Angelique shook her head quickly and almost laughed again. The thought of Lucas hurting her deliberately was completely ridiculous.
“He has been nothing but charming. And kind. And thoughtful. And loving...” Unexpected tears suddenly spilled down her cheeks.
“So your complaint is of another nature.” She regarded her daughter carefully. “Is he not pleasing you in the marriage bed?” She spoke quietly. “Some men don’t consider their wives pleasure above their own, and that can make things difficult, painful...”
Angelique interrupted, her cheeks flaring red.
“No, it is nothing of that nature. We were only wed three days ago, but Lucas was wonderful.” The image of him holding himself patiently above her, came rushing into her head; the strain of his self control while sweat beaded on his brow, his sapphire eyes intense upon her.
Her mother’s brows dipped.
“So what is the problem? It sounds as though you have made a fabulous match. Whatever can have upset you so much that you have retreated so far from your husband so soon?”
Angelique cuffed her wet cheeks, but more tears fell.
“He does not love me. He didn’t intend to marry me. It was all a mistake, but it cannot be rectified. And now it is too late anyway.”
“A mistake? How can that be so?”
Angelique sighed.
“Perhaps we can ask for some tea. It is a long story.”
Many cups of tea later, Angelique frowned as her mother wiped tears of laughter from her cheeks.
“I was expecting sympathy, not ridicule.” She put down her cup and made to stand.
Her mother caught her arm.
“I apologise, but you have to admit that it is an excellent tale! So drunk that you were married to the wrong man. Imagine the laughter when you tell your children and your grandchildren!”
Angelique huffed out a breath.
“Well, it is highly unlikely that I will ever have and children or grandchildren seeing as I have left him.”
“Left him?” Her mother appeared incredulous. “Let me make sure I have heard you correctly. The man is charming, kind, thoughtful, and loving. He is a generous lover, and clearly an interesting person, given that he doesn’t seem to mind being snared by mistake. He chose and paid for a complete new wardrobe for you, protected you when you needed his aid, and didn’t berate you for attempting to steal his horse. Twice. He has a wonderful estate, beautiful animals, kind staff, a library to die for, and plenty of gumption as proved by his chosen career. And you have left him because he hasn’t said that he loves you, when you only met him for the first time five days ago.”
Angelique pouted. Her reasons for leaving sounded ridiculous when put like that. But her heart still ached.
“I don’t care whether it has only been five days. I know that I love him.” There, she had admitted it at last.
Her mother sighed deeply.
“And he didn’t reciprocate your feelings when you told him. I can understand your disappointment, but men find those words hard to say. Perhaps if given more time...” She stopped as her daughter shook her head.
“But I didn’t tell him. I didn’t know what I felt was love at that point in...” She gasped as she realized the meaning of her own words.
Her mother smiled and patted her daughter’s hand.
“Give the man a moment to gather his senses, child. This situation is as new to him as it is to you. I am sure that what he feels is only just hitting him too. Give him a few more days and I daresay that he will be running after you.”
Angelique shook her head again sorrowfully.
“No, it is not the same. He loves another. Someone unattainable to him.” She carried on as her mother tilted her head curiously. “Lady Sophia Barclay, the younger sister of a very close friend. The families have known each other forever. She married Lord Brendon Spencer a month ago. Apparently Lucas has loved her for many years.”
Confusion marred her mother’s brow.
“And yet, though he has known and loved her all this time, he hadn’t proposed to her? Let her marry another without making his intentions clear? I find that most unusual. Why would he let all that time pass without saying something, or at least making sure that there was a mutual understanding?”
Angelique stood quickly and moved to the tall window. She pressed her fingertips against the glass and stared out over the terrace.
“I don’t know why he didn’t propose to her.” She breathed out quietly.
Her mother laughed.
“Do you think it could be that all he felt for this Sophia was an infatuation? He might not have known it, but perhaps, somewhere deep in his heart, he knew that he was waiting for the one woman who could stir his soul. Perhaps he was waiting for one such as you.”
He had definitely managed to stir her soul. Everything about the man tempted her. His sinfully dark hair and sapphire eyes, the sound of his voice, the confidence in his stride. Even the way he had ridden his horse, set her heart a flutter.
Angelique pressed her fingertips to her lips. They still tingled from his wild kisses. Her nipples peaked inside her gown at the mere thought of his mouth on hers, so soft and yet commanding, so thorough in his demands. Gooseflesh marked her skin as pleasant shivers rippled through her. Could he have done all those intimate things to her while imagining another woman? Had he thought about his previous love, even for a second? It hadn’t seemed so. He had called out Angel each and every time, as he shuddered his release into her.
But even as she recalled the delightful feelings and his heavy, uneven breaths, she knew what she was competing with. Did she stand a chance? She knew Sophia Barclay to be an incredibly beautiful woman. Brendon Spencer had described her endlessly when he had come to read with her. Sophia mesmerized with her luscious dark hair and even darker eyes. Her skin glowed as alabaster and her lips were the colour of red wine. Tiny but perfectly proportioned, she was the epitome of elegance and beauty.
Angelique caught sight of herself in the mirror over the fireplace. All the faults she saw in herself remained, looked worse by the comparison if that was even possible. Darkened, sleep deprived eyes, wide with fear of losing him, lips still swollen red from his kisses, her hair a riot of pale curls about her face. Neither big nor small, she didn’t shine anywhere. So ordinary that she paled into insignificance. And her mother thought she could stir Lucas’ soul. She felt more like crying than ever.
She glanced at her mother’s smiling face. Graceful, elegant, lovelier than Angelique could ever remember. She frowned. The woman was no longer cowering or frightened. Nor was she laughing madly or shivering by turns. Her mother looked positively radiant. How? Why? Certainly not because of Angelique’s news. She tilted her head.
“Well, regardless of my impromptu marriage, I am so happy to see you. You are looking more than well. Carnsworth clearly suits you, mother.”
Her mother’s smile became wider.
“It does. I have not felt as good since before I married your father.” The woman’s gaze dipped to the floor as her voice faltered for the first time.
Angelique caught her mother’s hand and squeezed gently.
“That part of our lives is over. Do not think of the man. He is gone, never to be considered again.” Angelique looked out of the window and over the surrounding countryside. “It is so quiet here. Do you not feel isolated? Would you not like to come to London.” She changed the subject before they became maudlin on the subject.
The older woman joined her daughter at the window.
“No, it is so beautiful and calm here. And I do have occasional visitors.”
Did her mother’s cheeks blush?
“You do? Who? I didn’t notice many neighbouring houses.”
“Colonel Flint and his daughter live not more than a mile away. His wife passed away several years ago. I think they both lack for company and have called several times. We enjoy a game of cards, and walking through the estate gardens.” The blush had become
deeper.
“And the daughter walks with you?” Angelique smiled.
Her mother’s eyes sparkled.
“Emiline has struck up a great friendship with my maid, Helen. There is a difference in their stations, obviously, but there are not many other young people in the area. They walk with the colonel and I... at a discreet distance. And you don’t have to look at me like that, my darling. At our ages, it is not as if we are in need of a chaperone.”
Angelique squealed with delight.
“Mother! I am so happy for you. Have you come to any understanding?”
Her mother’s face became radiant.
“Arthur wrote to Harold only two days ago. I expect a visit from him fairly soon. I had thought it might be him when your carriage arrived.”
Angelique’s shoulders sagged.
“Then you must be disappointed.” She wasn’t wanted again.
But her mother laughed.
“Don’t be so melodramatic. Of course I am happy to see you. I am thrilled that you thought to come. I just wish that you were as happy as I.”
Angelique closed her eyes.
“So do I, mother. So do I.”
Chapter Seventeen
A Lover’s Tryst
“I have rarely had the displeasure of riding in a carriage as slow as yours, Lancer. Can’t you make the driver go any faster? Are your animals as slow as you are?” Lucas caught the friendly punch suddenly thrown at him.
They had been travelling for two days and Lucas sorely wished that he had insisted on riding his horse, but Lancer wouldn’t hear of it.
“She needs time to stew. All this running away is ridiculous. I can hardly believe the stories you have been telling me. Riding a horse! In the middle of the night! My little sister, Angelique? She might think she is an Amazon, but she is as delicate as a flower. The very idea is preposterous!” The man snorted incredulously.
Lucas laughed at the man who had become an unlikely ally.
“I swear that it is true. She had her skirts tucked in her pantaloons and was about to take on my stallion, Blaze. Fortunately I had seen her and followed.”
Lancer’s eyes widened and the man appeared to swell rapidly.
“You saw my sister in her pantaloons! BEFORE YOU WERE MARRIED!” His face became a dangerous shade of puce.
Lucas laughed a little nervously. Allies they might be. Friendship had to be earned. Whatever he had intimated, Lucas wasn’t sure that his new brother in law was completely on his side.
“Well, I have married her, so no harm done.”
The man grumbled for a few moments.
“If I had known you were a lecherous cad, I might not have thought quite so well of you. Damn! Perhaps I shouldn’t be taking you to meet my mother.”
Lucas laughed again.
“It was your idea. I am quite happy to step out of the carriage and ride my horse. He could probably do with a good gallop.”
Lancer raised a brow.
“And have you arrive at Carnsworth before me? I think not. If Angelique is adamant that she doesn’t want you, I’ll stand on her side. You won’t take her simply to abuse or to provide you with your earthly pleasures.”
Lucas drew in a shocked breath. His eyebrows formed a dark, dangerous line.
“How dare you even suggest such a thing! I would never hurt a hair from her head. Listen well, Lancer. You will not bully her, manipulate her, scare her, or do anything else to make this situation more difficult than it is. You have to give me a chance to speak to her. For me to prove that I am a trustworthy man. The man that she needs.”
Lancer leaned back again, apparently mollified.
“If you are the man I thought you were, you can do it. Might have been easier if you hadn’t let her get away in the first place. Makes me wonder what caused her to run.” He narrowed his eyes at Lucas.
Lucas narrowed his own eyes back.
“Nothing that you need to worry about. I haven’t mistreated her in any way. We just had a misunderstanding.”
“Must have been something more than a mere misunderstanding.” Lancer leaned forwards and stared hard.
Lucas shifted uncomfortably, but decided that he might as well speak and have it all over with. Lancer was now his brother in law after all.
“She thinks that I have feelings for another woman. At one time, I thought I did too, but what I felt for the woman concerned was nothing like my feelings for your sister. Nothing at all. I have been as shocked as anyone to discover that my heart is no longer engaged where it once was.”
Lancer grinned.
“You love my sister! Excellent! I had hoped for it. But why did that make her run when you told her.” The frown was back.
Lucas slumped and closed his eyes briefly as he dragged in a long breath.
“Because I didn’t have the sense I was born with to tell her. I never told her that I love her.” Guilt seeped into his bones, but he carried on anyway. “I didn’t recognize the feeling. Whatever I felt for Sophia Barclay never felt anything like this, so I can only assume that I’ve never been in love before. It feels as though there is something sitting like stones in my stomach, and every time I see her, or smell her, or hear her voice, they roll around and settle slightly differently. My heartbeat is all over the place, and I keep breaking out into a sweat any time I think of my Angel. It is most disconcerting.”
Lancer’s eyes became wide. He ran his hand across his head.
“Sounds horrendous. Glad it has never happened to me.” Sweat appeared on the man’s brow.
Lucas’ laughter filled the carriage.
“I can see that you shave your head to make yourself appear older. You are only young. There’s plenty of time.”
Lancer snorted.
“I shave my head so that no young pup can grab my hair during a fight. Bloody hurts and puts you off your game. Can’t have that. I cannot afford to lose.”
Lucas raised a brow.
“Because you need to send the money to the orphanage? I’ll make a donation myself.” His gaze wandered over the blush that suddenly covered the man’s head.
“I’ll have Barlow’s hide. He might think he is immune to my wrath, but I can soon bring him to his knees. No pork chops for a week. That will sort out his loose tongue. What else did he reveal while I was away with the fairies?”
Lucas sniggered at the thought of the pork chops. Barlow might find his change of diet a relief.
“Nothing you need to worry about. And the orphanage is a good cause. There are too many who have nothing and have no hope of bettering their circumstances. My friend, Lord Algernon Barclay has opened his own house to a group of unfortunates at Sommersford. Perhaps you might agree to a meeting. There could be ways in which to help one another.” He glanced out of the window as the sound of gravel crunched beneath the wheels.
Harold followed his gaze even as he answered.
“Your donation will be gratefully received, and yes, I would like to speak to Lord Barclay. These great houses are no use to anyone any longer. The world is changing and we have to change with it. Ah, we have arrived. Now we will see what has been going on. You had best not have lied to me, Caruthers. My good nature doesn’t go as far as protecting those who hurt my sister.” The carriage ground to a halt before a modest but well proportioned house. “The dower house.” Lancer explained. “Carnsworth itself is closed up. It’s far too large for one person. My mother is more comfortable here.”
Lucas’ eyes searched the windows. Drapes covered some windows, or were drawn back from others. Was Angelique hiding behind one of them, watching for him, readying herself to run again? He didn’t know, but he had to make sure that she heard him first. He didn’t care if he looked a fool, but he was going to go down on his knees and beg her if he had to. The last few days had been hell. There wasn’t a chance that he was going home without her.
He leapt from the carriage almost before it came to a halt and held the door for a moment as an elegant woman came rushin
g from the house. Lancer followed him and scooped his mother into his arms. He kissed the woman fondly.
“Mother! I am so happy to see you. You look radiant! Could that be anything to do with a letter I received from a Colonel Foster?”
The woman placed a hand against her son’s cheek. Her eyes wandered to his bald head.
“It might be, but really, Harold? Do you have to go about looking like a thug? Why have you shaved off your gorgeous blonde curls? You used to look like an angel.”
Lancer rolled his eyes and ignored his mother’s question. He turned to his companion.
“Mother, please! Let me introduce Lord Lucas Caruthers.”
Lucas hid his laugh as he bowed over the woman’s hand.
“Lady Landsdowne, this is a real pleasure, and I hate to appear presumptuous, but I am in some haste. Is your daughter here? I must speak with her immediately.”
Lady Landsdowne stood back and indicated that he should enter the house.
“Upstairs. Second door on the right. Don’t let her get away again.” She smiled up at him.
Lucas nodded and took a deep breath.
“Never fear. I love your daughter, your Ladyship. I’m not letting her go anywhere.”
The dowager bowed gently.
“Good, now hurry and resolve your differences. I want to see her smiling when you come down.”
Lucas needed no more encouragement. He strode forward and threw back the front door.
Angelique drew back from the window, her breath coming in shallow gasps. How had she ever thought she could escape from him? His purposeful strides ate up the distance between the carriage and the front door. The heavy thud of oak against the wall told her that he had thrown the front door back and was already in the house.
She pressed her hand against her throat. Would he shout at her for her desertion? Would he hit her, slap her face? Her stomach turned. She had seen it all too often when her mother displeased her father in some unknown way. The man’s violent temper had caused such heartbreak.
A Ring of Midnight Orchids: Flowers of the Aristocracy (Untamed Regency Book 3) Page 19