When she reached his side, she lifted her hand to touch his cheek. He shut his eyes with a sigh at her gentle caress, though he seemed to be fighting internal demons. By the way he trembled under her touch, she knew he wanted her, but still he distanced himself.
Finally, with aching slowness, he looked down at her. Their eyes locked and Marion lost all thoughts.
“Nothing that happened to me was your fault.” She wasn’t sure how she got the words past her tight throat. “I told you to go. I thought I would be safe with my father, of all people.”
His eyes darkened. “But I knew you wouldn’t be. And I still left because I was angry.”
She dropped her hand, the spell between them broken. “I’m free of him now. I can go on with my plans.” Her eyes met his again. “And that’s thanks to you.”
Once again pain twisted his face. With a short step he was inches from her. His hand came up to touch her unbruised cheek with a tenderness that was as sweet as any kiss. “I’m sorry, Marion. Your plans must change now.”
Her eyes grew wide, though she didn’t back away from him. It seemed she couldn’t. “Why?”
Behind them, the door opened. Both turned, and when they saw Lady Woodbury staring at them with concerned eyes, Marion blushed like a schoolgirl who’d been caught.
“Because you’ve been terribly compromised by coming here and staying in Noah’s home with no escort.” Lady Woodbury said the words slowly as Noah backed a step away from Marion. “And now we must find a way to redress the situation.”
Noah winced when Marion’s cheeks colored dark red at his mother’s intrusion and her plain words. How he hated that she was embarrassed, but it would only get worse. When she heard their plans for her, her world would come down around her.
“Lady Woodbury?” Marion glanced from Noah back to his mother.
His mother’s face softened at her distress. Noah had to smile. He hadn’t been so lucky as to receive her kindness when his mother heard his tale. But she wouldn’t be as harsh with Marion.
“My dear, I doubt I know the entire story.” Her eyes darted to Noah. He felt a flush darken his skin. No, his mother didn’t know the entire tale. She didn’t know he’d nearly made love to Marion, only that her father had caught them in a compromising position. “But I’ve heard enough to know you’ve been ruined.”
Marion’s eyes widened, and she stumbled toward Tabitha. “No. Only in my father’s eyes.” Her gaze slipped to Noah. “That was our bargain. Only in my father’s eyes.”
His mother grimaced. “I don’t think I want to know what you’re talking about. In any case, this situation has moved far beyond your father’s eyes now. When you fled here in your distress, the entire situation changed.”
“I’m sorry.” Marion moved closer to the woman as if her proximity would somehow convince Tabitha to agree with her stance. “I never meant to intrude in your home. If I’d had any other choice…”
His mother held up a hand to silence her, then the hand came down on Marion’s uninjured arm for a gentle squeeze.
“My dear, I wouldn’t consider your coming here an intrusion. From what I’ve seen of you this morning…” Her eyes drifted to Marion’s bruises with a shiver. “And what I’ve heard of your untenable situation at Josiah Lucas’s, you should have come much earlier. If I had but known what your troubles were, I would have happily welcomed you here with open arms.”
Marion’s face softened with a smile at Tabitha’s kindness. Noah was stricken by how glad he was that they were friends. That Marion wanted his mother to like her, and that Tabitha did, despite her disapproval over the arrangement Marion and Noah had made.
His mother sighed and her arm dropped. “But when you came here last night asking for Noah, people saw you.”
“No!” Marion shook her head. “No, it was so late there was no one on the path I took to get here.”
“The doctor, Marion,” Noah interjected.
His mother shot him a warning look and he shut his mouth. Apparently his participation in her discussion wasn’t welcome.
Marion’s eyes flitted to him and some of the hope faded from them. “The doctor. I’d forgotten there was a doctor. If only I hadn’t fallen from that bloody tree.” She covered her mouth with a gasp. “I’m sorry, my lady. I should mind my tongue.”
Tabitha smiled. “Under the circumstances, I would have used a much stronger word.” Her smile faded. “Dr. Fielding is an excellent physician, but he isn’t known for his discretion. He discovered I wasn’t at home and that Noah had arrived while you were still alone. More to the point, he saw Noah go to your room when there was no one to make sure nothing happened between you.”
“I was nearly unconscious!”
“That won’t make a difference.” Tabitha shook her head. “The rumor will grow. The tale of how you crept out your window and came to my son in the middle of the night will spread like wildfire. And not just here. It will go to London and anywhere else you live. A rumor like this one will fester and grow, not die out.”
Marion spun to face Noah with wide eyes. “I’m sorry. I never meant to damage your reputation.”
Tabitha let out a little burst of laughter. “His reputation? My dear, though my son doesn’t think I know it, his reputation will only be further solidified by this little story. It’s your reputation I worry about. When word of this scandal leaks out, you shall be damaged beyond repair. Your ability to marry well will vanish.”
Desperation shot through Marion. “But I don’t care about that!” she insisted with a shake of her head. “I never planned to marry, I planned…”
“You may say that now, but Noah and I can’t stand by in good stead while a young woman gives up her future because of a mistake she had no choice but to make.” Tabitha shook her head and in her eyes Marion saw a flicker of understanding for her plight. “We must fix this.”
Marion stepped back and came in contact with the dining table. She was trapped in more ways than one. “How?”
The room was deathly silent for a time and the air was thick with anticipation and even dread. Finally, Noah stepped forward. His eyes held hers, merciless and unwavering, telling her she wouldn’t refuse what he was about to say no matter how she felt about it.
“You will marry me,” he said softly.
Marion’s world shattered around her as Noah’s words echoed in her head. Marry Noah? It was like a dream and nightmare all at once. Long ago she’d realized how much she loved him. But she had also accepted that he was promised to another. A woman who would give him the home he expected and the respectability he’d earned. He would never love Marion in return, and she guessed even his lust for her would fade in time.
“No.” The whisper was her own but she barely recognized her rough voice. She sounded very far away. “I’ll go to my aunts. That was our plan. That was our bargain, Noah.”
He winced at her betrayed expression. Here she had tacked all her hopes on leaving Woodbury and going to live with the family she’d never known. And he was ripping those hopes out from under her.
His mother sent a pointed glare in his direction. “If Noah made that arrangement with you, Marion, it was unfair. He should have done the honorable thing and removed you from that situation immediately. Or at least left you alone.”
Noah turned his head at his mother’s sharp accusation. She might as well have added ‘like your father would have’, for he heard the silent addition in his head. Wasn’t that what his whole life had become in the past year? A race to earn the name his father had possessed. A battle to fight his own adventurous, passionate spirit and ease into the calm, staid life his father had led.
But even with all his vows to marry the right woman, to do the right things, he had failed and failed miserably.
“My mother is right.” He choked the words out as he kept his head down. “I never should have made an agreement with you. It was unfair to drag you into my case and use you as a pawn to catch Josiah Lucas.”
Yet why had he? He certainly hadn’t needed Marion’s help. His informants could have gleaned most of the information he’d acquired from her. He could have broken into Lucas’s home without her open window. But he’d struck an agreement with her instead.
Because he wanted to be near her.
The realization struck him like a thunderbolt. With a jolt, he stared at her. She was so beautiful, but it was more than mere beauty that had drawn him to her. She had a quality about her. A wit, a zeal for life even though hers hadn’t always been a happy one. With every moment they’d spent together, she had slowly wound her way into his soul.
“It’s not your fault.” Her whisper pulled him from his thoughts. “But I can’t believe this is the only way.”
He nodded. “Unfortunately, it is.”
Tabitha patted Marion’s hand. “It is, my dear.”
She stared from one to the other, her eyes pleading with them both to reconsider. When both returned her stare with unwavering eyes, she let out a little sob and hurried from the room.
Noah covered his eyes with his hand. What a mess.
“She’ll come around.” Tabitha crossed the room to rest her hand on his arm. “It’s obvious she cares for you a great deal.”
“Yes.” He scrubbed his hand over his face. Exhaustion was beginning to set in. “But she lied to me more than once, which makes me wonder about the strength of a future together. And worse yet, I’ve been forced to take a dream from her that’s she’s cherished for years. I don’t know if she’ll recover from that.”
His mother’s face became amused. “Oh, Noah. For all your years as a rake, you still understand so little about women. You believe you’ve taken her dreams?”
He nodded.
“Then give her new ones. And as for her lies, that’s something you two will have to work out. But don’t forget that the lies she told you were to protect herself. If she doesn’t feel she has to protect herself anymore, she won’t lie.”
Noah’s eyes widened at her observant statement. Somehow he’d thought his mother wouldn’t understand. How wrong he was. “I should speak to her.”
“Give her an hour or so,” Tabitha advised. “Give her time to adjust to her new position before you press her further.”
He stared at the open door where Marion had just fled. “I don’t know, Mother. I don’t know if she’ll ever be able to adjust to what has happened.”
Chapter Twenty
Marion sat on a wide bench in Noah’s opulent rose garden. The scent of the petals hung heavily in the air around her, soothing, yet stifling her at the same time.
Like Noah.
Part of her yearned to be with him. To share her life with him would be like living a fantasy. But a prison, no matter how pretty, was still a prison. She had fled her father for forcing her marry. But in doing so, she’d walked unwittingly into a situation where she would, again, be forced to take vows that would bind her for a lifetime. She covered her face with both hands and a sigh escaped her lips.
“May I join you or would I be intruding?”
Marion kept her head down at the gentle sound of Noah’s voice. Slowly, she eased her gaze up until she looked at him. As always, she was taken aback by how handsome he was with his sparkling blue eyes and tall, strong body. And she knew that body intimately, had felt it pressed against her. God help her, she still wanted to feel his touch, to finish what they’d begun the night before.
“Marion?”
She shook off her thoughts. “Please sit.”
He eased his large frame down on the bench and sat silent, merely staring at her for a while in the soft summer air. “I wanted to talk to you.”
Shrugging one shoulder, she dropped her gaze to the grass below her feet. “What is there to talk about? Everything is ruined now.”
Noah winced at that assessment. The sting worked through him until he had a bitter taste in his mouth. “That’s a bit dramatic, don’t you think?” His voice was harsher than he’d intended it to be.
“For you perhaps.” Her eyes came up to meet his a second time. “Whether you marry me or marry Charlotte Ives is meaningless, you’ll be allowed to continue your life just as it was before.”
He contemplated that point. There was no way Marion and Charlotte were interchangeable in his mind. Charlotte he’d chosen for pure connection. Her good name and breeding would make her the perfect Marchioness. She would keep a good home, raise him well-behaved children.
But Marion was a completely different story. He’d been drawn to her of her own accord, without thought to what she would bring to his future. Except her smile. Her laugh. Her intoxicating touch. And now a future filled with those things seemed much brighter than his first choice had been.
She sighed. “The only difference to you between marrying me and marrying her is that you’ll have a much keener sense of disappointment when you look at me across the breakfast table. After all, I’ll bring nothing to a marriage except myself.”
His eyes narrowed at her self-deprecation. “Which is more than enough.”
A sad shake of her head was her reply. “If I ask you a question, will you answer me honestly?”
“I believe honesty is key to a good relationship.” He arched an eyebrow at her.
Marion blushed. Did he have to bring up her lies? She hadn’t had time to explain to him why. She would later, but now the future between them was much more pressing than the past.
“Do you love her?” She held her breath.
“Who, Charlotte?”
She nodded. Noah drew back with a look of surprise on his face as if he’d never even considered that question before. For a long time, he seemed to struggle with an answer. Her heart sank with each passing moment.
“No,” he finally stammered out. “I don’t love her. I don’t even know her.”
She soared with relief. If he didn’t love Charlotte, perhaps they had a chance after all. “Why are you marrying her then?”
“I was marrying her for her background,” he admitted with a sheepish look in her direction.
Her relief faded. “Then you will be disappointed in any union we make, no matter what pretty words you say to deny it.”
“No!”
She cut him off with a shake of her head. “Yes. Can you honestly tell me you aren’t desperate to create a certain image?”
Noah drew back in surprise. Here she’d touched on the very fact that had been plaguing him for months. Yet if he demanded honesty from her, there was no way he could be a hypocrite and give her less.
“You’re right.”
Her face fell with distress at his short answer. For a moment she didn’t speak, but finally raised her gaze back to his. Her face was full of sadness and loss and other things he couldn’t identify.
“Whose image are you trying to recreate, Noah?”
“My father’s.” He was surprised at how quickly he answered her. This wasn’t a subject he’d discussed even with his family, yet he easily revealed the truth to a woman he hadn’t even known a month before.
Marion’s face softened. “What was he like?”
A knot formed in Noah’s throat at her question. He tried not to think of his father in terms of a person, just a goal he had to reach. When he dared to think of the flesh and blood man, it invariably hurt him to his very core.
“His name was James. He was actually a second son, but when his older brother died, my father took over the title.” He glanced down at his fisted hands. “And did more with it than even he would have wagered in the beginning. He had studied shipping and trade and in two years time he doubled the wealth of Woodbury. He instituted changes in how business was done with our tenants and our servants. He made them partners in our successes as well as the shire’s woes. He even learned their names and found out at least one personal thing about them so he always had a connection.”
Marion tilted her head with a small smile. “But what was he like, Noah?”
“He was…” Noah shook his head a
s he searched for the right words. “Everything. He loved with all his heart. He worshipped my mother, did all he could to protect my sisters, no matter how misguided that protection might have been. He taught me to be a man, not just a lord of a manor.”
“You loved him.” Marion’s eyes grew distant and pained. “You’re lucky you were so close to him.”
For the first time since he’d come to sit beside her, Noah touched her. Heat rushed through him even though he only brushed her hand. She jumped at the caress, but didn’t move her fingertips from beneath his.
“I was lucky. But I took him and his lessons for granted.” His heart sank. “Though he never said it, in the end, I let him down.”
Marion looked at the man who now sat with his fingers laced with hers as if they’d been together for years, not weeks. His normally jovial exterior was gone, replaced by the true emotional pain of a man who craved to live up to a dead man. Yet, in her eyes, Noah was already everything anyone could possibly admire.
“Why would he ever have been disappointed in you as a son?” She squeezed his fingertips. “You worked to protect your country while he lived. And since he’s been gone, you’ve driven yourself to meet some expectation that perhaps he never had.”
His brow wrinkled in consideration, but he still didn’t look convinced. “I chose the path of a rake, Marion. A path he never looked down, let alone traveled.”
“Why did you?”
He shrugged one shoulder. “I was young. I liked the pleasures of the world.” His gaze came up to hers with heat. “Of the flesh.”
She drew in a short breath at the desire in his eyes, but kept herself focused on their conversation. Noah wouldn’t distract her from it with amorous diversions.
“Many men choose that path and eventually come back to one more admirable. But from what I’ve seen in you, Noah, you’ve never been dishonorable. If you played, it was for a purpose. You may have gleaned some pleasure from it, yes, but you also used that reputation to help your country.”
The Jordans Collection Page 45