Edith Layton (23 page)

“Because neither of us is used to loving,” he said fiercely. “Get used to it, Belle. We’ll have a lifetime of it ahead.”

“But—your mother’s lover, his plans.”

“I’ll deal with them, and him.”

She put her hands on either side of his face and kissed him, this time with desperation. She didn’t doubt him, but she knew the fates and the way they had of amusing themselves with her.

“N
o more lies,” Miles said firmly. He looked at his mother and sister in turn. “That’s the whole truth, and we have to deal with it. Belle has said she will. Now the question is whether you can.”

“Of course! What do you think I am?” Camille asked, incensed.

“A young woman with the world ahead of her,” he answered. “And an impulsive one too. Rein in, Camille, think before you leap. If Proctor tells the world the reality of his ten-year stint with us, you’re ruined, tainted with the same brush. Yes, I know dozens of people in the highest ranks of society live together without benefit of clergy, but none that I ever heard of lied about it to their equals. And none did so with a scoundrel like Proctor. Half of
London despises him; the other half will when they hear more about him, which he says will happen if he’s thwarted. Those who lied for him will fare no better if his secret’s made public.

“How are they to know we didn’t know he was already married? Would they believe us? Open adultery is one thing. It takes courage and gall, but it is done. Trying to pull the wool over the polite world’s eyes is another. I’m not judging you, Mama, but that’s the truth.”

Alyce said nothing. Annabelle couldn’t tell if she was offended or angered by what he’d said. What worried her was that Alyce had said nothing since Miles called them together that morning to expose her secret behind the locked door of his study. She hadn’t apologized or said she regretted anything. She’d only sat silently, staring without expression at Annabelle as Miles talked. Her only sign of emotion was the two high spots of color on her white cheeks.

“I don’t care,” Camille said firmly. “Even if I did, it would be stupid to try to hide the truth.” She shuddered. “I hated him then, I despise him now, but it’s ridiculous to pay him to keep the secret. We’d have to keep paying until the end of time. End it, Miles. Don’t pay him. If he talks and people blame us for the deceit?” She shrugged. “I’ll survive. Living in society’s been fun, but so was home. I’ll do. Any fellow who doesn’t think so is a man I wouldn’t want anyway.”

Miles smiled, “Practical girl. I agree. Mama? You’ve said nothing. What do you think?”

“I scarcely have a say in this anymore,” Alyce said in a pinched voice. “I kept it from you all these years, and now that you know it’s out of my hands. Do as you will. But he’s coming here tonight expecting money.”

“Good,” Miles said as he rose to his full height. “He’ll get something else. Me.”

Evening came, and the town house was quiet. The servants had been given the evening off. Alyce stayed in her bedchamber, while Miles went to meet her former lover. Annabelle sat in her bedchamber with Camille because Miles wouldn’t hear of them seeing the man who was trying to ruin their lives.

“You’re both too volatile,” he’d said, and laughed. “You’d try to remove his head. I wouldn’t mind in the ordinary way of things, but though I’d like to do the same, the best thing is to say no to his demands and dismiss him. He might want an excuse to duel, after all. My job is not to give him that pleasure.”

“What good would dueling do for him but risk his neck?” Annabelle asked.

“Who knows what goes through that kind of reptilian mind? But if he threatened Mama with that, it’s a risk. The good thing is, he thinks he’s meeting her secretly. I’ll have surprise on my side.
If he dares threaten me, I can take the matter into my own hands immediately. Don’t worry. He’s smart enough to know that, and so he won’t. He’s a coward too.”

“So denying him blackmail will make him go away again?”

He cupped Annabelle’s chin in his hand and dropped a kiss on the tip of her nose. “That, and a few firm threats. Don’t fret. Keep Camille company. She is worried—that she’ll go against my orders and come down and kill him herself.”

“If you’d only let me!” Camille cried.

He chuckled. “Aye, I know you could. So could my lady. I’m surrounded by Amazons, so I’ve nothing to fear. Proctor is nothing to your fury. I’ll let you know what happens as soon as I can.”

He went to the bedroom door and looked back. “And yes, I’ll have a footman and a loyal, and armed, friend concealed in the shadows in case he has anything even more underhanded planned.”

So now Annabelle sat with Camille and discussed the strange meeting that might be going on in the darkened kitchens.

“What more underhanded thing could he have planned?” Annabelle wondered out loud.

“Proctor’s an utter bastard,” Camille said in the stable language Annabelle would have objected to if she weren’t so upset. “You wouldn’t think it to look at him. He looks like a gentleman
and he’s charming. He had Mama completely fooled. Me too, at first. But that’s what a Captain Sharp is like. He cleaned out our coffers and then cleared out himself. Miles found out before he was quite finished with our fortune. He tried to tell Mama, but she wouldn’t hear a word against her darling. Miles had to go off to sea to try to repair our fortunes.

“Proctor never hurt me or Bernard, or even Miles personally,” Camille admitted. “That wasn’t his style. Cheating at cards and horse trading, dirty investment schemes, smuggling, and now blackmail. But he acted the master of the manor at home, and I have to admit that he doted on Mama. He treated her like fine china.”

Annabelle opened her lips and closed them again. She’d been about to ask Camille how her mama felt about the man now. But she had the sinking feeling she already knew, as Proctor himself probably did. That might be the reason he threatened to face Miles in a duel if Alyce didn’t pay. Because with Miles gone, anything could happen to the new fortune he’d amassed, and if Proctor were free to really marry Alyce…

Annabelle began pacing the carpet in agitation. But not for long.

Miles opened the door. “Come out, come out, wherever you are,” he said with a smile. “I mean it. Come downstairs, my ladies.”

“Is he gone?” Annabelle asked anxiously.

“Did you plant him a facer?” Camille asked eagerly.

“Gone,” Miles agreed. “I spoke my piece, and he listened—after he got over the surprise of seeing me there. He heard me out and left quietly. It’s over and done. Forever, I think. I offered him money for a passage to the Antipodes. He took it.”

“Oh, Miles.” Annabelle sighed with relief.

He gave her a hug, “Now, let’s go down, shall we? Eric Ford is downstairs by himself, and I’m afraid that if we don’t reward him for standing watch, or at least divert him, he’ll finish every scrap in the kitchens. He did say he hadn’t had dinner yet.”

Camille’s broad face flushed rosy red. “Just give me a minute to change my gown,” she said. “I didn’t know we were having company.”

“Well, well, well,” Miles murmured after she’d hurried out the door.

“What did your mama say?” Annabelle asked, calling his attention back.

He frowned. “I haven’t told her yet. I left the worst for last, thank you for reminding me. I’d best do that now. You go down. I’ll be there soon. I don’t think she’ll want to join us, but we’ll celebrate.”

They did. Miles and Annabelle, Camille and Eric made merry late into the night. Annabelle was too excited to stop talking even after she got
into bed. As the night fled, she was still murmuring jumbled congratulations to Miles.

“Yes, thank you, now go to sleep,” he told her, gathering her in his arms. “We’ll have time to talk more later.” And time to make love then too, he thought ruefully. They hadn’t, though he’d looked forward to it. She’d been too eager to talk. But he was content. They had the rest of their lives for that.

Annabelle closed her eyes and fell asleep, smiling. But knowing the folly of tempting fate, she’d have woken up screaming if she’d heard him say such a dangerous thing.

The next morning lived up to its name, dawning sunny, a perfect Sunday. As part of their continuing celebration, Miles strolled through Hyde Park, his wife on one arm, his sister on the other. They were dressed splendidly; Miles in a blue superfine jacket and buff breeches, Annabelle a vision in matching blue, and Camille looking very well in a sprigged muslin gown. They greeted acquaintances with smiles or nods, pausing now and then to chat.

The park was crowded. It was inevitable that they’d also run into people they didn’t especially wish to meet. Annabelle tensed when she saw her parents strolling toward them arm in arm, for all the world as though they were the closest couple
in town. She marveled that they could. But they lived by a different standard, she reminded herself, one she was so very glad she’d never have to try to measure up to again.

Yesterday, after she’d faced her mother with her deception about her marriage, her mama had been defensive as well as defiant.

“There was no reason to tell you,” her mother said. “Parents don’t confide their liaisons with their children, nor should they. Not mine, of course, I was ever faithful. But as for your father, I’ve always told you men were different and had different needs. And so if he felt he had to seek his pleasures elsewhere, it was no concern of mine, or yours. It’s the way of the world,” she said. “You’ll see.”

Before Annabelle could challenge that, her mother’s expression grew worried. “But it oughtn’t change anything between us,” she said anxiously. “I’ve always loved you more than anything in life. You do know that, don’t you?”

It was true and Annabelle knew it. She had to spend the next half hour assuring her mother of that, and the subject of her father hadn’t come up again.

But here her parents were, walking down the fashionable lane together, smiling as though they’d never dream of spending days apart, much less their entire lives.

“My lord,” Miles said when they came abreast.
“Give you good day. My lady,” he said, bowing over Lady Wylde’s hand. “How are you keeping?”

“All’s well,” Earl Wylde said. “I don’t have to ask how you’re doing. My daughter is radiant, your sister is blooming, and you look more content than any man in the park, as well you should be.”

They spoke pleasantries, and even Annabelle was able to muster an artificial smile. She didn’t think she could ever trust her father again, and managed the smile only by remembering that now she had a more trustworthy man to rely on.

Other strollers saw them chatting, and slowed to look some more. They whispered enviously about how the Viscount Pelham had obviously tamed his notoriously flirtatious lady, and how blissfully happy they both seemed because of it.

“Pelham certainly must have something extraordinary about him,” one lady whispered, her eyes measuring Miles’s shoulders.

“Yes,” her escort said, his expression wistful. “He has the Lady Annabelle.”

His lady batted him with her fan, but they both found an excuse to linger on the path with the others watching the handsome couple.

If Annabelle and Miles were aware of the comments, they didn’t show it by so much as a glance at those who were making them. They simply stood exchanging pleasantries with her father and mother until there wasn’t another thing any of them could say about the weather.

Then the earl and his countess left their daughter and her new family with wishes for a good day, and each party continued strolling their separate ways…

…until a large man stepped in front of Miles and blocked him. The stream of strollers behind Miles had to stop when he did.

Camille paled; Miles’s smile slipped. Annabelle was confused. The fellow didn’t seem a threat. He was a dark-complected, well-fleshed gentleman a bit beyond middle age, neatly barbered and well dressed. But he wore a sneer.

“Pelham,” the gentleman declared in a booming voice, “I find you at last! And God knows how I’ve tried since I returned to England, but you hide from me. You won’t answer my letters or see my solicitors, or let me in your house, even though I’m your stepfather. Is this how I’m repaid for my charity to you when you were a penniless boy?”

“Proctor,” Miles said with warning, his voice a low growl.

“I return from abroad to resume my life with my family,” Peter Proctor went on loudly as more people stopped to listen and stare. “And what do I discover? You’ve lied about me to the world. I left my wife and family in order to repair the estate you ruined with your wastrel ways. I slaved and struggled to manage my estates aboard so I could come home and mend all that you wasted. And I did. How do you repay me? I find you’ve
spread lies in my absence and vilified my name! But I’m a fair man. Confess all and I’ll forgive all. My love for your mother transcends my need for revenge.”

Mile’s face seemed stone. “You go too far,” he said slowly, stepping away from his wife and sister.

“No apology?” Proctor shouted.

“I will kill you for this,” Miles said, low.

“And hear! He threatens my life. But no,” Proctor said, stepping back, “I won’t let you silence me in some back alley. I’m a gentleman even if you aren’t!” He ripped off a glove and flung it at Miles’s cheek, then took several more steps back. “You’ll hear from my seconds,” he cried, turned, and walked rapidly away.

“No!” Annabelle said as Miles, hands fisted, began to follow. She put a hand on his arm. “You can’t. If you beat him, he’ll have won, it will look even worse. Oh Miles,” she whispered, “what are we to do?”

“We will dance to the piper,” Miles said tersely, as the watching throng of fashionables tried to listen close. “But he won’t like the music, or the payment he gets for it. That I vow.”

“D
ueling is illegal,” Annabelle said again.

“I know,” Miles answered.

He lay with his arms crossed behind his head. She sat up, as she’d done half the night until he’d come to bed.

“It will solve nothing.”

“On the contrary, it will solve everything.”

“Is that what your friends told you tonight?” she asked angrily. He’d gone out and come home late. But she’d known who he was with, because he’d told her: Eric Ford, the Earl of Drummond, and a few trusted others he called friends. She’d rather he’d passed the night with a lover.

“I can’t ignore it, Belle. Dueling is illegal and he knows it. But no gentleman walks away from such an insult, and he knows that too. That would
be an admission of guilt. I believe he
is
free now, that’s why he’s showed up again. I think he meant to marry Mama and make our lives miserable as he bankrupted us again.”

“But your mama has no money except for the allowance you give her,” Annabelle argued.

“Yes, so he’s doubtless discovered, which is why he’s resorting to the ultimate blackmail now. I can’t allow that. Not to mention that fact that if I turned the other cheek I’d be forever shunned as a coward and a cheat. Society isn’t very biblical in nature. I deserve better, don’t you think?”

Lost in misery, she only shook her head.

“I won’t go to the gibbet unless I kill him,” he said into the darkness. “I don’t intend to do that, though he deserves it. I can wound him and declare honor satisfied. In the meanwhile, my friends are assembling evidence. I promise you he’ll recuperate far from England if he values his freedom.”

“Then why did he challenge you?” she asked, rubbing her aching forehead. “He means to kill you even if you don’t mean to kill him. With you gone, he could marry your mama. She’ll need someone to lean on. She’s always loved him and he’s an excellent liar. Even if he has to flee the country for his part in the duel, he’ll find a way back and into her good graces again! With money, he could go anywhere.”

“Bernard inherits if I’m gone,” Miles said softly.

“And do you think he can resist a man like
Proctor, or his schemes?” Annabelle demanded—and knew by Miles’s silence that he knew that very well, which was why he’d met with his friends and allies tonight.

“There are all kinds of dire possibilities,” Miles said gently. “Life has no guarantees. I’ve chosen pistols. I’m a very good marksman.”

“And he’s a good cheat,” she said, flinging herself down on her pillow and burying her face in it.

“We have better things to do than to argue about this,” he said, as his hand made slow circles on her back. “There’s no help for it. Trust in me,” he whispered in her ear. “I’ll earnestly try not to be killed. But I can’t promise that. No man can. Belle, listen to me,” he coaxed her. “I could step out of the house on my way to the duel and be mowed down by a runaway carriage, couldn’t I? I might cut my hand on a champagne bottle while celebrating his defeat, have it swell and fester, and be dead in a week. You could kill me with love,” he said softly, nuzzling her neck. “I devoutly hope you’ll try,” he added. “Belle?”

She rolled over to look at him.

“So with all the best intentions,” he said, “I can’t promise you I won’t die.” He cupped her breast and leaned over her. “I’ll try not to, though. For your sake, of course.”

She met his lips because she couldn’t think what to say, but needed him more than she needed to speak.

They made love as they never had before, with nothing withheld. Her terror for him released the last fears she had for herself. She tried to memorize his body, finding the courage to explore him with her hands and eyes and mouth, because she feared never being able to again. She found more than freedom from her own shyness. Miles, so strong and powerful, was at her mercy in this. She showed him none. She remembered everything he’d ever done to her, tried the same with him, and marveled at how he caught his breath and groaned and asked for more. Her own body became caught up in his heat and fire.

He let her have her way with him until he couldn’t resist what she’d set into motion. Then, astonished by the enormous pleasure of finally being able to freely mingle all the love and passion he felt, he was overwhelmed.

He bored down on her and she rose to meet him. He exulted, at last not worrying about harming her. She was his, and if they could never do this again, he’d at least have left her with all the passion he felt for her. She matched his frenzy. When at last she shivered, gasping, he fled the world with her.

“Miles?” she said later, after their bodies cooled and their wits returned, “Don’t leave me.”

He drew a long breath. “I’ll try not to.”

Then, with so much more to say and no way to say it, they made love again.