by Rose Gordon
This ball was like nothing he’d ever seen before. The rules were more relaxed, but at the same time, the dances weren’t as progressive. This intrigued him. He sat on the side and watched as couples did the quadrille and a few different reels, but no waltzes.
He was lost in a trance, tapping his toe and watching the sea of young girl’s flounces rise and fall as they danced when two young ladies passed right in front of him, breaking his line of vision.
His eyes left the dance floor and traveled to the duo who dared end his mesmerizing entertainment and his breath caught. They were both beautiful, but one was so stunning she was arresting. Her blonde hair and pale skin were stark opposites of the emerald green gown she wore. He only had a profile view of her, but it was enough to know everything about her was dainty and quaint. He’d later find out that her looks belied her real personality, which would only serve to intrigue him more.
The beautiful blonde and her raven haired companion stood only ten feet away from him talking and giggling about who knew what. Frankly, he didn’t care what they were doing just as long as they stayed right there so he could watch her.
He crossed his arms and leaned back to make his staring look less obvious, not that it did any good.
“Something caught your eye?” Robbie Swift, his annoying younger cousin, asked before taking a seat.
“Someone,” Benjamin corrected with a nod in her direction.
Robbie scoffed. “Madison Banks?” he said doubtfully.
Benjamin turned his eyes back to Madison. She had a name now. She was no longer the beautiful blonde wearing green. She was Madison. Not Miss Banks. Not Miss Madison. Just Madison.
“You’re wasting your time,” Robbie said, breaking into his thoughts. “Her father’s my minister. You’ll never stand a chance.”
“Men can change. I can change,” Benjamin told him solemnly. For her, he could, and would, change anything. He’d move mountains for her if it were in the least bit possible and she asked it of him.
Robbie laughed. “Even you can’t change that much,” he said, shaking his head. “Those two girls you’re looking at, Madison and Brooke, were brought up to be all that is right and proper. If you don’t believe me, ask anyone who knows them. Their youngest sister even totes around a notebook filled with the rules to every game she’s even been allowed to play.”
Benjamin shook his head. “So what. Rules are meant to be broken,” he said offhandedly.
“Not by them,” Robbie said again. “If you’re looking for a girl to lift her skirts, and I think you are, look no further than the door. You see her?” He nodded in the direction of the door. “The one wearing the blue with the white lace. She’s got what it takes to tickle your fancy.”
Benjamin scowled. He had no interest in a quick tumble in the storage closet. If he wanted that he would have stayed in England where the tavern wenches fought over the privilege to go home with him. “No, thank you,” he said before turning his eyes back to Madison.
“You’ll not get it from her, I guarantee it,” Robbie said with a pointed glance at Madison. “You’d be more likely to charm her sister into lifting her skirts than her.”
Benjamin turned a cold look to Robbie. “Is that all you think about?”
“Yes,” Robbie said instantly.
Benjamin rolled his eyes. “You’ve got a lot to learn. There’s more to women than tupping.”
Robbie snorted. “Yes, spoken like the wise old man you are. What are you two and twenty?”
“Three and twenty,” Benjamin corrected, shifting his gaze back to the sisters who were now surrounded by a pack of slobbering potential suitors.
“All right. And are you going to try and convince me you live the life of a monk?”
Not taking his eyes off Madison as she was led to the floor, he said, “No. But I could become one if it meant I could have her.”
Robbie let out a harsh bark of laughter. “Don’t bother. She’s already in love with someone else.”
“Who?” Benjamin demanded, spinning his head around to face Robbie.
But Robbie didn’t speak. He didn’t need to. His knowing grin said it all. Madison was in love with Robbie. Benjamin’s heart sank and he sifted his gaze back to where she was being twirled around the floor. Just then, her partner spun her around to face them and he caught a glimpse of the smile she sent Robbie.
Jealousy like he’d never known ate him up. The only woman he’d ever wanted would never be his. “Are you going to ask for her, then?” he asked raggedly, resigning himself to the bitter pain of being too late to catch her attention.
“No,” Robbie answered fiercely, shaking his head. “She may love me, but I’ve no need for her.”
“Right; because she won’t lift her skirt,” Benjamin returned with a sneer. “You don’t deserve her.”
“Maybe not,” Robbie conceded with a lopsided shrug. “But that doesn’t change how she feels about me.”
Turning to walk away, Benjamin caught sight of Madison walking their way and froze. She was beautiful as she came toward him, her dress swaying back and forth with each step. She flashed him a bright smile before turning to Robbie. “Good evening, Robbie,” she said with a blush.
“Good evening, Madison,” Robbie returned, beaming. “Care to dance?”
“I’d love to,” she said, accepting his arm and flashing Benjamin a weak smile.
Benjamin watched them take to the floor. Robbie was an awful dancer, he realized. He stepped on her toes and twirled her too fast, heedless as to who or what she’d hit in the process.
Scowling, Benjamin took a seat to watch the awful spectacle that was presented before him.
“I have no idea what she sees in him,” a female voice muttered.
“Neither do I,” Benjamin agreed with a quick glance to the right to see who the woman was he was now talking to.
“She’s always been the one bound to find the good in everyone,” Madison’s sister, Brooke, said, shaking her head. “I think she’s found one that has no good, and she wants to be his saving grace.”
“Why?” Benjamin asked, scratching his unkempt beard.
She shrugged. “That’s just Madison, I suppose.”
“Well, she could do better than him,” he declared evenly. “There’s many lost souls more worthy of her than him.”
“Are you applying for the job, then?” Brooke asked with a smile.
“Absolutely,” he returned, nodding his head.
“Hmm, as Madison’s older sister and her most trusted confidant, I need more information about you before I can recommend you,” she said with a twinkle in her eye.
Benjamin laughed. “Name’s Leo. I’m visiting from England. I’m a bounder of the worst sort and I’m desperately in need of saving. But, I am savable. I guarantee it. I can dance better than he can. I have higher brain function that he does. And, I can tell just by looking at her, there’s more to her than just her beauty.”
“Yes, there is,” Brooke confirmed, nodding her agreement. “I shall be happy to pass on my highest recommendation for you. Whether she’ll take it or not, I don’t know. Let’s just hope for the best.”
The dance ended and the sisters scurried off to go join their friends, leaving Robbie and Benjamin to stare at each other.
Over the next three weeks, Benjamin spent enough time in Robbie’s presence to know he not only was unworthy of Madison’s love, he was unworthy to lick her boots. He was a womanizer of the worst sort.
Fortunately, he’d learned Madison may have her cap set on him, but they weren’t even courting. Hope filled his heart and he attended more social events, and even her father’s church in hopes of seeing her again.
He felt confident he could have made a good impression on her and won her from Robbie, except every time he’d start to talk to her, or even just go near her, Robbie would suddenly show up and pull her away. It was infuriating. In three week’s time he’d spoken to her less than half a dozen times for a period of about two
minutes each.
During the entire twelve minutes of conversation they’d had, he’d learned she sewed for the needy, volunteered to tutor children at an orphanage, painted, and enjoyed topics of conversation that were not suitable for young ladies. He was certain there was a lot more to her, but bloody Robbie and his bloody presence prevented him from finding out more.
Thinking back, he should have sought out Brooke and tried to make his appeal to her. But he hadn’t and instead he had to sit back and watch as Madison tried in vain to vie for Robbie’s attention, only to be treated poorly when he graced her with it.
At the end of March her father had announced a church outing to the Hudson River. The weather was nice enough, perhaps a little breezy. But that didn’t matter. He was too awestruck by Madison to know or care about anything else. His eyes were trained on her nearly the whole time.
When she’d finally broken free of her crowd and started to walk in his direction, he moved away from the tree he’d been standing against and went to meet her. Only ten yards separated them when a hand clapped him on the back. “Care to go fishing?”
“Not now, Robbie,” he said tersely. There wasn’t any way he was going to let Robbie interfere this time.
“Madison, would you like to fish?” Robbie called as she was approaching.
“Absolutely,” she agreed with a bright smile in their general direction.
Unable to know who the smile was meant for, Benjamin pretended it was for him and returned it. “Leo here has no interest, so it’ll just be us,” Robbie said, grabbing her arm.
Madison flashed Leo what he interpreted as a disappointed smile. Oh, who was he kidding, it was nothing more than a friendly smile. She had no interest in him joining their fishing and flirting.
Arms crossed, he let out an annoyed sigh and watched in irritation as Robbie draped himself over Madison trying to show her proper fishing technique.
Ten minutes was all he could stand of that and turned to walk away when he heard a startled scream come from their direction. Turning back, he noticed the hem of Madison’s gown was wet and she looked to be rather distraught. He wanted nothing more than to go to her side and rescue her from his cousin’s clutches, but stayed put and watched with annoyance as Robbie scooped her up and carried her away.
The next night turned out to be his last night in America. He’d finally come to the conclusion he was not going to get to talk to her if he was associated with Robbie. Thus, he decided to see if she had any interest whatsoever in him, and if she did, he’d rent his own apartment in Brooklyn, and if not, he’d go home.
That night another local family hosted a dinner party the Swifts and Banks had been invited to join. All through dinner he cast glances down the table at Madison. She didn’t return any though. She was too busy chatting and socializing to notice him.
After dinner they all gathered in the drawing room where the hostess insisted they play nursery games. The first few weren’t too intolerable. However, he nearly jumped up and down with enthusiasm when she suggested everyone hide and she’d seek them out. This would provide the perfect opportunity to talk to Madison, he thought as he followed her out the door. With all the people present he lost sight of her in the hallway, but felt confident he knew the direction of her whereabouts.
He wandered around for nearly ten minutes before he caught sight of her gown atop a lighted balcony. Looking around for stairs or a ladder that would lead to the balcony, he heard a male voice whisper something he couldn’t make out. Unable to find stairs, he grabbed hold of the textured bricks and started to climb up. Just as he reached the top, he turned his head and watched in the shadows as a somewhat unsettled Madison whispered, “Not him, only you,” before she wound her arms around Robbie’s neck and he lowered his lips to hers.
Benjamin tore his gaze away and dropped to the ground like a lead weight had been lowered on his stomach, which it had. He was certain of it. He felt worse than ever before. He’d just witnessed confirmation that she’d never feel the same for him that he did for her. All her love was for Robbie, not him.
The next day he traveled home and swore never to even think of America again.
That goal worked out for little more than five years. Then, one mid-April day in 1812, he walked into a ballroom and his eyes immediately landed on a group of three young American girls.
They hadn’t recognized him right off. Actually, they still hadn’t even after a year. It had been five years since they’d met, after all. His horrible attempt at a beard was now gone. His clothes were now the height of fashion (still not dandified though). Most everyone now called him by his ducal title, except the few who were close enough to call him by his Christian name, Benjamin. Of course Madison and her sisters wouldn’t pick up on his name since they’d known him as Leo. For all intents and purposes they were meeting for the first time.
And now, more than a year after their second first meeting, they were taking vows and becoming man and wife.
Six years of miserable longing were over and they were now moments away from her becoming his wife.
Not that he had planned for it to happen the way it had. That was just a stroke of luck. He’d actually commissioned an engagement ring the morning after he’d first seen her in London. He’d carried it in his pocket like a besotted man for a few weeks at first. Then, when they’d been here a few weeks and he noticed she was still withdrawn and rumors circulated she had no interest in men or marriage, he put the ring back in its box and stood content to watch her from the shadows.
Before the start of this Season he’d brought the ring to London to be fixed. It would seem in all his nervous excitement at the beginning of last Season, he’d clutched the ring too tightly and accidentally broken one of the prongs that held the diamond in place.
His plan was to try and charm his way through her wall of defenses in order to win her hand. But when he arrived in London this Season, he was shocked and slightly unsettled to find her wall of defenses and haze of uncertainty was already gone. Instead of being lost in daydreams and quiet, she was surrounded by every eligible—and a few ineligible—gentleman aging from twenty to eighty.
With his plan ruined, he decided once again to watch her from the shadows and look for an opportune time to present himself to her. He knew she wouldn’t be very accepting of him at first due to her sister and brother-in-law’s past history with him. What an idiot he’d been to offer Townson money in exchange for orchestrating the ruination of Madison’s sister, he thought closing his eyes to block out the memory.
The time for him to present himself to her hadn’t arrived before she left to attend her increasing sister’s grand event. When she came back a few weeks later, the timing was even worse. Her parents had left for America and left Townson to be her guardian in their stead. This was not good news for Benjamin. Townson and he had an uncomfortable past which was all his doing. There was no way he’d give his permission for Benjamin to marry her. Nor court her. Nor even call on her. In fact, he was absolutely stunned when Townson allowed him in her mere presence when he’d asked him to keep her occupied so he could dispatch of Robbie.
He would have been content to stay in the shadows when they were caught by Lady Algen. He’d been prepared to wait for Mr. Banks to return before asking for her hand. The only reason he could no longer wait in the dark for everyone to leave was the three of them had done enough suffering at his hands, and he couldn’t stand idle as the family faced yet another scandal created by him. He was just fortunate Madison swallowed her shock and took his arm.
He’d done his best to postpone the wedding until her parents could return. But fear of rumors convinced them all to carry it of on the date originally set: four weeks from the engagement announcement. With her parents not yet returned, Townson stepped in and walked her down the aisle. He’d even gone so far as to keep a scowl off his face, except for a split-second when he placed Madison’s hand in Benjamin’s.
“I now pronounce you man and wife. You
may now kiss your bride,” Paul Grimes said, drawing Benjamin back to the present.
Slowly, reverently almost, and definitely tenderly, Benjamin reached his free hand up to cup Madison’s cheek as he lowered his head to press his lips against hers.
Under his, her lips briefly softened before exerting the same amount of pressure he had and returned the kiss.
Straightening, he looked down at her to capture in his memory exactly what her face looked like after their first kiss.
“Ladies and Gentlemen, I now present to you the Duke and Duchess of Gateway,” Paul said proudly as the grinning couple turned to face the clapping audience.
Chapter 3
Madison peeked up at her bridegroom through her lashes. He was startlingly handsome when he grinned, she thought before she turned her eyes back to the sea of wedding guests. She’d personally never seen His Grace beam like this before. Brooke had once told her she’d only seen him truly smile once and though it was an absolutely beautiful sight, it seemed to foreshadow something unpleasant.
Blinking to rid herself of that disheartening thought, she turned her smile up to a full beam and allowed him to escort her down the aisle.
Their wedding had taken place in St. Gregory’s church with the breakfast to follow at her sister’s townhouse.
Gateway led her to his carriage and wordlessly helped her up. “Thank you, Your Grace” she murmured when she got settled.
“You’re welcome,” he returned, taking a seat next to her. “You’re a beautiful bride, Madison.”
Her eyes locked on his still grinning face. “Thank you again, Your Grace” she said somberly. Was he just like all the others? Could all he see in her was her superficial beauty? “You’re rather handsome yourself,” she said with a weak smile. She hadn’t lied. He was handsome. He was one of the most handsome men in England and everyone, including himself, knew it. At close to, if not exactly, six feet tall, he was taller than most. His hair was a light blonde that was kept clipped reasonably short. His face was full of hard planes and angles that made him look like he was chiseled from stone. His eyes also resembled stones, the sapphire kind, that is. They were a color blue that held many different hues. She’d noticed at times they were pale blue like the sky and at other times they were a few shades darker almost like blue flame on a candle. Where his nose had once been a slim line, it now had a permanent knot toward the top and looked slightly lopsided. His mouth was usually clamped shut in a straight line with his slightly red not thin, not thick lips pressed together in twin rows. This was the first time she’d seen him smile in a way that didn’t make him appear to be sneering, snarling or grimacing. He actually looked exceedingly handsome just now.