She had watched a multitude of men parade in and out of Height Point for the better part of the day. She had not been allowed access to their purpose. No, her attention wasn’t required. Her presence here had only one function—to exchange vows with a man she had no knowledge of less than the week before.
Each of the men who had condemned her to this fate seemed convinced she had graciously accepted her future, a future each envisioned served her better than the one she would have otherwise. She said little in the two days that had passed since her return, but they didn’t know her well if they thought she would meekly accept this façade of a marriage. Yet, even after her rants with Jemma, she was no closer to an escape, held prisoner by Lord Lenister’s veiled threat, a threat she could not take the chance whether he would follow through or not.
She sighed heavily, holding back the drawn curtain. She had prided herself with her cunning, managing over the years to maneuver around the tightest of situations. The earl’s words echoed in her mind. She grimaced, pressing her lips together. Worst of all, she doubted seriously if Lord Lenister understood the extent of his threat. If she allowed even a semblance of doubt to emerge, the whole of the operation would be in danger, all of them…
Eloise had lived in a world of disillusionment after Luc’s death, although the vehement bitterness had dissipated. Only the thought of Rosabel.... Suddenly, a slight tap at her door startled her from her thoughts. She hadn’t even answered when the door opened.
“My lady.” Jemma eased in quietly, shutting the door firmly. Her hand rested on the frame only a moment before she broke for her mistress.
“Did you find what they are plotting?”
“No, Lady Eloise,” she said hesitantly. “Lord Lenister’s man, Orlando, is quite closed-mouthed, even with all my persuasion.”
“Jemma, I did not ask you…”
“No, my lady, but I did not mind the attempt. Quite a handsome sort. And not all in vain. Non, not if I have my way.”
“Jemma!” Eloise exclaimed with a wave of misgiving. She released the curtain, letting it fall back into place.
Jemma giggled. “I said only that I couldn’t find out what they have plotted…yet. On the other hand, I did discover that your Lord Lenister received a package today from his estate. One of his friends has appeared. His name is Seamus McMann. His lordship seemed extremely pleased with the package and there were letters.”
“Letters?” Eloise uttered under her breath. Letters were wonderful means of collecting information. “You know this how?”
“Orlando thought it better that I hide than for us to be found in an embarrassing situation to himself,” she said with a saucy grin. “And the men have set a meeting for this evening down at the Red Wind Tavern in Dover. I believe you will soon receive notice that you will be dining alone this night.”
Eloise nodded. Pressing her finger against her temple, she thought for a moment. “Let me know immediately when all is clear.”
“What? You aren’t planning to attempt to find the letters?”
“Why not? If all are gone and you can keep his valet entertained.”
“It is not what an English lady would attempt.”
“But exactly what a French woman would do,” Eloise replied, her desolate mood dissipating quickly.
“What are you trying to find out? To be honest, my lady, I like the gentleman.”
“Jemma!” Eloise cried. “How can you contemplate it is for the best? How far have I come to obtain my goal? For you…my family?”
“Yes, my lady,” Jemma tentatively said. “But if you marry the earl, could you not accomplish what you want?”
“I can’t believe my ears. The man has threatened my family to obtain his wants. My brother has thrown his hands up in despair over my situation, giving me to a man I’ve only just met! There is more here than meets the eye. I have to know whether he is using me for more than he proclaims. You know well what is at stake.”
Jemma slowly nodded. “You are right, my lady. I will be back after the men depart.” She curtsied to Eloise and exited as quietly as she entered.
Eloise pressed her hand against the board by her mirror. A door opened wide into a secret corridor. Eloise smiled, thankful she had played hide and seek with her youngest sister, Lucy, and nephews. Height Point was an interesting old manor with an assortment of secret winding corridors leading from one room to another.
The children had told her a wide variety of wild tales of lords and ladies, and mistresses; Eloise was certain secrecy entailed in their meetings. Lord Lenister rested in one of the guest rooms attached to her corridor. In fact, it was not by accident but rather by her design. She edged down to his door. Listening carefully for any noise, she pulled the lever to his door after hearing nothing suspicious.
Slowly, she edged into the room. She waited only minutes after Jemma returned with the news that the men had departed. Eloise reasoned they would not be returning until late night, but she wasted no time.
She walked comfortably within the large room. She had been in the room many times before but it had never been occupied and especially not with Lord Lenister. She glanced around the room quickly. Where would he keep what she was looking for?
She bit her bottom lip. What had she expected? For him to leave it out on his bed? Drawers! She looked over at the desk by the front window. She began her quest. What seemed an eternity but in truth only a few minutes, she came across what she sought. Quite literally out in front of her eyes, sitting upon the night table! Not the middle of his bed, but not far from it.
A beautifully carved wooden box sat upon the table, unsuspecting what it contained inside. She opened it tentatively. Pearls, beautiful glistering pearls. Her hands reached in. The strands fell over her hand. They were gorgeous, comparable to Julia’s. Eloise rubbed them between her fingers. She hadn’t any jewelry. She wore only what Julia let her borrow and the occasions weren’t often.
She closed the box. She hadn’t time to speculate to why Lord Lenister had received pearls. Beneath the box lay the letters. Suddenly, a rustling noise disturbed her concentration. She froze, but all she could hear was the pounding of her own heart, not knowing whether she imagined the noise or Orlando hadn’t found Jemma’s diversion to his liking.
Swiftly, she grabbed the letters. She would read them in the privacy of her room and return them before the men arrived back home. Abruptly, she turned and exited, closing the secret door to his room behind her.
Hurriedly, she leaped upon her bed, not even bothering to close the secret door to her room. Examining the letters, they hadn’t been sealed. Her heart sank. She doubted untold secrets were held within unsealed letters, but she opened the first one. It was from Lord Lenister’s cousin’s wife.
Her eyes rapidly began reading.
Dear Gerard,
I received your letter and have complied with your wishes. I gave your mother’s pearls to Seamus and the ring. To marry! Oh, Gerard! So quick! Why, I’m disappointed that neither Bridget nor I can attend. I realized that you would marry but the Granville girl and so swiftly! I know you said not to pay attention to unfounded rumors, but I know your heart when it comes to women in distress. I have heard of her beauty, but I hope that history isn’t repeating itself. I urge caution only because Bridget and I hold you so dear. I don’t know what we would have done if not for you after Thomas’ death. Please take only what I say with the knowledge I say it only because I care. I distinctly remember teasing you so at Christmas about the need to marry. But that was before the news about the children. And with all that you are dealing with at this time with trying to save the children, are you certain it is the right time to marry? Colonel Ralston said that…
Eloise sat and read the letter. Tears welled in her eyes and ran down her face. She read the ending, over and over again. So engrossed was she in the letter she didn’t hear the footsteps enter her bedroom. She noticed no one until someone said her name.
“Lady Eloise?” he repeated.
>
She looked up, surprised to find Lenister standing before her. He had walked in from the secret corridor. For an instant, she couldn’t take her eyes off him. Dressed casually, his white shirt hung loose around his waist. His hair fell down to his shoulders. His face had relaxed. The intensity that had encompassed his eyes, at least for a brief moment, softened.
“That letter was not meant for your eyes,” he said forcibly, but not harshly. He held the box in his hand, but laid it down on her table stand.
She shook her head, wiping back her tears. “I’m sorry. It was only…only…” She choked back her words.
“Anne said to me the words as she would have a brother. She is as a sister I never had. The other letter is to you. If you had waited…”
“Why?” she uttered, fluttering her hand in front of her for him to be silent. “Why, my lord, did you not tell me the children you seek are your own?”
Chapter Four
Eloise’s chest heaved. The explanation she sought after lay in her hand. “Why? Why did you not tell me immediately?”
Lenister met her eyes. He wiped his hand over his mouth in a manner as if contemplating the situation. “I am not accustomed to baring my soul to others, Eloise, and especially with such a delicate subject. Yes, the children are mine, but it changes nothing.”
Eloise shook her head unconsciously. “No,” she contradicted him. “It changes everything. It matters to me.”
“Why? I haven’t lied to you. They are children, for God’s sake! I would have thought you, out of everyone, it would not have mattered!” He threw the words at her angrily. He gazed so deeply that she turned from him and stared at the wall.
“It matters to me,” she answered, ignoring his insinuation of her birth. “How dare you! You who threatened my family. It does. It changes everything. You want me to act only to your wants, as all of this is some sort of game where I'm not to know the rules. This is no game. There is no need to treat me like I'm the enemy. There was no need to threaten me. Do you think I’m so heartless that I would not extend my hand to help if I could?"
"You are telling me you would have easily complied? I don't believe you," he said severely. "You expected me to outpour my deepest thoughts to someone I have only just met."
“Yet, it’s acceptable to marry me," she countered.
"I need your connections, no more!"
“But it is not me you should be worried about. Do you understand what you are facing and the odds that are against you? You say you have been across the Channel…”
“I know, my lady. I know well enough!” Lenister uttered loudly in exasperation. The room hushed. An eerie silence ensued before he repeated in a murmur, “I know well this is no game. I do. In all, I have need of you and in your own way, you have need of me. Only, you don’t comprehend it…yet.”
“So you are planning to return?” she asked. The sarcasm echoed in her tone.
“You are an odd one, Lady Eloise. I’m confused as to whether you are upset because you are to marry me or upset with the idea of what could happen to me across the Channel.”
"Odd?" she challenged. Her hands threw the letter in the air. Her eyes flamed. She bounded off the bed. She picked up an empty vase on her dresser. She threw it at him. Ducking, the porcelain broke into a million pieces. "Get out! Get out!" she screamed. Her eyes frantically searched for another object to throw at him. She reached for her water pitcher, but his arms had hold of her. "Let go of me!"
"Calm yourself," he said, switching his grip to get a better hold. She pushed against him, but he was too strong.
“I can't be calm. You should listen to your cousin's warning. She is right. Do you not think I realize that the ton wants nothing more than to shun me? They are not without their reasons, monsieur, more so than they even know. You think you know me…Edmund thinks he knows me…you may well regret your decision…in all, you may have made a dreadful mistake in wanting to marry moi."
He took hold of her and sat on the bed, pulling her down with him. "Sit." For a time he kept looking at her, and her eyes lowered. Those eyes seemed to look into her soul. He reached for her, lifting her chin up with his fingers. The tension eased and her anger melted with his touch.
"So you feel trapped," he said softly. “Like a bird in a cage, a beautiful bird. I see an exquisitely beautiful and indisputably intelligent woman who, in her actions, wants nothing more than to disappear from Society.”
“I don’t fit into their world…your world.”
“I beg to differ. I believe you will fit nicely into my world. True, I don’t shun Society and quite enjoy it at times, but I like my solitude. I spend a great deal of time in Northampton at my country estate. I believe you will enjoy it also, far away from prying eyes. And also the coastline, which may interfere with your smuggling. Although I’m afraid, I must insist we put an end to such.”
“As you wish.”
Suddenly, he laughed again, a hearty laugh, shaking his head. “Convincing, my Lady Eloise, but for some reason I don’t believe a word of it from your lips.”
She braced her arms against the bed, readied to retreat, but he was quicker. His hand caught hers and pulled her back. “Lady Eloise, we all have our demons within our past. I might well say the same to you about me, but within me this course I chose with you is the right one. I wasn’t being untruthful to you that we both need each other.”
“You…you will find…”
“This was my wish for us to marry. I will not hold it against you for my actions. Many marriages are arranged for less reasons. Truth be known, my intentions were to marry you regardless before meeting you and after...after I was determined to do so. Excluding the situation I find myself in, I can list the reasons for the benefits for the marriage on paper, but at the moment…my lady, you are a very desirable woman. It has been a long time since I have wanted...”
He said nothing else, but reached over, caressing her bare arms. His hand slipped up under her chin, lifting it ever so slightly. He leaned down and kissed her moist, yielding lips. In the next instant, his mouth claimed hers, invading hers, possessing her. At first, her instincts were to fight back, but quickly all resistance faded. She forgot all except his warm lips upon her and she responded to him. He bent back her head and kissed her throat, igniting emotions that she thought long buried.
Eloise's mind reeled from his touch, trying desperately to remind herself she hated him. He threatened her family; forced her into a marriage she didn't want; ruined her well-laid plans. Only...only she didn't hate him. She hated herself for allowing herself to respond to him. The trembling weakness in her limbs attested to his power over her.
His lips broke from her. Reason flooded back. Turning slightly, she uttered in a voice lower than a whisper, "It may be better if you go…”
“Not yet.” He released her. Looking quite pleased with himself, he retrieved the box and placed it in her hand. “My wedding present to you. They were my mother’s. I hope you will find them acceptable and wear them tomorrow.”
Her hands accepted the box, opening it tentatively. The pearls, the beautiful glistering pearls. Her hands reached in. The strands fell over her hand. She looked up at Lenister.
“They are so beautiful. I never have…” She choked up, admonishing herself for becoming emotional. She closed the box and tried to hand it back to Lenister. “I can’t accept them. They are…”
“My lady?”
“I’m sorry. Truly, but they were your mother’s…”
“Lady Eloise, do you understand we are to be married tomorrow? You do understand the whole of the ramifications of being married.”
“I understand well, my lord. It is you who doesn’t understand.”
Her eyes searched his. Her thoughts had been held to the discovery of her activities. Sensations she had long suppressed emerged along with a remembrance. Deep within her surged words slung at her from another time. Hussy. Harlot. No one will take you now for a bride. You are worthy for only one purpose now
.
“Then tell me, Lady Eloise, what you think I do not understand?” he uttered into the night’s air. “That perhaps I’m not marrying a virgin?”
* * * *
The room became deathly quiet. The only sound she heard was the beating of her heart. For a brief moment in time, she had allowed herself to feel again, but the past she had tried so desperately to put behind her stared straight into her eyes. She didn't know how long she sat silent.
He gave her the moment, but didn't yield. Taking her by her shoulders, he turned her to face him. She pushed upward with her arms. Without much effort, he obstructed her escape.
Anger built within her. How dare he! He had only to utter words to make her trust him...to want him.
"Let go of me!" she cried, trying to jerk out of his hold.
Immediately, his hands released her, but only momentarily. He grasped her face in his hands, intertwining his fingers in her unruly hair. He gently drew her up to his face. He kissed her and released a desire that began to stir within her. His tongue prodded her lips open and claimed her with his kiss. Slowly, he broke from her.
"Eloise, my Eloise," he whispered over her lips.
The tension in her body eased. Her hands pressed against his chest. "You make no sense..." she stuttered. “You all but called me a..."
His finger quickly lay upon her lips. He shook his head. "It is not what I said. You are the one who said I didn’t understand." He leaned down and kissed her again.
"Does it matter?" She caught her breath. "It is the past. It has no bearing upon the future. If you must insist, it was only a brief period of my life and it has long been over."
“It does to me. You are to be my wife in the morn. Is there someone I should call out? What if…?”
“You are being absurd! You can leave. Leave me. I don’t care. It is not me who wants this marriage. It is you.” Her voice trembled. She pushed against him. “Go. I will not defend actions I don’t believe need to be defended. If you look for me to repent and say I’m sorry, it will not come, monsieur. Never!”
Broken Legacy (Secret Lives Series) Page 4