Mark of The Marquess (The Valiant Love Regency Romance) (A Historical Romance Book)

by Deborah Wilson

  James stared at Mr. Harris and then nodded. “Yes, your brother is angry. I will see what I can do.”

  “What have you discovered today?” Kim asked.

  “Not much,” James said. “We are all trying to find what it is we have in common at the moment. A pattern in our lives that might have attracted someone. Yet, though we are all titled, none of us seem to have anything else in common.”

  Kim placed a hand on her husband’s arm. “You’ll find the truth. I’m sure of it.”

  He took her hand and kissed her fingers before tucking it into his arm and turning to Mr. Harris. “I’ll keep you informed on our progress and if anything new develops.” The dismissal was clear. And since it had been done courteously, Kim didn’t fret.

  Mr. Harris bowed again. “Thank you, my lord.” He turned to Kim. “Good day, my lady.”

  “Good day, Mr. Harris.”

  They watched him leave and then James turned to her. Kim waited for any hint of jealousy or for James to forbid her friendship with Mr. Harris. Instead, he touched the curl that rested along her jaw and said, “I believe it time you knew the color of your eyes.”

  She frowned slightly and then watched as James went into his pocket and produced a small velvet bag.

  He opened it and then ceremoniously revealed the most beautiful hairpiece she’d ever seen. Deep green stones were surrounded by stunning diamonds and pearls.

  Kim was nearly afraid to touch it, must less breathe so close to it.

  But she did touch it. The cool green stones were hard and smooth. “What are they?”

  “They are jade stones,” he said.

  She looked at him. “I didn’t know jade came in such a dark shade.”

  “It is the crocoite, a pigmented mineral, that gives it its hue.” He began to put it in her hair.

  Kim moved closer to make the action easier for him… and because she wanted to be closer. “How do you know about crocoite?”

  “Because it is frequently mined for the very purpose of producing colors. And I happen to have an investment in it.”

  Just how rich was her husband?

  He cupped her face. “I was shallow and invested in anything that was said to make things beautiful. SIlk. Crocoite. People might think you fall into the same category.”

  “Do you not think me beautiful?” It was a rhetorical question, though she was swiftly reminded of Lady Preshea’s comments about her husband preferring fair hair.

  He must have seen her hesitation in her gaze because he stiffened. His black eyes narrowed. “What would make you believe I don’t think you beautiful?”

  Her stomach dropped. She didn’t wish to discuss her worries or the frustration that he’d yet to make her his wife in every sense of the word. Instead, she smiled. “Thank you for the gift. It is lovely.”

  “Kim,” he said. “What I meant by my comment is that I don’t only see beauty when I look at you. I see goodness and a kind soul... Perhaps too kind at times.”

  She pressed her lips together and suspected the comment had to do with Mr. Harris’ presence in the house.

  “But it’s who you are within that I invest in,” he said. “So, if anyone believes our decision to marry was shallow on my part, you tell them otherwise.”

  She smiled. “I know it wasn’t shallow. After all, you came for me without ever seeing me for yourself.”

  He dropped his hands to her waist and pulled her in. “Oh, but I was a firm believer of your beauty even before we met. Your aunt had gone on and on about that very thing for nearly a year. She claimed you to be quite beautiful and mentioned how refined your education had been.” He frowned.

  Kim stilled as she went over his words herself.

  His gaze narrowed. “I hesitate to think she arranged this, that she wanted me to read your letter even.”

  Kim thought about the way her aunt had acted upon James’ confession to having read the letter. There had been a lack of surprise and after only a few reassuring questions, her aunt had decided the match a good one.

  “It was arranged,” she said.

  James chuckled and looked down. “She must have seen how lonely I was…”

  Kim wrapped her arms around him. “Perhaps, she had read a few of my letters and knew how lonely I was as well.”

  He looked into her eyes again. “No one as precious as you should ever claim to be lonely.”

  “It was a loneliness I created by my own hand.” She tightened her hold on him. “But I am no longer lonely. I am so very far from it.”

  He leaned forward and rested his head on hers. “Kim, I know I make myself vulnerable when I say this, but you can never leave me. I don’t think I’d survive without you.”

  His words and their anguish broke her heart.

  “I won’t leave,” she promised. “I want you far too much to ever leave you.” Tilting her head back, she kissed him gently and whispered, “Let me show you how much I want you.”

  James’ hands moved lower and pulled her close as the kiss deepened.

  A throat cleared from the door.

  Kim, still clinging to her husband, was shocked to find her family standing there.

  Charles, Sarah, her mother, and even Aunt May were all gathered in the threshold. Two footmen stared down at their shoes, but their gazes were equally as surprised.

  James dropped one of his arms but kept the other around her possessively.

  Aunt May spoke first. “Well, I believe that answers everything you all wished to know. As I stated before, the girl is perfectly fine with her husband.”

  “I see,” Kim’s mother whispered. Then she smiled and moved forward. Pulling Kim from James’ hold, she embraced her and then, shocking them both, the dowager turned and hugged Lord Denhallow. “Bless you,” the dowager said with tears in her eyes. “Bless you.”

  ∫ ∫ ∫

  3 8

  “Oh, Kim, when your aunt said you were happy, that you hardly wished to go out with her because you enjoyed the company of your husband, I thought she’d gone senile in her old age, but…” Her mother was pacing before her and then turned to Kim. “I’ve never seen such a glow on you. You are happy, aren’t you?”

  Kim touched her cheeks and found them to be hot. “Yes, Mother, I’m happy.”

  James and Charles had left the room to speak so that the women could have some time alone.

  Sarah was sitting close to Kim and said, “You skin is quite alight. Tell us, are you with child?”

  Kim’s mother gasped and her eyes—a color she now knew to be jade—widened. “Oh, a child?”

  Kim held up her hands. “No, I am not with child.”

  “One can never be too sure.” Aunt May sat in a chair not far from the circle, dressed in all her great finery. “It is clear you are both very much in love. You have me to thank for that. I set him on the path to find you, my dear.”

  Kim leaned back in her seat and shook her head before she laughed. “James and I were just discussing it. I wondered why you’d forgiven him so easily when he confessed to reading your letter.”

  “He stole the letters you sent your aunt?” the dowager asked as she took a seat on the other side of Kim.

  Aunt May said, “I held it before him like a carrot to a horse. He was left without much of a choice.” Then she turned to Kim. “And you should know, I read every one of those impudent letters you sent me and knew immediately that your family was inclined to marry you to Lord Louvell, a gentleman I’ve never met, but after reading your letters, I do not wish to. No, a man like Louvell was not for you. You needed someone just as shameless, my dear.”

  Kim was sure her face resembled the ripest apple at the moment. She was about to perspire from embarrassment.

  “Shameless?” the dowager asked. “Not my Kim.”

  “The perfect match for Denhallow,” Aunt May said.

  “I’m just glad you’re happy,” Sarah said. “And married to a marquess!”

  “Yes, you did very well for yourself,” he
r mother said as she glanced around the room. “You’re in the residence of a duke.” She sighed and then looked at Kim. “Of course, next Season, you’ll rent your own lodgings. You can’t expect the duke to wish to hear the baby crying at all hours of the night.”

  “Mother, I am not with child,” Kim said.

  “One can never be too sure,” Aunt May said. “I believe it will be a boy.”

  “A boy!” Sarah clapped. “How wonderful.”

  Kim groaned but decided to not protest further. Otherwise, her family was likely to grow suspicious. Her mother clearly wanted a grandchild. She would have to discuss this with James and hopefully before her mother had a chance to.

  The dowager turned to Aunt May. “Thank you. I truly had my doubts, but now my every worry has vanished.”

  Aunt May smiled but said nothing. She simply glowed in her praise.

  * * *

  “I suppose I owe you an apology,” Lord Peckshire began.

  He and James strolled through the cold gardens behind Ayers’ home in an effort to give the women some privacy. James hadn’t expected the apology, just as he was surprised when Lord Peckshire held out a hand to him.

  James stopped, stared at it, and then took it. “Apology accepted.”

  “Welcome to the family. I suppose you may call me Charles now,” he said with a slight smile. “I hope we can move past what took place before and move toward a bright future?”

  “I would like that. Call me James,” James said earnestly and was beginning to believe a bright future possible. He could still feel the dowager’s slight embrace. It had been warm and heartfelt.

  Then she’d blessed him, giving him the thing he’d wanted most but had not allowed himself to recognize the depth of it.

  “My aunt only came to see that I didn’t meddle,” Charles confessed. “She had faith that you and Kim would find your way.”

  James was certain it had been more than faith. He hadn’t known just how clever a woman Lady Macy could be. He had much to thank her for. If the woman hadn’t pestered him about those letters… Where would James be?

  He knew where’d he be. Alone. In his house.

  He nearly wanted to weep at how fortunate he’d become.

  He didn’t want to think about it. He didn't want to recall the years he’d existed without Kim. They were too dark. Too tragic to bring with him into this new life full of hope and life.

  “Your aunt is a wonderful woman,” James said.

  Charles shrugged. “You’d know better than me. She all but praises your wisdom as one would their own son. I’m sure she plans to leave you and Kim everything after she dies.”

  James did not wish to think about a world without Lady May. “Let us pray that is a long time from now.”

  Charles smiled and nodded. “Yes.”

  They walked in silence for a few more minutes and then Charles said, “So, you’ve returned to Society?”

  “No.” James cupped his hands behind his back. “Lord and Lady Ayers have been kind enough to present Kim, but I am here for another purpose.”

  “What is that?” Charles asked.

  “To find out who was behind my kidnapping.”

  Charles stopped walking. “I thought they caught the man years ago.”

  “One of them,” James said. “But there is another, maybe more.”

  “Is Kim in danger?” Charles asked immediately.

  “I don’t believe she is, but the possibility makes it so I cannot stop until I find this man,” James said.

  Charles gave him a swift nod. “Let me know if there is anything I can do to help.”

  “I will,” James replied.

  After another turn through their cool surroundings, the men returned to the women and James approached Kim. With his every step, he worked to conceal his concern. What had been discussed while he’d been gone? He told himself he had nothing to worry about. And the thought was confirmed when Lady May said there should be a proper toast offered to the couple.

  “A dinner,” Dowager Lady Peckshire said. “A small one, of course.”

  James sat by Kim and though she kept a proper distance, her eyes were warm when they found his. There was no embarrassment in that gaze. In fact, there was almost pride.

  “Where will we have the dinner for Lord and Lady Denhallow?” Sarah asked.

  “Here, of course,” the Duke of Ayers said as he moved into the room.

  Though James was quite used to the duke, his new family seemed ready to trip over themselves at seeing him. James was reminded that they’d likely never been to London. And though there was the possibility that the dowager had gone without Kim at some point in her life, he doubted it.

  James introduced the family just as Everly came in and plans were quickly set for a dinner that would take place the following week since Everly said Kim’s schedule was quite full until then.

  They saw the dowager and Lord and Lady Peckshire to the door then James dismissed himself and Kim before taking her from the foyer.

  “What are your plans for the evening?” Kim asked.

  They walked slowly toward the private drawing room that was off their bedroom.

  “I must return to the others. We all simply needed a break,” he said. “And I wanted to see you.”

  She smiled sweetly. “Thank you for the gift. Tonight, I will sing you anything you desire.”

  He groaned and wrapped his arms around her. “Never make such a promise. I’ll likely choose something quite bawdy.”

  Her laughter tickled his ears. She wrapped her arms around his neck.

  He’d never been so intimate with another woman, never feeling the need to touch them at every possible second. Never having them have the same desire for him.

  His wife enjoyed having her hands on him.

  She was everything he’d ever wanted and more. He was utterly vulnerable where Kim was concerned.

  But he couldn’t get Mr. Harris out of his mind. The man had been smiling at Kim, but what man wouldn’t? Though Mr. Harris’ brother, Ganden, had only seen Kim once, he’d still made comment about her beauty.

  Clearly, the brothers were in sync where attraction was concerned.

  “Be careful tonight,” he said, instead of speaking to his insecurities.

  Her fingers whispered through his hair. “Will you surprise me again tonight?”

  “Yes,” he said without thought.

  “Good.” Excitement lit her eyes. “I’ll anticipate it throughout the evening.”

  As would he.

  With a final kiss, he left his wife and went back to Ganden’s, where the others had assembled so that they might break things while they each tried to figure out what connected them.

  It was better than any gentleman’s club James had ever been a member of.

  Ganden had even purchased new objects for destruction.

  James could hardly wait.

  ∫ ∫ ∫

  3 9

  “It didn’t work.”

  Kim was startled at hearing Mr. Harris’ voice.

  They were at Almack’s for the weekly ball. Everly, who was a patroness, had seen to her gaining membership and then had introduced her to a few more important women of the ton before moving away.

  She’d spent most of the evening with Valiant and her husband Lord Cartelle before they’d left and had been moving around the room and various galleries while anxiously waiting for James’ usual, yet secret arrival.

  She didn’t know how he managed it, but for the last week, he’d always been there.

  They sometimes happened to be together when a waltz would play, and Kim would be fortunate enough to dance in her husband’s arms, if only privately. Those stolen moments made her night seem magical.

  It was almost as if their love were forbidden.

  But that was not so.

  Kim had to stop herself from urging James to come out with her but knew he’d refuse. She could sense how nervous he grew while they hid in various rooms and empty halls
.

  Mr. Harris came up behind her and held out a cup of punch for her. “I took your advice and failed.”

  She took it with a small thank you and then asked, “Failed at what?”

  Tired green eyes met hers. “I tried to remind Ganden of a time when I thought we’d been happy, but apparently, my memory is terrible. I believe it only made him worse.”

  Kim’s heart went out to him. She hoped he wouldn’t grow discouraged. They’d seen each other at almost every engagement for the last week. Mr. Harris was quite a popular man, which was easy to understand since he was young, handsome, and good natured.

  “Tell me what happened?” Kim asked from where they stood at the edge of the ballroom.

  “I gave him a wooden toy,” Mr. Harris said. “It was one I recall us playing with often as children. I had to search endlessly for it. I thought seeing it would make him remember the fun we’d had.”

  “And?” Kim asked.

  Mr. Harris shook his head. “The toy launched him into a new rage. Apparently, it had been his toy before it had been mine and our mother had taken if from him and given it to me.”

  Kim frowned. “And that was all it took to cause his anger?”

  Mr. Harris shrugged and looked away. “Ganden has this belief that our mother loves me more.”

  “Is it true?” Kim asked.

  Mr. Harris narrowed his eyes. “I don’t see how it could be. He’s her heir, isn’t he?”

  She didn’t think his response a true answer to her question. “Mr. Harris, do you love your brother?”

  “Of course,” he said swiftly.

  “Does he know?” Kim asked.

  Mr. Harris’ brows furrowed. “Of course, he does. I never gave up looking for him when he was kidnapped. Even still, these last two years, I’ve worked tirelessly to connect with him.”

  “Yet have you said the words?” Kim asked. “Sometimes, people need to hear it.” She could think of every loving word James had said to her and grow warm. “Does he know that you love him and will love him forever, no matter what? That he can never get rid of you, because a portion of him resides in your heart? That you will never give up on him? Never?” She was speaking to Mr. Harris, but she also speaking to herself. Those were her feelings for James.