Macbeth's Niece (11 page)

It was true Tessa was exceptionally striking
that night. With Eleanor’s guidance, her natural beauty had been
enhanced with subtle additions of color and shading. Her green eyes
sparkled in response to the admiration she’d inspired, and her
thick auburn hair shone in the candlelight. With some satisfaction,
she judged she had performed well, remembering the steps to the
dances and managing to smile at each man who circled around her in
time to the music.

It was a bit of a jolt when a strong hand
gripped Tessa’s elbow as she stood alone for a moment, her current
partner having gone to get her a cup of wine. Turning, she found
Aidan Brixton’s face close to hers, his brown eyes for once
harsh.

“How goes your foray onto the marriage
market, Tess?”

Brixton was not himself. His words slurred
and his body swayed slightly despite attempts to hold himself
erect. Gone was the charm, and in its place was an anger she had
never imagined.

Tessa suddenly saw two things clearly: Aidan
despised being his brother’s lackey, and he was attracted to her.
Just as certainly, she understood the hopelessness of Aidan’s
cause. William would hardly relish the prospect of Aidan’s
marriage, which would divide his time and require the support of a
wife and children. To make matters worse, Aidan could not compete
with the glittering men who sought Tessa’s attention this night.
Strangely, his anger focused on her rather than on the unfairness
of his brother.

“Does it not sicken you to smile at these
calves and picture yourself in the marital bed with whichever one
makes the best offer?” Aidan’s smile twisted and his grip on her
arm tightened as he struggled to keep his swaying body still. She
caught the scent of wine on his breath, and remembered Mary’s
statement he was not the same when he’d been drinking.

“Master Aidan. Good evening.” Tessa kept her
face expressionless lest others around them see her disgust.

“As you say. I find it not particularly
pleasant.”

“And so you have medicated yourself to
improve your own disposition?” She spoke between clenched teeth,
angry with Aidan for destroying her fondness for him.

He smiled wickedly. “So, the polished young
lady is not the role you play with me. Is it because I have no
prospects that you can afford to be so blunt?” The handsome face
curled in self-mockery.

“It’s because I consider you part of a
family I care about that I warn you, sir, to take yourself off
before Sir William sees the state you are in. I will always be
honest with you if it saves you trouble.”

He stared at Tessa for a few moments then
straightened himself, as drunken men will who want to seem in
control. “I will remove myself from your presence, since I
obviously displease you. Your servant, mistress.” And with a
satiric bow, he was gone.

Tessa thought about following but decided he
was used to looking after himself, even when intoxicated. The third
Brixton was a cipher. Though full of charm, there was a dark side
to him she had glimpsed tonight. She wondered which side she would
see when next they met.

The answer came swiftly in the morning, for
as she came down the stairs to breakfast, Aidan waited in the
hallway, his face knitted with worry. When he saw she was alone, he
spoke pleadingly.

“Tessa, I was unforgivably boorish last
night. I was awake for hours wondering how I could have let myself
get into such a state, and how I could have spoken so to you.”

Immediately her heart went out to Aidan, who
was obviously very embarrassed at his behavior. “Think no more of
it.”

His face flushed. “It is shameful to admit
it, but I cannot take strong drink. It transforms me into a
different person, and my brother has often taken me to task for it.
The only remedy is to take no drink at all. I had been successful
until last night…” He paused, about to say one thing, and then
finished differently. “Last night I slipped back into old ways. I
would give anything to be able to have it back to do differently,
and I hereby vow to you I will never again allow myself to sink to
the state of drunkenness that you observed last evening.”

“I have said, Aidan, you must think no more
of it,” Tessa chided him gently. “All of us make mistakes, and only
a churl would hold it against you when you have made your apology
and promised never to repeat it.”

Gratefully, he grasped Tessa’s hand and
kissed it. “You are as good as you are beautiful,” he told her. “I
thank the heavens they have sent us such as you to be a part of our
family.” With that he led her in to breakfast with the others. As
they took their places, Tessa reflected she now understood the
family’s references to Aidan’s drinking, and she applauded his
efforts to change. Aidan was a man who set a standard for himself,
and though he had fallen short of it last night, he seemed
determined to make himself a better man. For that, she believed, he
should be admired.

Chapter
Ten

By the end of the week, Tessa had had enough
of parties. It had become a strain to keep quiet when men around
her said and did the same stupid things Scottish men had don’t to
annoy her. Just months ago they would have received the sharp edge
of her tongue, but now she forced herself to pretend they were
fascinating.

“Perhaps this isn’t the life I want after
all,” she moaned to Mary one afternoon. “It’s one thing to say
you’ll marry some dull fellow for his money and his name, but it’s
another to go to parties and be told I am as beautiful as the
goddess of the moon, Hera. I’m an ignorant Scot, and female as
well, but even I know Hera isn’t goddess of the moon. Still, I must
bat my eyelashes and murmur how sweet he is to say it, all the time
trying to remember if this one is Charles or Cedric.”

“But it’s how one meets men so families can
arrange marriages. Once that’s done, you can retire to an estate
somewhere and milk cows or whatever it is Scots lassies do for
fun,” Mary teased.

They had left the house and were strolling
idly through the streets, looking at things they had no money to
buy but enjoying themselves anyway. The streets of London were an
adventure. Shop windows were crowded with things neither girl had
seen before, and in the street itself were offered all sorts of
things from barrows present from dawn to dusk. They were encouraged
to buy everything from “good Scots metalwork” to “le-e-e-e-mons
fresh from Spa-a-a-in”. They laughed together, pointing at this and
that, until Tessa came to a dead stop, staring ahead of her. Coming
out of a gateway was Jeffrey Brixton, dressed in traveling clothes
muted with dust and boots caked with mud. He looked weary and
defeated, eyes glazed and dull.

Mary saw him a second later and screamed
with delight, “Jeffrey! Jeffrey, over here!”

As he raised his eyes, there was a flash of
recognition. For a moment his eyes lingered on Tessa, taking in her
becoming new coif, her attractive rose-and-cream outfit, and—she
found herself hoping—more ladylike bearing. There was a flash of
appreciation in his eyes, and his mien lightened. Mary fairly
twitched with delight as he crossed to them. “Jeffrey, we have come
to London to visit, and William is to find us husbands, all of
us!”

“Husbands?” Jeffrey seemed slow to
comprehend, his brow furrowed in thought. Turning to Tessa, he
asked, “Are you to have a husband?”

“Of course, she is,” Mary babbled on. “Sir
William will see to it his sister-in-law is well married.”

“Sister—” Jeffrey began, and Tessa gave him
a look that interrupted the thought and he stopped.

“Your brother has been very kind to all of
us,” she said, looking directly at him. “My half-sister has
prepared me to be a good English wife as best she can in so short a
time.”

Jeffrey still struggled to understand; it
was plain from his expression, but he kept quiet.

Mary noticed nothing, so happy was she to
see her cousin. “You must come with us to the house. Eleanor will
want to see you.” His face showed indecision, and Mary added, “I
believe William has gone out for the day.” Jeffrey smiled for the
first time.

“Good, then. If you care to wait, I will be
a few moments, and then we will walk while you apprise me of recent
events.” With a look at Tessa, he added, “I am interested to hear
what brings you all to London.”

After Jeffrey had arranged for his horse to
be fed and stalled, the three of them made their way to the town
house. Eleanor was joyful to see Jeffrey safe once more, but he
disappointed her immediately. “I must be off tonight,” he said. “My
ship sails with the tide.”

“Where now?” Mary asked, but Jeffrey would
not say.

“Well then, I will at least see to it you
have a decent meal before you go,” Eleanor insisted. She went off
to find the cook, Mary trailing behind as they began a list of
things to get for Jeffrey’s journey.

Tessa watched them go, uneasy now that she
and Jeffrey were alone together. He stepped closer so they could
speak in low tones, and his eyes held an odd expression, maybe
anger, maybe something else.

“You are now Eleanor’s sister?” he asked
coolly.

“A story she made up to explain my
presence.”

“I should have guessed Eleanor’s ingenuity
would solve all problems. But you will stay here now?”

“I cannot return to Scotland after…what
happened. It seems best to attempt to make a life here. Eleanor has
given me a chance to remake my future.”

“And have you done well here in London?” he
asked, his voice tired. He slumped into a nearby chair, his eyes
watching as she moved nervously about the room. “Eleanor has made
you into a social success?”

His words stung, but Tessa chose to ignore
what she interpreted as sarcasm. “I have come to love Eleanor, and
she has done much for me,” she answered.

“Do you forgive me, then, for what I
did?”

Tessa looked sharply at Jeffrey. He seemed
to speak in earnest, and she turned away, unable to decide what the
question meant. Was he mocking her? Did he think ill of her for
turning her situation to the best advantage possible? Whatever she
had done, he had begun it, taking her by force from her
homeland.

Anger flared, and she felt her face growing
warm, but Jeffrey went on. “I’ve thought about it, many nights. You
did no wrong, and I—your uncle and I—we caused you great suffering
for our own ends.”

“Was it awful, the fighting?”

“Yes.” No more.

“I am glad you did not succeed.” She was
defiant.

“I was sure you would be.” He paused. “Will
you marry an Englishman, then, and become an obedient wife?”

“What else have you left me?” It was more
strident than she’d intended.

Suddenly, he sprang from the chair, his
weariness gone, and came to her side. “I have thought of you,” he
said softly. “The way you struggled to get free of me on the
riverbank. The way you shouted at me in the cabin of the ship,
unafraid even though your life was in my hands. And I remember your
vow that you would repay me for ruining your life. Sometimes it
seems I think of nothing but you, who never once cried, never once
begged for mercy. If Scotland has more like you, she will never be
defeated.”

Tessa’s throat closed with emotion. As
Jeffrey put his arms around her and drew her to him, her mind
refused to function. Half-formed thoughts were interrupted by the
sensation of his touch and the feel of his coarse beard as his lips
found hers. The kiss brought the sensation of heat, of melting,
she’d first experienced aboard ship as his captive. The world
receded for a long moment, but finally a voice drifted into her
consciousness.

“Well, Jeffrey, it seems you are not as
fatigued as the Lady Eleanor had imagined.”

The two sprang apart guiltily. “Aidan,”
Jeffrey managed, but it was all he could say.

Tessa stood mute, wondering what had just
happened. How did she feel about Jeffrey Brixton? She’d thought
until a minute ago that she hated him. Now all she could feel was
the blood that rushed through her body, the lingering traces of his
touch on her skin.

Finally she gathered her dignity around her.
“If you will excuse me, gentlemen, I will leave you alone. I’m sure
you have much catching up to do.” She met neither man’s eyes as she
left them, running straight up the stairs to her room and closing
herself in.

Tessa sent Mary down alone to supper, saying
she had a headache. Eleanor dispatched a servant with a tray and a
cold compress soaked in witch hazel, and the girl sat miserably
with the food before her, untouched. What had she been thinking, to
let Jeffrey Brixton kiss her? And what was Aidan going to do about
it? Would he tell Eleanor? William? Sick with dread, she considered
her reaction. She had responded to the kiss of a man who’d torn her
from home as if she did not matter. But he’d thought of her. Her
heart held on to that confession despite her mind’s objection:
Sometimes it seems I think of nothing but you.

A few minutes later, as she sat by the
window staring at nothing, Tessa came to her senses, reminding
herself that to a man like Jeffrey Brixton, words were used to get
what he wanted. They meant nothing. Within half an hour she had
convinced herself she was a fool to react to a man who made love to
his own sister-in-law and then had the gall to say he thought of
her. If he did, it was with lust, wishing he’d taken advantage of
her when he had the chance. He would never have such an opportunity
again, for she would see to it they spent not one moment alone
together in the future. She even convinced herself she was grateful
for Aidan’s interruption of what was an unfortunate and unwanted
encounter.

The next morning things were as usual, and
Eleanor showed no knowledge of a change between Tessa and Jeffrey.
Aidan treated her politely, as did William. She guessed no one had
even told the head of the household of Jeffrey’s visit. Once they
were alone, the women talked of Jeffrey, how tired he had looked,
how soon he’d had to leave, and how dangerous his life must be.
Tessa noted with amusement that since Mary and Alice had other
prospects, their erstwhile mooning over Jeffrey was replaced with
mere affectionate concern. Mary’s stammering young man was the only
son of a prosperous merchant, and Alice had caught the eye of a
widower with two sons and a thriving business. A penniless cousin,
fourth in line to inherit, was not such a glittering prize by
comparison, no matter how much they liked him. Eventually the talk
turned to the evening’s entertainment.