The Hazards Of Hunting A Duke (19 page)

A small smile crept across Jared’s mouth. “She is indeed. Thank you, Dawso n. Have a mount saddled, will you?”

“At once, my lord,” Dawson said, and with a glance to a footman, sent the man running.

Jared followed the footman out and down the drive, walking slowly to the stables. While he waited, he leaned heavily against a post and put his hand to his forehead. He was feeling this sea change in his life more acutely now that they were here, in his home. His decision was beginning to feel truly unalterable.

Perhaps he was only exhausted —the Lord knew he hadn’t slept at all this week, his mind racing around

his whirlwind marriage, those disturbing feelings of being trapped. But he was also feeling wildly empty,

as if all his normal thoughts and emotions had deserted him, leaving a void for new, wild thoughts and unfamiliar emotion s to fill.

What he wanted was for nothing to change with the singular exception of siring a legitimate son. Everything else he wished to remain the same. That was, he realized with sickening dread, an impossibility given the vows he would take in a matter of days.

A stableman appeared with a young mare. “I beg your pardon my lord, but she’s not your usual—” “She’ll do,” he said, reaching for the bridle.

“She’s a bit green, sir,” the stableman tried again.

Jared looked the young mare in the eye. The horse stared back at him with a wildness that mirrored what

he felt deep inside himself. “Excellent,” he said, and fit his foot in the stirrup and swung up. The horse

reacted skittishly, pushing and pulling, trying to get out from beneath him. Jared squeezed his thighs

against her. “Steady, old girl,” he said soothingly, “steady.”

The mare was in no mood to steady herself and bolted for the paddock gate, trying yet to dislodge him.

It took all the strength Jared had to hold her, but the moment they cleared the paddock gate, he let her

go and held on, every muscle tensed with the effort to keep his seat.

The horse was green, but she couldn’t possibly be half as wild as he felt inside. As she raced along, he began to feel that perhaps he could outrun the invisible beast that was pursuing him. But as they

approached a stone fence, Jared knew a moment of fear. He didn’t know her, didn’t know if she would clear the fence or balk. But it was too late to pull up, so he leaned low over her neck, gripped the reins,

and closed his eyes.

She stumbled, and his heart dropped…but then he felt the horse rise up, and felt the two of them soar.

Miss Hillier gave Ava and Phoebe a quick tour of the main living area of the ho use before taking them up

to what would be Ava’s suite. “The ladies’ rooms are just here,” she said, moving through a grand sitting room and into a suite of rooms that consisted of a bedroom the size of the Downey salon, a sitting room

full of silk-covered chaise longues and cherrywood furnishings, a dressing room, and a bathing room with porcelain fixtures. The walls in the suite were painted pale green and the elaborate crown moldings and

paper friezes that adorned the ceilings were painted in creamy whit e.

Ava put aside her reticule and took in her grand surroundings as Miss Hillier walked around, pointing out various features. The bellpull. The brazier, should the fireplace not provide enough warmth. The linens storage, the vanity.

When two footmen appeared with their trunks, Miss Hillier chattered away, directing them left and right, and Ava wandered to one set of expansive windows overlooking a lush green lawn and a very large fountain. She’d never lived in anything so grand. Not even Bingley Hall, for all its splendor, could be

counted in the class of Broderick Abbey, and that fact intimidated her on some level.

When she’d set out

to improve her family’s station in life, she’d not imagined this sort of wealth.

As she stood there, gazing absently at the beautiful landscape, she noticed a movement —

a lone rider. “His lordship doesn’t have a set time for supper. Would you care to set one, madam?” Miss Hillier

asked.

“I don’t know—I should speak with him, I suppose, ” Ava responded, distracted, as the rider rode full-bore for a stone fence.

“He’s rather unconventional in that regard,” Miss Hillier said with an airy laugh.

“Always has been.”

Ava didn’t respond—her pulse quickened as she realized it was Middleton who rode so recklessly for

the fence.

“Never been one to stand on custom, not since he was a wee lad.”

“You’ve known him that long?” Phoebe asked as Middleton came to the fence. Ava felt his recklessness

in her veins, felt the split second during which the h orse might have balked, killing him.

The horse stumbled; she closed her eyes, then quickly opened them in time to see the horse come down on the other side of the fence and crash into the forest, Middleton’s riding coat waving out behind him.

“Oh yes, indeed. I was his nursemaid.”

Ava drew a steadying breath. And another. From what, or to what, do you run?

“Very well, then, it looks as if all is in order. Is there something else I might do for you, Lady Ava?” Hire a chaise, send me back to London. Ava turned and smiled at the housekeeper. “No…no, thank

you.”

Miss Hillier nodded and began to move.

“There is one thing,” Ava said, stopping Miss Hillier’s march. “Yes, madam?”

“Where might the master’s suite be?”

“Just in there,” she said, nodding to her right. “His dressing room adjoins yours.” Ava and Phoebe exchanged a look to which Miss Hillier clucked her tongue. “You needn’t fret at the impropriety of it, my lady. His lordship will reside in another part of t he house until you are wed.”

“Ah,” Ava said, surprisingly relieved. “Thank you.” “Will that be all?”

“Yes, thank you.”

Miss Hillier gave them a happy smile and bustled out, pausing only to straighten some linen towels on an étagère before sailing through the door and closing it soundly behind her.

When she left, Phoebe turned around and fell on the bed with a squeal. “My God!” she exclaimed. “ Have you ever seen a place so grand?”

Ava looked around the room and shook her head. “No. Never.” She felt almo st triumphant. She’d done it —she’d hunted and bagged one of the most sought after bachelors in all of England. Good Lord, she’d even be a duchess one day.

So why, then, did she feel so vulnerable? Was it because he rode so recklessly away from the house? Was it because she was on the verge of being wife to a man she knew so little about? And one day

mother to his child? Ava longed for her mother —she would have laughed at Ava’s fears and pushed her

out the door with a reminder that after her wifely duties w ere all said and done, she might have any bauble she wished, and to certainly ask for an expensive one.

Ava lifted her head. She could almost hear her mother. “You’ve made your bed, young lady. Now you shall lie in it. But what a scrumptious bed it is, da rling.”

There was nothing to be done for it —Ava had made her bed, had connived and schemed to make it. So now it would seem she most definitely would lie in it.

It was a rather delicious bed.

“Come on,” she said, playfully slapping Phoebe’s knee. “Let u s prepare ourselves for

‘luncheon,’ ” she said, mimicking Miss Hillier.

O ver the next two days, so many people arrived at Broderick Abbey that Ava rarely saw her betrothed, save at mealtime, and even then, they were surrounded by family and friends. After supper, the ladies

would retire to a sitting room so that Lady Purnam might regale them with tales of what was to be

expected of a good bride (deference at all times seemed to be the sum of it), and the men would retire all

the way to the village of Broderick, from which they would return in the wee hours of the morning, well into their cups.

Ava knew this because Middleton and his two good friends, Stanhope and Harrison, were possessed of

a desire to sing a song to her bene ath her window, so loudly and so poorly that they woke the entire house.

Nevertheless, Ava was happy—Broderick Abbey was so elegant, and the grounds so beautiful. She

would very much enjoy being mistress here, and more than once, she had to pinch herself to make sure it was real. What had once been fantasy was alarmingly real, and she was absolutely giddy about her accomplishment.

On the day before her wedding, Lucille Pennebacker arrived, and she and Lady Purnam immediately

began to compete with one anot her in instructing Ava on the proper direction of her large household staff, much to Miss Hillier’s considerable and obvious chagrin.

That did not dampen Ava’s spirits. She and Phoebe privately laughed at the battle of three strong wills. Even the duke’s arrival on the eve of her wedding, which cast a pall over the festive atmosphere, did nothing to sober her. In fact, nothing sobered her until the moment she was to take her vows.

The wedding ceremony took place promptly at nine o’clock Friday morning. Ava wore a gown of pale

rose satin. It pleased her enormously that the man who would be her husband seemed suitably impressed with her appearance; as they gathered outside the chapel, one brow arched high above the other as he

took her in, head to toe. He took her hand, kissed her lips to the delight of the servants and grounds people gathered, and said, “You are indeed the loveliest bride I’ve ever had the pleasure to see.”

The compliment sent a shiver down Ava’s back and made her feel a little flush wit h pride. “Are you quite ready?” he asked.

She laughed. “Are you?”

He seemed to consider the question for a moment. “I suppose I am,” he said, and smiled at her. “Shall

we carry on, Lady Ava?”

“We shall,” she said, and put her hand on the arm that he offe red.

But as they walked into the church, her nerves began to fray and her thoughts got the best of her. Up until

this morning, she’d been so blessedly busy that she hadn’t really had time to think about the vows she would take. But now, standing before a parish vicar, everything seemed a little blurry. How was it, she

wondered, as she promised to honor a man she real ly didn’t know, that she had come to this point? She’

d been so pleased with herself up until this moment —and now she couldn’t quite discern why she suddenly felt so unsettled.

She glanced at Phoebe on her left. The small bouquet of peonies Phoebe held sh ook so badly that it was

a miracle any of the blooms remained intact. Ava wanted to tell her sister that it was all right, that she’d

done it, she’d married for convenience and fortune, and they never would need worry again. Only the vicar’s words —the bits about honoring her husband, loving and comforting him—made her realize that what she really wanted was to marry for love.

Suddenly, she didn’t feel victorious or particularly clever. She felt a bit disingenuous.

Ava glanced at Middleton from the cor ner of her eye as he repeated the vows the vicar put to him. “Wilt thou have this woman to thy wedded wife?”

Middleton hesitated a moment.

Wilt thou have this woman? Ava silently echoed.

His lids fluttered, but then he cleared his throat and said plainl y, “I will.” He glanced at her and gave her a slight wink.

What was he thinking? What thoughts crowded his head in this moment? she wondered as he slipped a plain gold ring on her finger. Did he, like her, find it strange to stand up and vow to commit to her for the

rest of their natural lives, knowing so little about her? Or did he think that it was merely a matter of convenience and that his life would go on, unchanged, with possibly the exception of planting a child in her?

The vicar pronounced them ma n and wife before Ava could ever really focus on what was happening. She dutifully turned her face up to her husband, who put his arm around her shoulders and kissed her possessively.

There it was again—that strange, niggling feeling inside her, that tiny but fervent desire that he love her. If

he loved her even only a little, then this would seem right somehow.

In spite of the morning hour, the champagne flowed freely at the wedding breakfast that followed the ceremony. Outside, the servants and groundsmen shared in the champagne and food that had been prepared with the help of villagers from Broderick. Family, friends, and local dignitaries were seated inside the terrace sitting room, which had been set up with tables to host the wedding breakfast.

Middleton and Ava made their way through the small crowd of servants gathered outside, smiling and nodding to their lusty calls of congratulations. As was customary, Middleton tossed coins to the children.

One boy, Ava noticed, did not scramble for the coins with the other children, but looked at her curiously. She smiled at him. The boy returned a very bright and char ming smile.

Inside, men happily clapped Middleton on the shoulder while the women professed happiness for Ava

and eyed her beautiful dress. A trio of musicians, hired from the village, played lively music for them. The room was full of laughter and joyous celebration, save one person, who did not seem to enjoy the celebration in the least: the Duke of Redford.

Ava was standing near her new husband, who had been swallowed up by his friends, when Lady Purnam sailed to her side, took her by the hand, and dra gged her aside. “What are you waiting for?” she hissed.

“I beg your pardon?”

Lady Purnam glanced at Lord Redford standing by the wall, an untouched glass of champagne on a table beside him. “He’s your father -in-law now and it is frighteningly unrefined to leave him to stew in his own

juices! Go to him at once and make sure he is put well at ease!”

Ava glanced doubtfully at her new father -in-law. Lady Purnam gave her a bit of a shove with her elbow. With a heavy sigh, Ava walked forward. The duke did not acknowledge her as she approached, but

stared sourly at the guests. He was, Ava thought, being terribly rude on the occasion of his son’s wedding.