Wicked Angel (Blackthorne Trilogy) (26 page)

      
"She won't like me, will she?" Joss asked, clutching her napkin tightly in her lap.

      
"Of course she'll like you. You're bright and witty and charming," he soothed.

      
"But not at all what she'll expect your wife to be."

      
Alex swore and shoved back his chair, started to get up, then leaned forward and met her gaze. "Not exactly," he equivocated, then rushed on, "but we can convince her we're suited."

      
"Frankly, since none of your friends or mine believe it, I fail to understand how we shall pull it off."

      
"She's already indicated that she'll be staying with Monty and Octavia, so that should make matters less complicated. We won't be forced to share a bed." As he blurted out the bald facts, his face heated almost as much as Joss's did.

      
"We shall be much in her company, Alex, in spite of that," she reminded him.

      
He reached up and rubbed his eyes, searching for a way to say what he meant to say.
Bloody hell, when had it become so difficult to talk with Joss?
"While we're in her company, we shall have to...that is. . .well, act as if we were...friends," he finished weakly.

      
"As we did before we were married?" she asked quietly.

      
He cleared his throat nervously. "Er...perhaps friends isn't quite right either." He wondered if he looked as utterly wretched as he felt. Finally managing a crooked grin, he said, "There is no way to ice this smoothly, Joss. We shall have to pretend to be lovers—only pretend," he hastened to add when she emitted a small gasp.

      
The pain startled her, squeezing her throat dry for a moment so that she could not speak.
Pretend to be lovers
. As if the idea were so utterly ludicrous as to be unimaginable! But they had been lovers, at least for one night. One glorious blissful night when she had slept in his arms. Joss blinked back the burn of tears and nodded. "I understand, Alex, but I've no practice at such arts. I shall follow your lead."
And pray Barbara Blackthorne's visit is a brief one.

Chapter Thirteen

      
Barbara stood on the deck of
The Savannah Star
, flagship of her husband's mercantile fleet, as it glided along the London quay. Her heart thrummed with excitement as she scanned the crowded pier, hoping to catch sight of Alex's golden head. She missed her only son quite desperately and had already decided to pay him a visit when the letter announcing his marriage reached them.

      
She chewed her lip in vexation, praying she and her new daughter-in-law would like each other. The marriage had been sudden and unexpected.
Perhaps she's already rounding out with my next grandchild,
she thought with an arch grin. Impending fatherhood and family responsibility would serve to tame the young hellion ... as much as any Blackthorne male could be tamed.

      
On the dock, Joss stood beside her husband, myopically scanning the large ship's deck for her mother-in-law. Alex had never described Barbara Blackthorne except to say she was considered a beauty. What would she think of her handsome son's unlikely choice of a bride? Alex's gloved hand pressed against her own, which rested possessively in the crook of his arm. She could feel his steely biceps flex as he moved, and her mouth went dry.

      
Joss had donned her best gown, a light gray poplin with lace collar and cuffs. Her hair was smoothed back into a neat coil, for once centered on her head, but the weight of it pulled miserably at her scalp. She felt a headache coming on, but knew it was as much from nervousness as from her braids.
I look as good as I can,
she repeated silently to reassure herself. It did not work.

      
Then Alex began waving and Joss saw Barbara Blackthorne. Observing the statuesque woman with pale gold hair and exquisitely chiseled features gliding down the gangplank, Joss would have sworn she was Alex's sister, not his mother. Her son's offhand comment that she was considered a beauty was a gross understatement. She was a vision in soft pink muslin.

      
Only as the woman drew closer could Joss see the glint of silver at her temples, blending in with curling masses of hair several shades paler than her son's. Her whole face beamed when she smiled, revealing straight white teeth and a few tiny wrinkles at the corners of her eyes.

      
"Alex, my darling, it's been so long!" she cried as he swept her up into his arms and swung her around like a child. When he set her back on the ground, Joss stared at mother and son. She was tall for a female, almost as tall as Joss, although Alex's massive body dwarfed hers. His bronze skin and chocolate eyes were obviously inherited from his mixed-blood father, but there was a bit of something about the mouth and the jaunty tilt of his head that spoke of Barbara.

      
They turned from each other and Alex performed the introductions, carefully taking Joss's hand like an attentive bridegroom as she made her curtsy to her new mother-in- law.

      
"Welcome to London. I am very pleased to make your acquaintance," Joss said, trying to be natural, yet knowing how stilted the words sounded. She could sense Barbara's bright turquoise blue eyes sweeping over her, but there was nothing scornful or hostile in the gaze.

      
Barbara moved forward and embraced Joss warmly, saying, "It is long past time this wild rogue was brought to heel. I am delighted to meet the woman formidable enough to accomplish the trick! Welcome, Jocelyn, to the Blackthorne family."

      
She smelled faintly of violets and her embrace felt so sincere that a bit of the stiffness left Joss's body. "Thank you, milady. You are most kind."

      
"Stuff, I haven't considered myself a lady since I left England thirty-two years ago. You must call me Barbara. I fear I'm a thoroughly reconstituted American, Jocelyn."

      
"More so than my father, who was born in Georgia," Alex said with a grin, delighted that his mother accepted Joss.

      
"Speaking of that rascal, he sends greetings to you both and welcomes you, Jocelyn, as the newest Blackthorne. So do Mellie, Charity, Susan and Polyanne and all their husbands."

      
"All?" Alex asked. "I take that to mean Mellie has gone and married her farmer."

      
"His name is Aaron and he dotes on her."

      
"It must be wonderful to have such a large, happy family," Joss said wistfully. "Alex has spoken often about his sisters."

      
"No doubt to tell you how they tormented him," Barbara replied with a chuckle, then took Joss's hand and squeezed it. "Now you, too, are a part of our large, happy family."

      
"Tell me about Alex as a little boy," some imp made Joss ask as they traversed the busy wharf to where Alex's coach awaited them.

      
While the coachman loaded up Barbara's trunks, Alex protested as his mother related anecdotes of a lone boy growing up surrounded by sisters.

      
As they prepared to climb into the carriage, Alex felt constrained to ask, "Are you certain you don't wish to stay with us, Mama? We have enough room."

      
"Nonsense, you are still newly weds, who deserve privacy in your quarters. Monty and Octavia are rattling about in that huge city house with several wings to spare—and a good thing, too, for I shall keep at least one between my sister-in-law and myself at all times," she added with a merry peal of laughter.

      
"Uncle Monty wanted to be here to meet you, but his manager arrived this morning from the estate with some sort of difficulty the baron must deal with immediately," Alex explained, greatly relieved his mother would not be observing their sleeping accommodations firsthand. He gave the coachman the Caruthers's city house address and they were off.

* * * *

      
"What do you think of your son's bluestocking bride, Babs?" Monty Caruthers asked his sister as he handed her a late-night libation.

      
Barbara accepted the brandy, then sat down in an oversize leather easy chair in his book-lined study. "Do I detect a hint of mockery in your voice?" she asked sharply.

      
The baron shrugged. "You must confess she's hardly the sort of female one would expect Alex to marry," he replied dryly. They, along with his now retired wife, had just spent the evening entertaining the newlyweds at dinner and the theater.

      
"She's in love with him," Barbara announced. "Quite desperately so and he has not the faintest notion of it."

      
Monty studied her over the rim of the crystal. "I wonder if he does...oh, not consciously, no," he hastily amended when she raised one eyebrow quizzically. "But you should have been here the evening he came barging in to ask my help in securing the special license. A man don't leg-shackle himself without a demn strong reason. Mine was money. Alex has plenty of the blunt and the gel's penniless. I concluded his reason must be something not at all apparent, even to him. Always was curious about why he kept sniffing about that one. Met her the day he arrived in London. I tried to talk him out of it, you know."

      
"Whatever for? She's quite perfect for him," Barbara said heatedly.

      
He threw back his head and laughed. "Is it to be matchmaking then, puss? You ever were the romantic."

      
"Well, something must be done to wake him up. Men are such fools. His father was quite determined that we should not suit until I took matters into my own hands."

      
A brief hint of pain flickered in his eyes, then was gone as the cynical mask of bored peer slipped back into place. "And so you drove me away at gunpoint and remained behind in that barbaric colonial wilderness. Tell me, Babs, is that how you convinced Devon to wed you—at gunpoint? I don't believe that will work with Joss and Alex's marital arrangement."

      
Although they had parted bitterly on that fateful day in Savannah, Barbara had long since forgiven her beloved elder brother for his attempt to force her to return to England. Smiling, she said, "I was able to convince my red Indian by somewhat more subtle means, although if all else had failed, I would have had no qualms about dragging him before the priest at gunpoint. As to making Alex see that he desires Jocelyn, I have an ace or two to play before I resort to firearms."

* * * *

      
Early the next morning Barbara arrived at the newlyweds' home on Chapel Street just as they'd agreed upon the preceding evening. Alex had escaped to an unusually early business meeting, leaving Joss to await his mother's arrival. The bride was nervously pacing in their sitting room as Archie opened the front door to usher the elder Mrs. Blackthorne inside. Dinner and the play had been pleasant enough, considering that they were forced to endure Octavia's hateful company. But now Joss and her mother-in- law would be alone together. Much as she liked the beautiful Barbara, Joss was terrified of her.

      
How can I continue this charade for a whole month?
She asked herself as her mother-in-law whisked into the room and gave her a cheery buss on the cheek.

      
"Alex tells me you are an early riser. I confess that I never was until the children came. There is no way to remain dozing away the morning with two little girls shrieking and giggling and a small boy yelling at the top of his lungs that they've stolen his rock collection."

      
"You explained how he avenged himself on them," Joss replied with a chuckle. "How horrid it must have been for Mellie and Charity to find that garter snake in their jewelry box."

      
They chatted of inconsequential things as Joss showed Barbara around their home, deliberately leaving Alex's bedroom off the tour. All the personal items in her own quarters upstairs had been carefully concealed so the room would look unoccupied. Poc, however, refused to budge from the foot of her bed where he was taking a nap. She hoped Barbara did not attach any significance to that.

      
They entered the sitting room, where Bonnie had placed the silver tea service between two shield-back chairs facing the bay window. After the two women were seated, Joss began to pour. She almost scalded herself when Barbara said, "You are in love with Alex, aren't you, Jocelyn." Her gentle tone indicated it was not a question.

      
Joss tried to smile brightly. "Of course I love him. He is my husband." She willed her hand not to tremble as she set the pot aside and inquired, "Lemon or milk?"

      
"We've chatted around the matter since I arrived, my dear. Let the tea cool," she urged, reaching out and placing her hand over Joss's. Her clear aqua eyes were kind yet shrewd as she studied her daughter-in-law. "This is no ordinary marriage, is it?"

      
"I told Alex we wouldn't be able to fool you about our arrangement."

      
"Perhaps you should explain this 'arrangement,' " Barbara prompted.

      
Joss's mind raced. Alex would be terribly upset if she confessed that he had set out to deceive his family ... yet his mother could already see that it was so. Perhaps if she shouldered the blame, it might not be as bad. She moistened her lips and plunged in, starting with their first disastrous meeting on the docks and the ensuing friendship that developed from the encounter. "He really is quite remarkable, this son of yours, rescuing pit dogs and preacher's daughters, supporting charity hospitals and playing with slum children at a mission school."