saracen’s Head, I won’t even get the chance of a respectable, loveless marriage. And no, I cannot bring myself to consider Mr. Atherly’s despicable offer.”

  “He’s not such a bad fellow, Sally,” Rupert offered, still confused at his sister’s resolve. “We’ve known him all our lives. He’s a bruising rider, he’s dashed handsome, and, well, he did the honorable thing in offering for you.”

  Sally smiled at her brother. He was too decent to understand the caddishness inherent in Simon Atherly’s nature. “Nonetheless Rupert, my mind is made up on that score. Let’s not discuss it anymore.”

  They cantered through the park in companionable silence, until they reached the road, and
then they let their reigns drop, and allowed the horses to walk side by side.

  “I can’t believe that Mama is packing you off to Scotland tomorrow,” Rupert moaned miserably. “I say, it’s too bad, Sally. Our grandmother scares me to death.”

  “I don’t see why she should scare you. She is certainly sharp-tongued, but she can’t do anything to you.”

  “Brave words,” Rupert scoffed. “Still, I can’t even imagine going to live with her.”

  “I couldn’t agree more.” Sally looked sideways at her brother. “That’s why I’m not going to go live with Grandmother.”

  Rupert started violently and inadvertently tugged on his reigns, causing Midnight to toss his head in protest.

  “Sorry, boy,” Rupert crooned to his horse. He twisted in his saddle to stare at his sister. “What did you say Sally!”

  “I refuse to dwindle into that unfortunate, compromised Denham girl. If I’m to have no future, it shall be the lack of a future that I choose for myself!” She saw that Rupert was looking confused, and pulled her horse to a halt, her brother stopping beside her.

  “Think about it, Rupert. My choices are to either marry a man I despise, or go live with my Grandmother, who despises me. I will not choose either one of those futures. So I have a plan. Do you swear on your life to keep this a secret?”

  Horrified by the rapt look in his sister’s eyes, Rupert made a cross with his fingers over his heart and shook the hand that Sally held out to him in their childhood pledge of secrecy.

  Sally sighed with relief. “I have rented a cottage in a village up in Scotland. I sent the letter from the village, under an alias, and used some of my pin money for the renter’s fee. And I have received the confirmation of receipt.”

  Sally’s eyes sparkled mischievously. “I shall live in a cottage and feast upon beans. Or is it potatoes? Never mind. I don’t know how to cook either. But I must learn. Oh, and how to dress meat, and hold house, and all manner of things. Will you come and visit me, Rupert?”

  “Yes, in the booby hatch.” Rupert snorted. “You cannot be serious. You, to live alone somewhere in Scotland? Sally, you had much better go to my grandmother. I’m sure this will all blow over, and you can return home before many months.”

  Sally shook her head firmly, sending her red-gold curls bobbing. “No, you are not being realistic. You are trying to see the bright side, but there isn’t one, Rupert. Come, I have it all planned out. I still have all of this quarter’s pin money, and most of last quarter’s. Over three hundred pounds! That’s almost five times what Papa paid Miss Brockham for a whole year.”

  “You can’t possibly be a governess, Sally. You don’t know anything,” said her helpful brother.

  “No, I know that,” Sally was not insulted. She had never been bookish. “But it’s enough to live on, carefully, for a number of years. I might find a way to earn some money, too. I just wish I knew how to access the money our grandmother left me. That is all mine, I just have no idea how to get my hands on it. I’ve never been to a bank, in fact I don’t even know what bank it resides in.”

  “I’ve been to the bank in town with Papa. Maybe I could help?”

  “No. If you were caught trying to get my money, Mama would quickly figure out that you know where I am. And you know that you could never hold out against Mama, Rupert.”

  Rupert nodded acceptance of this reading of his character.

  “It wouldn’t help anyway, Rupert. I am not of age yet, and am legally still under the control of my parents. In one and a half years I shall be of age, however, and I can go to Papa’s man of affairs, and demand my fortune. Then I can do anything I like, no matter what Mama and Papa say. I could go abroad. I believe Paris is the preferred destination for fallen women.”

  Rupert gave a dutiful laugh, but continued to look grave. Sally noticed, and reached over to put an impulsive hand on his arm. “Rupert, I have thought about this. I’ve had little else to do for many weeks. Mama has not let me leave the estate. And Grandmama will be exactly the same.”

  Rupert nodded. Knowing his mama, and his grandmama, he was very sure that Sally’s estimation of her future was probably correct.

  Sally’s eyes were troubled. “I kept believing that our parents would change their minds. Or at least that our father would. They know that I am innocent of the rumors, but they do not care, Rupert. They want nothing more than to be rid of me and the embarrassment that I represent.”

  Rupert stretched out a hand, and Sally put her gloved one into his. Meeting his sympathetic look, she sniffed back the tears that threatened and threw back her shoulders.

  “Well, they will get their wish. But not in the manner that they expect,” she stated firmly.

  Looking up, Sally realized they had strayed farther than they had intended. They neared the spot where Beau had injured his fetlock, unwittingly precipitating the events that had led her to this pass. She sighed, and told Rupert that they had better turn back, before they ran into someone they knew.

  Rupert nodded, but he still looked utterly miserable. Sally’s heart went out to him. She knew exactly why he was having such a hard time. Deep in his heart, he could not accept that his beloved sister was truly ruined. He thought that if they just waited long enough, this would all blow over. Sally knew better. Simon Atherly was back in town, and was being everywhere received. He was known to have offered for Sally and been refused. He had done the honorable thing, and was now held blameless.

  The same generosity would not be extended to Sally. And she had learned her lesson at the Hunt Ball, when Lady Greenly had first betrayed Sally’s secret. That night of being slighted and ignored, of having all the young men who had flocked around her turn away and whisper had taught her all she needed to know. When she had gone into the village a few days later, several people that she had known her whole life had walked by without acknowledging her at all. It was as if she were invisible. She would not court that sort of treatment again. The thought of leaving her home behind, and attempting to get by in a cottage in Scotland, living on her wits and little else, frightened her considerably. But she steeled her resolve, and firmly intended to carry out this plan. Somehow, sharing her plan with Rupert had been an enormous help. Someone would know where she was and would come to see her. That would make it easier.

  Rupert interrupted her thoughts. “How do you plan to get to this cottage? Are you thinking that you can just direct John Coachman to drop you there on the way to Grandmother’s?”

  “I have it all planned out,” Sally informed him as they turned their horses and headed back for Denham Park. “I am going to ask if I can bring Beauty to ride at Grandmother’s. At the final change, I will take Beauty, leaving a note, and disappear.”

  “Sally, you’re mad. It isn’t safe!”

  “I will be perfectly safe. Miles will be with me, as well as Millie of course.”

  “Our father’s groom?” Rupert blurted, astonished. “I thought father turned him off?”

  “He did. And it was wickedly unfair of him to do so. None of what happened that dreadful night was Miles’s fault. He told Tom to go get me from the Saracen’s Head, but Tom mistook his directions and thought he meant him to go in the morning. I told all this to Father, but he didn’t care. I spoke to Miles before he left, and he has been most helpful. He took my letter to the village for me, since I have not been allowed to leave Denham Park. Did you know, Rupert, that Miles has no family, and he has lived at Denham Park since he was eleven years old?”

  “I had no idea,” Rupert blurted out, appalled.

  “Neither had I,” Sally admitted. “But he insisted that he would accompany me to Scotland, when I confided my plan, and also was adamant that he would stay with me. Miles will rent a conveyance, and he and my maid will meet me after I leave John Coachman. I told them that I would be unable to pay them anything more than room and board, and they still insisted on coming with me. Miles said he would stay with me even if he had to find work.”

  “I
must say, Sally, that does make me feel much better.”

  “Me too,” she admitted.

  The park came into sight, and Sally urged Beauty into a canter. “Race you to the stables,” she threw over her shoulder, as Beauty broke into a gallop.

  Chapter Four

  The Earl of Kane had spent a fruitless morning paying calls on any of the local families who could possibly be the destination of the red-haired spitfire. As he waved farewell to the last of his neighbors on the list, Hugh climbed into his curricle, and chirruped to the team. He regretted not asking for the girl’s name and direction when he had assisted her little group on the road, but he had been so certain that in a small village like Thorne, he would be bound to find her location pretty easily. Feeling a sense of frustration that was out of proportion to the inability to locate a chance-met traveler, he hunched an irritated shoulder, and snapped the reigns, urging the team into a fast, controlled canter.

  Using all his considerable driving skill, he raced his team down the road, and the bracing cold of the wind seemed to blow away his bad temper. The wintry Scottish landscape slid by, rocky outcroppings and, in the distance, the sweeping moors. Hugh loved Thorne, and Castle Kane. Just being here, smelling the sweet Scottish air, was a balm to his soul. After a while he allowed the team to drop into a walk. What was it about that particular girl? he wondered. She was exceptionally pretty, without a doubt. That combination of those delicate features, her porcelain complexion, heightened by the wind and her annoyance with the earl, and her red-gold curls was definitely attractive. But Hugh knew countless pretty girls, and had not wasted very many moments thinking about them, let alone scouring the countryside for them.

  No, it was something in the way she had stood up to him, and given him back answer for answer. She was obviously genteel and, by appearance at least, appeared well off. But that temper! He laughed aloud at the outraged look she had given him, how she had choked out a few words of gratitude, and in the next breath informed him that his aid had been unnecessary. He wanted to match wits with her again; and perhaps in a setting where she was not quite as infuriated with him.