The Gentleman's Scandalous Bride

by Lauren Royal

  “Well, no. I am certain we would work it out. But you’re not married yet. What if Kit is so angry he calls off the wedding? Then you’ll have lost all your money, and—”

  “Never mind.” There was no reasoning with either of them. Rose reached back into the carriage and hefted the bag of coins with a little grunt. Fuming, she stomped to the pawnshop’s door and knocked.

  And knocked. And knocked.

  She had just about decided the Whittinghams weren’t home when Thomas finally cracked open the door, his face illuminated by a single candle.

  “We’re closed,” he said, then raised the candle higher. “Oh. Lady Rose.” With his free hand, he clutched the top of his half-open shirt.

  She shifted the heavy bag in her arms. “I have something for Ellen. From Kit.”

  He eyed the bag curiously. “Well, come in, then, will you?”

  She followed him through the dark shop and up the stairs, noting his disheveled hair and wondering if she’d roused him from his bed. It was early yet, but he and Ellen were newly wedded. Rose’s face suddenly felt hot to think that she and Kit would soon be newly wedded, too.

  With all the turmoil of the past few weeks, there hadn’t been much time to dwell on thoughts of the marriage bed. Now she remembered the other night, when she had nearly got carried away while kissing Kit. A mix of anticipation and nerves made her quiver.

  “In here,” Thomas said at the top of the stairs, opening a door to a small room crammed full of furniture and decorative pieces.

  “Rose!” Ellen jumped up from a chair, dressed in a pale pink wrapper. The firelight behind her left no doubt that she wore nothing underneath.

  So Rose had guessed right. She wasn’t sure whether to be embarrassed or amused. “I’ve brought something for you. From Kit.” She walked closer and handed Ellen the bag.

  Not expecting its weight, Ellen squealed as it slipped through her hands and fell to the floor with a thud, flopping onto its side. The top opened a little, and a coin rolled out and across the plain wooden boards, finally landing with a little clink. For a moment, it just sat there, glinting gold in the firelight.

  Then Ellen rushed to scoop it up. She folded her fingers around it and looked to Rose, a question in her eyes.

  “Your dowry,” Rose told her. “The first thousand pounds of it. The rest is forthcoming. It’s waiting in London whenever you decide to claim it.” She handed Ellen the goldsmith’s promissory note for nine thousand pounds. “I couldn’t carry more.”

  That last sentence, at least, was the truth. And if the rest of what she’d said was less than honest, it was meant well, for both Kit’s and Ellen’s good.

  Rose sent up a little prayer that Kit would see it that way.

  Ellen stared at the paper with the goldsmith’s name. Rose hoped she wasn’t going to fuss over the missing thousand pounds—ten thousand, after all, was a vast sum of money.

  Ellen still hadn’t said a word. “Kit loves you,” Rose added simply.

  “I know.” Tears flooded Ellen’s eyes. She opened her clenched fist and stared down at the coin. “I…I don’t know what to say.”

  “Save your words for Kit. Just tell me you’ll come to our wedding.”

  “Of course I will.”

  Rose opened her arms, and Ellen stepped into her embrace.

  “Kit needs you,” Rose murmured by her ear. “You’re his only family.”

  Ellen hugged her tighter. “You’ll be his family soon.”

  “It’s not the same. You’re with Thomas now, but Kit shares your blood.” Rose and her sisters bickered all the time, but even irritated as she was with them now, she knew they only wanted the best for her. And they would always be there if she needed them. Always. “You need Kit, too. Sisters and brothers…it’s a bond that should never be broken.”

  “I was going to make her go to your wedding, anyway,” Thomas put in.

  “He was going to try to make me go,” Ellen clarified with a strained laugh. She took a deep breath and stepped back. “It was turning into our first fight.”

  Rose noticed both their gazes stray to the bag of coins and figured they were too polite to dump them all right there and wallow in their new fortune—but also that they were dying to do so.

  “I’ll leave you, then,” she said, concealing a smile. “Use the money in good health.”

  Thomas followed her back down the stairs. “Thank you,” he said at the door.

  “Thank Kit.”

  “We will. But I thank you, too. I’m aware that what Kit gives us comes out of your pocket as well.”

  He didn’t know the half of it. “Kit and I have plenty,” she assured him. “It’s the love that counts anyway, isn’t it?”

  He nodded as he locked the door behind her.

  It had gone perfectly. She smiled to herself as a footman ushered her into the carriage.

  “We’re sorry,” Violet and Lily said together before she could even sit down.

  “Sorry?”

  “We talked while you were gone. And you’re right,” Violet admitted. “We both traded our inheritances for our marriages. And it was a good bargain.”

  “The best,” Lily agreed.

  Rose was stunned by their about-face. “It wasn’t exactly the same.”

  “True.” Violet started a little as the carriage lurched and began the short drive down the hill to Kit’s house. “We both did it to win our men, and you already have Kit.”

  Rose hoped she still would after she told him of this night’s work.

  “We’ve decided,” Lily said, “that what you just did was more romantic. And noble.”

  “Noble?” No one had ever described Rose Ashcroft as noble. “Noble?”

  “We traded money for selfish reasons—for what we ourselves wanted. You sacrificed not for yourself, but for your husband’s happiness.”

  “But can’t you see? I cannot be happy if Kit isn’t. That was the whole point.”

  Her sisters exchanged a look. “She gets it,” Violet said gravely.

  “Yes.” Lily breathed a languid sigh. “Isn’t love wonderful?”

  The carriage rolled to a stop. “We’re here,” Rose announced unnecessarily, her heart suddenly pounding.

  Here was her moment of truth.

  As she climbed down the steps with her satchel, she ordered herself to relax. Despite her sisters’ dire predictions, she’d known from the first this would work. And she was dying to see Kit. Their separation hadn’t got any easier since her last visit.

  Putting a smile on her face, she marched up the stairs and banged the knocker.

  Graves promptly answered. “Lady Rose. What a surprise.”

  “I hope it’s a pleasant one.” Surely everything would be all right. “Especially pleasant for Kit.”

  “I’m afraid Mr. Martyn has gone to Hampton Court,” the butler told them. “My apologies, Lady Rose. I don’t expect him back until Thursday.”

  “Thursday?” Rose echoed, her stomach souring with disappointment. Not only could she not see Kit, the roads were too dangerous to travel at night. The countryside was dark as sin, and highwaymen abounded. Standing on the doorstep, Rose looked helplessly at her sisters, then back to Graves. “Do you suppose we could stay the night anyway?”

  “Of course, of course.” The butler reached for her satchel. “Mr. Martyn would have my head if I turned you away.”

  In no time at all, he’d called for footmen to take their luggage and maids to ready rooms. He sent word to the cook to prepare a fine meal, then ushered the sisters through the magnificent entry hall and into the drawing room to await supper.

  Rose plopped onto the moss green settle. “I cannot believe this.”

  “All is not lost.” Lily shrugged and set down her cat before sitting beside her. “We shall have a nice sisterly evening together.”

  Rose had wanted to spend the evening with Kit. “I think I just want to go to sleep—” Suddenly an alarming thought occurred to her. “Good heavens,
this is terrible. I won’t be able to explain to Kit before we leave.”

  “Explain what?” Violet asked, perusing a book she’d found on a shelf.

  “About Ellen and the money. I need to explain. Else he might hate me and call off the wedding—”

  “Oh, Rose.” Lily covered her hand with her own. “I’m sorry we ever said that. Kit isn’t going to hate you.”

  Violet shut the book and sat on her other side. “As you pointed out, I meddled in Ford’s life, too. And he certainly didn’t hate me for doing those things. In fact, he thought it was wonderful.”

  But now that the idea had taken root in her head, Rose couldn’t help but worry. “Ford is different,” she said. “He thrives on invention, creation—he’s not a man driven by ambition, as Kit is. Ford’s happiest when other people take care of the details so he can concentrate on his science. But Kit is used to being in charge. He may not take lightly to my arranging his life.”

  “You said you know him,” Lily reminded her. “You said you were certain he wouldn’t react badly.”

  That was true. Her heart stopped pounding quite so hard. “You’re right,” she said, “I do know Kit. He’ll probably laugh when he hears what I’ve done.”

  But a moment later she was doubting again. She felt as though her emotions were buffeted by the wind.

  More than anything, she wanted to talk to Kit and see his reaction once and for all. But she couldn’t drag her sisters to Hampton Court, and she couldn’t send them home in the carriage and wait here until Thursday, either. Her wedding was Saturday. She had to make flower arrangements, greet the family coming to stay…

  “I’ll leave him a letter,” she decided. “And I’ll ask him to send a message as soon as he reads it.” She’d be counting the hours until Thursday night when, she hoped, she’d receive words of reassurance. Words that would allow her a good night’s sleep.

  “The perfect solution,” Violet said.

  Not perfect, but the best Rose could do.

  “He loves you,” Lily reminded her.

  Rose could only hope he loved her enough.

  SEVENTY-ONE

  HE WAS A coward.

  Kit had argued with himself on the entire drive from London. Should he give Ellen her dowry before the wedding, so she’d attend and neither of them would be sorry later? Or wait until she started talking to him again, no matter how long it took?

  He wanted to do the latter; he didn’t want to give in to her childish behavior, and he didn’t want to feel like he was buying her love. But he didn’t have the guts. As evidenced by the fact that, following his final inspection of the completed chapel at Whitehall, he’d detoured to visit his goldsmith before driving back here to Windsor.

  Not to mention that even though his work had kept him a day later than he’d intended—even though it was nightfall already and his wedding was tomorrow—he was even now heading up the High Street to Ellen’s house instead of down the hill to his own.

  Still, if he was a coward, at least he was a happy one.

  Amazingly, in less than twenty-four hours, Rose would be his. He hadn’t needed the knighthood, let alone a more important title. He’d won her as plain Kit Martyn, and there was satisfaction to be found in that.

  No more mishaps had occurred, and, in fact, his work was proceeding extremely well. Lord Trentingham, of course, was enamored of his new greenhouse. Charles was pleased with the chapel at Whitehall, and when he saw the exquisite dining room here in Windsor, which was also now complete, Kit was confident he’d approve. It was unfortunate the new Hampton Court building was so far behind schedule, but as its intended occupant was currently in France, that wasn’t exactly disastrous. Kit had double- and triple-checked every detail with his foreman, making certain the project would progress well in his absence. And Kit was certain, too, that, when finished, it would exceed Charles’s expectations. Despite losing the Deputy Surveyor post, his future was not at all bleak.

  A week from today, he and Rose would attend the queen’s birthday celebration at Whitehall, then leave for Italy the day after that. A dream come true for them both. He would learn from the great architects, and Rose would finally get to immerse herself in the Italian language.

  But first things first, Kit thought as his carriage drew up before the pawnshop. Before he could be happy with the new woman in his life, he needed to square things with the old one.

  He drew a deep breath, hefted the bag of coins, and marched up to the pawnshop’s door. It was locked tight at this late hour, but as he was raising his hand to knock, it swung open. Ellen and her husband both stood there, wrapped in cloaks, obviously on their way out.

  “What are you doing here?” she asked.

  “Where are you going?” he countered—then realized she’d actually spoken to him. Would wonders never cease? Just when he was ready to give in, she’d saved him from proving himself a coward.

  “Now that the shop is closed for the evening, I was going to try to see you,” she said. “As I’ve done the past four nights.”

  “I was away,” he said unnecessarily. “Here.” He held out the bag. “A down payment on your dowry. I never meant to keep it from you. My goldsmith is holding the rest for you in London.”

  “I know. I’ve been trying for four days to thank you.” Instead of taking the money, she threw her arms around him, the hard bag of gold between them. “Thank you so very, very much.” She kissed both his cheeks. “I love you. I’m sorry I didn’t trust you, that I tried to punish you by remaining silent.”

  Though clearly rehearsed, her words sounded sincere. But Kit was stunned. He pulled away. “How did you know I was about to give it to you?” Until a few minutes ago, he hadn’t been sure himself.

  Ellen exchanged a confused glance with Thomas, then looked back to Kit. “What do you mean, how did I know?”

  “There was no need to bring more gold,” Thomas added. “The first bag was sufficient proof of your intentions.”

  Kit shifted the heavy weight in his arms. “The first bag?”

  “The one you sent with Rose.” Ellen enunciated slowly, as though he were a half-wit who required the simplest explanation.

  Which wasn’t too far off from the way he was feeling at the moment. “Rose? What does Rose have to do with this?”

  Thomas looked even more confused than Kit felt. “She brought us your money. Or a thousand pounds of it, and a promissory note from your goldsmith for the rest. Abrahamson & Company.”

  “My money is with Lazarus & Sons.” Kit’s thoughts seemed to be moving through a fog, until suddenly everything cleared. “Oh, hang it all. It must have been her money. Her inheritance.”

  Thomas blinked. “Is she mad?”

  “Clearly,” Kit said. “Insane, infuriating—”

  “Madly in love,” Ellen interrupted with a soft smile.

  Reeling, Kit leaned against the doorpost. Not light to begin with, the bag seemed to be growing heavier by the moment. “Do you think I could come in and sit down?”

  SEVENTY-TWO

  NO NOTE HAD come from Kit.

  Wearing a sapphire silk dressing gown, Rose paced her crimson bedchamber while her sisters and Judith watched. They were here to help her dress for her wedding.

  But she couldn’t help wondering if she was going to have one.

  She lifted the bouquet she’d made for herself and stroked the soft red and white petals. If she hadn’t given all that money to Kit’s sister, she wouldn’t think twice about the fact that he hadn’t arrived yet; in truth, she had no reason to expect him this early. And he wasn’t supposed to see her before the wedding, anyway.

  But she’d thought she’d hear from him Thursday night. And now it was Saturday…

  “You look worried,” Judith said.

  Rose inhaled deeply of the sweet floral scent before she set the flowers down and forced a smile. “Wedding nerves. You suffered them, too, if you’ll remember.”

  “Did I?” Judith laughed, looking happier than
Rose had ever seen her. “But there was no cause for nerves, as I discovered. If it’s the wedding night you’re dreading…don’t. It was ever so wonderful—” She must have suddenly realized what she was saying, because she broke off, her cheeks flushing pink.

  Rose struggled to keep a straight face. “Thank you,” she told Judith primly. “I feel much better.”

  “Oh, good.” Judith smiled.

  Rose’s hair was already dressed with pearls and red ribbons, her lashes darkened, and her eyes lightly outlined with kohl. For want of something to do, she sat at her dressing table and fluffed more powder on her face.

  “You’re going to look like a ghost,” Violet said.

  “Gemini, you’re right.” Staring at her pale self in the mirror, she pulled a little sheet of red Spanish paper from a tiny booklet. “Where’s Kit?” she asked, rubbing it on her cheeks.

  “Now you look like a harlot.” Lily grabbed a handkerchief to rub some off. “Let me help you.”

  Rose sat rigid under her ministrations. “Is it time for me to get dressed?”

  “Might as well.” Violet swept the red gown off the bed. “Shall I call Harriet?”

  “No. You three can help me. I cannot stand any more of her chatter. All she ever talks of is Walter and getting married. I almost wish they’d chosen to live at Hampton Court instead of with me.”

  “That isn’t true,” Lily said.

  Of course it wasn’t. Harriet’s chatter hadn’t bothered her before she gave the money to Ellen. She just couldn’t take so much unadulterated happiness right now. It set her teeth on edge.

  She slid out of her wrapper and stood in place while Judith slipped the diaphanous chemise over her head, being careful not to ruin her hair or her carefully applied face. Then her sisters brought the gown over and helped her wiggle into it. Violet smoothed the satin skirts over her hips while Lily stepped close to lace her tightly into the bodice.

  “I think I may be with child,” she murmured to Rose’s chest.

  Rose blinked and glanced down to Lily’s still-flat stomach. In her dusky pink gown, her sister’s body looked as lithe as ever. “Are you sure?”