His to Keep (Regency Scoundrels Book 2) (3 page)

Good God, she was going to kill someone.

“You could have warned me that she was fast with her hands and able to wield a pistol. She could be a bloody pickpocket her hands are so quick, she would make a fine little cut-purse.” Archie inclined his head to Mallory. 

“Mallory, you must tell this man at once to stop talking about Gemma as if she isn’t here. That is most insulting—and beyond galling.” Elizabeth looked up in disdain at Archie. Gemma smiled. Elizabeth could always be counted on to give Mallory quite the challenges when the need presented itself.  “What is he talking about, husband of mine? Out with it, this instant! Why ever would Gemma require a keeper? Oh, what have you done, now?”

“She needs one, much like you required one before you found me. Gemma is too reckless. She has a penchant for finding trouble, and she hankers after adventure. That worries me. She will end up getting herself burned badly one of these days. It is my task as the only male presence in her life to protect her.”

“She will be getting married shortly,” Elizabeth countered, shaking her head in disapproval. “Once she is wed, her husband will take precedence over you. You must accept that.”

“That’s my point—her choice in husbands is something to be desired. I thought you already understood that, Elizabeth. Admit it, our Gemma makes grievous errors in judgment on a daily basis. I can’t understand why. Mama raised her the same way she raised me.”

Gemma seethed. Her brother came to assist her off the horse, and then Archie dismounted.

“Well, I hope you are quite happy with yourself, dear brother,” she spat. Holding her sense of decorum, she restrained herself from hitting Mallory. “You are a hateful brother! If I was as delicate as Ann, you would have given me a fit.”

“Ann isn’t like you. She has a level head on her dainty little shoulders.”

“Ah.” Elizabeth snapped her fingers. “I think I understand now. You and Gemma are two peas in a pod. The two of you are so much alike, and yet, Mallory, you can’t see that. Why she is the female version of you, though I daresay she looks every bit a woman. Thank heavens for that.”

A muscle jumped in her brother’s cheek. “That’s just it, darling. Gemma is like me. Now do you know why I am worried?”

Gemma shook her head. “What is going on here? Some sort of secret society discussion? If this has anything to do with your adventures at sea, you can spare me the details. We all know you were a privateer or pirate, or whatever they call them these days, and I am nothing like you, brother dear.”

Realization slowly dawned over Elizabeth’s flawless features. She touched her hand absently to the one black curl that blew around her face. Gemma envied her for her curls. If she wanted curls like Elizabeth’s, she had to put hot clay rollers into her hair. “Oh, I see.” Now, Elizabeth looked more than just a little flustered. “Can you trust this man you have hired to watch over her? I do not know him, and I should like to know him better, than I do. Do you, do you trust him?” Elizabeth asked, her little mother hen instinct was rearing its pretty little head again. 

“I would trust Archie with your life, my life and our child’s life.”

“Then, I think, Gemma, that you now have a guardian angel. Be happy for it, dearest. I am quite certain that Mallory is only working in your best interests. Besides, there is still time for you to change your mind about marrying your intended.” An uncomfortable expression crossed Elizabeth’s face. “Nothing is truly set in stone, Gemma, until you take those vows. Life is a game of chance. We never know what our destiny holds in store for us. I certainly didn’t see Mallory coming into my life, and finding him and sharing in the love we have for each other, makes my life worth living.”

Gemma couldn’t believe it. She didn’t want to listen to Elizabeth’s wise words. She had given up on finding love long ago. She wanted to marry just so that she could be out from under Mallory’s watchful eye, and she was making a grand marriage bargain, why couldn’t anyone see it the way she saw it?

“Well, you can all go and stuff it! I shan’t have my own hired man to guard my life. I really ought to have stayed in London with Mama and the girls, instead of sticking around here with you lot.”

“I think we shall away to Brighton shortly. What do you think about that?” Elizabeth asked hopefully.

“Sounds delightful,” Mallory said.

Gemma grumbled beneath her breath. The two townhouses they owned in Brighton were magnificent, and she had been looking forward to that holiday. 

“Well, aren’t you a poisonous little lady. You shall make a very bitter pill for some man to swallow someday,” Archie hissed, his eyes narrowing at her. 

“I pity the woman who shall take you on as her husband,” she retorted angrily. “Being leg-shackled to you would be a fate worse than death. Mallory, are you going to let him talk to me in that way? He is nothing but a hired man for pity’s sake! You are a duke. I am your sister, live up to the station that you have been born into.” She was surprised by her spoiled attitude. In fact, she could care less what station he held, she was still smarting from their manipulations. Mallory had planned all of this, and now, now, she was stuck with a keeper of all things! Archie might be a foul wretch, but he set her heart pulsing faster than any other man. If she wasn’t careful, she was going to jump right into his little web and be happy with her sticky situation.

Mallory took Elizabeth’s hand and guided her back to the gardens. “There is no reasoning with you, Gemma, when you are in this sort of foul temper you are acting like a petulant child! Hopefully you can calm yourself down in time for us to travel to Brighton. I think I shall let you ride in the carriage with Archie possibly alone with Archie, have fun, she is all yours to deal with now.” With one last wink in her direction, her brother and Elizabeth were off.

“Don’t even say it, Archie. I don’t want to hear it. I don’t belong to you! Contrary to what my brother seems to believe, I do not belong to any man!” Taking a hold of Midnight’s reins, she walked toward the stables. “Oh, and don’t follow me. In fact, why don’t you go and find a nice fire in hell to bathe in?” A stable groom came to meet her to take Midnight off her hands. “Give her a good brushing, and make certain she is well taken care of.”

“Yes, my lady.” The groom lowered his head, and talking softly to Midnight they wandered off toward the stables. She quickened her pace, trying to cross the long distance between the stables and the castle in the shortest time possible. 

“Yes, Her Grace was correct. You are just like your brother. Oh, this will be the most enjoyable season I have spent in ages.” A grin cracked across his dark features. Tossing her head, she walked further away from him.

“Go to hell,” she spat out.

“Language, language.  That will be the first thing we shall address. I shall reform your hoydenish behavior, my little lady.”

“You will reform me over my dead body.”

“Christ Almighty, I admire you greatly, my lady. You are more trouble than most men can handle but I am not like any other man you have ever met.”

Chapter Two

Archie followed her, as she dashed toward the castle. For such a finely built woman she had a powerful presence.

One he would never be able to ignore. 

Mallory and his wife seemingly disappeared, and since Gemma’s mother and the other five sisters wouldn’t be arriving from London for another sennight. Gemma didn’t have any other family members to seek safe haven with.

Meaning, she was all his. He was going to have to work quickly in order to get his objective accomplished in time. He couldn’t be more pleased with the way everything was turning out. Soon, Gemma’s anger would dissolve, and in its place, there would be the molten fire of love just for him.  

He strolled along behind her, through the expansive courtyard and followed her into the castle and then stopped when she headed for the stairs.

“You don’t need to follow me. I am retiring to my chambers. I’m quite certain that my brother didn’t intend for you to escort me everywhere, especially when it comes to trailing along behind me into my private apartments. I don’t think the terms of your employment extends that far.”

“Indeed, it wouldn’t. But I shall stand sentry outside of your door.”

“You are exasperating.” She tossed her head again, in that haughty yet entirely beguiling way of hers. 

“I am only earning the wages your brother pays me.”

She nodded sighing. “I am sure it’s quite a tidy sum. My brother is very generous when it comes to such matters. His purse can now afford it, so there is some blessing in that.”

“Indeed, you are correct. I am being well compensated.” He smiled. He liked goading her and watching her emerald green eyes light up with fire. She had spunk, and that attracted him immensely. He’d never met a woman quite like her, and he was quite simply dazzled by her spunky personality.

She would make him a grand wife. The thought struck him and hit him like a lightning bolt to the gut. Aye, he’d never been able to find the
‘right’
kind of woman to keep up with him—though by the way Gemma St. Martin handled herself, he felt quite certain they would make a grand match. It wasn’t a wonder that Mallory himself had suggested the very thing to him. The thought of taking one of his sisters as his wife had initially filled him with trepidation, but now, now, he was rethinking that.

“You could always run back to Scotland. I am quite certain that boring old Sussex can’t keep your interest for long, or perhaps,” she paused, “Perhaps, I ought to leave England. Maybe…Maybe I should head for the Colonies, or to India or something a little farer away?” she mused, watching him closely no doubt to gauge his reaction to her threat.

He set his jaw in a grim line. “I would follow you to the ends of the Earth, Lady Gemma, if I had to. As you and Her Grace are so close, I don’t think you’ll leave her, not when she’s counting on you. Besides, I doubt you could resist going to Brighton.” Brighton was where he would enact his plan to make Gemma his wife. Mallory wanted her to be otherwise engaged. He didn’t want her to marry the fop she was set on falling into a parson’s mousetrap with. 

“What do you know of my friendship with Elizabeth? She does not mean as much to me as you would think. I must put up with her. After all, she is the mother to my niece.” She whirled on him. “How dare you presume so much? In truth, I’ve warmed up to Elizabeth over the past few years, but try as I might, I know the two of us will never be bosom chums. We are from different worlds, and the two of us will never be able to be heart-to-heart sisterly friends, though I do respect the woman.”

Aye. He’d hit the right spot. He knew that by mentioning the friendship or lack thereof between she and Elizabeth would get a reaction and he’d been correct.

The scarlet hue touching her cheeks made her even more alluring. She was so pale that it gave her a healthier glow. Even though she closely resembled Mallory, her willowy build made her almost look as if she’d blow away in a great storm. She was perfectly proportioned in all of the right spots. She gave the impression of being taller than she actually was, since he didn’t think she could stand much more than five foot five.

She was a white ewe, and her blonde hair made her look like an angel. Her brilliant green eyes made a slow fire burn in his belly. She had high cheekbones, accented by her aristocratic nose that fortunately wasn’t too big for her face, and slightly protuberant almond shaped eyes, which sparkled like gemstones. Her hair was swept off her forehead opening her face up. Her crowning glory were her dimples. A man could fall in love with those delightful dimples.

Maybe he already had.

Mallory knew what he was doing, when he’d enlisted his help in ridding his sister of her stuffy husband to be. How she could pick out a man like Duxford when she had a brother like Mallory was beyond Archie’s comprehension. He wouldn’t have to worry about her wanting to marry Duxford after tonight. His plans were going to go into the next stage later this evening, and once that happened, there would be no stopping his seduction of the sweet Lady Gemma St. Martin.

It was a good thing that Mallory had told him to fetch a certain special something in London before he’d come here. At first, he had thought his marriage to Gemma would only be the fulfillment of a debt that he owed her brother—but now, now, he wasn’t so certain. He might just receive something out of this marriage bargain after all. 

“Your brother has told me that you and Elizabeth have grown very close. Problem is, you’re too headstrong for your own good. Your brother fears your stubbornness will be your undoing. I had to tell Mallory to give you the benefit of the doubt. In truth, I couldn’t believe that such a headstrong seemingly reckless woman existed. Now, after meeting you, I see the validation in Mallory’s concerns. Everything he said about you was spot on.”

“My brother this, my brother that. Well, here’s what my brother should do! He should stop prying his bloody nose into my affairs and keep it instead firmly pointed in his own affairs. My brother has no right casting judgment on me. He can be the most trying, most stubborn man in the British Empire when he puts his mind to it. He takes being a noble St. Martin to an entirely new level.”

“Ah, your family lineage is quite important to you, isn’t it? I think you hide behind that ancient English pomposity when you actually should be facing the world without your superior airs.”

“I don’t have airs. If you’d like to meet a few people a little high in the instep, I’ll introduce you to some of the so-called friends I left behind in London. I’m glad to be rid of that life. It was becoming suffocating, and yet,” she paused, her eyes lost in the past, “And yet, I did so love the gaiety of it all. I confess that I loved the glittering candlelight and the handsome men and the ladies dressed in beautiful frocks, I loved it all. Alas, there were some things about it that I did not love—and people who did not love me.” She let out a mournful almost wistful sigh. The way she wistfully smiled at the memory made his insides clench. Somewhere lurking deep beneath Gemma’s rigid exterior was a girl filled with dreams, dreams that had been cruelly dashed. He wondered what she would look like in such a setting. He yearned to take a turn with her around the dance floor. He felt—no, he knew that she would dance like an angel.

“Yes, well, you’ve been rewarded with the type of life you should have been used to all of your life. A family as noble as yours, shouldn’t have had to live without the finer things in life. I don’t know how you managed without your rooms filled with wardrobes, and stables filled with lovely racehorses.”

“Now you are mocking me.” She slumped down onto a cushioned bench. They now sat in the west wing. She regarded the portraits that represented countless generations of St. Martins.

“No,” he countered, “I’m not mocking you. Well, perhaps I am having a bit of a jolly at your expense. I’m just pointing out what happens when a penniless duke marries an heiress of Elizabeth’s seemingly endless wealth.” He settled himself on the bench beside her. She shuffled down ensuring that they had a good deal of distance between them. “If putting more distance between us, makes you feel more secure, then so be it. But I assure you, if your brother didn’t trust me not to hurt you, he never would have enlisted my aid.”

“An hour ago, you had a pistol pointed at me, and you were wearing a mask, making you seem quite threatening. I believed that you were fully prepared to use that pistol. I don’t call that a fair first meeting.”

“I had to see how you would react in the face of grave danger. I was also told to do it. It seems your brother wanted to make a point. In truth, he sought to wake you up to the harder aspects of life, I don’t think it had the desired effect on you.” He drank in her beauty. She was a bold tempered woman, and the vibrant colors she wore matched her strong will. Right now, he just wanted to freeze the moment so he could appreciate the way her emerald green eyes were offset by the sparkling ruby hued riding outfit she wore. He liked the fact that she a military style riding costume. It probably hadn’t settled well with Mallory, seeing as he was a Royal Navy man. He was a Royal Navy man himself, but he could still appreciate her riding costume, for it fit her form well. 

“And what is that point?” she asked softly, briefly locking gazes with him.

“That, for a lady, you try to live outside of your bounds and that one day that sheer recklessness will get you into a heaps of trouble. A woman just needs to learn how to behave in order to get along in this world. Wandering outside of your bounds is playing with fire.”

“My bounds, how dare you?” She shot up like her arse was on fire. “How dare you! You, you impertinent man! Women are human beings, too. I am so sick of my brother’s chauvinism. He needs to see that women can be in charge of their own lives. Why, Elizabeth thinks the same way that I do. She thinks a woman should have the same rights and opportunities that a man has. I do not believe you!”

He nodded his head. “That’s exactly how I expected you to react. You are too hotheaded and reckless for your own good, Gemma. Being a spitfire is admirable, but spitfires need to calm down sometime. One of these days your flying in the face of adversity attitude will get you hurt. That’s what your brother lives in fear of.”

“My brother isn’t one to talk. He’s done more living in his years, and had more freedom than I could ever hope to have. I want to see more than what I’ve seen, I want to experience real adventure. If I had sea legs, I would have liked to have had the adventurous life that Mallory had in the Royal Navy.”

“And die as your brother Malcom did, for his King and country?”

“Do not speak Malcolm’s name in my presence. You do not have the right. He was a far better man than you or Mallory could ever hope to be…he never judged my actions, he accepted everyone no matter what their faults were—” she broke off, he could see that the mere mention of Malcolm’s name made her choke up with emotion, perhaps he shouldn’t have done that. He’d known she’d been particularly close to Malcolm, but he hadn’t known how much she still mourned the loss of her eldest brother, even if she didn’t realize it.

“I am sorry that you still feel grief when Malcolm’s name is mentioned.”

“He was a living breathing person, and you talk about him as if he lived one hundred years ago! He was a saint, he didn’t deserve to die, all of this should have been his, and he wouldn’t have hired you to keep be my bloody keeper.”

“No matter how you feel, Mallory is still your brother, and whether you like it not he has inherited the dukedom. Do not speak so ill of your only living brother, he fought for this family, in more ways than you will ever know he wanted the St. Martins to rise to their former glory again. He wants you to find the happiness he has found with Elizabeth.”

“Blatherskite! He wants to design my life for me. Worse, he wants to take away my dreams and smother them. He wants to put me in a little cage, so he will always know where I am!”

“Mallory is much older than you. He has had many experiences that have enlightened his eyes in many ways. When he was in the Royal Navy you could have only been around ten.”

“I am twenty-eight years old.”

“Truly? That long in the tooth, huh? Why haven’t you been married before this? You have been on the shelf for a fair bit of time, haven’t you? Why, you could have solved your brother’s money issues by just finding a very rich husband. I still don’t understand why you didn’t have rich titled men clamoring over each other for your hand, even with Mallory as your sole male guardian, I know quite a few wealthy chaps that would risk a beating from him in order to have the pleasure of pursuing you. Alas, at eight and twenty, you are getting well into your bloom. Soon, you’ll start to wither and…”

She rolled her eyes, pursed her lips, and planted her hands on her hips. She was getting her back up and he was enjoying every single moment of it. Ah, yes. Taking her and having her as his wife would be quite the adventure. He wondered if she would be that passionate in their marriage bed.

“I am quite certain you are around my brother’s age, so you really shouldn’t be pointing out
my
years.”

“Men are expected to marry at an older age. Women, on the other hand, need to find a husband early, so that they can have—”

“Issue for their husbands?” She shook her head. “So, even if I wasn’t in love with the first disgustingly rich lord I met, I should have just done my duty and agreed to marry him? Is that what you’re saying? Ah, yes, I know, the famous stiff upper lip of the English!”