To Win his Wayward Wife AZ w cover
Page 17
He shook his head. “You’re not going to a dungeon. You’ll stay in my room.”
“Your room, dungeon, same thing,” she said pertly. “Just show me where I’m to be locked away so that I may lie upon my bed and dream up all the ways you could torture me.”
“I’m not going to torture you,” he hissed.
“You already are,” she retorted. “If you take me back right now, I might forgive you.”
“No,” he ground out, steering her into the house. “I’m protecting you. Until I’m informed he’s sitting in his mother’s family room drinking tea every afternoon at three thirty, you'll be staying here.”
“And what if I don’t want to?” she asked defiantly.
He let out a sharp bark of laughter. “You don’t have a choice. The nearest town with a mail coach that passes through is more than ten miles away.”
“I could walk there if I have to,” she informed him as he led her down the blue carpeted hallway.
“You don’t even know which direction,” he said with a snort.
She jerked her arm from his grasp. “I don’t need to. I’d rather wander lost in the forest than be stuck here with you, Gateway.”
Fire boiled inside him. “I told you not to call me that,” he snapped, piercing her with his eyes. He detested being called by his title more than ‘Your Grace’. “You may call me Benjamin or nothing. Understood?”
“Understood, nothing,” she confirmed with a laughing smile.
He closed his eyes for a moment. He wasn’t in the mood to laugh. But he’d inadvertently set that up just right for her and he couldn’t blame her for taking advantage. “Now, this room,” he opened the door and nearly had to drag her inside, “is the drawing room.” He stood there for a minute waiting for her to walk around, which she never did.
“Could you please just show me to where I’ll be spending my nights?”
Any other time he would have asked a cheeky question about if she planned to pass the night sleeping or “sleeping” then directed her to appropriate room. Which in either case, he would have directed her to his room. “This way,” he said, pulling her along.
They walked up the stairs and to the fourth room on the left. Without waiting for him to open the door, Madison found the handle and swung it open before pulling out of his grasp again and marching inside. She tried to shut—or perhaps slam—the door, but he stepped in the way and stopped it with his foot.
“This will be our room,” he said with a forced smile.
She whipped around and glared at him. “I think not.”
“And why not?” he drawled.
“I’m not sharing a room with you. Especially one that has only one bed that’s smaller than the one I shared with Brooke at that atrocious boarding house in Bath last spring.”
“We don’t need a big bed,” he countered with a wink. “If I remember last night correctly, we barely used more that my body’s width worth of space. This will be plenty.”
“You’re right. It will be plenty,” she agreed, sugar dripping from her voice. “For me!” she exclaimed, her voice becoming less like sugar and more like vinegar. “You can sleep outside with the rest of your kind.”
“My kind?”
“An animal,” she said simply. “Now, where are my clothes? I should like to dress.”
He coughed. “On top of the carriage.”
“All right, go get them. I’m not some doxy that only wears her chemise all day.”
She walked over to the window, presumably to wait for him to leave the room to go get the trunks. She looked down and sighed. He knew she would. Right below the only window in the room sat several large sticker bushes. She let her blanket drop and opened the window. Poking her head out, she made sound of frustration at the realization that thick sticker bushes lined the entire side of the house.
“Sorry, I haven’t a gardener at present,” he murmured, scaring a little scream out of her.
She turned around and pulled her blanket back up. “Why are you not getting my things?” she demanded.
“That’s what servants are for.” He leaned back against the doorjamb. “You don’t have to hold that blanket up. I won’t mind.”
“You are impossible,” she said with a sigh. “You’re rather full of yourself, aren’t you?”
“No,” he said, shaking his head. “I’m really not.”
In the hall, one of the footmen, either the one who was skinnier than a bedpost and limped or the one who was so old Benjamin kept thinking he was about to keel over and die, was making an awful ruckus dragging a trunk down the hall and Benjamin went to lend a hand and brought the trunk into their room with ease.
“Where are the rest?” she asked, staring at the single trunk that he placed in the middle of the floor.
He shot her a hopeful smile. “This is it.”
“That’s not it. I brought three trunks to Rockhurst. Where are the rest?” She went to the hall and twisted her head around the corner to see if there were more in the hall.
“Everything’s in here,” he said, pulling her back into their room.
“No, it’s not,” she said, shaking her head wildly. “There is no way my things could fit in there.”
“Everything’s in there,” he repeated, staring at the chest.
She jerked the lid open on the chest, pulled out her blue muslin day gown from yesterday that was on the top and laid it carefully across the bed. Then went back to the chest and started digging through it. “These are your things. Where are my other clothes?” she demanded, looking up at him.
“That’s all of it.”
“Where are my other clothes,” she repeated, her voice turning sharper. “Do not tell me you left them.”
“All right, I won’t tell you that I left them,” he said jovially.
She let out an exaggerated sigh. “Are you a relation to Robbie?” she asked flatly.
His heart started pounding in his chest. Had she just figured it out? Did she remember him? He was just about to answer her when she cut him off.
“Because right now. I’d swear you are. You both seem to have the same level of brain function,” she continued.
He frowned. Now, that wasn’t very flattering. Perhaps it was best he’d not mentioned Robbie’s cousin Leo after all.
“Could you have put enough thought into your plan to think of me a little? Or did you think once you got me here I’d swoon at your feet and play the part of your trollop, rendering a wardrobe unnecessary?”
Her accusations fueled the fire to his rage. “Listen here, Madison,” he said sharply, coming to stand directly in front of her, offering her no means to escape. “I don’t appreciate you accusing me of thinking of you as a whore. I’ve warned you about that twice before; there will be no more warnings. I’ve told you repeatedly that I won’t force you. Don’t mention it again. As for your clothes, that’s where I’m smarter than Mr. Swift. See, a fool like Swift, would have gone into Rockhurst in the dead of night to try and collect your clothes. And I say ‘try’ because that’s all it would have been. It would have been nearly impossible to do that without being detected. And that was a chance I didn’t wish to take.”
“No? Why not? Why not just wait a few hours and ask me if I’d go with you? Or why not explain the situation to Andrew and have his servants be on alert for Robbie? There were so many better options opened to you, and instead of thinking about anyone but yourself, you chose to abduct me.”
“And would you have come if I’d asked?” He saw in her eyes the inner struggle she had in order to answer his question. “That’s what I thought.”
“No,” she said fiercely, shaking her head. “It’s not what you thought. The truth is we’ll never know. We’ll never know because you took it upon yourself to do whatever you wanted. Just like you always do.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” he demanded.
“You never ask me about anything important, you just decide it,” she clarified.
“Like what?” he asked disbelievingly. What had he decided for her that she thought she should have been consulted about?
She crossed her arms and said, “Us marrying. I never accepted your suit. You never even asked. You just sauntered out of that dark hallway and announced we were getting married.”
He stared at her unblinkingly. “You had just been accused of dallying with your sister’s husband. I was doing you a favor.”
“I don’t need your favors,” she returned. “And it was your fault anyway. If you would have told me your identity, I would have left.”
“I didn’t want you to scream,” he countered. “I thought if you knew who I was you’d give a blood curdling scream and drawing attention to us.”
She rolled her eyes. “Use whatever excuse you want. It doesn’t matter now.”
“Is that what this is about? You wanted a real marriage proposal?” He sank to one knee and sarcastically said, “Oh, beautiful Madison, would you please, please, please, do me the honor of becoming my wife? I don’t know how I’ll be able to live another day if you say no.”
“You don’t have to be nasty about it,” she said, her voice mostly even with just a hint of hurt mixed in that tugged at his heart.
“I’m sorry,” he said, getting up off the floor. “That wasn’t very nice.”
“No it wasn’t,” she replied. “But I wouldn’t expect anything less from the man who hired another man to destroy a young lady’s reputation.”
“It seemed to work out well for them,” he retorted. “And there was a reason I did that.”
“Yes, I’m sure there was. And I’m sure it would have benefited you greatly if things had gone according to plan. But I’m not interested in hearing about it anymore,” she said flatly. “Now, get out. I’d like to dress and I don’t need an audience.”
“It actually benefitted me better that things didn’t work out the way I’d planned,” he said quietly. “Do you need some help with your gown?”
“No. Now, get out,” she snapped, pointing to the door.
Chapter 18
What in the world was she to do now? Benjamin seemed bent on the idea of holding her hostage. But that didn’t mean she had to stay. She may not be able to find the nearest town on her own but surely one of his servants could help her. She’d just have to ask them when he wasn’t around.
She walked around the house. It wasn’t anything special. It was two stories and made completely out of smooth grey stone. Not just the outside, but the inside, too. The floor was large smooth-sided stones with carpet runners placed in the middle of common walkways. Around the edges of most of the rooms the rocks could be seen. The walls were also rocks. Some smooth, some not so smooth around the edges, but not jagged or dangerous. Just interesting. None of the windows were very big. They were all half windows that started about four or five feet off the floor and were about two to three feet tall and three feet wide.
Most of the rooms had a large fireplace and very little furnishings. No decorations or sconces hung on the walls. A few miniatures and candle stands were placed on flat surfaces throughout the rooms. She picked up a wax candle and noticed that it was fresh. Just like the last one she’d picked up. Apparently he either replaced his candles after each time he used one, which wasn’t likely, or he didn’t come here often.
She crept into the library and frowned when she saw only five volumes on the shelves. That was only further confirmation he never came here. Where in England was this place? Was it truly so far out of the way she’d never be found? No. She wasn’t going to think that way. She’d find a way to leave, even if she died trying. She wasn’t going to let him manipulate her like she’d let Robbie. In a way those two were just alike, it truly wouldn’t surprise her to find out they were relatives. Like Benjamin, Robbie could manipulate anyone into doing anything. Even if it took him five years.
Plopping down onto the settee that was positioned just below the only window in the drawing room, she closed her eyes, leaned her head back and drifted back in time. Back to a time when she’d let her vulnerabilities get the best of her and first started playing the puppet to Robbie’s skillful manipulation.
***
Brooklyn, NY
March, 1807
“Who was that?” she asked Robbie with a grin.
“Who’s who?” he asked, leading her onto the dance floor.
“Stop that,” she said laughingly. “You sound like an owl.”
He smiled and took his place in front of her for their dance. “All right, I suppose you refer to the man I was just speaking to?”
“Yes,” she said, putting her hand in his and casting a quick look to the handsome man with the unkempt and rather scruffy looking beard.
“He’s my cousin,” Robbie said blandly. “His name’s Leo. He’s from England.”
How intriguing. “And what is he doing here?”
Robbie shrugged and spun her, making her almost hit Big Thomas in the process. “Don’t know. Don’t care.”
“Is he staying with you?” She sent Big Thomas an apologetic smile and watched as he nodded his little head and licked the drool that was forming in the corner of his mouth.
Robbie stepped on her foot, presumably to get her attention back from where she’d been watching Big Thomas and his partner in awe. Really it was amazing his partner’s arms could stretch far enough to hold onto him. It was even more amazing the man didn’t topple over to the floor every time he danced because he was so top heavy. “Why do you care?”
“Hmmm?” she asked. “Oh, about your cousin.” She’d thought he’d read her thoughts about Big Thomas and his little twig dance partner. “Right, I just wondered. He’s rather handsome.”
“Handsome?” Robbie scoffed, twirling her even more wildly than last time. “He’s not handsome. He looks like a beggar. He’s got that scraggly beard. His clothes are dreadfully out of date. And anyway, it looks like he has an interest in Brooke.”
Madison craned her neck. Sure enough her handsome fellow was talking to Brooke. Brooke looked to be laughing about something he’d said and he had the largest grin she’d ever seen on his face. She hadn’t gotten a good look at him when she’d walked up to Robbie, but she’d seen him earlier from across the room watching the dancers and convinced Brooke to walk with her to go stand by him. She’d waited for him to come ask her to dance. But he hadn’t. Instead, Wendell Marshall had.
After enduring Whiney Wendell for five minutes, she decided to take matters into her own hands. Hoping for an introduction, she walked over to where Robbie was talking to this handsome stranger. However, once again, her plans to dance with him crumbled and she found herself dancing with Robbie. Not that she didn’t like Robbie. She did. But just not in that way. Not anymore, anyway. She had once, but thankfully Brooke talked sense into her head and she now understood that had been a girlhood crush, nothing more.
“They just met, surely he’s not smitten with her already,” Madison said airily. Everyone said Madison might be the more stunning of the two, but Brooke had the more exciting personality. She liked to tell jokes and laugh. Whereas Madison found she didn’t usually think other people’s jokes were funny, and very few found hers to be. Mama used to tell her she had a dry sense of humor. And unfortunately for her, decent men didn’t seem to like her dry wit or occasionally crude comment. That was something she was working on. She’d repeatedly been told she needed to watch her mouth. And though she’d explained to Mama and Papa numerous times that wasn’t physically possible, she knew what they meant. She needed to be more mindful of what she said and who she said it to.
Robbie shrugged. “Ever hear of love at first sight?”
“Why, Robbie,” she said teasingly, “have you become a romantic?”
“No,” he said flatly. “I’m just saying.”
“Hmm, well, I shall discover the truth of it tonight,” she said cheekily. “I shall interrogate Brooke into the wee hours of the morning to extract the details if I must.”
Her eyes met his. He thought she was still interested in him and now that she wasn’t, he was interested in her. What a coil. “Robbie, you’re not in love with me, either,” she said evenly, not wanting to hurt his feelings. “I know I’ve embarrassed myself in more ways than one trying to catch your notice, but it was all a bunch of girlhood fantasies. I don’t harbor those feelings for you any longer and I don’t think you truly feel the same way for me.”
He stepped on her toe again. Except this time it seemed to be more of an accident than before. “You what?” he asked, blinking owlishly at her. “But you’ve been in love with me forever.” He flashed her his most charming smile.
She squeezed his shoulder in a friendly gesture. “I know. But as you always said, it was just an infatuation, not love.”
“I see,” he said slowly. “And you think you love Leo all the sudden?” His voice sounded bitter and angry.
“No,” she said softly. “Robbie, it’s just not that way between us. But no, I haven’t suddenly transferred my affections to him. He’s a stranger. I just thought he looked handsome and thought perhaps I might like to meet him, that’s all.”
He nodded once and didn’t say a word for the rest of their dance.
True to her word, Madison went to Brooke’s room that night to ask questions about Robbie’s cousin and see if he was smitten with her. Long ago the two had decided if one had marked interest in a particular gentleman, the other would not interfere. That had never been a problem before and she desperately hoped it wouldn’t become one now.
Madison put her hand on Brooke’s doorknob and went to twist it when suddenly the knob seemed to be pulling her. She looked up and blinked at Brooke. “I…uh…” She looked at her hand that was still outstretched and holding onto Brooke’s door. “Can we talk?”
“Yes,” Brooke almost squealed with excitement. She grabbed Madison’s arm and yanked her into her room. “I was just coming to find you.”