His head spun and his voice came out harsher than he intended. “Did you convince your father to put the conditions into the will?”
“What conditions?” Her wide eyes met his with innocent curiosity. Either she was the best liar he had ever met or she didn’t know. Somehow, he doubted she was skilled enough at deception to fool a spy.
“Let’s get those biscuits.” Stepping up to her, he put his hand at her back and began propelling Lizzie down the hall. “May, we need a few minutes to speak privately.”
“Very well.” She grinned, bopping off in the other direction.
His hand settled into the curve of her spine, spreading across her entire back. Such a tiny waist considering her other endowments. The heat of her body warmed him. Catching a whiff of her scent, Chris wanted nothing more than to bury his face in her hair. Had a woman ever affected him in such a way? So instantly and completely?
Once again reaching the parlor, Lizzie settled herself back on the settee, her hands folded across her lap, ankles crossed. It was a primal reaction, but seeing her so demure made him long to settle her back on the settee, lift her skirts, and do several acts that were not at all proper.
“What did you wish to speak to me about?” Her voice was tight again and fatigue hung about her face and shoulders. He sat next to her, burying his own desires.
“Eat a biscuit first.”
“I’d rather not.” Her hands flexed as she spoke.
“You need some sustenance.” He picked up the tray and held it out to her.
Her lips pursed and she pushed out an irritated breath through her nostrils but she took a biscuit. He bit back a smile. It was incredibly endearing that she protested while still doing as she was asked. He waited till she had taken a bite, a tiny nibble really, and then he began.
“Your father placed some stipulations on my inheriting the property and title.”
“How is that even possible?” Her eyes narrowed.
“I can assure you, it is very possible. I looked into it before I left London. In any event, the primary stipulation is that I find you a husband in one year’s time from the date of his death, or forfeit the title and my position as ward to the next in line.”
Her gasp stopped him from continuing. “That…that can’t be.” Her face had grown quite pale.
Chris scooted closer and reached for her hands. “I’m afraid it is.”
“But I’m not fit, and I’ve never even, and where might I begin…” her voice trailed off, desperation in her gaze.
And while she hadn’t actually completed a sentence, Chris understood exactly what she meant. She had been here, running an estate, not attending balls or playing games. She didn’t know any would-be suitors and even if she did, how could she begin courting now? Sweet precious woman, didn’t she know she was too good for all of them, most especially him?
“It’s not too late. You’re young and beautiful with an ample dowry.”
She softened for the briefest second, then her back straightened. “Thank you but why would my father do that? He wasn’t mentally well, at the end, and he forgot May entirely, though he loved her like a daughter. But he added additional restriction on me? It doesn’t make sense.”
“He must have. Manly informed me of them, which is why I travelled here with all haste to help you find a husband.”
“What if I refuse?”
“Then I will return to being a retired army captain and you will receive a new guardian in six months’ time.” His words fell like stones in the silent room. Lizzie was an intelligent woman, he knew that already. He didn’t need to explain that another guardian could spell disaster for her and May. His thoughts returned to the mysterious Cousin Bernie.
Her back continued to be perfectly straight and her lips remained pressed together.
“Apparently Mr. Manly knows you far better than myself because he sent me with a letter to give you.” Chris reached into his pocket and produced the note with Manly’s seal. He didn’t know what it said.
Lizzie stood and crossed to a writing desk in the corner. Grabbing a letter opener, she sliced the seal and began reading. He watched as her hand slowly covered her mouth and tears formed in her eyes but her back remained straight as a board.
“If you will excuse me,” she said and left the room without another word.
3
Over the next week, Chris attempted to learn how to properly run the estate. Never mind the house, he left that in Lizzie’s capable hands. But the reports from the gamekeeper and the groundskeeper conflicted. Manly wanted to know how to manage the assets to support the farm lands. Penning a quick note, he made a request that Alex and Barrett visit for the upcoming Christmastide. He needed advice on how to manage his property and how to begin husband hunting for Lizzie.
He rubbed his eyes at the thought of her. He’d hardly seen her at all after that first day. She’d taken her meals in her room, kept to herself. Part of him was relieved, while another part desperately wanted to settle her into his lap again, preferably naked.
When was last time he had been with a woman? Too long, apparently. Perhaps if he corrected that, this entire situation would be easier. Some faceless woman rose in his thoughts and annoyingly, his mind rejected it, replacing it with Lizzie’s details instead. How would he survive the next several months with Lizzie under the same roof?
Pressing the heels of his hands into his eye sockets, he tried to shake the image out of his mind. There was enough work here to distract him for a lifetime. Who knew being a member of the peerage was so damned difficult?
Putting his hands back on the desk, he surveyed the report from one of the farmer’s working his land. What to do about the pigs that were running roughshod over the last of the fall turnip crop? Somehow, he knew that Lizzie was just the person to ask for advice. So, despite his better judgement, he summoned her to his office.
She walked in wearing a fine wool gown in a pale pink. It hugged her body and brought out the color of her cheeks and lips. His insides curled in response. She looked damned perfect.
“You asked to see me?” Her tone was clipped, adding a chill to her countenance that her looks bellied.
“I did.” He took a breath. “Please sit.” And he gestured to the chair in front of the desk.
“I prefer to stand,” she murmured, picking up a figurine of a small girl. She was dressed as a dancer with brown curls hanging down her back.
He gave a nod, understanding her unease in his company. But his eyes were soon transfixed as her fingers smoothed over an object she obviously knew well. He frowned slightly. He had asked her to take a seat in her father’s study. It was his now, of course. But this was a place she had visited often and now it belonged to him. The unfairness of it struck him. “I was hoping you could help me with a problem we are having with the pigs.”
She gave a nod. “Are they breaking through the fence?”
“And eating the turnips.”
“Probably the carrots too. Little buggers love the carrots.” She grinned. It lit her entire face in a way that caused his chest to tighten.
“What do I do? The vegetable farmer is furious. The pig farmer swears it can’t be helped and the gamekeeper thinks we should sell all the pigs. The deer population will feed us for the winter.” He grimaced again.
“Never listen to Chumley. He’s an excellent shot which makes him a good gamekeeper, but should he give you advice, you can rest assured the opposite course is the correct one.” She continued her light massage on the figurine. He found himself jealous of the small object.
“I see. What’s to be done then?” He stood too and started walking slowly around the desk. He hadn’t meant to but she was like an invisible force pulling him to her.
“First, the pigs never leave unless something pushes them out. My guess is the wolves have decided to stop chasing the deer and instead are focusing on the pigs. If you got rid of the pigs, as Chumley said, they would go back to chasing the deer. So both our food sources
would be gone.” She took a breath, shifting the figurine to the other hand. “Instead, have Chumley kill a few of the wolves and chase them back into the forest.”
“Why not get rid of all the wolves?” he asked, coming next to her.
“You and Chumley should not be left alone together to run this place.” She wrinkled her nose at him. An adorable gesture that was followed by an impish grin that let him know she was teasing. “Predators are necessary for every chain of life. They keep the rodent population down, rid the deer herds of the sick. Eat the rabbits that would devour all the carrots, not just a few of them. They are necessary. But, they must be kept in check.”
“I’m beginning to understand.”
“I have been trying to convince Peeves, the pig farmer, to build a stockade fence, rather than the silly split rail he has. It will eliminate the temptation. I suspect you will be much more successful at convincing him that is the proper course, should you choose to do so.”
Chris tried not to stare at her openmouthed. It was as though he had been staring at a puzzle where none of the pieces seem to fit and just like that, she had come along and solved it. “Thank you.”
“I’m happy to assist you in any way I can.” She gave him another grin. If she was upset about not running the estate, she did not seem to be. Rather, she looked lighter than the last time he had seen her. “Since I am here, I was hoping to speak with you on another matter.”
His insides tightened but he jerked his head in agreement. He knew whatever she had to say was important to them both.
“I have decided to pursue the possibility of marriage within the specified timeframe.” She let the words out in a rush, her cheeks coloring. “But I have one stipulation of my own.”
Chris had found himself leaning on the desk next to her but her last words caused him to shoot up. “Stipulation?”
She nodded her head, rubbing the figurine faster. “I ask that you provide a dowry and finishing school for May.”
Chris blinked. He wasn’t sure what he had expected and he should have known her concern would have been for someone other than herself. But truth be told, he already planned to provide those things for May. The estate had more wealth than he could ever spend in a lifetime and the girl deserved a future. “Lizzie,” he began to explain.
“Please don’t say no,” she begged. “I’m most relieved to have you here rather than someone else. I had no idea who might walk through that door, though I worried it would be...” She stopped herself. “I don’t want to risk May’s future by allowing another successor to take over. I have every intention of keeping you lord of this estate. But I need some way to make sure May is cared for.”
He couldn’t help it. She looked at him with such an earnest expression, that before he could think, his hand reached out to that tiny waist and pulled her close. “Of course I will provide for May.”
“Oh thank you!” she breathed as she wrapped her arms around his neck.
That undid him. Without stopping to think, his lips found hers. This was not the light kiss he had given her last time. Instead, his lips demanded. Her response was to mold her body to his in a way that near set him on fire.
He let out a groan and deepened the kiss, his lips slanting hers open to touch his tongue to hers. Her groan was swallowed by his mouth and he gathered her even closer. His hands roamed up and down her back and then into the loose coif he was growing terribly fond of.
“Lizzie,” he moaned against her lips. His hand came round to her front and cupped her breast. Her sharp intake of breath was followed by her head tipping further back into his hand, allowing him greater access to the soft flesh.
“Chris,” her breathy plea reverberated through him. Never had his name sounded so good. He wanted to hear her say it over and over again. Whatever resolve he may have had dissolved. Picking her up, he began carrying her to the sofa in front of the fire.
“Say it again,” he demanded against her lips. “Say my name again.”
She kissed him twice and then leaned her head back, her lips puckering in a toe-curling pout. As she opened her mouth to do as he bid another voice broke through the moment.
“Lizzie?” May’s tiny voice called from the open door. “Are you all right?”
Bloody hell, five more minutes and he would have stripped her naked with the door wide open. And he was the man that was supposed to be protecting her honor.
“I….I…I’m fine. Just a little dizzy.” Her wide eyes flew to his, panic lighting them.
“Perhaps we should call Dr. Phillips.” May stepped into the room looking concerned.
“There’s no need, May. I was being overly cautious after what happened the last time. Lizzie is fine.” He tried to make his voice soothing, but he wanted to demand May leave the room. Then he wanted to lock it tight and finish what that kiss had started.
But Lizzie had other ideas. She stepped out of the circle of his arms, slipping away. “Escort me upstairs.” She walked to May and put her arm around the girl’s shoulder. “Everything is going to be fine,” she said to May. “Don’t you worry, I’ll take care of everything.”
Chris swallowed hard. Crossing over to the desk, he picked up the note he had been penning to Alex and added,
* * *
COME RIGHT AWAY.
* * *
FOLDING IT UP, he poured the hot wax onto the crease and then stamped it with the seal of Lord Rothenberg. Crossing the room, he rang for the butler.
4
Trapped. Liz, for all intents and purposes, could not leave her own room. If she did, she risked seeing Lord Rothenberg. Not that seeing him was unpleasant. In fact, he was quite the most handsome man she had ever seen. But she was absolutely unable to refuse him. And as he was her guardian, who exactly was going to protect her virtue against him? Was he going to demand of himself that he marry her? It was absurd to even think.
He had claimed to be a rake, been upfront in his desire for her. It had taken her by surprise. She was not beautiful in the way so many debutantes were. Her hair and eyes were brown, her dresses simple. Her hair did have soft barrel curls and her one vanity was to wear it in a looser coif to highlight its silkiness. As his hands were always tangled in the strands, he had clearly noticed.
He must be lacking in female companionship. That was the only explanation. But in order to provide for May, she needed to keep her virtue and to keep that, she must stay away from the new Lord Rothenberg. So she had hidden in her room.
The problem was it had been nearly two weeks since he’d arrived and she was beginning to go mad. Perhaps she could start a nocturnal schedule and move about the house at night to avoid him. But then how would she spend time with May?
A knock at the door broke through her thoughts. “Yes,” she called moving towards it.
“I’d like to speak with you.” It was him. Crum. She could not let him in.
“I am not sure that is a wise idea.” She nibbled her lip.
“I’m not really asking.” His voice held a slight growl.
“Very well, perhaps we could meet in the great hall in five minutes?” she responded, a touch of nervousness creeping into her voice.
“Open the door,” he commanded, then sighed. “I’ll stay on this side of it.”
“Very well.” She opened it a little and peeked one eye out at him, her brain working overtime. “If you ruin me, I’ll not marry anyone else.”
“What?” His mouth hung open as he looked at her.
She opened the door wider, stamping her foot. “Every time we are alone, we end up… you know very well. I’ve no one to insist you marry me, so I am forced to make my own ultimatum.”
Understanding dawned on his face as his eyes scanned up and down her. “Lady Elizabeth,” his tone was brisk and it sent shivers down her spine. “The Duke of Wellington and his wife and child, along with The Duke of Manchester and his family, are arriving tomorrow to visit. They are staying through Christmastide. I can assure you both men would take gr
eat pleasure in insisting I marry you, so rest assured, your virtue is safe.”
“Oh, guests for Christmastide?” Happiness bloomed inside her. How decidedly wonderful.
“Yes,” his own posture relaxed. “I apologize for the late notice but I’ve only just gotten the return letter to say that they are arriving. Barrett Maddox, Lord Manchester, owns a shipping company. It would seem he can move about the world faster than the post.”
“Well, not quite. At least the letter beat them by a day.” She stepped out of the room, skirting by him. His hand came to her waist.
“I won’t kiss you,” he mumbled, pulling her close. “He has two children, ages three and one, with another on the way. Alex and Rose have a baby as well.”
She could not contain her excitement. “Babies?” Then she grabbed his hand and began pulling him down the hall.
He willingly followed, lacing her fingers into his own, her slippers flying over the thick carpet. “Mrs. Fairchild put you in the original master’s bedroom but my parents had a second made.” They turned down a hall. “Do you think Barrett and his wife will mind having the children next door?”
“No, I would assume they would love it.” He gave her fingers a tiny squeeze. “They are marvelous parents, very involved. It’s how--” He stopped speaking then.
She looked back, wondering if he would finish. He said nothing and she didn’t ask. He might share more after he saw the room. Reaching a set of double doors, she threw them open. Though much of the furniture was covered in sheets, it was one of the grandest rooms in the house. “The staff and I will get it cleaned up.” Then she continued to pull him towards another door. Opening it, she grabbed his hand again to pull him into the nursery. Toys of every kind softened the space. It was warm and inviting.
“It’s beautiful” he exclaimed, looking around. “Why isn’t this room also covered in sheets?”
A blush crept up her cheeks. “I… I came here to think about my future. It’s my favorite room in the house.”
Taming a Rake into a Lord: Taming the Heart Series Page 3
