She must make the marriage with the Earl happen. Olivia's life depended on it.
Chapter Four
The following day, Louise found herself staring at her reflection in the mirror in her room. Her eyes were red from crying nearly all the way from London. Her face a blotchy mess from tear streaked face powder. She was shaky and restless. She stared at her reflection for a few minutes then she made up her mind to get out of the house. Fresh air is what was needed. She quickly changed into her riding habit and rushed out to the stables. She was thankful that her aunt and uncle had insisted she take riding lessons, so she was a competent rider. The stable hand helped her into the saddle of one of the horses and she rode out onto the estate at a full gallop.
She rode fast and hard until she came to a copse of trees. Suddenly cognizant of the fact that she was out of sight of the big house. She slowed her horse a little as she entered the trees and welcomed the cool shade on her face. Looking up at the canopy, she didn't realize what was happening as another rider broke through some brush and startled her horse. Her horse rose up on its hind legs and Louise fell from the saddle and was instantly knocked unconscious.
When Louise regained her wits, she blinked rapidly and realized someone was kneeling beside her and holding her head gingerly. She smiled in thanks and started to speak when she stopped at the sound of her helper's voice.
"Oh thank Goodness, you are not too terribly harmed. You gave me quite a turn, Baroness."
Louise's heart skipped a beat and her vision cleared. She found herself staring into William's deep blue eyes as they twinkled down at her, a look of relief and something else on his face. Louise pulled herself to a sitting position without a word. William stood up and reached out his hand to her. Reluctantly, Louise placed her hand in his as he drew her to her feet. He stood holding her hand in his, and with his other brushed a disarray of hair from her face.
"Are you well?" He asked quietly, his eyes searching her face.
Louise avoided his gaze and focused on his nose instead.
"I am quite well, thank you."
William let go of Louise's hand but rested his on her waist. He took in the curves of the young woman, and he smiled roguishly at her.
"You know, a beautiful young woman like you should not be out riding by herself. There are dangerous men in these parts."
Louise lifted her chin, "None so dangerous as you, I am sure."
William threw his head back and laughed in delight.
"Right you are, my dear. Right you are."
He pulled Louise a little closer to him and looked deeply into her eyes. He saw deep emotion in hers, and he wondered for a full second.
"Does that scare you, Baroness?"
Louise stiffened in the closeness of their bodies and she chided him, "I do believe you said you would never lay a hand on me. And yet here you are, for the second time, placing your hands on me when I do not belong to you."
William smirked at Louise.
"I cannot seem to help myself. Baroness... No. Louise. Baroness is too formal, and this proximity is clearly much less formal, am I right in saying so?"
"Sir, I ...."
William saw the fire light up in Louise's eyes, she was preparing for a fight, and suddenly, William could not help himself. He pulled Louise to him with both hands firmly on the small of her back and he pressed his mouth to hers. He kissed her on the mouth for but a moment, and then he kissed her cheeks, the tip of her nose, her jawline, and her neck. He held her tight and felt the stiffness leave her. Then he moved his mouth back to hers as though starving and kissed her so intensely, Louise could not deny the fire building within her. Before she realized what she was doing, she wrapped her arms around his neck and returned his kiss, pressing her body so close to his she felt as though she would melt into him.
Suddenly, William broke off the kiss and stepped back breathless. Louise, also panting from the passion and heat of their embrace, felt the blood rushing to her face and felt shame and desire both at once. She watched the emotions play across William's face and then watched cold steel enter his eyes.
He looked at her briefly and with a look of inexplicable disgust, he stormed away from her. He quickly climbed into the saddle of his horse, and with a final angry glare at Louise that confused her deeply, he spurred his horse into a quick gallop and disappeared out of sight.
Louise sank to the ground, her emotions overwhelming her and she considered her predicament. William was a dangerous rogue, that much was apparent. She had no intention of being some play toy for another man as she had been once before. She had too much to lose. She pressed one hand to her lips where she still felt the heat from William's and she pressed another to her stomach to still her nerves. She had Olivia to think of. Nothing, especially the rakish William, would stop her from marrying the Earl.
Determined yet again, Louise choosing not to ride back to the house, gathered the reins for her horse and walked back to the stately home deep in thought. All the while troubled that her body had betrayed her so thoroughly to the handsome young man.
Chapter Five
As the next week flew by, the Earl still gone on his travels, Louise was on constant alert. On the one hand, she wanted to avoid William at all costs, but when it was abundantly clear that he was avoiding her, her desire to avoid him changed into a desire to be near him in any way possible. She wandered the house and the estate continually under the pretext of learning about her new home but always keeping an eye and an ear out for William.
On the few occasions that he joined Louise and his sisters, he sat on the far end of the table and refused to be drawn into conversation even when asked direct questions. Each time Louise passed him in the hall or out on the grounds, she tried to encourage a discourse with him, but each time he would abruptly bow and stride away as though something of great importance were keeping him.
"I wonder why he lingers," commented Camille over afternoon tea one day.
"MMM... I wonder too," replied Denise. "He seems so miserable of late, and yet he stays."
Not typically drawn into the sister's conversation, Louise perked up at the subject.
"Why does that surprise you?" she asked them.
Camille raised her eyebrows knowingly, but Denise responded.
"Well, he has a reputation you know. When he gets bored here, he finds plenty to keep him busy in any of the neighboring towns or if the desire burns so hot, he will find his way to the gambling tables of London."
"And the whore houses, of course," interjected Camille.
"Of course," agreed Denise.
Louise felt the color drain from her cheeks and she knew the sisters were taking in her reaction and filing it away for the future. She determined not to give away the turmoil she felt toward their brother.
"Well, I am certain if he is so bored as you say, then he shan't be here much longer," she stated, and inside she found that on one hand she could not bear the thought of him going away and being with other women, but on the other, the realization that if he stayed, he was a definite threat to her future with her daughter.
The sisters sat watching Louise for a moment and she wondered if they knew what she was feeling. After a few moments, they grew tired of her and began to speak of the latest gossip around the area, and Louise was able to sit in quietude with her own troubled thoughts
Chapter Six
Louise awoke with dread clawing at her insides. The Earl had arrived the day before. He was angry and bitter at not having found his lost shipment. However, he had also received an invitation from another prominent family nearby to bring his young fiancée and his family to attend a celebratory ball for the launch of their own daughter into society.
As the day progressed, spent with the local hair stylist who piled her hair high on her head in the latest fashion, with gems and beads woven into the fancy curls, and with the dress maker who arrived with an emerald green gown for the final fitting, Louise felt her nerves strain, as a thoroughbred stallion
might experience before a race. As the day wore on, and the transformation continued, Louise could not get William and Olivia out of her mind. She fretted over the opposing outcomes. On one side, she found herself more and more in constant thoughts of William. While he had been cold-shouldering her, she had made it her mission to find out more about him. He was a confirmed womanizer. The men in the area despised him for conquering nearly every young lady of whom they had hopes to marry. Fathers wished they could string him up, but the entitlement of an Earl's son allowed certain leniency.
Shockingly, though, Louise discovered something no one spoke of publicly because it made for poor gossip. As she spoke to the servants and the local farmers and the people of the nearby town, she came to learn that for his obvious shortcomings, he was also well loved. While his father had no interest in the running and maintaining of the land and the estate, William did. He was the one that made sure the tenants' homes were kept in good repair. It was suspected that the winnings from his gambling were most often put to use in helping the locals because his father would not, and he refused to ask his father for money beyond his stipend.
Louise stared at her reflection in the mirror and wondered at the man that William presented publicly to the world and the man he tried to keep hidden. It tore her apart that he certainly was a man worth respecting, and yet, she was certain if she gave in to him, she would be cast off when he had tired of her.
Then, of course, there was little Olivia, and the fact simply could not be denied that the best course of action was to follow through with her marriage to the Earl and bring her precious child home.
At a sharp knock on her door, Louise rose and grabbed a wrap for her bare shoulders. She followed the servant down the stairs and out to the waiting covered carriage. She sat demurely next to the sweating Earl who grumbled continually under his breath as he relentlessly brought his small silver flask to his jelly-like lips. As soon as the sisters and William were seated across from her, the carriage moved forward. Louise did her best to keep her gaze away from William, but she felt his on her. She experienced the familiar blood rush up her chest and neck and into her face, but she kept her head turned to gaze upon the passing countryside. She pretended to listen to the Earl who spoke angrily about his failed trip. Meanwhile, William sat stiffly next to Camille and could not tear his eyes from Louise.
He took in her carefully made up face, and thought it made her look even more beautiful, but then again took away from her natural grace. He stared at her long, graceful neck and remembered the taste of her on his lips. He caught his father staring at him, so he moved his gaze to the opposite side of the carriage and looked out for a while. However, he kept being drawn back to Louise, to the profile of her face, the set of her shoulders, the elegance and poise with which she carried herself.
When the carriage finally arrived at the manor, William did not even wait for it to completely stop before he opened the door on his side, hopped out, and nearly ran into the expansive entranceway. Camille and Denise exchanged glances and snickered, while the Earl nearly fell out of the carriage between his ungainly weight and his near drunkenness. Louise waited till the others disembarked before she carefully got out and followed them into the grand entrance.
At the door to the great hall, each guest was being announced. The Earl's daughters were announced first. As they curtsied to their hosts, Louise glanced over their heads and saw William staring at her from the side of the room. She handed her shawl to a servant and at the direction from the Earl took his arm and stepped forward to be announced.
"Presenting The Earl of Pennieshire and his betrothed, the Baroness Burbanks."
Louise noted the immediate hush of the crowd as they all turned to face her, but her eyes were on William, whose jaw had dropped as he took her in. His eyes glinted in appreciation of Louise, who stood regally next to his father. Her fashionable emerald gown flowed about her, light and gauzy. Its low cut bodice revealed the snow-white flesh and the fine curves of her body, but it was her eyes that captured him. He stared back at her and saw the nervousness and the determination. He saw her return his gaze, and wondered to himself if he saw something more than just resentment. He watched her as she moved across the room with his father, her attention captured by other guests who were eager to find out more of the young Baroness.
The Earl moved about the room with Louise on his arm, but when the dancing started, he waved William over.
"William, I have business to attend to. You will see to it that the Baroness is looked after." Without waiting for a reply, the Earl turned away and moved to a side room heavy with smoke and the raucous laughter of other men.
Louise fidgeted with her gloves as William stepped to her side.
He put out his arm, "Shall we, my lady?"
Louise's heart skipped a beat at the thought of being in William's arms once more, but she nodded and allowed him to lead her onto the dance floor.
As they stepped in time to the other dancers, William pulled Louise close.
"You are simply stunning."
Louise smiled politely and replied, "It is the dress you see, I am sure of it."
"No, Louise. It is you."
Louise smiled to herself and said nothing. She struggled to keep her heartbeat under control, but with every twirl and every step close to each other, she felt the burning desire to reach up and kiss William again. She wanted to get lost in his embrace, to feel his strong arms holding her up. William watched emotions flash across her face and he tipped her chin up to meet his face.
"Do you know what you have done to me?" he asked her.
Louise shook her head.
"You invade my every thought, woman. From the moment you stepped foot in our house, you have distracted me. I cannot go through my day without wondering about you, without wanting to hold you, without wanting to make you mine."
Louise shook her head and glanced at the nearby dancers.
"Stop it, sir. Please. Others will hear you."
"So what if they do? I want you. I think you want me. We should shout it from the rafters and let the whole world know. We should be together."
Louise stopped dancing and led William to the side of the dance floor. She looked up at him while his hands were still squarely on her waist.
"You must stop. It is impossible. I must... I MUST marry the Earl. It is the only way..."
William looked at her quizzically, "The only way to what?"
Louise felt the blood drain from her face. Not even the Earl knew about Olivia. She could not bring herself to tell William. He would know in good time and then what would he think of her? To know she had been pregnant out of wedlock? To know she had a child and needed the Earl to get her child back? As tears brimmed in her eyes, Louise looked up at William, her heart breaking, for she realized in that moment, that she cared deeply what William would think of her when the truth was known. She stepped out of William's embrace and shook her head.
"The Earl is my future." She turned her back on him and moved away as calmly as she could, leaving William staring after her with his own heart perplexed and confused. How could she not feel what he was feeling? How could she turn off her own feelings, which William was so certain were for him and not for his father? He stood still for several moments and watched Louise join a group of women. When she avoided his gaze, he felt anger bite at him and he turned and left the room.
Chapter Seven
Louise found herself once again outside the orphanage the following week. She was delighted to find that the heavy wooden gates had been replaced with an iron one. As she approached, she heard children in the courtyard, so she kept in the shadows of the brick wall that the iron gate connected, and she peered through. There were over a dozen children in the courtyard with no adults present. The kids had no toys to play with, so they were running in the mud barefoot. Some were making mud balls and throwing them at other kids, while some were content to play in the mud itself, shaping it, moulding it, finding play in making mud
pies. Louise's eyes roamed over the kids and finally settled on her precious Olivia.
Olivia sat on the step to the large building and was holding something small in her hand. She was smiling at it and talking to it, making little hopping movements with it, and Louise realized Olivia must be playing with the small doll she sent. The thought made her smile, but the happiness she felt soon turned to dismay when Olivia suddenly started to shake with deep coughs. She coughed and sputtered until her tiny, pale face started turning an appalling shade of blue. Catching the attention of one of the older children who rushed to her. The older child hit Olivia on the back firmly several times but it did not help so the child ran into the building.
Louise moved to the iron railing and clung to it. She did not call out to her child, afraid she might worsen her girl's fit, but she was desperate with longing to hold her child and help her feel better. Louise did not even feel the tears, running unchecked down her face as she watched the older child return to the still coughing Olivia. The older child picked up the spluttering waif and carried her into the orphanage, all the other children in the courtyard looking on in silence. As the other kids trailed behind quietly, Louise witnessed the little doll on the step get kicked from the step into the mud by the many tiny feet traipsing into the building. The big door closed, and a million fears flooded Louise's mind. Her body was overcome with sobs that shook her whole being.
Clean Regency Romance: The Earl's Temptation (The Pure Heart Triumphs Series Book 1) Page 4