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“Listen to me carefully. You are my wife and only death will separate us. You can bloody well shirk off your idea about getting an annulment. It will not happen!”
“I will never fall in love with you,” she vowed. “It just won’t happen in a million years. You might as well shake off that delusion once and for all.”
“It’s a little late for that sort of vow, don’t you think? Face it, Gemma, you fell in love with me the first moment we met. You lost your heart that day—and I can safely say I did as well. Before you I had many women, but none that I actually contemplated sharing my life with.”
“That’s good to hear. You’ve been around—so, you won’t be too unhappy when you find you can’t have me. You’ll have to go and find yourself a nice little doxy HIS LADY’S KEEPER Marly Mathews 71
somewhere. I hear they troll the docks at night! You should be able to find yourself one in no time at all.”
“Never. You will be my wife in all sense of the word—I won’t have to go and fulfill my needs anywhere else because you won’t be able to get enough of me. The men in my family have never had problems with the art of seduction.”
“Get off your high horse. You don’t know what you’re saying. I will never be able to let you touch me or kiss me.” Who was she kidding? He pulled her into his embrace again. She was lying through her teeth and he knew it. Right now, she was inwardly battling with herself for her need to feel his lips on hers once again. If only he would claim them, tease them .…
Her thoughts raced.
“And yet, here you are nestled safely in my arms.”
“If I do stay with you, what will you do when you meet Mallory?” Her heart
jumped up into her throat.
“I will spare his life. After all, I can’t very well murder my wife’s brother, can I?”
“You sound far too convinced that you will end up with the upper hand when it comes to my brother.”
“I’m only speaking the truth. Your brother doesn’t know what I’m capable of …
I never let him know.”
“So you played him like a violin for your own purposes. Why didn’t you exact your revenge sooner? You could have taken me as a captive long before Mallory married Elizabeth.”
“Yes … I could. But then, shattering his life wouldn’t have been so much fun.
Already the scandal sheets are agog with the real identity of Mallory St. Martin.”
“You didn’t!” she gasped. Never had she felt so much anger. “That will ruin my family … you bastard!”
“I did.” She punched him on the chest, and slipped out of his grasp when he grunted with pain.
“You are a pig of the foulest nature,” she hissed, backing away from him. “You have just ruined the entire reputation of my family. My sisters will be shunned on the marriage mart—you have relegated our family to a life of humiliation. No decent men will want to wed my younger sisters now—you awful man!”
“Oh, don’t be so bloody melodramatic. Your family still holds a great deal of sway in England.”
“Don’t give me that poppycock. This will damage my family—what if the
authorities decide to go after my brother? You are cruel—you make me want to scream and cry all at the same time. Why? You have what you wanted, why did you give that information out to the papers? All of the respectable papers not to mention the sensational rags will be running the news—Mallory will never be able to set foot in London again! You horrible, horrible man!” She was getting herself into a right and proper state. She could hear that she was shrilly screaming and she knew that she had to look like a spoiled rotten girl—but she didn’t care. If only she were three sheets to the wind right now. “If only you’d held back with the information! You could have used it as leverage against me! I would have done anything to keep you from making that information public! I would have gladly sacrificed my honor to you! You could have HIS LADY’S KEEPER Marly Mathews 72
used my body for your pleasure whenever you wanted!”
“Using you isn’t what I had in mind.” His visage darkened. “You are putting me into the pool of a man that would use and abuse his wife. You would not be used for sex, my dear. You would be made love to, there’s a difference. I can’t believe you would even suggest that I’d use you for that! You are a malicious little chit when you want to be!” he nearly shouted, his loud voice echoing off the cabin walls. He looked ready to kill her.
A loud knock sounded at the door.
“Do you see what you’ve done? You’ve alerted the crew, now all hell will break loose!”
He walked to the door and wrenched it open. She gasped. He was only wearing his trousers! She dashed for the bed, and slipped under the covers just as the door opened wide enough for the person to see in. Maeve stood with a lantern in her hand.
“What is going on, your lordship? It sounds as if you’re murdering your wife—I didn’t think you were capable of such cruelty—”
“I’m not hurting Gemma at all, Maeve. I’m sure however that my bride will be quite touched to learn that you were concerned for her.”
She could see Maeve craning her neck trying to look beyond Hart.
“Maybe you should let me see to her—does she have a case of seasickness?”
“No. Only a case of stubborn headedness.”
She snorted. Maeve chuckled. “It sounds as if you and the countess have the wits and wills to match. Your marriage shall be an interesting one!”
“Indeed.”
“We will be in port by sunrise.”
“Thank you, Maeve.” Hart started to shut the door on her, she propped it open with her one hand.
“If your mother finds out what you’ve done—”
“My mother will be delighted to discover that I’ve returned to her a married man.”
“She won’t like what you did in order to gain yourself a wife. She does not like underhanded dealings—she will not like the ruse you used in order to lure her into your marriage bed.”
“She knows exactly what I was setting out to do.”
“You’ve gone too far, your lordship!”
“You speak outside of your bounds, Maeve.”
“No … I speak within my bounds. I am a woman—and I have been serving your
mother for much of your life. She will not like to hear that you forced Lady Gemma into marriage and that you are forcing her to do other things against her will. Trust me on that one, she will box your ears when she discovers that you’ve become a brute!”
“I am not a brute, Maeve. You can see for yourself.” He waved her into the cabin. She looked around suspiciously and then focused her gaze on Gemma.
“Lady Gemma, are you well?” Maeve asked, a little too nervously.
She sat up. She was caught between putting on a show for Maeve or fessing up with the truth. She stared over at Hart. He actually looked a little ill at ease. His mother had to be one hell of a formidable woman.
“I’m unharmed. You don’t have to fret over me, Maeve. I’m sure that Hart is HIS LADY’S KEEPER Marly Mathews 73
capable of a great many things, including betraying my brother and ruining my family, plus forcing me into marriage—but he couldn’t lay one finger on me when he’s angry. I assure you, he’s been the perfect gentleman. He’s acted like a true and loving husband—
unfortunately.” She sighed.
Maeve looked between them. She could obviously sense that something wasn’t right, though she didn’t seem like she was going to press the issue. Had Maeve been born with her face disfigured or had someone or something done that to her?
She inched closer to her. “I would however, be grateful, if you’d managed to mend the dress that I came here in.”
“Mend that dress? I threw it out.” Maeve snorted disdainfully. “It was
unsalvageable. And besides, you don’t need to save your dresses for mending—his lordship can afford a new trousseau for you.”
Her words stung. �
�You threw it out?” Gemma asked disbelievingly. She shook her head. “You didn’t … you couldn’t have … why did you do that?” Living on a budget for so many years before Mallory married Elizabeth, made her still quite the frugal lady when it came to replacing clothes. She never discarded anything unless it was beyond repair.
“Because you have no need of it,” Hart spoke up.
“No need of it? What in the world am I going to wear? In case you’ve forgotten, I didn’t exactly have time to pack my trunks!”
“The nightgown does become you. You needn’t worry, I have made
arrangements. You’ll find some clothes in that chest right over there.”
“That’s wonderful. I forgot that you probably had plenty of time to make your plans. I hate to disappoint you though, I won’t fit in those dresses.”
“Oh, I think you’ll be surprised.”
“No … I won’t be.”
Maeve was getting entertained. “But my dear, Hart, you don’t understand … you were planning on taking Elizabeth—Elizabeth and I will never fit into each other’s dresses. She’s just a different build than I am.”
“I know—don’t worry.” His eyes flashed at her. “I only bluffed when I said I was going to take Elizabeth. As soon as I saw you six months ago—I knew I wanted you.”
Another shiver ran up her spine. “Six months ago?” she asked softly. She tried to think back to what she was doing six months ago—and for some reason she couldn’t remember. She felt uneasy knowing that someone had been watching her—and not just someone, Hart had been watching her.
“Six months ago?” she repeated, voice coming out strangled.
“I think I’ll be leaving now. Charles might be up to no good if I leave him for long,” Maeve said quickly, eyeing the two of them warily. It was obvious that Maeve didn’t want to get caught in the crossfire when all hell once again broke loose between them.
“You’ve been watching over Charles?” Gemma asked, turning to look at Maeve
in surprise.
“Who else would? He’s a right and proper scamp … he almost escaped
yesterday, by jumping overboard. He would have tried to swim to shore if Hart hadn’t jumped in after him.”
“Hart jumped in after him?” Her heart fell, she didn’t like thinking that Charles HIS LADY’S KEEPER Marly Mathews 74
would willingly leave her behind—maybe she had overestimated the child’s affection for her. He was right though, if he had the chance to get away, he had to try.
“How was he? Did he take in too much water?”
“I don’t know why he would … he swims like a bloody merman!” Maeve
laughed.
Her heart ached. “When can I see him?”
“You won’t be seeing him until we get to land. I can’t trust you and Charles together, you just might concoct some sort of plan … and since you probably swim as well as he does—no, you stay right where you are.”
She looked away from him. He didn’t need to know that she couldn’t swim to save her soul. She swallowed uncomfortably, remembering the summers spent with Andrew and Mallory who had constantly attempted to coax her into the water so she could learn the basics of swimming.
“I could do with some fresh air.” She pulled at the nightgown. Had it suddenly gotten warmer in here? She felt as if she was heating up.
“You could … I’ll take you up on deck soon.”
“I’m glad to see you are none the worse for wear, your ladyship. I’ll have your breakfast up to you soon.”
“Thank you.”
Maeve nodded her head and turned toward the door. “You’ll heed my words,
your lordship. If you do anything to hurt Lady Gemma—”
“I would never hurt her.”
“I think I can believe that. You are right, your mother will be enchanted by Gemma.” With that, Maeve left the cabin.
“Now, you and I can get better acquainted.”
“I don’t think so.” She rolled over in bed, turning away from him—hopefully he would get the message loud and clear.
“I will be back in a few minutes … please, do not miss me while I am gone.”
“In your dreams.” Closing her eyes, she fell back into a fretful slumber plagued with images of him.
HIS LADY’S KEEPER Marly Mathews 75
Chapter Fourteen
“When we get into port .…”
“Aye. I’ll take the child to your mother.”
“Thank you, Maeve.”
“Where do you intend upon taking her ladyship? She is such a frail looking thing—I wouldn’t want you to cause her to fall ill.”
Hart sighed. “I will be having a talk with Lady Gemma. I can’t risk her saying too much to my mother—if she knows that I married Gemma under duress—she might not like it. Already, I have gone too far.”
“You know that your mother only wanted you to put the fear of God into
Mallory—she never wanted you to actually abscond with one of the sisters. To her they are innocent parties!”
“I know.”
“You were only to show Mallory that you could touch him if you ever wanted to.
She wanted you to show Mallory that you could take Elizabeth and Susan away from him in an instant—your mother never would have wanted you to go through with any of your threats. You were supposed to return them as soon as you’d proven your point. That at least was my understanding of the plan.”
“I know, Maeve. Everything will turn out fine. I just need Gemma to play the part of the willing participant.”
“And Charles?”
“He will keep his mouth shut about being kidnapped—he is wise enough to know that if he does tell my mother that he was taken by force, he will be punished.”
“My Lord!”
“Do not look at me that way, Maeve. I would not truly hurt the child, but he doesn’t know that.”
“I don’t know why you are even doing this. Take Lady Gemma home—this
marriage will be the end of you, my lord.”
“I’m so thankful that you have such faith in me, Maeve.”
“I will always have faith in you. Do not misunderstand me. I only have concern that you are getting in too deep. Lady Gemma’s brother is terribly powerful.”
“So am I. I think we are evenly matched … I might even have more resources than him. I’m certainly far wealthier.”
“Aye, you are. But money isn’t everything. You have taken something that he treasures—he will not give a damn what he has to do to get her back. I saw Mallory on the night when we attacked him. He looked like an avenging angel, he will root you out, and he will kill you.”
“Not if I kill him first.”
“Will that death bring Lord Joseph back?”
“No … but it will ease my own guilt.”
Hart looked away from her. “I think you should go and attend to Charles. Just HIS LADY’S KEEPER Marly Mathews 76
make sure that he is not left alone … not even if he’s with my mother.”
“You can trust me.”
“I trust you with my life, Maeve. Now trust me and put your faith in what I am doing. Everything will turn out the way I want it to. I’m charmed, remember?”
“Charming—aye, you are. Charmed, though? I don’t know about that. That
good streak of luck you seem to be blessed with just might run out—you’ve taken on a greater foe than you’ve ever fought before.”
“I do not view the St. Martin as my greater foe.”
“Oh, I’m not referring to the Duke. I’m referring to his sister. She seems ready to give you a world full of grief. And as your wife—she is the woman to do it. I’ll only say one thing—you asked for it.” She chortled, taking supreme satisfaction out of his discomfort.
Shaking his head, he headed back for his cabin. Opening the door slowly, he took a moment to commit the sight before him to memory. She looked like an angel from heaven. Her breathing was regulated. S
he had fallen back into a deep slumber. He couldn’t blame her—she was used to a soft lifestyle—she was used to being pampered.
He could get used to having her in his bed sleeping in late—
She murmured something else inaudible in her sleep. Her breathing became
labored. Her peaceful dream had slowly turned into a nightmare.
Walking gingerly toward the bed, he sat down and reached for her. She fell into his arms easily—and her nightmare was affecting her so deeply, that she placed her arms around him and squeezed him tightly.
“What?” Gemma awoke with a start. Her eyes flared with anger, and then, as if she was still haunted by her nightmare she relaxed.
“You were having a bad dream,” he murmured.
“I know.” She shivered. “I don’t remember it—but I don’t think I want to
remember anyway.” Shuddering again, she pressed herself closer to him.
He could only marvel at how nicely she fit into his arms. He didn’t want to let her go—but they would be pulling into port soon, and he couldn’t keep her on the ship forever. Already, she was starting to look a little ill from the short sea voyage. It was a blessing that he’d had Maeve along to give her tonics in her food to combat any true sign of nausea.
“No … I don’t think any of us want to remember our nightmares, real or
imaginary,” he reflected, staring off distantly, as his own memories washed over him.
She sighed. The sound of it was music to his ears.
“You seem so civil right now—why don’t you just take me home? All will be
forgiven, I promise.”
“No. There’s no turning back now. I had Maeve already give me a lecture—you can talk until you are blue in the face—I will not budge.”
“Why? You profess to care for me—you even forced me into a marriage I did not want .…” her voice trailed off. Obviously she didn’t even believe what she’d just said.
“You wanted this marriage, the tone of your voice just gave you away.”
“Don’t read things into what I didn’t say … maybe, if you’d courted me under the normal circumstances, then, yes, I would have considered breaking off my engagement to Kilworth.”