Hannah Howell (9 page)

“Are ye thinking of bolting, wee Clover?” he asked in a soft voice.

“The thought is lurking in the back of my mind,” she admitted.

“Weel, ye just keep a tight rein on it until this spindly old preacher has done his business.”

She stiffened her resolve, squared her shoulders, and nodded. “I will do that Mr. MacGregor.”

“That is a good lass. Weel, let us go and make ye Mrs. MacGregor.”

It was done. They were married.

Clover sipped from a glass of sweet red wine and struggled to quell yet another attack of nerves. She heartily cursed the fact that she could not stop thinking about the wedding night ahead. It did not help that, ever since the preacher had left, there had been a distinct gleam in Ballard’s eyes. Clearly the wedding night was just about all he was thinking of.

“And is that not just like a man,” she mused to herself with an inward grimace. Ballard had made it abundantly clear why he wanted a wife. She had no right to be cross. In truth, she suspected a lot of men got married just to bed their wives. Liaisons could be dangerous, causing scandal or worse, and she suspected there were men who were not fond of using the whores who seemed to proliferate wherever there was coin and the men to spend it.

A sudden commotion in the front hall yanked Clover from her musings. Someone had just slammed open the front door and was approaching the parlor with loud, angry strides. She gasped when Thomas burst into the room. He was the very last person she had expected to see at her wedding.

“Just what the hell are you doing, Clover?” he demanded as he strode over to the settee where she sat with Ballard.

Stunned, Clover could only stare up at the furious man before her. “What did you say?”

“I heard all about it in town and simply could not believe it. Clover Sherwood would never wed some ruffian from the backwoods, I said, but I now see that I was wrong to trust in your good judgment, young lady. Why have you done it?”

“I needed a husband,” she replied in a soft voice, wondering why he was so upset.

“So you grabbed the first stranger who passed by? I know things are bad for you right now, Clover, but to hurl yourself at some ruffian like a common doxy?” He shook his head. “To sell yourself like some
whore—
”

Thomas’s words ended in a squeak and Clover found herself gasping yet again. Her new husband was suddenly on his feet. Ballard grabbed Thomas by his crisp white shirtfront and lifted the startled man off the ground.

“I think ye have said more than enough, laddie,” Ballard said through clenched teeth.

“Unhand me, you barbarian! Do you know who you are dealing with?”

Clover leaped to her feet and placed a hand on Ballard’s arm. She was alarmed at the pure rage twisting Thomas’s handsome features and the fury brightening Ballard’s eyes. She quickly composed herself, for clearly a calming influence was needed. She sent Ballard a silent plea for peace. Her family had suffered enough scandal. She did not want a brawl in her front parlor on her wedding day.

Ballard read the plea in Clover’s wide eyes and fought to control his anger. He had a strong urge to beat the fair-haired young man he held to within
an inch of his life. The ferocity of his anger surprised him. With a murmur of regret he did not mean, he set the flushed Thomas back on his feet, though he did not leave Clover’s side. He disliked allowing the man to get away with his insults and did not intend to let him deliver any more.

“I should like to speak to Clover alone,” Thomas said in a haughty voice as he readjusted his clothes. “Come along, Clover.”

When Thomas took her by the arm, Ballard tensed. “Just a moment cannot hurt,” she murmured.

She could see by the taut set of Ballard’s features that he did not like it at all, but he made no move to halt them as Thomas tugged her out into the hallway. Despite his extraordinarily insulting outburst, Clover wanted to hear what Thomas had to say. She was curious to know why he was in such an agitated state over her marriage to Ballard. Thomas was so enraged that he was shaking. She could feel his hand tremble. Since the man had jilted her and had begun to court Sarah, his fury made no sense at all.

Once they were in the hall and the parlor door was shut, Thomas turned to face her. She briefly felt she was confronting a stranger. This coldly infuriated man was a Thomas she had never seen before. He looked dangerous, and she inwardly shivered.

Clover wondered if he was about to renew his promise to marry her, but she knew that no matter what Thomas said, she would stay with Ballard.

“What are you doing here, Thomas?” she demanded.

“I am trying to save you from plunging headlong into the greatest of follies.”

“I got married, Thomas. A great many people do so. It can hardly be termed a great folly.”

“You just got married to some man you do not even know.”

“He wants a wife and I need a husband. There seemed to be a sudden dearth of prospective husbands in the area.” She was not surprised that Thomas was not embarrassed by her reference to his shabby treatment of her.

“You know why I had to end our engagement, Clover, but that was hardly reason to leap into the arms of the first man who ambled by. And one who has just been cast off by Sarah Marsten!” He grasped her gently by the shoulders. “I had no intention of putting you aside completely. You must have known that.”

“You jilted me, Thomas. I cannot see what else that could have meant.” His abrupt shift from fury to cajolery unsettled her, especially when she noticed how the hard, cold look in his eyes differed so dramatically from the soothing tone of his voice.

“I had to do that, Clover.” Thomas winced and briefly rubbed at his temples. “I have my future to consider. It did not, however, mean that I had stopped caring about you. I am truly sorry if my actions led you to believe that.”

Clover began to get the sinking feeling that Thomas was leading up to something that not only would be very insulting, but would make her furious as well. “I misunderstood, did I?” she said.

“Yes, love, you did. I felt you needed some time to understand fully why I had to end our engagement, but I was not idle during that time. I have been arranging for us to be together. As soon as you are evicted from this house, you can move into a cottage I have secured just outside of town. Of course,
it would be best if you did not take your family with you, but I can understand your sense of loyalty.”

“How kind.” She could see that her sarcasm eluded him.

Thomas nodded and briefly smiled at her. “It will not be very fancy in the beginning, and I regret that. When I am wed to Sarah and much plumper in the pocket, however, I will be able to do very well by you. So you see, Clover, you must put an end to this farce immediately. You were not meant to be shackled to some rough backwoodsman. Given some time, I can provide you with a very comfortable life. Do you understand?”

“Very well, Thomas.” She wondered how she could sound so calm when she was shaking with fury.

He gave her a brief kiss. “Then it is all settled. Now go and talk to that ruffian. The marriage can be annulled. Would you like me to talk to him with you?”

“Oh no, Thomas. I can say what must be said quite easily without your kind assistance. In truth, we do not need to trouble Ballard at all.” She took a deep breath to hold on to her facade of calm. “I do not believe I have ever been so thoroughly insulted. This makes your dishonorable jilting of me pale in comparison.”

“What are you saying?”

“Was some part of what I just said unclear?” Clover knew her anger was sharpening her voice but did not care. “You call me a whore for marrying Ballard so quickly, yet you have no qualms about treating me like one. I might grasp at some scrap of understanding if this nefarious offer was made because you thought I had acted shamefully, but ‘tis clear
you have been planning this arrangement for quite awhile.”

“I but tried to think of a way to help you in your time of need.”

“Oh, do not pretend that any sense of nobility prompted you. You played the genteel beau so well, I was kept blissfully ignorant of your true despicable nature. I begin to understand why Papa was so adamant that we never be left alone together. He must have suspected what a cad you really are, but being a fair man, he dared not act against you without proof. I am glad he is not alive to see your true colors now.”

“Now wait just a blasted minute,” Thomas snapped, raising the riding crop he clutched tightly in his right hand. “You forget to whom you are speaking, Clover Sherwood.”

“No, I do not. I should probably thank you for curing me of my incredible naivete. I now know exactly what sort of low, lying cur you are.” Clover cried out as Thomas suddenly grasped her arm tightly and raised the riding crop as if to strike her.

“You are a very stupid girl,” hissed Thomas. “You would choose that illiterate backwoods fool over
me?
”

“I would choose honorable marriage over being your whore.”

“You little bitch!”

Clover cried out as Thomas struck her with his riding crop. She ducked in time to avoid the worst of the blow, but the rawhide tore through the sleeve of her dress, stinging her arm. Thomas jerked her back toward him and was about to strike again when the parlor door was flung open and Ballard was there, tearing the riding crop from Thomas’s hand.
Clover slumped against the wall, stunned by Thomas’s violence.

“Are ye all right, lass?” Ballard asked her.

Before Clover could reply, Thomas lunged at Ballard. She pressed herself hard against the wall to get out of the way of the ensuing fight. Horrified by a nasty fight in her front hall on her wedding day, Clover required a moment to find her voice.

“Stop this immediately!” she cried.

After throwing Thomas off, Ballard prepared for another attack from the man. “I would like to oblige ye, wee Clover, but it appears your old beau is of a different turn of mind,” he said as he hastily removed his coat and tossed it at her. “Get in the parlor, lass, and shut the door.”

She was about to argue when Thomas charged Ballard again. As both men slammed up against the stair rails, she ducked into the parlor and shut the door. Clutching Ballard’s coat to her chest, she faced the others in the room, who all gaped at her. Clover sighed and moved shakily to sit on the settee.

“My dear, what is going on out there?” Agnes asked, her wide gaze fixed upon the parlor door as she twisted a lacy white handkerchief in her hands.

“Ballard is thumping Thomas,” Clover replied.

“Good heavens—why?”

“I really do not wish to talk about it now, Mama.”

Clover shut her eyes and tried to get her anger under control. She frowned when, after a brief moment of silence, the slamming of the front door echoed through the house. When Ballard did not immediately enter the parlor, Clover opened her eyes and started to rise. She could not believe that Thomas had won the battle, yet she could not be
sure. The wild-eyed Thomas in the hall was not the man she had thought she knew. Before she could move, Shelton and Lambert dashed out into the hallway, only to return a moment later looking totally confused.

“There isnae anyone out there,” Shelton announced.

“Perhaps they decided to continue the fight outside,” Clover said.

“Nay. We looked out there too.”

A moment later Ballard strode into the parlor, looking only slightly ruffled and quite pleased with himself. He sat down next to her, took his coat to which she still clung, and draped it over the back of the settee. Shelton served him a large tankard of ale and Clover waited a little impatiently as he took a long drink.

“Well?” Clover finally asked, certain that Ballard was dawdling over every tiny drop of ale just to irritate her. “What happened and where is Thomas?”

“I took the mon over to Miss Sarah’s house. I reckoned that she could doctor him since she has been stepping out with him,” Ballard replied.

“Oh. Thomas needed some doctoring, did he?”

“Aye, a wee bit. Now, lassie …” He cocked one finely drawn brow at her. “Dinnae ye think ye ought to tell your husband why the mon was set to beat ye?”

“I believe I may have irritated him,” she replied hesitantly, not wanting to repeat what Thomas had said to her.

Ballard stared at her with one dark brow raised. “Is this the face of a fool? I heard your voices growing louder and angrier. You were arguing about something.”

“Oh, I am sure you are not really interested,” she mumbled, and took a long sip of wine.

“Aye, I am—verra interested. Did he ask ye to marry him again? Did he change his mind and decide that money didnae really matter?”

Now that Thomas was gone, Ballard felt relatively at ease. He had actually felt afraid when Thomas had burst into the room and made it clear that he was opposed to the wedding. His jealousy puzzled him, but Ballard knew he could not ignore it or shrug it away. He had seen Thomas as a threat and had ached to get rid of the man, swiftly and violently. It had taken every ounce of his willpower to do as Clover had asked, to stand back and allow her to talk to the man first, on her own. He had considered it a big risk, had feared that Clover would leave him for Thomas. Now, as Clover took a deep breath and gave him a look of reluctance and exasperation, he centered all his attention on her.

“Money still matters a great deal to Thomas and he did not ask me to marry him.”

Ballard knew she was reluctant to tell him the truth, but he was as determined to hear it as she was to hide it. “That wasnae enough to put him in such a lather. He also wouldnae come here to tell ye something ye already kenned.
Why
did he storm in here and try to end our marriage?”

Clover sighed. “He did have plans for me. They concerned a cottage just outside of town.”

A soft curse escaped Ballard and he muttered an apology. He could see by the darkening looks on Shelton’s and Lambert’s faces that they also understood what Clover was saying. Agnes just looked confused and Ballard was a little surprised at the woman’s naivete.

“Do you mean that Thomas has actually been planning to help us?” Agnes asked.