by Julia Donner
“But, Asterly, I don’t understand.”
“Ah, I’ve become Asterly again.” His fingertip drew a line down the side of her face, leaving a trail of prickling shivers. He smiled, his gaze gentle and beguiling. “Marriage entails a public, religious ceremony in which we become husband and wife.”
When she remained speechless, he smiled. “Remember, m’dear, you agreed to help.”
“But—”
“Allow me to explain. It’s imperative my enemies believe that I’m fixed in London. A decoy, or a convincing ploy, if you will, is required. Marriage is completely without suspect. They’ll direct their interest elsewhere, while I move back and forth across the channel unnoticed.”
She searched for her voice, which sounded as strained as she felt. “Why the drastic extent of marriage?”
“If you’re going to be a part of this, I must have you fully protected by my name. Through marriage, I’d be involved with your financial concerns, which is crucial to our purpose. A specially coded letter will be inserted into your weekly dispatches to Europe, which will be part of your responsibilities when I’m not here. I’m passable with languages, but you’re fluent.”
“I would be a go-between?”
“Precisely. With your assistance, we can temporarily insert government staff into positions within your banks and financial community. A changing of the guard, if you will, a new husband overseeing the flow of monies is without suspect. And if we know where the money goes, Elizabeth, who is paid when and where, we’ll know a great deal.”
“Why not use the Rothschilds? Father said they’ve been involved in the past.”
“And everyone knows of their connections to governments.”
“If the Rothschild’s have been known for their involvement, wouldn’t they suspect my banking concerns?”
“You’ve been wonderfully discrete. Very little is known about your finances. Even if there were suspicions, your banks are fortresses of privacy. In the last weeks, attempts have been to retrieve information. Your employees are exemplary. Courteous and intractable when it came to privacy on every level.”
“But surely we don’t need to go to the extreme of marriage.”
“I won’t have your name smeared, Elizabeth. There’s already enough talk about us.”
“Asterly, I’ve told you that I have no reputation to ruin. Why won’t you understand this?”
“I understand more than you think. And I hold you to your offer to help us and your country, Elizabeth. You’re desperately needed now that Boney is about to let slip from the leash his dogs of war. We must work closely together to bring this quickly to an end. Our country’s treasury is near empty and our military worn thin. We’ve already lost the war in the colonies and can’t afford to lose this last battle with Bonaparte.”
“I know, but marriage?”
“I understand your reserve. I bungled the proposal. I’m selfish, unromantic and utterly impoverished. My title is not an asset in your eyes, but surely you could find some satisfaction in the jealousy you’ll instill in Devon’s parents. This solution will free you from their threats. We can’t have them meddling in the financials. And I would greatly enjoy the opportunity to squash the pair.”
“Yes, they’ve become a nuisance. They’ve even gone to the banks and created scenes.”
“They’re universally despised, you know. Not received anywhere but the lowest places. Whereas, my connections are very grand. You’ll have every hostess in London toadying up to you by the time I’m done.”
“That is no recommendation, Asterly. I’m not at all interested in making a social wonder of myself. My father wanted it, but I gave up on my father’s notions when he left this world to be with our Lord. No, sir, that’s not the reason why I must graciously decline your offer of marriage.”
“Nothing gracious about it. I’m wounded to the quick! We’re supposed to be friends, you know.” Then he seriously asked, “Tell me, Elizabeth, what offends? I know you want to help and must be rid of the Sheltons’ interference. Do you doubt my sincerity? I’ve admired you longer than you realize. Even before you walked into that receiving room downstairs and devastated me with your astonishing smile.”
She was about to scold him for play-acting and making love to her, but he deserved a candid reason for rejection. And she didn’t, in all truth, mind hearing his compliments.
“Asterly, I’ll be honest with you.”
“Only,” he interrupted, “if you once again call me Peregrine. Or Perry.”
She gave her head a little shake of exasperation. “Peregrine. My marriage to Devon was so satisfying and pleasant, even if it was short-lived. I can’t imagine that sort of commitment again without a relationship…an understanding. And I’ve always wanted children. So you see, I can’t settle for the sterile arrangement you suggest. I’m not interested in a marriage of convenience, even to suit the needs of my country.”
His face broke into a joyous smile she found rather startling, even a bit alarming. “But my dear, I’m not at all adverse to your terms. It’s true I’ve always supposed my brother, given his proclivities, would provide the line with an heir, but if we’re being honest, I’m rather enchanted with the notion of a brat of my own. I’ve never been in a financial position to set up a nursery. With your money, we could have dozens.”
Pulse racing, she attempted a scowl and failed. “Lord Asterly, this is not a funning matter.”
He whispered with a smile that stopped he breath, “Peregrine.”
When he shifted closer, she felt the situation slide from her control and didn’t know why. Perhaps because he continued to act so pleased and optimistic when there was so much at stake.
No matter that’d she dreamed of this moment, she never imagined it quite like this. She might be fooling herself but wasn’t fooled by his moue of contrition when he whispered, “Come on, Eliza. Don’t you want lots of children?”
“Of course I do!”
He leaned nearer. The tip of his nose caressed her cheek and slid up to her temple. Her pulse throbbed inside her head. She stopped breathing when his deep, musical voice crooned a loving tune, then whispered close to her ear, “Don’t you think I could give you lots of babies?”
Her face burned from such candid talk. What kind of answer could she give to such an outrageous question? His warm breath and then his lips grazed the outline of her ear, moving lower, gliding along her cheek and to the edge of her mouth. The room began to dim and whirl.
From a murky distance, she heard him say, felt the movement of his lips at the corner of her mouth, “Breathe, Elizabeth. That’s my girl. Now tell me, do you think we’d have difficulty setting up a nursery? I’m having the devil of a time not starting right now.”
She tried to move her lips—to say no. Or did she mean yes? Her eyes drooped shut when his fingers slid into her hair to hold her still. It didn’t matter. She felt enveloped in a sleepy wildness.
He breathed the words against her parted lips, “Marry me, Eliza. Say you will.”
Somehow, a whispered “yes” came out of her mouth. The next thing she heard was his saying, “I’m so glad. You’re a splendid girl. Shall we seal the bargain with a chaste kiss?”
“What?” she managed around panting breaths and blinked back to reality. “What did you say?”
“It’s not unreasonable for affianced couples to kiss, m’dear.”
“We are?”
“You said yes, so we are. May I?”
“May you what?”
He didn’t wait and covered her mouth with his own. She reached for the armrest and dug her nails into the padding, while the rest of her being sank again into an intoxicating darkness. Every muscle melted, every thought flew from her head. A thrill rushed through her body, followed by an unfamiliar, invasive heat.
“Open your eyes, Elizabeth. Now it’s your turn to return the favor.”
She blinked to refocus. Peregrine presented his cheek. Vaguely aware, she obeyed and placed her
still tingling lips on his jaw, a near thing. She almost missed his cheek and landed on his neck.
He leaned back slightly. “Very nicely done, Elizabeth. I apologize that I lacked the time to have my valet clean me up before rushing over here. I recall Devon mentioning how you liked him to be clean shaven and had actually shaved him yourself. My, how prettily you blush. I should have told you before, you color up in the most delightful way.”
Her heart raced out of control when he lifted a curl and tucked it behind her ear. “Now that we’re engaged I can admit how envious I felt when Devon told me. Will you do that for me one day as a special gift? A silly fantasy satisfied, if you will.”
His fingertips ran up and down her nape. She barely managed to croak, “I shaved him only once, and it was all in fun.”
“There’s nothing to be embarrassed about. The idea is so charming. So delightfully domestic, but it appears that it’s going to take some strong persuasion on my part to wrest this treat from you.”
Her breath stopped again when he leaned close to nuzzle under her ear. “And m’dear, you must tell me, what is the divine scent you’re wearing?”
She faintly replied, “I never use scent.”
Before retreating to his side of the couch, he murmured against her ear, “How delicious.”
Images bloomed inside her head when she looked into his hooded gaze. None of her thoughts resembled the discreet and brief couplings she and Devon had shared. She jerked her gaze away from the explicit intention in his eyes to the safety of the bare wall.
The man could manipulate a stone, but that was no excuse. He couldn’t have coerced an acceptance from her without her wanting it deep down inside. She could feel every nuance of his slow inventory of her person. She quelled the urge to squirm under the sensation wrought by inspection, as if he touched everywhere he looked. She held the protest inside as long as she could.
“Asterly—Peregrine, I must ask you to stop teasing me. I’m not at all comfortable with this sort of game.”
He sat up, immediately penitent. “I apologize, Elizabeth. I assumed too much, knowing you to have been a married woman.”
She collected her thoughts. “It’s possible to retain a sense of modesty and still be married.”
“But of course. It shall be as you wish. Let us speak of business.”
Oddly unsettled by his sudden mood change, she covertly watched when he stood and began to pace the room. He had the sinuous stride of an athlete, confident and unconsciously coordinated.
Could she handle this masterful, proudly energetic man? Devon had been so easygoing and lighthearted. Asterly was clever and complicated, rather wild under his intense veneer. Perhaps she could postpone the marriage until she got herself emotionally ready to contend with him.
Devon had been so passive and gentle. She suspected Asterly would be the opposite and marveled at the trembling that realization sent humming through her veins. She refocused her mind to pay attention to what he was thinking out loud while he paced.
“If it’s convenient, I’ll come by tomorrow late morning with the codes. After you’ve memorized them, and I happen to know you’re proficient at that, you must burn the paper. Watch until it is completely reduced to ash. Then we’ll create the first message to be sent. We also need to make wedding arrangements. I think you may leave that to me. We shall be married privately. And soon. Perhaps Tuesday.”
When she gasped, he stopped pacing and looked at her. He raised both eyebrows. “Not Tuesday?”
“That’s only six days from now!”
“But I leave for France on Wednesday next.”
“Wednesday?” she weakly repeated.
He resumed pacing. “If you’ll agree, the ceremony should be somewhere out of town, away from these unpleasant riots and prying eyes. My friends must be present. Yours, too, of course. Raven and Cass are in town and can follow us down. Do you know the Ravenswolds? No? He’s no doubt gloating hugely over this aftermath of the Anti-Corn bill. He warned everyone this would happen if prices went higher.”
Dazed, she pressed her fingertips into her temples and tried to absorb what he was saying and the rapid changes in her life. “Won’t we need a special license?”
He waved that off. “Already have it.”
A wave of caution strove to douse the flaming excitement and failed. Her voice sounded out of breath when she asked, “Wasn’t that a bit presumptuous on your part?”
“Premature and presumptuous to be sure, but I was desperate to have you. I wonder where Freddy is keeping himself? Alfred Bates? Do you know him?”
“No.”
“Probably for the better. Freddy’s a bit of a womanizer. Not as undiscriminating as my brother, who can be thoroughly obnoxious when he puts his mind to it. We’ll have the two of them leak the news. Have you ever met him, my brother?”
“Sir Harry? No. Everyone talks about him.”
“My brother is a disgrace, but the perfect resource for informing the gossipmongers about our wedding. Let’s see. Yes, I have it. We’ll make it a secret engagement of longstanding. No one is to know about the wedding, but everyone in London will know by tomorrow evening, of course. By Saturday, the on-dit will be considered ancient. I don’t want your servants involved, by the way. Harry’s valet is a cloth-headed snob, but he can be relied on to spread the tale that we’ve been secretly in love forever. We’ll present ourselves as a couple at the theater. Then, after our not-so-secret ceremony, we’ll pretend to escape to Marshfield, my broken down pile in Kent. Do you have a yacht, m’dear?”
Her head whirled. She blinked to reorient. “Yes, moored at Dover.”
“Might I have the use of it for a few weeks?”
“You forget. Once we are married, it will be yours.”
“Didn’t think of that. You’ll have to remind me about money matters. I’ve done too long without.”
His eyebrows came together in a thoughtful scowl. “Where was I? Oh, yes. After the ceremony, we’ll escape to Marshfield, and just before dawn, I’ll take the yacht across the channel. Hopefully, weather will permit. Do you mind spending a few days alone at Marshfield?”
She shook her head, feeling somewhat drained, and more than a little bewildered by this barrage of changes in her previously well-ordered life. She wondered what to expect next when he stopped pacing and propped an elbow on the mantel. He lifted the quizzing glass and tapped it against his chin.
“You know, Eliza, I should introduce to you to my obnoxious twin as soon as possible. Whenever you’re in town without me, Harry or one my friends will escort you. Harry, for all his swish and fuss, is a bruising fighter, and Freddie is the best shot in England. I’ll have a chat with Crimm. I assume he’s still quick with his fives?”
“Not a day goes by that he doesn’t spar.”
“Excellent! He’ll go with you when you need to travel out of town. His company won’t be in the least suspect.”
“Peregrine, why do I require this close attention? I thought you were the one being pursued.”
He came to stand over her and drew her to her feet. “Because you’re also the perfect person to abduct. You should know that I’d do anything to save you should that happen, but it won’t. And I neglected to tell you that there may come a time when the information to bring this new war to an end may be given into your hands for safekeeping or transfer.”
A numbing wash of fear reduced her voice to a whisper. “I’m to be trusted with something so important?”
“Certainly.”
“And you have the authority to give me that kind of responsibility?”
“Of course not, m’dear. Before I could approach you with this, approval had to be given from certain heads of state.”
Elizabeth stared up at him, her future husband, a notion shocking enough in itself. Added to that, royalty and the most powerful men in the land had been discussing her and now endorsed her. Her body wilted and she sagged against him, grateful he felt so sturdy, so safe.
&nb
sp; “Elizabeth, close your mouth. Far too tempting an invitation when there’s so much work to be done.”
“What?”
“Watchdog Crimm, m’dear. He might pop in here at any moment and catch us flagrante delicto. And before I forget, there’s only one demand I’ll ever make and insist that you obey.”
Her heart stilled. Dread seeped a chill down her arms. Devon’s blind love and compliance to her every wish had spoiled her for anyone else. She prepared for disappointment.
When she started to withdraw, he captured her hands and held them firmly against his chest. “At no time will you ever give Devon’s parents anything. Not a farthing. Not a filthy groat. They’ll be grubbing around here the minute they learn of our engagement, trying to get what they can while there’s still a chance. You may stay in contact out of respect for Dev, but after what they’ve done to you, they’ll never be welcomed in my house.”
Relief loosened her muscles, allowing the release of her captured breath. She smiled up at his glittering outrage. “I shouldn’t have a problem with that.”
“And that’s the last time I’ll tell you what to do with your finances. I’ve a small competence from Marshfield rents, and what you decide to do with your funds is no concern of mine. I know most of your wealth is tied up in trust, which is fine with me. Have your trustee write up a contract. I’ll sign whatever you like. The only thing I own outright is Ramona. Marshfield is entailed.”
He gazed down at her for a moment, as if ready to say something more, then wished her a good night. After a swift kiss on her cheek, he opened the sitting room door so quickly Crimm almost stumbled to get out of the way. Peregrine was gone before she could change her mind.
Crimm said from the threshold, “Is there anything you wish before I lock up?”
Distracted, she whispered, “No, thank you. Oh, and has Merrick come up?”
“Waiting in your dressing room. She came up as soon as the lights were put out downstairs.”
Taken up with the ironies of life, she only vaguely noticed Crimm bank the fire, instead of calling for an upstairs maid to do so. An aspect of this sudden change in her life struck her as particularly disconcerting. In order to aide her country and Peregrine, she had to be seen in society. Not only be seen, but make a statement, draw notice to herself to distract attention from his movements.