The Reluctant Suitor

by Kathleen E. Woodiwiss

  As if he hadn’t heard the woman, Colton jounced Genevieve up and down on his lap, educing gleeful shrills, which soon made the actress cringe and clasp her hands over her ears, as if in dire pain.

  “Do you have to do that?” Pandora railed. “I fear my hearing will never be the same after today.”

  Upon espying Adriana’s smiling face close by, Genie decided she wanted to bestow some loving attention on her and promptly gave her a slobbery wet kiss upon her mouth. Fairly often she had seen the man give the beautiful lady something similar while they were together. If that was not enough, the child sat down rather abruptly on what was left of Adriana’s lap, and then, as if deciding that sitting wasn’t actually what she really wanted, immediately sought to pull herself up by grabbing what was handy. Adriana almost yelped as the baby’s tiny fist closed over the place where her gown protruded . . . and the vulnerable nipple beneath. A woman’s breast was familiar territory to the youngster, who, upon leaning forward, searched about with an open mouth for the hidden peak.

  Laughing at the innocent antics of the tiny girl, Colton took pity on his wife and lifted Genie onto his lap. As much as Adriana sought to ignore her discomfort, she felt like dissolving in pain. Leaning against her husband, she folded the shawl across the front of her bosom to hide the telltale wetness over her breast and tried to await the ebbing of her discomfort.

  “Ah, the joys of parenthood,” Pandora derided and then smirked pointedly toward the woman’s softly rounded belly. “ ‘Twould seem you’re doing your best to supply the Wyndhams with a new heir. Too bad ‘twill be born a bastard.”

  Colton felt his wife shudder beneath the actress’s taunt and promptly settled the back of his arm at a slant across her torso, as if to physically shield her from the other woman’s ridicule. Laying a hand alongside her thigh, he snuggled her close against his side. “It’s all right, my love,” he murmured, seeking to ease her fears. “We’ll come through this in good order. That much I promise you.”

  His assurances ignited the fires of jealousy in the one who observed his tender nurturing. “Well, you can tell her that if you think it will help, Colton,” Pandora sneered caustically, “but I really don’t know how you’re going to make good on your pledge, seeing as how the two of you aren’t really married.”

  The woman had cause to stumble back as she saw the feral gleam in the gray eyes that turned upon her. Never had she seen Colton Wyndham in such a rage.

  “You leave me no other choice, Pandora,” he retorted coldly. “Be it known that I will now search heaven and hell for proof that the vows you and I exchanged were nothing more than a farce, and if they weren’t, then I shall go before the highest magistrate in this land and plead my innocence of any wrongdoing and my ignorance that you were still alive when I married my wife. I can assure you, I will use every advantage at my disposal, even the fact that I’m a war hero, to gain the right to cast you out of my life forever and to seal my marriage with the only woman I’ve ever loved. Do you understand me?”

  “I’ll make you pay if you try to brush me off without a farthing!” the actress railed in ear-shattering tones, wrenching a frightened whimper from the tiny girl. “You won’t be able to keep Genie. I’ll demand my rights as a mother, and I won’t stop until she’s given back to me!”

  “Then I’ll just have to prove that she isn’t yours, won’t I?” Colton rejoined snidely. “It may take me a while, but I think I can do that.”

  A baleful gleam came into the actress’s eyes. “You hopeless, besotted fool! You don’t know what scandals you’ll be facing if you dare refuse me. Believe me, I’ll get my revenge on you and your child-bride, even if I have to bed down with every magistrate in this country in order to see it done. I can be immensely persuasive when I want to be. I’ll play the victim to the hilt while I scheme and lie and tell all sorts of outlandish tales about you both. Once I’m finished, neither of you will be able to hold your heads up in London, much less around this paltry place you call your country estate.”

  Collecting her poise, Pandora assumed a more dignified posture and inclined her head briefly to Adriana and then to Colton. “Thank you for your hospitality, such as it was. . . .”

  “One more thing before you leave, Pandora, if you don’t mind,” Colton interjected, his tone pleasant in spite of the threats the woman had just leveled against them.

  Having already advanced toward the drawing room door, Pandora halted promptly, certain he had decided to relent. Stepping back to face him, she arched a brow expectantly. “Yes, what is it?”

  “Perhaps you can save me the trouble of asking the performers of the theatre where you worked if Alice Cobble did indeed work there and was with child during the latter part of that period. If need be, I’ll explain that you’re trying to claim her child as your own. I’m sure there’ll be those who’ll be eager to negate the idea of your childbearing state as well as your dying performance in your town house the night you supposedly died.

  “I’ll also ask them if they know of the substance Alice Cobble used to create the birthmark on Genevieve’s backside and to touch it up thereafter. It must’ve been some enduring stain to resist my attempts to rub it off that night, and of course, since Alice never saw my birthmark, I must assume that you made a pattern from my own. Did you trace it while I slept?” He laughed shortly. “I must have been pretty exhausted during that event, but then, there were many times when I was so physically and mentally drained from fighting that all I wanted to do was sleep. Perhaps with his forgery skills your talented brother reduced its likeness to an appropriate size for a baby and made different patterns for Alice to use as the child grew. Too bad for you that the crone was so despicable that no one here could abide having her around. Without Alice on hand to reapply it, the mark soon faded.”

  His theories stunned Pandora into momentary silence, for she had to wonder how in the world he had thought of everything they had done so precisely. The man was far more clever than even she had suspected.

  Clasping a shaking hand to her throat, she stared at him as if unable to fathom what he was talking about. “I’m not sure I know what you mean.”

  “Before you knew who I was, you told me you were incapable of having children, and in the ensuing years, you never got with child. I’m sure you had other lovers, but I never saw any evidence that you had given birth. It was only after I was proclaimed a hero by the London Gazette that you actually learned that I was in line for the marquessate. Once I gained the title, you supposedly bore a child. Convenient for you, yet your barren state throughout our lengthy affair leaves me wondering how you came to have Genie. If Alice got with child while working as a cleaning woman at the theatre, then I’m sure you’d have seen some advantage in bartering a healthy stipend for her babe. Perhaps you might have even given her a purse at the time of your agreement and then promised her a larger one once she delivered into your hands a live newborn. After all, if your scheme worked, you’d become wealthy, and Alice certainly seemed callous enough to comply with that kind of bargain. Of course, that leaves me seriously bemused, how an ugly woman like Alice could bear a child as dainty and pretty as Genie. Yet if her own baby died, she’d have likely gone to great lengths to steal another woman’s newborn in order to obtain the purse you promised her.

  “So, again, what if . . .”—Colton lifted his wide shoulders in a casual shrug as he expounded further—“she stole the babe outright or practiced a bit of midwifery to get her hands on one. Whether boy or girl, it wouldn’t have mattered, just as long as it was alive. Alice could’ve easily told Genie’s real mother that her baby had died and left her own dead infant in her stead.”

  Canting his head thoughtfully, he continued to muse aloud for Pandora’s benefit. “If I were to let it be known throughout the highways and byways of England that I’d give Alice a very handsome reward if she could provide undeniable evidence of the girl’s parentage, I think she’d be willing to give me what I seek, even if it meant putting to naug
ht your little gambit. Alice seems the kind of woman who’d want to hold some leverage over you to make sure she got her full due . . . or perhaps even more than she had actually been promised. Have you considered what the odds are of Alice having secured irrefutable proof that you’re not Genie’s mother?”

  “I’ve heard enough of your inane gibberish,” Pandora declared irately, seeing her hopes for great wealth being sundered by the man’s speculations. “I’ll be staying at the inn outside of Bradford until I hear from you, and if I don’t, I’ll let the authorities know you are twice wed and both your wives are living.”

  With that, she stalked out the drawing room and, upon seeing Harrison hastening toward the door, angrily waved him out of her way.

  “Thank you kindly, but I can let myself out! And may you all be damned to hell!”

  Twenty-one

  * * *

  Roger Elston glanced up from his bookkeeping as the bell on the front door heralded the entrance of a customer. His eyes lit up instantly when he saw the lady, for she seemed to have the same bold manner of the actresses he had once been wont to visit in London. In fact, he thought he recalled seeing this one perform while he had still been employed at the orphanage. Once upon a time, he had had to save up enough coin to indulge what had then been his favorite pastime, viewing the performers in their provocative costumes. Now he was able to afford and demand much more from the funds he pilfered from the mill.

  Though the overflowing bosom of this one was partially covered by a robe, the pale, luscious mounds seemed to test the restraint of her silk bodice, as if eager to be free. The woman didn’t seem to mind that he stared at her overt display. Indeed, she smiled at him rather coyly before bending forward to search the merchandise laid out on the table between them, making it obvious that whatever undergarment she wore beneath, it was meant more for the purpose of enticing rather than concealing. His hand itched to explore the deep valley between those orbs and tweak the nipples that thrust impudently outward through the cloth of her gown.

  Pandora smiled at the handsome young man, allowing her eyes to briefly scan his narrow trousers. He didn’t seem the least bit abashed by his display, but awaited her reaction as he offered her a half-grin. He wasn’t as old or perhaps as experienced as the men she had been enjoying as lovers in recent years, but she could imagine he’d be willing to do anything to please her. After Colton Wyndham’s adamant refusal even to consider her as his wife, she needed to reaffirm her appeal for her own peace of mind. At one time, she had been convinced the colonel really cared for her. Now she had to wonder if that had only been part of his persuasive charm, making every woman feel special while she was in his arms. His wife had certainly seemed to idolize him, but then, Pandora mused resentfully, it had appeared her love had been returned tenfold.

  Smiling coyly at the young man, she offered an explanation for her presence. “I left my shawl in London and have need of something to keep me warm tonight while I’m here in this quaint little town. I wasn’t expecting it to turn cool this evening, but as you’ve probably discovered for yourself, it has. Would you happen to have a shawl or something that would suffice to keep me warm?”

  Hastily Roger stepped to a cabinet in the corner and produced one of the mill’s finest woolen wraps. The beauty’s eyes widened in delight as he shook it out and displayed its exquisiteness.

  “How lovely!” Pandora crooned excitedly, admiring the piece. Just as quickly, her brows gathered. Pursing her lips, she feigned a look of dismay. “But as much as I desire the piece, sir, I fear it’s beyond my means.”

  “For such a rare individual as yourself, madam, the piece would require nothing more than a few moments of your time,” Roger breathed, luxuriating in her sweet fragrance as he removed the robe. In its stead, he draped the ornately worked woolen shawl around her shoulders, managing to brush his hand over a ripe breast before tucking the ends of the wrap around her arms. Standing close behind her, he ogled the half-concealed melons with growing eagerness and leaned down to nuzzle her ear. “I can make it worth your while, my beauty.”

  “Really?” Pandora cut her eyes askance, awaiting his proposition, and didn’t mind hugging herself to tempt him beyond his means to resist. In ready compliance her bodice gapped away from the pale orbs, bringing into view their rosy peaks. “The shawl is so wondrously warm. I’d love to have it.”

  Roger stared at the luscious melons, seriously tempted to slip a hand down inside her bodice, but he couldn’t chance an employee finding them, for it would then be all over town that he had been dallying with a customer. “I have a private room near,” he murmured, extending a hand to indicate its direction. “It has a comfortable chaise where we can sit . . . and talk together.”

  “Do you have some port?” Pandora inhaled deeply until she was nearly out of her bodice and then released her breath, once again leaving her bosom in full view for barely an instant. At an early age, she had learned the art of enticing men and had gained much from their eagerness to savor what she had or could do to pleasure them. “I’m so in the mood for a glass of port.”

  Roger smiled. “As a matter of fact, I do.”

  Stepping away, he indicated the dark hallway leading to the private room he had made secure. Never had he imagined he’d be using it so soon after outfitting it with necessities. Much to his delight, such an opportunity was now at hand, and he just couldn’t resist. He had even padded the walls to some extent to prevent workers from becoming curious about what he was doing within. Taking a nap was one thing, fulfilling his every fantasy with a wanton was another.

  “Come into my private parlor, dear lady, and I shall pour you a libation and we can drink a toast to your new shawl.”

  Pandora slipped an arm through his and hugged it close against her breast. “I shall never forget how generous you’ve been, giving me such a costly gift. How can I ever repay you?”

  “Your company for a time is payment enough.”

  Pandora’s eyes lit up as he pushed open the door of the inner room. It was furnished extravagantly with an ornate credenza upon which sat a silver tray with several crystal decanters containing different brews. A half dozen silver candelabrum stood between a like number of standing mirrors and these in turned encircled a wide, luxurious, red velvet chaise, upon which lay a filmy red peignoir. It was fairly simple to surmise that the occupants of the chaise would be able to observe from every angle everything that transpired there.

  Strolling across the room, Pandora sank upon the cushioned piece and found herself duplicated many times over in her audience of mirrors. She sighed in pleasure as she stroked a hand over her thigh, managing to hike up the hem of her gown to show a trim calf. Then she cooed in admiration as she lifted the negligee before her face and considered the room through its thin veil. “You must be rich to afford such luxuries.”

  “I’m rich enough to afford this and a few other things besides,” Roger boasted, locking the door behind him.

  “Such as?”

  He strolled forward, doffing his coat. “A mistress who’d be willing to comply with my every desire and whim, and one with a vivid imagination of her own.” His fingers plucked open his shirt. “I’m not an ordinary man and would be very generous with a woman who could overlook a few minor inconveniences in order to please me. Is not variety your pleasure, too?”

  “How generous?” Pandora asked, licking her lips in anticipation. She flicked her eyes over his chest and shoulders as he tossed his shirt aside; she had seen more manly brawn in her years as an actress, but the lad had a certain boyish appeal. It had been some time since she had felt inclined to yield her favors to a mere boy, but then, she had a need to feel young again.

  Roger reached inside the credenza and produced a pair of gold earrings. Dangling them before her eyes, he murmured warmly, “This is only a small sampling. There is much more to be had should you please me.”

  “Well, these will do for starters,” Pandora assured him, smiling warmly as she plucked th
em from his grasp. Doffing her own, she attached the heavy rings to her ears and reclined upon the chaise as she drew up her skirts to show a shapely thigh entirely bereft of pantaloons. Taking his hand, she stroked it along the shapely limb. “In return, I’m willing to give you more than a fair sampling of what I can do to pleasure a gent.”

  “We’ll get to that part in good time, my beauty, but first, I have other things in mind.”

  What are we going to do?” Adriana asked later that night after Colton had stretched out in bed beside her.

  He sighed heavily. “As much as it distresses me to search for Alice, that may be our only option if we intend to prove that we’re legally married, my love.”

  “Do you think we are?” his wife asked worriedly.

  “I can almost promise you we are, my sweet,” Colton murmured, wrapping an arm about her shoulders and pulling her close against him. “Pandora became very nervous even at the first when I started asking about Reverend Goodfellow, which leads me to think that he was no rector at all. Perhaps he was her brother or some actor she had promised to pay once she received monies from me. I’m not sure exactly what I’m missing here, but from the moment you bared Genie’s bottom and found nothing more than a faded blotch, something has been nagging at me, some detail or fact I fear I may be overlooking. Perhaps ‘tis nothing more than a memory or an event from the past, but as much as I try, I can’t seem to bring it clearly to mind.”

  “It seems rather wicked to make love when we’re not sure if we’re married,” Adriana ventured beneath his warming kisses a moment later.

  Colton pulled back to view her worried face and gave her a teasing grin as he tugged the sheet down past the lustrous orbs. Gently he plied a forefinger around a soft nipple, evoking a shiver of pleasure from the one who watched him with adoring eyes. “Haven’t you ever wanted to feel positively wicked once in your life, my love?”