When Lady Innocent Met Dr. Scandalous (The May Flowers Book 5)

by Merry Farmer

  She was startled as Linus slipped his hand under her chin and tilted it up so that she was forced to meet his eyes. After the way the two of them hadn’t been getting along for the past day or so, the last thing she expected from him was tenderness.

  “You are you, Natalia.” He shrugged. “That person isn’t perfect, but it’s who you are.”

  She wasn’t sure whether to be consoled and warmed by his words or furious. “And who are you?” she asked instead. “Are you a fool too? And what on earth were you doing, manhandling Lord O’Shea like that?” She put deliberate anger into her words, but that anger didn’t reach her heart.

  Linus let out a breath and took a step away from her, his brow knit. “Lord O’Shea has lost the use of his legs due to a severe spinal injury,” he explained in a clinical voice. “By attempting to increase the flow of blood to his leg muscles, my hope is that the nerve activity will increase and give him a greater chance of being able to use his legs again.”

  The uncomfortable sense of admiration for him, even though she didn’t understand what he was doing, returned. It didn’t sit well with her restlessness over the situation they found themselves in.

  She used the dissonance of her emotions to fuel the one that felt the easiest in the situation, frustration. “And is that who you are?” she asked. “A man who stretches out other men?”

  Linus crossed his arms, studying her long and hard before saying, “I am a physician. My aim is to help those whom the regular medical community has discarded as hopeless. But that isn’t what this is about. Why did you really seek me out this morning?”

  Natalia chewed her lip. Her heart had a different answer to that question than her head. Her heart was urging her to make amends with Linus and to learn more about him. She would need to know all she could if she was to be his wife.

  But swallowing her pride was the last thing her embittered soul wanted to do just then, so she said, “Your father stands on the verge of tricking Lady Darlington out of what little money she and Phoebe have left, and all in the name of God. What do you plan to do about it?”

  Linus’s stance changed from that of a man who cared deeply about whatever conflict she was feeling to one who was worn out with irritation over his father. “He’s trying to start the whole thing up again,” he said, his jaw tight.

  “What whole thing?” Natalia took a step toward him.

  Linus hesitated, studying her with a worried look, before saying, “He controlled a community of people he’d converted to his cause many years ago. It was a surprisingly large group of people. We all lived in an enclave near a small village in Kent.”

  “We?” Natalia blinked. “How were you involved?”

  “I was born into it,” Linus admitted, though Natalia could tell by the wince he wore that he wasn’t proud of it. “I was raised in that community.”

  “What was it like?” Natalia asked, genuinely interested, before remembering she was supposed to be angry with him.

  “It was….” Linus paused, rubbing a hand over his face and stroking his beard. “I suppose it was a fine environment for a child to grow up in. There were no family units, per se. I had an entire community of mothers and fathers, aunts and uncles. My education was comprehensive, but informal. And there were plenty of other children to grow up with.”

  Natalia’s confusion deepened. “That sounds lovely,” she said, then tilted her head to the side. “Perhaps we should let your father go ahead and create a new community like that.”

  “No.” Linus took a sudden step toward her. “I shouldn’t have characterized it like that. My experience wasn’t as idealistic as I just made it sound. The whole thing was built on lies and exploitation.”

  Natalia huffed as her feelings flew back into turmoil. “There’s something you aren’t telling me about it.”

  “There are many things I’m not telling you about it,” he said, one brow arched. “Things that someone as innocent as you doesn’t need to hear.”

  In a flash, Natalia was back to being furious. “How am I supposed to be anything but an innocent fool if no one will tell me about the darker side of life?” she demanded, throwing up her arms.

  “Innocence is not a bad thing,” Linus argued right back. “I don’t want you to lose that joyful light within you by seeing how cruel and calculating people can be.”

  “Fine.” She crossed her arms, glaring at him. “Insult and belittle me all you want. But Phoebe is my friend, and her mother is about to fall into a situation that could spell ruin for her and Phoebe, all because of your father. What are you going to do about it?”

  Linus let out a breath and pursed his lips. He stared at her for a moment before saying, “I’m going to take this bull by the horns.”

  “Lady Darlington is more of a cow than a bull,” Natalia said sullenly as Linus turned and started out of the room. She hurried to fall into step by his side.

  “Then I’ll give the old cow a piece of my mind and get this nonsense to stop,” he said as they shot out into the hall.

  Natalia laughed before she could stop herself. She was angry with Linus, not in league with him. He was responsible for stealing her ability to determine her own fate. She should never forgive him for that instead of being amused by his clever turns of phrase.

  They were lucky to catch Lady Darlington as she rushed into the castle and out of the rain. It was an even greater stroke of luck that she was alone.

  “Lady Darlington,” Linus greeted her with a nod as the castle’s butler crossed the hall to Lady Darlington, his arms full of towels. “Where is my father?”

  “Oh, Dr. Townsend.” Lady Darlington seemed surprised to be addressed by Linus. “You startled me. I didn’t expect to find anyone guarding the castle’s entrance.” She laughed a little too quickly, and her face was a little too flushed, even for someone who had just come out of the rain.

  Natalia was instantly suspicious. “You were still walking with the older Dr. Townsend when Phoebe and I left you,” she said, hoping her prompt would get Lady Darlington to talk.

  She wasn’t disappointed. “Oh, yes, well,” Lady Darlington said, fluttering as she accepted a towel from the butler. “We did notice the two of you scurrying off. Then it began to rain. Horace spotted a convenient shelter along the path. We cozied up there—I mean, we hid from the rain there and….” She let her explanation drop with an embarrassed giggle.

  Natalia couldn’t have been more horrified if she’d spelled out everything that had probably happened. “Lady Darlington,” she scolded.

  Linus grimaced, but kept a cooler head. “My lady, please stop your current course of action. My father is not a good man. He does not have your best interests at heart. Trust me.”

  Lady Darlington flinched in offense—a gesture which looked even more comical as she toweled rainwater off of her shoulders and face. “I beg your pardon, young man,” she said. “Your father is a visionary and a wonder. He told me all about you and your arrogant ways.”

  Natalia’s brow shot up. Linus flinched as well. There was no telling what Linus’s father had said about him. What Natalia could tell, though, was that Lady Darlington had bought whatever cheap goods Linus’s father was selling. It didn’t bode well for the woman, or for Phoebe.

  “So, are you planning to support Dr. Townsend in this mad scheme of his?” she asked, incredulous.

  Lady Darlington smiled like a woman in love. “I will be Horace’s chief patroness. As soon as I secure my Irish inheritance,” she added a bit sheepishly.

  “And what about your daughter?” Linus asked. “What will be left for her if you give everything you have to my father?”

  Lady Darlington seemed to shrink a bit, wrapping her towel around her shoulders as if it could protect her. “Phoebe will be welcome to live in our community. God’s love will provide for her.”

  “I don’t believe that’s what she wants,” Natalia said, wishing she could talk sense into the woman.

  Lady Darlington tilted her chin
up, trading her sheepishness for stubbornness. “Phoebe will not have a choice if becoming a member of our community is what she wants. Now, if you will excuse me, I need to change before the rain sets into my bones and I die of a chill.”

  She marched past Linus and Natalia, her head held imperiously high. Natalia clenched her hands into fists and watched her go. “I will never understand people like that,” she said under her breath when Lady Darlington was out of earshot.

  “Unfortunately, I understand them all too well,” Linus said, scowling after Lady Darlington as she mounted the stairs.

  Natalia turned to face him fully. “My original question still stands, you know.”

  He dragged his eyes away from Lady Darlington to face her. “Which is?”

  “What do you plan to do about your father?” Natalia planted her hands on her hips, staring him down. “You cannot let him continue on with this scheme. You know he won’t rest with just Lady Darlington under his power.”

  “Believe me, I know.” Linus rubbed his temples. “I’ve seen how this can all get out of hand.”

  “You can’t let it get out of hand,” she told him.

  “I know,” he repeated. “I’ll find a way to stop it.”

  “How?” Natalia arched one eyebrow at him.

  “The only way to best my father is by outsmarting him,” Linus said. Natalia could see the gears turning in his head. “His greatest flaw is that he always believes he is the smartest man in the room. But he’s not.”

  “What are his weaknesses?” Natalia asked, already excited about the prospect of thwarting the whole scheme with him.

  “His impatience, for one,” Linus said, stroking his beard. “He never was good at waiting for a complicated plan to play itself out. That’s why he chooses to prey on vulnerable women who are inclined to make impetuous decisions.”

  His characterization of those women could have applied to Natalia, and she knew it. It was sobering, to say the least.

  “Then we must find a way to make him lose interest before Lady Darlington—or anyone else—gives him too much,” Natalia said with a nod, determined not to follow Lady Darlington’s fate.

  A sudden smile spilled across Linus’s face. “So you intend to help me defeat him?”

  Before Natalia could answer that of course she did, the castle’s door flew open and Lord Malcolm stepped inside. His dramatic entrance was emphasized by a flash of lightning and a clap of thunder. His imposing form was framed by the open door and the growing storm behind him, but it was his triumphant smile that chilled Natalia to the bone.

  “There you are,” he said, glancing between her and Linus. “Grab your coats and come with me.” He held up an envelope that he drew out of his own, sodden coat. “You’re getting married.”

  Chapter 15

  Lord Malcolm’s dramatic appearance instantly made Linus feel as though he were living inside of some gothic novel. The rain and the wind behind him, the devilish look on his face, and the way Natalia turned pale and clutched at her heart at his pronouncement were all so fantastical that Linus nearly laughed.

  “You can wipe that smirk off your face,” Lord Malcolm addressed him with a frown, stepping farther into the hallway, his long cloak dripping. “You’re the one who should have known better in this situation.”

  “I will not deny it,” Linus replied with a respectful nod.

  Lord Malcolm stalked closer, glaring at him like some sort of avenging angel. “Don’t think that marrying my daughter will raise your esteem in my eyes,” he said in a menacing growl. “All this means is that you will be firmly under my control going forward.”

  Linus lost any trace of humor that he felt about the situation. Lord Malcolm was right. He would be able to control Linus’s every move once he and Natalia were married, as his father-in-law and as one of the most powerful members of the House of Lords. But if he were being honest with himself, that might not be entirely a bad thing. Lord Malcolm could open doors for his career that he wouldn’t be able to open himself. And if anyone could aid in the situation with his own father, perhaps Lord Malcolm could.

  “I am yours to command, my lord,” he said, bowing his head with far more deference than he would have used with any other man.

  “You’re really going to let him bully you like this?” Natalia snapped, the color returning to her face as she marched up to Lord Malcolm. “I knew you were clever and powerful, but I had no idea you were so merciless.”

  Lord Malcolm turned to her, eyes wide. “You are the one who has been carrying on for months, wanting to marry this man,” he said incredulously. “Don’t turn fickle, like your mother. It doesn’t suit you.”

  “Why, I never,” Natalia huffed, crossing her arms and tilting her head up.

  Linus felt like laughing all over again. Lord Malcolm had just succeeded in intimidating him into submission, and now Natalia was turning up her nose at him as though he were an irritating schoolmate. He had much to learn from his brave, soon-to-be wife after all.

  “I’ll just go up and change into something more suitable for a wedding,” he said, starting for the stairs.

  “Oh, no you don’t.” Lord Malcolm caught his arm. “I’m not giving you a chance to get away. Either of you.” He turned back to Natalia. “The carriage is waiting. We’re going now.”

  “Lord Malcolm.” Natalia fixed him with a flat look. “I will not be married in this.” She glanced down at her slightly rumpled day dress. The hem was still damp and spattered with mud.”

  “It’s that or being married in your underthings,” Lord Malcolm snapped back at her. “Come along now.”

  Linus could see at once there was no point in protesting. On top of that, the butler returned with both his and Natalia’s coats. Natalia continued to protest in vain as Linus shrugged into his coat, then held Natalia’s for her.

  “We must come along to witness this happy occasion,” Lady Darlington said, smiling as though it were the happiest of days, as the rest of them prepared to leave. “Phoebe, fetch your coat and come along.”

  Lord Malcolm looked as though he might try to stop them, but seemed to change his mind. “We will need witnesses,” he said.

  They made it as far as the front steps before Linus’s father came dashing up the drive, soaked through.

  “What is the meaning of all this?” he asked as Linus handed Natalia into the waiting carriage.

  Lord Malcolm stepped between Linus and his father, answering with, “Your errant son is about to marry my daughter.”

  Linus winced at the way his father looked surprised for a moment before the light of greed filled his eyes. “Is he?” he asked, slicking back his wet hair. “Right this minute?”

  “Yes,” Lord Malcolm answered, gesturing for Linus to get into the carriage after Lady Darlington and Lady Phoebe were settled.

  “In that case, I must be present,” Linus’s father said.

  Linus opened his mouth to protest, but it dawned on him that the more time his father spent in Lord Malcolm’s presence, the more likely Lord Malcolm would be to snuff his father’s plans for a new community.

  Lord Malcolm narrowed his eyes, studying Linus’s father for several long, tense seconds before saying in an ominous tone, “Get in.”

  The ride to the local Protestant church was miserable. It would only have been slightly damp if Linus’s father hadn’t squeezed into the overcrowded carriage with them all, but seeing as he was soaked to the bone, within minutes, the rest of them were soaked and shriveling like sultana.

  Things weren’t any better when they reached the tiny, leaking church several miles away. The drumming of the rain against the church’s roof was eclipsed only by the chorus of clanging drips that rattled in a variety of buckets placed all throughout the church.

  “This is certainly not how I pictured my wedding day unfolding,” Natalia murmured sullenly to Linus as the two of them made their way up the aisle, Lord Malcolm walking behind them like an executioner leading prisoners to the gal
lows.

  “It’s not how I pictured things either,” Linus said. “But you have to admit, it’ll be memorable.”

  He sent her a sideways smile. She met it with a dour look that hinted she would rather throttle him for trying to make light of things than go along with his attempt to make the best of it.

  “Can I help you?” the plump, aging minister who glanced up from emptying buckets greeted them from the front of the church.

  “Yes.” Lord Malcolm stepped past Linus and Natalia to approach the man. Something he did with so much force that the poor minister flinched back a few steps. Lord Malcolm took the envelope he’d flashed earlier out of his coat and showed it to the man. “I have a special license for the marriage of these two. I need you to perform the ceremony.”

  The minister smiled benevolently, setting down the bucket he carried, then adjusting it to catch a drip. “Excellent. Lovely. And when would you like this marriage to take place?”

  “Now,” Lord Malcolm growled.

  That was it. That was all it took. After gaping at them for a moment in utter surprise, the minister took the envelope and studied the license inside. When it proved to be in order, he rushed about, setting up for the fastest marriage ceremony Linus had ever heard of. The whole thing was short, utilitarian, and as unromantic as it was possible for a wedding to be. The minister started reading the service from the Book of Common Prayer, but Lord Malcolm cut him short, urging him to get on to the important part.

  “Do you, Dr. Linus Townsend, take this woman, Lady Natalia Marlowe, to be your lawfully wedded wife?” the man asked.

  Linus turned to Natalia, managing a smile. He really did love her, even if everything was at sixes and sevens between them. She was bold and imaginative, and once they sorted things out, he firmly believed they would be happy together. “I do,” he answered.