Gentleman's Guide 02 - His Contrary Bride) (7 page)

“I believed it was a poor decision. Lady
Sabrina still had a year or two at the academy before young Chester
here would need to introduce her to society. He could have used
those two years to consider his options.”

“I can assure you, Mr. Jacobs.” Ramsey threw
the document on the desk. “Had I known that I had been named
Sabrina’s guardian, I would have treated the role with all the
seriousness it was intended and followed her father’s wishes to the
letter. I would have never relinquished her care to another.”

By now, Mr. Jacobs had become red with
embarrassment. “Oh dear. I don’t know what to say, or am I sure how
to fix this.”

“I will figure out a way. Now, tell me about
my uncle and his finances. Perhaps we can figure out what motivated
him to take this action.”

For the next hour, the three men poured over
the file. There were a number of instances where Lord Chesterfield
had been close to financial ruin before he inherited the title. He
tended to spend lavishly and make poor investments. By the time
they were finished, Marius and Ramsey had decided the motivation
was clearly financial, which explained why Sabrina was cut off and
left as she was.

“Where is my uncle now, Mr. Jacobs?” Ramsey
was determined to get his answers.

“Your uncle is traveling on the continent. I
don’t expect him back until early spring.”

Ramsey slammed his fist against the wall. “I
want to find him, now.”

“Perhaps this is best. It gives us some
time.” Marius patted him on the shoulder and wondered if he would
have to physically hold the man back to keep him from boarding a
ship to cross the Channel.

Sabrina had been at the estate for five days
when Phoebe accompanied her on a walk through the orchard. It was
fall and the air was crisp, though not overly cold and Phoebe
regaled Sabrina with the stories behind her many injuries. Just as
Phoebe was about to tell her about the time she and Taylor
disrupted the hornet’s nest, a wood shingle fell from the storage
shed they were passing and struck Phoebe on the forehead.

“Ouch!” Phoebe brought her hand to her head.
“See. It is just as I said. Most of the time I am doing nothing out
of the ordinary and I get injured.”

Sabrina laughed with her, finally believing
that Phoebe was an accident waiting to happen. Her smile faded when
she spied the blood on Phoebe’s fingers. “Oh, dear.” She rummaged
in her cloak for a handkerchief. “You are bleeding.”

Surprised, Phoebe took her hand down and
looked at the blood. “So I am.” She was not the least bit upset. “I
hope it doesn’t need to be stitched.”

After wiping the blood away, Sabrina studied
the small cut. “It doesn’t appear to be very significant for all
that blood.”

“The head always bleeds the worst and I have
never understood why.”

Sabrina pressed the handkerchief to the
wound. “If you hold that in place, it will probably stop soon.”

Obediently, Phoebe replaced Sabrina’s hand
in applying pressure to the wound.

“Shouldn’t we return to the house?” Sabrina
asked, expecting Phoebe to want to lie down and rest.

Phoebe gave her new friend an odd look. “For
this? It’s nothing.” She turned and studied the shed. “This is in
worse shape than I had thought.”

Sabrina took a few steps back to study it as
well. “It doesn’t appear to be in that poor of condition. A few
shingles just need to be nailed down or replaced.”

“Do you think?”

“It should be easy enough. In fact, let me
take care of it right now before anything else falls and hits you
on the head.”

Phoebe laughed. “I’m sure I can find someone
to fix the roof. After Taylor learns what happened, he will
probably have the entire roof replaced or the shed torn down.”

Sabrina ignored her and walked to the door
of the shed and opened it. Leaving the door open for light, she
searched for the right materials. When she exited it with a ladder,
hammer, and some nails, Phoebe rushed forward. “I can’t let you fix
the roof. You could get hurt.”

Sabrina dismissed her concern with a laugh.
“After the stories you just told me of yourself, you are afraid
I’ll get hurt?” She leaned the ladder against the shed, placed the
nails and hammer in her pocket and climbed to the roof. Three loose
shingles she was able to nail down from where she stood.

“There are a couple shingles missing,”
Sabrina called down to her. “One is probably the same shingle that
found you. There is a box in the shed. Could you get me a few?”

Phoebe scurried to do her bidding, still
holding the handkerchief to her head. Returning, she handed them up
to Sabrina. “Is it hard? Hammering nails?”

Sabrina looked down at her and smiled. “Not
really, though I think gentlemen want us to think it is.”

“May I try?”

“Of course. Let me get on the roof and you
can climb up.”

Phoebe paused only long enough to check and
make sure the bleeding had stopped before she put the cloth in her
pocket and began climbing. Once at the top, Sabrina showed her how
to hold the nail and not hit her thumb. Phoebe hit her thumb the
first two times anyway, but didn’t let it dissuade her. “You are
right. This isn’t as difficult at all,” she said, pleased with
herself.

As Phoebe put the second shingle in place to
nail down, Sabrina stepped back out of the way. Just as Phoebe
struck her thumb again, Sabrina’s right foot went through the roof.
Both women gasped and looked at each other before bursting out in
laughter. “It appears the roof is in worse shape that I
realized.”

“Are you all right? You didn’t hurt anything
did you?”

“I am fine, but I am afraid I have ripped
the dress your sister was kind enough to lend me.”

“Oh, she won’t mind. I am more concerned
with how you are going to get down.”

Sabrina tried to lift her foot but it was at
an odd angle and she was afraid to use any more of the roof as
leverage in the event it was rotten as well. She didn’t want to
fall through the roof completely. Holding out her arms to Phoebe,
she said, “If you pull on me, maybe I’ll be able to wrench my foot
free.”

Reaching up with both arms, Phoebe tugged on
Sabrina as hard as she could but the motion caused the ladder to
pull away from the shed. When they realized what was happening,
Sabrina grabbed Phoebe back before she and the ladder went crashing
to the ground. Once Phoebe was leaning against the roof again, they
both let out a sigh, too afraid to let go of each other.

“What do we do now?” Phoebe finally
asked.

*

Marius was just coming out of the orchard
when he spotted Sabrina on the roof of the shed and Phoebe on the
ladder. His heart stopped when he watched Phoebe pull Sabrina and
the ladder pull from the roof. He broke into a dead run, arriving
after the ladder was back in place and both women were laughing.
“What do you think you are doing?” He yelled up at them.

The ladies both smiled down at him. It was
Phoebe who answered, “Sabrina was fixing some shingles. When she
was showing me how it was done, her foot went through the roof. We
were just trying to figure out how to get her free.”

Marius wanted to wring both of their necks.
Neither had business doing this, though he probably should have
expected it of Phoebe. Then remembering how Sabrina had freed the
bird’s nest at the academy, he shouldn’t be surprised at her
actions either. “Phoebe, get down here and I’ll help Sabrina. If
Taylor would have witnessed what I just did, he would lock you in
your room.”

“Oh, Marius, he is getting much better about
these things.” Phoebe tried to reassure him while she climbed down
the ladder.

Marius wouldn’t argue and patiently waited
as Phoebe descended, ready to catch her if she fell. When Phoebe
was safely on the ground, he climbed up to help Sabrina, who
greeted him with a smile. “I wasn’t expecting you to return for a
few more days. Was your trip to London successful?”

He didn’t return the smile. “This is not the
time for pleasantries, Cinderella.” He held out his arms. “Now hold
onto me and I’ll try to get you loose.”

She leaned forward and grasped his arms.
Marius leaned into the ladder and used only the strength from his
arms to pull her forward so he didn’t pull the ladder away from the
building. Unfortunately, he was unable to dislodge her from this
angle.

“I’ll be right back. I want to try something
else.” He began to descend the ladder but went back up. “Don’t
move.”

He jumped to the ground when he was over
halfway down and entered the shed. Cinderella’s stocking clad leg
and satin-slippered foot dangled through the roof. The wood
surrounding her was rotten and he feared she would plunge through
at any moment and with the slightest movement.

As it was impossible to get her out of the
roof from above, she was going to have to come through this
way.

He hastened back outside and up the ladder,
afraid that with each moment spent not getting her free was a
moment closer to her crashing through the roof and injuring herself
seriously. “I am going to have to bring you down from inside.

Cinderella glanced to the hole her leg had
gone through. “I don’t believe I will fit.”

He glanced up at her, but the grin on her
lips and twinkle in her eye confirmed she was joking. “You will
when I am done.”

Marius grabbed the ladder and took it back
inside he shed. He found a solid beam to lean it against near the
hole and climbed up. “I am going to put your foot on the step. Try
to put your weight on that leg instead of on the roof.”

The skirt was hitched to her thigh and from
this angle he could also see the silk garter and smooth skin where
the stocking ended. Sweat broke out on his brow and his trouser
became uncomfortably tight. He didn’t dare look up through the
opening in the roof because who knew what else he would see. He
barely had control as it was.

“I’ve been told that if a gentleman sees
that much of a lady, especially her upper leg, banns would be
required.”

Marius snapped his head down to find Phoebe
standing directly beneath the ladder.

“What would you have me do?”

“Marry her?” An impish grin formed on her
face.

“How about I just free her and we don’t
discuss this further.”

Phoebe shrugged, the grin still in place.
“I’ll give it some consideration.”

“Need I remind you of your past, and a few
not so small, indiscretions… “

Phoebe huffed and crossed her arms over her
chest. “Very well.”

“What is going on in there and what are you
to discussing. I can barely hear you,” Cinderella called from
above.

Marius shouted back, “Just how best to get
you out of this predicament.

He pushed on the rotten wood and shingles
around Sabrina, careful not to let too many fall at once for fear
she would crash to the ground. When a whole big enough had been
made he called up to her. “See if you can bring your other leg down
the hole and stand on the ladder.”

From above Sabrina wiggled and turned, but
soon another stocking clad leg emerged and moved about, as if
searching from the step. Marius grabbed the heel and gently
maneuvered it to the step before he looked up. He found Sabrina
looking down at him, her face a red as a fall apple. “Don’t you
dare look up my gown.”

“I would not act in such an ungentlemanlike
fashion.” He hoped Sabrina didn’t hear Phoebe’s snort of
disbelief.

“You are already viewing far too much leg,”
Sabrina argued.

“What would you have me do, leave you on the
roof?”

Her jaw tightened and lips pursed as she
pushed her skirts through the opening until she was as properly
covered as possible.

“Now, I am going to move down the ladder. I
will keep my hands on your thighs and guide you until you are back
inside and can see where you are going.

“Very well,” she grumbled.

“Now your hands are on her thighs?”

Marius looked down at Phoebe’s comment. Her
brow arched in accusation.

“Need I remind you again …”

“Actually, no. If I recall, and I am sure I
do, I never exposed near this amount of skin, nor allowed a man to
touch me in such an intimate manner.” Her voice was low and Marius
hoped Sabrina still could not hear her.

He maneuvered her down the steps while he
continued his conversation in whispered tones with Phoebe. “Until
the night in the cabin. I do recall hearing about a corset being
removed and then a skirt, all the while still thinking you would
not be forced into a marriage.”

“And look what it got me?” Phoebe pointed
out.

Marriage was precisely what happened after
that night with Sandlin in the cabin. He glanced up at Sabrina.
Yes, he was very attracted to her, but he wasn’t sure how he felt
about her. Did he want to spend more time in her presence? Yes. Did
he want to marry her though? He didn’t know.

Besides, she was just free from the boarding
school. He was positive the last thing on her mind was
marriage.

“Phoebe, Sabrina has just gained some
freedom, her cousin didn’t know what she was up to and her uncle
can’t be found. This is not the time to force more changes on
her.”

“I didn’t intend to.” She laughed.

“Then what was all of this about?”

“For the pure enjoyment of watching you try
to figure out a way to walk out of here without being
betrothed.”

He could strangle her, but he would leave
that to her husband. No doubt Sandlin has wanted to do that many
times already.

“I think you can let go now.”

He glanced up to find Sabrina completely
inside the shed and her hands braced on the top step of the ladder.
He let go and climbed the rest of the way down.

“Thank you.”

Marius studied Sabrina. Her hair mussed from
working on the roof, and probably coming through the roof as well.
Her cheeks and nose were rosy and her lips looked just as delicious
as ever. Sabrina wasn’t looking at him though, she glanced down to
Phoebe and part of her smile faded.