To Catch a Countess (8 page)

Everyone watched in silence when they returned to the drawing room. Victoria saw their surprised expressions at the change in her demeanor and then dropped her gaze.

Reaching the card table, Victoria knelt on the floor and collected the discarded cards. She didn’t utter a word, nor did anyone speak to her.

Alexander helped her and then set the cards on the table. He looked at her and nodded.

“I would apologize to Alex for losing my temper,” Victoria said. “I also apologize for making everyone uncomfortable.”

“I would apologize to Tory for baiting her during the card game,” Alexander said. “I also apologize for failing to court her properly.”

Alexander put his arm around her and guided her toward the doorway. “Remain in your chamber until I send for you.” He tilted her chin up and waited for her to meet his gaze. “I apologize for embarrassing you.”

“I forgive you.” Victoria walked out the door.

Chapter 4

“Congratulations on your accomplishment,” Prince Stepan said.

Alexander slanted an amused glance at the youngest prince. “To what accomplishment do you refer?” he asked, lining up his next shot on the billiard table.

“Taming Lady Victoria, of course.”

Alexander and the other men laughed at the prince. “I haven’t tamed Victoria; merely won the first skirmish,” he said. “She will do my bidding, but gentling her will take time.”

He couldn’t predict how long that would take. The chit had hammered a croquet ball at him. Fortunately, she hadn’t thought of using the mallet.

“Life with Tory will never bore you,” Robert said.

“She’ll make you fight for every gain,” Rudolf agreed.

“Nothing worth having is easily won,” Alexander said. With that fiery red hair and the passion he had glimpsed the previous evening, Victoria would be well worth the fight. “Struggling to win her obedience is one thing. Being bowled over by her is quite another.”

“What do you mean?” Prince Stepan asked.

“We know you agreed to escort Victoria to Drury Lane,” Alexander said.

“She threatened to ask someone else to take her,” Stepan defended himself. “Another man might not have protected her.”

“Stepan, did you ever consider that Tory did not know any other gentleman to take her there?” Rudolf asked his brother.

Prince Stepan flushed. “I never considered that.”

If he had taken Victoria to Drury Lane, Alexander thought, he would be enjoying her body by now instead of fighting her. How could he have known the little virgin would be so passionate?

“Stepan, you had better stick with the debutantes being put in your way,” Prince Viktor said, entering the conversation.

“Controlling a spirited woman might be beyond your capability,” said Prince Mikhail.

Tinker, the duke’s majordomo, walked into the game room. Alexander watched the man heading straight for him.

“Lord Emerson.”

“Yes?”

“Lady Victoria demands to be released from prison,” Tinker announced in a voice that brooked no refusal.

Alexander cocked a brow at the older man. He couldn’t credit the retainer’s insolence.

“Do not be offended,” Rudolf said. “Tinker told me once to fetch my own coffee.”

Tinker turned to the prince and looked down his nose at him. “As I recall, you deserved that set down for making Lady Samantha weep.” The majordomo looked at the earl. “This matter is entirely different. Lady Victoria instructed me to repeat her words with emotion.”

All the men laughed, including Alexander. Tinker’s lips twitched with amusement.

“Gentlemen, place your bets,” Alexander said, smiling. “Skirmish two is about to begin.” He turned to the majordomo. “Tell Lady Victoria my answer is no.”

“Yes, my lord.”

“Who would you bet on if you were a gambling man?” Alexander asked.

Tinker gave the earl a long look and then reached into his trouser pocket. He produced a one pound note. “Who is holding the bets?”

Rudolf lifted the note out of the older man’s hand. “I will hold all bets.”

Tinker glanced at the earl and then told the prince, “I’ll wager one pound on Lady Victoria.”

The men howled with laughter and began reaching for money. Alexander felt better when the other gentlemen wagered on him.

“I thank all of you for contributing to my retirement fund,” Tinker drawled, leaving the game room.

Billiards play resumed.

The majordomo returned five minutes later, calling, “Lord Emerson?”

“Could you possibly wait until my shot is complete before you call my name,” Alexander said.

“I’m terribly sorry,” Tinker apologized, wearing an unrepentant expression. “Lady Victoria wants to know if you are planning to starve her into submission.”

“That sounds like an interesting idea,” Alexander said, making the men smile. “Tell Lady Victoria she will be eating with the children until she grows up.”

Watching the majordomo hurry away, Alexander decided that when Victoria’s emotional maturity caught up with her body, she would be magnificent. And she would belong to him.

Tinker returned five minutes later. The men chuckled when he walked into the room. The majordomo headed across the room to Prince Rudolf instead of the earl.

“Your Highness, Lady Victoria has no money but wishes to place a one pound bet on the outcome of this conflict,” Tinker told him. “In the unlikely event that she loses, her exceedingly wealthy fiancé will cover her loss.”

“The hell I will,” Alexander called out, laughing.

“Tell the lady we deal only in ready cash,” Prince Rudolf instructed the majordomo.

“The lady will not be pleased,” Tinker said.

Next, the majordomo approached the earl. Alexander was already smiling in anticipation of the message from his betrothed. “Lady Victoria said it’s customary for the bride and the groom to sit together at the wedding breakfast,” Tinker said. “She wondered if you will be joining her at the children’s table.”

Alexander shouted with laughter, as did the other men. His betrothed was proving entertaining and sharp-witted.

“I may grant her a furlough for that one meal,” he told the majordomo.

Instead of leaving the game room, Tinker turned to Robert and said, “Lady Victoria asked me to remind you that a marquess outranks an earl. Would you consider granting her permission to leave her chamber?”

“No.”

“What a conniving minx,” Alexander said, laughing.

“A prince outranks a mere marquess and an earl,” Tinker said to Rudolf. “Would you consider—?”

“Today is my day off,” the prince interrupted. “I never do any considering on my day off.”

“Your Highnesses?” Tinker asked, turning to Rudolf’s younger brothers.

All three choked with laughter and ignored him.

“I will relay your messages,” Tinker said, and left the room.

Play resumed. Alexander chalked the tip of his cue and lined up his shot.

“Lord Emerson,” Tinker called, returning to the room.

“What is it this time?” Alexander asked, irritated at missing his shot

“Lady Victoria requires your presence upstairs,” Tinker told him. “She wants to apologize again.”

Alexander raised his brows at the majordomo and then smirked at his future brothers-in-law. “Tell her I’ll come when I’m free.”

“Lady Victoria instructed me to tell you that she hasn’t long to live,” Tinker replied. “If you delay, she will have expired.”

Alexander grinned. “What is her malady?”

“The lady is bored to death,” Tinker said, unable to suppress his smile.

“Tell her I’ll mourn her passing.”

The other men smiled when the majordomo left the room. Prince Rudolf and Robert Campbell, the only married men there, nodded their approval for the earl’s response.

“Victoria wanting to apologize means you have won,” Prince Stepan said. “Why didn’t you go upstairs to accept her apology?”

“If I did that, I would be doing her bidding,” Alexander explained, slanting an amused glance at the youngest prince. “Winning means making her wait until I’m ready to listen. Then she is doing my bidding.”

Prince Rudolf and Robert raised their glasses in a salute to the earl. Alexander inclined his head, accepting their praise.

Five minutes passed without the majordomo’s return. The minutes stretched to ten, twenty, thirty. And then almost an hour.

Everyone smiled when Tinker walked into the game room and headed straight for the earl. “When you have a free moment and if it isn’t too much trouble, would you please speak with Lady Victoria?” Tinker asked. “She is beside herself with remorse, desperate to apologize, and anxious to share the lessons she has learned from this experience.”

“Lady Victoria is a pain in the arse.”

“Shall I relay that message?”

Alexander’s lips twitched. “Please do.”

Miss Victoria Douglas had to realize who was the master in their family. She was a fiery creature of passion, her response to his caresses the previous evening had told him that. A frightened virgin, she had placed herself in his hands, trusted him to keep her safe and pleasure her. Though she hadn’t known they were to be married, some part of her had known she belonged to him. He had seen that in her eyes before he had kissed her into a daze at the stream.

“You delayed too long,” Prince Rudolf told him.

Alexander looked at the prince, who stood near the window. “What do you mean?”

“Take a look.” Prince Rudolf grinned and gestured toward the window.

Alexander crossed the room. With flute in hand, Victoria walked in the direction of the gazebo. A smile flirted with his lips when she skipped a few steps as if unable to contain her joy at being free of her prison.

Taking the glass of vodka the prince offered, Alexander gulped it down and grimaced at its strength. In an irritated voice, he said, “I instructed the maid to let me know if Tory left her chamber.”

Alexander marched across the room and yanked the door open to reveal Tinker who was just about to enter. “Damn it, Tinker, where’s that maid I set to watch Lady Victoria?”

“Lady Victoria went out the window and climbed down the tree,” Tinker answered.

“Does this mean Tory has won?” Prince Stepan asked, smiling.

Alexander turned to the youngest prince. There was no mistaking the murderous gleam in his gaze.

“I have a fondness for my brother,” Prince Rudolf said. Then, “Stepan, you are making it more difficult for Tory to extricate herself.”

Without a word to anyone, Alexander turned away. He was going to drag her inside and—he didn’t know what he was going to do once he had dragged her inside.

Lady Roxanne appeared in the doorway and slipped her arm through his. “Do you want to sprain your hand with wife-spanking?” she asked in a low voice. “Or would you prefer to catch a countess for yourself?”

Alexander cocked a brow at her. “I’m listening.”

“Escort Victoria to her chamber, and then go to your own chamber to start packing your bag,” the duchess said, her smile feline. “I will tell Tory that you are releasing her from the betrothal. I guarantee she will go to your chamber to persuade you to stay.”

“What if she doesn’t?”

“I know Tory better than she knows herself,” the duchess told him. “Her pride is hurt because you never courted her, and we kept silent for a year. A young naive girl like my niece yearns for a gallant knight to woo her into marriage. Victoria got a business deal.”

“Does this mean I’ll need to polish my armor until it shines?” Alexander asked with a wry smile.

“It would certainly help.”

“I’ll see what I can do.”

Alexander left the house and sauntered across the grounds toward the gazebo. He could almost feel the watching gazes from the window of the game room.

Victoria spied the earl crossing the lawn toward her and returned the flute to its case. Alexander Emerson was handsome and well-built, especially in those tight breeches he was wearing. She could hardly believe that he was the man who would be her husband, who would sleep beside her at night, who would father her children.

Victoria tried to gauge his mood. He didn’t look especially angry, not as he had earlier.

“Are you going to lecture me now or wait until you return me to my chamber?”

Alexander stared at her a moment, giving her a look she couldn’t read, and then sat beside her. Putting his arm around her shoulders, he drew her against the side of his body. “I want to hear about these lessons you’ve learned.”

Victoria felt confused. She had expected him to give her a dressing-down. “I apologize for escaping.”

“Your apology does not absolve you,” he told her.

“I understand.”

“About those lessons?”

“I need to control my temper,” Victoria told him. “I also need to please you because, short of murder, my family will not interfere.”

“You need to learn patience, my lady.” Alexander stood and held his hand out to her as if asking her to dance.

Victoria looked from his hazel eyes to his offered hand. She sighed and lifted her flute from the bench of the gazebo. “Since we are betrothed, will you kiss me again like you did in the game room?”

“We will kiss when I am ready, not when you are.”

Hand in hand, Alexander and Victoria walked across the wide expanse of lawn. Victoria stopped suddenly as they neared the house. “I want to ask you a question.”

Alexander inclined his head and waited.

“Why do men give the orders and require women to obey?”

“Men are stronger and smarter.”

That answer didn’t sit well with Victoria. “Are you telling me that the weakest, stupidest man in the world is stronger and smarter than the strongest, smartest woman?”

Alexander grinned at her logic. “Men rule the world because we think instead of feel as women do,” he answered. “We have all the money and enough wisdom to keep women pregnant, so they can’t compete against us.”

“I wish I could live for one day in a world where women were the bosses,” Victoria said.

“What would you do for that day?” Alexander asked, amusement lighting his eyes.

Victoria crooked her finger for him to lean close. “First, I would scold His Grace for his bad behavior,” she whispered against his ear. “Then I would send you to your chamber without supper.”