“A naked woman should never go to the back.”
That sent the female into peals of laughter. “Oh, go on with you, now. You ought to be ashamed of yourself, my lord.” Then the only sound was more grunting and groaning.
Katherine rushed the last few steps to the end of the hall. She would make the wretch ashamed of himself, only see if she didn’t.
He was cursing now, but that didn’t stop her from bursting through the open door to cry, “What is going on here?”
A fully dressed Alec jumped and lost his grip on the three-foot-high marble sculpture he was taking down from atop a massive mahogany tallboy. It plummeted from his raised hands, glanced off his skull, and went crashing to the floor… with Alec close behind.
“Alec!” she screamed, racing over to where he lay prone.
She was quickly joined by a portly woman at least twice his age. “Oh my word, master… master, are you all right?”
Katherine knelt to cradle his head in her hands, cursing herself for being ten kinds of a fool. “Lord preserve me, he’s dead. I’ve killed him!”
“He’s not dead,” the older woman said in a soothing voice. She took his hand and pressed a finger to his wrist. “He’s got a good strong pulse.”
“But look, he’s bleeding!” Katherine’s heart twisted painfully to see the thin trickle of blood running down the side of his face. “He’s hurt badly.”
“I don’t think so, miss,” the other woman said. “He’s just knocked senseless is all. Give him a minute. His lordship has a hard head—he’ll be all right.”
But the older woman’s voice held an edge, and Katherine knew she wasn’t as sanguine as she tried to sound. “You must be his intended,” the woman added. “I’m Mrs. Brown, the housekeeper.”
“I’m Katherine Merivale,” she choked out. The ninny who nearly killed your master. Tears welled in her eyes. “This is a fine way to meet, isn’t it?” Brushing the hair from his forehead, she examined the gash while the housekeeper chafed his limp fingers.
Katherine glanced up, suddenly remembering Mama, who stood in the doorway, eyeing everything with suspicion. “That’s my mother over there.” She cast Mrs. Brown an imploring glance. “Can’t we make him more comfortable than here on the floor?”
“Best not to move him just yet,” the woman said. “He’s breathing right, and the color is coming back into his cheeks. I think he’ll come round.”
“This is all my fault. I should never have burst in like that.” Katherine glanced over at the sculpture of a woman on horseback draped only in her own hair. Lady Godiva… the naked woman.
Her tears burned her eyes. “What was he doing, anyway?”
Mrs. Brown shrugged. “He wanted to make the room nice for you, and there weren’t too many things left in the attic to do it with but this old sculpture of his father’s and a few paintings nobody would buy. I told him he shouldn’t try to put that up so high himself, but he wouldn’t go fetch the ladder.”
“One of the footmen should have helped him, or—”
“We have no footmen, miss.” The woman caught herself, then said, “That is, they’re… er… all out… um… in town.”
Mrs. Brown was as bad a liar as the butler. And suddenly it hit her. The lack of servants, faded carpet, dilapidated stairs, and overgrown gardens… As Mama said, it was more than just neglect. Katherine recognized a lack of money when she saw it. She’d certainly lived with it enough since Papa had died.
She stared at Mrs. Brown. “He has no money, does he? His lordship has no money.”
The old woman blanched, then shook her head.
That was why Alec stayed in a hotel. Because he needed money. And all his other secrets and evasions simply came down to that.
A weight lifted from her heart, leaving it to soar. Alec was poor! Never had she thought such a thing would make her so happy. His refusal to bring her here hadn’t stemmed from a desire to consort with a mistress, or have one last wild orgy, or hide a passel of illegitimate children from her, or any of the insane possibilities that had plagued her over the past few sleepless nights.
No, he’d hidden it from her because he was ashamed.
Yet despite his own poverty, he’d chosen to marry her even after she’d told him she had no money, either. He could have found an heiress, but instead he’d pursued her, not knowing that she expected a fortune. How much more proof did she need that he really cared for her?
And now she’d killed him. With a little sob, she pulled his head against her breast. He groaned.
“Alec!” she cried. “Speak to me, darling. Can you hear me?”
With his eyes still closed, he frowned against her breast and mumbled, “Katherine… must be… dreaming…”
“You’re not dreaming,” she whispered.
“Mmm,” he murmured as he turned his face into her breasts. “Nice. Soft.”
She choked back a hysterical laugh. “Wake up, you silly fool, or I’ll never forgive myself.” She cupped his face in her hands. “Oh, please, Alec, wake up.”
His eyes fluttered open, and he frowned at her. “Katherine? What are you doing here?” He shook his head as if to clear it, then glanced around. “And why in God’s name am I on the floor?”
With a little cry, she clutched his head to her chest. “You’re all right,” she whispered. “Thank goodness you’re all right.”
“My head hurts,” he muttered into her breasts.
“I know, my darling.” Guilt assailed her again. “But I’m here, and everything will be fine now.”
“You’re here…” He stiffened and tried to sit up, alarm on his face. “You’re here! What the hell are you doing here?”
“It’s all right,” she said quickly, guessing the reason for his alarm. “I know everything now. I know that you’re poor.”
He scowled. “Add insult to injury, why don’t you?”
She gave a relieved laugh. “It doesn’t matter, not to me. Not now that you’re all right.”
“I don’t feel all right,” he complained, rubbing his head. “I have a devil of a headache.”
“I suspect that will last for a while,” Mrs. Brown said.
He sat up, then struggled to stand. Katherine leaped up beside him. “No, you must rest!”
“I’m not going to lie on the blasted floor.” But he swayed on his feet.
She looped his arm quickly about her shoulders. “Come on then, we’ll get you to the bed.” She called back to Mrs. Brown, “Fetch some warm water, will you? And a cloth to clean his wound with.”
“At once, miss,” the housekeeper said cheerily, clearly happy to be of use.
“Katherine, I need to speak to you,” her mother put in.
“Not now, Mama,” she answered as she helped Alec to the bed.
“But, my angel—”
“Mrs. Brown,” Katherine called to the woman as she was leaving the room. “Take my mother with you, will you? We’ve had a long trip, and she could use some tea and something to eat.”
“Yes, miss,” the old servant chirped, “and I’ll bring something for you and his lordship, too.”
“Nothing too heavy for him!” Katherine cried, as the old housekeeper rather firmly led her mother off.
She caught Alec staring down at her with a bemused expression. “You take charge right away, don’t you?” he said.
“Somebody has to.” She helped him sit on the bed. “Since I’m the one responsible—”
“It was an accident.” He pulled her down to sit beside him. “Though I still can’t figure out why you’re here.” There was definite tension in his voice.
“It doesn’t matter,” she said quickly. “All that matters is we’re together, and I know the truth about you.”
He went still. “But you aren’t… angry.”
“That you’re poor?” When his lips tightened at that bald phrase, she hastened to add, “It’s nothing to be ashamed of, my darling. You can’t help what your father did.”
He only stared at her a
s if she’d gone mad. “You could have married Sydney, and instead I convinced you to marry me.”
“Yes, and I’m glad you did! Glad, do you hear?” She was giddy with relief, aware of nothing but the joy of knowing he was all right. And that he was a man of character, for clearly he cared about his estate and was trying to turn things round. “But you should have told me, Alec. If anyone would understand, you should have known it would be me, for goodness sake.”
He still looked confused. “I thought you’d refuse to marry me if you knew.”
“No, indeed! How could you think it? Have I ever cared about such things?” Memories came flooding back. “Oh, that’s why you asked me if I were marrying Sydney for money—because you thought it mattered to me. But it doesn’t. Indeed, it means that I can at last give you something. You see, I have a fortune myself, left to me by my grandfather! What do you think of that? Now we can restore Edenmore exactly how we want. Isn’t that marvelous?”
Chapter Twenty-four
A rake is always in the mood for seduction.
—Anonymous, A Rake’s Rhetorick
The thundering in Alec’s head intensified as his muddled brain put two and two together and came up with a hundred thousand. Pounds, to be precise. A fortune that Katherine thought he didn’t know about.
Blast it all. No wonder she wasn’t angry—she hadn’t yet figured out that he’d courted her precisely because of that fortune.
He should tell her the truth while she was still feeling guilty for causing his little accident. He should lay his case before her, beg her to forgive him for all his deceptions, and convince her that they should still marry despite his wretched behavior. Because later, when she wasn’t in this state of relief, she might figure it all out. And then it would be worse for him.
But she might not figure it out. Or at least not until after the wedding.
“Alec? Did you hear me?” she asked. “I have a fortune.”
“I’m sorry, sweetheart,” he stalled, “my head is still spinning and…”
“Oh, yes, of course!” She leaped up from the bed. “Where is Mrs. Brown with that water?” She hurried to the door just as Emson walked in carrying a pan, towels draped over his arm.
After his butler set the pan down, she dipped a cloth in the warm water and came back to Alec’s side to dab at the drying blood. “At least the bleeding has stopped.”
“Has it?” he said hoarsely. What in God’s name was he going to do? He didn’t want this to end, and it would certainly end if he told her the truth. He liked having her fuss over him. No woman had fussed over him in years, unless he could count Mrs. Brown’s constant attempts to get him to eat more of her awful cooking.
Katherine touched the cloth to the gash, and he cursed as fire streaked through his head.
Remorse flooded her face. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt you—”
He choked back more curses. “It’s all right, sweetheart.”
Emson watched them warily.
“We’ll get a doctor to look at it,” she said. When he started to protest, she added, “You mustn’t worry about the cost, do you hear? I told you, I can afford it. Or I’ll be able to once we marry.”
The moment of truth had arrived. He hesitated, loathing the idea of letting her continue in her mistaken assumption.
But he had no choice. His servants and tenants were depending on him. Emson was watching him even now, waiting for what he would do, hoping that he wouldn’t ruin Edenmore’s chance for a future. Their chance for a future.
Damn. “Yes, you said something about… a fortune. But you told me before that you had no money.”
Every lying word filled him with self-disgust. It had been one thing to avoid telling her the truth before, but this was a more deliberate deception. How could he lie to her so egregiously when she trusted him and even accepted his situation?
Because she would never marry him if she knew the truth. He was sure of that.
“Appearances to the contrary,” she said brightly as she threw the soiled rag aside and got a fresh one, “I have a fortune of a hundred thousand pounds that will come to me upon my marriage. My grandfather left it to me.”
“Really?” He glanced to Emson, whose face showed relief that Alec was pretending not to know of her fortune. “You may go now, Emson,” he snapped, unable to bear having the man watch him lie.
Emson nodded, then left, obviously satisfied that all was well.
All was not well. The man didn’t know Katherine, so he didn’t care if Alec lied to her. But Alec knew that every lie drove a wedge between them that he’d have to push past after they married. Every evasion was one more eventual stake in her heart.
Would it be worth it? God, he hoped so. Because he was now committed to that path.
“It’s true.” She wiped away the rest of the dried blood. “Aren’t you pleased? You look as if you aren’t.”
“Of course I’m pleased. It’s just my… head, that’s all. I’m still a little shaky.” When her face clouded over, he added quickly, “But I feel much better now that you’re taking care of me.” Forgive me, sweetheart, if you can.
“It’s the least I can do after causing this,” she said sorrowfully.
“It was merely an accident. Besides, it’s well worth it to have you here.”
Watching me lie like a fiend. How could he continue this deception until the wedding? He could hardly speak the lies now without gagging on them.
He forced himself to continue. “But you never did explain why you decided to come here. I thought we’d agreed that you would stay in London.”
Ducking her head, she busied herself with unknotting his cravat. “Here, let’s make you more comfortable.”
“I’m fine,” he bit out. “Really, it’s all right.”
“Your said your head was still spinning.” She dropped to her knees and tugged off one shoe, then the other.
By God, she was already catching him in his lies. He allowed her to finish removing his shoes and made no quarrel when she took off his coat. But when she went to work on his waistcoat buttons, he stayed her hand. “Thanks, that’s much better. But I still want to know why you came here.”
A blush turned her cheeks a pretty pink. “I-I knew you were hiding something, that’s all. It made no sense that you wouldn’t want us to visit.”
“So you rushed here from London?”
She shrugged. “I might have stayed there, if your friend at the Stephens Hotel hadn’t behaved so suspiciously, evading all my questions the same way you did.”
That’s because Jack knew the whole of Alec’s financial situation and his need to marry an heiress.
“You said you don’t care about my… er… lack of money. But I seem to remember you bursting in here demanding to know what was going on.”
“I… um… may have said something to that effect.” She stood. “Now you really should lie down—”
“I want to know what you thought was going on when you rushed in here,” he persisted.
She uttered a long sigh. “It’s just that… well, I heard female giggling and talk of wickedness and a naked woman and…”
When she trailed off, the light dawned. “You thought I was ‘cavorting,’ ” he said irritably. “I was trying to arrange—”
“I know, I know.” She pressed her fingers to his mouth, then glanced over to the sculpture of Lady Godiva. “Though your taste in… er… art is rather—”
“Wicked, yes. Like your taste in books. But you don’t find me bursting into rooms to surprise you.” Given the circumstances, her distrust shouldn’t annoy him, yet it did.
“I’m sorry. You must think me horrible. I’ve misjudged you over and over, with no good reason.”
Just that quickly, his annoyance turned to guilt. “It’s all right. Your suspicions were understandable.”
She shook her head. “I let my fears about your character run away with me, and I shouldn’t have. I know better. You’ve shown me time and ag
ain that you’re a good man, and yet—”
“That’s enough, sweetheart, no apology necessary,” he said hoarsely. “It’s forgotten.”
“Not by me. But I’ll make it up to you. With my fortune we can turn Edenmore into the most beautiful home you’ve ever seen.”
His guilt nearly choked him. “You said you would be glad to put all the responsibility of estate management behind you. I hate to think of burdening you.”
“It’s no burden when you have money,” she said brightly. She turned to roam his bedchamber. “Only think of what we can do to this. If you repair the crumbling moldings, replace the wallpaper and the carpet and perhaps the drapes… why, it would be stunning.” She faced him, her eyes sparkling as she swept her hand to encompass the room. “Though the furniture needs some refurbishing, it’s really quite fine, and that marvelous fireplace is perfect as it is.”
“So you… like it.”
“The house? Oh, yes, what I’ve seen of it. Even in my brief walk through, I could tell it was solidly constructed.”
“The fifth earl, the one who built it, used top-quality oak timbers and the best red brick. And every room has a mantelpiece of Italian marble exactly like that one. My… er… father never got desperate enough to tear those out and sell them, thank God.”
Her face clouded over. “How did your lovely house come to such a pass?”
“It’s a long story,” he said, unwilling to tell it when he’d have to mix the truth with so many lies.
“I like long stories.” Coming back to sit beside him, she laid her hand tenderly on his thigh.
What else could he do? With a sigh, he explained about his “father’s” bad management, the corrupt steward, the worthless investments… everything he dared to tell her. He’d just begun to describe how the estate looked in his youth when Mrs. Brown hurried in with the tea and a plate of brown lumps obviously meant to be food.
“Sorry it took me so long,” the housekeeper said cheerily. “Your mother had all sorts of questions about the house, miss.”
“I can only imagine,” Katherine said dryly, as Alec stiffened.
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