A Scandalous Vow (Scandalous Series Book 7)

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A Scandalous Vow (Scandalous Series Book 7) Page 21

by Ava Stone

“Well, there’s no need to be fully…” She shook her head. “I probably shouldn’t say that.”

  Say that there was no need to be fully staffed as the family had fled to parts unknown in the middle of the night? Yes, probably not. But there was no need as Sebastian already knew that part. “Your secrets are safe with me, my dear. As long as mine are safe with you. You don’t suppose you could let me peruse the Staveley library for my grandfather’s books, do you?”

  She cast him a sidelong glance as she handed him one of her baskets. “As long as you don’t tell anyone.”

  Perfect. A genuine smile settled on Sebastian’s lips. “I will never tell a soul.” And he prayed the deciphered code was in London. Because, if not, he’d have to hie off to godforsaken Westmorland. And getting an invitation into Benton Park would doubtful be as simple as getting an invite into Staveley House.

  Chapter 26

  What an incredibly long day. A couple of incredibly long days, actually. And it wasn’t over yet. Marc knocked on Callie’s door, and when she called for him to enter, he pushed the door open.

  His daughter was already in bed and tucked under her counterpane, with the lamp beside her bed casting the room in a warm glow. She closed a book in her lap and smiled at him.

  Marc’s gut twisted a bit. He really should have dealt with this earlier. “How was your day with Emma and Rachel?” he asked, closing the door behind him.

  “They seem very nice,” she said softly.

  He crossed the floor and sat on the very edge of her bed. “I should have told you about Lady Staveley.” Well, more than he had told her anyway. “About my feelings for her.”

  “Are you really going to marry her?” Callie’s light eyes blinked up at him.

  Marc would love nothing more than that, but it wasn’t really an option. “If things were different, I would do so in the blink of an eye.”

  She frowned slightly at that. “You always said it’s too dangerous.”

  She was right about that. He took her small hand in his and squeezed it lightly. “Aye, it is, love.” He’d been successful at making the world think he didn’t care a thing about Callie; but if he married Caroline, he could never convince the world he didn’t care about her. And that would make her a target, it would put her in even more danger than she was in now. “But what do you think of her?”

  At that, his daughter’s face brightened a bit. “I like her very much, Papa. She was very kind about my painting and…”

  “And?” he prodded.

  “And she talked to me a little.”

  Had she? “About what?”

  “You. Me.” Callie shrugged. “She wanted to make sure I didn’t feel strange about all of this. She wanted me to know that she loves you and that she’ll be here for me, just like she is for her children.”

  Yes, that did sound like Caroline, always making sure everyone she cared about was taken care of. “How do you feel?” Marc asked.

  “You really do love her?”

  “For a very long time.”

  “Then I wish you could marry her, Papa.” Callie smiled. “It would be so nice to have a family and not be so alone all the time.”

  That familiar guilt whenever he left Saddlworth for London tugged at his heart once more. “Oh, love, I wish it wasn’t this way. I wish I had done things differently when I was younger and that there was no need to hide you away.”

  “But wishing for something doesn’t change anything,” Callie breathed out those same words he’d said to her over and over throughout the years.

  “No, it doesn’t,” he agreed. Marc tipped her chin up just a bit. “I do have enemies, and they might very well try to hurt me by harming you.” He shook his head. “And you are the most important thing in all the world to me, Callie. Keeping you safe—”

  “Emma and Rachel are staying for a while, though?”

  Marc nodded. “Until it’s safe for them to leave.”

  “Then I shall enjoy their friendship while they’re here,” she sighed.

  Even though Marc knew better than anyone that wishing for something wouldn’t change anything, he couldn’t help but wish anyway. He wished things were different, that he could give Callie the family she longed for, that he could give Caroline his name, and that he never had to worry even a moment that any of them would ever be in danger.

  “I miss Fluff!” Emma declared as Caroline stepped over the threshold into Rachel’s chamber.

  “Will you make her leave?” Rachel begged, from the middle of her bed, frowning at her little sister a few feet away.

  “Emma, Mrs. Dawson told me there was a litter of kittens born last week out in the stables.”

  Her youngest daughter’s face lit up. “Are they still there?”

  “They’re too tiny to be moved,” Caroline said. “Perhaps if Rachel wants to ride tomorrow, you can both go down there together.”

  Emma leapt onto Rachel’s bed. “Do you want to ride tomorrow?”

  “Please, Mama,” Rachel begged. “Won’t you please make her go to her own chambers?”

  “R-a-chel,” Emma whined. “It would be so fun. I could play with the kittens and you could ride until you’re not grumpy anymore.”

  Rachel rolled her eyes. “If I promise to take you to the stables tomorrow, will you leave me alone now?”

  Emma nodded vigorously.

  “Very well,” Rachel breathed out. “After breakfast. But only if you go now.”

  “Hooray!” Emma slid off the side of the bed. Then she quickly hugged Caroline. “Night, Mama.”

  “Good night, sweetheart.” Caroline smoothed the hair out of Emma’s eyes. “Make sure to brush your hair so it’s not a wild mess in the morning.”

  After Emma bolted from Rachel’s chambers, Caroline turned her full attention on her oldest daughter who had forgone dinner to climb into bed early.

  “Feeling any better?” Caroline asked.

  Rachel shrugged. “How long are we staying here?”

  “I’m not certain,” Caroline replied, after all she had no idea when it would be safe to leave. “Are you in such a hurry to return?”

  “Not now.” Rachel sighed dramatically. “I don’t care if I stay in this bed and never go anywhere for the rest of my life.”

  Heavens. Had Caroline been so melodramatic when she was Rachel’s age? No, when she was Rachel’s age, she was already caring for Rachel. Caroline sat on the edge of the bed beside her daughter, who she truly did love with all her heart. “You’ve got your entire life ahead of you, sweetheart. Don’t be so quick to throw the rest of it away.”

  “Are Lord Haversham’s stables fully stocked?”

  Horses usually were the quickest way to Rachel’s heart. “I doubt he can boast anything close to your Uncle Robert’s stables, but I understand Lady Callista is an excellent rider. So I’m certain there’ll be something appropriate for you, especially if you ask his lordship nicely.”

  A soft snort escaped Rachel. “Fine, I’ll be nice to him.”

  “I’m glad to hear it.”

  And then, very quickly, a frown marred her daughter’s face. “Lady Callista rides?”

  Caroline nodded. “Why do you sound so surprised?”

  Rachel shook her head. “She just seems so timid, like she’s afraid of her own shadow.”

  She did, actually. Rachel was right about that. And Caroline’s heart had gone out to the little girl almost at once. “Well, her mother has been gone many years and she doesn’t see her father terribly often. She may just be rather shy.”

  At that Rachel laughed. “Then living with Emma will be a giant adventure for her.”

  “I daresay, it’s a giant adventure for us all.” Caroline leaned forward and pressed a kiss to her daughter’s brow. “Sleep well, darling.”

  “Thank you, Mama.”

  Caroline started from the room, and just as she stepped into the corridor, Marc exited his daughter’s room. She grinned at him. “Fancy meeting you here.”

  “I cou
ld certainly get used to it.” He tugged her to him and kissed the top of her head. “Are you ready to retire for the evening, my love?”

  Caroline tipped her head back to better see him. “Retiring so soon, my lord? If all of London could see us now, they’d be quite certain that I’ve tamed the wicked Marquess of Haversham.”

  His light blue eyes bore into hers, making a set of delicious shivers tiptoe down her spine. “Do you want to tame me?”

  Not even a little. Caroline shook her head. “But it’s nice knowing I could if I wanted to.”

  “Oh?” His brow lifted in surprise. “Throwing down the gauntlet?” And then that familiar rakish grin of his tipped the edge of Marc’s lips. “We’ll just see about that.” Then he bent at the knee and tossed Caroline over his shoulder.

  Oh! “Marc!” A surprised laugh escaped her, and Caroline quickly covered her mouth to muffle her giggles as he carried her down the corridor since their children had all just gone to bed.

  Heavens! How she adored her wicked and very untamed Marquess of Haversham.

  Chapter 27

  The last few weeks at Saddleworth had easily been the best of Marc’s life. There was something to be said for going to bed each night and waking up each morning with the one woman he loved. Nothing compared to having Caroline in his bed, in his life, by his side.

  Having found the stables early on, Rachel had bonded with Aurore, one of his fillies, and spent a good portion of her days with the Andalusian. Emma and Callie had become inseparable in all things, including French lessons. And everything was exactly what Marc wished the rest of his life could be, except…well, except that Caroline hadn’t come down to breakfast that morning. And he found he did miss her.

  So with that thought in mind, he climbed the staircase and made his way down the corridor toward their connected chambers. He knocked lightly, not wanting to wake her if she was still asleep.

  But she called, “Come in,” very brightly from the other side.

  Marc pushed the door open and found her preening in front of the mirror in a soft green dress. Ah, that’s why she hadn’t come downstairs yet. “The new dresses from Driffield arrived?” he guessed aloud.

  She nodded but then gestured to the low scoop of her bodice. “I can’t imagine what they think of Miss Gleadhill ordering something like this.”

  Marc crossed the floor and then spun her around. “You’re stunning. I don’t care what they think of Miss Gleadhill.”

  “Poor Miss Gleadhill, then,” Caroline said with a laugh. Then she grinned up at him. “Do you like it?”

  “Aye, it brings out the green flecks in your eyes.” And then he winked at her. “But take it off, Caroline. Let me see if I like you better in nothing at all.”

  She rolled her eyes. “I know exactly how you like me.”

  “Completely bare, and in my bed,” he agreed.

  “Yes, well, about that,” she began and stepped away from him. “I’m worried about the…well, the example we’re setting for our daughters.”

  “Example?” he echoed with a frown.

  She seemed to take a steadying breath. “I know you never would have brought Rachel, Emma, and me to Saddleworth if it wasn’t out of necessity, but we are here.”

  Where the devil was she going with this? “I am happy to have you all here, you know that.”

  She swallowed a bit nervously, which wasn’t like her at all. “I kept hoping you would broach the subject, Marc, but you haven’t…”

  He did not like the sound in her voice all of a sudden, and an uneasiness settled around him. “Which subject, exactly?”

  “Us,” she breathed out. “Our future…together, hopefully.”

  Damn it. “Why wouldn’t it be together?” And what the hell did hopefully mean?

  “Well, we’ve been living together as a family, all of us, these last weeks. But we aren’t a family. And I need to know if you mean to rectify that.”

  “Marriage,” he muttered the word as though it was the vilest of curses.

  “You don’t have to say it that way.”

  Well, there was really no other way to say the bloody word. “For God’s sake, Caroline. You know I love you.”

  “And I love you. So I don’t—”

  “I have kept Callie here. I have gone to great lengths to make people believe I don’t care for my daughter. I would never be successful at making them think I don’t care for you, not if we’re married.”

  She looked as though he’d struck her and her mouth dropped open. It took her a moment before she asked, “So what is your plan, Marc?”

  “Do we have to have a plan?” he asked. “Haven’t things been…pretty close to perfect since we’ve been here?”

  She shook her head. “We can’t stay here forever. And the real world is waiting out there for us right now.”

  “So when we rejoin the world, we’ll go on as we were before.” He shook his head. “I’ll be by every night and no one ever has to know the truth.”

  “So your plan is to sneak through my servants’ entrance every night, make love to me, and escape before the sun rises in the sky?”

  She didn’t need to sound quite so waspish about it. “That’s what we were doing.”

  “For the rest of our lives?” Her voice hitched. “That’s what you want to do?”

  “Have you a better plan?”

  “Well, any plan I devise won’t leave my daughters thinking I’m your whore, Marc.”

  Whore, indeed. His jaw tightened at those words. That wasn’t what he was suggesting in the least. And she damn well knew it. “Caroline,” he began rather tightly, trying to keep his anger in check. “I have a lifetime of enemies. You know I do. If we married, if they thought I cared for you, there is nothing in the world to stop them from coming after you.”

  “And when is the last time, Marc,” she pressed. “When is the last time they came after you? You’ve been out for a dozen years.”

  No one had ever actually come after Marc, but that wasn’t the point. “Just because no one has attempted anything yet, doesn’t mean they won’t.” He raked a hand through his hair in frustration. “I’m certain Kelling never thought his past would come back to haunt him and yet it did. Him, his wife, his son, slaughtered by the side of the road. Is that the future you want for us, for our children?”

  She blanched at that. “Kelling?” Her hand fluttered to her heart. “But highwaymen…”

  “It wasn’t highwaymen,” Marc said more softly. Damn it. He hadn’t really meant to tell her that part. But he had, and perhaps she needed to hear it. “Highwaymen don’t do that. They’ll rob you at pistol point, and they may shoot you if you give them trouble. But what happened to Kelling and his family was an execution, it wasn’t a roadside robbery gone awry.”

  “Kelling? He was an operative?”

  “He’s the one who recruited me away from Oxford. A decent fellow. An honorable one. And he deserved better than he got in the end.”

  Caroline thought she might be sick. More sick than she’d been in recent days, not that anyone else had noticed. Of course, she’d gone to some lengths to keep them from noticing, so it wasn’t entirely anyone’s fault that they hadn’t. But she knew what it meant. It may have been a while, but she distinctly remembered what morning sickness felt like. And if Marc had no intention of doing the honorable thing, she was going to have to sort out an undesirable solution on her own.

  She and the girls could return to Benton Park on their own. She could finish out her confinement there and then…Her stomach churned at the thought of giving her child away. She couldn’t do that. She simply couldn’t. But neither could she brand the child a bastard. Neither could she tarnish Rachel’s name. Her daughter would come out next season and this situation could be more than enough to destroy her reputation.

  Heavens, what in the world was she going to do? “Is that it, then, Marc?” she asked softly. “You’ve made up your mind and nothing will change it?”

  He frowned
as he stepped toward her. “I don’t like the sound of your voice, my love.”

  “Don’t call me that.”

  His frown deepened as a sigh escaped him. “You are my love, Caroline.”

  “Yes?” she asked tartly. “Well, then prove it.”

  Livvie was expecting. The thought popped into Caroline’s mind as necessity began to wriggle through her thoughts. Her cousin was a few months further along that Caroline, and she was probably already spending her confinement at Everett Place. What if Alex and Livvie could be convinced to make everyone believe they had twins? A few months would matter a great deal in the beginning, but later on, no one could tell there was a difference in the children’s ages. If they could just keep people from seeing them the first year or so, that could possibly work. And she could still see her child, be in its life, and Alex and Livvie would be excellent parents. That might work. She could head for Everett Park and send her girls to stay with Robert in Dorset so they wouldn’t notice her increasing, because the last thing she needed was for Rachel to see this sort of example for how to navigate her life. Sharing a bed with a man who had no intention of marrying her. Finding herself with child. A fresh wave of nausea washed over her. What if Alex refused to go along with the plan? What if—

  “…are you going to answer me?” Marc asked, annoyance flooding his voice.

  “What did you say?” Whatever it was, she’d missed it completely as she tried to sort out a solution to the mess she was in.

  His light blue eyes narrowed on her. “I said are we done with this discussion?”

  Yes, she supposed they were, and that made her more nauseous than any morning sickness ever had. “I can’t stay here, Marc.” She turned away from him. “I’ll have Rachel and Emma pack their things. I’ll see you reimbursed for everything you’ve spent on us, and—”

  “Reimbursed?” he said the word as though she’d insulted him. Though he had no reason to be insulted about anything. He was the one who’d led her down a merry path without having a decent plan about how they’d go on. “I can’t even believe you said that.”

 

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