Ben felt Dinah jump beside him as Dreighton’s voice rose with his colour. His already florid cheeks were a startling shade of puce now as his fury became apparent.
“And this is the creature you are prepared to drag the entire family through the dirt for, is it?” he demanded, looking Dinah over with every expression of disgust, and Ben’s own temper lit.
“You shut your damn mouth, or I’ll shut it for you,” Ben growled, his voice low as the overwhelming desire to break his brother’s nose was the strongest it had ever been.
“Dreighton,” Will said, his tone calm but disapproving. “For God’s sake, mind your manners, there is no need for that.”
Dreighton snorted, glaring at Will with equal disdain. “I might have known you’d take his side, but it will be your reputation that suffers, too, if he goes ahead and marries the slut.”
Ben surged forward, one fist raised as Dreighton blanched, and Will leapt between them, restraining Ben before his blow could hit home. “Calm yourself, for the love of God,” he hissed in fury. “Haven’t you caused scandal enough?”
Ben sucked in a breath and nodded to Will that it was safe to let him go. He’d make Dreighton pay for that remark, but Will was right, a public brawl would not help matters, and if Ben hit him, he knew Dreighton would squeal like a stuck pig. Thankfully for all of them, everyone else had already returned to their seats and the place seemed to be empty.
Dreighton recovered some of his bluster now that he was safe and drew himself up to his full height.
“You’ll not get a penny if you marry her,” he sneered, his eyes cold and hard and full of malice as he stared at Ben. Why his brother had always hated him so, Ben could never fathom. Dreighton had inherited everything after all. “I’ll cut you off and cast you aside. You’ll not be recognised as my brother, I can promise you that.”
Ben laughed, surprised at how little the threat meant to him. Losing the Lancaster fortune would be a heavy blow, for sure, but he had money of his own, and if it came to it he’d survive. Losing Dreighton’s support and that of the family name … Well, they’d never been close as a family, and he found the lack of them would not hurt him unduly. Seeing Dinah hurt and insulted by the bastard, though, that was something else.
“Go to the devil, Dreighton,” Ben said, shaking his head and looking the man over with a sneer of derision. “You go ahead and do whatever you like, but I’ll not stand here and let you speak to Miss Osborne like that. She’s worth ten of you and more, and I wouldn’t change my mind if you offered me the Lancaster fortune in full.” It occurred to Ben rather too late that Dreighton would get his wish soon enough and found that the idea only angered him further. He would make it abundantly clear when the time came that Dinah had left him and that he had never deserved her. With regret, he realised it would be true.
“Lord Dreighton.”
Everyone stilled as Dinah stepped forward and addressed the earl, and Ben felt his blood run cold. He knew just what she was going to do, and he would not allow it. He gripped her hand, tugging her towards him.
“No, Dinah, don’t you dare,” he hissed, pleading in his eyes. “Please,” he added, wondering why it meant so much that his brother not hear the truth of how he’d come to be in this situation. Dinah blinked, startled, before giving a small nod of acknowledgement, and he felt able to breathe again “We’re leaving now,” he said, wishing he’d taken the opportunity to knock Dreighton out when he’d had it, before looking back at Dinah who was watching him closely, confusion in her eyes. Ben pulled her away. He shot a final look of loathing at Dreighton before addressing Will. “Elizabeth is here, in my private box. I would be grateful if you could escort her home.”
“Of course,” Will replied, and Ben did not wait to thank him, but ushered Dinah towards the exit.
Once enclosed in the dark confines of his carriage, Ben turned to her, reaching out to caress her cheek. Her face was just visible in the light of the waning moon and he sucked in a breath as he realised how badly he wanted to kiss her.
“Are you all right, love?” he asked, wishing she’d not had to witness such an ugly scene.
“Of course I’m all right,” she retorted, sounding indignant and really quite angry. “It’s you I’m worried about! Oh, Ben,” she said, clutching at his arms. “We have to tell them the truth. Did you not see the look in your brother’s eyes? The man means to cut you off entirely. I simply cannot let him do that to you.”
“Hush,” Ben said, startled and more touched than he cared to consider by the fear in her words. He pulled her into his arms. “I meant what I said, Dreighton can go to the devil.”
“No!” To his surprise she pushed him away. “You’re a bloody fool, Ben. You don’t know what it is to be short of funds, not really. You gamble and spend money like water, and …”
Feeling a little indignant at being scolded so and deciding he really could not take anymore, Ben hauled her into his arms again, ignoring her protests, and kissed her.
She stilled, and he broke the kiss for just long enough to drag her onto his lap. Before she could do more than open her mouth, no doubt to scold him some more, Ben replaced his own and kissed her again.
Desire burned beneath his skin, his body growing taut with need and increasingly uncomfortable as the aching for everything he wanted grew ever stronger. Every sense, every thought, was concentrated on the woman in his arms and how badly he needed her.
At first, she was hesitant, not unwilling, but certainly holding back, her hands on his chest keeping them some little distance apart. Ben simply kept on kissing her, doing nothing to force the matter or to alarm her. His kisses were soft and persuasive, tempting, coaxing, drawing her further down a path he knew only too well.
All at once, something changed and she sighed, and he knew he had won. Her slim hands slid up his neck, fingers tangling in his hair as she kissed him back, and he wanted to shout with triumph. Instead, he kissed her harder until she was gasping for breath, and then pressed kisses along her jawline, nuzzling the soft skin beneath her ear.
“Oh, Dinah, love,” he murmured as his lips traced a path down her neck. “I want you, so much.”
“Yes,” she whispered, making his heart sing as she gave her agreement. “Yes, Ben. I want you, too.”
He sucked in a breath as her words jolted him, shocked at how much it had meant to hear her say so. It was therefore with frustration he realised the carriage had stopped and they had reached her home.
“Damnation,” he muttered, wishing he’d had the forethought to instruct the bloody carriage to his own home, but even he wasn’t that presumptuous.
“Joe’s not here,” she said, her voice quiet as she avoided his eye.
Ben frowned, unsure of why the idea disturbed him. “Why not?”
“Because we’re home almost two hours earlier than I expected to be, and …” She smiled up at him. “And because I told him how you treated Mr Grubber. I explained that … that you’re not the dishonourable rake we first believed you to be. I told him we could trust you, because you’re kind and thoughtful and …”
“Stop it.” She started at the severity of his words and Ben sucked in a breath. “Forgive me, Dinah, I did not mean to …” He rubbed a hand over his face and wondered what the devil he was playing at. The woman he desired above all others had just handed herself to him practically tied with a bow, and now he was prevaricating?
It was just that the look in her eyes was rather wonderful and he didn’t want to see it dim when she realised he was every bit the dishonourable rake she had imagined him to be. He cursed, telling himself he was being a fool. It’s not as if it was a terrible thing to become his mistress. Many women did very well for themselves in such a position. Except that one day he might have to take a wife, and he knew she was not the kind of woman who would live with being second best. She had too much pride for that.
“Dammit,” he muttered, wondering what the hell he should do. His body was singing with frustratio
n, demanding he take advantage of an empty house and a willing lover, but he couldn’t do it. Not, at least, without being sure she understood what it meant.
“What’s wrong, Ben?” Dinah asked, her words full of such concern for him he only felt ever more the cad.
“Nothing,” he said, pressing a chaste little kiss to her forehead. “But it’s been a long and rather eventful day.” He gave her a rather crooked smile before lifting her from his lap and reaching to open the carriage door. Ben got out and reached back to give her his hand, ignoring her puzzled expression as she stepped out.
“You’re not … not going to come in?” she asked, sounding so adorably perplexed that Ben wanted to howl with frustration.
“Not tonight, love,” he said, ensuring to imply that there would be another night, hopefully when he wasn’t acting like such a damn fool. “Get some rest. I’ll come and see you tomorrow.”
Casting him one last puzzled look, Dinah nodded, and he walked her to her door, waiting until she had bid him goodnight and gone inside before he returned to his carriage. Giving the driver rather terse instructions to take him home, Ben sat in the dark of the carriage, seething with frustration and indecision.
Chapter 16
“Wherein the end of their ‘fake’ love affair approaches.”
Dinah sat in bed, staring at the sunlight behind the curtains. She should be up and dressed by now, but she felt strangely lethargic. Try as she might, she could make no sense of Ben’s behaviour the previous night. She had practically handed herself to him on a plate … and he’d refused her. It was most perplexing.
He hadn’t come out and asked her to be his mistress, though she’d felt sure it was coming, until he’d kissed her, at least. That kiss had changed everything for her, so perhaps it had for him, too? Though in what way, she could not begin to understand.
For her it had been a revelation, the feelings for him that had been creeping up on her daily suddenly coalescing and crashing down upon her with such force it was frightening. Yet she had decided to give into desire, for one night, at least. She had not changed her mind about being his mistress. That path would lead her to nothing except misery; she wasn’t fool enough to think otherwise. That he would one day grow bored with her, or take a wife … It was too humiliating to consider. Yet never knowing what it might be like to be with him so intimately, that was impossible, too. So she had granted herself one night in which to take what she wanted before good sense prevailed and they finally went their separate ways.
Dinah sucked in a breath as sorrow welled in her heart. “He’s not for you, Dinah,” she scolded herself, though she knew it would not change a thing. “He was never for you.”
She jumped as the sound of someone knocking at the front door had her scurrying to the window. Ben’s carriage was parked outside, the Lancaster crest gleaming proudly on the door. Dinah exclaimed and cursed herself for being so lazy as voices sounded downstairs. Good Lord, Joe and Ben alone in a room did not sound like the best of ideas. With as much haste as she could manage, Dinah rushed about to ready herself for the day.
***
“Mornin’,” Joe nodded a greeting at Ben as he stepped back to open the door wide. “’Er ladyship ain’t up yet,” he said, jerking his head toward the stairs. “Come in and wait, though. I jus’ put the kettle on.”
Ben followed him into the house, a little surprised to be taken to the kitchen instead of the parlour. He hesitated on the threshold, unsure of if he’d been supposed to follow, and Joe turned, giving him a narrow-eyed look.
“You too high and mighty to sup tea in the kitchen wiv me?” he demanded, a curious light in his eyes.
“Not at all,” Ben replied, a little indignant, though he’d never set foot in a kitchen since he was a small boy intent on stealing cakes. That kitchen had been nothing like this one though. He sat down at the small, well-scrubbed table as the truth of Dinah’s life to date presented itself to him. The room was clean, and all but bare, with little evidence of any stores of food or fuel. A rather stale and unappetising-looking lump of bread sat on the table and a slice cut and spread with a thin layer of dripping. Joe reached for the loaf, wrapping the remains with care in brown paper and putting it away before reaching for the remains of the slice.
“S’cuse me if I finish me breakfast,” he muttered, devouring what was left in two large bites.
Ben frowned, wondering if that paltry fare awaited Dinah for breakfast. He wondered what had happened to the money they’d won from him and then calculated the costs of the dresses Dinah had been wearing of late. They were not of the finest quality, no matter how well she wore them, but they would have eaten into that money quickly enough. His stomach twisted as he wondered how much was left and how much longer it would take for her inheritance to come through. He would have to persuade Dinah to take some money from him.
Joe placed a chipped mug of tea in front of him.
“I don’t like usin’ ‘er best china,” he said, by way of apology. “Always terrified I’ll break it,” he added with a grin, holding up his two massive hands.
“I can imagine,” Ben replied with a snort. “This is fine, thank you.” He took a sip and then winced as he found it weak and rather bitter. He wondered how many times they had used the tea and experienced a rush of guilt as he realised this was Dinah’s life. She’d spoken to him of being forced to use her skills at cards to gain funds enough to live by, of going hungry, and of cold in the winter, and he had felt compassion for her. Yet now, sitting in this bare little room, drinking unpalatable tea and seeing a slice of stale bread for her repast … The truth of it came crashing down on him.
He sipped at the tea, forcing it down rather than give any offence. Joe was watching him with a curious air, though, and he wondered what it was the fellow wanted to say to him.
“I wanted to thank you.”
Ben’s eyebrows shot up, he hadn’t expected that. “What for?”
Joe held his gaze and Ben experienced the unsettling sensation of being measured up, judged, and considered. “For sorting out that seedy cove what calls himself a solicitor. Dinah tol’ me what’cha did, and I’m right grateful you was there.”
Ben grimaced. “Believe me, it was a pleasure,” he replied, his tone dry. “I only wish I could have made it rather more permanent, but that would not do.”
Joe nodded, his eyes glittering with a look that bode Mr Grubber ill. “Aye, not afore the money is in ‘er hands, right enough. Pity, though.”
“Indeed,” Ben murmured, wondering what fate awaited Mr Grubber, and decided he’d rather not know. “It must have been hard for you, Mr Kray, bringing up a young girl all by yourself.”
A cautious, rather anxious look entered Joe’s eyes and Ben hurried on.
“You have done a wonderful job, I assure you. She is a charming young lady, a credit to you and everything you have achieved.”
Ben watched as Joe snorted, sitting back in his chair, one large hand cradling his mug of tea. “Tain’t my doin’,” he muttered, running his free hand through his long, greying hair. “She educated the both of us. I used to bring ‘ome books, see,” he said by way of explanation as Ben sat forward, curiously eager to hear more. “Anythin’ I could lay me hands on.” He gave Ben a twisted grin and winked at him, and Ben realised many of the books must have been liberated from their previous owners. “I taught ‘er her letters, all right, but after that …” He shrugged, a look of such pride in his eyes that Ben felt a little choked. “She overtook me in no time.”
“It can’t have been easy,” Ben murmured, looking around the pitiful room once more and wondering how many times a decent meal had been cooked here.
Joe shook his head. “No.” Ben looked back at him to see his face darken, guilt in his eyes. “Broke my ‘eart to involve my little D in my lay. Teachin’ ‘er to thieve an fuzz the cards an’ the like, but …” He shrugged, staring down at the table. “I couldn’t risk the high-stakes jobs no more, see,” he said, sounding a
little defiant now. “What if I never came back, or landed meself in the clink? Who’d‘a taken care of my little D then, eh?”
Ben nodded as the picture of a young Dinah left all alone and defenceless chilled his blood.
“I quite understand,” he said, holding Joe’s gaze. He’d never felt such gratitude for another human being in his life. From what Dinah had told him, Joe had taken her in when he could easily have walked away, and he’d loved her like his own daughter and done the best he could. “I think you’ve done a fine job, Mr Kray.”
There was a strange light in the man’s eyes, a little hopeful, perhaps, though Ben could not fathom why.
“Aye, well … call me Joe, eh?”
Ben nodded, feeling quite touched by this rather unnerving man’s invitation. “Thank you, Joe, and you may call me Ben.”
As he suspected he might, Joe looked horrified by the idea. “That I shan’t, my lord. No offence.” He shook his head, clearly troubled by the idea. “I know my place, and it don’t do to mess wiv it.”
Ben shrugged, knowing better than to press the issue, and then both men looked up as Dinah hurried into the room.
“Joe!” she exclaimed, staring at the mug in Ben’s hand with undisguised horror. “Not in the kitchen, for heaven’s sake!”
Ben watched in amusement as the big man coloured a little and rubbed the back of his neck. “’E didn’t mind. Did you?” he demanded of Ben, who shook his head as Dinah huffed at them both.
“Not in the least.”
“See,” Joe said, rather triumphant. “’E ain’t as hoity-toity as you might think,” he added, which, going by the surprise in Dinah eyes, seemed to be high praise indeed.
“I wasn’t expecting you yet,” she said, turning back to him, a rather worried look in her eyes. “There is nothing amiss, I hope?”
“Not at all,” Ben replied, getting to his feet and following her back to the parlour. As he left, he nodded at Joe, who raised a hand in farewell. “I just wanted to speak with you, to ensure you were all right after yesterday.”
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