His grip tightened on her hand as he shifted to the edge of the chesterfield. Their knees touched. “You don’t have to marry either. You will never have to do anything you don’t want to again.”
He was wrong. She did have to marry. In that, she agreed with the captain. Today proved there’d be no more students, no support from Lady Thompson—the woman’s loose tongue would inflict more gossip than Emsley’s betrayal ever could. This time there was far more at stake. She had nowhere to go if she were kicked to the street. Despite the circumstances, she was starting to relish her new independence, but that too had cost her the one piece of jewelry she’d kept from her mother. Marriage would save what little reputation she had and see the larder stocked.
Isabella sighed. She wasn’t naive to think that marrying the captain would not have its own charges. There was no mention of affection or promises of love. After marriage to the captain, she was sure there would be many things she would have to do, whether she agreed or not. Nicholas Ferguson didn’t seem the type that enjoyed a passive marriage.
Isabella looked at Daniel only to find his face, his lips, closer than they were before.
His forehead rested against hers. Her eyes closed. It wasn’t the same as the carriage ride. Where Nicholas took what he wanted by force, Daniel used kindness. Where Nicholas’s fingers had dug into her flesh, Daniel’s were gentle. In the carriage with Nicholas, there was passion and heat, nothing she’d ever felt before. It licked at her skin even now. With Daniel, there was none. No draining of the senses, no clogging of the mind with wicked desires.
After all she’d been through today, losing what little independence she had, she should hate Nicholas. Instead, Isabella found she desired his touch, wanted his rough ways. Her mouth moistened, skin prickled.
“Say so and I’ll tuck you away in my country tower.”
Isabella smiled. “Rescue all the ladies, do you?”
“Only rebellious friends.”
Nine
“You’re right, it’s time I wed.” Instead of celebrating his good fortune and safe return to London, Nicholas was perched at the edge of his desk while his cousin campaigned for all the reasons he should marry. “And fill my nursery.”
“And why not expand our business while you’re at it.” Harold reclined further into his chair, stretching his left leg.
“We’re making money; the small shops keep our business lucrative.”
“Shipping cargo is expanding. I know you intend to expand with it, Nicholas, and that means your clients need to trust you.” Harold held up a hand. “Not the shopkeepers. I’m speaking of the men with money.”
“I’m nay a London elite.”
Harold smirked. “You have their blood, that’s good enough. Money graces the halls of parliament and drinks brandy. They play at politics while waving their titles.”
“You believe this lass will provide me an introduction.”
Nicholas avoided high society. He thought the lot of them pretentious. He had looked for a wife before, but none had held his interest for any length of time. And no woman had since matched Isabella’s spirit.
Yet he sensed the change in her circumstances had robbed her of her innocence.
“We both know you desire more than politics,” Harold said.
Nicholas faced Harold again. His cousin did not meet his eyes. Harold relaxed further into his chair, but his easy manner didn’t fool Nicholas. “I’m not ashamed of my desires. A docile lass will never do, especially for a wife.” He preferred one that was adventurous in the bed chamber. Jesu, Nicholas couldn’t remember a time, even in his youth, when a woman hadn’t kenned how to pleasure him. Yet, none had Isabella’s spit and fire.
“I don’t know the details, but she’ll need your help, Nicholas. God forbid Emsley gets his hands on her again.”
“He was at the party.”
“I heard they were locked away for quite a while, but I don’t believe anything was amiss.”
“Think you?”
Harold straightened. “By all accounts, Lord Emsley was not happy when he left the room.”
A surge of possessiveness tightened Nicholas’s stomach at knowing Isabella had not been with the other man. Forcing the thought aside, he said, “He’s determined.”
“That makes him dangerous, and you cutting him down made him more unpredictable,” Harold said, then frowned. “I wouldn’t put it past Emsley to harm Isabella if he’s determined to have her. I tell you, the man’s mad.”
“Isabella…” The thought that she could vanish from his life again stirred a madness in Nicholas.
He wondered how far the man was willing to go to secure his grip in Isabella’s life. If Emsley’s own marriage had not deterred his advances, then there was little hope that Isabella’s marriage to Nicholas would stop the man. And if Harold’s judgment was correct and Emsley had lost his faculties, then the rest of his family might also be in danger.
“There is another matter: Cass,” Nicholas reminded Harold. He was reluctant to take her on another voyage. On that front, it wasn’t the danger to her life that scared him, it was her lack of interest in being a lady.
Harold nodded. “The child needs a mother,” he said, misunderstanding Nicholas’s meaning. “In truth, a bairn, mayhap two, might tie your heart strings.”
“This is no love match.”
“You need each other. You a wife and she, roof and coin.”
“You think she’ll welcome the chance to fill my nursery after she reads in the dailies that I’ve saved her from herself?” Nicholas’s eyes rolled heavenward. Isabella was likely to drench him in cold water for meddling in her affairs. “There will be but one request to fill her duties.”
Harold smirked.
“My concern is Cassie,” Nicholas said, pleased he managed to wipe the smile from Harold’s face. “I plan to continue captaining our cargo ship.” On long voyages, his bed would be warmed in foreign lands if his wife turned cold. “Lady Isabella and I are both adults. No need for illusions.” The words barely left his mouth when he felt a trickle of regret. Isabella was still liquid lava in his veins. He still tasted her on his tongue. It was the lure, he reminded himself. The spark he had seen in her eyes when she’d faced her lover before the ton. That heat washed over his skin even now.
He walked to the liquor cabinet and poured two brandies. He drank the first, refilling his glass before offering the second to Harold.
“Lady Isabella agrees to such terms of wedlock?”
“I’ll broach the particulars today.” He stared into his glass, thinking if he was bold enough to stake claim to things he had no right to, Isabella might make demands of her own. Throwing back his head, he drained his glass. He remembered his bold claim to have her in the carriage, make her his wife, followed by her swift rejection. His fingers tightened around the empty glass. She had been eager to escape him.
What he needed was marriage to Isabella and a mother for Cassie. Their union would provide advantages for both of them. He sighed. What he wanted…hoped their marriage could be was of no importance.
“And if the lady says nay?”
“She’ll have me.”
“How can you be so sure, Nicholas? A woman’s mind is not practical. We spend half our time trying to please them, give them what we think they desire, only to find they wanted another path.”
“She’s already said aye before the ton.”
“Under duress,” Harold pointed out.
Nicholas fixed hard eyes on his cousin. “I’ll marry Isabella, even if she’s kicking and screaming before the priest.”
Lady Isabella would be more than a tutor for Cassie. Even if he admitted it to no one else, he was a greedy man. He wanted a thriving business, home, and family—all the things that were denied his mother and him years ago. It was also time Harold and he filled their emptiness with families of their own. Mayhaps then the ghosts of their past would stop haunting them.
“What of Virginia?”
�
��Virginia?” Nicholas’s brows drew together.
“She is the closest family Cassie has, being stepsister to the girl’s mother. She loves the child. You claim to only desire a mother. Why not marry her?”
Nicholas chuckled. “She is in love with you.” He chuckled again when Harold met his gaze. “And you with her. I may be lots of things, blind is not one of them.”
Harold rubbed his leg and sighed. “She asked me once to tutor her in what pleases you. I thought it odd at first,” he admitted between sips of drink. “She’s no innocent to the particulars of bedding. Yet, the eagerness in her request revealed a woman lacking in the receiving of pleasure.”
Nicholas sobered. “Let me guess. You taught her to please you.”
“Naturally.” They both laughed.
“You devil.”
“Aye.” Harold grew quiet. “She doesn’t cringe from the man I am, or my touch, and she doesn’t care that I walk with a wee limp.”
“Then why haven’t you settled?”
“I gave her the impression I don’t want marriage.” Harold shook his head. “After that gutless husband, she deserves better. She thinks herself blackened. At first, it didn’t matter.” He swirled his drink.
“You’ve changed your mind?” Nicholas guessed.
“Her husband left her not a shilling upon his death. With no other kin, Virginia took the protection you offered because the child was all that remained of family. I don’t want the memories of her husband to be all she has to hold fast to. Except for moments of passion, the lass will consent to naught else.”
“It seems we are both surrounded by stubborn lasses.”
“Women like flowery words, something you’ll soon find out, Nicholas. In addition, promises of love and tenderness, to be told their eyes are clear blue waters any man would want to drown in.”
Nicholas threw back his head and laughed. “You sound like a nursemaid.”
“Or the idiot that parades the halls of the cathouse Temptress, praising the whore that wrung his cock dry.”
They were both grinning when a knock came on the door.
Nicholas turned when Chambers stuck his head through the door. The man’s color was pale as he took a short step into the room, fingers clutching the brim of his hat.
“Where is she, Chambers?”
“The lady sends her regards, sir. She is unable to visit and wants to reschedule for a time she chooses.”
“She means never.” Nicholas cursed. Snatching his hat and coat, he stalked from the room.
“Chambers.” Harold stopped the man when he turned to follow Nicholas. “Were those the lassie’s words?”
Chambers averted his eyes. “No sir. The lady said, ‘Tell the captain I retract my acceptance of marriage, so there’s no need to meet.’ That was after her first message.”
Harold’s brows rose. “Her first message?”
“That the captain go to hell, sir.”
When the door clicked shut behind Chambers, Harold laughed. “It’s about time Captain Nicholas Ferguson met his match.”
Ten
It was well past the noon meal by the time Daniel and Isabella sat back in their chairs. They had discussed at length the newspaper, the captain, and exhausted all decent options for employment. It wasn’t that she resisted hard work. However, her gentle upbringing left her little skill in the kitchen other than making and pouring tea. She also had little knowledge of carrying out the duties of a lady’s maid, though she’d had one all her life.
Daniel leaned forward and held her gaze. “All will be set to rights, you’ll see.”
She was about to respond when the parlor door swung open.
“Is this one of your appointments, Lady Isabella?”
Isabella gasped, her hand covering her pounding heart. Nicholas. Though Nicholas spoke quietly, there was no mistaking the ice behind the words. His eyes travelled to Daniel before resting on her.
“How long have you been standing there? And where is Pashkin?”
“Long enough to see the reason you left me waiting.” Nicholas strode into the room, hands buried in the pockets of his breeches. “As for your butler, he’s happy to have a master.”
Traitor. Isabella bit her lip.
She watched Nicholas cross the parlor to the liquor cabinet, the sound of clinking glass filling the silence. The scent of sherry drifted around them before he took a long swallow of his drink.
Her hands shook as he sat in the chair opposite Daniel and herself. He stretched his long legs in front of him, the old furniture giving to his bidding as if welcoming its master after an extended departure.
Daniel broke the silence, clearing his throat. “This is not the docks, sir. Your usual tactics will not work in this instance.”
Nicholas gave a dismissive grunt.
“Have you any idea what you’ve done? Y-you had the betrothal announced in the papers.” Isabella pointed to the discarded Scarlet on the coffee table. “All of them.”
“The natural course of action with these sorts of things,” Nicholas said.
“But I did not consent.”
“Neither did you discount the claims last evening before your peers.”
Isabella winced. He spoke the truth. She had faltered before Emsley, who thought to proposition her as his mistress. Grateful as she was for Nicholas’s rescue from that situation, it by no means meant she would tie herself to him for the rest of their lives. With a deep breath, she loosened her laced fingers.
“Have you read the dailies, sir?”
Nicholas shrugged.
“Then you know what they say,” she said, guessing his indifference was a pretense.
“I don’t read gossip,” he said, sipping his drink. “It’s irritating when they are correct and more vexing when they are wrong.”
Isabella sighed. “What I’m saying, Captain, is that we are not compatible.”
“We seemed suited last night.” It was whispered so softly she almost didn’t hear it. His tone was as if he regretted causing her distress. Isabella looked at him, stilled by the softening in the depths of Nicholas’s gaze. His eyes were a shade lighter in the daylight—deep sea blue. Then he blinked and all traces of tenderness gave way to a deeper blue that was edged with determination. Sea before the storm, she thought and shivered.
“Well, in spite of that, I’m afraid I have to reject your proposal. You see, I no longer have a reputation to protect.” She pushed the Scarlet across the smooth surface of the table towards Nicholas.
“Are you now saving me from a life of misfortune, Lady Isabella?”
“Yes.” The sound was a breathless whisper.
“And you shall not have to marry the captain, Lady Isabella, as my offer still stands,” Daniel said.
Her cheeks flamed. Consumed by Nicholas’s presence, she’d forgotten about Daniel. Nicholas had proved adept at distracting her from the world around.
“What offer?” Nicholas leveled his gaze on Daniel, giving him pause for the first time.
“I have proposed marriage.” Daniel stepped closer to Isabella.
Nicholas frowned and discarded his glass on the coffee table. From the set of his mouth, she suspected he was hiding disappointment and that the marriage meant more than he let on. And he had not ranted. Or bellowed in the fashion of the barbarian nobility perceived all Scots to be.
“You’ve decided to flee then, Isabella?” Nicholas’s question was not defeat, but an acknowledgement of a challenge.
She inhaled sharply. He had read the papers. Was that what he thought of her, then? A silly aristocrat’s daughter who did as she pleased without thought. Selfish. Just then, she wanted nothing more than to prove him wrong. She valued his opinion, she realized with alarm.
Isabella shook her head in an effort to gather her thoughts. Surely, she did not owe him marriage for restoring a moment’s dignity. Looking at the sharp set of his jaw, she had a sinking feeling she would come to be indebted for a lot more. There was no love between them
. All her life, she craved a union with affection rather than tolerance. Though her father arranged marriage, Isabella had come to care for Emsley. It was why Emsley’s lack of loyalty and betrayal had hurt her so deeply. Nicholas was a different sort of creature—wild, dangerous—what part of herself would she lose if she ever found herself in love with him?
“If your intention towards the lady is to restore her good name, you can recognize the advantages, Captain, of withdrawing your hand,” Daniel said. “In due time, as my wife, she will be accepted in all social circles.”
“My intent,” Nicholas said coolly, “is to acquire a wife of social stature, climb the ranks, and open doors my wealth alone cannot afford.”
Daniel winced. “What of love?”
“Do you admit to being in love, my lord?”
Daniel shifted in his seat.
“Is that all you desire, sir?” Isabella asked, eyes wide. She understood his motives well enough. Respected his honesty. However, hearing the words spoken plainly and openly was another matter. He was dousing any hope she had of winning a true marriage, and it took all her will not to cringe.
“Like you, Lady Isabella, I’ve learned to be practical and not make impossible demands, especially pertaining to a man of my character.” He paused for a moment and closed his eyes. “I believe there will be a time when a man’s worth will have little bearing on blood, but instead on the merit of his investments and inventions.”
It was the first time she’d glimpsed Nicholas’s true self, his thoughts, and it fascinated her to think of such an era.
“Until then, I’m determined to marry Lady Isabella.”
“You’re mad,” Daniel said.
Nicholas ignored Daniel’s last words, his smile cold. “All other intentions regarding my wife are none of your concern. I suggest you find your own bride, my lord.”
Isabella flushed.
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