A Bride Worth Taking (Arrangements, Book 6)

by Rebecca Connolly

  “That’s because there is no sense to it,” Kit told her bluntly. “On his own, Loughton had an extensive fortune, the Devonshire house… that would be Aunt Agatha’s, and the house in London. He married my mother, somehow managing to find both love and an heiress, and found a passion for estate management in the process. Not only that, but he was good at it. Between the pair of them, they could outshine a duke and duchess in their own way. And Loughton knew he would never go further in the peerage, so he could only grow in fortune and influence. They started buying estates, or building estates, wherever they fancied, hired talented and capable estate managers, and each became profitable and enviable, so they kept at it. I think they were in the process of procuring one in Norfolk when Mother passed away.”

  “What happened to her?” she asked softly, somehow inching even closer to him.

  “Childbirth,” he murmured, shaking his head. “We were supposed to have a sister, but she was a stillborn. Colin and I were seven, and we’d already decided that if it was a girl, we were naming her Catherine and calling her Cat.” Kit suddenly found himself lost in memory, remembering those dark days, losing mother and sister all in one day. He’d snuck a glimpse of the baby before she’d been taken away, and that memory had haunted him. She’d been just like any other baby he’d ever seen, only somehow better.

  “And what if the baby had been a boy?” Marianne pried gently, nudging him out of his sudden melancholy.

  “Charles,” he recollected with a smile. “We were rather fixed on all of us having names beginning with the same letter.”

  “Where were you all when this happened?”

  “Cheshire. That’s where they are buried.”

  He felt Marianne’s hand slip into his, and the warmth from it washed over him. “Then our next estate visit is Cheshire,” she said firmly. “I want to pay my respects to Lady Loughton and to Cat.”

  Kit smiled and tried to pretend there was not a lump in his throat. “We never actually named her. It’s a simple enough grave, with only the word ‘infant’ on it.”

  She shook her head fiercely. “No, she’s Cat, just as you boys planned. Aunt Catherine to the children, and the girls ought to be told about her. They can make flower wreaths for her and your mother.” She looked at him with a smile that wrinkled the corners of her eyes. “And what became of the impending Norfolk estate?”

  Kit shrugged and looked up at the stars, marveling at the woman beside him. “Loughton let it fall through. He lost his desire for everything after that.”

  “I can hardly blame him for that,” Marianne murmured, “though it does seem rather beastly to abandon the two of you. He had not lost everything, and had much to remain for.”

  “Well, as he was, he wasn’t any good to us, so it was far better that things occurred as they did. He managed to set up our inheritance and responsibilities with the solicitors before he left the country, so we were not completely neglected by way of fortune and situation, but Aunt Agatha may have pressured him into that one.” He smirked and rubbed Marianne’s hand in his. “We turned out all right.”

  She laughed softly and leaned her head on his shoulder. “Yes, I suppose you did. Do you ever think about the fact that you will be Lord Loughton someday?”

  “Not particularly,” he admitted with a slight wrinkle of his nose. “My duties won’t be any more or less than what they are now, I will simply have to get used to being called ‘my lord’ all the time. I’ll have to prove myself better than my father, but that shouldn’t take long. But you will be a lady, you know, and no one remembers Lady Loughton, so you can do whatever you like with that.”

  She lifted her head and pursed her lips in thought. “I hadn’t thought of that. Well, if we can bring respectability back to the title, it would certainly help the girls’ future.”

  Kit squeezed her hand tightly, unable to put to voice the feelings that currently constricted his heart. He looked over at Marianne, whose gaze was fixed on the distant lights of the village festival with a soft sense of longing.

  “It’s the festival,” he told her quietly. “Lord knows what they’re celebrating now, but I have heard it’s quite the spectacle.”

  “It would be,” she murmured with a hint of a smile.

  He hesitated a moment, looking down at their twined fingers. “It is not so late. I can take you down there.”

  Her smile turned wistful. “No, I think that shall have to wait for another time. Perhaps once we are better known and not quite the oddities we are. I think it would take away from the celebrations to see us and draw attention.” She looked at him and her expression turned impish. “And you know how desperately I hate to draw attention.”

  He chuckled affectionately and couldn’t help himself; he leaned forward and slowly, tenderly captured her lips with his. It could not have been more different from their frantic kisses the night before. These were slow, leisurely, gentle kisses that had nothing to do with passion or need. These were kisses for the unhurried lovers who had all the time in the world.

  And at this moment, they truly did.

  The next four days would be counted among Kit’s favorites in the history of his life. His friendship with Marianne continued to blossom into something he treasured beyond words, to say nothing for their familiarity with displays of affection. Every kiss warmed him to the tips of his toes, and seemed to last a little longer. Nothing had delighted him more than the day before their last, when Marianne had boldly initiated a kiss in the library that had resulted in a few books being knocked from their shelves, and ended in stitches of laughter for them both.

  One of the days they had walked to the shoreline together again, taking the time to explore it and enjoy the sounds and smells and all it had to offer. Marianne had been the picture of a perfect country lass, but as she had wandered along, without bonnet or finery, her hair whipping wildly about in the breeze despite her coiffure, she had never been lovelier. He would remember her thus for the rest of his life.

  They paid calls to tenants together, explored nearly every nook and cranny of the house together, and had even slid down that most excellent railing, at Marianne’s insistence. “Just so we can say we have,” she’d told him with a childish gleam. “We can’t let Colin have all the fun.”

  On this, the last day, they loaded into the carriage, having bid farewell to the servants and all who fell under their care. Marianne gazed out of the window, looking utterly forlorn as she stared up at the house, and only shifted her attention when Kit had joined her within. She raised a perfect brow in question, a smile tugging at one side of her mouth.

  Kit shrugged and closed the door, leaning back against the cushioned seats. “I have no desire to ride my horse all the way back to London. He doesn’t converse nearly as well as you do.”

  Marianne grinned swiftly and crossed her ankles on top of Kit’s knees. “Well, well, my husband is determined to be useful today. I am quite amenable to that.”

  He laughed and slid her legs from him, though not before stroking them a little. “You, I know very well, will sleep the entire way, and don’t bother pretending otherwise.”

  Marianne winked and turned to wave goodbye to the servants, all lined up for farewells. “Perhaps. But I had a thought, Kit.”

  “I am afraid to ask…” he drawled, folding his arms and waiting patiently.

  She gave him a look and then became very interested in her gloves. “What would you say to not going directly to London?”

  He gave her a bemused look that she couldn’t see. “Where else would we go?”

  “Amberley,” she said softly, wincing just a little as she met his eyes.

  He reared back. “You want to see Colin and Susannah?”

  She nodded quickly. “But more than that. I… I want to see if they would let us take the children to London with us.”

  His mouth dropped open in shock.

  She smiled broadly and then bit her lip. “I see you weren’t expecting that. But I’ve thought about
it, and Susannah can’t have much rest with the whole brood running about, no matter how capable Mrs. Creighton and the staff is. You know Susannah, she’ll be pushing herself too much and driving Colin mad trying to mother everybody. She ought to focus on herself and Olivia. And I need to know the children better, so why not bring them back to London with us?”

  “And if they want to stay in Hampshire?” he asked, somehow finding his voice again.

  She shrugged lightly and folded her hands in her lap rather primly. “Then, of course, they may stay. I’ve no intention of dragging them around if they are unwilling.” Her smile turned devious and he was suddenly nervous. “But if I know Bitty, and I think I do, she will not want to pass up an opportunity to get an inside view of a real London Season with someone who knows how to do it. And Rosie will come to keep Bitty in line, and Ginny will follow wherever the others lead, so the only thing to decide, really, is if Freddie wants to come with his aunts or stay with his parents and sister.”

  Kit felt a smile slowly spread and he took in his wife with new appreciation. “You have thought this through, haven’t you?”

  She nodded once, looking far too pleased. “I can be quite devious when I put my mind to it.”

  “So can I,” he murmured a little too roughly.

  Marianne’s eyes widened and she giggled nervously. “What are you thinking?”

  “I’m wondering how much trouble it would be to kiss you senseless in a moving carriage.”

  Her laugh turned wild and she settled herself in the corner furthest from him. “You stay right there, Mr. Gerrard, and let me have my nap. It’s a long drive, and you do not want to have me irritated further by lack of sleep.”

  “I think I could amuse you well enough to deal with it.”

  She covered her face with her hands as more laughter escaped. “Good lord, my husband has turned rake.”

  “Have not.”

  “Have too.”

  “Not yet.”

  Her hands dropped and she gasped in both shock and delight. “Christopher Gerrard!”

  He winked and laughed, and continued to provoke her until they were both exhausted enough to finally doze off, still smiling.

  Chapter Nineteen

  As she had expected, Amberley was a very active sort of place, despite its tranquil outer appearance, and it was evident that the four very active children within ruled over all. Colin, for all his attempts, only made things worse, which was rather expected. No one believed his pretended authoritative persona, and he was soon dragged into the dispute as a participant rather than the mediator.

  As all of this was taking place within full sight of the front door to Amberley, Kit and Marianne had a perfect few of the fracas. Kit had quietly asked housekeeper taking their things what the trouble was, and she had relayed what she could, but she had wisely decided to stay out of it.

  It seemed the finer points of pall-mall were being disputed, as the Gerrard children had formed their own version of the game, and someone, it was not entirely clear who, had broken one of the more serious parameters. Whether it was an actual pall-mall rule or a Gerrard rule was also unclear, and Marianne watched with fascination as the children argued viciously, even the usually silent Ginny was red-faced and indignant. Colin looked utterly lost amidst the strife and his voice could be heard among the din of the others, though it was hardly a voice of reason.

  Beside her, Kit heaved a long-suffering sigh and shook his head as he ventured into the melee.

  “Can I fetch you some refreshment, Mrs. Gerrard?” the kind housekeeper asked as she took Marianne’s bonnet and cloak, perfectly poised and acting as if this were a perfectly normal occurrence for the house.

  Then again, perhaps it was.

  Marianne smiled and said, “No, I thank you. If you might only tell me where I may find your mistress? I should like to visit with her.”

  The housekeeper smiled warmly. “She and the little lass are in her chambers, madam. I’d have a girl take you, but…”

  “No need,” Marianne interrupted gently. “There is quite enough to be getting on with. Give me the direction and I shall find it well enough.”

  The directions were given and Marianne made her way up the stairs, brushing at her skirts a little. She wasn’t so dusty, but it was hard to avoid it even with the carriage. She perhaps ought to change, but she would rather not stand on ceremony for the moment, and she doubted Susannah would mind very much.

  She took stock of the comfortably situated house, everything warm and cozy, perfect for raising a family destined to be a bit wild, yet it was all with enough finery to be admired, even if reluctantly by those with more elaborate tastes. There were windows in abundance, flooding the entire house with natural light and conflicting with the more gothic exterior delightfully. She would get a better look at the house in its entirety later, but thus far, she was quite impressed.

  She reached Susannah’s chambers and knocked softly, gaining entrance at once.

  Susannah was reclining on the bed, her honey colored hair loose in long waves about her, dressed in a comfortable day dress, and still a little pale, but altogether looking well and whole. She grinned in delight at seeing Marianne there, and made to rise.

  “No, don’t you dare,” Marianne scolded immediately, entering the room fully and closing the door behind her. “I will come to you.”

  Susannah lifted a brow and sat back with a grunt. “I can do things, you know. Colin has me practically confined in here, and I am likely to go mad from it.”

  “For once, I am in agreement with Colin,” Marianne replied airily coming to the other side of the bed and sitting next to Susannah, taking her hand. “But don’t you dare tell him.”

  Susannah laughed warmly and leaned her head back against the pillow.

  “How are you?” Marianne asked her, squeezing her hand. “I heard it was a rather long time for you.”

  “Yes, longer than even Freddie,” Susannah said with a wrinkle of her nose, “and I never thought that was possible. But I am very well, truly. I tire easily and my sleep is frequently disturbed, as you can imagine,” her blue-green eyes turned soft as she looked over at a nearby bassinet that Marianne had missed, “but my little angel makes it so hard to resent that.”

  Marianne could not take her eyes off of the bassinet. Her heart suddenly pounded with too much difficulty and her breath caught. She got to her feet awkwardly and made her way to it, unaccountably choked up by the dear little infant sleeping contentedly within. Wide eyes and delicate lashes rested upon round cheeks and above a pert little nose, and those perfect lips Kit had mentioned were parted ever so slightly as faint puffs of air raced passed them. Her hair was dark, but it was too soon to say if that would be her actual color. She hoped it was. A darling little dark-haired girl with plentiful curls driving Colin mad for the rest of his life.

  She smiled as she touched a finger to an open, tiny palm, and nearly laughed when the delicate fingers curved around it. “May I hold her?” she asked Susannah softly.

  “Of course.”

  She lifted the infant into her arms and was struck by how comfortable it felt, how right. Even when she’d held Tillie it hadn’t been like this. But then, she hadn’t been the same woman then.

  “She is beautiful, Susannah,” she murmured, coming back over to the bed. “Absolutely perfect.”

  “Thank you,” Susannah replied as she dusted a fond finger over her daughter’s cheek. “You should hear Colin go on about her. One would think we had done something rare and extraordinary.”

  “Haven’t you?”

  The question seemed to catch Susannah off-guard and she cocked her head. “I suppose,” she said slowly, watching Marianne carefully. When she didn’t respond, Susannah sat up a little bit and pulled her hair behind her. “How are you, Marianne? How was Glendare?”

  Marianne suddenly became very focused on Olivia and turned a bit away, unable to help smiling. “It was lovely, thank you. It was just what I needed.”
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br />   “Are you… are you blushing?” Susannah suddenly asked, incredulous.

  Marianne felt her face heat even more and her smile deepened.

  “Marianne Gerrard! You never blush!” Susannah gushed, swinging her legs to the side of the bed like a child. “You tell me right now what that is about! What happened?”

  Marianne shook her head and bounced the baby. “Nothing happened.”

  “That sort of nothing is just the sort of nothing that positively begs to be spoken of.”

  Again, she shook her head, raising her eyes to meet Susannah’s reluctantly.

  Her sister-in-law looked determined to a fiendish degree and her eyes flashed. “You tell me everything now, or I will go to Colin and tell him you have a secret about his brother, and you know what that means.”

  Marianne’s widened as she blanched in horror. Colin would be insufferable and annoying, poking and prodding and raising all kinds of hell until she was too embarrassed to do anything but give in. At least Susannah had some measure of sense. And she knew Kit as well as anybody, perhaps she could offer some insight.

  With a resigned sigh, she sank back onto the bed and tucked Olivia against her as if she could shield her. Slowly, but honestly, she revealed everything from their weeks at Glendare, the good and the bad, the embarrassing and the delightful, far more confusing and emotional in the telling than she’d thought possible.

  They’d been here one afternoon, a night, and a morning, and already Kit had resolved more fights than he’d ever been in with Colin, he was sure of it. He loved his sisters madly, but they were also conniving and brilliant and impossible.

  That was what they had inherited, or learned, from Colin.

  The trouble was that they appeared so innocent and sweet, and no one suspected they could possibly be so much trouble.