He snorted, but then his eyes were back on her, and he asked baldly, “Why do you persist?”
The obvious reason was love. It wasn’t true, but he still ought to conclude the possibility and she probably should encourage him in that direction, so she countered, “Have you never been in love?”
The flicker of pain in his expression was so brief she might have missed it if she weren’t staring at him. It suggested Lady Roberts’s rumors about him were indeed true. Not once but twice thwarted in love—thanks to his father’s interference.
But the most recent one must still be a raw subject, so she asked carefully, “D’you still love her?”
His reaction was frigid. “Mention her again and we speak no more—ever.”
Her mistake brought a chill. She shouldn’t be so bloody nosy, not with him. She tried to recover, saying, “I just wondered if you knew the feeling, since I have it—and it’s why I won’t give up on you.”
He was back to snorting—and being crude. “It’s not a lady I want in bed.”
Such a bored tone! And boring him wasn’t part of her lessons. “What about out of bed?”
“Meaning?”
“Would you like me to be as outrageous as you? Breaking with proper decorum? I assure you I wouldn’t balk if that is your wish.”
He gave her a blank look for a moment before he actually laughed. “You really are—different, aren’t you?”
She smiled. “Have I swooned even once over your attempts to shock me?”
“No, you haven’t, which was disappointing, but now it’s rather intriguing. So you aren’t a virgin?”
She didn’t blush despite being mortified by that outrageous question, but she was now in a quandary. She had the distinct feeling that he wasn’t interested in virgins other than to shock them with his rude and inappropriate behavior. A momentary satisfaction that would immediately dissipate into boredom. And yet, didn’t every groom expect his bride to be a virgin? But there was nothing normal about this jaded man. And the conversation had turned a little too personal for them to continue it in a room that had quickly filled up with guests.
“A lady never tells,” she whispered. “But—follow me.”
She wasn’t sure if he would. He wasn’t smitten with her so was unlikely to jump at the crook of a finger like one of the twins’ beaus would do. And not following her, despite his being a rake, would just reinforce his assertion that he wasn’t interested in her. But she went to her mother’s study and paused before entering it so Daniel would know where she went if he did follow. She really didn’t want to be alone with him, even in her own house. But he obviously didn’t care if they were overheard, even though their conversation could be considered scandalous, whereas she did.
“But?” Daniel said as he entered the small room.
She let out her breath and turned to close the door behind them. “But—are you hoping for tears and whimpers on the wedding night?”
“I don’t want a wedding night—ever,” he replied. “But I am suddenly tempted to change my mind. I think a sample is in order.”
“As much as I would like to give you one, it will be in a wedding bed or no bed—my mother insists.”
“To hell with your mother. This desk will do.”
Vanessa sucked in her breath and panicked. He mistook her reason for wanting privacy! And he’d already lifted her to set her on the desk. Dare she allow him to at least kiss her before she reminded him about a wedding first? She might have, but he was too rough. She banged her head as he shoved her back on the desk, the inkwell stabbed her shoulder, his nail scratched her thigh as he yanked her skirt up. That was the last straw.
She clamped down on the scream that would have rescued her—and ruined her—and rescued herself, forcefully pushing him back before his large body could trap her there, and she rolled off the desk to get out of his way before she turned to snarl, “Was that another attempt to shock me into running away? Or have you never bedded a lady to know any better? Get rough with me again and I’ll shoot your bloody arse. You won’t be marrying a milksop in me. There will be passion in our bed, not war!”
And then she did exactly what Monty had warned her not to do, she walked out of the room, leaving Daniel certain that she was furious over his manhandling.
Chapter Forty-six
AFTER VANESSA HAD STORMED out of the study last night, she’d gone immediately upstairs to compose herself. She couldn’t even say if that crude attempt at sex—she wouldn’t call it lovemaking—had been deliberate on Daniel’s part. Had it been a last attempt to ensure she would give up on him? Or was he just accustomed to women who didn’t mind such clumsiness? Or—had he been so impassioned with her that he hadn’t been aware he was being rough?
Whatever that had been about, she’d had the strongest urge to burst into Monty’s room and cry on his shoulder, but she doubted he was there and resisted checking to see if he’d come back. But by the time she went back downstairs, the guests were all seated for dinner—and Daniel wasn’t among them.
When she went downstairs for breakfast the next morning, Kathleen was just leaving her study. She beckoned to Vanessa to enter it, whispering, “He’s annoyed.”
He was Lord Albert Rathban, the bane of her family, the last person alive she wanted to be in the same room with, let alone speak to. And he blasted her immediately. “Explain yourself!”
Vanessa slowly closed the door behind her. She would have so loved to revile him, but she was mindful that the man could end up being her father-in-law. He could also change his mind about wanting her in his family, which would negate their so-called bargain.
So she faced him and said carefully, “That implies you think I’ve done something wrong?”
“Didn’t you? Why else would Daniel leave his mother here alone last night? And he didn’t even tell her! She was mortified!”
So he’d slunk away after her stern rebuff so quickly he couldn’t even give his mother an excuse for it? “Your son took liberties. I threatened to shoot him if he did so again. Or did you want me to give away the goods thereby removing all incentive for him to join me at the altar?”
That surprised him. “He wanted you?”
“Wasn’t that the point? But I’m not sure he knows how to treat a lady when he’s been steeped in lechery for so long—and that’s your fault.” And before he took umbrage, she gambled. “I don’t think he’s ever forgiven you for sending his true love away.”
“That recent one? He didn’t love her,” Albert scoffed. “She was too slutty even for his tastes. He only wanted to marry her because he knew I wouldn’t allow it—as if he needs excuses to continue to defy me.”
“But he was in love with one of them, so I think you already gave him that excuse. Refusing to marry whom you want him to marry is his sort of revenge, as it were. You don’t agree? Like father like son?”
“You’re far too lippy, gel.”
“But it’s true, isn’t it?”
“Nonsense. He was only eighteen at the time he first fell in love, but—” He frowned and nearly a full minute passed while he delved into his memories. “Now you mention it, there was a vow, something about going to his grave unwed if he couldn’t have her. But she was a servant, utterly unacceptable, and he was still a child. It was absurd to think he could be that foolish, and it was forgotten.”
“But because you got rid of her, he’ll never marry. That is more acceptable?”
“I told you I didn’t believe it, or even remember it until now!”
“Even when he started refusing the potential brides you introduced to him?”
His eyes narrowed on her. “He was still sowing his oats, reveling in his bachelorhood. No, I did not relate it to that damned servant wench. And it’s moot. She ended up dying in childbirth.”
“The child, too?”
“No, the infant survived,” he said in a grumbling if slightly proud tone. “The man I sent the wench off with was to find her a husband in another coun
try but she refused, then died. He didn’t know what to do with the infant so he brought him home to me. I had him educated at boarding schools and he comes home to us on holidays.”
Her eyes widened. “Why didn’t you say Daniel knew she had given him a son?”
“Because he doesn’t know and don’t you dare tell him. He would legitimize him just to spite me! He and the boy both think he’s an orphaned cousin of my wife’s and that is how it will stay.”
“He claims to have a lot of bastards. Are you secretly raising them, too?” she asked.
“They had mothers to see to them. I made sure they managed on their own, those I knew about.”
She was incredulous that this vengeful old man had done that much. But then he added, “Now tell me why Daniel would even mention that woman to you?”
She thought about lying, or claiming intuition. She wasn’t sure what she’d hoped to gain for sharing her suspicion. A reconciliation of father and son that would result in an end to the vendetta against her father as recompense for pointing out the reason why Daniel refused to marry? Or it could go the other way and he could end the marriage bargain because she’d interfered in his family’s personal matters.
So she said simply, if rather evasively, “I asked him if he’d ever been in love before. His reaction was honest. But you must realize a son, the son of the woman he loved, could change everything. You should tell him!”
“To what point? He still needs a wife, still needs a son of good breeding, not a servant’s whelp. He needs you. So get him to the altar. Whatever you’ve been doing, it appears to be working.”
He abruptly walked out of the room. Her shoulders drooped. She didn’t want to pursue a marriage to Daniel, not when she had information that could turn him around, might even mend the rift with his father if he knew that Albert had done right by his first love’s son. But what she knew wasn’t going to get her father home. She would have to keep her enemy’s secret.
Chapter Forty-seven
“I WAS BEGINNING TO THINK you’d abandoned Charley and moved to your family’s residence in town,” Vanessa said when Monty found her in the small garden behind the town house. Two days had passed since she had last seen him when he’d gone off with his father.
“Gads, no, not with my father in London. He’s too nosy, too demanding, and too autocratic. He tends to still treat his children like children—and I’ve missed you.”
She almost blushed when her heart skipped a beat, and his warm smile didn’t help her get beyond the rush of excitement those words gave her. She took her eyes off him and continued walking to regain her composure, while he fell into step beside her.
“Was it painful, having to explain those tawdry rumors to him?” she teased.
He laughed. “A little.”
“My mother is autocratic like your father. I’m glad I missed the worst of her regimen, and now it’s too late for her to take control of my life again. My father, on the other hand, was just the opposite.”
“And yet your mother arranged that engagement for you and you’ve allowed it.”
“Because she did me a favor! And don’t give me that look, Monty. I warned you, I’ve said all I’m going to say about my reasons.”
He pulled her behind a bush and into his arms. “What if I could find another solution that doesn’t involve you marrying a man you don’t actually want?”
“You can’t. And don’t use unfair tactics, such as suggesting you can come up with miracles, to get me to confess all. Besides, I think I may have burned my bridge to Daniel. He didn’t stay for the dinner the other night after I threatened to shoot him, and he didn’t show up at either of the last two social events I attended, either.”
“Are you exaggerating?”
“No.”
He was too amused by that. “You give me such hope!”
“Oh, be quiet. I am devastated.”
He raised a brow. “Not after only two days you aren’t. But it does give me an excuse to distract you.”
His distraction was to start kissing her. She groaned because she couldn’t just enjoy it as she so wanted to. She stepped back to glower at him.
“No more rule breaking. Don’t force me to never leave my room without a maid in tow.”
He cringed and lamented, “The bane of most marriages. How are couples supposed to actually find out if they are suitable for each other with a chaperone listening to every bloody word they say? They might as well be strangers at the altar.”
She rolled her eyes at him. “Are those chaperones the reason you turned away from the marriage mart?”
“No, I was never tempted to join it when that particular family duty didn’t fall on my shoulders. And then I went off to war.”
“And then you became a rake.”
“Guilty!” He grinned. “But let’s not forget my offer to give all that up for—”
“Shh!” she cut in, but she felt tears forming in her eyes so hurried back to the house before he noticed. He tempted her in every way, including his gallant offer to marry her. Reminders just made the weight she was bearing all the heavier.
Five days and as many social events later, Vanessa was convinced that she’d failed with Daniel. She hoped his mother was to blame for his failure to attend any of those events. Perhaps she was taxed from so much socializing. He certainly wouldn’t attend any parties without her. But for a whole week?! He’d even missed her third ball, but so had Monty—which had been even more disappointing.
But on the way home from the ball that night, Layla had remarked on Charley and Monty’s absence, and Kathleen had replied nonchalantly, “Our guests are entertaining, but you girls have your own agenda that doesn’t require their presence. I asked them not to attend tonight’s ball.”
Vanessa was infuriated but held her tongue until the coach stopped and the twins alighted first. Putting a hand on her mother’s arm to stay her, she demanded, “Why would you do that?”
“Because you’re smitten with Montgomery and he distracts you from your purpose. Daniel was jealous of him. I saw it at the second ball.”
“That was a deliberate tactic that obviously worked. Monty does happen to be aware of my goal and offered to help me achieve it.”
“Kind of him, but once was enough, darling,” Kathleen replied. “Too much help of that sort is known to backfire. But if you’ve changed your mind about who you want to marry . . . ?”
“My target has been absent, if you haven’t noticed, for a whole bloody week! Perhaps you should find out why.”
“I believe you already know the answer to that. You can’t threaten to shoot a man before he proposes. You could have at least waited until you’d married him. Instead, you have no doubt scared him off, that would be my guess.”
“Who told—?”
“Lord Albert, of course. He mentioned it before he left that morning he came here for your explanation. What were you thinking, making a threat like that?”
“I was thinking that I didn’t want to have sex on your desk, Mother,” Vanessa replied sarcastically.
Kathleen’s cheeks lit up. “Did he really try that?”
“Yes, so I let him know I was furious. But I did not imply I was done with him, only that there would be no sex until the wedding night. I’ll handle this m’self and pay a visit to Lady Rathban tomorrow to find out why Daniel has been avoiding me. But he’s not scared of me. That would be ridiculous. If anything, he’s probably making me stew, to get even. That family is nothing if not vengeful—as you well know.”
Chapter Forty-eight
VANESSA HADN’T EVEN FINISHED dressing the next morning for her visit to the Rathbans when she received a summons to that very house. The note was simply signed “Rathban,” so she guessed it was from Lord Albert. With eight days having passed since she’d seen his son and no further progress having been made in dragging Daniel to the altar, he was probably going to tell her that it was no use trying anymore, that Daniel was a lost cause.
S
he had mixed feelings about that. Should she accept defeat graciously or put up a fight? The possibility of defeat actually lifted her heart a little but not fully, not when her father would lose in the end. But the idea of putting up a fight didn’t appeal to her, either. Hadn’t she done enough fighting already? However, if Daniel had told his mother that he simply wouldn’t have her and she had then told her husband, how could she get around that?
She reminded herself that she’d met Daniel only two weeks ago. Courtships tended to take longer than that. And she had made progress, enough that he’d wanted her that night in Kathleen’s study. What had gone wrong? Had her rebuff wounded his pride? Had the reluctant groom run off to hide somewhere to lick his wounds and neither parent knew where he was now?
It was infuriating that all she could do was guess, so with the answers only a few blocks away, she picked up her pace to get there. She took a maid with her this time so she wouldn’t have to tell her mother about the summons yet. Not that the twins’ maid could bolster her courage, timid girl that she was, but she wanted someone with her in case tempers flared. And they might. She would insist that Rathban make good on their bargain, even though it hadn’t been completed, since she had made an effort, a great effort.
It was a gloomy house, too many grays, no bright colors other than a vase of flowers in the hall. Even the paintings were dull and uninteresting. Had she been too nervous her last time there to even notice how uninviting this mansion was in the daytime? It had been quite festive-looking the night of the ball with lots of flowers and candles lit everywhere. If she had married Daniel, she could have redecorated—and then gotten bored. What actually could she do with herself living with a man she didn’t love? But she was doing it again, predicting doom and gloom when anything could have been possible if she hadn’t burned that bridge.
She was shown to the parlor to wait, and that wait had better not be too long, she thought, or she would work herself into a fine snit. He was lying on the sofa, arms crossed. Sleeping? She cleared her throat. He sat up, his expression inscrutable when his amber eyes rested on her. No surprise that she was there? Had he sent for her?
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