Secrets of a Wedding Night

by Valerie Bowman

“He’s not a strange gentleman. And I was only outside for a few moments.” Annie gave her an exasperated glare and promptly turned away.

  “I am your guardian, your sister. I am supposed to look out for you, ensure you don’t ruin your reputation and—”

  Annie whirled to face her. “My reputation? Your concern for reputation is quite ironic coming from the author of the most scandalous pamphlet of the decade.”

  Lily pinched the bridge of her nose. “That’s a different matter altogether and you well know it. I did what I had to do in writing that pamphlet, but your reputation is of the utmost concern to me. Mr. Eggleston is not behaving appropriately and I don’t like it.”

  Annie threw up her hands. “Oh, you never made such a mistake as talking to a man late at night, did you, Lily? You’re so perfect. You’d never do anything so unexpected as fall in love.”

  “Love?” Lily scoffed. “You don’t know what you’re talking about. You barely even know Mr. Eggleston and—”

  Annie folded her arms across her chest and tapped her foot against the marble floor. “I knew you would say this when you met Mr. Eggleston. I knew it. You are so … so … predictable, Lily!” Annie turned and fled up the staircase.

  Lily’s shoulders slumped. She dropped her gloves, fan, and reticule on the table near the door and walked into the darkened salon. She collapsed on the edge of the settee and hung her head. How had this evening gone so wrong? When had everything become so complicated?

  Predictable. Is that what she had become? Someone who held no surprise? No mystery? Well, what was wrong with that? Responsible people were predictable. Accountable people were predictable. And who wasn’t predictable? Drunks and gamblers and silly young girls who believed in love. Being predictable wasn’t half bad.

  Lily propped her chin in one hand and with the other petted Leopold who’d jumped up to snuggle next to her.

  What was she to do? She’d already sold off everything that belonged to her including her mother’s jewels and her father’s prized cigar box. The only other items of value at her disposal were part of Merrill’s town house and they belonged to the new earl now. She’d rather live on the streets than disgrace herself by turning into a thief. Yes, things were very complicated lately. But there was no help for it. Annie’s debut was her highest priority at the moment. For now, she had to find a way to make it through the next two days with what little money she had left from the sale of the flowers, and without succumbing to Devon Morgan’s legendary charm.

  CHAPTER 12

  “I’ve come, my lady, bearing the fruits of your labor.” Viscount Medford strolled around the white salon where Lily sat in the center of the settee.

  “What do you mean?” Lily was barely paying attention to her friend. She’d been mentally calculating how much money it would take to live out the rest of the Season in London.

  Medford smiled at her, his bright hazel eyes sparkling. “Remember when you told me you wished you’d never written the pamphlet to begin with? If I recall correctly, ‘confounded’ was the word you used.”

  “How could I forget?” Lily answered, sipping her sugarless, creamless tea. She eyed her friend warily. What was he up to this morning?

  Medford pulled a paper from his coat pocket and presented it to Lily with a flourish. “Ah, but I wonder if you will change your mind once you see this.”

  She snatched it from his hands and held it up to the light to inspect it.

  “The last time we spoke, I believe you told me the pamphlet had brought you nothing but trouble,” Medford said, still grinning.

  Lily whispered. “A voucher for the sum of fifty pounds.”

  “Precisely.”

  “Made out to me,” Lily continued, sucking in her breath.

  “Exactly. Your share of the sales of Secrets of a Wedding Night to date.”

  Lily’s hands trembled. She clutched the voucher to her chest. “This cannot be real.”

  “I assure you, it’s very real. Koenig and Bensley tell me we’ve had every lady’s maid in the city come to the printing shop asking for a copy of your pamphlet for their mistress. They come wearing draped hats and they don’t allow their carriages to linger in the street too long. It’s clandestine, my dear, make no mistake. Clandestine, but immensely popular.”

  Lily pressed the voucher to her chest more tightly. “I didn’t write it to earn money.”

  “No, but you might as well reap the rewards.”

  She glanced away, biting her lip. Lily well remembered that day a few months ago. Medford had arrived at her house to pay a call and he’d brought a copy of the Times.

  He’d had an inscrutable look on his face.

  “What is it?” Lily had asked, beginning to be a bit concerned.

  Medford cleared his throat. “You might want to look at page five.”

  Lily had taken the paper from him with cold, trembling hands. She knew page five. Page five contained engagement announcements. Her stomach dropped and she turned away from Medford, quickly shuffling open the pages until she found what she was looking for.

  Her eyes scanned the parchment frantically until she saw it.

  Devon’s engagement announcement.

  She turned back to face Medford, her smile probably too bright. “Well, good luck to Miss Templeton, poor thing.”

  Medford had stepped toward her, but Lily stepped back. “Lily, I know how much he meant—”

  Lily shook her head and turned away, swallowing past the lump in her throat and the unshed tears she refused to allow. “The girl has no idea what she’s in for.”

  Medford, perhaps sensing she needed to make light of it, had shrugged. “Money meets title. It’s a perfect ton match.”

  Lily tossed the paper onto the table, resisting the urge to scrunch the thing into a ball and fling it into the rubbish heap. “I’m quite serious. Miss Templeton has no idea. She’s giving her life away to a man. Giving her control away to a man. And the poor girl doesn’t even know it. Any more than any of those unwitting young women do.”

  Medford furrowed his brow. “What exactly do you mean?”

  She tossed a hand in the air. “The young ladies making their debuts. All of them. They are at the beck and call of their fathers, men who are looking out for the best interests of other men. Who is there to warn these poor young women?”

  Medford shrugged. “Their mothers?”

  Lily rolled her eyes. “Hardly. Their mothers are part of the problem. They’re on the men’s side. Someone else needs to champion the young ladies. Or at least provide them with the facts. I spent my wedding night frightened half to death. I wish I could tell them. I wish I could shout it from the rooftops.”

  Medford narrowed his eyes, appearing to contemplate the matter for a few moments. “The rooftops might not be ready for such information, my lady, but there may be another way to get your message out. I just happen to know a certain nobleman who has recently invested heavily in a new form of printing press.” He grinned. “My partners and I have published a few essays and the odd pamphlet to date, but just think how popular this subject would be.”

  Lily gave him a suspicious look. “What exactly do you mean?”

  Medford snapped his fingers. “Think of it. Secrets of a Wedding Night, you could call it. There won’t be an unmarried female in town who wouldn’t give her eyeteeth for a copy. Why, I’ll start the rumor of its existence at a finishing school and we’ll be sold out by week’s end.”

  Lily’s eyes widened. “No. No, I couldn’t possibly.”

  Medford gave her a wicked grin, one very few people knew he was capable of. “Why not?”

  Lily bit her lip. “It would cause a scandal.”

  “Wouldn’t be the first scandal this town’s witnessed.”

  Lily contemplated him from the corners of her eyes. “I suppose that’s true.”

  “C’mon, Lily. You said yourself, you’d be doing a public service.”

  A thrill shot through her. She tapped a fingernail again
st her cheek. “It would have to be anonymous, of course.”

  Medford nodded. “Goes without saying.”

  “And I mean for it to be informative, mind you, not indecent.” Of course she hadn’t mentioned to Medford that she hadn’t anything indecent to write.

  “Decency shall be our highest priority.”

  Lily winced. “Oh, I suppose it will cause an awful scandal.”

  Medford cracked a smile. “Oh, no doubt. But it cannot be as scandalous as Mr. Paine’s pamphlet in America was many years ago.”

  Lily allowed a broad smile to sweep across her face. “Ah, yes, Common Sense. And may ours sell just as well!”

  “Is that a yes?”

  Lily held out her hand to him. “Lord Medford, I believe we have a bargain.”

  And the rest had been history.

  Now, she glanced up at Medford who was staring at the voucher she held pressed to her chest.

  His eyes searched her face. “If you need money, Lily, you know you have only to ask me.”

  Lily shook her head. She tried to laugh. “What makes you think—?”

  Medford’s voice was solemn. “I’ve seen the threadbare rugs. I’ve noticed you’re no longer taking sugar in your tea. You adore sugar in your tea.”

  Lily swallowed and glanced away. “I’m fine. Truly. Besides, you’re already doing me a large favor by hosting Annie’s come-out ball. You’re a true friend, Medford. I could ask no more from you.”

  “I’ve asked you a dozen times to call me ‘James.’ We’re friends, Lily.” Medford’s probing hazel eyes did not leave her face. “I’m worried about you.”

  “Worried? About me? Whatever for?” She fluttered a hand in the air.

  “You’ve been telling me for months you’re fine, yet you’ve just welcomed fifty pounds as if it were the only thing keeping you from debtor’s prison, and you’ve been spending far too much time lately with that good-for-naught Colton.”

  Lily laughed. “Now, there I shall agree with you, my friend. Any time I spend in Colton’s company is too much. But I am quite capable of handling Lord Colton. Don’t worry about me.”

  Medford looked suspicious. He crossed his arms over his chest and nodded toward the voucher still clutched to her chest. “And the money?”

  Lily allowed a slow smile to spread across her face. Fifty pounds was a virtual fortune. But it would only last so long. A lesson she’d learned well enough over the last five years.

  Yes, it might be indecent, what she was contemplating, and no doubt it was risky. But Lily no longer cared. For one thing, it was anonymous, even if people did suspect her, and for another, as a woman, Society had left her little choice.

  “My lord, I have only one question.”

  “Ask it, my lady.” Medford bowed to her formally. “Your wish is my command.”

  “What shall I write next?”

  Medford threw back his head and shouted with laughter. “That’s the spirit!”

  CHAPTER 13

  Boom. Boom. Boom.

  This time Lily recognized the blows on the door. The sheer volume of the knocks left her little doubt as to the identity of her caller. What did Colton want with her now? He’d already proved he could steal her breath with his kisses. What else was there? She needed to stay far away from him. She had begun to think he might actually have a chance at making good his threat to seduce her, were he allowed full rein.

  And there was another complication. At present, she was sitting in the study with a bill collector. She’d just finished handing over a goodly amount of the money she’d received from Medford, and she was doing her best to rid herself of her visitor without parting with the remainder. Not to mention she would sink through the floor with embarrassment if Devon were to see the man and begin asking questions.

  She stared at Mr. Hogsmeade’s balding pate as he informed her she owed him another five pounds.

  “We’ve provided you with a great deal of credit, Lady Merrill, in the name of your late husband,” the round man said, “but now that you have failed to repay—”

  “I understand perfectly, Mr. Hogsmeade,” she replied, barely attending to his uncomfortable, practiced speech, a speech she’d heard so often she could recite it herself. “There is no need to worry. I have recently acquired an income and will get you the rest of what I owe by the end of the month.”

  She escorted the short man to the side door and breathed a sigh of relief when Evans indicated Lord Colton was already ensconced in the salon. That was close!

  Lily kept Devon waiting for the requisite quarter hour. She sauntered into the salon as if she hadn’t a care in the world, Leopold running around her heels. “My lord, I thought that was you trying to break down my door.”

  Confound it. Why did he have to look so dashing? Buckskin breeches, a white lawn shirt, chocolate polished Hessians, and windswept hair. Clearly, no good could come of him looking that way.

  He bowed over the hand she presented him. “Ah, but you’re mistaken, my lady. Had I intended to break down the door, it would not still be standing.” His smile was downright challenging. “Where are the flowers I sent you?”

  Lily nearly choked. “I … ah … I … we took them to the sick house.”

  He gave her a suspicious look. “The sick house?”

  “Yes. I saw no need to let them wilt in the foyer when sick people could enjoy them.” She cleared her throat. “Please. Sit.”

  He waited for her to sit first, of course, but instead of taking a seat in the chair she’d indicated, he slid next to her on the settee. She tried not to let him see it flustered her.

  “To what do I owe the pleasure of your visit?” she asked in what she hoped was a nonchalant voice. To her chagrin, her voice cracked a bit at the end, but otherwise, good form.

  “I’ve come, my lady, to ask if you would allow me to escort you on a ride through the park this afternoon.”

  Lily blinked. “A ride?”

  “Yes.”

  “Through the park?”

  “That is the customary location, is it not? Now, of course it’s predictable that you’ll say no, but hear me out—”

  Lily heard one word, and one word only. “Predictable.” She shot off the settee. “Very well, let’s go.”

  She quickly moved toward the door, intent on gathering her cloak, bonnet, and gloves. Of course a ride in the park with Lord Colton was a bad idea. A very bad idea indeed. But she’d already declined his offer of dinner, and she refused to be predictable. Besides, if they remained here, another creditor might come to call.

  Devon blinked a few times, obviously surprised by the ease with which she had capitulated, but he got himself together quickly and followed her out the door.

  A new phaeton waited outside, a groom stood nearby, and two lovely sorrels pulled the thing. Lily nearly whistled as she marched down the steps toward it.

  “Not bad, Colton,” she whispered under her breath.

  “What was that?” he asked, taking the steps two at a time to catch up to her.

  “A fine bit of luxury for someone deeply in debt,” she said. “The creditors won’t take it from you while we’re in the park, will they? I’d hate to have to walk all the way back home.”

  “Ah, Lily, so nice of you to be so preoccupied with my finances, as usual. I do appreciate your concern. I expect you have no such concerns for Lord Medford.”

  “You and Lord Medford are two very different men.”

  “Thank God,” Devon spat out.

  Lily raised a brow. “Why do you dislike Lord Medford so?” she asked as Devon helped her into the conveyance.

  Devon rolled his eyes. “Let’s just say we weren’t exactly friends at school.”

  “Did something happen between the two of you?”

  Devon grunted. “Nothing specific. He’s just the kind of bloke whom everyone adores. He’s too blasted perfect for my taste. Perfect breeding, perfect fortune, perfect manners, perfect … everything.”

  Lily hid her
smile. “You mean he’s the opposite of you.”

  Devon narrowed his eyes at her but the smile that lingered around his lips told her he wasn’t truly angry.

  She settled into the seat and arranged her skirts. Something squirmed near her ankles and she pulled up her feet sharply, stifling a yelp. “What’s that?” She tentatively leaned down to have a look. A puppy jumped into her lap.

  Lily squealed with delight. “Oh, good heavens. Devon, she is adorable!” She lifted the puppy, her thumbs under the dog’s top paws, and examined her. An abundance of dark gray curls, with white patches around both eyes and at the tips of all four paws. “The spots make her look like a bandit,” she said, still laughing.

  Devon’s face wore a bright smile. “Do you like her?”

  Lily kissed the wriggly little animal on the top of her head. “Like her? Of course I do.”

  “I think she looks like an animal the Americans call a raccoon. Only her tail is much shorter.”

  Lily turned the puppy around to inspect her stubby tail, which was wagging so fast Lily thought it might fly off. “Yes, definitely not a raccoon tail, but otherwise, I’m quite certain she has raccoon in her lineage.” The puppy spun around and licked Lily’s face. She laughed. “Where did you get her?”

  Devon nodded to the groom and told him to stay behind. Then he climbed up next to Lily, took a seat, and shook out the reins. “I found her, actually. That’s what I was trying to tell you last night. The men I … dispatched, had this little ball of fur with them. I’m not sure what their plans were, to sell her no doubt, but I couldn’t allow such blackguards to take her.”

  Lily squeezed the puppy close and tucked the dog’s little head under her chin. “No, no, of course not.”

  Devon gave her an almost shy look that made Lily feel things she didn’t want to examine.

  “I thought you might take better care of her.” He cleared his throat.

  Lily gulped. “Me? You’re giving her to me?”

  “Do you want her?”

  Lily smiled. “God knows if Annie ever discovered I turned down an animal in need, I’d never hear the end of it. But I’d no idea you have a soft spot for animals, Devon.” She scratched the puppy’s ears and the dog snuggled up happily into her lap. Ah, she’d just have to find the money to feed this little one somewhere.