by Dayna Quince
His hackles rose.
He wanted nothing more than to walk up to both of them and plant his fist in their teeth, nay, he wanted to bind their feet and hands and drag them down the road behind his horse. He wanted them to feel the bite of a crop against their bare flesh over and over, as Maddie had, while he gleefully issued each bloody welt. Jonathan felt a darkness fill him as stared at them—he stared until there was nothing else in his vision.
“Rigsby.”
A hand shook his shoulder. Jonathan shrugged it off.
“What is it?” he snarled. He blinked as he saw Banks holding out a glass of brandy.
“Drink something to relax you before you murder someone.” Banks pressed the glass into his hand.
“I’m not going to murder anyone.”
“That’s not what your eyes say.”
Jonathan narrowed them at Banks. He exhaled and took a drink, forcing himself to relax. He wasn’t going to murder Maddie’s father and brother. He was going to take Maddie away from them for good.
“Much better. Now you only look annoyed.”
“Perfect. That is exactly how I’m feeling. Forgive me, Banks, and thank you for the drink, but I must speak to someone.” Jonathan moved in the direction of his prey. They took notice, straightening and fixing their gazes on any point but him.
“Good evening, Sir William, Mr. Prescott. I came to inquire after Lord Berett. I hope he fares well?” Jonathan looked around the room.
“He is understandably recuperating from this afternoon’s reckless engagement.”
“Ah, yes. I too feel the consequences of the exchange. Our ancestors must have been far stronger than us.”
“Lord Berett is very strong. Twas your vicious—”
Maddie’s brother stopped as his father put a hand on his shoulder.
Jonathan focused on him. “Vicious, you say? I cannot disagree with you, Mr. Prescott. Though I was born to a life of wealth and leisure, I found it easy to get lost in the thrill of battle.”
“It was a friendly joust for the benefit of entertainment.” Sir William grumbled. “Hardly a battle.”
Jonathan chuckled. “Between me and the others, yes. But between Lord Berett and me, no.”
He waited as Sir William and Mr. Prescott digested that.
“You expect me to believe…” Sir William narrowed his eyes menacingly.
“Believe what you want, but know this. I am courting Miss Prescott with every intention of marriage. Lord Berett is unfit, as I enthusiastically displayed this afternoon.”
“I would never approve such a match,” Sir William blustered.
Jonathan stilled. “You wouldn’t allow your daughter to marry the future Earl of Heath?” He didn’t like using his future title as bait, but it was laughable. How could any father not want his daughter to be a countess?
Sir William straightened. “I gave Lord Berett my word and my word is my honor.”
Jonathan stepped closer, invading Sir Williams’s space. “You gave Maddie your word. You gave her a month to choose for herself. She is of age. You can’t prevent us from marrying. You’d be mad to do so.”
Mr. Prescott tried to push Jonathan back. They were on the verge of causing a scene. Jonathan stepped back. Sir William was turning red.
“My daughter is my property, and I shall do with her as I please.”
A cold rage infused Jonathan. He was on the precipice of violence. He slowly folded his hands behind his back and smiled slowly. “That is another thing I wanted to discuss.”
Sir William harrumphed. “This discussion is over.” He tried to push past. Jonathan stopped him by his wrist squeezing until the man winced.
“If you so much as blow a wisp of her hair out of place. I will see you hanged by your heels and gutted like a deer.”
“Threats?” Sir William hissed.
“Promises, Sir William. It is a promise.” He let go of Sir William’s wrist and turned an evil smile to Mr. Prescott. “No one touches her again. Do you understand?”
Mr. Prescott nodded, his eyes wide.
“Like a dear, gentlemen.” Jonathan turned and strode away.
He could feel their tense silence as he walked away. He was walking a dangerous path he knew but he had to say something when Maddie’s well-being was at stake. He tossed back the rest of his drink, trying hard not to make eye contact with anyone. He felt someone stop beside him.
“What the devil did you say?” Banks whispered.
“Nothing of importance.”
Banks cursed under his breath. “Is this what courtship entails? I think I’d like to have an arranged marriage.”
Jonathan scoffed. “Not all—” He stopped and tilted his head to the side as he thought of all the courtships he’d witnessed. A duke who pretended he wasn’t a duke, Draven’s slow descent into romantic madness, Bainbridge’s courtship was easy, but his letters of the happenings after his marriage were the stuff of nightmares, and then there was Winchester. Winchester had tried valiantly to resist Lucy but failed and now lives in wedded bliss. They all do. Even when he thought of Thea and her Major, lord how he hated to think of them, they too had survived a tumultuous courtship to find happiness as far as he knew. Come to think of it, thinking of them didn’t aggravate him as it used to.
“Rigsby?” Banks raised his brows.
“Wha—oh, yes, I was saying…forget what I said. Nothing worth the trouble ever came easy, did it?”
Banks frowned. “I suppose not.”
“Never give up your freedom to choose,” Jonathan finished.
Now it was Banks turn to remain silent in thought. Jonathan noticed that Lady Flora had joined the gathering and thought she looked well into her cups. That worried him. Had she been drinking heavily around Maddie? God knows what that dreadful woman would do or say in such a state.
“You know, Banks. I find I’m extremely tired and not up to sitting through dinner.”
“That’s almost believable,” Banks muttered.
“If I want to win tournament champion tomorrow, I need my rest.” Jonathan gave his glass to a passing footman. “Make my excuses for me?” He begged with a smile.
Banks sighed. “Go on.”
“Thank you. I will happily return the favor.”
“You better escape now. Dinner is about to be announced.”
* * *
Jonathan knocked softly on the door to the room Maddie shared with Lady Flora. It was quiet from what he could hear. He tested the handle, and it turned. He slowly opened the door, peeking inside. The room was empty and mostly dark except for the small fire in the hearth and the light coming from the dressing room. That must be Maddie’s makeshift room.
He stepped inside and closed the door softly, but there was a definite click.
“Anne?” Maddie called.
“It isn’t Anne,” Jonathan said.
Maddie came into the entryway. She covered her mouth with one hand, but he could tell she was smiling.
“What are you doing in here?”
“I was worried, so I thought to come and check on you.”
“You can’t do that. Everyone is expecting you downstairs. They say you’ll likely win tournament champion tomorrow.”
Jonathan strode forward confidently. “That is likely true.”
“Pride goeth before a fall.”
Jonathan grinned. “It isn’t pride, simple fact.” He stopped before her, bracing a hand on each side of the doorway. “I claimed to be tired. They’ll understand.”
“So you did go down?”
He nodded.
“Lady Flora did as well.”
“I saw her.” He reached out and lightly stroked her jaw. “Was she unkind to you?”
Maddie shrugged. “She could barely stay on her feet. Poor Anne had a devil of a time dressing her.”
“And what of her crestfallen brother? He didn’t come down for dinner.”
“She made it sound as though he’d broken every bone in his body.”
> “That was not my aim. I wanted to wound his ego.”
“You succeeded and more.”
“No actual broken bones?” he asked.
“I’m afraid not.” She sighed.
“You sound disappointed.”
“A bit.” She smiled wickedly.
He was taken by the urge to kiss her but held himself back. “When will Anne return?”
“I don’t know. I told her not to bother with me the rest of the night, but from Lady Flora’s behavior earlier, I’m not confident she’ll make it through dinner.
Jonathan considered that. “Have you eaten?”
“I just finished. Have you? She brought me more than I could eat. I think she’s doing it out of guilt.”
“Are you inviting me to dine on your scraps?” He leaned forward into the room until she had to back up.
“They are hardly scraps.” She took a step back. He stepped into the room and brushed past her. The whole room smelled of roast beef. He looked around the small space with a glower.
“This is awful.”
She went to the small table moved by her one small window and lifted the dish cover. “I like to think of it as cozy.”
Jonathan looked at the food. “I won’t tell you what I think of it.”
She shrugged in answer. “Sit and eat.”
He did, but only because he was very hungry. But after he appeased one appetite, he was going to slake another. He saw the book on her bed, which looked too short to accommodate an adult. “Were you reading?”
“I was.” She smiled and picked up the book. It was the book he had Camden bring to her.
“How do you like it?” he said before taking a bite of beef.
“I like it very much. I’ve never read about the supernatural before, but now that I have, I find I’m very curious to learn more.”
“Have you ever experienced a ghost?” he asked.
She made a funny face. “I don’t think so…”
“You don’t sound sure.”
“Would I have been scared?”
“I can’t imagine you afraid of anything,” he stated between bites.
She looked surprised by his statement. “Truly?”
“Truly. You are the bravest woman I know.”
“But what of your sister? She’s extremely brave.”
“She is, but she can be a coward too.”
“That isn’t nice to say.”
“No, but it is honest.”
She sat down on the bed. “Something strange happened after my mother died…” She hesitated.
“Go on? I’m a believer, Maddie. I’ve had plenty of strange and unexplainable things happen to me.”
She bit her lip. “I was young, and it was so long ago. It feels more like a dream now than a memory.”
“When did she die?”
She frowned. “I was fifteen. It was fall. I used to walk just to hear the leaves crunch under my feet. My father was away and my brother away at school. It was one of my favorite times of the year, but she had died earlier that year, in January actually. Just after the new year began.”
“I’m sorry,” Jonathan said.
“I am too,” she responded somberly. “It had begun to rain, and I was returning to my room to change. I remember how cold my feet were. I was in the hall, and it was so quiet, the house felt so empty.”
Jonathan watched her. She was staring at her hands, the light of the oil lamp illuminating her face in such a way she looked years younger. He could easily imagine her as a gangly fifteen-year-old girl.
She grew silent, her face changing. Her brows furrowed, pinched with pain and regret.
He wanted to reach out to her. “You don’t have to share it.”
“No.” She shook her head. “I want…I need to. I’ve never told anyone this.”
He waited. He gave her all the time she needed to gather her courage.
“I felt…cold. All over, suddenly, not just my feet. It was like an icy hand moved over my back. I stopped in the hall and looked around, but no one was there. But I felt like I was watched. Then…”
Jonathan waited. She looked over at him in question.
“I heard my name.”
He felt goose bumps erupt over his arms. “Your name?”
“Yes.” She nodded. “It was perfectly clear, but it wasn’t as though I heard it with my ears. It felt like it came from inside me. And it felt like—it sounded like…a warning.”
Jonathan’s brows jumped to his forehead. “A warning? About what?”
Something changed about her abruptly. She sat up straighter and looked away. She looked around the room, then got up and closed the door. Jonathan watched in curiosity.
“Maddie?”
“I don’t know. Nothing happened after that.” She waited by the door.
When he gave her a questioning look, she put a finger to her lips. Then he heard it. Footsteps. He jumped to his feet and slid into the small space between the wardrobe and the wall. It was diagonal to the door, and with luck, no one would enter, but if they did, they would have to step into the room to see him. Maddie had turned the lamp down low and then braced her body against the door. As she did so, the other door could be heard opening and loud voices, or rather one loud voice, entered the room followed by Anne’s quieter voice. Dinner wasn’t yet over, but it seemed Lady Flora had to excuse herself.
Jonathan and Maddie shared a panicked look.
“What do I do?” she mouthed.
Jonathan used his hands to mock being asleep.
Maddie shook her head, and then quickly struggled to get out of her gown. She was fighting the buttons on the back, so Jonathan stopped her and turned her back to him to help. It was the work of a moment and then he stepped back into his hiding place. Maddie tossed her dress over the end of the bed and climbed under the covers in her chemise and stockings.
Lady Flora began to scold Anne in unintelligible blathering now.
“She is asleep. Sleeping like a little lamb, isn’t she? She is devil spawn. I told him. The scandal wasn’t worth it. His little infatuation will pass if only he would just see her for the wicked creature she is.”
More murmuring from Anne.
“I care not! It’s too late.” Lady Flora cried. “I cannot salvage this situation any more than I can move the sun. What is owed will never be paid.”
Maddie frowned. Jonathan watched, worried that, at any moment, Lady Flora would come barging through the door in her drunken rage. Silence filled the room then they began to hear movement, the creaking of the bed and a scratch on Maddie’s door.
“She is abed,” Anne whispered.
“Thank you,” Maddie whispered back.
They could hear Anne leaving. Jonathan slipped out from his hiding place. “I should leave, too.”
“You can’t leave. Not until she starts snoring. When she snores, trampling elephants wouldn’t be able to wake her.
“Oh?” He smiled. “Then I guess I’ll stay for a bit.” He sat down on the edge of the bed.
“What do you suppose she meant by being owed?”
Jonathan shrugged. “Owed a favor? Owed a debt? Why do you ask?”
“That’s the second time I’ve heard her reference it. Like I’m payment for something.”
Jonathan scowled. “I don’t like that.”
“Nor do I.”
“You suspect your father owes Lord Berett something?”
She sat up in the bed. “It would make perfect sense, wouldn’t it? Why my father would lie to me and promise me to Lord Berett even though I’ve found a suitable groom.”
“It would. It explains a lot, actually.” Now that he thought about it, it explained everything. “She mentioned infatuation. Has Lord Berett always been enamored with you?”
As Jonathan watched, she seemed to withdraw from the question, her shoulders rolled inward, and she shrunk into the bed. She nodded in the affirmative and something pricked his instincts.
“For how long?”
>
“For as long as I’ve known him.”
“Could he be blackmailing your father?”
“I would have no way of knowing.”
Jonathan sighed. “This changes things.”
“What do you mean?”
He bit his lip in thought. He’d been right before when he suspected there was more going on. Much more. If he was going to win Maddie’s hand, there had to be zero possibility, zero wiggle room. Their match would have to be undeniably inevitable, and the only way to do that would be to make it public. Not just with a courtship but…with scandal. Nothing heralded a wedding faster than gossip, and nothing fueled gossip as fast as a compromise, a public compromise. There must be no question. That meant multiple witnesses. A scandal so large that even the Lord and Lady of the house would demand marriage to rectify the damage done. Specifically, marriage to him. Lady Worthington might be persuaded to look the other way as long as Maddie married someone, not necessarily himself.
No, it would have to be bigger. The scandal of the season and a romantic gesture to tie it in a nice neat bow for the papers.
“Maddie…” He took a deep breath.
“Yes?” She raised a brow.
“Tomorrow is the final day of the tournament and then Saturday the masquerade ball.”
“I know.”
Inspiration struck him. He grinned. “I’m going to compromise you during the masquerade.”
She blinked. “I beg your pardon?”
“A public compromise, a huge scandal. Think of it, Maddie. If all the world demands us to marry, your father can’t stop us. He’ll have to agree, and Lord Berett will withdraw his interest.”
“The whole world won’t care if you marry me. I’m Mad Maddie, remember? I’m the scapegoat for their scorn and insecurities. Everyone would be happy to look the other way and not make you marry. I’d be ruined. If anything, it will only fuel my father’s desire to send me away with Berett and be done with me.”
“No. Not if we control the scandal. It will be romantic and daring. No one will be able to deny we should be married afterward. It will be a sensation the gossip mongers cannot resist.”
“I don’t know.” She wrung her hands.
“Do you trust me, Maddie?”
She nodded.