by Tarah Scott
“Her ladyship refused to leave with Lady Rose and I,” Matthew said, and Anne winced.
“What did she do?” her husband asked.
“She stayed to fight the evil woman while Lady Rose and I escaped.”
From the corner of her eye, she saw Kennedy stare at her again.
“Was that when you tripped her?” Kennedy asked.
Anne looked sharply at him. “How do you know that?”
“I had a talk with Rebecca.”
“Oh,” she said, and fell silent again.
“I got Lady Rose outside to James,” Matthew went on. “Then her ladyship came, and we were able to escape.” Matthew stood straighter, as if waiting for further instructions.
Kennedy rose and extended his hand to the lad. “I owe you more than I can ever repay.”
The boy looked up at him in surprise then clasped Kennedy’s hand and they shook.
“Name any price,” Kennedy said, “and it is yours.”
Anne hid a smile when Matthew said, “A gentleman never takes money for rescuing a lady.”
Kennedy stared, as if uncertain what to say, then nodded. “When Rose is better, we would consider it an honor if you would join us for dinner. She will want to thank you personally.”
Startlement flashed across the boy’s face, then he said in a solemn voice, “It would be my honor.”
A knock came to the door and Mr. Bingham entered.” A message has arrived for you, my lord.” He crossed to Kennedy and handed him a note, then waited.
Kennedy scanned the note, which was from John, stating that the constable Kennedy had sent for had arrived at Chesterfield. He had Rebecca and Angus in custody, and Kennedy was to appear in the morning to make formal charges.
Kennedy looked at Bingham. “Bingham, please send a note to John with my thanks, and tell him I will visit him tomorrow.”
Bingham bowed, then left.
“Matthew,” Kennedy said, “my carriage will take you home.”
“There is no need for that. I have a horse.”
Kennedy shook his head. “Indulge me in this, lad. I would rest easier if my coach takes you. I will direct the driver to pick you up tomorrow so that you may retrieve your horse in daylight hours.”
“If that is what you wish, my lord.”
“You didn’t obey me so easily,” Anne said under her breath.
The boy looked at her in surprise. “Of course not, my lady. What you asked me to do was impossible.”
“Ahh,” she intoned. “I forget myself. You were supposed to protect me…and Lady Rose.” She smiled. “I don’t know what I would’ve done without you.” It wasn’t a lie. “Thank you.”
He bowed, and Kennedy directed him to tell Mr. Bingham to have a carriage brought around. Matthew left, then her mother stood and said, “Come along, Louisa. It’s late.”
“But, Mama.”
“No arguments,” their mother cut in. “Come along.” She looked at Kennedy. “We are very happy your sister is home, Kennedy.”
He nodded, and said in a hoarse voice, “Thank you, my lady.”
She smiled gently and said, “Perhaps you should call me, Christina.” Then she and Louisa left Anne alone with her husband.
Anne didn’t know why, but she was suddenly terrified.
Kennedy stared at her. “What sort of woman are you?”
She looked at him. “I don’t understand.”
“You hardly know me. You don’t know Rose, at all. Yet you put yourself in jeopardy to save her.”
Anne shrugged. “When I saw her, the situation she was in, it was clear she was being held against her will. I couldn’t leave her there.”
“You could’ve come to me. You could have not gone at all and let Matthew tell me his story when I returned home.”
“Matthew said Lady Rose feared that they were going to take her away. In truth, my lord, I couldn’t credit that the story was true. But there were enough truths that I couldn’t ignore the possibility that the tale might be true.” She hesitated, and said, “Why did your father have her locked up?”
His mouth thinned. “Are you sure you want to know the answer? You won’t like it.”
“Of course, I won’t like it. There is nothing that justifies locking someone up, much less one’s own child.” Her blood boiled at the memory of finding the girl half out of her mind with the laudanum, and clearly physically abused.
“That isn’t what I mean,” Kennedy said. “The reason concerns you—our marriage.”
She frowned, then comprehension dawned. “You mean your father used her to force you to marry me? How— I-I don’t understand.”
“My father told me that he had Rose taken away. I believed he had taken her from Scotland. Sent her to France, perhaps. Had I the slightest idea she was still in Edinburgh, in her own home—” His hands worked into fists at his sides.
Anne could well understand his anger and panic. She couldn’t imagine anything happening to Louisa.
“He demanded I marry immediately and produce an heir,” Kennedy said.
Anne nodded. He’d been right. She didn’t want to know. She’d known the earl had instigated the marriage. Yet, somehow, this knowledge tainted their union in a way she couldn’t describe.
She looked at her hands, still clasped in her lap. “I am so sorry.” Tears pressed at the backs of her eyes. “Of course, we cannot remain married.”
“What?” he said sharply.
She snapped her head up.
He crossed to her and stopped beside the divan. “We’ve been married three days. I need time to learn how to be a husband. Surely, you will give me more time.”
She looked at him in confusion. “We married because your father held your sister captive. I-I cannot imagine how you can even stand to look at me.”
“Quite the contrary. I cannot bear the thought of not seeing your face every day for the rest of my life.”
She blinked. “What? I don’t understand. Our marriage—”
He grasped her arm and pulled her to her feet. “Is the best thing that ever happened to me. I am sorry, my dear, but I have no intention of letting you go.”
Before she could reply, he kissed her until she couldn’t think straight.
Epilogue
Kennedy’s father died the following evening. Three days later, Kennedy gave Jacqueline his townhouse and moved his new family into Chesterfield Hall. It would take a month for all their belongings to be brought over. But he cared not. He had grown up in this house. His mother had died in this house. His sister had been imprisoned and then rescued in this house. Lastly, he would never forget that even his father had died in this house. This was where they belonged.
The dowager viscountess returned to Dover Hall, and left Louisa with them. Two months had passed. In another week, they would go to Dover Hall for the summer. By the time they returned home, Anne would be entering her sixth month of pregnancy and they would settle in until the birth of their child.
Light footfalls sounded outside his study, then the door burst open and Louisa and Rose rushed in.
Rose waved a note card. “We have been invited to a lawn party this afternoon. Please say we may go.”
“It’s up to Anne,” he said.
“Where is she?” Louisa asked.
Kennedy stood. He would guess, in the conservatory. “I will find her.”
He left the girls and went to the conservatory. This conservatory was twice the size of the one in his townhouse. He entered and ambled to the rear of the room where, as expected, he found his wife lying on the chaise that he had put there in front of the hearth, where only embers burned. A book lay open across her stomach, which had yet to show signs of the life growing inside of her. But she was napping. Something she did a little more often now than she used to—at least, according to her.
He put another log on the fire, then stood and turned to find her staring at him.
“This is my favorite room in the house,” she said.
H
e lifted a brow. “Your favorite room?”
She shrugged. “Perhaps my second favorite.”
He went to the chaise and sat beside her. “Perhaps you would like to spend a little time in your favorite room with me.”
She released a contented sigh. “Why move when this is such a comfortable chaise?”
He smoothed back a lock that had escaped her chignon. “Our sisters want to attend a lawn party this afternoon.”
She scooted over and patted the empty place beside her. He stretched out and pulled her against his chest.
She snuggled close and his heart constricted. “How is it I came to be so fortunate as to find you?” he asked.
“You’re a very lucky person, I suppose,” she murmured.”
He supposed that was true. He closed his eyes and drew in a deep breath. “I imagine we should let the girls go to the party.”
She nodded against his chest. “We shall never hear the end of it if we don’t.”
“Do we have to tell them now?”
Anne shifted and pulled his mouth down to hers. “Only if you really want to,” she said against his lips.
The only thing he wanted to do was make love to his wife. “Have I told you that I love you?” he said.
She nibbled on his bottom lip. “Only three other times today.”
He tightened his arms around her. “I am falling behind. I love you.”
She bit a little harder and he suddenly wanted her badly.
“Good,” she said. “Because I love you, too.”
###
Other Marriage Maker Collections
The Original Marriage Maker Saga
Worth of a Lady
The Marriage Wager
A Lady by Chance
How to Catch an Heiress
The Marriage Maker Goes Undercover
A Scoundrel in the Making
Her Wicked Highland Spy
My Lady of Danger
The Marriage Obligation
Daughters of Scandal Collection
A Lady in Pearls
A Most Unusual Scandal
The Lady’s Book of Love
Brazen
The Marriage Maker and the Widows
Rake Ruiner
Marrying the Belle of Edinburgh
Widow’s Treasure
Seduction of a Widow
Flowers of Scotland
The Maid of Inverness
Dreaming of a Gentleman
Reckless Desire
A Rose in Disguise
COMING SOON
The Beasts of Blackstone Abbey
A Heart Worth Loving
A Scoundrel’s Promise
His Wicked Hellion
A Match Made in the Highlands
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