The Duke's Bride: Book 5 (The Clearbrooks)

by Teresa McCarthy

  He jerked her aside, and in two quick strides, he was standing on the other side of the room. “Go back to your room, Jane.”

  Heat flew to her cheeks. “W-what?”

  His hungry gaze moved from the tip of her head to the tip of her toes. Her heart leapt. Oh ho, the man was not immune to her at all.

  “I said, go back to your room,” he ground out.

  His harsh words pierced her heart. But she was not going to beg. “What about last night?”

  “Last night never happened.”

  Tears welled in her eyes. “I see.”

  “Devil take it,” he said, slapping the wall. “Don’t look at me like that. I am off to France tonight, and don’t want anything between us.”

  Her jaw shot out in anger. “Anything between us? Ha, I will tell you this. There is a lot between us, and if you are too dumb to see it, I cannot help you. In fact, I would say you were blind!”

  He set his chin. “I don’t have time for this.”

  Jane picked up a vase and threw it at him. He ducked just as it crashed against the wall.

  He gazed in astonishment at the pieces of glass scattered about the floor. “Thunder and Zeus,” he said, looking back at her. “You could have cut my face with that, or some other bodily part.”

  She rolled her lips in fury. “Oh my, my, the great duke might get a little scratch. Goodness me, I will have to perfect my aim then.” Without warning, she grabbed the water pitcher and hurled it at him.

  With an oath, he fell to the floor and barely avoided the projectile.

  “Confound it,” he said, peeking over the bed. “What the devil is wrong with you?”

  “What’s wrong with me?” She picked up a neatly, polished Hessian boot and whipped it at him. “I have never…” She picked up the other boot. “Been so mad…” Threw it. “In my life!”

  Chuckling, he dodged the flying objects.

  She gritted her teeth. “Don’t you dare laugh at me!” She yanked a small oil painting off the wall, and it crashed near his feet. He dove under the bed.

  “Dash it all! Have a care, Jane! Those were my new boots from Hoby’s! And that oil painting was a gift from Wellington!”

  “Ooooh, if I were a man, I would dump this bed on you!”

  “Thank goodness, you are not a man, madam. For I would not have married you then.”

  Jane wanted to scream. “You…you bully!” And with that, she slammed the door behind her and locked it. “Do not expect me to be here when the king comes calling!”

  Roderick sat behind his desk and stared out the window of his study. Low white clouds hovered in the distance. He wondered if it was going to rain.

  Before he had entered the room, he had watched as Jane had made her way downstairs for breakfast. She had gazed past him, as if he were nothing but a statue standing in the hallway.

  He felt about an inch tall. But what the devil was he supposed to do? He had let Cecile talk him into her mission and she had been killed. Had he not learned an important lesson? How could he let Jane talk him into things or entice him into trying for another baby?

  He grimaced. He didn’t want to loose her. But confound it! He was already losing her. What a devil of a coil.

  Later that morning, he had peered through the window as Jane entered the carriage with Emily and headed in the direction of the Pump Room. Jane had looked like an angel in her light blue gown and soft white shawl.

  He did not like the idea of having her face the gossips without him. But his wife was a stubborn woman, and once she had something to prove, she didn’t let anyone stop her. He was going to tell her that he would have accompanied her, but she wanted nothing to do with him right now. Well, was that not what he wanted?

  Scowling, he grabbed his pen and tapped it against the desk. Not only that, he had added to her grief by being unkind to her this morning. His plan of avoiding her was near to impossible. She was in his blood. And confound it, the more he tried to save her from him, the more distance he put between them. Yet, loving her last night had been heaven.

  She could be with child now. He put his head in his hands and groaned. What the devil had he done?

  “Are you going to be able to make the journey?” Jared asked, frowning.

  Roderick’s head snapped up. He had forgotten about his friend. “What?”

  “Blast it, Roderick! If you continue like this, you will be more of a hazard than a help.”

  Roderick rose and crossed the room. “I was just thinking.”

  Jared strode toward the door, shaking his head. “Yes, well, thinking is one thing. Dreaming is quite another. Get yourself together, man. We cannot afford any mishaps on this journey. Jupiter, make your peace with Jane, or you will be no use to me at all.”

  Roderick frowned as Jared departed. His friend was right. He did not want to leave with anger hanging between him and his wife. What if he died?

  He buttoned his jacket and made a decision. Before the king arrived, he would make his way to the Pump Room to find Jane. He needed to settle this now. He would make certain Society knew he adored his wife. He would also make certain they treated her with the respect she was due.

  As he readied to leave the house, he stepped into the hall and barely caught himself when he ran into Clayton.

  “Going somewhere?” his brother asked, glaring at him. “Because if you are, you may want to know that Garette has left Bath with his tail between his legs.”

  “The man’s the least of my worries,” Roderick muttered, heading toward the front door.

  Clayton’s heels clapped behind him.

  Roderick glanced over his shoulder. “Where the devil do you think you are going?”

  “With you.”

  “I don’t need an escort,” he snapped.

  Clayton glowered at him. “An escort? Maybe not. But by Jove, you need someone to take you in hand. I thought you were going to kill the man last night.”

  Roderick pulled at his waistcoat. “Did you truly think so?”

  “Yes.”

  “Well, then, I’m heading to the Pump Room. Do you sincerely wish to go?”

  Clayton flashed him a beaming smile. “Actually, no. But my wife is there. So is Stephen and Elizabeth.” He let out a chuckle. “Why the devil should I not go? A little entertainment from you might make my day. I am in Jane’s corner, if we must take sides.”

  Roderick growled something about unruly brothers when the footman opened the front door and the doctor stepped into the hall.

  “Morning, Hillside,” Roderick said, surprised to see the older man. “Someone ill?”

  The man smiled a greeting. “No, Your Grace. I have come to see your wife.”

  Roderick frowned. “The duchess left for the Pump Room. Did she know you were calling?”

  The doctor glanced at Clayton, then shifted a hesitant look toward Roderick. “She is, uh, rather delicate now after all that has happened. I admit, Your Grace, though you have seen me a few times in prior weeks, this is the first time I have been able to have more than a word of greeting with you.”

  Roderick kept staring at the man. Alarm skittered down his spine. Did his wife have some fatal disease she had not told him about? He had seen the doctor visiting the house when they first had first come to Bath, but he had thought that just a precaution after Jane’s loss. But now, he wondered.

  “She is in good health, is she not?”

  The doctor peered at him with a cautious expression. “I would say so. But just to be sure, I come now and then. After her previous losses…well…one never knows.”

  Grief flooded Roderick’s heart. The man was talking about the babies they had lost. Was the doctor accusing him of putting Jane in danger?

  “Well, well,” Roderick said, clearing his throat, feeling the guilt building up inside him, knowing Jane could be with child now. “After all that has happened, I am glad the duchess is taking her health seriously. If there is anything I can do, please let me know.”

  The doct
or wiped his gray brow and seemed to sag in relief. “Goodness, I have to admit, Your Grace, I was afraid she had not told you. I am happy to say she is doing quite well. However, as long as nothing happens, she will be fine. But then again, the Lord does work in mysterious ways, does he not?”

  An icy finger of dread slid down Roderick’s back. The doctor was confirming his very thoughts. Jane would be healthy as long as she did not try to have any more children.

  “I will do everything in my power to see she stays well,” Roderick said, feeling Clayton’s gaze upon him. He had no wish to include his brother in this private conversation.

  The doctor turned to leave. “Her body will take some time to adjust. But if I were you, I would not say a thing about it. She may eat strange things too. Women are quite unpredictable in these situations.”

  Roderick watched the door close. The doctor’s comments only made him more determined to stay away from his wife.

  Concerned, Clayton turned to him. “Jane is well, is she not?”

  “He just said she was in fine health,” Roderick snapped, walking toward the door as the footman opened it again. “Are you going with me to the Pump Room, or not?”

  Clayton stopped in the hall and glared at him. “Whoa! Who the devil stuck a needle—”

  Roderick took a step outside, swore, and slammed the door in his brother’s face.

  Chapter Eight

  Roderick strode past the door of the Pump Room, his gaze traveling over the crowd. About thirty feet away, his eyes focused on his sweet wife laughing with some man who was kissing her hand. Laughing, by Jove! He had thought she had been heartbroken over the gossips as well as their fight this morning.

  To his left, a small string quartet played a light concerto. The notes floated above the noisy crowd, adding to the mayhem. Confound it! He had no idea why people would want to join in this chaos for a glass of the water.

  He eyed the tall man still holding Jane’s hand. The man was acting as if she were the most divine creature on earth.

  “The man’s a deuced nuisance,” he growled. “I shall call him out.”

  “What the devil are you talking about?” Clayton asked, grabbing Roderick’s jacket, dragging him back. “You may be some pompous duke, but you cannot just march in there as if you were the Noah parting the Red Sea.”

  “That was Moses, you idiot,” Roderick snapped. He continued to glare at the couple and bit back an oath. He barely paid attention to the crowd chatting about the newest London fashion or the latest on-dit. And at the moment, he cared not a whit if they were speaking about last night’s card game and Garette’s drunken behavior. It was his wife whom he wanted to see, not Society.

  Chuckling, Clayton’s eyes swept over the room. He lifted an imperious brow toward Roderick who was passed a glass of the waters from one of the servants. “I fail to see a dastardly villain prowling the vicinity, Your Grace. Oh, but wait! Perhaps it is Mr. Picklehammer come to call you out. I hear he hissed at you last night.”

  Roderick downed the cool liquid in one long swallow, then shoved the empty glass into Clayton’s hands. “Sarcasm is not what I need right now. And as to Gabby’s cat, I think the odious creature should be drowned in the Thames.”

  Clayton laughed out loud. “You do not. I saw you feeding the scraggly thing a bowl of cream outside Gabby’s door this morning.”

  Roderick pressed his lips together when the man beside Jane turned. That beaming bright smile and those broad shoulders belonged only to one man. He sucked in his breath.

  Well, well,” Clayton said, gazing in Jane’s direction. “You cannot be upset that it is James. He is trustworthy. Besides, he took Garette down a notch last night. Saw it myself. Quick with that knife, I daresay. If you think—”

  “The man just kissed her hand,” Roderick bit out, interrupting his brother. “And he held it too blasted long!”

  Clayton lifted on the toes of his Hessians and stared across the room. “She’s moving now. Can’t see her. But devil take it, it’s about time some man made her feel like a beautiful woman and kissed her. Her husband certainly doesn’t.”

  Roderick barely held back from boxing his brother’s ears. “You have three seconds to apologize.”

  Clayton glowered back. “I will not apologize. You treat Jane like a child. She’s a lovely woman. Every lady wants a man to pay attention to her, especially if that man is her husband.”

  Roderick thought about last night. He could still recall the rosewater from her bath. The sweet perfume she had worn at the ball. The softness of her skin. He frowned, recalling the lemon cake crumbs on her nightstand. She had put on weight since losing the baby and was trying to hide it from him. He would have to put a stop to her suffering at once. But he still didn’t like the attention the captain was giving to her.

  He tried to take in a deep, calming breath. “She’s my wife, Clay. No man should be kissing her, hand or not.”

  “Oh, for the love of the king. I’m guessing the man only kissed her fingertips. No harm in that.”

  “And if some man kissed Briana’s hand, you would be fine with that?”

  Clayton pursed his lips. “Well, no. Not unless the man was the king. Well, I take that back. Not unless the man was eighty-years-old.”

  “Then, how the devil can you stand there and tell me the captain’s attention is quite all right?”

  Clayton smiled. “Let me see. Briana is my wife, and I treat her like my wife. Does that give you an idea? Or should I go into the details.”

  Roderick muttered a curse. “I don’t need details.”

  Roderick didn’t give Clayton another glance before he took off in the direction of his wife. He heels clapped hard against the floor and he avoided people wanting to speak to him. Jane’s light laugh sounded like bells from heaven. What man could resist that, he thought grimly. He immediately caught sight of the captain’s emerald eyes sparkling with happiness as the tall man stared at Jane.

  “Argyle, a word with you, if you please.”

  Jane’s smile turned upside down the second she heard her husband’s curt command. She had no idea he was coming to the Pump Room today. He barely glanced at her, but his steely expression sent chills down her spine.

  She opened her mouth and closed it. The sudden notion that Roderick was jealous made her heart skip. He must still like her. But goodness, she didn’t need another scene.

  After this morning, she had wanted to box his ears. If only he would listen to her. He needed to know about the baby, and she certainly didn’t want to be angry with him before he left for France. He must have noticed her increased size last night. Was he hiding the fact that he knew about the child all along?

  “Roderick, dear,” she said in a silky voice. “The captain and I were just talking about Brighton. It was lovely the last time we visited. In fact, if I could have a word with you—”

  “Not now.”

  She noticed the captain caught the hardness in Roderick’s words and stiffened his stance. Frowning, she exchanged a bewildered look between the two men. This would only increase the gossip, something she thought she could curb by showing up today. Though she wanted to hold her head high and show Society she was not afraid to face the world head on, this was more than she could bear.

  “Roderick,” she said, lowering her voice. “Please, you are making a scene.”

  Roderick didn’t flinch. “I would say it is you and Captain Argyle who are making a scene.” He shifted a steely glare toward the man in question. “And you, sir, I thought we had words last night. Obviously, you have a hard time understanding a simple command.”

  Jane blanched. She wanted Roderick to want her, but not this way. He had never been like this. A little jealousy was one thing. But this, well, this was outrageous. “Roderick, please. He is my friend.”

  “There is no need for that,” the captain snapped, looking at Jane. “I do not need anyone defending me.”

  Goodness, they were like two bulls in a pen. “I would like
to sit down,” she said abruptly, trying to think of something to keep them from punching each other. “In fact, gentlemen, I am feeling a bit warm and might faint if you do not take care and find me a chair.”

  Roderick grabbed one elbow while the captain grabbed the other. They just about lifted her off the ground and settled her on a seat in the corner of the room.

  “I hear the King may take the waters today,” she said, trying to make small talk as a servant handed her some water. “They say he is coming to town. Is that not correct, Roderick?”

  Roderick glared at the captain. The iciness between them sent a shiver of dread down Jane’s spine. She needed Mrs. Hobbs, but if Roderick discovered the lady was a servant to Captain Argyle, he would forbid her to see the lady. He might forbid it anyway, she thought. Roderick had already told her she was not to even think of using Chinese medicine.

  Anxiety ripped through her. She had hoped that after she informed Roderick about the baby, he would agree to let her keep seeing Mrs. Hobbs. But now, because of his antagonism toward the captain, she realized her plans were in jeopardy. Her baby might be in jeopardy as well. Well, she would not stop her treatments. She needed the Chinese herbs. She needed Mrs. Hobbs. And that meant she needed Captain Argyle in her circle of friends.

  She clasped her glass tightly in her hands and peered up at the men. “Look happy, the both of you, or I will scream.”

  Roderick and the captain looked shocked.

  “That’s correct, gentlemen,” she said, smiling. “You had best get along in my presence. Because if you continue to act like quarrelsome schoolboys, I will scream.”

  “You would not dare,” Roderick said. But his words were more of a command, setting Jane’s back up.

  She cocked a challenging brow. “Oh, wouldn’t I?”

  She opened her mouth, and Roderick clapped a hand over her lips. “King George, Jane, control yourself. I will bow to your wishes. We will not be in your presence then. I will take this matter outside.” His piercing stare moved to the man hovering over them. “Argyle?”

  The captain pulled at his jacket. “I have no problem with that. Lead the way, Your Grace.”