“Mrs. Cavendish is well and truly gone. Whatever hold she had on you is also at an end,” Malcolm stated.
Mooney relaxed immediately. In fact, the man melted like a candle sat too close to the hearth. He just sank into the chair he occupied. “Oh, my lord, you have no idea—.”
“I haven’t finished,” Malcolm interrupted. “Whatever you’ve done, whatever convoluted legislative hoops you’ve created to keep me from my inheritance, you will undo—.”
“The trustees, my lord—.”
“Enough!” Malcolm bellowed and sent the man into cowering again. “You are the trustees. You and Drake. If there are others, which I doubt, you hold sway over them. You will release my inheritance to me or so help me, whatever Georgiana Cavendish threatened you with will pale in comparison to what I will actually do to you. Are we clear?”
Mooney nodded vigorously. “Are you certain she’s gone, my lord?”
“Quite.”
Mooney hesitated. “And the other? Is it gone, as well?”
Malcolm cocked his head in surprise. “You really are a vile, wretched, little weasel of a man, aren’t you?”
“Yes,” Mooney agreed. “When Mrs. Cavendish did not return, I feared… I was on the verge of running, my lord, but not from you or my responsibilities to the Hadley estate. You must believe me!”
“I believe you are a coward and a liar, but even liars are occasionally honest,” Malcolm conceded. “If you make me regret this, Mooney, if you attempt to flee or if you fail to see to it that the funds are made available to me, I will hunt you to the ends of the earth. Is that understood?”
“Yes, my lord,” the little man said, his head bobbing and quite possibly with tears in his eyes.
Malcolm said nothing further. He turned on his heel and strode out of the office. There were other issues to be seen to, namely getting a tutor for Joseph as he’d promised Katherine he would.
Kit felt like she’d spent hours at the dressmaker’s. It had been so long since she’d had new things made, and not just hasty alterations from Vera, that she’d forgotten what an arduous process it could be. Still, as bolt after bolt of lovely fabric was brought it for her to choose from, she couldn’t help but be excited. It would be a lovely thing to no longer look like a drudge.
She knew the moment Malcolm arrived to retrieve her because she could hear the nervous tittering and giggles of the other patrons. His effect on the fair sex was something she would simply have to learn to live with, she thought with a pang of jealousy.
As one of the seamstresses helped her back into her ragged gown, she could hear him asking the dressmaker to have something ready for her by the morning for a hefty bonus. As she stepped out into the showroom, she arched her eyebrow at him in censure for such extravagance, but he only winked at her in response. Even the dressmaker blushed.
“Why would it matter if it’s ready tomorrow?” she asked as they stepped outside. The gig was waiting for them, being held by a boy no older than Joseph. Malcolm tossed him a coin and then helped her up into the seat. “We’ll be back at Rosedale Hall and unable to retrieve it! We surely cannot make trips to Birmingham two days in a row!”
“We are not making two trips,” he said, climbing up beside her. “We’re staying in town tonight. I’ve gotten us a room at the finest inn in town and made arrangements for a lovely dinner.”
It sounded terribly romantic and also completely unnecessary. “Really, Malcolm! Are you so dissatisfied with Nan’s cooking?”
“Not at all. But I want to be alone with you!”
“We are alone at Rosedale Hall all the time now, since our unwanted guests have departed,” she reminded him.
“No, we are not. Lytton is coming in every morning to help me dress even though I’ve told him it’s unnecessary. You can’t turn around without bumping into Vera, and Joseph—well, he terrifies me honestly. Every encounter with him he looks at me like he wants to knock me on my as—.”
“Shhh! Don’t say that!” She glanced around to be certain no one had heard him. “You are a gentleman now! You cannot say such things!”
He laughed at her. “It’s a poor honeymoon, but it’s the best I can do for now. Come with me, Katherine. Spend the night with me in an inn where not a soul cares who we are… let me do wicked things to my Wicked Wexford?”
It would take a stronger woman than she to deny such a plea. “Are you trying to seduce me, husband?”
“Am I succeeding, wife?”
“Possibly. Will there be wine?” she asked.
“Will it increase my likelihood of success?” he queried with a grin.
Like he needed to have her foxed! They couldn’t stop touching one another, hadn’t in fact, since that day at the stone circle. Cheekily, she answered him, “In all probability, yes.”
“Then you may have it by the barrel, if you wish.”
He snapped the reins and the horses moved forward, easing into the street. “Do you still wish you’d married that horse faced chit?” she asked.
“No. Because then I’d need wine by the barrel,” he answered. “And because I’d spend the rest of my days pining for the woman I love… a woman who can kick like a mule, by the way.”
She loved him too. Although she wouldn’t tell him just yet, she decided. While hearing those words from him was an infinite relief, she didn’t want sarcasm and wit. She wanted him to reveal the true depths of his feelings.
“Tell me more about this woman,” she said. “Did you meet her in America?”
His jaw firmed and he arched one eyebrow. “You’re going to make me work for it, aren’t you?”
“Yes,” she answered with a smile. “But if you prefer, we can shelve all confessions until we’ve both partaken of that barrel of wine.”
They were both grinning like cats who’d gotten the cream as they headed for the inn and their delayed honeymoon.
THE END
About the Author
Chasity Bowlin resides in Central Kentucky with her fiancee and their menagerie of animals. She’s a sucker for any four-legged sob story. She loved all things English and specifically all things Regency. When not writing Regency Romance, she is busily penning Contemporary Romance as Seraphina Donavan, particularly her Bourbon and Blood Series set in her home state of Kentucky. If you’d like to reach Chasity, you can email her at [email protected].
Also by Chasity Bowlin
The Dark Regency Series: Volume One
The Haunting of a Duke
The Redemption of a Rogue
The Enticement of an Earl
Standalone Novellas
The Beast of Bath
The Last Offer
The Dark Regency Series: Volume Two
A Love So Dark (September 2016)
A Passion So Strong (December 2016)
A Heart So Wicked (February 2017)
And writing as Seraphina Donavan:
The DuChamps’ Dynasty Series:
Been Loving You Too Long
Have A Little Faith In Me
I’ll Take Care Of You
Back To The Beginning: A Duet (with Laramie Briscoe)
The Bourbon & Blood Series:
Bennett
Ciaran
Clayton
Carter
Quentin (October 2016)
A Heart So Wicked (The Dark Regency Series Book 6) Page 18