Minerva's Match

by Lisette Giroux

  Her chest worked like a bellows. Surely she couldn’t stay like this. She would explode or worse, except she couldn’t think of anything worse. Yes, she could. He could get up right now and walk away. The thought chilled her. It didn’t matter if she told him or not. She loved him. If he left, she would be bereft. Telling wasn’t the problem. Falling in love with him was her weakness, and she reveled in it now.

  “James, you arrogant, brilliant, pigheaded, sweet man. I—” The words felt like they had to be chipped out of the bedrock of her soul. “I lo—love, you!”

  The smile that broke across his face was the most amazing thing she’d ever seen. It was a seedling, breaking through the soil to embrace the sun. Then he kissed his way up her body. Staring down into her eyes, he entered her, then began the kissing again. She was awash in sensation. The feel of his chest hair as it stroked her sensitive nipples, the taste of herself on his tongue so that they mingled, the sound of his breath laced with his whispered words of love.

  When he reached between them and stroked her, she was incandescent with her climax. Her peak called forth his release, and as he spent himself deep inside her, she realized what he’d meant. He would be bound to her always through their children and the love they shared. Minutes passed while their breaths moved from hard gasps to soft panting and finally to a warm silence.

  “James? What are we going to do? And why did you keep calling me your wife?”

  “We are going to do nothing at the moment but lay here and bask in our love. Or, you might want to kill me.” With that, he removed himself from the bed and began dressing. There was something different about him now. For some reason, he put her in mind of a pirate, but that wasn’t James or the earl, as she knew him.

  All she could do was shake her head and squawk, “What? I’ve finally told you I love you. Why would I want to kill you?”

  “I wasn’t kidding when I called you wife. We’re married. The rules in Scotland are archaic but no less binding. You are mine.” He smiled salaciously at those last words. That smile pulled at some thread in her body and soul.

  “We’re… married?”

  He didn’t have time to answer as the door to her room was thrown open. Her father and Oliver burst through with Adeline fast behind them.

  “You see! Not only does he not show up for the duel, but he has compromised your daughter in your own home!” Oliver spit the words out as if they were a red-hot brand. He was one to talk!

  “How dare you speak of compromising me!” she screeched at him. “What would you call the cloistered hours you spent alone with me when I was thirteen?”

  “That was different. You worshipped me. I couldn’t get you to leave me alone.”

  “You bastard!” She rushed at Oliver to claw at him, but strong hands pulled her backwards. She found herself pinned to James’ broad chest. Still, she struggled to get to the man who had stolen her innocence. “I was a child and desperate for a little attention! God forbid I disrupt anyone’s studies. But then I didn’t, did I? I already knew your lessons and was tutoring you, you idiot! And for that, you paid me back by leaving me with a babe in my belly and not a word from you for years!”

  Oliver paled visibly, but her father seemed to have absorbed all his color and was flushed scarlet with anger. “Minerva, there is no reason to lie about Oliver’s intelligence or his actions.”

  She stood agape at the man who claimed to have contributed to her existence. “Adeline, tell them! Tell them I’m not lying.” James’ arms wound tighter around her, forcing his strength into her when hers was failing.

  Adeline looked at her and then at the men who claimed to have her best interests at heart but really had only their own. “It was terrible, sir. The poor thing bled so badly I thought she might die. I found her that way after her bath. She was too young to know better and no mother besides…” Adeline seemed to drift back to that awful day. “He was always so charming, I didn’t think much of the two of them spending so much time together. I blame myself for that, I do.”

  Tears began streaking the woman’s face, and she looked up at Minerva as her eyes softened. “I was sure he would do right by you. So sure that any day a letter would come telling you how much he missed you, but after all that time together… All those hours she spent correcting his papers and working out what was written in all those dead old languages, and he couldn’t even tell her goodbye decently.” A sob welled up in Adeline, and one answered in her own chest for the trusting girl she had been.

  “So though it will mean my job, I won’t keep my mouth shut this time. She speaks the truth, and she deserves love and happiness, not to be saddled with a man who only wants her to lighten his burdens. My biggest regret is that I never told you, sir. I meant to spare you and her any more hurt than had been done, but I see that was wrong now. I should have said something. I’ll go pack my things.”

  “Enough!” Her father’s voice sounded pained for the first time in Minerva’s memory. At his outburst, Adeline raced out of the room and down the stairs. “You harlot!” Her father pointed his finger accusingly at her. Minerva gasped, both from her father’s words and from James pulling her into his chest so hard she could barely breathe.

  “What? After everything Adeline said? You think that I, as a child, seduced this idiot! If he was so in my thrall, then why didn’t he write? Why did he stay away so long? Why would you need to beseech him to return for me?” She could see her words were summer rain on granite.

  “You will leave my house this minute. Don’t take a thing with you, you ungrateful…”

  Any other words her father might have said were cut off by the roar that rose from James’ chest.

  “Have a care, man! This woman you are about to defame is now the Countess of Lansford and so your better! But then she was your better from the beginning, wasn’t she? I suspect that besides her beauty, she also inherited her intelligence from your departed wife. I will see you ruined.”

  “As if some pompous earl knows anything about my world.”

  “Oh, sir, but I do, and so does your daughter. You see I am quite well regarded at King’s College. I have a very good grasp of just how to manipulate the academic system. I know just in whose ear to put a word so that it will obliterate your career like a cannonball. Of course, I could let Minerva carve the two of you up and, as a peer, explain that it was all completely justified.”

  She looked up at him with a mix of shock—who was this bloodthirsty man? And awe—he was both defending her and allowing her the chance to defend herself! How had she ever thought she could manage to keep from loving him? He bent his head to her ear. “Say the word, my pirate queen, and I’ll let you loose on them.”

  “They aren’t worth the bother.” Nonetheless, she grabbed her knives off the top of her dresser.

  He kissed her quickly and smiled, still cradling her against his chest. “You are in luck. My wife has decided to show mercy on you. Destruction of your career it will be then.”

  With a flourish, James swaddled her in his cloak and lifted her in his arms, pushing past the two men who’d nearly destroyed her. Minerva laid her head against James’ shoulder. Two men had nearly destroyed her, but this man was the making of her, or at least, he’d allow her to make herself whatever she wished and cheer her on.

  On their way out of the door, they found Adeline sobbing on the stoop. James set Minerva on her feet and gathered the other woman to him. “There, there, come with us.”

  “Oh, sir. I couldn’t. I mean, he won’t give me a reference now.”

  James raised his eyebrows to ask Minerva a silent question. She answered him with a smile, and he nodded.

  “You have a reference from the best woman I know. I can’t promise much in the way of pay, but it is better than being on the street. Come now, the two of you will ride. I’ll lead the horse.”

  Chapter Thirty

  Pandemonium reigned the minute they were inside the Northford residence. Adeline was whisked off to make herself c
omfortable until they could figure out a placement for her. She knew of James’ financial straits, so she didn’t want to impose on him to keep her. Louisa was the obvious choice for her new employer, as her friend would need help managing her household here in London with a toddler and a business empire to care for. If Louisa was stubborn enough to refuse the help— of course she was an Heiress, so that wasn’t even saying much—perhaps Eleanor and Simeon could find a use for Adeline.

  Minerva should have felt some sense of betrayal since she’d been cast out by her father, but she didn’t. She didn’t care at all, except for the necessity of now needing a new wardrobe, yet another thing to add to James’ money troubles—

  Oh! Perhaps it was too much. He’d said he loved her, and she didn’t doubt his feelings, but now she was surely far more of a burden than he’d counted on. She rushed to find James. It still felt odd calling him her husband. The word gave her a funny twist in her stomach and a warm feeling like she’d had too much rum punch.

  “Oh, Watkins, have you seen Ja- er, the Earl of Lansford?”

  “I believe he is in consultation with his cousin, my lady. They are in the master’s study.”

  Watkins had always been proper when he spoke to her, but hearing him call her “my lady” felt odd and wrong. What had they done? She wasn’t a countess! No one would accept her; worse, they’d shun James. She was about to burst into Simeon’s study when she was waylaid by Eleanor.

  “Minerva, a word, if you please.” Eleanor addressing her so formally left her shaking. Was she angry that James had married her? It was one thing for Eleanor to condone the match when it had only been an idea, but now that it was reality? Eleanor, for all her hoydenish ways, was still a duke’s daughter, married to one of the ton. Minerva was an academic’s bluestocking daughter, now married to James, and poor though he might be, he was still an earl.

  Oh dear, maybe they should get an annulment? She had been to enough society gatherings as Eleanor’s guest to know that she never wanted to live like that. Panic thrummed through her as Eleanor yanked her into the back parlor and shut the door. Had she shut it so loudly as a sign of her anger? She couldn’t lose her friend over this, could she? Tears clogged her throat as she tried to suck in air.

  With her next breath, she nearly fainted as Eleanor wrapped her arms around her and started jumping up and down. “Can you believe it?” she screeched. “We’re cousins!”

  Minerva had willed herself to accept Eleanor’s rebuke, so the woman’s unbridled enthusiasm caught her off guard.

  “You aren’t upset?”

  Eleanor stopped jumping and stood with her hands on her hips. “Did that bastard hit you on the head? Are you mad? Of course, I’m not upset. Well, this makes the second of my friends who have managed to marry without so much as a party afterwards, but I’ll rectify that myself.”

  Minerva wasn’t sure she liked the sound of that. “No, I mean, about me overstepping my station.”

  Eleanor narrowed her eyes. Oh blast, why did she have to say anything? “Minerva Wright, oh, I suppose it is Minerva Lathrop, Countess of Lansford now, have I ever given you one hint of thinking a whit of anyone’s station in life? We are Heiresses! We judge a person based on their character. Frankly, Minerva, I’m hurt you would even think such a thing.”

  “Oh, Eleanor, no! It’s just that I’m so worried James has ruined any future he might have by marrying me. What if he is given the cut? Oh Lord help us, how could he be given anything else? Eleanor, I have to find him and tell him to file that annulment.”

  Eleanor threw herself against the door to block Minerva’s exit. “Minerva, who would have thought falling in love would make you act so idiotically?” Then the woman started laughing at her.

  “I am not an idiot!”

  “Then stop acting like one. Do you love my cousin?”

  “Yes, which is why I need to save him from this folly. Staying married to me will ruin him socially and financially.”

  Eleanor shook her head, growling a little under her breath. “Good Lord, was I this much of a fool when I fell for Simeon?”

  She probably meant the question rhetorically, but Minerva couldn’t help answering. “You were worse. If not for the quick thinking of your brother…”

  That made Eleanor smile. “Mmm, I truly look forward to turning the tables on Ozzie someday, but that is for another time.” She stalked away from the door, looking as if she were fully prepared to give Minerva a demonstration of all the Oriental grappling techniques she knew. She didn’t stop moving until Minerva was forced into a chair. “Now, you listen well, my dear friend. If you ask James for an annulment, it will tear his heart out and, worse, he’d give it to you because the man would ring himself inside out to give you what you want. He loves you that much. And for your information, James doesn’t give a fig about what anyone in society thinks of him, never has. I suspect being cut would be a relief to him. No more pretending to enjoy all that mess he hates. Now, do I make myself perfectly clear?”

  The door opened before Minerva could answer. James and Simeon walked in, but both stopped when they saw that the women were arguing. Well, Eleanor was arguing. Minerva hadn’t managed much of a defense.

  “James.” She whispered. One look at her distress and James was at her side in two strides. He scooped her out from under Eleanor’s withering glare and put himself between the two of them.

  “Eleanor, cousin, please. She has already had a difficult time of it. You can berate her for marrying me later.”

  “Be— But I… Argh! The two of you deserve each other!” Eleanor spit the words out and then stalked to her husband. To his credit, Simeon didn’t even bother trying to sort things out. He opened his arms and swept Eleanor into them. “Simeon, do something,” came her plaintive mumble as she ducked her head against his chest. Then she raised her lips to his ear and whispered a summation of the situation.

  “Bloody hell!” he exclaimed when she had finished. “Right. You two, that complete loss of control you feel, that dizzy, careening sense that everything is suddenly different and you have no idea how to get back to the way it was. You both feel that, yes? Am I right?” Both she and James looked at each other and then back at him. “That is love. Sorry to say, there is no cure. Makes a complete mess of everything you ever thought was important and, if you let it, makes your life worth living. I realize that for two people who have had the upper hand on their lives due to their superior intelligence, this is a wholly foreign feeling, but you’ll get used to it. But no one is getting this marriage annulled. Do I make myself clear?”

  “But—” Minerva tried to get the words out, but stopped when she felt James tense and both Simeon and Eleanor glared at her. “Fine, yes. But if I ruin his life, it is on your heads.”

  James pulled back from her slightly. “Ruin my life? I was afraid of ruining yours.”

  “You’ll be thrown out of society.”

  “Dear God, please let that happen. Married, you can be a member of the only society I care about.”

  “I’d forgotten about that.”

  James rested his forehead against hers. “I didn’t. And you have my word, I will do everything I can to make you an equal member. And get other women admitted on their own merits. All I ask is that you remain my wife.”

  “Too late. I think I love you too much to let you go. But I will cost you money you don’t have.”

  “I love you too. And I’ve worked out an arrangement with my cousin. We won’t have much in the way of excess, but we won’t be penniless either.”

  “Oh, thank God.” Eleanor sighed loudly. “Can we have a party now? I know of no other couple as perfectly matched as the two of you. You are both the most stubborn people I have ever met. It is a service to the rest of us that you two be stuck with each other.”

  Minerva was about to argue when James kissed her and whispered in her ear, “Let her win this one, love. We’ll get even and make her godmother of our first daughter.”

  This is
the book that started The Heiresses of Eris. You’ll meet the original four girls and find out how the whole club started. I hope you enjoy this taste of Chaos’s Consort.

  Chaos’s Consort Chapter One

  Eleanor pushed the contraband book into her embroidery basket as her mother burst through the parlor door.

  “Have you seen this?” Her mother thrust a plain white card towards her. She couldn’t imagine what on the unassuming card could be causing her mother such consternation.

  “No. What does it say?”

  “This is a disaster. Mary Stills is engaged and to Earl Thrugood.”

  “Oh, is that all? I knew about that. His grace was bragging to the boys. She can have him.” She tugged at a loose thread on her crewel work hoping her mother would leave so she could get back to her book.

  “Young lady, this is serious. He has impeccable connections and comes from a very old family. I had hoped he might take an interest in you, maybe not as your first choice but as a secondary option. I know you could do better than an earl.”

  “Mother, we’ve discussed this ad nauseum. I don’t intend on marrying.”

  “You may have presented your opinion. I disagree and I am still your mother.” Eleanor felt a cold shiver down her back. Her mother was not usually this focused.

  “Mother, Thrugood is a spendthrift and a gambler. Mary Stills is not very bright and dress obsessed but her father set her up with a handsome dowry. They are perfect for each other.”

  “Nevertheless, I’ve indulged you long enough. You are now nineteen and you will enter the marriage mart before all the eligible men have been snapped up.”

  “I hardly think of Thrugood as eligible.”

  “My point exactly! If even that spendthrift is considered a catch... It doesn’t matter what you think. You will take your place in society and I will not hear otherwise.”

  “But why?” She hated the whining tone to her voice.

  “Eleanor, you know very well why. Did you somehow think you could run around like one of your brothers for the rest of your life? I have failed you as a mother letting you behave as they do.”