The Notorious Widow

by Allison Lane

  William recoiled. “What?”

  He ignored the overdone shock. “This would have been bad enough if I weren’t your guest, but abusing your hospitality after tying me to the estate makes it worse. I will never—”

  “What the devil are you talking about?” demanded Seabrook, interrupting. “If you have a complaint, we will discuss it, but let’s at least go inside instead of sharing it with the staff.” He gestured toward a pair of gardeners clipping hedges in the distance.

  “You won’t set me up a second time. I’ll see—”

  “Stop!”

  William’s voice cut through Blake’s protest. Snapping his mouth closed, he stared at his host, then applied curbs to his temper when he spotted the confusion simmering in the man’s eyes.

  William let out a deep breath. “I have always considered you a fair man, Rockhurst. If you feel wronged, I must respect that, but I have no idea what you are talking about. Your summons said only to meet you in the library.”

  “Summons?” Blake glared. “I sent no summons.”

  “No su—” William frowned. “Bill told me that you wished to see me in the library as soon as possible. Since he’d chased me down in the stable to deliver the message, I presumed the matter was urgent.”

  “How interesting.” Blake cupped his chin. “Rob met me outside the breakfast room. According to him, you needed me in the library immediately. He was so anxious that I postponed eating.”

  “But—”

  “The only occupant of the library is Laura. When I peeped around the door, she was pulling the pins from her hair.”

  “She wouldn’t!” William’s horror finally convinced Blake that Laura had concocted this plot on her own.

  “She is. If you join her, she will weep and wail over my supposed attack. I won’t stand for it, Seabrook. I meant to speak with you this morning anyway, for her antics have become more than irritating. I must lock my door at night to keep her from crawling into my bed. She has the entire staff spying on me. I cannot sit down for a moment without her appearing. Her constant prattle gives me headaches. But this is too much. I have no interest in the chit. Any lies she devises will ruin her, for I will never offer. I would leave the country first, for I despise schemers.”

  William’s shoulders sagged. “I cannot believe that she is this desperate. She has turned down four offers that I know of, and I’ve no idea how many others she dissuaded from speaking with me.”

  “None were from gentlemen who would whisk her away to a life of adventure,” Blake reminded him gently. “Now she finds herself with no suitors and a questionable reputation, so she has abandoned her dreams to claim the nearest male. What she refuses to admit is that she would be as unhappy with me as you would have been with Miss Wyath. She wants adventure, society, and fawning adoration. I prefer the Abbey to London. When I go to town, it will be for Parliament and not for an endless round of boring parties. Our ambitions are too disparate.”

  “She isn’t as selfish as you claim. She’s—”

  “Don’t.” Blake put as much ice in his tone as possible. “Nothing you say will make a difference. I know she is your sister, but to outside eyes she is a self-absorbed, greedy fortune hunter who ignores even obvious truths if they contradict her fantasies. Right now her goal is to escape Devonshire. She will do anything to achieve it.”

  William turned away, staring into the distance as his fists clenched and unclenched. He finally turned back to meet Blake’s gaze. “I owe you a great deal for opening my eyes to Alicia’s faults. When I saw her pursuing you last evening, her avaricious nature became clear. And her attack on Laura was inexcusably vulgar. She would have made an abominable wife.”

  “You can pay the debt by passing the lesson on to your sister. She will destroy her reputation if she persists with this plot. And her blindness is appalling. Even if she had succeeded in wresting an offer from me, word would have leaked out about her methods. It would have destroyed the rest of you by confirming the rumors of gross indiscretions.”

  “I am not looking forward to the conversation,” William admitted.

  “I would be surprised if you were. You might mention that I see little difference between her and Miss Wyath, especially after her performance at the assembly. Both flirt with anyone at hand while they scheme to trap a man who will elevate them. Both are selfish, caring little about how their actions affect others. And both are stupid, ignoring the inevitable result of their schemes. Husbands have no duty to their wives beyond providing food, clothing, and shelter. A loaf of bread, a tattered robe, and space in the dungeon would be sufficient.”

  “True. I will see that she behaves in future.”

  It wasn’t enough, decided Blake. Laura might ignore William’s orders. “If I cannot concentrate on countering Jasper’s plots, I must return to town.”

  William grimaced. Leaving Seabrook would intensify the gossip, raising new charges against the entire family. “That won’t be necessary. I’ll lock her up before I’ll let her bother you again.” He paused. “I am curious, though. Might you have considered Laura if she had not been so brazen?”

  “No. She exhibits none of the traits I demand in a wife. Besides, I have my eye on someone else,” he added in patent untruth.

  “Well… That’s that, then.” William squared his shoulders. “I will see her now. Please accept my apologies, Rockhurst. This should never have happened. I cannot condone force, no matter what the goal.”

  Blake watched him leave. He would never blame William for entertaining hopes. The man had two sisters to settle, a task made difficult by straitened circumstances and Laura’s air dreaming even before Jasper’s attacks began.

  Abandoning his plans to visit the stable, he headed for the formal garden. But William's question teased his mind. His answer had sought to deflate even the tiniest hope that Laura could bring him up to scratch, but now he wondered if it had contained a grain of truth. He envied Max’s luck in finding a wife who complemented him so perfectly. The two shared a link felt by few aristocratic couples.

  Catherine is very like her, whispered his conscience.

  Perhaps. And it was true that she elicited some of the same reactions Max had described. But he could not afford to consider the possibility just yet. Unless he kept their relationship firmly focused on business, he would make the situation worse.

  Business meant identifying Jasper’s closest friends. They were the ones most likely to know his motives. The fact that they rarely teased him proved that they understood his reactions. Ted could discover their names. So could Catherine, of course. But asking her required going indoors. Until William had dealt with Laura, he couldn’t risk it.

  Again he turned toward the stable, but Sarah shouted a greeting and beckoned him to join her near the folly. Within minutes he found himself tramping through the woods, diligently matching fallen leaves to the trees that had produced them.

  * * * *

  William paused in the library doorway. He’d been hoping that Rockhurst had misinterpreted what he’d seen. Though he knew the assembly had shocked Laura into hysterics, he hadn’t thought she would employ dishonor. So he’d made excuses and invented other explanations – perhaps Rob had summoned both men to the library, but Bill had garbled the message; maybe Laura had taken advantage of an empty room to repair a slipping hairstyle; Rockhurst might be lying…

  But even imagination could find no reason for Rockhurst to lie. He was too honorable – which made Laura’s dishonor even worse.

  Now he glared at her as his last hope died. She was standing by the window, her hair in artistic disarray. A torn shoulder drooped from her gown as she clutched a drape to her bosom. The moment he entered, she burst into sobs. “He attacked me,” she cried, flinging herself into his arms. “He c-claimed he c-couldn’t live another d-day without me. I tried to fight—”

  “I am appalled,” he snapped, shoving her away. He clasped his hands behind his back to keep from shaking her. “I never believed a Seabr
ook could play so dastardly a trick.”

  “Me? Rockhurst assaulted me!”

  “Stop this, Laura.” He backed away from the stranger inhabiting his sister’s body. “You demean yourself more with every word. You arranged this dishabille yourself, as a witness will attest.”

  “You can’t believe—”

  “I just left Rockhurst,” he continued, ignoring her. “How interesting that each of us received a summons supposedly from the other. Who do you suppose gave those messages to Rob and Bill? I will ask them if I must. Neither of them will lie to me, for doing so would cost them their positions.” Her recoil was all the confirmation he needed. “That was not well done of you. I am ashamed that such a schemer shares my roof and name.”

  She collapsed onto the couch, crying in earnest. “B-but how else am I to attach him? I’ve never met anyone so slow to respond to me.”

  “Beware of arrogance,” he warned, pulling a chair around to face her. “I warned you not to press him, Laura. Like most wealthy lords, he is plagued by fortune hunters. They throw themselves at his title in droves – just as you have been doing. He pulled no punches when describing you. One of his less vulgar comments compared you to Alicia Wyath, who did everything but tear her clothes off trying to draw his attention last night. But even Alicia did not stoop to trickery.”

  She flinched. “I never meant—”

  “Intentions no longer matter. Whether he might have formed an attachment if you had met under different circumstances is moot.” He frowned. “I think he seeks something quite specific in a wife, though he did not say what. But whatever that is, he considers you an irritating, unscrupulous fortune hunter.”

  “But I don’t care about his fortune.”

  “It makes no difference. Look at yourself. If you were a man, would you want ties to such a woman? Would you wish to live with her, have children with her, or accede to a single one of her wishes?”

  “Dear lord!” She hugged herself, shaking.

  “It is over, Laura. He wants nothing to do with you, and I don’t blame him. I promised that you would leave him alone for the remainder of his stay – which he was ready to terminate immediately. If you make the slightest overture, he will leave. After last night, you should understand what that would mean to Catherine.”

  “And all of us,” she managed. Panic filled her eyes.

  “Now you see your peril. Your future depends on exposing Jasper’s lies. As does mine and Mary’s. I have tried to pretend it does not, but even turning Catherine off would not save us. We have become pariahs in the public eye. Rockhurst is our best hope of recovering.”

  She reached out to touch his arm. “Does losing Miss Wyath hurt?”

  “I am angrier at myself than at her,” he admitted. “Jasper’s rumors kept me from making a serious mistake. She has been using me to hone her flirting skills while she waits for a man worth trapping. And she was hoping to keep me in reserve in case she failed to do better – you can imagine how she would have behaved in that event. While I do have a title, I lack the fortune and social connections she seeks.”

  “She would be furious.”

  “Exactly. Having already failed to attach Jasper, she is heading for Bath and then London. If she had been forced to settle for me, she would have made endless demands for money, clothes, Seasons…” He let his voice fade as he shook his head. “She would have been very unhappy when I refused. I would have had to live with an increasingly waspish wife. And think of what that would have meant to Catherine and Sarah.”

  “Or Mary and me,” she agreed, shuddering.

  “Don’t make the same mistake,” he urged her. “Trapping a man who does not want you will bring you nothing but grief. It would be better to remain here than to wed a man who resents you. I would have survived marriage to Alicia because in the end, I have the power to control my wife. You lack that power. A husband can dictate where and how his wife lives, who she sees, and what she does. No one will stop him from enforcing his rules however he sees fit. No one will condemn him if his discipline causes pain, or even injury. So make sure that you find a man who will treat you well.”

  “I am so ashamed,” she murmured, biting her lip as new tears slid down her face. “And appalled at my behavior. I cannot imagine why I thought something this despicable could work.” She shook her head. “In truth, I did not think ahead, ignoring his discouragement and imbuing him with interests he does not have. He even warned me that he prefers a quiet country life.”

  “While you prefer excitement. You should have taken the hint. He claims his interests are fixed elsewhere, and he is not a man whose head can be turned by a pretty face.” At least not permanently, he amended silently. There wasn’t a man alive who didn’t admire a lovely view. But that was irrelevant. Straightening, he produced a brisk tone. “You owe him an apology, Laura. Today. Then you will avoid him for the remainder of his stay. I want nothing to distract him from his vow to help us.”

  Laura sighed. “You were right, William. I have grown arrogant, assuming that every man who calls will fall instantly at my feet. I even discounted Catherine’s good advice because I resented her efforts to control me.”

  He paused, but this was an opportunity he could not ignore. “Are you sure it was not disdain that she had attracted fewer beaux than you?”

  “That’s ridi—” She pulled herself up short and blushed. “Perhaps I am more arrogant than I thought. She and Harold were so well suited, it hardly mattered that no puppies dangled after her. I’ve treated her abominably since her return.”

  “Do not exaggerate your faults, Laura,” he warned, fearful that she would slide into despair. “You are intelligent, with a strong capacity for caring. Yes, you’ve made mistakes, but nothing that will ruin you.” As long as Rockhurst keeps quiet, he added under his breath. “Take advantage of your isolation in the coming days. Think about how you behave toward others. If there is a problem, then fix it. The right man will eventually appear. You will want to be ready.”

  * * * *

  Catherine finished the linen inventory. It was a chore that could easily have waited until spring, but she needed to keep busy and away from Rockhurst.

  She should have stayed home yesterday. Jasper would not have attended the assembly unless someone had informed him of her temerity. If she’d remained away, the gossips would not have hardened their hearts, William would not be blamed for starting a brawl, and Laura would not have spent the night in tears.

  Fustian! snorted her conscience. Jasper would have gone anyway.

  She smoothed the last pile of sheets, pulling herself from the mire of regret that had trapped her since leaving the assembly rooms. It was true. His attack had not been aimed at her. He’d merely grazed her in passing – not that he cared. Nor did he care that he was destroying her family. William had been seething and Laura hysterical. Mary had huddled in the corner of the carriage as if trying to escape notice. The journey home had been the worst of her life. She couldn’t blame Rockhurst for riding on the box.

  But it wasn’t Jasper’s latest attack that had kept her sleepless. Every time her eyes had closed, she’d relived her two sets with Rockhurst – which was ridiculous. Both sets had been simple country dances performed with others more than with him. Yet her fingers still tingled where he had gripped them. Warmth radiated from her upper arm where his hand had touched above her glove.

  She blushed.

  She was not a green miss to be seduced by the prescribed patterns of a dance. It was dangerous to imagine his hands expanding those innocuous touches into the intimacy she had allowed no one but Harold.

  Swearing under her breath, she slammed the linen room door and headed for the garden. Her imagination had run completely amok if it was conjuring images of Rockhurst in bed. And it would get worse. Somehow she had lost all control over her fantasies.

  The only solution was to release him from his vow. Jasper had proved himself invincible. He did whatever he pleased with impunity. Rockhurst
would never force him to recant, for Jasper knew that no one who mattered would turn on him. Thus Rockhurst should return home before she embarrassed them both.

  Laura will be furious.

  True, but not as furious as if he stayed. It was only a matter of time before he realized how much she wanted him. Even a saint would accept such an invitation. Laura would have to attach him from a distance.

  But he was the stubborn sort who would keep his promises or die trying, she admitted as she slipped down the servants’ stairs. So what argument would convince him to abandon this one and leave?

  Fulfilling his vow was so important to his honor that he would twist facts to make winning seem possible. Like their confrontation over the assembly yesterday. Her arguments had been valid, yet he’d ignored every one – and look where it had gotten them. Publicly supporting her had eliminated his ability to learn anything useful. Opinion had hardened against her, making Jasper’s position more secure than ever. And her family now shared her disgrace. That brawl was already being laid at William’s door. Laura’s attack on Alicia hadn’t helped.

  Grabbing her gardening cloak, she slipped out the kitchen door past two maids shelling peas. A gardener clipped a nearby hedge. Another raked the path to the stables.

  She needed privacy to organize her thoughts, marshal her arguments, and bring her unruly passions under control. Other groundskeepers toiled in the formal garden. A flash of blue showed that Mary and Sarah were in the folly, so she headed for the walled rose garden.

  It proved to be a bad choice. Rockhurst emerged from the arbor as she shut the gate behind her.

  “Who are Rankin’s closest friends?” he asked abruptly.

  “Tom Potter and Jack Henshaw. Why?” She remained near the gate, fighting to calm herself. Seeing him so unexpectedly made it difficult to breathe.

  “The people who know him best might know his motives.”

  “Don’t waste your time. Even if Jasper told them – which is unlikely – they would never discuss his business with you.” This was the ideal time to terminate his visit. “I appreciate your efforts on my behalf, but last night proved that the situation is hopeless. Continuing the fight can only harm others.”