The Lady Tamed

by Boyd, Heather

  Fanny didn’t want to read the paper. She dreaded what she might find there. A husband could spend a fortune in one night of gambling.

  But Jeremy seemed quite insistent, pushing the paper at her hand until she had to take it and read it.

  The handwriting was inelegant, and every line sloped off toward the bottom of the page. She could read it, but only just.

  A servant. Modest clothing allowance each year. A few pounds’ pin money each quarter.

  And that was all he asked for.

  Fanny read the paper again, nearly disbelieving, and tears filled her eyes that Jeremy believed such a frugal sum could ever be considered excessive. It was too good to be true, but as she looked at him, she knew he meant never to be a burden.

  In truth, he could have asked for ten times more than he had, and she’d willingly pay it, just to have the honor of being his. “Where would you like to live?”

  Fanny had a large townhouse in London, the Rivers country estate near Bath, and another property overlooking the sea in Brighton that she hardly ever visited. Letterford and his bride would holiday there this year, but the next could be for them. They could go sea bathing and enjoy the solitude. But they would have to spend the season in London. The rest of the year could be lived anywhere, as long as they could be together.

  “That is something I could not fathom. Of course, I want to be near you, but finding a room for a bachelor in Mayfair is an undertaking you might have to help me with. I don’t know how close is close enough to suit you, or how great the cost might be.”

  The cost would be nothing to her, but she didn’t want to pay for someone else to house him.

  Jeremy living in her house would suit her best.

  In her bed, always.

  Forever.

  Fanny smiled up at Jeremy. He hadn’t even voiced the option of marriage, which was the only way they could be together every day. And it was, of course, the best situation if they were in love with each other, as Father claimed they were. “If you were close to hand, my heart would be easier.”

  He frowned. “I shall make enquiries the moment I return to London, but I am afraid the cost of my upkeep might be more than I budgeted for.”

  She took his hand in hers. Loving hands. The hands of a friend and a good man. “When we return to London, there will not be a need for you to seek out accommodations.”

  His eyes lit up. “You have a place in mind for me?”

  “I do. My home.”

  The relief in his eyes diminished immediately. “That wouldn’t be wise. You must think of your reputation.”

  “My reputation will remain beyond reproach if you were to ask for my hand in marriage.”

  He drew back. “I couldn’t do that.”

  “I would say yes,” she said, feeling certain of him now. They were negotiating for their future. A bargain she would honor for the rest of her life. She would adjust to being married again and heeding his warnings. He’d always listened to hers.

  His once happy face became the quite the opposite, though. “No. Absolutely not.”

  “Why not?”

  “Are you mad?” he demanded. “Why would you want to marry me?”

  Fanny laughed softly. “There are so many reasons. But I do.”

  “You don’t know me.”

  “I spent three weeks being courted before my late husband proposed. That’s considerably shorter than the length of our acquaintance. What I need to know about you, you will tell me one day soon, I trust.”

  He frowned again. “Will I now?”

  “People who love each other tell each other everything.” Fanny nodded. “Oh, yes. This is most certainly a love worth fighting for, sir. I know you feel it, too.”

  He was silent for several minutes, considering, imagining she hoped, a different sort of role for himself in her life.

  Fanny was handing him the world, her world, and her vast fortune on a platter if they wed, and she respected him all the more for having serious misgivings about taking her on. They would love each other, and they would fight, too. He’d question her and she’d push him to reach for his dreams.

  When he was silent too long, she drew closer to him. “Are you really going to claim that you don’t want to spend the rest of your life flirting with me?”

  “We don’t have to marry for that,” he offered. “We could keep seeing each other. We’d find a way to meet discreetly somewhere every few weeks.”

  “I would rather not sneak around any longer.” While she was disappointed that Jeremy didn’t jump at the chance to marry her, she was glad he wasn’t rushing to accept her suggestion either without proper consideration. But surely he knew her well enough to understand she did nothing halfway. “I’m not asking you to give up your career, and I know, too, I am not the woman you might have imagined marrying, but I assure you, I am constant. My feelings for you will only grow the longer we are together.”

  “How would you feel about a long courtship, then?”

  She studied him. She enjoyed a good negotiation. “For how long?”

  “As long as we’ve known each other,” he suggested. “Six months.”

  “No, that is much too long. I only had to wait a month before I married River,” she explained.

  “It’s long enough for you to really consider whether you want to marry a pauper. And besides, your family is in mourning.”

  “Two months,” she countered, warming to the challenge of convincing him to marry her more quickly.

  “Four. That’s long enough for me to learn to ride a horse and not be in danger of falling off. I’ve heard it’s a requirement of being a gentleman about Town to ride every morning. I’d rather not break my neck in Hyde Park. In three months, your family will be out of mourning and the banns can be called.”

  “So, we agree to marry in three months.”

  “No. I said four.” He shook his head, halting her attempt to bring the date forward with a clear decision on his part. “If we were to marry, I should like to have Mrs. Hawthorne attend our wedding celebrations. We will delay to give the widow time to grieve before we ask her to be happy for us. She wanted so much to attend your wedding.”

  “That is very considerate of you.” She should have thought of that herself. “I just want us to be together. You’ll stay with me in Mayfair when I return to Town.”

  “Not a chance.” Jeremy looked down upon her, his expression serious. “I’ll stay where the duke suggests I should stay and visit you every day. I am, as ever, at your complete disposal.”

  Fanny wasn’t sure if Jeremy’s reliance on Father’s opinion was in her best interests or not but if she could see Jeremy every day, Fanny could still do her work and have time to enjoy introducing him to her friends. Jeremy was worth the effort of making an agreement that he was comfortable with. “Agreed, and when I need to travel, you will accompany me.”

  “Along with a suitable chaperone to protect you from any gossip,” he added with a smile.

  A chaperone would seriously impede any encounters of a romantic nature between them. But if Fanny chose a chaperone from among her most liberal-minded widowed friends, she was sure she and Jeremy could meet under the sheets as often as she wished during any house party they might attend together. The appearance of respectability was all that really mattered to society. When they married—and she couldn’t imagine he’d change her mind now—she would have Jeremy all to herself. “Daily meetings, three months of courtship, and marriage by banns on,” she did a quick calculation in her head adding in the period for the reading of the banns, “approximately the twenty-first of November. It’s a deal,” she said, putting her hand out.

  “Let’s not put that in writing this time.” Jeremy sighed as they shook. He held her hand and brought her closer to him. When he leaned down, it was just like the first time, when he’d almost kissed her. “You love me,” he whispered.

  “Deeply.” Her eyes dropped to his lips, where a smile lingered.

  “It’s a
bout time.” His eyes lifted to hers and then he smiled somewhat shyly. “I have loved you from the moment I met you. I tried so hard to master my role of a smitten suitor in a bid to impress you that I never was acting the part. But I never imagined you’d come to care for me as well.”

  Fanny pushed herself against his body and rejoiced when his arms encircled her waist finally. “You love me. Say it again.”

  His lips twitched as he lowered them inches from hers, “You love me.”

  She laughed softly. “Deeply and forever.”

  Jeremy cupped her face, tilting her lips up to his so they hovered on the verge of a kiss. He caught her gaze, holding her stare a long moment. “People will talk.”

  “People always do. Some will declare that I’ve finally been tamed.”

  “My dear lady, taming you is the last thing on my mind.”

  And then like any great romantic hero of the stage, he tipped her backward over his arm and kissed her soundly. For a moment, Fanny could swear she heard the sound of distant applause.

  Epilogue

  Mayfair, London

  14 February, 1820

  Jeremy flicked through the stack of letters he’d been handed with a severe frown as he stood in the dim hall of Fanny’s exquisite Mayfair home. He marched into the adjoining room. “Fenton, has my wife not seen the mail yet?”

  Fenton didn’t rise as usual, but the evil goose at his feet did. Jeremy had learned to keep clear of the pair.

  “Not as yet, Mr. Dawes. She’s still in her meeting with Mr. Danvers.”

  Even before their marriage, Fanny and Jeremy had got their heads together and decided the faithful Stapleton steward needed a change of scenery. Fenton’s health had been causing concern. He was cross with everyone, until Fanny had tricked a confession out of him. Gout.

  Fanny, a favorite, had stolen Fenton away from her father’s employ for an easier occupation with them. His job was to sit about with his stick and glare at anyone who sought to impose themselves on Fanny when Jeremy was not around and take care of the evil goose roaming the house. “I did hear voices raised earlier, sir, but it’s become quite again for the last half hour.”

  Jeremy looked at him sharply. “Did you interrupt like I asked you to?”

  “Of course. I had a pair of our largest footmen carry the tea tray and dole out the cups very slowly. That seemed to calm things down. The door was left open after that, and they remain outside in full view of her visitor even now.”

  Jeremy glanced toward her study to see for himself. “Good.”

  Fanny had been in the meeting when he’d gone out to meet members of her family for a ride in Hyde Park hours ago. He hoped things were going her way at last. This particular transaction, the sale of Cedar Mill, had been keeping her awake at night in recent weeks. He didn’t like it when she tossed and turned. It wasn’t good for her health or his plans.

  It had been weeks since she’d spent a whole day with him. He hoped she’d be finished soon because since it was Valentine’s Day and he wanted to entice her to forget her worries with serious idleness and indulgence.

  He retraced his steps to the hall and looked toward his wife’s study where she conducted all business meetings—without him.

  The footmen nodded that all was well now. Jeremy was doing his best to make it clear that his wife was not without protection at all times. If he could have stayed and been of any help to her, he would have canceled the plans he had made with her family. But he’d found supposedly intelligent men tried to defer to him instead of Fanny when it came to any business dealings.

  So he absented himself from all important decision-making meetings, but he was interested in what Fanny was doing with the money, but he was hardly in charge of how it was spent and never would be. The fortune was still Fanny’s money, in his opinion, even if she tried to convince him it was his, too. She retained full command of her fortune despite them being husband and wife.

  He did not mind that other men whispered he was henpecked. Jeremy simply knew his limitations and worked around them. He wasn’t smart enough to manage thousands of pounds and dozens of properties across the country. He remained in awe and proud of Fanny’s achievements. “Would you subtly let my wife know that I have returned.”

  “I don’t know that subtle will be enough, but I’ll do my best. Danvers has a tongue hinged in the middle.” Fenton complained. “I trust the duke is in good health.”

  “Fine form as usual. We’re invited to a late luncheon with the duke and duchess tomorrow, so we’ll need the carriage brought round at a quarter to two o’clock, and for Fanny’s maid to be ready at short notice to change her into a suitable gown. I trust you didn’t forget the surprise I planned begins tonight.”

  His first Valentine’s Day with someone he loved deserved a special celebration. Jeremy hadn’t had to think too hard to decide what to do. An evening of togetherness: dinner and wine in bed, and perhaps an early night for the love of his life. He’d issued orders that they were not to be disturbed once Fanny came up to their rooms unless someone was dying.

  He wouldn’t allow Fanny to think of anything but herself tonight.

  The servant went off, and Jeremy climbed the staircase, admiring the opulence and Fanny’s good taste. Of all her properties, this one held a special place in his heart. It was the first home he’d ever been in where he felt he belonged.

  But after a ride in the park and a long talk in the duke’s stables, he smelled of horses and other manly odors he’d rather be rid of. A servant had run ahead and filled his copper tub already, so he climbed into the steaming bath and scrubbed away at his skin and hair with plain soap, before drying himself with a length of soft cloth.

  He was just putting on a robe when his wife hurried in, carrying a stack of papers against her chest. “I’ve done it. Cedar Mill is sold!”

  Jeremy strolled to Fanny and dropped a kiss on her cheek, and then took the stack of papers from her. “Congratulations.”

  “I cannot believe it’s finally done and I got my original asking price, too.”

  “Danvers was a fool to believe you were desperate to offload the mill just because of the little stir Thwaite stirred up over me.”

  “Yes, Thwaite tried his best to sour the deal and now must count the cost. I have it on good authority that several prominent matrons gave him hell over the vile gossip he was spreading. As if I would ever need to pay a man to share my bed,” she said, grinning impishly at him.

  “Ridiculous,” he agreed. “I have to beat back your admirers every day.”

  “The only man I want is you.”

  Jeremy put her papers away in the large safe he’d had installed in her chambers and locked it before turning to face her. “Now, which do you want first? Bath, dinner or bed?”

  “I am a bit tired,” she admitted “But I want to hear about your day now. How was my father?”

  “He made me laugh.”

  She smiled. “What did he say that was so funny?”

  Jeremy glanced at his wife. The Duke of Stapleton had become more father than a friend to Jeremy, who’d never had either really. Stapleton was always doling out bits of sage advice, but his most frequent topic of late was discussing when Jeremy and Fanny would make a grandfather of him. The duke had today claimed Jeremy was tardy at keeping up his side of their bargain.

  Jeremy had taken great pleasure in reminding him there was no written proof of any such bargain being made. A babe took time and would come when that time was right, and not a moment before anyway. “So many things. We’re to have luncheon with them tomorrow,” Jeremy warned. “I believed there was nothing in your calendar when I accepted.”

  “I have no plans for tomorrow besides sleeping late now that the mill is sold.” She looped her arms around his neck. “Nothing but being with you like this. Happy Valentine’s Day, my love.”

  Fanny drew his head down and kissed him quickly.

  “I like the sound of that, and the way you taste. May I have another
kiss, darling?”

  “You can.”

  While they kissed, Jeremy slid his hand down her back until he reached her rear. He squeezed and kneaded her rump and then decided to put his hands all over her before his special dinner would arrive. There was just enough time to indulge her passions and do a proper job of it. She always smiled more after he made love to her.

  He was working his way up her spine, unfastening her from her gown when she spoke. “Jeremy, how do you feel about cutting short the season and spending a few months at Stapleton this summer?”

  He pressed a kiss to her neck. “I’m easy either way. You know that.”

  “Good. I think having my family around would be good for us.”

  He drew back and stared at her. “Why?”

  She patted his chest. “I might be increasing.”

  Jeremy gaped, and then he whooped in joy, caught Fanny up in his arms and spun her around and around. “Devil take it! A babe? That’ll make the duke happy.”

  “So, you don’t mind?”

  “Mind? Are you mad, woman? I can hardly wait.”

  She bit her lip. “I was afraid it was too soon. You’re just finding your feet in society, and there’s your new play, too. A baby will change how much time we spend in Town.”

  He swooped down to kiss her. “Nothing could make me happier than to spend a year in the country. I hope our daughter will be as smart and as beautiful as her mother.”

  “I hope our son will make me laugh like his father always can.” But then she frowned. “What does my father’s happiness have to do with our child?”