Voyage With a Viscount

by Murdoch, Emily

  Rowena’s heart was racing. It was rare, these days, for a coach to be taken by highwaymen – but not unheard of. As the coach jerked forward at full tilt, bumping the three inhabitants around like matches in a box, the two women looked at each other.

  Adena looked anxious, and Rowena saw with a lump in her throat that both of them were naturally clutching their bellies, as though they could in some way protect their unborn babes with the action.

  “Luke – Luke, what is happening,” Adena breathed, her face unbearably pale. “He must not hurt you, you must not do anything…anything…”

  Her eyelashes fluttered, and her head slumped slightly as she fainted.

  “Adena! Adena!” Rowena leaned forward, one hand still clutching her own stomach, and felt the pulse of her friend. “It is low, but it is there.”

  Luke nodded with relief, but he could not concern himself totally with his wife: his eyes still watched the highwayman, and so did Rowena.

  Newspaper reports raced through her mind. Highwaymen were known to rob, rape, murder those who they accost. What did this man want? What was going to happen to her – to them, to her baby?

  The coach moved faster and faster until the world was a complete blur, but yet still that dark blur was following them, keeping abreast of the carriage, forcing the coach driver to whip the horses again and again, until they cut go no further –

  And then a huge jerk and both Adena and Rowena were thrust against the side of the carriage as the blur that was the highwayman forced his horse across their path, cutting off the horses and causing them to slow down.

  Heart in her mouth, barely able to comprehend exactly what was happening, Rowena cast her panicked gaze at Luke.

  “Stay here – stay inside,” he said forcefully. “Do you hear me, Rowena? No matter what happens, stay inside the coach.”

  It had come to a stop now, but Rowena was still shaking. This was a nightmare, this could not be happening. She did not understand how a simple Tuesday afternoon could end this way.

  There were steps outside now, and Luke gave her a warning look but there was a rising sense of injustice within her. No one, but no one was going to hurt them.

  She would not allow it.

  As the man flung open the carriage door, Rowena raised both feet and kicked him hard in the chest.

  She was not a particularly strong woman, and if she had had more time, she may have thought of a more impressive move – but it was enough.

  The man choked, all the breath knocked out of him, and recoiled completely winded away from the coach.

  “And there is more of that,” shouted Rowena, trying to keep her voice level but strong. “You can take anything you want of value – ”

  “Rowena,” breathed Luke, but she ignored him.

  “ – but you will not harm myself, my baby, or any of us in here!” Rowena ended, her hands balled into fists. She would kill before she allowed anyone to hurt her, or the life growing within her.

  * * *

  Breathing heavily, head spinning, stomach sore and mind confused, he tried desperately to recall exactly what he was going to say.

  The well-prepared speech seemed to vanish from his tongue, and his lips moved soundlessly, wordlessly, as he staggered beside the coach, trying to keep his balance.

  “And stay back!”

  The voice was angry, fierce, almost a little violent, but it caused a leap of joy in his stomach not unconnected to the pain in his ribs. It was her.

  James, Viscount of Paendly, choked. “You know, it does my heart good to see just how violently you will protect yourself and our child, Rowena.”

  There was a gasp from the coach as a beautiful face emerged from the coach, and saw that the man she was terrified of attacking them was actually him – the man whom she had left at the King’s Head Inn over a month ago.

  “Rowena Kerr, I love you,” James said simply.

  “You – you are no highwayman!” She managed to splutter.

  James laughed, and shook his head. “Just a man wearing a black cloak – ‘tis surprising how similar the outline is. Oh, Rowena, at every turn, I am impressed by you. To think that you would kick a stranger – and it was a painful kick, I can assure you – to protect our child – ”

  “I would never need to,” cut in Rowena bitterly, stepping out of the coach and glaring at him, “if you had wanted anything to do with me.”

  Her words cut into James like a knife, but he embraced the pain as he embraced the shooting stabbing pains in his ribs: because he deserved them. He deserved this, because he had not recognised her worth from the very beginning.

  “I cannot apologise enough,” he said quietly. “I was a fool, and could not see you for what you were – the precious jewel that was just in my reach, and I did not grasp you when I could. And I no longer care who knows that I am ridiculously in love with you, Ro.”

  Was that a flinch that he saw across her beautiful face as he shortened her name?

  “I am sorry,” James smiled a little self-consciously. “It is what I call you in my dreams, when I cry out for you in the darkness, when I felt across the bed for the woman I knew would not be there, but I felt should be.”

  She was not saying anything. Was that a good sign? Her gown was fluttering in the breeze now, but she did not shiver in the cold. Her eyes did not move from his.

  James tried taking a step forward, towards her. “Allowing you to escape me at the King’s Head Inn was the biggest mistake of my life.”

  “The biggest mistake of your life was finding me at the Wingston Inn,” Rowena spat back, but there was no vehemence in her words, just pain, hurt.

  He was standing before her now, and he reached out a hand to touch her arm. She moved away, but not far enough to escape his reach.

  “Now I am telling you this in no uncertain terms,” he said in a low voice, feeling the tingle of her skin under his fingertips. “It was the best thing that has ever happened to me, and I will be grateful for that impulse for the rest of my life.”

  Was that a flicker of a smile? A smile for him?

  “Do you really believe that?”

  James brought his free hand to Rowena’s cheek, and he could not be imagining that she was leaning into it, could he? “I believe that it was fate that brought us together, and fate again which has allowed me to find you. Because I love you, Ro.”

  There was no flinch at the repeat of his name for her, and the flicker of a smile seemed to appear again.

  James swallowed. It was now or never, he knew that, and though it was absolutely what he wanted, the decision itself felt a little alien.

  “I am so convinced,” he said quietly, “utterly convinced, that I have no compunction of doing this.”

  Rowena’s eyes darted over his face. “This?”

  James moved in a swift movement until he was on bended knee before her, and he saw her eyes widened, her cheeks start to flush. “Rowena Kerr, you are the true highwayman. You have stolen my heart entirely, and I want nothing in return but your own. Will you do me the greatest honour that anyone could do in this world, and marry me?”

  Although James knew what response he wanted to receive, it certainly was not the one he was given.

  Rowena frowned. “You have to promise me something.”

  The ground was damp and his ribs were sore, but at this moment James would have promised her the moon. “Anything.”

  A smile danced across her cheeks, as Rowena said seriously. “Promise me no more duels.”

  Relief. Sweet relief and joy and excitement was flowing through him now, and James’ shoulders slumped as he laughed. “I can safely promise no more duels – or attacks on travelling coaches, either. ‘Tis a dangerous business, falling in love.”

  Rowena giggled, and pulling him up to his feet, reached up to his neck and pulled his face down to hers. James abandoned himself to the kiss, knowing that this was the first of many of the rest of their lives together.

  “Excuse me?”
/>   James jumped, pushing himself away from Rowena and staring around him for the source of the voice.

  Luke, the Marquis of Dewsbury, had poked his head out of the coach. “Although I am very relieved that you have come to a right understanding, can we please get back on the road? I have a wife here who is significantly less conscious than she needs to be, and I think that visit to the doctors is highly necessary.”

  “Unconscious?” James moved forward with his hand out to shake with the Marquis, who took it with a smile. “Come, Dewsbury. Let’s get both of our womenfolk on their way.”

  11

  James, Viscount of Paendly, stared at himself in the mirror. There was something different about his reflection today, but it put a broad smile on his face.

  There was a ring on the fourth finger of his left hand, and it was gold. They had discussed it of course: James had explained that it was so rare for gentleman to wear wedding rings, and he did not enjoy the feeling of such trifles on his flesh, and he would be quite happy to go without one.

  And so of course, he had one.

  A pair of hands grabbed him from behind and twisted him around, placing a passionate kiss on his lips. James inhaled the sweet smell of rosemary and lavender, the two herbs woven into his bride’s hair.

  Rowena. Rowena Kerr – or Rowena Viscountess Paendly, as she would have to become accustomed to. James surrendered himself to the passion that they shared, the heat of her tongue in his mouth, the strength of his hands around her waist. It was impossible not to glorify in their union, but eventually he managed to pull away from her and bestow her with a lazy smile.

  “We should join the rest of the party,” he growled.

  “The real celebration is here,” Rowena countered with a wicked smile. “Surely we would have more fun if we stayed hidden here, upstairs.”

  She raised her eyebrows towards the large bed that took pride of place in the Paendly master bedroom.

  James groaned. “I want to make love to my new bride more than anything, but this is not the time. There will be plenty of time for that later.”

  Rowena rolled her eyes, but nodded, and entwined her fingers in his as they stepped towards the doorway and the head of the stairs.

  “There you are – now Rowena, you have not said more than two words to your parents, come on.”

  The force of nature that was Adena, Marchioness of Dewsbury, accosted his bride and although Rowena beseeched him silently with her eyes, he did not rescue her.

  It was time for the reconciliation between Ro and her parents to formalise.

  “Excuse you!”

  A tap on the shoulder made James turned around, and his face broke into a smile as he beheld the only other woman of importance to him in his life. “Chloe!”

  A beaming woman stood before him, and James embraced his cousin as though they had not met for months – as it had been.

  “It is good to see you, Chlo,” said James warmly. “Can you comprehend a more beautiful woman than my wife?”

  Chloe nodded with a cheeky smile. “I cannot – but I am not likely to try and find a husband the same way that she did, I must say. ‘Tis a dangerous game she has played.”

  Dark clouds gathered across James’ face. Did she really say what he thought she said of his most darling bride?

  Realisation of what she had said – and who she had said it to – quickly dawned, and horror overwhelmed Chloe’s face.

  “My dear cousin, I am joking,” she said hurriedly. “I am beside myself with joy for you. You have found a real treasure, and so has she.”

  Bobbing a courtesy and with pink in her cheeks, Chloe wandered off into the crowd.

  James watched her go, and shook his head at his cousin’s impetuous nature. She had been impulsive ever since they had been children, but as they had grown, he had shed that habit whereas it had only grown stronger in his younger relation.

  There was emptiness by his side. James looked down, and saw with a wry smile that so accustomed was he to have Rowena by his side, that there was something missing in his life when she was not there.

  Taking a deep breath, James strode off into his wedding celebrations to go and find her.

  * * *

  “And you are…well?”

  Rowena winced at the forced calm of her mother’s words, but had she really expected anything else? How did you re-establish your familial connections after such a break – after such bitter words had been exchanged?

  “She is very well, thank you madam,” Adena said quietly in the silence that Rowena had left. “Eating much better now, thanks to the ministrations of Doctor Sanders.”

  Mrs Kerr nodded and looked around her at the marble splendour of Paendly. “To think that you are a Viscountess.”

  “I hope you will deserve him, Rowena,” said her father stiffly, and Rowena flushed at his words. “After he has taken you, despite your disgrace.”

  Heat was rising in Rowena’s stomach and she had opened her mouth to retaliate when she found her waist held by strong and warm hands.

  “Disgrace? I hope you have not helped my best man in his speech, Mr Kerr,” said James jovially, and Rowena relaxed to feel his comforting presence beside her.

  “Oh, my lord!” Mr Kerr gave a deep and low bow, so ridiculous that Rowena could not help but roll her eyes – only to see that her mother had dropped into such a low curtsey that someone almost tripped over her.

  “Oh, my lord Viscount, ‘tis so good to see you – I mean, it is your wedding, of course we thought to meet with you!” Trilled her mother, and Rowena tried desperately not to allow her cheeks to redden at the desperation to ingratiate themselves into the Viscount of Paendly’s good favour.

  “And it is wonderful to see you,” replied James kindly, but coolly. His eyes flickered over to Adena, and Rowena saw a nod of understanding pass between them.

  “Mr Kerr, Mrs Kerr, let me show you the parkland,” said Adena swiftly, indicating with a graceful hand the door towards the grounds. “I have been informed that Paendly was…”

  Her embarrassment started to fade as her friend took away her parents, and her shoulder slumped with relief.

  James was nuzzling her neck, leaving scalding heat in a kissing trail down to her nape. “Ro, my love…”

  “James,” she whispered back, “you told me that I had to wait for such pleasures.”

  Turning her around quickly, James lowered his face and possessed her mouth, desperate and dark with passion, and Rowena surrendered herself to him as she always would.

  “The question is,” asked James in a low voice, “are you sure that you are ready for another voyage with a Viscount, in your condition?”

  As one, they looked down at her swelling belly, full of life and love.

  Rowena smiled, her heart and her stomach overflowing with devotion to the man before her. “James, no matter where you take me, I could not care less about the destination. It is all about the voyage.”

  Wondering about Chloe? Get to know her in her own Ravishing Regencies story in Beached with a Baronet – read on for the first chapter…

  You can also read Adena’s story in Marooned with a Marquis!

  Please do leave a review if you have enjoyed this book – I love reading your thoughts, comments, and even critiques!

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  Beached with a Baronet

  Chapter One

  With one eye closed, Chloe Vaughn could almost see the highest branch – but without knowing it was so, how could the correct height be calculated?

  Sun was streaming down through the leaves and she tried her best to ignore it, and the mindless chatter around her. Assuming that the trunk’s perspective altered every ten feet, therefore, and taking into account the slope where she stood –

  “Keep up Miss Vaughn, or you will be left behind!”

  Chloe sighed. The berating yet kind voice of Lady Kath
ryn echoed throughout the trees, and her concentration immediately disappeared. Giving the tall oak one last look, she rolled her eyes, gathered the skirts of her gown in her hands, and took several large strides to draw level to the only other young lady in the group.

  Miss Rebecca Callaghan took her arm, and squeezed it. “Tree dimensions again?”

  Chloe sighed. “We are told ‘tis not an exact science from the ground, but why? It should be possible to not just estimate, but to calculate the – ”

  “Will you not let it be?” Miss Callaghan smiled, and her eyes darted towards the two gentlemen at the front of the group, walking with her mother. “I had depended on you to be enough of a distraction to enable me to spend a little time conversing with Sir Kyle, but – ”

  “Less chatter there,” came the gentle tone of Lady Kathryn. “Claude, go and see what the young ladies are talking about.”

  Chloe’s heart sank as quickly as the gangling young man hurriedly came towards them. He was a good natured soul, as far as she could tell. Her visit to the Callaghans always brought her in contact with some of the finer people in society, and her mother had told her repeatedly that she was fortunate that her and Rebecca’s father had been such good friends in London, to give her the opportunity to meet so many fine and eligible young gentleman.

  Chloe had responded that she would rather hunt for grass snakes, but she was shouted down, and her month long stay at The Beeches had featured far more suitors than serpents.

  “Miss Vaughn, of what do you speak?” Claude Ramsbottom asked with a grin that looked a little more licentious than her mother would have ever approved. “Here, will you not take my arm?”

  “I will not,” said Chloe decidedly, and then smoothed it over with, “for you see, I have Miss Callaghan’s arm and that is more than sufficient.”

  His face fell, and she was struck with a pang of pity for him. But really, was it his fault that he was so disorientated on his feet? She knew that Lady Kathryn had only invited Mr Ramsbottom to act as companion for herself, now that Rebecca and Sir Kyle were betrothed, and it was a kind gesture. Their outing would have been socially reprehensible with just Sir Kyle to accompany them, after all. Perhaps she should –