Still, there was nothing he could do to make her turn back. Aubree relented her pace and glared at her cousin. “I’m not going back, Emery. You are wasting your time.”
“You would have done better to waste your time with a brush and comb before you opened that door back there,” he informed her hotly.
Aubree’s hand flew to the curls tumbling down her neck, and she became uncomfortably aware of her wrinkled riding habit. She looked as if she had slept in her clothes. As she had. She hid her dismay. “I fell asleep. There is nothing wrong with that.”
“Explain that to all the men who saw you open the bedroom door with Heath’s arm around you. You gave your father little choice.”
“Nothing happened, Emery,” she wailed. “Geoffrey would believe me. Why did he have to send Geoffrey away? Surely Geoffrey would be a more suitable husband than Austin.”
Even as she said it, she felt the first prickle of doubt, but she squelched it by kicking her horse to a more spirited canter. She was starving and weary and dirty, but she had no intention of ever turning back.
Emery kept apace with her. “I wouldn’t be too certain of that,” he replied gruffly.
Aubree sent him a look askance at his unusual tone of voice, but she did not question him. Turning her chin up, she continued riding toward home.
Emery continued doggedly at her side. “You cannot ride forever.”
It seemed very much like she meant to as the morning wore on and the stubborn glint in her eyes never once dimmed. They passed through one small village, and Emery offered to stop and buy her eggs, but Aubree refused to reply. She had her heart set on returning home to Hampshire and nothing would sway her.
The furious gallop of a horse behind them caused Aubree to glanced worriedly over her shoulder. She had not considered pursuit since Emery was with her. But the sight of only one rider reassured her. Her father would have sent half an army.
Guiding her horse to the edge of the road to allow the other rider to pass, she continued her pace. She wished she knew where Geoffrey had gone. If he hadn’t disappeared so quickly, they could have headed north to Scotland together. She felt a twinge of disappointment at his lack of perseverance.
To her surprise, the rider behind them slowed his pace, and when Emery did the same, she grew suspicious. Turning, she spied Heathmont bearing down on them.
Her first thought was to spur her horse on rather than face him again, but common sense told her it would be to no avail. He was riding that huge bay stallion of his, and it had had all night to rest and graze. Her borrowed nag was thoroughly winded already. She halted beside Emery and awaited her fate.
The earl shot his friend a furious glare. “I thought you had more sense than to help the little brat.”
“Did you truly think the brat would listen to me?” he retorted indignantly. “She’s had her way for too long to listen to reason. I figured the best I could do was keep her from more trouble.”
This admission that a seventeen-year-old child was more than a grown man could handle did not lessen Austin’s aggravation, but he turned it to another direction. Facing Aubree, he demanded, “What did you think you would gain by running away? This is nonsense. Your father is in even a worse humor than before, if that is possible. Let’s go back and straighten this out before he has us all thrown in the dungeons.”
Aubree glared mutinously. “You do not know him as I do. When he makes up his mind, there is no swaying him. You would do better to find a ship and sail for distant shores. I, for one, have no intention of returning to listen to him prate nonsense. I am going home.”
She kicked her tired mare into a canter, a spurt of dust flying up at her heels as she rode off. Austin cursed and spurred his horse after her. Grabbing her reins, the earl brought her tired horse to a halt. Leaning over, he lifted her from the saddle. Aubree kicked and screamed, but he wouldn’t let go.
“Austin, you can’t do this,” she screamed as he plumped her down over his knee, his arm planted about her middle with an iron hold.
As Emery rode up, Austin threw him the reins of the weary horse. “Here. You take this nag back while I take the brat.”
In a fury of frustration and outrage, Aubree beat her fists against his chest. Austin merely spurred his stallion into a canter back the way they had come. Deprived of transportation and aid, hungry and tired and with nowhere else to turn, she had no other recourse but tears. They fell furiously as Austin continued to ignore her pleas.
When she finally collapsed against his chest in gulping sobs, his arm gentled its hold, but his voice still held the sting of scorn. “You are behaving like a child, Aubree. If you mean to marry anyone, you had best grow up quickly. Running away never solves any problems. I speak from considerable experience, so I hope you are listening.”
In between sobs, she gulped, “I don’t want to marry anyone! I want to go home to Hampshire and my pets. I hate London and I hate my father and I hate society. Why can’t they all just leave me alone!”
Her fury came through even through the tears, and Austin smiled at the tirade. “There have been times when I felt the same, but I never had the pleasure of throwing tantrums. If you will calm down and stop acting like a silly child, we might arrange your request, but I doubt if you will enjoy isolation for long. Can you not trust me to explain things to your father?”
Aubree stared up at him through the glitter of tears. The shock of meeting his midnight eyes at this proximity jolted her into realizing her position. He viewed her dispassionately, as very well he should. Despite his reputation, he was a dashing lord of more years and sophistication than she could claim. To think her father could force a man like this to marry a green girl like herself was the height of lunacy. She forced a wobbly smile to her lips.
“Can you? Make him see reason, I mean? No one ever stands up to him, and when he sent Geoffrey away. . . It was my last chance,” she explained hazily.
Austin spoke carefully, watching her expression. “This Geoffrey, do you truly love him enough to marry him? Or is he just your means of escaping your father?”
“Oh, I don’t know.” She pouted, curling up against the strong chest shielding her from the world. “He is fun to be with, and he doesn’t mind when I say things I oughtn’t, and he has an estate in the country and would not expect me to entertain London society if I did not want. I think I could love him well enough if Father would let me.”
That was not the answer he sought, but the one he expected. It in no way made things easier for him. Emery galloping up behind them did not relieve the tension, either.
Austin sent his friend a questioning look at the absence of the mare he had been assigned.
“I left the other nag at the inn. If you are carrying the brat back like that, you might prefer a more legitimate excuse.”
Emery’s sarcasm caused Aubree to sit up and stick her tongue out at him. Austin nearly fell from his horse with laughter at this childish but—to him—highly appropriate response.
“You are both behaving like a couple of pampered brats. I don’t suppose you thought to trade the nag for some food while you were there? I could eat the damned thing about now.”
Instead of being shocked by his profanity, Aubree giggled. “Despite his size, Emery has been known to consume vast quantities of victuals at every meal. And his last meal must have been some while ago.”
Her cousin gestured to the pouch slung over his pommel. “Fresh bread, meat, cheese, and ale. I thought perhaps you two had other things on your mind besides your stomachs.”
While Aubree reproachfully cried, “Emery,” Austin located the nearest grassy hillock and not so gallantly dropped her on it. Before she could protest, he was off his horse and appropriating the bag of food from his fickle friend.
As they all tore into the repast, Austin managed the last word through a crust of bread. “I crave the simple pleasures of life, Beresford. Ravishing as she might be, your lady cousin here is far from simple. Now close your dirty mind
and eat quickly. I fancy I have some hard talking to do.”
Chapter 6
Aubree paced the parlor floor of the old hunting lodge in which she’d been held prisoner. She occasionally checked her hairpins in the gilded mirror above the mantel. She had scrounged up a brush and comb and put it into some semblance of order, but without a ribbon to hold it back, she feared it would never meet her father’s standards. She stuck her tongue out at the image reflected there, wishing for a proper nose so she might look down it like a real lady, instead of the pert slant that made her appear even younger than she was.
She tucked her shirt in more tightly and checked the buttons of her riding jacket one more time. She could do nothing about the wrinkles in her skirt, but at least her jacket had survived unrumpled. Perhaps if she could give the appearance of responsibility and maturity, her father would listen to her pleas.
At a knock on the door, she patted her hair one more time before giving permission to enter. Heathmont had been closeted with her father for hours, and from the angry voices, the interview did not go well. Judging by the politeness of the rap, she hoped an equitable settlement had been reached. Surely her father had calmed down enough to see reason.
Heathmont entered, his dark face bare of all emotion. Striding stiffly into the room without a coat, his cravat untied, he looked the part of rake or worse.
Aubree held herself rigid. “What is it, my lord? Surely he believes you. Emery can vouch for us.”
“He believes me, I don’t doubt.” Heath limped toward her, his eyes nearly black with anger. “You were right when you said he refuses to see reason, however. He is insistent that your reputation has received irreparable damage. I have been sent here to ask you formally for your hand in marriage.”
The grim expression on Austin’s face verified her worst fears, and she lashed out with the fury of helplessness. “How much did he offer you?” she demanded. “What is it worth to take a troublesome daughter off a duke’s hands?”
Austin did not flinch at her scorn. “He has offered sufficient to keep you comfortable for many years.” He strode toward the window. “He offered me a brand new world, at your expense. It isn’t fair, but very little in this world was fair.”
A cold chill crept down her spine as she watched Austin’s stiffly erect back. She had been warned of his reputation, but she had not heeded the warnings. She still could not believe this stranger was the man who had held her so tenderly last night. This man was cold and callous and she could not marry him, not ever.
“Well, I am sorry to disappoint you, but I cannot accept,” she informed him.
“You have no choice, no more than I.” He swung around. “Your reputation has been compromised whether or not anything went between us. Your father is right in that. My reputation is of the sort for society to expect the worst. I cannot think that marriage to me will right the wrong, but I am compelled to offer.”
“And I am compelled to refuse.”
“Aubree, I will give you the choices that have been given me. At least listen before you give me your answer. The choices are not pretty, but I will respect your decision. I cannot do otherwise, for I have nothing at all to offer you.”
Aubree searched for the truth in Heathmont’s face. He did not plead with her, but stated his case baldly. She read his anger, but recognized his honesty.
“That is a curious proposal, my lord. How is it my father chooses a man with nothing at all to offer me?”
Heath’s fingers clenched into a fist. “I don’t know. I have tried to talk him out of his foolishness, but he is convinced your happiness is at stake. He knows he has not raised you as he ought, and he has somehow got it into his head that a husband is what you need. After last night, it seems likely mine will be the only offer you will receive.”
Unsteadily, Aubree sank into the nearest chair, not bothering to remove the Holland cover. She still had not come to terms with how she had come to be in this place. How would she ever make sense of this new development? “Perhaps you should explain our. . . choices.”
The earl paced, unmindful of the halt in his gait as he strode from mantel to door and back again, his fists clenched and his jaw muscle twitching.
“First, I must tell you what I told your father.” Austin found a straight-backed chair and dragged it in front of her. Sitting, he strove for the words to explain his plight. “It is not just a matter of age. Your father was considerably older than your mother, and they got along tolerably well, as he pointed out.”
He waved a hand to dismiss the point. “I have been married before. You knew that, didn’t you?”
Aubree watched him, her heart pounding. The skin over the sharp angles of his nose and cheekbones strained in a fierce expression, but she nodded.
“My wife died within two years of our marriage. We were both very young. Too young. I can assure you there is no truth to the rumors about us, but there are exceedingly few who will believe me. It has ceased to matter to me, but any wife of mine would bear the brunt of my shame. I cannot ask a child such as you to live as an outcast, as I have.”
Since he evidently did not intend to enlighten her on the matter of the rumors, Aubree could say nothing. A scandal from years ago seemed ancient history and could scarcely affect her as the one threatening her now.
Not expecting a reply, he continued, “My father left his estates threadbare; the coffers empty, the land ruined. I was only a few years older than you when he died, but I tried to make the lands pay.”
He rose abruptly, pulling at his cravat as if he would rip it from his throat. He did not, however, but his expression grew fiercer as he paced the room. “My wife went through her dowry and what little I made very quickly. When she died, I scraped together enough to buy into the cavalry. Every cent I could squeeze out of every opportunity offered, I sent to my father-in-law to repay his daughter’s dowry. After Corunna, I returned home, but there has not been time enough for me to rebuild what was lost. There have been. . . mishaps that have destroyed everything I have done. The place is in rack and ruin, Aubree, no place for a gently bred lady.”
Aubree succumbed to a wry smile. “You do not have to convince me of your unsuitability as a husband, my lord. I am quite willing to cry off, if you are.”
A raw grin broke through Austin’s pain. “If it were only that simple, my dear, I would not have bored you with the details. However, now that you know a small part of my plight, let me show you our choices.”
He returned to the chair and studied her. “Your father insists I have ruined your reputation and as a gentleman I must offer to marry you. If I in any way thought I would be helping you by doing so, I would jump at the chance, but as I have pointed out to you, and to your father, marriage to me would scarcely settle your problems.”
“What about Geoffrey?” She eagerly grasped at straws.
“I suggested that, but he has taken your Geoffrey into dislike. There is no persuading him on that ground. Your father has suggested a sizable dowry and your inheritance might go a long way toward recouping my losses.” At the angry retort forming on her lips, Austin frowned, and for once, she kept silent. “I told him no amount of money would buy my agreement to what I considered to be a travesty of justice for you.”
Aubree clasped her hands in hope. “Then that settles it. He cannot force us to marry if we neither agree to it. This is not the Dark Ages, after all.”
A sad smile crossed the earl’s bronzed features. “It is not quite so simple as that, halfling. Your father has seen fit to have me investigated. He knows everything about me, including the reason I have been attempting to contact him these past weeks.”
She reacted with instant suspicion. “You were using me to reach my father, just like all the others!”
“Just as you were using me. That is not the point.” Austin waved aside her protest. “The point is that if we marry, he will help me gain my goal. A man’s life is at stake, a man with a wife and small children.”
“But
my life is at stake, too,” Aubree protested. “Why should I trade my life for someone I don’t know? You may agree to this madness, but I will not! He cannot force me to take those vows. I will not!”
Austin sighed. He had hoped to avoid what he must tell her now. He had not handled this very well, perhaps because it was a little like waking to find all his dreams had come true. He still felt dazed by the swiftness of this reversal in his heretofore ill fortunes—at this child’s expense. He still could not accept that, but he had been cut off at every corner.
He delayed telling her the worst by appealing to her better nature. “You have not even asked what man’s life you would be saving or why. You have a rather distracting habit of leaping over details without surveying the ground beyond. It has already got you into trouble.”
She shrugged aside his warning. “It must be someone important to you for you to seek out my father. I’m sorry.”
There wasn’t a repentant note in her voice, but Austin understood that. “I realize it is of little concern to you, but my family is small, and my mother and my sister are important to me. I have been a disappointment to them in many ways, but now, in this, I feel I can help. If there is no other choice for you, you might at least consider what your answer means to my family.”
She looked puzzled. “I do not understand. Besides my inheritance, in what way can I help your family?”
Austin quirked his lips upward. “I fear my mother is beyond our help. She lives in her own world and my concern is not for her, although she would greatly approve if I should bring home a wife. It is my sister who needs my aid.”
He rose again, limping to lean on the mantel and stare out the window. “I have been involved in several shipping ventures with an American with British ties. On one of his journeys over here, he met my sister, and they were married not long after. They are a few of the lucky ones who marry for love without regard to anything else, and they have been singularly blessed to remain that way.”
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