A Bride For Windridge Hall

by Jeanie P Johnson

  “There is some mystery about his previous marriage, that he won’t divulge. I think he got his heart broken, since she died, and he can’t get over the loss of that wife. He called it a disastrous marriage, which his father forced him into. And now his father’s will is forcing him into another marriage. He may never learn to love me. I just can’t marry someone who could not love me,” she insisted.

  “What about those rumors circulating about Windridge Hall? Is he the one who killed his wife and her lover?” Lilith placed her hand over her mouth, at the thought, and her eyes widened in shock.

  “I have heard of the story, but I thought it was some ancient legend handed down over the years. Nothing that happened recently. He only said his wife died shortly after they were married.”

  “Then he admitted that his wife died.”

  “I don’t think he killed anyone, but he did say people believed the worse of him because they did not know the truth. They wanted to believe it. You know how people love scandals! He just seems too kind to be someone that would kill his wife, and had he done that, he would be in prison, don’t you think?”

  “Unless he got away with murder! You don’t know him, Emily. Some men can seem so nice until you get to know them better.”

  “That is precisely why I intend to wait and let him court me. His cousin seems determined to keep him from marrying anyone, so I am sure I shall hear about all the skeletons that are hiding in the family closets from Willard. He actually walked in on us when Roderick kissed me. Roderick claims Willard would circulate the story, and claim Roderick compromised me. If I do not marry Roderick, he would eventually do it, simply to give Roderick a bad name, so no woman will marry him. He would most likely wait until Roderick found someone else to marry him, and just before the wedding took place, spread the story. By then, it would be too late for Roderick to insist I marry him, using the compromise as leverage. My reputation would be ruined as well.”

  “I hope Lord Winlock is not like his cousin. The man seems rudely underhanded.”

  “It is the will. Willard wants to get his hands on all the money. The only way he can do it is if Roderick doesn’t marry. Something like that will make people do all sorts of things they wouldn’t ordinarily do, it seems.”

  “Money is a powerful motivation,” Lilith admitted. “As I remember, both men were extremely good-looking.”

  “Yes, and they still are. I find it hard to believe that a man as handsome as Willard is, would lower himself to underhanded methods. He could certainly persuade some wealthy woman to marry him if money is the angle.”

  “Maybe it is just pride or some feud between the two. One never knows about families and what history is involved.”

  “Well, I don’t want to be caught up in the middle of a family feud. Willard could do away with me, and blame it on Roderick, just to keep us from having an heir. He may do anything to cause Roderick to lose everything. Having an heir is another stipulation of the will.”

  “This sounds rather serious,” Lilith mused. “Are you sure you want to be in the middle of all this?”

  “The truth is, I think I am falling in love with the man, and it is infuriating that he only wants a marriage of convenience.

  “That kiss must have done something to you,” Lilith concluded.

  “Well, are you going to come stay with me or not?”

  “It sounds too exciting not to join you,” Lilith giggled. “Perhaps I will have to protect you from both Roderick and his evil cousin. Maybe we should invite Alfred to come along as well, ” she suggested.

  “What an excellent idea! Roderick should definitely keep his place, and his lips off of me, if Alfred is in the house to protect my honor, as Roderick claims he wishes to do!”

  “Alfred would just love to interfere if he thought Roderick would not be a good choice.”

  “You will find Roderick devastatingly charming,” Emily promised. “I am hoping he will learn to love me eventually, and then I would gladly marry him. But having Alfred along will ensure he does not take advantage of the situation.”

  “I cannot imagine a man not loving you,” Lilith commented.

  “How strange! Your brother does not love me, and he is a man.”

  “Alfred is crazy! He should be in love with you. After all those wagers you had with him over the years that you did not back down from? I am surprised that alone did not prove what a good sport you were.”

  “I think he wanted someone more exciting than me. That is why he was always coming up with new wagers. I never did anything exciting, unless he goaded me into it.”

  “What you are doing now, seems pretty exciting,” Lilith pointed out.

  “It is almost too exciting for my blood, and had I not become so infatuated with Lord Roderick Winlock, I probably would not have agreed. I tried to turn him down, but he just wouldn’t let me!”

  “Sounds like he goaded you into it, if you ask me,” Lilith laughed.

  “You may be right! So I will have Roderick send a carriage for you and Alfred in a couple of days to bring you to Windridge Hall. He wants me to settle in before you come, which I am sure won’t cause too much damage since I am engaged to him. I wonder how he will react when I tell him I have invited your brother?”

  “I shall be waiting impatiently,” Lilith promised. “Alfred will be so shocked! He should have offered for you himself, just to save you from destitution!”

  “I would never marry someone who merely wanted to save me, which is the very reason why I am hesitating to agree to let Roderick marry me.”

  “Only in his case, he is also saving himself,” Lilith reminded her.

  “Yes, that is the rub, don’t you think? I can’t decide why he chose to marry me in particular, beyond saving his inheritance. He could find some other woman, but he insists that I fill his requirements better than anyone else he can think of.”

  “Sounds like that kiss must have done something for Roderick as well,” Lilith smiled.

  Emily blushed.

  “I hope so,” was all she said. She did not have the heart to mention the fact that Roderick, at one point, had planned to get back at her for her treatment of him at her party. That could still be the very reason he wanted to marry her.

  When Emily was settled in at Windridge Hall, Roderick’s brows pulled into a frown, as Emily informed him that she had not only invited Lilith to come but her brother, Alfred, as well.

  “Wasn’t he the one who suggested the wager in which you put me down?” he questioned.

  “It was innocent enough. He did not stipulate that I be rude to you personally. It was just anyone that I didn’t already know, and you happened to fill the bill at the time,” she explained.

  “That makes me feel so much better,” he said with deep sarcasm in his voice.

  “I could not ask Lilith without asking her brother because they are both concerned about my welfare.”

  “If Alfred was so concerned about your welfare, why didn’t he ask for your hand?”

  “Even if he had, I would not have accepted him. He did not love me.”

  “Is that why you hesitate to marry me?” Roderick asked honestly.

  “I have already told you that a loveless marriage is distasteful to me. This is different since you are in great need of a wife, where Alfred isn’t. As you point out, it would suit both of us to marry the other. Alfred did not need a wife in the same way you do. Had that been the case, I may have married him because I have always been fond of him. You, however, I know not at all.”

  “However, you like the way I kiss you.”

  Emily blushed, and Roderick enjoyed watching the color creep over her face.

  “A kiss does not tell everything about a man,” she insisted.

  “Except how he will treat you in bed,” he offered.

  “Which is the very reason I have invited Alfred, to discourage you from taking me to your bed.”

  “You think that will discourage me?”

  “Let’s say it
will keep you honest.”

  “What it will do is force you to marry me, if I do take you to bed, and Alfred discovers it.”

  “Or perhaps he will marry me to save my honor,” Emily suggested.

  Roderick had not thought of that, and he glared at her.

  “Then he should have offered for you before I did,” he sneered.

  “Are you refusing to get to know my friends? If you do not like my friends, then you could not possibly like me either,” she insisted.

  “I have nothing against your friends. I was just hoping there would not be others milling around to distract us from getting to know each other better.”

  “That is the point. We can get to know each other better, in the way you are wishing, once we get married, if we get married!

  “You talk like you did not like the way I kissed you,” Roderick accused, as he rose from where he was sitting and came to sit beside Emily on the settee.

  “I never said that. Perhaps it was because I liked it too well, that I am concerned,” she whispered, as he took her hand in his.

  “And since I liked it as much, it is difficult for me to keep my hands from touching you.”

  He lifted his hand and drew one finger over her cheek, causing a shiver to pass through Emily’s body, at his touch.

  “You are always rendering me breathless,” she complained. “How can I trust my willpower when you are so close to me?”

  “I don’t want you to have any willpower where I am concerned,” he admitted. “I want you totally pliable in my hands, and under my mouth.”

  “You cannot control your desire until we are safely wed?”

  “You do not know how difficult it is to be in a room with you, and not want to kiss you to oblivion,” he informed her in a husky voice.

  His mouth moved closer to her ear, and his breath on her ear started to distract her from her resolve.

  “Since it is a mere kiss you desire, that has been shared before, certainly, another would not ruin me.”

  He chuckled. A mere kiss would never be enough for him, but he was not about to tell her that. He brushed his lips against her cheek.

  “Like this?” he whispered.

  She shivered at the mere touch of his lips on her cheek.

  “Or like this?” he continued as he turned her head towards him, and captured her lips beneath his own.

  Emily drew in her breath, as her mouth opened to welcome his kiss naturally. All the emotions and sparkling sensations were surging to the surface in a gallop so fast that Emily was shocked at her own body begging for more than just a mere kiss. If this could be called a mere kiss! There was nothing mere about it, she thought. She found herself leaning into his kiss, and then felt his hand on her neck, pulling her against his mouth with more pressure, as her good sense and reason abandoned her.

  Roderick positioned her head, as he angled his mouth upon hers for more access, pulling the very essence from her body as he deepened his kiss, and coaxed her to respond willingly. Emily found herself giving into the kiss as the surging rivers of her body flowed rapidly through her, at every new tantalizing nibble he imposed upon her lips. She felt his hand smoothing over her neck, making its way across the material of her dress, to plant lightly over one breast. It caused her blood to rush and make her feel like swooning. His fingers lightly brushing against her was pulling a desire from deep inside of her, the same way his mouth on her lips were doing.

  “Kissing does not have to be regulated to the mouth alone,” he told her.

  His mouth slid from hers, and he began to kiss her ear, sending waves of thrills throughout her body. She felt him move his mouth along her neck, sucking and kissing as he went. He journeyed to the other ear, lapping it with his tongue and blowing lightly, causing yet another gasp to escape Emily’s lips at the very sensations he was pulling from her body. She was beginning to wonder if she should stop him? Before she could make up her mind, he continued to travel his mouth over her face, kissing her eyes, and her nose and then touching her lips again before finding his way down her neck to the collar of her gown.

  Roderick’s fingers at her neck began to flip the buttons out of their loops, down her back, and she hadn’t even noticed it, she was so caught up with his kisses.

  Her dress was down around her shoulders before she realized he had undone the buttons. She could not stop him from pulling the material away, because the kisses continued to tantalize her, as they progressed across her shoulders, and down to the edge of her chemise.

  “Are these the kind of kisses you enjoy most, my sweet?” Roderick asked as he watched the rapturous look on her face.

  He pushed her slowly down against the cushions of the settee they were sitting on. Roderick looked at her for a long moment, feeling his own desires leaping through his body, and a deep need, straining to be freed. His mouth came down upon her throat, wanting to follow a path to awaken hidden mysteries, she had never experienced before. He took the flimsy strap of her chemise under his finger, as he slowly pulled it over her shoulder, and kissed the place where it had rested against her skin. At that very moment, they heard a clatter in the drive, and Roderick lifted his head.

  “Good God, don’t tell me we have visitors,” he growled.

  He quickly pulled Emily into a sitting position, drew the top of her dress up, and turned her around, to do up the buttons. He went to the window to investigate, swearing under his breath.

  “Can you believe it is my cousin Willard again? He must have a sixth sense knowing the moment my lips are upon yours and intends to prevent it!”

  Emily was straightening her dress and making sure the pins in her hair still held fast. She walked to the mirror hanging over the fireplace, to make sure her mouth did not look like it had been kissed. She realized her cheeks were aglow, and her lips swollen from their activity. She didn’t know how she could remedy it, though. She went back to the settee and sat back down, her back straight and her hands in her lap.

  Roderick strode to the door, too impatient to wait for Dobbs to announce his cousin, and met him in the hall, as he was removing his hat.

  “Willard, you have the worse timing! Now, what brings you to my door?”

  Willard ignored his question, and walked past Roderick, into the parlor, to see Emily sitting primly on the settee.

  “I came to discover it for myself! So it is true! She is your intended! I can see the ring on her finger! When the jeweler informed me of your purchase of a ring, which appeared to be an engagement ring, I thought he was merely grasping at straws. When you told me that Miss Thornton was your intended, I believed you were joking! There was no way you would marry the very girl that snubbed us at her birthday! I thought you were merely teasing her to get back at what she had done. Kissing her, and leading her to believe you were actually going to marry her, and now I discover you actually are going to marry her!”

  “Thanks for the congratulations,” Roderick frowned. “Turns out we are completely enamored with each other, and yes, we plan to get married.”

  Emily pulled her eyebrows together in dismay. It was merely a trial engagement, but she did not think it wise to inform Willard of this. The way he was looking at her, gave her the impression he wanted to strangle her! She managed a weak smile at him.

  “It is true that I treated you both so horrible,” she admitted, “but Roderick has forgiven me for the childish prank of rising to a wager I should never have taken. I hope you will forgive me as well.”

  Willard walked over to her and gave her a disapproving glare.

  “It’s the money, isn’t it? I heard about your father losing all his money before he died. You were such a spoiled little rich girl, and you want to continue to have all those lovely things your father gave you before he lost everything! You should be more careful about who you choose to marry,” he warned. “You do know my cousin has been married before!”

  “That is enough Willard. This is none of your affairs! You are just angry because I will fulfill the sti
pulations of the will, and inherit what is rightfully mine anyway!”

  “Yes, I know your cousin has been married before,” Emily responded, ignoring Roderick’s statement.

  “And did he tell you about the untimely death of his wife?”

  “Willard, I am warning you!” Roderick stepped between Willard and Emily and put his hand on Willard’s shoulder as if to push him out of the room.

  “Yes, he told me that his wife died,” Emily continued.

  “Only he didn’t tell you how she died, did he?”

  “That is between Emily and myself,” Roderick roared in Willard’s face. “You have no right to come into my home and start badgering my intended wife!”

  “How did she die?” Emily asked, starting to feel worried by the look on both Roderick’s and Willard’s face.

  “She drowned!” Roderick spat.

  Emily looked at Willard.

  “Is that so?” she asked.

  “Yes, but the question is, how she drowned?” Willard said with a wicked smile.

  At that point Roderick drew back his arm and slugged Willard in the jaw, causing him to stagger back.

  “That is enough! If you do not leave this instant, I will have someone throw you out!”

  Willard was rubbing his Jaw.

  “You had better ask your intended all about the death of his wife before you decide to marry him,” he advised, as he turned and left the room.

  Emily realized she was shaking. Roderick looked furious, and the look in his eyes frightened her. He had actually slugged his cousin! Lilith must have been right. There was some sort of family feud going on, and it had something to do with Roderick’s previous wife. Roderick slammed the door, and Emily jumped at the sound. He paced back and forth in front of her, running his hand through his hair.

  “Damn him!” he scowled. “You shouldn’t listen to what he says! He is trying to put doubt in your mind, so you won’t trust me.”

  “Then tell me about the death of your wife,” she said simply, but she wondered if she really wanted to hear about it?