The Convenient Bride (6 page)

“Uh,
first I’ll meet with the steward while we’re here; I have a few small matters on the estate to attend to and depending on what sports you wish to participate in this autumn, see how the game bird stocks are faring.”

“Can I sit in on these meetings?” he asked, unwilling to be parted from her while they were alone down here.

“Oh, um, well, I don’t see why not.” She sounded surprised and he understood why, since he had never showed any interest in estate management. “After that we will have to talk to Mrs Parker and Mr Kirk about hiring some additional servants and seeing if the food and wine stores need topping up.”

“Anything else?”

“Not really. A few of my tenants are falling behind on the rent but I'm not inclined to evict them. I will have to sort something out though; it’s bad enough being a woman running an estate but if I show any signs of weakness, I will soon have no paying tenants.”

Dinner was
announced then and they made their way into the dining room. The long table had been set for two, one at either end. They took their seats but between the candelabrum down the centre of the table and the distance between them, they couldn’t communicate without leaning out to one side and almost shouting at each other.

“This is ridiculous,” Lucy said as the soup bowls were removed and collecting up her glass and cutlery, came and sat beside him.

“Much better,” she smiled as the butler hastily rearranged her place setting. “What was the last thing you said?” she asked Max.

“About the tenants who are behind, I wondered if you had any ideas?”

“I have been considering restructuring the estate. Possibly taking the land back but rather than evicting the tenants, I could employ them instead.”

“Employ them how?”

“Well farming is moving ahead, methods and equipment are improving and I think I should take advantage of that.”

“How so?”

“Well take ploughs for example; new ones can now turn three lines of soil but most of my tenants are still using the one line plough or worse, turning the soil by hand. I’m also considering clearing some woodland and planting more crops. Perhaps even building a mill so the corn can be milled here, cutting out the middleman, as it were.”

“But people are migrating to the
cities; you’ll end up with no workers.”

“They’re going because smallholdings aren’t providing them
with enough money any longer, so they’re in search of work. If there was work in the country, I think most would stay.”

Max nodded, considering he
r points. “Why haven’t you done this before?”

“I felt that I should be around if I'm going to make such drastic changes,” she shrugged. “Now this will be ou
r home, I can be around for many months of the year.”

“Where did you learn all this about agriculture?” he asked.

“I’ve been reading about it since I was fifteen. Your father saves me any articles that he thinks might be of interest.”

“My father?”

Lucy nodded. “Aren’t you aware of the farming and selective breeding programs he’s implemented on your estate?”

“No.” His tone was neutral and Lucy couldn’t
work out how he felt.

“His pet project is trying to breed better cows, cross breeding and selectively breeding them for larger and more muscular animals for food, as well as dairy cows that produce a larger milk yield.”

“Like the selective breeding that the Earl of Egremont is doing with racehorses?”

“Yes,” she smiled at him. “It’s exactly like that, only instead of breeding fast runners, your father is trying to breed larger animals. I’ve written to George a few times now, asking
if he has any hints and tips for the estate.”

“You’re on first name terms
with the Earl of Egremont?”

“Yes, he was very helpful. He’s also turned his deer park over to tillage and he was able to offer
me some tips on the best crops to grow.”

“How did I not know this?” Max asked, sounding a little hurt.

“Because every time I tried to discuss agriculture or farming, you changed the subject.”

“I thought that you were acting at my
father’s behest, trying to get me into paying attention to my estate.”

“This
might shock you, Maxwell, but the whole world does not revolve around you!” She sounded a little sharp.

“No, I didn’t…
” His words trailed off as he wondered if that was how she really saw him. She had been trying to engage him in a topic that clearly interested her and he had shrugged her off, completely disinterested.

An awkward silence enveloped them and they ate the remainder of the meal
without talking. When the dessert plates were removed, Max wondered how to best thaw the ice between them. 

“Would you like another drink before bed?” he asked.

“I think I’ve had enough wine, thank you.”

She was perfectly civil but remote.

“It’s been a long day, shall we go to bed.”

Lucy nodded and they left the dining table and headed to the first floor. Kirk, the butler accompanied them and showed Max to his room, which was ne
xt to Lucy’s. He thanked Kirk and undressed, suddenly nervous of entering Lucy’s room, wondering if she would welcome him.

Perhaps he had made a colossal mistake in askin
g her to marry him, wondering if he might have been better off with Georgette. He quickly dismissed that thought, knowing that they would have made each other miserable.

He and Lucy might need some time to adjust but they were best friends and they would soon resume the close relationship they had enjoyed before, especially if he began to take an interest in
things that interested her, such as the estate.

Clad only in his nightshirt, he walked the short distance to her room and tapped on her door. There was a pause before
she called for him to come in and when he entered, he found her sitting by her dresser, clad in her own nightgown and brushing out her long hair. She looked at his reflection in the mirror and although she smiled, he could see that she was terribly nervous.

“
May I?” he asked, holding his hand out for the bush.

She handed it to him and pulled a chair up behind her, so that they were on the same level. He began gently pulling the brush through her long,
blonde hair, which hung almost ramrod straight to the small of her back.

She had always lamented her hair, saying it was too thick, too long, too straight, but Max had always loved it. He leaned to the side and smiled at her in the mirror, pleased to see that her answering smile was less hesitant.

He continued to brush her luscious locks, inhaling deeply as he did so. Her hair smelled of orange blossom, a hint of something like cocoa and just a trace of vanilla, the same scent that he remembered from when they first made love, all those years ago now. Now and again he would try to get close to her and breathe deeply enough to remind himself of the scent but it was never like this, where it filled his senses, almost making him giddy with lust.

The next time he looked in the mirror, her eyes were closed and she had a slight smile playing at her lips, clearly enjoying his ministrations.

“I’ve always loved your hair,” he told her. “I would run my fingers through it all day, if you’d let me.”

Her eyes didn’t open but her smile did widen. He was the reason that she had never had more than an inch trimmed off the ends, despite how difficult it was to manage on a day to day basis.

Finally he seemed to have finished and, sweeping her hair aside, he placed a reverent kiss on her shoulder. Her eyes sprang open and she swallowed down a mixture of fear and excitement. Max stood up, placed his hands on her upper arms and drew her to her feet. Stepping aside from the chair and stool, he turned her to face him, although she refused to meet his eyes, seemingly fascinated with the neckline of his nightshirt. He gently placed a finger under her chin and tilted her head up, giving her a warm smile.

“Relax, my darling, this won’t hurt at all, not like last the time.”

Considering that had been her first time, she hadn’t actually felt much pain. What hurt was knowing that she was just another notch on his bedpost.

His expression was
so sincere right now though and it warmed her heart to see him look at her with such affection, even if he had looked at a hundred other women the same way. She may regret it later but she intended to enjoy this.

She smiled at him and, stretching up on her toes, kissed him boldly on the lips. He almost looked amused as he returned the gesture, placing a series of kisses over her lips.

Her hands wound around his neck as his enclosed her waist, pulling her against him. He could feel her breasts pressed into his chest and as his desire grew, he deepened his kiss.

Lucy gave a small cry of desire that further inflamed him and he began gathering her night
gown up around her waist, prompting her to do the same with his. They stepped apart as each drew the other’s gown off and tossed them aside. When they came back together there was a renewed urgency in both their actions and they began moving towards the bed.

Max fell back onto the covers as he hit the bed, pulling Lucy down wit
h him and they giggled as they both moved to a more comfortable position in the middle of the bed. Max lay beside her and kissed her again as his hand began to roam her body, caressing and stroking her soft skin. Her hands ran through his hair, pulling on his dark locks, then began to go lower, running over his muscular back.

When Max’s hand dipped lower into her hot centre, she sighed into the kiss a
nd spread her legs for him. Her nails began digging into his skin as he pleasured her, teasing and caressing her clitoris with a mixture of soft and firm strokes.

She cried out whenever he did anything particularly enjoyable
and Max swallowed each cry, imagining saving them up for a rainy day. Finally her hands reached his buttocks and as she scratched her short nails across the muscles there, he almost came.

He broke the kiss for a moment, feeling breathless and looked down into her flushed face,
her hair fanned out across the pillow like a golden halo.

His fingers continued
to stimulate her slick channel, while her hand slipped between them now that there was room and she grasped his length, marvelling at how it could feel so hard, yet silky soft at the same time.

He suddenly incre
ased the pressure of his strokes across her clit and she gasped with pleasure, closing her eyes as the delightful feelings between her thighs began to build to a peak.

“Oh, Max!” she cried and with another three quick caresses, her climax crashed through her and her features screwed up in exquisite ecstasy. After
giving her a few moments to recover, he moved in between her legs and she placed him at her entrance but he didn’t enter her.

Instead he waited, just the head of his member enveloped in her
inviting tightness, until she opened her eyes and looked up at him, no longer shy or bashful.

“
You’re so beautiful,” he said, thrusting inside her, feeling her delicious warmth envelop him.

It hurt that he would say such a tender thing just as he plunged into her, as if she had no beaut
y outside of the bedroom, and Lucy felt tears stinging her eyes.

He began to
build a regular rhythm and he rested his weight on one hand as he slipped the other between them, rubbing her bud again, increasing the stimulation as he got closer to his own peak. He felt her sheath clamp down on him as her second orgasm crashed through her, tipping him over the edge and into his own climax.

He held himself in position for a moment, then collapsed on top of her, his forehead resting on her shoulder as he recovered his breath.

“God, I love you,” he gasped.

Lucy’s arms went around him as she began to stroke his back with affection but the tell-tale sting of tears had returned. He had said the same words to her the first time they had
sex as well; again, just after the moment of climax. It was so painful to hear the words you felt as if you had longed your whole life to hear, only for it to actually be a throwaway comment delivered in the heat of the moment. From the way it slipped out, so thoughtlessly, she thought that he probably said that to every woman he slept with.

She closed her eyes to keep her tears at bay but they slipped from the c
orners on her eyes anyway, sliding down into her hair.

When Max had recovered he moved off her and Lucy turned onto her side
with her back to him, lest he see her traitorous tears. He ran his hand up and down her arm a few times but Lucy resolutely ignored the action and after a few moments, he stopped.

Leaning over her, he kissed her cheek then withdrew.

“Goodnight, Lucy,” he said, his voice still thick with passion.

Lucy wanted to answer him, it was only polite after all, but she knew the words would come out as a sob and she couldn’t afford that. Instead she lay completely still and eventually she felt him move, blow out the candles and settle himself beside her.