The Wagered Bride (The Clearbrooks)

by McCarthy, Teresa

  "An engagement ball?" Stephen exchanged confused glances with his mother and Elizabeth.

  Engagement ball? If Elizabeth were not so horrified by the information, she would have laughed at her fiancé's reaction. Was he too embarrassed to be seen with her? And what of his family? Did everyone but the duke think it a love match?

  For a time the conversation revolved around the ball and the upcoming festivities. Through it all, Elizabeth felt like a fraud. How much longer was this to go on?

  After dinner the ladies departed to the drawing room, leaving the men to their port. Almost immediately Stephen's mother withdrew to the kitchen, wanting to look in on Egypt.

  Elizabeth continued to converse with Lady Emily, who was quickly showing signs of fatigue.

  "Mother was beside herself until you came, Miss Shelby. We are all so thankful that you turned up when you did."

  Elizabeth smiled. "I did not deliver the kittens. Egypt did all the work. I just helped make her comfortable."

  Eyes twinkling, Lady Emily wiggled her large stomach into a comfortable position as she sat on the sofa. "Hmmmm, imagine if Egypt started having those kittens on Mama's lap? I doubt any of us would have slept the night." She chuckled and immediately winced as she moved again.

  Elizabeth looked at her thoughtfully, not for the first time that evening. "Speaking of sleeping, are you sleeping well, considering?"

  "As a matter of fact, no. My back hurts like the devil."

  Elizabeth burst forth with laughter.

  "The question is, are you sleeping well, Miss Shelby?" the lady asked suddenly, her expression keen.

  Elizabeth blushed. How could she tell this woman that her cherished brother had made a deal with her father? Money in exchange for the use of his title. There was no love at all.

  "You are not in love with my brother, are you?"

  "I, er, think him very handsome."

  "I see. It is a marriage of convenience then." Lady Emily sank against the cushions. "What kind of scrape did my brother fall into now?"

  Elizabeth turned a frowning gaze toward the flames leaping in the hearth. Thunder shook the mansion, rattling the windowpanes. "I imagine he was eager for my father's money."

  "No," the lady said vehemently, "Stephen could have come to Roderick for that. Or at least Marcus or Clayton."

  Elizabeth wondered how much Lady Emily knew of her brother. "Perhaps he was tired of coming to his family for aid."

  Lady Emily paused as she placed her hands on her stomach. "So you find him handsome? What about charming?"

  Charming? Of course he was charming. He also had a vengeful streak that marred his perfection.

  Elizabeth stood, walking closer to the fire. "Your brother has his charms." She stopped and turned to face Lady Emily. "But I don't want to marry him for that or for his title. My father wanted this marriage. Do you hate me for that?"

  "Of course I don't hate you. I gather your father wanted a title for you. It is not as uncommon as you think."

  "Not for me." I want to marry someone who loves me for myself. But when she tried to picture Mr. Fennington's face, Stephen's chiseled profile came into view.

  "Oh!"

  Elizabeth's head snapped up at Lady Emily's shriek. The lady squeezed her eyes shut, and her lips were turning white with pain.

  "How long have the pains been coming?" Elizabeth asked, hastening to the lady's side. She grabbed Lady Emily's wrist and felt her pulse.

  Lady Emily spoke through clenched teeth. "Oh, for the past four hours, I believe. They were only minor irritations. I never thought they meant anything. The doctor said I might have pains off and on and should stay off my feet, but I never thought... oh my, is it to happen tonight?"

  Her face turned ashen as she sought Elizabeth's hand and squeezed. Violet eyes filled with fear when they met Elizabeth's gaze. "I am to have this baby next month. Not now."

  The rain slapped hard against the windows of the drawing room, reminding them both of the inclement weather. "Oh, dear heaven. I don't want my baby to die. The doctor won't be able to travel in this. What I am to do? My husband is usually as calm as a duck on water, but since I have been with child, the man has been an intolerable nuisance."

  They both let out hesitant laughs.

  "A baby takes its time, Lady Emily. Just take some deep calming breaths and everything will be fine."

  Elizabeth kept glancing at the door. She needed to contact Lord Stonebridge. Wanted to scream his name. He seemed to be a man who could do just about anything. He would drag the doctor through sleet and hail to attend to his wife if need be.

  Lady Emily took another breath and seemed to relax for at least a few seconds. "Yes, yes, I feel better now."

  Elizabeth patted the lady's hand. "Now, you are going to have a few minutes between pains, but when they start to come faster it will be harder to speak. But when it is all over, you will hold a beautiful baby in your arms and all will be well."

  Elizabeth prayed she was right. For years she had read books in her father's library on a surgeon's life and practice. The information had become quite helpful with her medical treatments, especially with animals. But when it came to giving birth to a human baby, well she certainly was not qualified to be involved in that. It just was not done.

  Lady Emily nodded as she bit her lip and passed through another contraction.

  Elizabeth straightened. "I must fetch your husband now. He will know what to do."

  Lady Emily squeezed Elizabeth's hand and shook her head. "I don't know if that's a good idea. I love him, but he is an absolute idiot when it comes to things like this."

  "He will do what he needs to do, believe me."

  "No, you do not understand."

  The fear Elizabeth saw in the lady's face turned her heart.

  "I cannot see a doctor coming out in a night like this. My husband will go for him, but I cannot take the chance he will be caught in this terrible storm. He can send a footman. Yet what if this babe does not wait?" Lady Emily's face turned white as another contraction passed.

  She swallowed and dropped her hand against her side as she tried to relax. "You are my only hope until the doctor comes," she said, the tears rising to her lids. "The men in this house are healthy male specimens who have seen more blood on the battlefield than I care to know about, but believe me, they are entirely useless with something like this. It scares them witless."

  Elizabeth did not believe all of them would be useless. For some reason she thought Stephen would not be a veritable ninny.

  "Am I intruding?"

  Both ladies' heads jerked up as Stephen wandered into the room, his dark eyes narrowing on his sister's pale face.

  Elizabeth knew she was doomed to help. She nodded to the lady, receiving a half-smile in return as another pain started.

  "No, my lord. You are just in time to help with the birth of your niece or nephew."

  Stephen's stunned gaze shot to Elizabeth. "Well, you can simply tell my sister she cannot have the baby now. It is not time!"

  Veritable ninny, no. Ninny, yes. Elizabeth's eyes flashed as she stalked toward him. "She is having the baby now. I will need your help, do you understand?"

  The man who was never at a loss for words seemed mute.

  "Very good." Elizabeth could not think of his nearness, could not think of their engagement, she could only think of the babe that was to be born. Another life. "Your first duty is to take care of the men in this house, especially Lord Stonebridge, and make certain he does not interfere. And don't let him fetch the doctor himself."

  Stephen nodded grimly, the fear in his eyes matching the fear in Elizabeth's heart. But she would never dare show what she felt, not in front of Lady Emily.

  "My dear, I believe it is time we retreat to our chambers. You have been looking quite peaked—" Lord Stonebridge had entered the room and upon seeing his lovely wife writhing in pain, his eyes went wide with shock.

  "Confound it! Someone do something!"

  He r
an to Lady Emily's side while she tried to tell her husband everything would be fine. He insisted on going for the doctor, but she asked him not to leave her. She told him the weather was impossible anyway. Another pain came and Lord Stonebridge seemed to be in more pain than his wife.

  Elizabeth looked on in despair as the man squeezed his wife's hand until it turned blue. Saints above, this was going to be one long night.

  She gave a sharp glance toward Stephen, telling him to take the earl out of the room, in addition to giving him a mental list of everything she would need. It took a moment for Stephen to gather his wits before he dragged Stonebridge from his wife's side.

  Elizabeth glanced back at Lady Emily and smiled. "Do you think you could make it to your bedchamber between pains?"

  Lady Emily's violet eyes danced. "Do you think I can get past my husband before he throws me into his arms and drops me down the stairs?"

  Both women laughed and Elizabeth knew she had found a friend.

  "Well, what the devil is taking so long?" Lord Stonebridge shouted as he paced up and down the drawing room rug like some caged animal ready to pounce at the smallest sound.

  "Not to worry. Miss Shelby is with Emily, trying to make her as comfortable as possible," Stephen said as he handed the father-to-be another glass of brandy. "The maids are willing to step in if the time comes. Many of them have helped deliver children."

  The earl spun around. "Miss Shelby? She's a gently bred lady! And the maids? Confound it! You should have let me go for the doctor. That footman you sent won't be back for hours."

  The duke stepped in, a frown marring his dark features. "There is not one single carriage out in this horrid weather, Jared. And if you dare try to leave, I will tie you down. You know I can do it. Do you hear me? I don't want this baby born without a father."

  Stonebridge hurled his glass into the fire. "I cannot bear this waiting!"

  Stephen's brown eyes flashed with amusement. "Speaking to the fire now, are we? I thought we had a little talk about that."

  The earl lifted his head and grinned. "So we did."

  Stephen slapped his brother-in-law on the shoulder and sat him down for another game of chess. But the truth was, he was scared too. Yet if anyone could calm Emily down, it was Elizabeth. She was reliable and confident, two factors lacking in most of the eligible females of the ton.

  The earl's queen shot across the room, startling Stephen.

  "Confound it," Stonebridge shouted. "We've been in this blasted room for over four hours!"

  Roderick, Clayton, and Marcus glanced up, then went back to their card game. Their mother, Lady Bringston, was flitting about outside Emily's bedchamber, trying to be helpful. Elizabeth, for that is how Stephen thought of her now, was trying to calm down Stephen's mother as much as she was Emily.

  William Shelby had made an appearance, then took to his bed, assuring everyone that his eldest daughter had the healing touch, and even though she had never delivered a babe before, she would rise to the occasion. It was a shocking statement to make of a gently bred female, but for some absurd reason Stephen did not doubt Elizabeth's capability.

  It was an hour later when the doctor came rushing past the door and was barely out of his damp coat before the earl had pounced on the man, shouting for him to hurry to his wife.

  Stephen and the duke had to physically pull Stonebridge into the drawing room and leave the doctor to his work.

  But for an unguarded moment, Stephen had caught a glimpse of Elizabeth standing outside Emily's chambers, looking understandably relieved as she issued orders to a maid. He never thought he had seen a more beautiful woman in his life than his fiancée in her disheveled state. Her sleeves were rolled up to her elbows, wisps of wheat-colored hair curled around the nape of her neck, and sweat blotted her temples. Something warm swelled in his chest at the sight of her coaxing his mother to take a glass of ratafia as they waited outside Emily's room.

  "Women have babies all the time, Jared," Stephen said, back in the drawing room.

  "Well, confound it. This is my woman," the earl ground out. "I don't know what I would do if anything should happen to her."

  Stephen detected a slight mist in the earl's eyes, and an ache grew in his chest. He had a sudden desire for what this man had. He wanted a woman to love and a woman to love him back. He wanted a child to love, a family to cherish. Dash it all. He wanted Miss Elizabeth Shelby.

  "The doctor made it on time. He knows what he's about," the duke added with the voice of authority. "You have nothing to worry about. Besides, Emily is as strong as a horse."

  Stonebridge's head snapped up, his eyes sparkling. "I don't think your sister would take kindly to being likened to a horse."

  Stephen bent over the fire to see if he could rescue the queen that had been thrown near the smoking embers. "No," he smiled, "don't think she would, Roderick."

  "Hello."

  All heads turned toward Milli who had entered the drawing room. Her head was a tangle of dark brown curls framing two wide gray eyes.

  "Ah, our little ballerina," Marcus said, his eyes smiling.

  Milli lifted her chin. "I know you will excuse me for barging in on you, but I want you all to know that my sister Elizabeth is better than most doctors."

  Stephen's eyes twinkled at the girl's boldness. "Thank you, Milli. But the doctor has arrived, and at present, your sister is caring for my mother. Now, perhaps it is time you retire. Rest assured, you will be notified of everything in the morning."

  Milli colored. "Well, I am only trying to put you all at ease, for Lizzie told me that sometimes men are such babies in times like these."

  Marcus coughed. "I believe Stephen is right, my little ballerina. You should take yourself to bed immediately."

  Milli's eyes flashed. "Women do know some things. Why, I'll have you know that Lizzie delivered Mr. Fennington's puppies last month and a prime lot they were."

  Lord Stonebridge shot from his chair. "She what?"

  Stephen clenched his teeth. King George, this was all he needed tonight. The thought of Elizabeth inside Fennington's home made him want to call the man out. But bringing up Fennington's name to Stonebridge on the night of his babe's birth was outside of enough.

  "The puppies were so cute," Milli went on, taking the earl's question as interest in her continuing the conversation. "But I was not supposed to tell anyone about that."

  She frowned when her comments were answered with a brittle silence. The five gentlemen were now staring at her as if she wore nothing at all. She swallowed uncomfortably.

  "You see, Elizabeth has a liking for Mr. Fennington. Why, she would have run off to Gretna Green with him if it were not for—"

  Stephen was across the room in three quick strides and barely caught the girl by her shoulders, spinning her toward the door before she could finish.

  "If not for what?" Lord Stonebridge asked sharply.

  Stephen did not want Elizabeth's name dragged through the gutter with that cad. "Milli has quite an imagination, do you not?" he said to the girl.

  Milli pursed her lips, as if she finally realized something was wrong. "La, she did not marry Mr. Fennington. But as in the Shakespearean tragedy, she wanted to." And like the little actress Milli was, she fell against Stephen, a limp hand to her forehead. " 'Parting is such sweet sorrow—' "

  "That is enough, Millicent."

  The girl blinked as Stephen escorted her into the hall. "But I had such an audience. Did you see the way they stared at me?"

  To Stephen's disgust, the audience followed.

  "What is this about Fennington?" Stonebridge growled.

  Before Stephen could say another word, he was saved by the wail of a newborn babe. Stonebridge rushed past him like a horse running at Newmarket.

  Elizabeth came down the stairs, smiling as she took both of the earl's hands in a tight grip. "It's a boy. A healthy boy."

  "A boy," the earl murmured, choking back tears as he ran up the stairs. "Did you hear that, gentl
emen? I have a son!"

  The men whooped with glee, returning to the drawing room to toast the earl's new heir.

  But Stephen stayed rooted to the floor, staring at Elizabeth. Her honey-colored locks spilled down her back and across her face, shimmering against the candlelight. Her face was as flushed as an English rose. But it was her engaging smile that tripped his heart and sucked him in like an undercurrent.

  "A boy!" Milli ran upstairs to take a look at the child, passing her sister. "Oh, how wonderful. A boy!"

  Elizabeth's smile faltered and she stumbled on the steps, obviously tired and worn, her bottom lip trembling. "Your mother was so worried. But I think she is fine now."

  "Thank you." Stephen stepped forward and caught her in his arms. "You must be exhausted."

  To Stephen's surprise, her face crumpled and she buried her face in his shoulder with a small, choking sob.

  "Ah, Elizabeth," he said into her hair, inhaling the sweet scent of her. "Don't cry. You did a wonderful job."

  Her body fell limp against his. Stephen swept her into his arms and called for the servants to send up hot water for a bath. He strode into her chambers and sank into a nearby chair, settling her on his lap with her face still pressed against his cravat.

  Heaven above, she felt so good in his arms. "You did wonderfully. The baby is healthy? My sister is well?"

  She nodded. He patted her shoulder awkwardly. "Well, then, what have you to cry about? The doctor came in time, did he not?" Another sob broke from her throat.

  "Elizabeth." He kissed the soft skin beneath her ear.

  She shook her head, sniffing back her tears. "Y-you don't understand."

  He stiffened, instantly thinking of Milli's outburst downstairs. "If you're crying over that Fennington fool—"

  Her eyes widened. "Oh! How could you say such a thing?"

  She shot off his lap, wiping the tears from her face. "L-leave, before I scream."

  He stiffened. "Scream? You must be joking."

  "I am not j-joking." Her teeth started to chatter and she sank against her bed with a hiccupping sob.