Lady Be Bad

by Megan Frampton

  He was too busy taking care of the family business you fouled up and then ignored to court her properly. Plus she is her own woman—dear lord, is she her own woman—and she is smart enough and valuable enough not to just say yes because someone asks her.

  But he didn’t.

  “What should I have taken care of, Father?” Bennett spoke in a tone Alex had never heard from him before—low, measured, but also menacing.

  “The wedding to the duke’s eldest daughter, whatever-her-name-is.”

  “Eleanor,” Alex and Bennett said simultaneously.

  “Fine, Eleanor. The duke sent word he is on his way to discuss it.” Their father waved the letter in the air. “What if they wish to withdraw the possibility of it? What if some other gentleman has been making up to her while you’ve been neglecting your duties?”

  Alex felt a twinge—fine, far more than a twinge—at their father’s words.

  Bennett shook his head. “I don’t believe that to be the case,” he said, punctuating his words with a quick glance toward Alex. “I am guessing something else has happened that perhaps makes the matter more urgent from the duke’s side of things. We should go downstairs and wait for the duke’s arrival.” He gestured to the stairs, their father’s mouth gaping open at being told what to do by his eldest son.

  The three men walked downstairs, the confession still poised on Alex’s lips, but now wasn’t the time—definitely not the time—to admit his feelings for Eleanor.

  He didn’t know what was at stake, and that was why he had to restrain his normal blunt speaking. Because if he said the wrong thing, it might affect her, and he couldn’t have that.

  Even if he never got to say what he wished to.

  “That seems to be settled, then.” Bennett held the door open for Alex, who shut it behind them.

  They were once again in their father’s study, their father having apparently decided he’d spent enough time with this family and returned to his other one.

  Bennett walked over to the table that held whisky and glasses, not asking if Alex wanted anything before pouring two healthy servings. He almost downed his glass before handing Alex his.

  “Have you ever not done something Father wished you to?” Alex said, not taking a sip, staring intently at Bennett, who shrugged.

  “I suppose I always do. It’s easier than arguing with him,” Bennett said, pouring more whisky into his glass.

  “I told you I needed to speak with you before the duke arrived.” Alex set his glass down on Bennett’s desk. “And I need you to hear me out.” It burned, the urge to tell him. He’d tried to resist it, but hearing why the duke was pushing on the marriage didn’t give him a good enough reason not to speak.

  If he and Eleanor were married, they could hare off in search of her sister. It wouldn’t matter to anyone which brother she married.

  Would it?

  “What is it?” Bennett said as he finished his second glass of whisky. Alex shot his hand out to grip Bennett’s wrist when he was on his way toward pouring a third.

  “What?” Bennett said in an aggravated tone. “Are you telling me how you want me to behave too?”

  “No. I need to tell you something entirely different. Sit down.”

  Bennett sat, his normally reserved expression giving way to something approaching belligerence. Good. Maybe this would resolve itself as Alex was hoping it would.

  “It’s about Lady Eleanor.” Alex took a deep breath, not sure how to proceed.

  “My betrothed?”

  “Yes.” As though there were any other Lady Eleanor they might possibly be discussing. “You can’t marry her.”

  Bennett raised his eyebrow. “It’s been arranged. It will happen.”

  “No,” Alex replied slowly, shaking his head. “It won’t. Because I won’t let you.”

  “Why not? Is she not good enough for me?” Bennett’s tone sounded weary, as though he were tired of being the perfect son. Alex was damned tired of it too.

  “That’s not it. I don’t think you’re good enough for her.”

  There was a moment of stunned silence, and then Bennett rose, placing his knuckles on the surface of the desk. “I’m not good enough for her?” He exhaled, and his jaw tightened. “Do you mind telling me what you mean by that?”

  “Just what I say. Listen, Bennett, you don’t want to marry her either.” Alex heard the stark honesty in his tone. He just hoped Bennett heard it too. “You’re only agreeing because our father insisted. Because he’s desperate to rescue the estates, and you’re the sacrificial husband. Neither one of you deserves one another. Neither one of you. I agreed to persuade her to marry you because I wanted to be certain she was worthy of you. She’s not. She’s more than worthy of you, and the two of you would be fine together but you wouldn’t be happy. Both of you deserve happiness. I know because I—” And he stopped short, nearly admitting that he loved both of them.

  “Because you what, Alex?” Bennett spoke in a soft tone. One that knew what Alex was going to say.

  “Because I love her.”

  “Well. That is an excellent reason, brother.”

  Lady Eleanor’s Good List for Being Bad:

  And then think about doing it again.

  Chapter 22

  “You’re not actually going to agree, are you?” Ida had walked in and slammed the door shut behind her before Eleanor even realized she was there. Eleanor was seated at the small desk she used for correspondence, rereading the letter even though it had already imprinted itself on her brain.

  She rose, dropping the letter on the table.

  “I’m not.” She couldn’t. For a moment there, an admittedly panicked moment, she had thought she should, had resigned herself to being the sacrifice to her sisters’ respectability. But her sisters wouldn’t allow that, for one, and more importantly, Eleanor wouldn’t allow it for herself. She deserved more than an average husband and an average life and an average marriage.

  She deserved to be overwhelmed. She deserved to tick off more things on her list.

  “Thank goodness,” Ida replied, stepping forward to enfold Eleanor in a hug. Eleanor didn’t recall the last time her sister had touched her; it felt—odd.

  She drew back, still grasping Eleanor’s shoulders. “Della made her own choices. You have to make yours as well. That Della is in need of our help doesn’t mean it has to be the marrying the wrong person kind of help. I am intelligent—we are intelligent—surely we can figure out a way to help Della without you having to sacrifice yourself. None of us want that for you, no matter what our parents might say.”

  “Our parents,” Eleanor echoed. “Father is on his way to the viscount’s right now to settle things. And then Lord Carson is going to ask again, and I’ll have to have some sort of reply.”

  Ida shrugged. “It is not so difficult to maneuver out of these things if you just know how.”

  “You’ve had a lot of experience turning down proposals, then?” Eleanor asked, her tone amused.

  “No, of course not.” Ida blushed as she spoke, making Eleanor wonder just what her studious sister had been getting up to.

  “Let’s get thinking, then,” Eleanor said determinedly. “Because I want all of us to be happy and safe. All of us,” she repeated, her heart sore as she thought about Della.

  “Did you figure anything out?” Olivia said as she and Pearl walked into Eleanor’s bedroom.

  Ida and Eleanor both shook their heads.

  “Drat,” Pearl said in a soft voice.

  Olivia clambered up onto the bed, a determined look on her face. “We will manage it somehow. We have to. Eleanor’s happiness is in the balance!”

  Eleanor’s heart twinged, to know her sisters cared so much for her. She’d felt it before, certainly, but she’d never known it so thoroughly as now.

  “Eleanor! Where is that girl?” Her mother’s voice carried up the stairs, making the sisters jump.

  Eleanor glanced at Olivia, Pearl, and Ida. They’d spent the
past hour while their parents were away strategizing on how to make things work so Eleanor wouldn’t have to marry Lord Carson, Della and Nora could return, and the rest of the girls could make their debuts without scandal.

  So far Ida had suggested running off to America, while Olivia had said she would marry Lord Carson instead, so as to save Eleanor from it.

  The other sisters just looked pointedly at Olivia, who blushed.

  So they didn’t have a solution, not yet. And it seemed as though a solution would be more difficult to think of than the sisters had originally thought.

  How did those mythological figures manage to get romantically involved with so many people and marry so many of them also? It probably helped that they were gods, and the gossip about them tended to diminish with the threat of some godlike action occurring if someone spoke disparagingly about them.

  “Eleanor!” her mother called again.

  She took a deep breath and walked downstairs.

  “Let me understand this properly,” Bennett said, squinting at Alex. He’d gone ahead and poured his third drink, and then his fourth, after threatening to punch Alex in the nose for, as he put it, “having my best interests at heart.” Alex stepped aside as Bennett swung wildly, and then made him sit down on the sofa, putting the whisky safely out of reach.

  “You are suggesting we sell erotic literature to prop up the estates?”

  Put that way, it—“Well, yes,” Alex said.

  “And you have had this idea since meeting the Duke of Lasham?”

  “Yes.” Alex’s lips twisted up into a half smile. “I know that it is not the most usual of plans, but I couldn’t think of anything else.” He paused. “I’m not you, Bennett. I’m not the type of person who can manage things, and be responsible, and do all the things you do.”

  “You are, you know,” Bennett said in a soft voice, peering intently—if somewhat drunkenly—at his brother. “You have never given yourself any credit. You’ve accepted what our father thinks of you, just because you were rash when you were younger.”

  “Rash doesn’t really cover losing a house at the gambling table.” The memory of it made him wince, as it always did. His father never allowed him to forget it either. It wasn’t that horrible in the grand scheme of things, but the grand scheme of things didn’t fit into his father’s vision.

  “But why did you do it in the first place? It was to help, wasn’t it? It was right after our mother had her first illness, and Father was always off doing business, he said.”

  “Only now we know where he really was,” Alex said in a bitter voice. The second family nobody was supposed to know about, but existed.

  Bennett pointed an accusing finger at Alex. Accusing him of having the family’s best interests at heart, but still. Accusing. “And you thought if you could just make some money, just return triumphantly with enough to stave off the creditors that Father would finally give you the respect you deserve. But he never would have, not even if you returned with seven brides and their respective dowries. He’s never seen you as you are. You haven’t seen yourself either,” Bennett added.

  You are far more than what you think.

  “Perhaps I haven’t,” Alex replied, feeling his chest grow tight. “But neither have you. Why should you have to shoulder all the burdens of what our father has done? Why not let me help?”

  Bennett shrugged, holding his hands up in confusion. “I don’t know. I’ve always assumed it was just for me to handle. Which is why I accepted this engagement so quickly. It’s just another thing that I have to do in order to keep us going. It isn’t just for us—there are people depending on Father’s lands for their livings. If we can’t keep them up, those people will lose their livelihoods. Their lives.”

  “I believe we can make nearly as much as Lady Eleanor’s dowry, provided we handle the thing properly. Mr. Woodson already has several buyers placing orders. And I can find more, I just have to find out who our prospective customers are and convince them to pay our price. Which I can do.”

  Bennett shook his head in disbelief. “And how can I help you in this disreputable venture? Besides not marrying Lady Eleanor?”

  “You can keep the accounts and handle the inventory. I don’t think Mr. Woodson is capable of dealing with the amounts I am expecting. And you should show me some of what you do so I can assist there, too, in the more reputable areas. I want to, brother. I need to.”

  Bennett looked at Alex for a long moment, then nodded. “Fine. I’ll go in on this with you, provided you tell the lady how you feel.”

  “I will,” Alex promised. “I will.”

  “We’re all going for a walk in the park,” Eleanor said, with more insistence than usual. Her sisters nodded vehemently, making their mother shrug in acceptance.

  “Fine, but you’ll need to return to visit the dressmaker’s to discuss your wedding gown.”

  Eleanor swallowed all of her replies—she had strategies to discuss, after all—and merely nodded.

  “And make sure Ida stays out of the sun,” her mother continued, even though she meant Pearl, who burned anytime she strayed from beyond a shady tree into the light.

  “Yes, Mother,” Eleanor replied.

  “We’re meeting them out in the park?” Olivia asked for perhaps the hundredth time.

  Dejanire,

  Please meet my brother and me in the park tomorrow afternoon at four o’clock to discuss the situation.

  I want you to know you can do whatever you want to. I see you. I support you. I know you.

  Love,

  Hercules

  There was no possibility of replying to him, not without causing comment, so he didn’t know that she was going to be accompanied by her sisters. But her sisters were why she had even entertained the possibility in the first place, and they were the ones in staunchest support of her current decision (even though Olivia continued to grouse about missing all the parties).

  Eleanor was guiding her sisters to the same lake where she and Alexander had seen the family that first time when the Carson brothers arrived, making a grand show of just happening upon them.

  “Ladies,” Lord Carson said. “How wonderful to find you here.”

  “All of you,” Alexander said, sounding a bit . . . overwhelmed.

  The sisters all turned at the sound of voices. Ida reached over and took Eleanor’s hand, squeezing it tight. On her other side, Pearl looked fierce, at least as fierce as she could, while Olivia just looked dreamy-eyed.

  Seeing him made her lose her breath. Had she really gone and fallen in love with the blunt-speaking tree who enjoyed erotic literature?

  The brother of the man she was supposed to marry, if not fall in love with?

  She was ridiculous. But she was her own ridiculous person, and it seemed that yes, she had fallen in love with him.

  She wished she could regret it, but seeing him standing there, just behind Lord Carson, his whole self as charming and direct and wonderful as she now knew, she couldn’t. Even though it might mean repercussions for the rest of her family, but they—the ones she cared about, at least—were with her in whatever decision she made.

  She couldn’t marry anyone besides him, never mind that Lord Carson was perfectly pleasant. She’d always known that, of course, but now she knew that she deserved more than pleasant. Alexander had taught her that by overwhelming her. What she hadn’t expected was just how overwhelmed she would get. How in love she would get.

  And then he stepped out from behind Lord Carson and walked directly to her, lowering his gaze to her face.

  “I didn’t know all of you ladies would be here this afternoon. If I may,” he said, looking ruefully at Eleanor’s sisters, “I would appreciate a moment to speak to you alone.”

  It was like that first time, when he had asked her what she required in order to marry his brother. Her sisters had been there as well, and he had asked her, and she had told him, nearly as blunt as he, that she wanted to be overwhelmed.

  And he
had shown her that.

  “Yes, of course. Excuse us?” she said to her sisters and Lord Carson. That gentleman looked more than a little knowing, and she wondered just what his brother had told him. Surely he hadn’t—no, he wouldn’t. He might speak directly, but he wouldn’t jeopardize her reputation with his words, even though he had done plenty of that with his actions.

  They stepped to the side, and he positioned her so his back was to the group, so he was the only thing she could see. Literally as well as figuratively.

  He took her hands in his. “The thing is, I need to persuade you not to do this. I love my brother, and I love—” And then he stopped. Now was when he decided he needed to be discreet? She wanted to punch him.

  “Bennett is a good man. He would be a good husband,” he continued. “But you can’t marry him. That is why I asked you to meet us. I told Bennett you shouldn’t marry him. You are not for him, and he is not for you.”

  “My sisters have already persuaded me of that,” Eleanor replied in a fond voice. She peeked over his arm and saw all three of them pretending not to be trying to listen, and she laughed. “I won’t marry him. I cannot. Because I love you, you enormous lummox.”

  “Oh.” His eyes were wide. Had she really said that aloud? “Enormous lummox?”

  She had.

  He stepped forward and cupped her face in his hands. “And I love you, Eleanor. My Dejanire.”

  “Excuse me?”

  They both turned as Lord Carson stepped toward them, followed quickly by Olivia, Pearl and Ida. Alexander dropped her hand, and she felt the lack immediately.

  “Well, it appears we are all discussing this after all.” Alexander gestured to Eleanor. “Lady Eleanor has just said that she and my brother are in agreement. They cannot marry, at least not one another.”

  “We know that already,” Olivia announced in a superior tone. “We do not wish our sister to marry without love.”