Sitting there with everyone staring at her, the two of them, suddenly seemed like torture. “Not there!” Her voice came out in a screech. If she had to sit next to her parents and pretend this was something she welcomed she would start screaming and not be able to stop. Right now she wanted nothing more than to curl up in her bed with her book to ward off her fears of everything that had happened and everything to come.
“You are probably just hungry. Some of the wedding breakfast will do you some good.” If she had to eat she’d toss up her accounts. Wouldn’t that serve her parents right! The room closed in around her and she wanted to tear off the ribbon Marie had tied around her neck. She couldn’t breathe.
Looking up at her husband, oh God, her husband, she couldn’t think of him that way. He was just Colin Campbell, annoying, obtuse provincial laird of somewhere she was never going to see. That helped her breathe a little. But she couldn’t stay in this room, she couldn’t look at her parents and smile, worse, look at the man who was puffing up and preening like he’d won her. She wanted to pull out a knife and slice them all open. Alright, that was overly dramatic. But how she wished Minerva was here with her throwing knives, or Virtue with her bow and arrows, perhaps Eleanor could have made her disappear. But they weren’t here, she was in this on her own.
She was used to being on her own. Her parents had dragged her all over London, from the docks where they did their business, to the posh halls their money bought them into. And in all of them they had left her alone to do whatever it was they wanted to do. Her gran had told her everyone had a story and if you watched them long enough and paid attention you could hear it. She knew her parents story, all too well. But curiosity pricked her as to Campbell’s part in all of this. She glared at him and the oaf just smiled back at her.
“Mr. Campbell, would you please get me a toast point. I don’t think I could eat more than that.” His brows drew together at her formal tone. Good, she would be as cold and formal as any duchess. Well, not Eleanor of course. She was constitutionally incapable of being cold or formal. That was her charm. Colin, no, Mr. Campbell returned with a plate with a single lonely toast point. He was scowling at her now.
“Surely, this isn’t all you’re going to eat?”
“I assure you it is.”
“You’ll make yourself sick like this.”
“I fail to see what concern it is of yours.”
“You’re my wife.”
“Worried you bought damaged goods?”
He took a step back, if she didn’t know better she would almost think he was surprised. “I’ve not bought you.”
“Didn’t you? My parents told me everything.”
His brows pulled together again and she had the urge to press her fingertip to his forehead to smooth the hard line there. She chastised herself at the thought. There would be no shared intimacies, no matter how small, with Mr. Campbell. Looking at the toast her stomach rebelled at the thought of swallowing even that. Perhaps she should take that as a sign and rebel herself.
“What is going on in that silly head of yours?” Silly? Did the man really just call her silly, as if she were a child? She had to think of this as a most Machiavellian negotiation.
“I’ve decided to forgo the toast, actually I don’t think I can spend another minute here. I want to leave.”
“But... You don’t want to celebrate...” He stopped at the glare she gave him. “No, I suppose not.” The smile slid from his face and his eyes dimmed. Louisa had the oddest feeling in her chest at the change that came over him. She wanted to tell him it would be alright, now she was being as silly as he’d accused her of. Whatever this situation was, it was going to be far from alright. Whatever tender feelings crossed her mind disappeared with his next words.
“I’ll need to speak to some men about business first. You can wait in the entrance if you’d like.” Her blood chilled. Was he really ordering her out of her own dining room? Did he think she would faint at the discussion of business? And how could she not feel as though she’d been bought when the man was using the ‘happy’ occasion of their wedding to discuss business?
“I’ll be in my room, making sure I have everything I need when we reach your townhouse.”
“Oh,” He looked confused again. That was an annoying habit. What could she have said that caused that look this time? “Er, fine, yes. I’ll call for you when I have had them bring the coach around.” She turned on her heel and stomped out of the room. She could hear the gasps behind her, she didn’t care. The only thing she cared about right now was upstairs, hidden in her book of fairy tales.
Hera’s Husband Chapter Four
The hack’s rocking lulled him to daydreaming. That was a fine piece of work if he did say so himself. The Comptons may be annoying with their fawning and constantly referring to his title but they did have friends in just the places he needed them. Who would have guessed that in one short morning he could have secured good prices and exclusive sales on everything from coal stoves to ladies underthings. The thought made him puff out his chest with a little pride. He wasn’t prideful as a rule but today seemed to warrant it, so he indulged himself, just a little. The hack took a particularly bad jolt and a small whimper to his left punctured his pride, more like shredded it. Damn the girl, it was a perfectly fine party. Why did she have to stomp off the way she did? That hadn’t sat well with him. And now she’d made him feel bad about leaving her to her things when he conducted his business.
He didn’t know why but he was feeling all loose ends with this girl and that was intolerable. She was pretty, but he’d bedded better looking girls. And he wasn’t planning on bedding this one anyway since she didn’t even seem to like him. She didn’t seem dim and she wasn’t one of those girls to break into peals of horse-braying laughter. That had been one of the things he’d been worried about. A couple of dances and part of a weekend house party had cleared that up. She might be spoiled but she would learn to adjust as he had no intention of letting go of the purse strings. A man who couldn’t control his purse may as well throw himself in front of a carriage.
The girl gave a little sniff and dabbed at her nose with a handkerchief. There hadn’t been any tears yet, he could say that much for her. She had been eager to leave her parent’s home, even if she wasn’t exactly happy to go to his. She only had the one trunk tied to the back of his hired hack. She hadn’t remarked on his choice of conveyance but made her disdain clear when she stood on the stoop looking from him to the carriage and back again in obvious disbelief. It made no sense purchasing and housing a pair of horses and a carriage while he was in London. A walk was good for his constitution and saved on the fare. Colin glanced down at the girl’s shoes. Bits of fabric with no real heft, they wouldn’t be good for walking in London at all.
“Do you have any riding boots?”
She stared at him for a moment. “Boots?”
“Yes, to ride, on a horse.”
“I do not ride horses. And even Her Grace doesn’t wear more than kid half boots. We are ladies, we ride sidesaddle.” Bother. He never had understood all the fuss they made here about women not riding astride. Nothing wrong with a girl getting used to the feel of something strong between her thighs. The thought brought a scowl to his face. But the memory of her innocent reaction to his kiss put his jealousy back in place. No, the girl knew nothing of relations, that much was true. Just as well, he liked women with a little seasoning to them. An uptight virgin was no prize to him. He’d played that game once and lost.
The hack stopped at the Albany and the driver went to unfasten the trunk leaving Colin to help his wife down from the carriage. Her hand trembled in his, just a little flutter that made him want to soothe her. Then she opened her mouth.
“You live here?” There was that disdain he now so easily recognized in her voice.
“I do. And so will you until such time as I’ve concluded my business here.”
“Oh.” Barely a whole sound but it told him how much s
he didn’t approve. Well, that and the way her lips had gone pale around the edges and her eyes had gotten wider. Blast, she was going to turn delicate now?
“It is only temporary.”
Her breath rushed out and her whole body relaxed. “Of course, you must be remodeling your townhouse to suit your new status.”
“What? There is no townhouse. I stay here when I am in town and when I am not, I am at the fort or an inn checking on a store.” Her mouth dropped open just the tiniest bit. He could see a neat row of pearly teeth tucked behind her plump bottom lip. The tip of his tongue tingled thinking about running it along them. Would she nip at him? God help him, he couldn’t think of her like that, she was his wife now.
“Where,” She collected herself a moment and swallowed. “Where is the fort?”
“Scotland, of course. Near Ed--” He didn’t get the rest of the words out because the girl swooned and he had to think fast to catch her. Blast! Now he was going to have to get the driver to take her trunk up and that would cost him a pretty penny.
Colin laid her on the bed after giving the driver some coin. He stared down at her for a moment. He was out of his depths here, the kind of women he spent time with didn’t swoon. Spoiled city girls did, which was why he had always avoided them. Now he was leg shackled to one. He tapped her cheek but it turned more to stroking her skin. He had taken his gloves off and except for the two kisses earlier hadn’t ever really touched her. He watched another moment as her chest rose and fell with her breathing and then she opened her eyes. She looked so soft and pretty, and vulnerable. He may not want a real marriage but he didn’t want her harmed either.
“You fainted.”
“Where am I?”
“In my rooms, er, room.”
“Where is your man?”
He didn’t have a man, there was a butler shared among the rooms. “I am capable of dressing myself.”
“I see. So there is no ladies’ maid either?” She wasn’t yelling but you could hear her tension in the way her voice warbled.
“No.”
She took a deep breath, then another. A tear rolled down her cheek. The same cheek he’d touched and felt so warm and soft under his fingertips.
“Don’t cry now.”
That was the wrong thing to say. The tears began to run in buckets and she started sniffling. “I’ll cry if I want to.” If it had been his sister he would have wrapped his arms around her and threatened to tear someone apart. But this girl was crying because of him, it wasn’t a situation he was at all familiar with. Most women loved him. She started crying harder.
“You’re just hungry. We can go get some meat pies around the corner.” Evidently, that was the final straw and she started howling. Her face was pinched and red, tears ran along her nose and over her cheeks. When he handed her his handkerchief she blew her nose so that she sounded like a horse sneezing. He couldn’t help it, he started to laugh.
“You are awful! The worst man in all of Christendom! Nothing could be worth staying here! I want to leave! I want to go home! We can have the marriage annulled!”
That got his attention. Sending her back to her parents in this state would sink his whole enterprise. That would not do at all. No, he had to convince her to stay. “I know you’re upset...”
“You think I’m upset? You must be some kind of mystic! You managed to guess that all on your own? I can’t imagine why I would be upset? Married against my will, no food, no servants and a husband I don’t want! Why in heaven would I be upset?”
“I didn’t marry you against your will.”
“The hell you didn’t!” He blinked at her curse and almost started to laugh but bit into his lip in time to stop it.
“Your parents said...”
“My parents sold me to you to satisfy some requirement of their business!” The little bit he’d managed to eat of their wedding breakfast threatened to come back up.
“They didn’t tell you I had asked for your hand?” He hadn’t, not really, now that he thought about it. Mr. Compton mentioned a daughter. Mrs Compton kept repeating his title along with the phrase ‘Laird, at least it sounds like Lord.’ He’d thought they were both a bit dotty but harmless. They’d discussed him distributing some stock that they had bought too much of. It was items he sold anyway and then they’d agreed to give him better prices on other things. Said it was the least they could do for their son-in-law. How could he not assume they would have informed their daughter of the decision they’d made on her behalf.
“When did your parents tell you we were to be married?”
“I was awakened this morning. Told to hurry and dress, when I walked downstairs they pushed a posy in my hands and marched me into the front parlor.” She burst into a new round of tears and more honking into his handkerchief. Blast and damn. No wonder the girl had turned tail and run. A memory niggled at the back of his mind. She was going to tell the minister she couldn’t be married and he’d kissed her. Damn it to hell he wanted to do it again too. Kiss her tears away until she was laughing at the ridiculousness of it all. No, he wasn’t going to kiss her but he did need reinforcements.
“Come with me.”
She was crying but she still managed to fight him. “I’m not going anywhere with you!”
“You will, because I am your husband and I say so.”
“I won’t. I won’t move.” With that she clasped the coverlet with both hands and tensed her entire body. This girl vexed him. Every woman he’d ever known loved and adored him and he would not let this one girl get the best of him.
Her eyes went round when he stood up, and they went bigger when he smiled and leaned down towards her. “Last chance.”
She had stopped crying now and her eyes narrowed as she glared back at him. “I won’t.” Part of him wanted to cheer her on. Part of him roused to the fight and it was the part that smiled as he yanked up both sides of the coverlet around her. She was now trussed up like a sack of grain and he had more than enough experience handling those. A quick flip over his shoulder and she let out a squeak but didn’t flail about. It almost disappointed him. A quick check showed nothing of hers left behind save her trunk and they could come back for that. She must have grown comfortable or indignant enough because now the yelling started.
“You beast! Put me down this instant! I swear when I get free I will make you pay for this!” He gave her a light swat on the bottom, with her clothes and the coverlet she couldn’t have felt more than a tap but it startled her enough that he was able to get her downstairs without making a scene. By the time they were standing outside she was back to crying and calling him names.
Blast! Where did all the carriages for hire go when it rained? A boy dashed by and he managed to grab him one handed.
“Boy, I’ll give you a penny if you run to the corner and bring back a hack.”
“Give me a crown and I won’t tell anyone I’d seen you kidnap a lady.”
“You cheeky little...” Colin wiped the water from his eyes and twisted to see that the girl was covered so she wasn’t getting wet. “Half a crown. Take it or leave it, and not until you return with a carriage.”
“Right away sir!”
The grubby little swindler smiled at his good luck and ran off to find a carriage. He was at least good as his word and came back in a minute riding a top the carriage. Colin spoke to the driver and then tipped his wife into the coach, jumping in after her so she couldn’t escape. He could only hope that the duke was home and his wife didn’t have a pistol handy.
Hera’s Husband Chapter Five
She hadn’t spoken to him for the entire carriage ride; she was resolved to never speak to him again, the beast. How dare he lift her up like she weighed nothing? And hoist her over his shoulder like he was some conqueror? It was unseemly. So why had she tingled all over? And when he’d swatted her bottom, like she was a child to discipline, at least he’d made sure it didn’t actually hurt her. Her cheeks burned remembering the feel of his hand idly rubbi
ng her bottom as he looked for a carriage. She shouldn’t like him, correction, she didn’t like him, it was just the ideas Eleanor had put in her head. And the way he held her pinned in the covers now, on his lap no less! It wasn’t dignified! But it was the safest she’d felt since she woke up this morning, no, longer, years. Since her parents decided that despite being a girl she might be worth something after all. She snuggled closer, caught herself doing it and then stiffened. Damn the man for being warm and his laughing at her when he realized what she was doing.
Mr. Campbell knocked loudly at the door of the Rothwell residence. At least she’d be able to escape him now. Eleanor would come up with a plan, she always did. Watkins, the Rothwell butler answered the door looking slightly worse for wear. Behind him Alderson was barking as usual. What Eleanor liked about that dog confounded her.
“Laird Campbell, the duke and duchess have asked not to be disturbed.”
“Tell them this is an emergency. And I have the former Louisa Compton with me.”
“Former?” The man’s eyes betrayed his hauteur. “Please come in.”
Campbell nudged her through the door in front of him and then shook the rain out of his hair and beard. He looked wild and dangerous but the truth was he hadn’t done anything to hurt her. They stood in silence as Watkins informed Eleanor and Simeon of their arrival. Alderson sat guarding them as if they were thieves in the night. It didn’t take a mind reader to know when Watkins informed the Rothwells of their arrival, Eleanor’s voice could be heard clearly.
“What? What did he mean former?” With that Eleanor burst through the door with Simeon on her heels.
“Campbell? What is going on here?” Simeon gave her a slight bow of acknowledgement but he was focused on Campbell and not in a good way.
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