by Anne O'Brien
But the day that promised so much rapidly became one of disastrous confrontations.
‘I would not criticise your actions, Kate, but it seems to me that you spend far too much time at the Priory.’ Richard had come to join her in the stable yard, soft-footed and amenable, and now requiring a reply that Kate did not feel able to make with any degree of equanimity. ‘I understand your wish to live there, of course, but it seems that perhaps you find the company of Lord Marlbrooke more than acceptable.’
‘I do not expect to see Marlbrooke,’ Kate replied with what she hoped was a casual shrug of her shoulders. ‘My mission is to take a new balm of Gilliver’s for Lady Elizabeth to try. It is a new one distilled from germander leaves and helps to relieve rheumatic pains. I shall not stay long.’
‘Then I will see you on your return.’ Richard helped her up into the saddle and handed her the reins. But he kept his hand on hers for a moment, compelling her to meet his eyes. ‘I can understand that a young girl, innocent of the ways of the world, would decide that marriage to Viscount Marlbrooke would be an attractive prospect. He has considerable presence.’
‘Perhaps. But as you are aware, our marriage is purely political.’
‘I am aware of that.’ His face was stern but his voice gentle and uncritical, revealing no vestige of inner turmoil or the rampant jealousy that was a constant gnawing pain. ‘I would simply warn you of a man of his sophistication. Don’t put your trust in him. I have seen him in his dealings with you. He uses great charm—but he may court you now only to gain your compliance in this contract. When you are married and carrying his heir, he will have all he desires from you. Do not be surprised if his attention turns rapidly to neglect. He will assuredly wish to return to London and the Court. I would not wish to see you hurt, my dear cousin.’
Like a lightning bolt, Kate was struck by an image of Marlbrooke, standing as she had seen him in one of the magnificent reception rooms at Whitehall, backed by sumptuous damask hangings and Mortlake tapestries. In his hand was a glass of wine, his face alight with pleasure as he conversed with friends and acquaintances. Richly clothed, at ease, socially adept. A stab of anxiety pricked at her happiness.
‘I shall not be hurt.’ She managed to smile down at Richard and returned the pressure of his fingers. If he had intended to kiss her, she was able to avoid it without a confrontation. ‘It is very kind of you to be concerned on my account, but there is no need. I expect nothing from Lord Marlbrooke.’
But she did! She could not deny it. Nor was she being totally honest with Richard, which distressed her. In the light of Richard’s warning and her own duplicity, the clear spring day suddenly seemed to have lost some of its brilliance.
Felicity, dressed with her usual drab propriety in dark satin, met Kate on the flagged terrace as she made her way from stables to house. Kate was more than a little surprised to see a smile lighten the lady’s thin features. Relations between the two ladies had not improved, Kate remaining ever polite but wary, unwilling to be the source of any further friction between Lady Elizabeth and her companion, Felicity for the most part silent, but with no mistaking her suspicion and hostility towards the newcomer.
‘Mistress Kate.’ Felicity addressed her with surprising warmth. ‘Lady Elizabeth is sitting in the sunken garden. I will walk with you if you permit.’
‘Of course.’ Kate returned the smile with a lifting of her heart. Perhaps she had been wrong in thinking that Felicity would never accept her. Perhaps it was true that time would heal some of the wounds. They turned their steps to walk together.
‘It must be a satisfaction for you to have returned to your family home at last.’
‘Yes. It is a beautiful house. And the gardens. I have enjoyed exploring it.’
‘Then marriage to my lord Marlbrooke will be a definite advantage for you.’
‘Yes, of course.’ Kate raised her eyebrows a little and glanced at Felicity, not quite following the gist of this. But perhaps Felicity merely wished to make conversation.
‘I expect that you will not object to living here alone—when my lord and dear Elizabeth return to London.’
‘I did not know that Viscount Marlbrooke was planning to leave the Priory in the near future.’ Kate felt a cold hand close around her heart. ‘He has said nothing to me.’
‘Not immediately, of course, but soon enough.’ Felicity’s smile widened, but Kate could not ignore the lack of warmth in her eyes. ‘Once you are wed he will return to Court. I understand that his Majesty enjoys my lord’s company. And of course my lord enjoys Court life, as you are aware—he would not wish to absent himself for long. It would not be politically wise to do so, as I am sure you will agree. Now that he has secured the estate, there is no need to spend much time in the depths of the country, and certainly not when the weather can be so inclement. Life in London is so much more comfortable, do you not think? Of course, dear Elizabeth does not enjoy country life. She has so many friends in town who miss her and look for her permanent return rather than a brief visit.’
‘I see.’ What else could she say? The words echoed Richard’s warning, turning her heart to ice.
‘Did you think to accompany him again?’
‘I had not thought. But, yes, I can see no reason why I should not.’
‘Perhaps you will. But once you are breeding, Marlbrooke will assuredly wish for you to remain here in peace and comfort.’ She laughed in shrill tones at Kate’s stricken look. ‘Do you expect my lord to dance attendance on you once he has secured the succession? You do not think that, surely. Once he has an Oxenden heir he will have achieved what he wanted from the marriage. Or did you expect him to love you? He has such excellent manners, does he not? No one would ever believe that his emotions were not engaged. But the wounds of war are far too deep. It is my opinion that he will find it impossible to ever forgive the supporters of Parliament for the devastation of his home and family. My lord’s father was destroyed by the war, you understand.’ Felicity’s conversational tones, dripping with malice, went on and on, coating Kate’s emotions with deadly despair. Would she never stop? ‘He went into a steady decline, you realise, into premature old age. Which also hurt dear Elizabeth, causing her great distress from which she has not recovered, or ever will, I suspect.’ She turned to face Kate and touched her arm with an apparently sympathetic hand. ‘He will never love you, you know. It will be better for you if you accept it. I have seen you look at him—it would be foolish of you to open yourself to casual and painful rejection.’
Kate felt as if all her dreams lay in dust at her feet. She might, of course, have simply rejected Felicity’s warning out of hand as a malicious attempt to sow discord, to destroy any chance of happiness. But the lady’s words merely confirmed her own deeply buried fears. She had seen for herself the lure of the Court. What a fool she had been. She realised with sudden clarity that she must never forget her position here. Never be seduced by Marlbrooke’s attentions, his kind words, his apparent care and concern for her welfare. It all meant nothing. Even his declaration of love. Perhaps at Court fashionable people were willing to say such things without any depth of feeling and she was too innocent and without the worldly wisdom to realise it. Perhaps he had said the exact same words, an avowal of love, to Alicia Lovell in a brief moment of flirtatious charm, with no intention of proclaiming a serious commitment. And presumably Mistress Lovell had accepted those words in a similar superficial light. Kate closed her eyes momentarily against the blinding truth. It was surely time that she realised that she was merely a legal necessity and the woman on whom he would get lawful children to ensure the continuity of his family name. How could she have been so naïve as to believe that she saw anything other in his laughing eyes when they rested on her or sense any other motive than possession in the drift of his hands over her body? And had not Richard only that morning warned her of hoping for too much, for being misled by his sophisticated manners? Yes, he was kind. But that was all. And she was a fool!
/> She turned to face Felicity squarely, drawing on her pride to hide her humiliation and shattered emotions.
‘Of course, Mistress Felicity. You are perfectly correct in your reading of the situation. I expect nothing from this marriage other than the legal terms agreed between my lord Marlbrooke and my uncle.’ She kept her voice flat, her expression closed. ‘But, yes—I will enjoy living at the Priory—under any circumstances. It is my home.’ But the ownership, once so desirable, was suddenly as ashes against her tongue.
She met Marlbrooke later in the day on the long corridor at the top of the main staircase. ‘My lord.’ She curtsied, eyes downcast. ‘I would ask you—have you decided with my uncle on the date of our marriage?’
‘Next month. I do not know what you will need to do, but women always seem to need more time than they have. Will that allow you sufficient time to prepare? If not, it can be changed to suit your convenience.’ He smiled at her, an appreciative glint in his eye, unaware of her inner turmoil, unable to see her expression in the shadowy upper reaches of the house.
‘I am surprised that you care to wait so long, my lord.’
Now he picked up the strained quality of her voice and gave her a quizzical look. Where had that hint of anger come from?
‘The sooner you wed me,’ Kate continued in the same strained tone, ‘the sooner you will be able to return to London.’
‘But I have no plans to return to London as yet.’ He simply stood, wary, waiting for enlightenment.
‘No, but when I am breeding there will be no reason to stay here. And I believe that your mother would wish to return.’
‘Has she told you so?’ He frowned a little at her directness.
‘Not as such. But I doubt that either of you would wish to stay here permanently once the inheritance is secure.’
‘So you think it is my intent to get a child on you and then leave you here in seclusion.’ She should have heard the warning in the quiet voice, but was too wrapped in her own distress.
‘Why not? I am willing to remain here, of course. It will be an arrangement that will suit us both. You can return to Court—and your previous life. I know that you find it far more entertaining than life here at the Priory, now that I have experienced it for myself. Indeed, I am surprised that you have seen fit to remain here as long as you have.’
Marlbrooke covered the ground between them in two long strides. ‘Who have you been speaking to? Who has put these ideas into your head?’ He gripped her shoulders in a painful grasp as fury flooded through him. Why should she suddenly doubt his intentions enough to accuse him of such a blatant lack of sensitivity? What had he done to deserve this? Whenever he seemed to make some progress towards winning her troubled heart, she struck at him for some unforeseen slight or insult. And on this occasion with no foundation for her accusation.
‘Why, no one, my lord. Surely it is perfectly obvious and understandable. Please release me.’ She winced a little as his fingers dug into her shoulders. ‘It is my intention to return to Widemarsh before noon.’
If anything, he tightened his grip.
‘Let me go, my lord.’
‘No. Not until this matter is clear between us. You cannot make such unfounded accusations and then run away. You are no coward, Kate. I have no intention of returning to London as yet. When I do, you will accompany me—if it is your wish. As for getting a child on you—I would desire it, but we are both young and it is not a matter of immediacy.’
‘Really, my lord?’
‘Really. So rid yourself of the Puritanical notion that marriage is merely for the procreation of children. It has other benefits, as I had hoped you were coming to appreciate. It would seem that I was wrong.’
‘I do not see any benefits. And I simply presumed that you might wish to return to the company of Alicia Lovell.’ There! She had said it! Kate swallowed against the misery that threatened to rise from her heart to choke her. ‘It has been clear to me from the beginning that you wished to marry me for one reason only.’
She was shocked out of her own misery by his reaction: the flash of anger in his eyes, the tension in his jaw, the tightening of the muscles in his shoulders.
‘So you expect me to bed you, get an heir on you and leave you here alone while I return to the delights of Court? To break my vows to you in sins of the flesh?’ He had never spoken so harshly to her.
‘Yes,’ she answered in defiance of his challenge.
‘Then I would hate to disappoint you, Mistress Harley. Or Richard Hotham or Gilliver—whoever has sown this unpleasant seed in your mind. You clearly have little regard for my feelings towards you and are more likely to listen to their words rather than mine. I was clearly foolish beyond measure to tell you that I love you. How could I have been so careless of my own happiness as to drop that little gem into your hands and hope that you might return my regard?’ His words were a lash of bitterness, his mouth twisted into a sneer. ‘But understand this, Katherine. Alicia Lovell means nothing to me. Nor has she since the day I asked for your hand in marriage. I am not guilty of such deceit.’
‘No. I never meant that. It was just that …’ She floundered into silence as she realised the enormity of what she had allowed herself to be driven to do, now that he had painted the truth of it in stark black and white. She had been wrong! She had misjudged him beyond forgiveness. And he now thought, with terrible justification, that her family was guilty of poisoning her thoughts against him. She dare not tell him of Felicity’s cruel words, calculated to hurt and undermine. Her thoughts were in turmoil, more so when he clamped his hand around her wrist and dragged her back along the corridor to thrust her into her own bedchamber, locking the door behind him.
‘Please …’
‘What do you want from me? Compassion? Pity? I doubt it.’ His voice was clipped, harsh, hiding the amazing depth of hurt that assailed his heart. ‘I presume you and your family think me incapable of such a sentiment. And yet you would accuse me of such monstrous selfishness—it is beyond bearing.’
He pounced on her with all the elegant strength of a hunting beast. Before she could register his intent, he had unlaced her bodice with deft fingers, pushing her chemise from her shoulders to expose her breasts. He took her mouth in a hot angry kiss, forcing her lips to part beneath his, his tongue invading, plunging deep. When he pushed her back on to the bed she fought against him in sudden panic, struggling against his hard hands, pushing ineffectually against his shoulders. He stepped back from her, but merely to strip off his coat in one fluid movement. When she tried to slide away across the bed, he lunged to grasp her skirt and pull her back.
‘Oh, no, Mistress Harley. If you will fling down the gauntlet, you stay to face the consequences.’
And she knew she must. She struggled no more, but waited for the onslaught. But she could not stop the tears sliding down her cheeks into her hair. What had she done? She had no reason to suspect him of neglect, thoughtlessness, lack of consideration. He had always treated her with kindness and respect for her difficult situation. Yet she had allowed Felicity—and Richard—to push her into false accusations. She trembled at the heat of his mouth on her shoulders, the roughness of his hands as he pushed her skirts and chemise above her thighs. She dare not look at him, to see the anger and rejection in his brilliant eyes, of which she had been the cause. She closed her eyes against reality.
Then she was crushed beneath him, his body pinning her to the bed, the ridge of his erection strong and powerful against her thigh, mouth hot and hungry on her breast, the scrape of his teeth against her sensitive nipples. Although her mind rejected his assault, her treacherous body heated beneath him, her nerve endings shivering with sensation.
Then she became aware that he had frozen above her, his touch stilled, his breathing caught. Kate opened her eyes to see his face, an expression in his eyes she had never seen before as he looked down at her. Horror primarily, and an abhorrence too deep to be expressed in mere words. He saw the tears on her ch
eeks and wiped them away with gentle fingers, which trembled with the realisation of what he had almost done. Her eyes were wary, watchful. But there was no fear. Regret, perhaps.
In God’s name, what was he doing? How could he have allowed himself to be driven to such a wanton act? Was his self-control so diminished in his dealings with her?
‘Kate … As God is my witness, this was not how I meant it to be between us. I have hurt you beyond redemption and that was never my intention.’
‘I know that you would never mean to.’ Her voice might catch on a sob, but her eyes met and held his calmly.
He looked down at her, trapped beneath him, his weight doubtless crushing her. What was he doing, treating her no better than a London whore, without consideration or finesse? He knew better—he knew how to deal with a woman, especially the one whom he loved above all else in life—and yet had been for that moment prepared to use her in his anger and frustration, his sense of betrayal, to destroy her innocence. He closed his eyes momentarily against the wave of guilt that swept over him. He deserved to suffer the unending torments of hellfire for his thoughtless cruelty.
‘I am so sorry.’ He took his weight on to his elbows so that she might breath again. His own breathing was still ragged, but his control was once more in place. ‘I have probably just proved to you that I am guilty of all the things you have believed me capable of doing.’ He closed his eyes momentarily to blot out her concern and bewilderment. ‘Apologies will never put it right.’