He didn’t know whether to believe this or not. It was obvious his mother believed it, but Candace could have been saying it to get his mother’s sympathy. However, since his mother expected a reply, he said, “I’m not going to her bed. Ever. Tell her she’s safe from me.”
“I realize you don’t want to go to her bed now, but you will in the future.”
He shook his head. Never in a million years would he go to Candace’s bed.
“Candace is a beautiful young lady, and when you realize how nice she really is, you will want to go to her bed.”
“No, I won’t.”
She gave him a look that told him not to argue with her. “You will. When that time comes, I hope you remember what I told you.”
“For as long as I live, I don’t think I’ll be able to forget all you just told me.”
She smiled as if that had been her intention all along. What was wrong with her? Did she really enjoy horrifying him?
“Good,” she said as she rose to her feet. “Candace is a nice lady. I think she’ll make a splendid addition to our family.”
He grimaced. “You do realize that talking to me in such a bold manner has ruined me from ever wanting to be in bed with her, don’t you?”
Her eyes widened. “That was never my intention.”
“Maybe not, but that’s exactly what happened.” Not that he would ever go to Candace’s bed, but if he did, his mother’s words would echo in his mind. “You will never have grandchildren unless Reuben gives them to you.”
“You mustn’t be so dramatic.”
“It’s the way things are, Mother. No gentleman wants to listen to his mother discuss personal things. It interferes with the nature of things.” He paused. “Is there anything else you’d like to do to scar me for the rest of my life?”
She shook her head. “Since you were a child, you were much too sensitive about things. I hope you only remember to be kind to Candace.”
“I’ll do my best to be kind when I’m stuck in the same room with her, but I will not go to her bed.”
His mother let out a long sigh then finally—mercifully—left the den.
He was beginning to think she’d never leave. Maybe this was his fault. He didn’t take the time to tell Candace he wouldn’t be going to her bed. He hadn’t thought he needed to, especially given the agreement they’d made on their wedding day.
There was no doubt about it. This was going to be a very long and painful three months.
***
Candace dressed up in one of Daphne’s older gowns from when Daphne was, as she put it, young and desirable. Which was silly. Daphne was a fine lady even now. Candace was five inches taller, and she wasn’t as well endowed on top as Daphne. So not only were Candace’s ankles showing, but the bust line was loose.
Thank goodness she wasn’t in London. This would be in the Tittletattle, and she’d be the laughingstock of the Ton. It might not make the first page, but it would definitely be there. She didn’t fault Daphne for this. Daphne was doing everything she could to make her comfortable.
No. This was all the fault of the three gentlemen who had dragged her out here. Only gentlemen wouldn’t give a thought to what a lady was supposed to wear once she reached her destination. They probably assumed she would be happy to wear the same gown during the entire stay here.
Candace left the bedchamber. When she reached the drawing room, she peered around the door. Daphne was sitting with Reuben on the settee, and though Corin didn’t look like he wanted to be there, he was sitting in a chair across from them. She didn’t relish the thought of Corin seeing her like this. She didn’t mind Daphne or Reuben, or even the staff, seeing her this way, but it seemed to be incredibly embarrassing to be like this in front of Corin. But what choice did she have? She was stuck here.
“Will you take me horseback riding today?” Reuben asked Corin.
“Yes,” Corin replied.
“When?”
“After we eat.”
“Right after we eat?”
“I don’t think we should go immediately after we eat,” Corin said. “You tend to get sick to your stomach if you ride so soon after eating.”
“Then what time will we go?”
“Well…” Corin pulled out his pocket watch. “It’s a little after nine. We have to wait until she’s here before we eat. I won’t know what time we can go riding until she’s here.” He glanced at his mother. “Do you have any idea when that will be?”
“She has a name,” his mother replied.
He shot her a look that told her he didn’t want to say it. His mother, in turn, raised her eyebrows to let him know that she wasn’t going to give in to what he wanted.
Finally, he let out a long sigh. “Fine. Do you have any idea when Candace will be down here?”
His mother shrugged. “No, I don’t.”
“Why did you put me through the trouble of making me say her name if you didn’t know the answer to my question?”
“Because Candace is your wife, and the sooner you acknowledge that, the better. She’s a very sweet girl. The least you can do is give her a chance.”
Candace’s heart warmed at the compliment. She liked Daphne, and it was nice to know Daphne felt the same way about her. Perhaps her time here wouldn’t be so awful after all.
Deciding she might as well make her entrance, she entered the drawing room, acutely aware that she was too tall and small in the chest for the gown.
She wasn’t the only one aware of it. As soon as Corin saw her, his eyes grew wide. Pretending she didn’t notice his reaction, she focused on Daphne.
“Thank you for letting me borrow some of your gowns,” Candace said and sat in the chair beside the settee
Reuben turned to Corin. “She’s here. When will we ride horses?”
Corin glanced down at the pocket watch. “I think eleven will be good.”
Reuben looked disappointed. “Eleven?”
“You need at least one hour to rest before you go riding,” Corin replied as he tucked the pocket watch back into his pocket.
“But I can eat fast. I can be done by nine-thirty. Let’s go at ten-thirty.”
“No. You’re doing well right now, and I’m not going to take the chance of ruining that. We will go at eleven.”
Reuben let out a groan and crossed his arms.
Daphne chuckled. “It’s not that long of a wait. Besides, you have to change into your riding clothes first. That will take at least fifteen minutes.”
“That leaves forty-five minutes that I won’t be doing anything,” Reuben said.
“You could do some of your lessons,” Daphne replied.
Not surprisingly, Reuben grimaced. “I don’t want to do those until this afternoon when I have to.”
Candace cleared her throat to get his attention. “I haven’t seen the entire manor yet. Would you like to show me around?”
“Why don’t you have Mother do it?” Corin asked her before Reuben could answer.
“Corin!” Daphne exclaimed. “There’s no need to be rude.”
Corin stiffened. “I’m not being rude. You and Candace seem to be getting along well. It’s obvious you want to spend a lot of time with her. This would be a good chance to do that.”
“I think she and Reuben should get better acquainted.”
“Well, he shouldn’t be getting excited so soon after he eats. He needs to rest.”
“A simple walk around the manor is not going to exhaust him. He can do that and ride a horse.”
Corin’s eyebrows furrowed, and Candace could tell he was trying not to snap something in reply. At least he had the common decency to be respectful of his mother. But even so, poor Reuben was at a loss on how to handle the situation because he kept glancing back and forth between them.
Being a guest in this home, the last thing Candace wanted to do was cause either Daphne or Reuben any more difficulties than she already had by being here.
“Actually, I think I’ll wait to
take a walk through the manor,” Candace spoke up. “I’m still tired from the trip.” When Daphne didn’t look satisfied, she added, “Besides, you mentioned wanting to measure me for the gowns you plan to make me. We could do that.”
“You’re making her gowns?” Corin asked his mother.
“Your friends didn’t bring hers out here,” Daphne told him.
“Those gentlemen aren’t my friends.” Corin paused. “Well, two of them aren’t. I barely even know them. As for the other…” He shrugged. “I’m not sure if I’ll speak to him after all of this.”
Candace thought to respond to him, but Daphne said, “Corin, you are a grown gentleman, not a little child. Your father would be appalled if he were alive to see this. Now, I demand you stop this nonsense at once. Reuben will show Candace around the manor.”
Corin jumped to his feet. “A lot of good being a grown gentleman has done me! You’re still giving me orders as if I were a child. Do you know why I don’t like coming here? Because of this. You spend all of your time telling me what to do.”
She rose to her feet. “That’s not true. I only tell you what to do when you’re not acting like a gentleman.”
“Then I must be a brute because you’ve been telling me what to do ever since I got here.”
“That’s not true,” Daphne said, her voice softening. “You do many things right. I just want you to be happy.”
“Why don’t you think I can decide what will make me happy?” Corin asked.
Daphne glanced at Candace, and Candace shifted uncomfortably in the chair. Why did Daphne have to single her out like that? It was apparent she and Corin were never going to get along. The best they could do was ignore each other, but since this wasn’t her home and Daphne wasn’t her mother, she didn’t feel at liberty to say that.
Corin, probably also noticing the hope Daphne had, that he and Candace might be the happily married couple, rolled his eyes. “I’m going to eat. Whether the rest of you want to join me or not is up to you.”
Without another word, he stormed out of the room.
Daphne let out a frustrated sigh. “Sometimes he can be too stubborn for his own good.” She turned to Candace. “I apologize for exposing you to our quarrel. I’ll try to make things more pleasant for you in the future.” She then turned her attention to Reuben. “Let’s go eat.”
Reuben got out of the chair. Instead of leaving the room, he went over to Candace. “When you want to see this place, I’d like to show it to you.”
Touched by the lad’s words, Candace smiled. “Thank you, Reuben. We’ll do it when you have the time. All right?”
He nodded.
“If you’d prefer, I can have the maid bring you something to eat in your bedchamber,” Daphne told Candace. “I don’t want to make you eat in the same room with Corin if it will upset you.”
“I appreciate the offer, but I’ll be here for three months.” Candace stood up. “The sooner I get used to eating with everyone, the less awkward it will be.”
With an understanding smile, Daphne led her and Reuben out of the room.
Chapter Eleven
Corin tried not to let his bad mood affect the late morning’s ride with his brother, but no matter how much he tried to push aside his frustrations, he couldn’t fully let them go. Why did his mother have to side with Candace the way she had? How did Candace manage to gain his mother’s sympathies in such a short period of time?
Candace hadn’t been here for more than a day and already his mother was treating her better than she treated him. His mother accepted whatever Candace told her, but she had trouble believing him. Now he remembered why he was reluctant in coming home. His mother could be downright impossible. He was expected to fall in line and obey her every command.
Celia had been the same way. Not only had Celia set her sights on marrying him before Stephen messed up her plans, but she had made it a point of running Anthony’s life for him as well. Being stuck with Celia was like being trapped at this estate with his mother.
All through the ride with Reuben, Corin kept comparing the two ladies. He couldn’t deny that there was a little blessing in what Stephen did. He wasn’t going to be shackled with Celia for the rest of his life. At least Candace left him alone. She didn’t tell him what to do. She let him live his life as he wished. Even if he didn’t like her, she was better than Celia.
But that was a small source of comfort when he factored in how much his mother seemed to adore her. His mother was fussing over her like she fussed over Reuben. And worse than that, his mother accepted Candace’s side of the story while discrediting his.
Upon returning to the stables, he instructed the stable master to make wheels for his carriage.
“It’ll take some time to do that,” the stable master said. “No one here has ever made wheels before. All we’ve done is fixed them.”
“Well, figure out how to make them and do it,” Corin replied.
Though the stable master looked baffled by the command, he agreed to do it.
Corin turned from him and nearly bumped into Reuben who had been standing behind him. Corin took a step back. “I thought you were still getting down from the horse.”
“No, I already did it,” Reuben replied, though it was unnecessary. After a moment, he continued, “Why do you want to go back to London? I thought you were going to stay with me for the next three months.”
Corin winced at the wounded tone in his brother’s voice. “It’s not you I want to get away from. I just don’t want to be stuck here with,” he swallowed, “my wife.”
Corin almost added their mother to the list of his grievances, but that didn’t seem like a fair thing to do to his brother. He didn’t want Reuben to have the same kind of dread of their mother that he did.
“The manor is a large place,” Reuben said. “I can show her the other wing. Maybe she’ll want to spend her time there.”
Despite the grim situation, Corin found himself chuckling. As much as he would like that, the countess of the estate had her own bedchamber to sleep in, and that just happened to be next to his.
Corin patted him on the shoulder as they left the stables. “I think it’s time we changed and had something to eat before you tend to your lessons. It’s important that you keep to your studies. Some day, you might need to pass on the title to your son.”
“That’s silly,” Reuben said. “You are the older brother. You’ll pass the title on to your oldest son.”
It was on the tip of Corin’s tongue to tell the lad that he wouldn’t be having any children, but if he did that, Reuben might ask him why not. And if he did that, then Corin would have to try to explain how babies came into the world without giving too many details. Reuben was much too young to know the specifics of that.
After careful consideration, Corin settled on saying, “Some things aren’t meant to be. I’m just glad you’re a boy. That means you can have a son for the sake of the estate.” Reuben’s eyebrows furrowed, and before he could reply, Corin said, “When your studies are done for the day, why don’t we go back to the fishing spot?”
As he hoped, Reuben forgot all about the subject of children since he started talking about all the fish he wanted to catch. Relieved, Corin let the lad ramble the entire way to the manor.
Once they changed outfits and had something to eat, Corin decided to spend some time in the den. He didn’t know where his mother and Candace were, but he wasn’t going to track them down. The fact that they had left him alone was all he could ask of them.
He made it to the den, shut the door, and poured himself a glass of brandy. He took a sip then went to the desk. This morning, he had started on the ledger. Working through the finances was one of the few ways he had of relaxing. Fishing and horseback riding were good activities, but his favorite activity was going through the ledger because he could mark his progress when he did that. He liked seeing how much the financial condition of the estate had improved since he’d taken it over.
Hi
s father left them with very little money. For a solid year, Corin didn’t think there was any recovering from it. But he had. Thanks to Anthony and their friend Warren Beaufort, the Earl of Steinbeck, he no longer had to worry what would happen to his mother and brother. He let out a long sigh as he opened his ledger. He supposed he shouldn’t be too hard on Anthony. Anthony had been forced to bring Candace here. He hadn’t done it on his own volition. He owed Anthony some mercy.
He took another sip of his brandy then took the ledger out of the top drawer of his desk. The sooner he got started on the ledger, the sooner he could forget everything else going on around him. He opened the book. There were some things that needed updating. He hadn’t tended to this particular ledger in a while. Fortunately, his mother had done a good job of keeping track of the expenses, but he still wanted to check things over, just to make sure everything added up the way they were supposed to.
He took a piece of parchment that was on the top of the desk and placed it next to the ledger. He removed the cap on the inkwell. He dipped the quill into the inkwell and got ready to start marking down the expenses when he realized the inkwell needed more ink.
With a sigh, he set the quill down and opened the second drawer where the ink should be. The ink was there. But in addition to the ink, there was a book. He frowned. The book didn’t have a title or image on the cover, and it was too small to be another ledger. Curious, he took it out of the drawer. His mother didn’t make it a habit of putting books in this room. The ones lining the shelf behind him were his. So he couldn’t imagine what this particular book was doing here.
He opened the cover, and he saw a neatly folded parchment with his name written on it. This was getting stranger and stranger all the time. He opened the parchment and saw it was written from Lord Erandon. Except, Lord Erandon didn’t sign it under his title. He had signed it as Sebastian.
If It Takes A Scandal (Marriage by Bargain Book 4) Page 9