“Louisa, what was Watkins talking about? Why are you wrapped in bed linens? Oh, where are my manners, come get dry and warm up.” She didn’t even have time to reply before Eleanor had grabbed her arm and tugged her up the stairs to a bedroom. It was the first time since this morning she felt at all herself. She and Eleanor would fix this. It was just being so close to him that had muddled her brain. With some distance she could think clearly. She almost sobbed in relief.
Rothwell closed the parlor door none too gently. Ah, so it was going to be like that. “What in the hell is this ‘the former Miss Compton’ business?”
“I need a drink.” A bit of spirits weren’t going to fix anything but he wanted a little fire in his belly. Rothwell started for the sideboard and the brandy decanter. “Not that, I need something stronger.” Colin pulled his flask from his jacket and twisted off the cap. Saluting Rothwell and cursing himself he downed a healthy gulp of the whiskey made on his land. The burn down his throat ended in a warm glow as it hit his stomach. Now he was ready to deal with Rothwell’s derision. “I married the girl.”
“Married? You can’t be serious? At the house party she looked like she wanted to take your head off.”
“Aye, I thought she was playing coy. Her parents never consulted the girl... Well, there is nothing to be done about it now.”
“Bloody hell! Eleanor had said her parents were awful but to not tell the girl they were marrying her off, are you sure?”
“What else could explain her reactions? I tell you she had no idea she was walking into her wedding this morning.”
“So get the marriage annulled. I can set her up as my wife’s companion to keep her out of the public eye for a while. Eleanor would love to spend more time at the country estate.”
“You’d have your wife install another woman in your house while you are still newly wed?”
“Put like that it does sound less appealing but for any of those particular girls, yes, I would. It isn’t often you come along women who have brains in their heads.”
Other than the occasional witty remark he didn’t see his wife as all that intellectual. “I can’t dissolve the marriage.”
“Why not? If you don’t love the girl...”
“It has to do with my business. If I quit the marriage her parents will pull their agreements, and so will their acquaintances. It will ruin me.”
“So you don’t love her?” Even Rothwell had fallen prey to that affliction and as usual wanted every other man to join him. Colin was never falling into that trap again.
“I like her well enough. She’s bright, got a pretty face, no horse-braying laugh.”
“Ah, you’ve spent time with Annabel Everthaler?” Simeon asked.
They both shook their heads. “Dear God, I didn’t think I’d survive dinner. Such a tiny indistinct thing until you get her laughing.”
“She can’t dance to save her life either.” Simeon added.
“This girl dances nicely.”
Rothwell looked at him over the rim of his glass of brandy. “Mmm, what else have you noticed about our Louisa?”
“She seems to absorb light somehow. Hers is always the brightest corner of the ball. I know it must be a trick of her hair, or maybe her eyes. I don’t know how she does it but I can always tell where she is at a party.”
“Ah.”
“What?”
“Nothing. What do you plan to do then?”
“The hell if I know! What would you do?”
“Me? I ruined the woman I loved accidentally, drank enough brandy to make a serious dent in my cellar and then was tricked into marrying her by my best friend, her own brother, and thank God for it. You were there, I don’t have to tell you.”
“Yes. Knowing what Stonington had planned for you after you started getting drunk was quite amusing.”
“I’ll consider this my getting even with you then. You really want my advice?”
“I do.”
“Find some other way to keep your business afloat. That particular girl doesn’t deserve to have her heart broken to satisfy her parents greed or yours. It is a shame though, no other man will want her now, or one far below her station. Wouldn’t be surprised if he beat her.” Simeon shrugged and Colin caught a quirk of his lips before he schooled his features. “She, of all of the Heiresses was actually looking forward to marriage. I’m sure it was a way to escape her parents but she seemed to want a partner too. Or at least the house and family.”
“Not want her? But she is beautiful and her parents would provide a dowry...” They’d offered one to him and he’d taken it with the intention of investing it for her. He could keep her in dresses, but if she wanted to travel or whatever it was city girls did she would have the funds to do it. He didn’t need her money, just the contacts her parents made available to him. Anger bubbled up inside him at the thought of anyone slighting his wife. “And no one is laying a hand on her, do you understand me?”
Simeon raised his eyebrows. “Didn’t intend to. I was merely presenting likely outcomes when you get out of the marriage.”
“I’m not getting out of the marriage.”
“What if she chooses to?”
He stopped and considered the possibility for a moment. Women loved him. “She won’t.”
“How can you be so sure?”
“I can be very charming.”
Simeon stared into his brandy. “Then my advice is to woo her by every means necessary.”
“I can’t do that if she is going to run to your wife at every turn.”
“I’ve found a few ways to keep my wife occupied but I would take the girl off somewhere. Just the two of you. Though if I hear you’ve forced her in anyway, I will take pleasure in ruining you financially.”
“You wouldn’t challenge me to a duel?”
“So I could shoot myself in the foot? Even if I hit your heart I suspect it wouldn’t wound you as much as hitting you in the purse.”
“Rothwell, has anyone ever mentioned you have an evil streak.”
The man laughed with gusto. “Oh yes, my wife, nearly every night.”
He had no wish to know what that meant, though he could guess. God knew the man was nothing like the dour politician he’d first met. Colin had seduced more women than he could scarcely remember. He’d never seduced a man’s wife, and especially never his own. The more the idea tumbled in his head the more he warmed to it. He liked her looks and she was prickly in ways that made him want to tease her more. A real home, a real family, had seemed unattainable after... But the women he spent time with after Sybil weren’t anything like Miss Louisa Compton. He’d learned well enough how to share a bed without sacrificing his heart, the only difference this time would be that he would share the same bed with just the one woman. It would be a challenge, but he’d never backed away from a challenge before.
Eleanor handled her like a doll, stripping off her wet clothes and wrapping her in a dressing gown before pulling two chairs in front of the fire.
“Do you need anything, food, some tea?” This simple offer brought fresh tears to her eyes. All she could manage was a nod in response. Eleanor told her lady’s maid to have a tray brought up for them and then sat waiting for her to explain their barging in on a duke and duchess’s honeymoon. She didn’t even know where to start.
“Well? Did you elope?”
“No! Why would you even think that?” Eleanor pulled her left hand out from the robe and stroked her thumb over the plain gold band on her third finger. Oh! She hadn’t even realized it was there. Seeing it now somehow made it heavy and odd. The urge to take it off and throw it into the fire came over her but it was gone just as quickly. She needed a plan to manage this and yet, the thought of returning to her parents made her cringe. And she needed that two percent of the company.
“Your parents?”
“Yes!” the word came out in a sob. “They basically sold me to him. I should have guessed. All that time when he was being charming, he was plottin
g, this.” She stared at the ring on her finger before she could continue. “All along I thought he might... Oh Eleanor, what am I going to do?”
“Do you at least like him?”
“I— He confuses me!” Eleanor laughed at her. She knew that laugh and shuddered despite the warmth of the fire.
“Confused is, good, I think. What happened when he kissed you?”
“I’m not telling you that!”
“I’m just trying to help. Come now, did you tingle and melt? Or was it like kissing a brother?”
“I don’t have a brother, or even cousins but when he kissed me...” She remembered that first kiss and stared at the fire watching the flames leap and dodge. The glow looked like a physical thing. Something warm and safe she could wrap around her, something that would welcome her. That was how kissing Campbell made her feel. How could she explain that to Eleanor?
Eleanor started clucking and shaking her head. “Ah, what are you going to do about it?”
“It? What are you talking about?”
“Louisa, I know he confuses you, and certainly you’ve acted as if the man were the devil himself but, isn’t there some small part of you that wants to know more about him, know things you can’t find out in conversation?”
“Like what?”
“Like what his eyes look like when he is happy? Or perhaps the sound of contentment he makes when he is falling asleep? Or what it sounds like when he whispers your name in longing?” She hadn’t thought of those things but now that Eleanor said them she was overcome with curiosity. Damn Eleanor as a traitor. Her own thoughts had always involved Colin Campbell nearly naked, sweaty with exertion, in her fantasies she would wipe him down with a cool cloth. Skimming it over the muscles you could see even in his evening clothes. The thought forced a sigh from her throat.
The thoughts made her flush. Even the other Heiresses for all their scandalous pastimes had been shocked when she’d voiced her thoughts on the male half of the species when they were younger. She couldn’t help her curiosity, though she had learned not to give it voice any longer.
“Maybe, but he colluded with my parents! How could I ever trust him?”
“Do you know he was hiding anything from you?”
“Well, no but...”
Eleanor held up her hand. “You can’t hang him without a proper trial.”
“You really think that if I ask him he’ll tell me the truth?”
“I do. Impolitic men are dreadful liars.”
“But it doesn’t change anything.”
“No, but at least you can get out of the marriage knowing he wasn’t the cause of the problem. He will let you beg off and then possibly you can save your reputation.”
“I can’t get out of the marriage. Not for at least a month.”
Eleanor stared at her a long moment.
“A month? You’ll never be able to marry again. Why not get out of it now?”
“I just—My parents promised me shares of the business. I’ll need at least that long to make sure they’re transferred to my name.”
“Really? I’d like to have seen that negotiation. But a month? That makes things more difficult.”
“With those shares I could determine my own future. I could marry whomever I choose or no one at all and still make it on my own.” The look Eleanor gave her now was tinged with pride. “So do you think I can put him off for the next month?”
Now Eleanor’s eyes went wide. “And sleep in the same bed?”
“If I have to.”
“The trick may not be in keeping him away from you so much as you away from him. I’ve seen the way you look at the man.”
“Oh come now. With his face all covered in fur like that? It would be like kissing a bear.” She was lying. His kiss had stunned her mute, the rat. His lips on hers were sure, his tongue stroking the sensitive places in her mouth, his beard hadn’t even crossed her mind.
“Mmm, that wasn’t what you said a while ago. And when I’ve seen you look at him, it wasn’t his face you were concerned with. What advice did you give me when I was looking for a victim for my little scheme? A man with a good leg. I may adore my husband but I have eyes and Campbell has two good legs and broad shoulders to boot.”
“But, well, it doesn’t matter. His figure houses an ill-mannered man.” The truth pecked at her. He’d been kind, if rough in his ways.
“Don’t you mean one you can’t control?”
“And you can control Rothwell?”
Eleanor smiled like she had a few secrets of her own. “When it matters, but mostly I don’t have to. I tell you truly, I like Campbell. I think he is a good man. He may not be perfect but I’ve seen him looking at you too.”
“You have?” Her heart started thumping in her chest. It didn’t matter whether he liked her or not. But if he did... she blushed at her own thoughts. No, it would never work. But maybe it would be worth it to find out first. They were startled by a knock on the door.
“Yes?” Eleanor answered.
Simeon called out to her. “May I speak with you darling? Out here, alone.”
Even Eleanor apparently thought that strange since her eyebrows were now floating further up her forehead. But she shook out her skirts and left Louisa by the fire. She wasn’t gone more than a few minutes when she came back smiling with obviously kissed lips. Really, for a woman who never wanted to marry she was enjoying married life far too much.
“You will spend the night here with us.” Eleanor announced.
“But what about Mr. Campbell?”
“He will spend the night at his apartments and collect you in the morning.”
“To what end? I need my trunk! I have important things in it.”
“You will have everything with you on your journey to Scotland.”
Louisa wobbled in her chair. “Scotland?” she squeaked.
“Yes, it will give you a chance to get to know each other. He has given Simeon his word he won’t ask anything of you.” Eleanor gave her a pointed look so she knew there would be no trysts. “If you are in Scotland no one will know what has happened, it might allow you to save your reputation while waiting out this month. You did say that was how long you needed, yes?”
“Yes.” Her voice had gone from a squeak to a whisper.
“If you need to leave sooner, then you can write me a letter and I will come with our fastest horses. Unless you want to back out now?” Eleanor’s smile was far too wide and certainly too knowing.
“I don’t.”
“Then it is settled. I’ll have the maids iron your clothes to be ready for tomorrow when Campbell picks you up.”
Scotland! It was so far away and so... uncivilized. Not unlike the man confusing her. Eleanor was correct in saying it might preserve her reputation. Alone with her beast for a full month? The thought made her heart pulse. She just needed to decide if it was fear or attraction that was the cause. A month in the wilds might be the best way to do that and if it all came to naught she’d still have her shares.
Also by Lisette Giroux
Heiresses of Eris
Chaos's Consort
Hera's Husband
Minerva's Match (Coming Soon)
Watch for more at Lisette Giroux’s site.
Minerva's Match Page 23