by North, Evie
His father had closed his eyes but now he opened them again. “Could you not, son?”
Maddox shook his head. “I don’t know what it is about her, but I can’t leave her, even now. I want her with me, even if she doesn’t want to stay.”
“She doesn’t want to stay with Maddox Hawley?” his father said, amused. “How can that be?”
“She doesn’t believe I’m serious about her. And she doesn’t want to live off my money, and would rather work for a living. She doesn’t want to be my mistress for the same reason, although I know she finds me appealing. She is sweet and kind, and she has no one who cares for her like I do.” He took a breath. “I’m thinking of asking her to marry me.”
The earl snorted again. “So you’re in love with her?”
Maddox hesitated, but any remaining doubts he had vanished. He loved Gabriella and he wanted to spend his life with her.
“Yes, I do. The question is whether she loves me. For the first time in my life neither my charming self nor my money seem to be capable of winning her over.”
“A paragon indeed. Very well. Let me see her,” the earl commanded, his voice regaining some of its old vigour. “I take it she is here?”
“She is. I’ve put her in the small parlour with some tea. I’ve also set one of the footmen to guard the door so she won’t run off.”
Maddox sighed as his father burst into gasps of laughter. No use explaining that Gabriella had already tried to run away before.
After the earl had recovered himself, wiping a tear of mirth from his eye, he said, “Send someone to fetch her, Maddox. I need to meet this girl.”
22
GABRIELLA
“Miss Jones? Miss Jones!”
She woke with a start, struggling for a moment to place where she was. The same stern footman as before was staring down at her. Gabrielle uncurled herself from the chair and attempted to tidy her unruly hair.
She was in the Earl of Mortmain’s London town house, she remembered, waiting for Maddox. He’d asked her to wait, and hungry as she was, she hadn’t been able to resist the crumpets. She’d also been tired from the voyage home to England, and before she knew what was happening, she’d fallen into a deep sleep.
“The earl has requested your presence, Miss,” the footman said.
“My-my presence?” Gabriella repeated, wishing she hadn’t heard him correctly. The last thing she wanted to do was come face to face with the Earl of Mortmain.
“This way, if you please.”
She opened her mouth to refuse, but the servant was standing there, waiting for her to comply. She had a feeling he would take her by the arm and march her alongside him if she said no. With a sigh, Gabriella followed him up the same magnificent staircase she had seen Maddox ascend earlier.
There were portraits on the walls. Hawleys from generations past watched her go by, their painted eyes cool and disapproving. At least that was how it felt. She tried to ignore them, but for a girl who had never felt she belonged anywhere—and certainly not in this upper class establishment—those eyes sank what little confidence she had left.
After a long walk down a wide corridor, they came to a halt outside a set of white doors with gold decoration. The footman tapped softly and then let her inside, closing off her escape behind her.
The room was dim, with the curtains drawn, but she could see a large four poster bed with crimson curtains tied back with gold tassels. The man lying in that bed must be the earl. Gabriella felt very intimidated. Was he going to dismiss her from Maddox’s service? Memories of her dismissal from the Laurel household filled her mind, and then she saw Maddox standing to one side of the bed.
“Miss Jones,” Maddox said, his voice husky, as though he was as weary as she. He came toward her and held out his hand, and when his strong, warm fingers closed around hers she immediately felt better. The grip comforted her just as they had on so many other occasions. She might have tried to puzzle out why, but there was no time. He was already leading her further into the room.
With a sideways glance she saw that he still looked dishevelled and travel worn from the voyage—like her, he hadn’t stopped to change or wash. He also looked grief stricken, and she longed to comfort him. The fact that all that had mattered to him was to see his father as quickly as possible said a great deal about his relationship with the earl.
“Gabriella,” he said softly. She looked up into his face and found him pale and shaken, but with his emotions under control. “My father has asked to meet you.”
Gabriella’s eyes widened. “Why?” she asked in a frightened voice.
“Because he knows how much I love you,” he said.
If she had been speechless a moment ago, she was more so now. Loved? His fingers squeezed hers, reclaiming her attention, and his lips formed a smile. He leaned down to whisper in her ear.
“I have confessed all,” he said, his warm breath stirring wisps of hair. “Including how I am wildly in love with you.”
“You didn’t tell him that?” she squeaked. “You know it isn’t true. It can’t be true! I don’t believe you.”
He leaned back to look into her eyes and sighed. But before he could speak again, a raspy voice from the bed interrupted them.
“Miss Jones? Come here at once.”
Maddox moved her toward the enormous bed, and she went on with heavy feet and wobbly legs when all she really wanted to do was turn and run. She didn’t know if Maddox was telling her the truth or whether he was teasing her. She had even less of an idea what to expect from the earl, but she was reminded once again of what had happened in the Laurels’ house. When she had been caught associating with a man far above her station and forced to leave.
The earl watched her come closer. His eyes were blue like his son’s, although not so pale, and his skin was darkly tanned, as if he had once spent time in a hot climate. He was clearly unwell, and yet at the same time he was still very intimidating.
“Father, allow me to introduce Miss Gabriella Jones. Gabriella, this is my father, the Earl of Mortmain.”
Should she curtsey? How did one address an Earl? Your Grace? My Lord? Never having met one, Gabriella wasn’t sure. She gave a curtsey, but as she came out of it the earl reached out a hand, beckoning her closer until she was pressed right up against the side of his massive bed.
He took some time to inspect her and just when she thought she could not stand there any longer, he looked past her shoulder and gave Maddox an unexpectedly sweet smile. “Ravishing,” he said.
Maddox smiled back. There seemed to be a conversation going on between the two of them, and yet no words were spoken.
Gabriella shifted restlessly.
“Maddox, would you leave us for a moment?” the earl asked. “I wish to speak to Miss Jones alone.”
His son reluctantly nodded. With a glance at Gabriella—was he warning her to be good?—he left them.
The earl waited until the door closed. She felt his gaze on her again and wasn’t sure she wanted to meet it. Being scrutinized once was enough, and she was pretty sure she knew what he was going to say. Maddox might think he loved her, but that would not be enough for the earl. He wanted her gone. He would send her back to the orphanage where she belonged with a warning never to darken his door again.
“Miss Jones, my son seems to think you will not have him.”
Her mouth dropped open. She lifted her gaze and found herself caught and held by those piercing blue eyes. “You set yourself too high for one such as he, he says.”
“No, I…I have never set myself too high, sir.”
“Has he not asked you to marry him?”
She put a hand to her throat, wondering if she had accidently strolled into a Bedlam. “He hasn’t, sir. I think he wants me to be his mistress, but I have said no because I do not wish to be owned by any man.”
The earl smiled. “Ah. Then he is a fool and you should forgive him. My sons are often foolish when they fall in love. He will ask you to marry h
im, Miss Jones. Please say yes. I need to know he will be happy after I am gone, and I believe you will make him very happy.”
“I don’t think…that is, I didn’t…”
He cut her short, which was just as well because Gabriella hadn’t a clue what she was trying to say. “Maddox has put his wild days behind him, if that is what concerns you. Ask him why he fought that duel.”
She might have protested further but the earl had closed his eyes and now appeared to be asleep. A woman she had not noticed before rose from a chair in the shadows. She was small and dark skinned, wearing a brightly coloured garment that wrapped around her body.
“You should go now,” she said with a smile. “Find Maddox, my dear, and remember this piece of wisdom from an old woman. You might think pride and dignity matter, but in the end they don’t. Love is all that matters. Love is everything.”
23
MADDOX
Maddox paced restlessly back and forth outside his father’s room. He wasn’t sure what was going on in there but hoped the earl wasn’t going to do anything to jeopardise his future happiness. No matter how well intentioned it might be? He tried to persuade himself that Anila would watch over matters.
The earl had brought Anila home with him from India many decades ago. She had once been his mistress and then dear friends, and now that he was close to death he had asked for her to be with him.
Slowly the door opened and Gabriella stepped out. She looked dazed and he reached out to pull her into his arms, holding her close.
She did not melt into him as he had hoped but held herself back, as if she was shocked. He didn’t ask her what was the matter, not yet. He needed to take her somewhere they would not be interrupted.
“Come,” he said, and holding her hand tight, began to lead her through the vast house. Finally he opened a door and stepped into the room that had once been his. There were childhood toys and memories here, and although he rarely stayed in it now, it felt like a part of him had never left.
Gabriella went to the fireplace and stood before it, although the fire was not lit. He knew she must be feeling the chill weather, as he was. Everything had been so much more comfortable in their house overlooking the quay in Italy.
“Gabriella?”
She shivered and he removed his coat, slipping it about her shoulders and leaving his hands lightly upon her.
“What did he say?” Maddox asked, uneasy.
“He said I should ask you about the duel.”
Maddox frowned. “The duel?”
She sat down, perching on the edge of the armchair, and looked up at him. She appeared pale but composed, waiting for whatever he was going to say. He’d expected her to ask him if truly loved her, or castigate him about the wager with Lawrence, or beg him to let her go back to the orphanage or some other horrid place, where she could earn her living honestly.
He ran his hands through his hair, pushing it back from his face. He’d had a ribbon to tie it out of the way but he seemed to have mislaid it back on the yacht.
“The duel,” he repeated. “Why do you want to know about that?”
“Because I do,” she said stubbornly. “Now tell me, Maddox.”
For some reason this made him feel uncomfortable. As if he was exposing too much of himself by telling the story, making himself vulnerable. But as she sat there, watching and waiting, he decided he had nothing to lose.
“I was leaving my club when I saw a man in a nearby alley. He was with a woman and he was assaulting her. He pushed her to the ground. His intention was obvious.” He glanced at her uneasily. “I went to her rescue. She was barely a woman at all, just a girl, and I was sickened. We argued and I struck him, and he demanded satisfaction.”
“And what made you get involved?”
Maddox frowned. “What do you mean?”
“Would I be wrong to assume that you were the only one who did anything about this brute? That there were others there who simply watched? You were the only one who was challenged, after all.”
Maddox shifted uncomfortably. “You would not be in error.”
“So why did you intervene?”
“To be honest, I’m not sure. For a moment, I supposed I could see myself in her place. Powerless, helpless, trapped. And the thought that this man felt he could do so without consequence… It angered me.”
“And would you do it again? If faced with that same situation, knowing what it might lead to?”
Maddox thought back to the look on that girl’s face, knowing the fate that was waiting for her. “I would. Is that what you wanted to know?”
“Yes. I didn’t realise. I don’t know what I thought you had fought your duel over. A woman, I suppose, but not like this.” She bit her lip and went to rise, only to sit down again. “Your behaviour was admirable, Maddox. I don’t understand why you didn’t tell me this before.”
“Because my behaviour hasn’t always been so admirable. Far from it. I have often been reckless and foolish…sometimes even cruel. I have done things I deeply regret and can never undo. That moment seemed to bring home to me all that I was and all I no longer wanted to be. Then, later, when I met you at the inn, I knew.”
“What did you know?” she breathed.
“That I needed to change. To be a different sort of man.”
She looked down at her hands. “Was that why you wouldn’t take me as a man takes a woman, despite Lawrence’s wager? Because you were trying to be a different sort of man?”
“Yes,” he said, and it was a relief to speak of it aloud. “But I kept slipping back into bad habits. Gabriella—”
“You are a good man. You saved me from Lord Rattray and kept me from harm.”
He should his head. “I still couldn’t keep my hands to myself.”
“Oh, Maddox, I didn’t want you to! Couldn’t you see? I ached for your touch, you must know that!”
His blue eyes darkened. “I ached for yours. I love you, but I don’t know if I am a good enough man for you,” he said, and he could hear the uncertainty in his own voice. “Should I go off into the wilderness somewhere until I learn to mend my ways?”
Gabriella stood up and her face was glowing. “Please don’t,” she said, her voice shaky. “I love you as you are.”
“Then…will you be my wife?” He held his breath, waiting, knowing he had never been as uncertain of any woman’s answer as he was of hers. And neither had any woman’s answer meant more to him.
“Yes,” she said. “Yes, I will.”
He pulled her into his arms, his mouth capturing hers. She tasted like heaven, and he pressed his face into her hair and breathed her in. Her arms were tight about him, her soft curves fit perfectly against his hard body, and he was still in a state of bliss when she spoke again.
“I love you, but I can’t be the sort of wife who lolls around all day writing out menus,” she said. “I’ll need to be busy, Maddox. You do know that?”
He leaned back to look at her. He could have said crude things about keeping her busy in his bed or bearing his children, but he knew this was important to her and not something to be trivialised.
“I told you once that you should decide what you wanted to do, and whatever it was I would help to make it happen.” He kissed her lips. “I meant it then just as I mean it now, Gabriella.”
And he could see by the smile on her lips and the glow in her eyes that he had given her the perfect ending.
24
GABRIELLA
One Year Later
The yacht knifed through the blue water. The sea breeze stirred Gabriella’s hair and the pale green silk of her gown. Her feet were bare, tucked up under the hem, and as she lifted her face to the sun she was aware that Maddox was watching her.
He had slept late, having declared that she had worn him out, but she knew he was tired from his long hours meeting with his brothers, discussing what was to happen with their late father’s estate.
The Earl of Mortmain had been a wealthy man, and no
w there were decisions to be made. In his Will, the earl had made many bequests to his sons, his properties among them. The London town house and the estate on the moors were to go to Sebastian, the Scottish house to Gervais and Maddox was to have the estate in Cornwall. And the yacht.
Warm fingers smoothed across her cheek, tracing the shape of her lips, and then down, teasing the swell of her breasts above the neckline of her gown. Her body instantly readied itself for him, and she caught her breath.
The first time he had taken her as a man takes a woman, the night of their wedding, had fulfilled all of her expectations. They had decided to marry in haste, so that the earl could wish them happy afterwards. He was not well enough to attend.
There had barely been a fortnight between their return to London and the walk down the aisle. During that time the earl’s lawyers had been busy dealing with the ramifications of Maddox’s duel. Against all expectations the other man had survived, and when it was suggested to him that his position in the government may be at risk if the story of his actions outside the club were leaked, he chose to set aside his differences with Maddox.
Gabriella had felt as if she was caught in a whirlwind as the wives of Maddox’s brothers set about preparing her for her wedding day. She barely had time to think, but Maddox still managed to find places to be alone with her. He would tug her into the maze in the garden, or into an unoccupied room, and by the time he was done kissing and caressing her, she was begging him to continue, and then irritable when he did not. “No, my love,” he would whisper against her lips. “We must do things properly.” Their wedding night could not come soon enough for her.