Punishing His Ward (3 page)

Since he knew that she'd declared
herself "not-at-home" today, stating that she wanted to rest before
they went out that evening, he figured he had a good half hour
before she would be ready to make an appearance.  There was no
way she would miss out on seeing Edwin and Nell, even if she wasn’t
at-home, but it would take her at least that long to clothe and
ready herself for receiving visitors. 

Which was all to the good because he
had a proposal he wanted to put forth to his friends, before his
mother joined them.  Especially as she would probably bring
Cynthia with her.

Putting his signature and seal on the
document in front of him, Wesley stood and hastened to the drawing
room.

******

Sitting in the elegantly decorated room
of cool blues and grays, Eleanor should have felt calmed.
 Instead she watched her husband warily.  Edwin had been
incensed when he'd first declared that they would join Wesley in
Bath; yet since that original confrontation he'd acted as if
nothing upsetting had happened.  She'd had to endure a rather
uncomfortable carriage ride to Bath, because of her red bottom, but
she thought that she'd have to endure uncomfortable dinners and
silences with him as well.

Instead he was somehow warmer with her
than he'd been in London.  He'd always been passionate, from
the very beginning of their marriage, but now his entire demeanor
towards her was warm and affectionate at all times.  Blatantly
so, although in a decorous way when they were in public.
 Yesterday a few of their neighbors had stopped in to see who
had rented the house and Edwin had danced his attendance on her,
keeping her rather distracted with tiny touches and gestures of
affection until she could barely keep her head on straight.
 It had her decidedly off balance because it wasn't at all
what she had expected from him; he'd been so very angry with her
and now he was... not.

At least not as far as she could tell
and she found that confusing.  Even though she'd been
punished, she hadn't expected such an immediate reversion to
typical behavior.  Although, his behavior wasn't quite
typical, truly.

It was
more.
 

Now he was examining the room, while
Eleanor sat rather stiffly on the ornate settee in the center of
the room, and she examined him from the periphery of her vision.
 Handsome as sin, darkly commanding, the way he moved was
almost a prowling as he inspected the room and the dainty, feminine
decorations.

When he turned and caught her eye he
grinned, looking almost like the boy she'd once known.  "I
wonder how comfortable Wesley feels in this room."

A small smile split her lips.  Out
of the three men who were best friends, Wesley, Edwin and her
brother Hugh, Wesley had always been the most rambunctious and, as
such, the most dangerous to the small glass collectibles his mother
favored.  

"One would hope he's outgrown his
affection for hearing glass shatter," she replied.  Their eyes
sparkled in a moment of fellow feeling and memory.

"It was never an affection, just a
tendency," said a deep voice from the doorway.  Wesley stood,
grinning at them as he shut the door behind him.

Eleanor laughed and stood as Edwin
strode forward to greet their friend.  Despite the fact that
Wesley had only been in his mother's house for a bare twenty four
hours, Eleanor thought he looked rather harassed.  She
wondered if his mother or his wayward ward had done the harassing.
 Normally Wesley was the most easy-going of the three men, but
his mouth had a rather pinched look as did his
eyes. 

They asked the obligatory questions
about his mother, whom Wesley assured them would be joining them
shortly. 

"Actually, I have a favor I would ask
of you, before my mother joins us.  Ask of Nell, really," he
said, looking at her.  "My ward is..." His lips flattened and
he looked almost censorious.  Not a usual expression for him.
 "My ward has been more of a burden on my mother than I
initially realized.  I don't wish to hurt my mother's feelings
by insinuating to her that she can't handle Cynthia on her own, but
I don't think some help would go amiss.  I was hoping that, as
someone closer to Cynthia's age..."

"That I might be able to
influence her behavior?"  Eleanor said, a little smile
twisting her lips.  "Are you sure you want to ask
me
 for such a
thing?"  

She wondered, again, how much of her
transgressions her husband had shared with his friends.
 Surely if Wesley knew how unbecoming some of her conduct had
been then he couldn't think her a proper role model for his wild
ward... on the other hand, she knew that he must know some of
it. 

"Oh, you're slowly turning into quite a
presentable young lady," he teased, dark eyes glinting with
appreciation for her trepidation, as if he could read her
thoughts.

Eleanor stuck her tongue out at him and
then immediately pulled it back in as she felt her husband step up
behind her.  Fortunately he hadn't been able to see her face,
and she knew that Wesley wouldn't tell on her.  The pinched
look had disappeared from his eyes, which were full of amusement as
they flicked back and forth between husband and wife.  One of
Edwin's hands came down on her shoulder, like a gentle
caress. 

"She's more than presentable," Edwin
said warmly. “I’m sure that Nell will be happy to help with
Cynthia.”  Eleanor twisted her neck back to look up at him,
surprised by the obvious and genuine affection in his voice, but
even more so by the sound of approval in his tone.
 Considering the reasons for why they were both in Bath, and
how infuriated he'd been by some of her recent antics over the past
months, she was rather shocked to hear that he thought she would be
a suitable influence on a wild and misbehaving young
woman. 

She always thought that he still saw
her as a wild and misbehaving young woman.  And, admittedly,
she had certainly acted in ways that would support that belief.
 

******

The beautiful blonde woman was staring
up at the very handsome man behind her.  Cynthia couldn't
quite see his expression, unfortunately they keyhole she was
peering through didn't allow that.  Or see her guardian's
expression.

But she rather liked the look of the
woman.  She was very beautiful, for one, and the way that
she'd stuck her tongue out at Lord Spencer said that she wasn't
stuffy.  Actually, she was quite surprised that Lord Spencer
hadn't reacted with anger at such impertinence, but he hadn't.
 That was one moment when she truly wished she could have seen
his face.

With his friends he didn't seem to be
nearly as stuffy as he'd appeared to her yesterday.  He was
much more relaxed, even teasing and amiable as he explained that
he'd like Eleanor take Cynthia under her wing and befriend her.
 Something which Cynthia certainly had no objection to.
 It would be nice to have a female friend around her
age.

Especially a married one, as she
surmised the beautiful blonde was.  Cynthia had a multitude of
questions that she'd like to ask her, if she was truly someone who
could become a bosom bow.

"Cynthia!"  The Countess' aghast
voice had Cynthia bolting upright, her lips forming the word 'damn'
although she didn’t voice the vulgarity aloud.  It wasn't
worth the lecture and fainting looks that followed.  Turning,
she tried to look properly chastened by the time she faced the
Countess.

Looking as intimidatingly regal and
elegant as ever, the Countess was dressed in a gown of dark blue
cambric with burgundy trimmings that accentuated her statuesque
bearing and excellent style.  One day Cynthia hoped to be as
forbidding as the Countess, she thought it would be quite a bit of
fun.  But she didn't wilt under the woman's hawk-like glare,
her own mother had perfected that look as well, and Cynthia had
become quite immune to it in her younger years.  It seemed to
be a side effect of indulging in "don'ts."  If she'd been
affected by the condemning looks and punishments that she received,
Cynthia wouldn't have had half as much fun as she normally
did.

Behind her the door was
yanked open and Cynthia could feel the dark, brooding stare of her
guardian on the back of her neck and she shivered, wondering if
eavesdropping would garner her another spanking.

While that had been one of
her goals, because she wanted to explore the new sensations it had
aroused in her, she didn't want one
yet.
  Her skin was still tender
after the punishment she'd received the day before.

"Mother," he said in
acknowledgment, stepping past Cynthia as if she wasn't there at
all.  She bristled at his indifference.  Wesley offered
the Countess his arm before turning back, his disapproving gaze
landing on Cynthia.  Her bottom tingled, as if in response.
 "Come in with us and behave."

The Countess looked a bit
startled, possibly at his invitation or possibly at his manner
towards Cynthia, but she didn't gainsay her son.  For once,
Cynthia felt like being obedient, mostly because she needed at
least another good night's sleep before she was going to risk
getting another spanking. Preferably more.  And also because
she wanted to meet the pretty blonde woman and see her guardian
acting like a something other than a stuffed shirt.
 

Cynthia could behave when
she felt she had good reason to.

When they entered the
room, both the man and the woman came forward to greet the
Countess.  Cynthia hung back, studying them more closely now
that her vision wasn't partially blocked by the keyhole.  Up
close the man, Lord Hyde, was even more impressive looking, with
handsome chiseled features and arresting dark eyes.  His own
coloring was darker than Lord Spencer's, except for his skin which
was much lighter, but that just made his hair and eyes even blacker
by contrast. 

The woman had a warm
smile, sparkling blue eyes and the most amazing porcelain
complexion.  For once Cynthia was a bit jealous, and more than
a little aware of the golden tint to her own skin which came from
spending quite a bit of time outside without the protection of a
bonnet or parasol.  Eleanor, as the Countess called her, must
be what people called a Diamond of the First Water.  Something
Cynthia had never aspired to be, but then she'd never felt so
awkward in another woman's presence before.  Normally she felt
quite assured that she was the most attractive woman in the room,
but next to Eleanor's angelic hues, her own coloring seemed dark
and earthy by contrast.

Once they'd greeted the Countess,
Eleanor turned to Cynthia, glancing at Wesley in an obvious demand
to be introduced.  He sighed as if it pained him and Cynthia
bit her tongue to keep from saying something tart. 

"Edwin, Nell, this is my ward Miss
Cynthia Bryant.  Cynthia, this is Lord and Lady
Hyde."

"But you must call me
Eleanor," said the blonde woman, stepping forward to take both of
Cynthia's hands to greet her.  "There's no need to be so
stuffy, Wesley, I'm sure we're all going to be good friends."
 Those sparkling blue eyes tipped with amusement towards Lord
Spencer, before settling back on Cynthia, inviting her to share in
Eleanor's amusement.

Despite the insecurities
that this beautiful woman had roused in Cynthia, she couldn't help
but respond to that open, friendly gaze.  It had been a long
time since any of the women she'd met had looked at her with
anything other than disapproval or jealousy, she realized. Not that
Eleanor needed to feel threatened by her; so perhaps there was a
benefit to having such a beautiful friend.

"And you must call me Cynthia.
 I'm delighted to meet you.  My Lord," she said,
directing her gaze at Lord Hyde as she bobbed a quick curtsy.
 He studied her, looking at her so intently with those dark,
brooding eyes that she reddened.  The man had the kind of look
that made a woman squirm, as if he could see every naughty thing
she'd done and might do in the future.  How did the bright and
cheerful Eleanor deal with such a man? 

Then again, he seemed the perfect
friend for Lord Stuffy. 

Cynthia's mouth almost gaped open when
Eleanor turned back towards her husband and his gaze immediately
softened, making him look far more approachable and almost gentle.
 The last time she'd seen a man look at a woman like that...
it had been her father with her mother.  Certainly none of the
men she ever teased or flirted with looked at her quite like that.
 It caused a very curious ache in her chest.  

"Let's sit down and I'll ring for some
tea," said the Countess, smiling broadly.  "Cynthia come sit
by me.  And you two must tell me everything about the wedding
and the honeymoon, you did honeymoon didn't you?"

"Oh yes, we spent a
wonderful month in Paris," Eleanor said as she settled her skirts
around her, glancing up at Lord Hyde.  The little smile that
he gave her, along with the look of almost adoration, made that
little ache that Cynthia was feeling give another twinge. Although
as soon as his eyes turned away from his wife, his expression
hardened again.

Then she was distracted as
the Earl settled himself down on her other side, rather than on the
chair where she'd expected him to sit.  She was now firmly
wedged between the two Spencers.  While she knew that the
Countess wanted Cynthia there so that she could keep an eye on her,
she didn't know why the Earl sat so close to her as well.  She
was hardly going to misbehave right now - she had no desire to make
a complete ninny of herself in front of either Lord or Lady Hyde.
 For one, Cynthia rather liked Eleanor already.  For two,
Lord Hyde didn't look the type to allow his wife to spend time with
the likes of Cynthia if she was blatantly improper in front of
him.