“My grandfather always used the same firm,” Dinah said, rightly judging his look of distaste as they walked to the entrance. “Apparently, he was loyal like that, even after he became wealthy, but the Mr Grubber he knew died a year before he did. His nephew has taken over, by all accounts.”
Ben frowned as there was something in her voice that troubled him.
“You don’t like him?”
Dinah swallowed and shook her head. “No. I don’t like him.”
Ben paused before the front door as a terrifying thought occurred to him. “You never came here alone?” He let out a breath of relief as she smiled at him.
“No, of course not. Joe was with me.”
Thank heavens. If there was one thing Joe could be relied upon, it was to guard Dinah like a dog with a bone, and a vicious, rabid dog at that. The kind that would rip your throat out as soon as look at you.
Ben guided Dinah into the offices of Grubber and Flitch, noticing that she grew increasingly ill at ease with every moment.
“Don’t worry so,” he said, putting her hand on his arm and giving her a warm smile. “This is simply a formality.”
Dinah nodded, but she looked pale and anxious still, and Ben watched with concern as she walked away from him to stare out of the window. A moment later and the office door opened, and a paunchy, rather rat-faced man stepped out. He didn’t see Ben at first, turning his attention to Dinah.
“Ah, Miss Osborne,” he said, his tone rather smug. “I assume you are here because you have come to your senses at last?”
Ben didn’t know what the man was referring to, but he knew he didn’t like it, or him.
“I can’t imagine to what you are referring, sir,” he said, with all the froideur that the son of a marquess could bring to bear. “But I would suggest you use rather more respect when addressing my fiancée.”
Mr Grubber swung around and Ben’s opinion of him was not improved upon coming face to face with the man. He gaped at Ben, his mouth opening and closing in a manner which in no way diminished his repulsive qualities.
“And who might you be?” he demanded, looking Ben up and down with deep suspicion.
“Lord Lancaster,” Ben replied, never in his life more glad to look down his nose at someone. He despised those of his rank that treated those below them like they were lesser beings, but right at this moment, he was rather relishing the experience.
“My God!” Grubber exclaimed before turning towards Dinah, fury and disgust flashing in his eyes. “And what exactly did you have to do to persuade him here, you little slut?”
Ben didn’t think, he reacted. Dimly, he heard Dinah scream, but his attention was solely focused on the man choking under his hands.
“Ben, Ben! Stop, you’ll kill him.”
“That was the idea,” he growled in fury as Dinah tugged at his arm.
“You can’t kill him,” she protested, and though it pained him to admit it, sense overrode emotion and he loosened his grip a little. Putting his face close to Mr Grubber’s, he looked the man in the eyes. The pathetic creature was gasping like a landed fish and sweating profusely, and Ben had the urgent desire to wash his hands, but he didn’t let go, not just yet. “If I have even the slightest suspicion that you have treated my fiancée with anything less than the utmost respect, I will crush you. Do I make myself clear?”
Grubber nodded, swallowing hard, and Ben let him go with a grimace.
“Shall we go through?” Ben said with a deceptively pleasant tone as he watched the man slump against the wall, fighting for breath. “I have things to attend to and have no desire to waste any more time in this …” He looked around him, an arrogant look on his face as he took in his surroundings. “Environment,” he added with contempt, clarifying that he was implying something far less complementary. “Dinah,” he said, the affection in his voice quite audible now as he offered his arm to her. She looked up at him, the expression in her eyes so full of wonder that it hit him square in the chest. “Come along, love.” The words were low and sincere and just for her, and as she placed her hand on his arm once more, a swell of emotion burst through his chest. It was unnerving, unsettling, yet that look made him feel taller somehow, as though he’d grown, not only in her estimation, but in his own.
Mr Grubber went through the formalities of the will with alacrity, hastened even further when he discovered that Ben was the son of the Marquess of Henshaw and brother to the Earl of Dreighton. There was nothing like having powerful relations to make a bully feel utterly helpless.
He watched Dinah as she asked questions of Mr Grubber and signed the necessary papers. What had made her so afraid of Mr Grubber, he could not fathom, but her anxiety on arriving here made more sense to him now. The bastard had obviously treated her badly. Seeing the dignity with which she carried out the rest of the meeting made him feel strangely proud of her. This Grubber creature - and was ever a man more aptly named - had clearly frightened her, yet she did not quake and shy away from him. Instead, she looked him square in the eye and carried on in a calm and business-like manner. He compared her with his experiences of many young women of his own class and knew they would likely have fainted or become hysterical in such circumstances. She looked up perhaps aware of his eyes on her, and the smile she gave only made that unnerving sensation grow ever stronger.
Desire. That was all it was. He wanted to kiss her, to take her to his bed and make her his. He was feeling as though he might run mad if he didn’t achieve his aim in the very near future. He really didn’t know how much more he could take.
Once dealings with the appalling Mr Grubber were completed, Ben hurried her out of the door and into his carriage.
“Are you alright, love?” he asked, sitting beside her and taking her hand. He watched as she nodded and took a deep breath.
“I am now,” she said, with obvious relief. “I … I can’t believe it’s really done.”
Ben nodded, looking at her small hand clasped in his larger one. “We’ll need to keep up the pretence for a while longer, of course. It will take some time for the funds to be released to you, and we can’t have them changing their minds.” Ridiculously, he felt strangely reluctant for the charade to come to an end. Yet by then, he would have her as his mistress, so it hardly mattered. “It appears you’ll be a very wealthy young lady,” he added with a smile, trying to lighten her mood as she seemed rather quiet and unhappy. “Too high in the instep to talk to the likes of me.” He chuckled but Dinah just looked away from him.
“What happened?” he asked, his voice low, suddenly filled with concern for her. “The last time you were here. What did that wretched creature say to you?” He sucked in a breath as a horrific idea occurred to him. “He didn’t …”
Dinah shook her head. “No. He didn’t touch me. I told you Joe was here though I rather think you frightened him even more than Joe did.” She gave him a wan smile which did not ease the fury in his heart. “But he … he’d kept the will back for some time before he contacted me. He knew I’d never be able to find someone of your class to ask me to marry him, not by honest means, at least. We both knew that was impossible,” she added, her voice low and such a note of sorrow to the words than Ben’s heart clenched. “So, he said the only way I’d get the money was to marry him. He said he could arrange it and no one would be any the wiser.”
She jumped at Ben’s exclamation of fury.
“I’ll bloody kill him!” he raged as the idea of that filthy creature’s hands on his lovely Dinah made his chest tight with terror and his breath catch in his throat.
“No!” Dinah shouted, clinging to his arm. “No, no, darling, Ben, you cannot.”
Only the way she had addressed him, and the soft, rather adoring look in her eyes had the power to filter through his fury and he stilled, staring at her.
“You have no idea what it means to me that you would, though,” she added, staring at him still.
Ben reached out a hand and traced the lovely curve of her
jaw. “I would never, never, let anyone or anything hurt you, Dinah. I promise you that.”
She smiled at him then, though there was still a depth of sadness in her eyes that he wanted to chase away, only he didn’t know how. He thought for a moment before rapping on the ceiling of the carriage. Once he had the driver’s attention, he instructed him to take them to Bond Street.
“Whatever for?” Dinah asked, puzzled at the change of plan.
“Because I’m going to take you shopping,” he said, grinning at her. “While I can still impress you with my wealth and largess.” He chuckled, though there was a niggling feeling in his mind that he wasn’t entirely joking.
“Oh, Ben,” she said, looking rather cross. “Don’t be ridiculous.”
Ben shook his head, affecting a gloomy expression. “Once you have inherited your grandfather’s wealth, any gifts I will be able to give you would be a paltry token at best,” he added with a wink, though the uneasy feeling grew. She would be wealthy and beautiful and there would be plenty of fortune hunters around willing to offer her marriage for a chance to get their hands on that fortune. With dismay, he realised it was far worse than that. Once the men of the ton discovered her true worth, the kind which had nothing to do with her finances, they would be clamouring over her. Would she still consider him in those circumstances? Ben swallowed, panic rising as the idea took hold. He needed to consolidate his position, and quickly. He remembered the soft, affectionate look she had given him, the tone of voice she’d used when she’d addressed him as her darling.
He had to make her his, and he had to do it now.
***
Despite Dinah’s protests, Ben seemed set on spoiling her. Dinah spent the next hour in a whirl as Ben took her from shop to shop, spending what seemed to her to be an obscene amount of money. Any protests were silenced with his insistence that they were engaged to be married and the ton needed to see he was wildly in love with her. So she allowed him to do as he pleased, too overwhelmed to fight him, though sorrow tugged at her heart. She didn’t care what the ton saw, after all, the only thing she wanted was for it to be true.
Too late, she had realised that the danger she’d known he’d presented to her was far more insidious than she’d imagined. Somewhere between ices at Gunter’s and seeing the passion with which he’d defended her from the odious Mr Grubber, she had fallen wildly and irrevocably in love with him. She was a fool of the worst kind for doing so, too, for Joe had warned her, even Dot had been right, and she’d known it herself, too … and had been too weak to stop it from happening.
“What’s wrong, Dinah?”
She looked up, startled as Ben addressed her, concern in his eyes.
“Nothing,” she said, feigning a bright smile and shaking her head. “Just wool gathering, I’m afraid.”
He wasn’t convinced, she could tell, and he frowned at her a little. “Aren’t you enjoying yourself?”
“Oh, yes!” she exclaimed, mortified that he might believe she didn’t appreciate his efforts to make her happy. He was trying so hard to please her, and she knew he cared for her. He’d proven that much. But she wasn’t fool enough to believe it was enough. Lord Lancaster was out of her reach, just like everyone in the ton had been so ready to point out. She’d seen the looks and the way people put their heads together when they were seen. It was a scandal, and he would suffer for it until they broke the engagement. She wondered what he would face from his family and found herself amazed that he would put himself through it for her. That proved he cared for her if nothing else did. Yet she knew he could only ever take her as his mistress and she didn’t blame him for it. He’d be cut off by many of his friends, maybe even disinherited if he disobliged his family and embarrassed them in such a way as to take a wife so far beneath him.
She looked up again to find him raising one eyebrow at her.
“You’re going to have to try harder than that,” he said, his tone dry.
“I-I,” she stammered, wondering what she could say. “I’m just a little tired, I think.” A pathetic excuse, but true enough, she felt worn and depressed and she wanted to go home and have a little cry in private for everything she could never have. Good Lord, how selfish was that? After everything he’d done for her, after she’d finally won a king’s ransom and would be wealthy and secure for the rest of her days … and she still wasn’t satisfied. What an ungrateful wretch she was.
“Dinah,” he began, pausing on the street, his tone low and intimate.
They heard a titter of laughter as a gaggle of young women went past them. From the scandalised looks cast at Dinah and the sniggering from behind their hands, it was clear enough they were talking about her.
Dinah sucked in a breath, mortified for herself and horrified that Ben should have to endure such gossip for her. Looking up at him, her expression full of apology, she opened her mouth to demand he take her home at once. She was unprepared, then, for the swiftness with which his mouth covered hers.
The kiss stole her breath, and anything that remained of her heart that wasn’t already his swept up along with it. One large hand caressed her cheek, and when he drew back, there was a look in his eyes that made her heart stutter with longing.
“Ignore them,” he said, with a tone that made her throat grow tight. “They know nothing and understand less.”
Dinah nodded and gave him a tentative smile, too overwhelmed to reply.
Chapter 15
“Wherein our hero and heroine realise just how high the stakes have become.”
The last thing Dinah wanted was to accompany Ben to the theatre tonight. She knew it was a terrible idea for so many reasons. Mostly, however, because that kiss had made everything ridiculously clear. She wanted him, so very badly. Her heart was exposed and vulnerable and she feared what she might agree to if she was left alone with him. Yet he had been so insistent and had looked so crestfallen when she’d tried to refuse that she couldn’t do it. He’d done so much for her, the least she could do was accompany him if that was what he truly wanted. Though how he could face the scandal they were creating with such equanimity was beyond her.
He’d arranged for his brother’s goddaughter and her chaperone to accompany them for proprieties’ sake, but she knew he’d dispose of them on the journey home. Sorrow overwhelmed her as she knew too that this was his moment. He would ask her to be his mistress, and it would be so hard to deny him. Yet after everything she had planned for herself, to live quietly and to become a respected figure for once in her life, could she really throw it all up for him? Oh, she’d not expected to break into the ton but perhaps among her own class she could have found a place for herself, maybe even met someone who valued her for herself alone. She’d had some rather idealistic notions about doing good in the area and using her wealth to help some of the poorest children. Such plans would likely be sneered upon if they came from Lord Lancaster’s mistress. What self-respecting teacher or doctor would involve themselves in a scheme created by a woman like that?
Dinah took one last look at herself in the mirror and determined to be strong. She knew what she wanted, both now and in the future, and she couldn’t have everything. So now she must decide what was important, what was possible, and just what she was willing to sacrifice.
***
Ben looked at the beautiful creature sitting beside him in the dark of the theatre and wished to God that he could read her mind. What was she thinking about? For it was quite obvious to him that her mind was not on the play. She had responded to everyone who had addressed her with mechanical politeness, and the vivacity that usually shone in her eyes was gone. That she was unhappy was clear enough, that it was likely his fault was something that ensured guilt filled his heart and made him increasingly uneasy.
On returning home that afternoon, he had found several demands from his brother, requesting his presence immediately. That news of his engagement had reached the earl’s ear was all too obvious. The latest one had been furious in tone, not to mentio
n downright insulting. It had made Ben’s blood boil with the desire to face the damned prig and plant him a facer, but he was damned if he’d dance to Dreighton’s tune. He’d burned the letters and consigned his brother to a place of equal heat. One could only hope.
After no little persuasion, Ben got Dinah to leave his private box and take a little walk about during the interval. With hindsight, he cursed himself for this stupid idea as the bloody place was rammed to the rafters. He’d have had more luck speaking to her privately with Will’s goddaughter making sheep’s eyes at him when she thought no one was looking.
Irritated, he ensured that they hung back a little until the throngs of people had returned to their seats, and thought at last he might be granted a moment alone with her. Fate was conspiring against him now, however, as he heard an angry and all too familiar voice address him.
“Well, well, Ben, this is where you are hiding yourself, is it?” The Earl of Dreighton’s voice dripped contempt and Ben turned with dismay to discover both of his brothers walking towards him. Will’s eyes were full of apology, but there was no such emotion in Dreighton’s eyes. The man was bloody furious with Ben for ignoring him, and for once Ben wished he’d just done as he’d been asked and gone to see him. At least he could have faced him alone and in private. Now Dinah would have to face it, too. He gripped her hand, praying that his brother was gentleman enough to leave the young woman out of it, with little hope of his pleas being heard.
“Dreighton,” Ben replied, nodding to Will, who looked as though he was looking forward to this about as much as Ben was.
“It appears congratulations are in order,” his brother continued, a malicious look in his eyes that did not bode well. “It was such a joy to discover the glad tidings, and in the bloody papers, too!”
The Last Man in London Page 11