The Earl Takes A Bride (Elbia Series Book 2)

by Kathryn Jensen

Lifting his head slowly, Jacob studied his friend’s solemn expression. “Hard to imagine. You’re feeling well, aren’t you? It’s not a health problem, I hope.”

  “Nothing like that, sir.” To the contrary, until that bloody phone call, he’d never felt stronger, younger, more alive in his life! Being with Diane had given him all that and more. “But I have done something terrible. It’s fully my fault and in no way should what I’m about to tell you reflect on your sister-in-law.”

  Jacob’s features went suddenly wooden. “What has Diane done that you have to protect her?”

  Thomas was horrified. “She’s done nothing but be herself, let me assure you. I…we—” He scrambled desperately for words. “No one planned to have this happen. I admit to having been attracted to her since we first met, and apparently she found me moderately acceptable. When you sent me to the States to determine if something was wrong—”

  “Stop!” Jacob shouted.

  Thomas stiffened his spine, closed his mouth and waited for the worst.

  The young king stood up from his desk and turned to face the window overlooking the dark garden. Only then did Thomas see the two women outside, Diane and Allison, sitting on a stone bench in the moonlight, their heads lowered in conversation. Neither appeared very happy. Perhaps, he thought with a tinge of irony, they are having this same conversation.

  “If you’re about to tell me that you have been sleeping with my wife’s sister—”

  “Sir, I assure you, it wasn’t a careless affair.” Thomas fought off the overwhelming panic. This was not going at all well. He had to keep a clear head and explain the confusing, complex turn of events.

  “What was it, then?” Jacob shouted, spinning toward him. “Are you telling me you considered the consequences, then decided sleeping with my wife’s sister made sense?”

  “No, I mean, yes, but—”

  “What were you thinking, man? She’s been through enough!” Jacob glared at him. “The hope was Diane would come here, relax and regain her strength, then go home and be able to better deal with her life.”

  “I know, yes, of course…” How could he argue with that?

  “I would have given her a generous allowance and supported all four of them, of course, but she’s a proud woman and won’t accept charity.”

  “Yes, sir, I know.”

  “She was vulnerable. You should have considered her your very last target, Lothario.”

  Thomas nodded sadly. Hadn’t he known it all along? Hadn’t he understood, too, how angry Jacob would be? And now as he heard the cutting edge of the king’s voice and saw the fire in his blue eyes, he remembered that Jacob was not a man to be crossed, even by a friend.

  But he’d still rather confess his transgressions than try to hide them.

  “I don’t suppose you ever offered to marry the woman?” the king asked.

  Thomas looked up, surprised that Jacob would even ask. “No, sir. That wasn’t considered an option. Our lives are too different.”

  “She was willing to have sex with you and expected nothing in return? No future?”

  He couldn’t answer. Not in a way that would satisfy Jacob or make himself feel any better about what he’d done. “We both understood it was a temporary arrangement. I didn’t seduce her, if that’s what you’re thinking. We both wanted—”

  “Yes, yes. I understand the power of lust well enough.”

  Thomas had no doubt he did. Jacob had sampled his own generous share of the female population on several continents as a young man. He’d been perfectly satisfied with his playboy, bachelor life until he discovered he’d fathered a young son by the American woman he’d shared a summer fling with. It had taken the petite blonde commoner to tame him.

  But he wouldn’t remind Jacob of those traumatic days, just as he hoped this time would pass and someday Jacob would pardon him for what he’d done. Just as he hoped Diane would come to forgive him for letting her go.

  “I think you’d better arrange for Mrs. Fields’s return to Connecticut,” Jacob said stiffly.

  “Yes, sir. I believe that’s what she wants now, too.”

  “Fine. Do it.”

  “Sir, I only meant to help her—”

  “Spare me,” Jacob bit off. “You were thinking with your—” He stopped himself and growled. “Leave. Make the arrangements.”

  Thomas had never felt so small in his life. He felt physically, morally and emotionally insignificant. A slug, a worm, a lowly one-celled parasite…not a man. If he had exerted any amount of willpower and common sense instead of letting his hormones run amok, he wouldn’t have touched Diane. The problem was, she’d been so eager, so lovely, so tempting in every way, and he’d felt the urgency of her need for a man.

  How could he not respond to the woman?

  No, he corrected himself, she was far more than a needy female. She was unique and precious in his experience. If he’d been able to stay with anyone, it would have been her. But human nature and blood would tell.

  “Yes, sir,” he murmured, sinking fast in his despair. “I’ll make arrangements with your pilot.”

  “And you’ll leave her alone from now on. Is that understood?” The expression on Jacob’s face demanded allegiance.

  “Understood perfectly, Your Highness.”

  The day Diane left Elbia was the saddest of her life. As she settled herself into the leather cushions on the von Austerand jet, she chided herself on having been so naive. A woman who’d been married and given birth to three children should know more about the ways of men and women. But perhaps, in all fairness, an early marriage and her quiet lifestyle had sheltered her. Other, more experienced women no doubt took new relationships with men and the subsequent break-ups much more in stride.

  Thomas’s desertion stung bitterly. She felt his loss as physical pain—an aching in her heart, a hard knot in her stomach. Her eyes burned with unshed tears. Only as the jet took flight, rushing up into the blue July skies over the snow-tipped mountains surrounding Elbia, did she realize she had believed in her heart they might find a way to stay together.

  In the days that followed, Diane tried to reorient herself to the world she was familiar with. Nanticoke was a beautiful, picture-book-quaint New England town, built around a white-steepled church and village green, with a bandstand for summer concerts and a cannon to memorialize the town’s Revolutionary War patriots. She had always loved it, always felt comfortable here. It was where she and Allison had played as children, and where she’d always imagined herself living.

  Until she’d spent a month in Elbia. Until a magnificent bear of a man had taught her what it was like to be swept away by a passionate love.

  She knew now, of course, that he’d never truly loved her. His tenderness and desire must have been part of a mating ritual to him. He’d had plenty of women before her, would have others in her wake. He was a loner, loyal only to Jacob. As soon as Thomas had seen the opportunity for conveniently moving her out of his life, he’d jumped at it.

  She walked around her house, trying to focus on the future. It would be another week before the children returned; her mother had asked that they be allowed to stay with her in Florida a little longer. Everything felt small, cramped, plain after the soaring stone walls and antiques-filled rooms of the castle. She recalled the ballroom on the night of the grand ball, with its swirling couples, and wished she’d had a chance to waltz with Thomas…but almost immediately was glad she hadn’t. It would be just one more memory to struggle to forget.

  She drank gallons of herb tea and tried again and again to think about her future, but felt all the more lost. At night she lay in bed, stared at the ceiling, and the tears came no matter how hard she fought them. Thomas obviously didn’t care that she’d left, but she missed him fiercely.

  Finally Diane got up enough energy to begin her job search. She responded to several ads and made appointments for interviews. She caught up with housework and bills that had accumulated during her absence. Her mother called
twice and asked if she’d heard yet from Gary.

  “No,” Diane snapped. “Not one word.” Her fervent hope was that her mother had somehow misinterpreted his call and he’d only been curious as to the children’s well-being.

  “That’s odd,” Margaret Fields mused. “He seemed so anxious to reach you. I do hope you won’t be rude to him when he does call.”

  “Mother…”

  “Well, you can be very short at times, Diane.”

  She didn’t feel like pointing out that being curt with the husband who’d abandoned her and their children for a teenage receptionist wasn’t exactly an over-reaction.

  “I have things to do, Mother. I’ll talk with you soon. Give my love to the children.”

  She thought about jobs again that night and remembered speaking with Allison in the garden the day before she left Elbia. Her sister had brought up examples of the royal family’s charitable works around the world. “Consider joining our international staff,” Allison had said. “I know you’d do a wonderful job and you’d love it.”

  At the time, Diane had thought Allison was just trying to find another excuse for giving her money. But now she wondered if she’d too hastily dismissed a legitimate job offer and what was certain to be a better lifestyle for her children. On the other hand, working on her sister’s special programs would mean living much of the year in Elbia and seeing Thomas nearly every day. She couldn’t bear that, loving him as she did.

  She put that possibility out of her mind. Very firmly out of her mind, and hit the local classifieds again. While waiting for something better to come along, she took a temporary job at the local grocery store to make sure she didn’t fall behind on the bills.

  When the children returned home, she scheduled her work hours so that Elly could watch them while she was at the store. Then one Saturday as she looked out her kitchen window, she saw a man standing in her backyard, watching her children play.

  For a fleeting second she thought—Thomas!

  But it wasn’t him. This man was a good foot shorter and inches narrower at the shoulders. What was a stranger doing in her yard?

  Her protective instincts kicking in, Diane raced out her kitchen door, down the cement steps and through the gate into the backyard. Before she reached him, she knew who it was.

  “What are you doing here, Gary?”

  He turned and grinned at her, as if she ought to be pleased to see him. “Hey, there, Di. The kids look great! All tanned and healthy from that Florida sunshine.”

  “Answer me, dammit. Why are you here?”

  He flung an arm around her shoulders. She didn’t even waste the energy to shrug it off. “So I hear from your mom that you’ve had a vacation, too. That’s great. You deserve a break. Did Prince Charming treat you like a poor cousin or did he at least pretend you were part of the family?”

  “Jacob is King of Elbia now,” she corrected him. “He’s a gracious, warm man, a good father and loving husband.”

  Gary laughed. “Guess he can afford to be, with the millions he’s got.”

  “Why are you here?” she persisted. She wasn’t going to bring up her mother’s theory of his wanting to get back together with her. Let him just dare to even hint at it.

  “To see my kids, of course. Don’t you think I miss ’em?”

  “You never did before.”

  His smile left to be replaced by an exaggerated stage frown. “You’re right. You’re absolutely right, Di. I didn’t know what I was missing. Shoulda spent more time with them.”

  The two boys called to him from the slide beside the swings. “Hey, Dad, look at this!”

  They were showing off for him, trying to hold his attention by attempting daredevil, headfirst descents of the steep metal slope. Gary waved in their direction, but almost immediately turned back to Diane.

  “The thing is,” he said, lowering his head to nearly touch foreheads with her, “I feel real bad about walking out and leaving you holding the bag and all. Kids are expensive.”

  “Children need to be taken care of. The money is beside the point.”

  “Well, yeah…but it costs to feed ’em and buy shoes and all. Anyway, I’ve been thinking. It ain’t fair that I’m not helping support them.” He held up a hand in protest against an objection she hadn’t given. “No, no. I realize we signed papers, all legal and proper, and you like to handle things on your own. But it’s only right I do my share.”

  She stared at him. Something definitely was wrong with the man. The only share he’d ever wanted to protect was his own time away from the house, hanging out with his friends at the local bar. At least, that was where she’d thought he’d been.

  “What do you see as your share?” she asked suspiciously.

  “Well, that depends.”

  She raised one eyebrow skeptically. “On what?”

  “See money is a little tight just now. Me and Darlene, we’ve been cutting the corners best we can. But I’m trying to start my own construction business, and every damn bank I go to, they want collateral for a loan, and it’s not like I have any since you kept the house.”

  Fear rushed through her. “You are not taking this house from us.”

  “Wasn’t suggesting such a thing, believe me!” He looked astonished.

  “Then what are you suggesting, Gary?”

  He kissed her on the nose—a gesture she’d always hated because it meant he felt guilty about something he’d done or was about to do. “All I need is a little start-up cash, Di. Just twenty or thirty thou. Once the business gets rolling, I’ll be able to give you plenty, like clockwork, every month.”

  “I have no money to give you, and you know that,” she ground out before the wily glimmer in his eyes tipped her off. “You’re not thinking of asking Jacob for money!”

  “’Course not. I was going to ask you to ask him.”

  She slipped out from under his arm. “Forget it.”

  “But, Di…be reasonable. We’re all family, right? You and me, we may have split up, but he’s still your brother-in-law, and I was his brother-in-law, and it’s only reasonable that—”

  “No!” she shouted. She was aware that the children had stopped what they were doing to watch them. She hated arguing in front of them, but there was no way she would have any part of Gary’s con games. He was a decent worker under a good supervisor, but he didn’t have it in him to run a company. No matter how much money Jacob or a bank might give him, he’d blow it within six months.

  Gary stared at her. “I mean it. I’ll give you some money for the little beasties as soon as I start turning a profit.”

  One thing she had to give him—he had nerve. “Visit with the children as long as you like, Gary.” She turned back toward the house. “But don’t expect any handouts from me or Jacob. You and Darlene will just have to make it on your own.”

  Thomas didn’t get out of the car. After almost two weeks of fantasizing about Diane, he had given in to his need to see her. When Jacob mentioned a problem with the New York branch of the Von Austerand Relief Program, he volunteered to make the trip. They hadn’t mentioned Diane, but Jacob had hesitated before agreeing that Thomas should go in his stead to the States.

  The day he left, Jacob took him aside and they smoked a cigar in his private study. “I know what you’re thinking. You’re wondering if you can see her while you’re there.”

  Thomas nodded. “Believe me, if I could put the woman from my mind, I would.”

  “Then she is different from the others,” Jacob observed.

  “As night and day.” Thomas sighed. “But I won’t do anything to hurt her again. If I see her at all, it will only be to make sure she’s safe and doesn’t need anything.”

  Jacob nodded. “I’m sorry I was so angry with you the other day. You took me by surprise.”

  “I know.”

  Jacob puffed thoughtfully. “Are you sure you don’t want to marry the woman?”

  “It’s not a matter of wanting something, it’s a matt
er of who I am.”

  “And do you know who you are?”

  Thomas stared at him. It seemed a strange question.

  “Never mind,” Jacob said with a wave of his cigar. “You have a right to a private life. I just don’t want to see either of you hurt. You’re two of my favorite people. Be careful, old friend.”

  Thomas had told himself he would be careful. He would simply do as he’d done before, only with the foreknowledge of the possible traps laid for his heart. He would just stop by Diane’s house to make sure she’d found a job and see if she’d reconciled with Gary. As soon as he was assured she was all right, he would leave. If he could have gotten a straight answer out of her over the telephone, he’d have called. But he feared she would hang up on him.

  He pulled up in front of her house. Her car was in the driveway, and a pickup truck was parked out front. A queer, sour feeling bubbled up inside of him. He moved the rented Lincoln slowly along the street. At last he could see down her driveway to the backyard. The children were playing boisterously, and a couple stood close together, watching them. The man was only an inch or so taller than the woman. He was speaking intently to her, his arm around her. It was Diane. He knew the subtle curves of her body, the way her dark hair fell almost to her shoulders then curled softly under, the delightful tilt of her hips.

  Then the man leaned in front of her and kissed her.

  Thomas felt his entire body go rigid. His fingers spasmed on the steering wheel, and he had to stop himself from exploding from the car and racing across cement to tear the man away from her. He closed his eyes and slowly mastered his roiling emotions.

  Why was he surprised? Hadn’t he advised her to take Gary back? He cursed himself. No other man should be allowed to take her in his arms, ever. Just as no other woman should ever come to his, Thomas’s, bed. But all the wishes in the world had come too late.

  He jammed his foot on the accelerator, headed for the thruway and didn’t let up until he hit the traffic of downtown Manhattan an hour later.

  It took the better part of two weeks to rectify the problem with the royal charities. Funds had been appropriated to aid refugee children from the most recent political strife in the Middle East. Somehow, the medical and food supplies that were supposed to be purchased hadn’t been. Thomas hired a crack accounting firm. Within a few days they discovered a trail of cash flowing straight into the pockets of an executive Jacob had hired a year earlier.