Testing Miss Toogood

by Stella Cameron

  Dominic’s gut clenched. He didn’t judge people on their station—never had.

  “Dominic,” Fleur said quietly. “It would be easy to avoid this topic when you already appear to have forgotten it, but I would be a coward if I didn’t ask—”

  “If I’ve given more thought to the list you gave me last night? Yes, I have.” It would be best to give her a blunt response. Then she would understand where she stood with him. “I believe you made an extra copy of your list and left it with me because you are considering whether or not I would make the kind of husband you demand.”

  Fleur stepped backward and her hand went to her throat.

  “Your idea of letting a man know what you want of him might be a good idea. Who am I to judge? But I cannot become your husband.”

  “I didn’t suggest I wanted you to think about marrying me,” she told him in a tiny voice. “How could you embarrass me so?”

  “You didn’t mind embarrassing me by handing me your demands. Many of them completely unreasonable, by the way. Can you honestly say you didn’t do that because you had decided to set your cap for me?”

  She exclaimed and turned from him. “Yes, I can honestly say that. Of all the arrogant, inconsiderate men on earth, none can be more so than you. Oh, I am destroyed. Please go. Now. I will pack up and go home tomorrow.”

  “No, you won’t,” he said, well aware of how harsh he sounded, and how confused he felt. “You have made a promise to your family and to mine. Hattie traveled all the way from Bath to help you. I have agreed to squire you around and make sure you find a suitable partner in life, and you will stop interfering and do as you’re told.”

  “My only mistake was to start considering you as a man of experience who could be of some help to me in a situation which is new to me,” she said. “But I understand my position. Very well, I’ll stick it out and if something wonderful happens, I will be grateful. If I go home as unattached as I arrived, I will also be grateful and then I will be as much help to my family as a spinster can be.”

  “You will not go home unattached. That I promise you.”

  “Don’t concern yourself with me, please. Now I need time alone to compose myself. I must show nothing but gratitude to those who have been so kind to me.”

  “You haven’t entertained any thoughts of becoming my wife?”

  “No-o.” Her shoulders shook. “I know my place.”

  Drat, but he believed her—and felt like a worm. “Then I apologize. I only thought…I made an assumption. I’ll continue to do my best for you.”

  She remained with her back to him.

  “I know you haven’t had much chance, but has anyone at all taken your fancy while you’ve been with me—us?” He managed to make it sound as if she might be looking for a pet dog. “At the Herberts’, perhaps. Young Franklin is a good fellow. And I dare say Noel DeBeaufort has his good points but I do think he’s seen too much of the world.”

  “Franklin Best is a good man. I felt that. But don’t concern yourself further.” Her voice shook. “If I am meant to meet someone appropriate, then I shall.”

  “You mean someone who fits all the items on the list.”

  Fleur swung to face him. “Showing you the list was a mistake. I only thought you might be able to give me some advice. I was wrong.”

  Dominic pulled her damnable list from a trouser pocket and shook it out. He sensed she judged him poorly and his temper flared again. “Gladly, I’ll gladly offer my advice on all this. Let’s pretend I am just any man, a man you’ve decided might be worthy of you.”

  “Please, no.”

  “Come, come, you have more courage than that. Let me see. Does he accept and love my family? That’s a good question from a faithful daughter and I’m sure I should love your family—I would certainly respect them. Then we have, Does his family respect mine and accept me? Another man just might answer differently, although I doubt it. Where I’m concerned the answer is obviously, yes, and I like cats and dogs and I’ve never been accused of being a prig, although I try to be an honest man and I’m sure I’ve had my moments.”

  Fleur wouldn’t look at him but she smiled a little and said, “I think we can all be a bit priggish sometimes. You don’t have to go on. I can see how silly I was to write all those things down.”

  “You are only silly if you don’t stand by decisions you considered as carefully as you did these. There are ways in which I think men are superior to women and there are matters no man should attempt because they can only be dealt with by a woman.”

  She raised her face. “What kinds of things? Looking after babies and taking jam to sick people?”

  “Among a great many more, yes,” he told her. She didn’t give up.

  “I am good with numbers,” she said. “I kept my father’s books for him and made sure what we had was enough….”

  “You don’t surprise me,” he said, studying the questions again. “Does he love and like me more than anyone else? Whoever he is, he had better because that’s what you deserve. And your opinions, hmm, I do believe I could give them a great deal of weight.”

  She hid her hands in the folds of her skirts. When she looked at him, just as quickly, she looked away and pain shone in her eyes.

  “As for walking in the rain with you, I believe I should like that.” He would. He visualized her skirts trailing through wet grass and her damp face turned up to his, laughing and chattering. He doubted he’d find many words to say himself. “And lying on the grass to feel the rain on our skin? You’ll just have to invite me one day, then we’ll both find out.

  “I think children are the greatest gift that comes to a marriage. Children are an extension of their parents’ love for one another and they are the continuation of hope.”

  “Please,” she said, holding up her hands. “You have shown me how a man should be able to answer—thoughtfully and as honestly as he can. Forgive me for my forwardness.”

  “There’s nothing to forgive. I would be very gentle if I taught you to love and I should most certainly insist upon sharing your bed. When I drink, it isn’t usually to excess and I’m not fond of raucous company, although I won’t lie and say I’ve never indulged in wild times.”

  Fleur inclined her head. “You will be quite the catch for a lucky lady, Dominic. And I hope she does ask some of my questions just so she can have the pleasure of hearing you answer them.”

  His heart contracted. “I could convince you I don’t have a mistress,” he said offering his hands and enfolding hers when she reached for him. He drew her nearer. “I’d be a liar if I said there haven’t been women in my life, or that I haven’t lived fully in every way.”

  Perhaps she was a priest in disguise. Just being with her gave him an urge to confess.

  “A man in love couldn’t ask for more in a wife than her love of him in return,” he said, consulting the list again. “And I do believe he would count his blessings daily and nightly if this woman was also deeply sexual.”

  She tried to retreat but he wouldn’t let her.

  “Will he join me in learning exotic ways of lovemaking?”

  “It sounds so silly,” she murmured.

  “It sounds wonderful,” Dominic told her. “I am a confused man, Fleur. I never expected a woman like you to simply appear, now, when such a thing has been the last thing on my mind.” Listen to his drivel! He had all but told her he wanted her.

  “I am a burden.” She raised his hands and ran her thumbs over the smooth tracing of dark hair on the back of each one. “You knew I would be but you were too kind to refuse your help.”

  Dominic turned her hands and bent over them. With great care, but knowing he trod on the most dangerous ground of all, he settled his lips on the knuckles of her right hand. Her other hand he took to his heart and held it there.

  The sudden pressure of her cheek on his hair destroyed him. What did he have to offer her but money? She needed so much more. She needed everything, and he was a man with distractions h
e couldn’t promise would allow him time to be a good husband to her.

  With a mad rush of heat through his veins, he looked up and took her by the shoulders. “To be the one to teach you everything you want to learn about being a passionate woman with a passionate man would be a dream. I will see to it that the man who marries you is up to the task.”

  Her smile gentled the tension in the room. “Thank you,” she said.

  “And now I must go.” He took his watch from his waistcoat pocket and realized he should not have stayed so long.

  The door flew open and banged against the wall.

  There stood Nathan, his eyes aflame, his neckcloth askew, his hair wild.

  Fortunately, although he still faced her, Dominic had dropped his hands from Fleur’s shoulders.

  “You bounder,” Nathan said through his teeth. “You de-spoiler of innocents. I should have known better than leave this house when I knew you would return and could well decide to come to this girl.”

  Fleur giggled.

  “What have you done to her?” Nathan demanded. “Speak up. She’s hysterical.”

  Fleur laughed louder and the corners of Dominic’s mouth twitched.

  “I’m going to thrash you,” Nathan said, advancing. “We’ll see how funny you find that you little snot—”

  “Nose,” Dominic finished for him

  Her silk gown rustling, Fleur hurried to stand before Nathan, held his arm and struggled for breath. “You see,” she managed at last. “Dominic came marching in here just as you did. And he was looking for you because he thought you had taken advantage of me.”

  “Me?” Nathan said, scowling.

  “You weren’t in your rooms,” Dominic said, feeling ridiculous.

  “And when I came back, you weren’t in yours,” Nathan said.

  Fleur stood between them and said, “And if a man isn’t in his rooms it always means he’s ravishing a lady?”

  17

  Fleur continued to chuckle. The look on Lord Nathan’s face had been priceless when he was told that Dominic had come to her room because he thought Lord Nathan might have gone there for nefarious reasons.

  They really were fascinating men—honest, too, and willing to laugh at themselves. They’d laughed a good deal before they left.

  Then Dominic said, “Lock the door after us, Don’t open it for anyone but a member of the family or a servant if you recognize the voice.”

  That one was also overbearing.

  Fleur frowned and pulled her eyebrows closer and closer together. She had become really good at scowling…when she remembered. “Ouch!” A hairpin had come loose and pricked her nose when it fell.

  She was accustomed to dealing with her own toilette, but at home that didn’t mean unwinding her hair from what felt like a porcupine ’do or struggling out of impossibly restrictive clothing. Snowdrop would happily have stayed to help her get ready for bed but Fleur didn’t want to keep her up late and away from her husband.

  “Fuss, fuss. Hover, hover. What is the matter with me?” She gave the same squeak she’d given since childhood when indecision frustrated her.

  Dominic, he was her trouble—all of it. He could be infuriating. He said things guaranteed to belittle her. He let her know she would never be someone he’d consider as a wife—even though she had never suggested she wanted him.

  “I do want you. You’ve made me want you.” Control, she must control herself. If Rosemary and Letitia could hear her talking to herself, they’d know just how agitated she was.

  Wonderful, she was in love with a man she couldn’t have, and he might even be perfect for her. When he’d gone through The List, some of his answers brought tears to her eyes. Her eyes were filled with tears now. And he thought any potential suitor she might have should make his own list, did he? How enlightening it would be to know what questions Dominic might ask of a woman he hoped to marry.

  Fleur took measured steps around the room, nodding her head slowly as she went. “And you said you would be very gentle if you taught me to love.” She clenched her hands together over her stomach. He had sounded almost as if he wished he could be that man. What a confusion.

  Dominic had been torn while he was with her. He had wanted to stay, she’d felt that, but he had pressing business elsewhere. She stood still and thought about what he’d said and the way he’d looked at his watch, and how she’d mentioned Olivia Prentergast and Dominic had said he would find out if there was a problem there other than illness. What if he’d decided to go after the answers now rather than wait for the morning?

  She chewed a fingernail and a whole strip peeled off. Oh, dear, now it would look terrible and she’d been doing well overcoming her old habit.

  The thought of Dominic going out to search in the dead of night, alone, frightened Fleur. She wished she could see him, see that he was safe, touch him and feel his solid, warm body.

  He was special to her and she doubted she could change her feelings even if she wanted to.

  Chloe’s experience had angered and unnerved him—as it had Fleur. There had been a mention of Vauxhall Gardens. She knew where they were because Hattie had asked Albert to drive them past. In the daytime little seemed unusual but, according to Hattie, at night the gardens were wild and could be very dangerous. Dominic could plan to go there.

  She had to find out if he’d left the house. It wouldn’t change a thing but at least she’d know if she had to stay up and find a place to watch for his return.

  Fleur unlocked her door and closed it quietly behind her. She dared not take a candle and had to find her way with no more help than the puny candle sconces spaced widely on the walls—except for places where there weren’t even those.

  She made rapid progress to the center of the house and the staircase leading to the third floor. Only when she reached the top and slid into the circular corridor did she stop to wonder what on earth she’d say if she encountered Dominic face-to-face. I’m looking for a handkerchief I think I dropped up here. Oh, just thinking of the way he’d look at her then made her skin crawl. I thought I’d check the water in the bowl of greenery in that chest. Mortifying.

  The chest. If she could make it that far she would hide inside the double doors. She already knew there was nothing inside because she’d peeked—wicked, curious girl that she was.

  If she was meant to be caught, she would be and she would tell him exactly why she’d come. Tripping along rapidly, holding up the front of her skirts and wishing they didn’t swish so, she passed Dominic’s suite and raced on to the cupboard. At once she opened both doors and climbed inside, with some difficulty since the space was quite small.

  Once she had the cabinet closed again, she rested on her side with her knees clamped to her chest. She prayed the heavy odor of camphor would not make her sneeze.

  Silence closed in around her. Other than an occasional creak or crack, or the rattle of a window, nothing suggested there could be another human anywhere nearby.

  Her shoulder ached and she pushed it forward so she lay more on her back but with her legs in the same position as before.

  She recalled how frightened she’d been when Dominic pulled her from behind the draperies over that window seat. Her heart had stopped, she was sure of it.

  What made her so certain he had not left directly from her room? He would have needed a cloak and for that he would have returned to his rooms.

  But he could have managed such a small task very quickly.

  He’d gone to meet a lady. Of course he had. “Widgeon,” she whispered and immediately pressed her lips together. A man like Dominic undoubtedly had a beautiful female he kept somewhere to fulfil his needs. Fleur felt hot all over. It was her own fault because if she hadn’t spent so much time delving into matters she had no business knowing about, she wouldn’t think of such things as Dominic’s dalliances.

  He had said he could convince her he didn’t have a mistress.

  Good heavens, he might well be in love.

 
Perhaps some terrible impediment stood between him and marriage to the lady. Tears prickled at her eyes. How sad if that were true. On the other hand, it could be that eventually they would give up trying to be together and look elsewhere for affection. They could both end up completely happy, more happy than they would have been together.

  Oh, her hip felt as if it rested on a pointed rock. Fleur wriggled.

  “Will you please hurry yourself?” Lord Nathan. She would know his voice anywhere. He and Dominic were together and she felt weak with relief.

  Dominic didn’t answer Lord Nathan but she heard them walking, walking toward her cupboard rather than the stairs. She held absolutely still and, when she sensed they were immediately beside her, stopped breathing.

  The footsteps passed on and she dared to open one of the cupboard doors a fraction.

  Fleur almost exclaimed.

  Not more than a few yards from her, at another window seat, Lord Nathan waited with a candle in one hand. In front of him, Brother Juste had already lifted the seat and leaned it against the window. Lord Nathan held his candle higher to better light a space beneath the lid and the monk put first one, then the other foot inside. “Make sure you’re right behind me,” he said, sinking lower, walking down steps. “Close the lid as quickly as you can.”

  “You can be damnably irritating,” Lord Nathan said, shocking Fleur since she wouldn’t have expected him to speak to a monk in such a way. “Do you think I’m less concerned about Olivia than you are?”

  Brother Juste paused. His shoulders were level with the opening into the seat. “I think you still care for her in your own way. She would take you back in an instant.”