A Woman Made for Pleasure (31 page)
Whirling around to confront his attacker, Millie was shocked to see Chase bellowing at her new friend in full fury. “Unless you want to find yourself on the fields at dawn, Mr. Eddington, I suggest you stay away from my future wife.” Chase then turned to Millie, grabbed her hand, and started toward the door.
Basil propped himself on his elbows and used one hand to touch the blood at his lip just as Lily returned to his side. “See that, my dear? That is our debt. Repaid in full.”
Millie, unaccustomed to being manhandled, instinctively pivoted, twisting free of Chase’s grasp. Massaging her wrist, she looked up and realized her mistake. All of Chase’s fury, which had moments ago been focused on Basil Eddington, was now staring at her.
Refusing to show any panic, Millie glared back. “How dare you, sir!”
Chase walked up so that only inches separated them. “How dare I? You haven’t seen daring yet, madam. We are leaving.”
Outraged, Millie hissed, “I cannot agree more. It is past time for you to leave, my lord. However, I am not as yet inclined to do so.”
The words were still hanging in the air when Millie felt a solid thump on her derriere before being thrown over Chase’s shoulder.
Acting as if he could not hear or feel any of Millie’s attacks, Chase loudly announced, “Excuse me, ladies and gentlemen. My future wife and I have some unfinished business to discuss.”
His cool tone infuriated Millie, and she began to pummel his back. She couldn’t see where they were going, only the astonished faces of those they passed. “Charlie, put me down!”
“Hush, my dear. I must say good night to Mother before we take our leave.”
Millie felt him lean over and was shocked into stillness when she heard Mother Wentworth encourage Chase’s behavior. “Do not let Aimee and Jennelle concern you, Charles. I will see them safely home. And remember, son, your father and I had a successful marriage, not by taming the other, but by acceptance.”
Millie felt soft hands covering her own as she tried to attain her freedom through poking and pinching. She looked up to see Lady Chaselton lean over and whisper, “You might as well surrender—at least for now. I can tell you with an earnest heart that even shooting him with a pistol would not work. Good night, my dear, and I consider myself extremely fortunate to know that I am soon to have a daughter-in-law like you.”
Before Millie could reply and beg for help, she realized Chase was leaving the room. She knew it was pointless to resist, but everything in her refused to give in. She saw Aimee practically running to keep up with Chase’s long strides. “Aimee! Help me!”
“Millie, I’m not sure I want to. . . .” But that was all Millie heard as Mr. Willis quickly handed her cloak to Chase as they departed to the Castlereagh manor.
Jennelle caught up to Aimee and stared at the doors through which their best friend had just been carried out. “It was a forgone conclusion that tonight’s events were going to be public, but who could have dreamed that Charles would cause the spectacle rather than save Millie from it. Nevertheless, I believe that went well. Not quite as planned, but successful nonetheless.”
Hooking her arm with Jennelle’s, Aimee began to walk back into the main ballroom. “Oh, Jennelle, I do hope so. I don’t think you realize how mad Charles and Millie are at this moment. We may have made things worse between them.”
“Fustian nonsense, Aimee. Charles just declared in front of all of Society that he is going to marry Millie.”
Aimee stopped and looked at Jennelle. “But did Millie agree to marry him?”
Jennelle exuded confidence and composure. “She will. Our Millie is proud, but she is not a noddy. Her intelligence will overrule her pride.” Resuming their walk back to the rear alcove, she added, “And even if I am wrong, I sent Charles some insurance earlier this evening. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if my note was not the true catalyst for his being here.”
Aimee’s eyes grew large at the prospect of Jennelle instigating a plan involving subterfuge. “What did you do?”
Jennelle grimaced. “Nothing evil. I love Millie, and believe it or not, I think Charles is the right man for her and that she is the right woman for him. And in that spirit, I sent your brother a small reminder.”
“Jennelle, I am close to causing another scene that will make my brother’s exit tonight pale in comparison.”
“My goodness, Aimee, you are beginning to sound more and more like Millie. It was just a simple note outlining the details of Millie’s exception to our pact.”
Aimee covered her mouth to hide her pleasure. “Jennelle, you are fiendishly clever. Have I ever told you that?”
“Just wait until I try my charms on you.”
“Hah! Please do! I would give anything to have Reece announce I was his intended and carry me off.
Anything
.”
Anything
.”
Chapter 14
Millie sat across from Chase, seething. Of all the indignities Chase had ever bestowed on her, this was the worst and by far the most humiliating.
“Care to explain your actions, my lord?” Millie asked, wishing her clipped words had even more bite to them.
Chase regarded her through hooded eyes for several seconds before returning his gaze out the carriage window. “Care to explain yours?” His deep voice was smooth and level, but laced with veiled accusations.
Millie’s jaw dropped in outrage. Not wanting to lose the upper hand by exploding, she closed her lips and forced her body to relax. “My actions were above reproach until you started to wallop poor Mr. Eddington and then manhandle me.”
Chase gave her a telling glance. “Above reproach? You call crushing your bosom against another man above reproach?”
Millie did not like the edgy new tone in his voice. It was raw, wounded, and very possessive. “Crushing my . . . my . . . How dare you, Charlie Wentworth! It was nothing more than a light hug of gratitude. We barely touched.”
“Any man ever demonstrates gratitude with you in such a manner again, I will kill him. Mr. Eddington has no idea how very close to death he came tonight, thinking he could treat you thus,” Chase whispered, his voice dark with solemnity.
He again refocused his attentions outward. His driver was making excellent time, but there seemed to be an inordinate number of carriages on the streets with the sole purpose of getting between them and Hembree Grove. The sooner he distanced himself from Mildred Aldon, the better.
Incensed, Millie exploded. “You really are a horse’s arse. Mr. Eddington is
in love with Lily Moreland
. If you took even two seconds to think about what you were seeing, you would have noticed her clutching his arm.” Millie leaned forward and gripped the edges of her seat to keep from toppling over. “Tell me one thing: What was the
real
reason behind your horrific actions? Why did you find it necessary to make me the ridicule of every article, gossip, and whisper that will scuttle around Town for the rest of the Season? Did Mrs. Brinson refuse your proposal? Was that what this display was all about? Was this an attempt at retribution? Are you going to drop me off and go running back to your ladylove and threaten her with me?” Millie finished her stream of seemingly endless questions and then sat back, wishing she had kept her mouth shut. The last thing she wanted was an answer to any of them.
in love with Lily Moreland
. If you took even two seconds to think about what you were seeing, you would have noticed her clutching his arm.” Millie leaned forward and gripped the edges of her seat to keep from toppling over. “Tell me one thing: What was the
real
reason behind your horrific actions? Why did you find it necessary to make me the ridicule of every article, gossip, and whisper that will scuttle around Town for the rest of the Season? Did Mrs. Brinson refuse your proposal? Was that what this display was all about? Was this an attempt at retribution? Are you going to drop me off and go running back to your ladylove and threaten her with me?” Millie finished her stream of seemingly endless questions and then sat back, wishing she had kept her mouth shut. The last thing she wanted was an answer to any of them.
Chase looked at her, dumbfounded. “Mrs. Brinson? As in Mrs. Melinda Brinson?”
Millie could not help it. She lashed back. “Do not play coy with me. I saw you with her. She
was crushing her bosom
against you, and you were a more than willing participant! I also know you had planned to announce your banns this week. What happened? Did she say no? Was this a ruse to use jealousy to win back her hand?”
was crushing her bosom
against you, and you were a more than willing participant! I also know you had planned to announce your banns this week. What happened? Did she say no? Was this a ruse to use jealousy to win back her hand?”
Chase sat still for several minutes, assimilating Millie’s words. “I have not asked my future wife for her hand as of yet. And while I had not realized I needed to win her affections, I do now.”
Though his reply was cool and calm, Millie was not fooled into believing his strong underlying anger had remotely diminished. She folded her arms as she heard him rap the roof and ask the driver to go to a new destination.
“Where are we going? Are you going to introduce me to your intended? We have already met. She is lovely, kind, and everything a man would want in a wife. I wish you well.” Millie knew she was acting somewhat childish, but every insecurity she had ever experienced was bubbling to the surface.
Chase forced himself to unclench his jaw. “Mrs. Brinson is all of which you describe, and I am sure the woman whom I have chosen to marry
will
make an excellent marchioness.”
will
make an excellent marchioness.”
Millie slumped in defeat, taking comfort in the silence that followed. Neither spoke for the rest of the journey.
The carriage stopped and Millie stepped out without waiting for assistance. They were in front of a town house and based on Chase’s key to the door, she assumed it had to be Reece’s—the place Chase had moved to after leaving Hembree Grove. Moments later, they were inside. The uninhabited rooms were dark and cold. Chase walked over to a large hearth and lit the logs within. He stood up and stared into the flames.
“You may want to keep your cloak on until the room warms.”
Millie was startled by the troubled tenor to his voice. It was clear she was going to be staying here for at least a while—wherever
here
was. The tiara headpiece Madame Sasha insisted she wear had gone askew when Chase threw her over his shoulder. It was tearing into her scalp, but pride refused to let her remove it. Millie wrapped her burgundy cape more firmly around her and walked over to the front window to look outside. She refused to stand next to Charles despite the cold.
here
was. The tiara headpiece Madame Sasha insisted she wear had gone askew when Chase threw her over his shoulder. It was tearing into her scalp, but pride refused to let her remove it. Millie wrapped her burgundy cape more firmly around her and walked over to the front window to look outside. She refused to stand next to Charles despite the cold.
Minutes passed. Both declined to speak or look at the other. Chase could hear Millie rub her arms for warmth. Millie listened as Chase crouched to stoke the fire.
“It’s warmer over here, Millie.”
Millie squared her shoulders and jutted her chin. “I am fine right here, thank you.”
“Then I shall trouble you no more.”
Chase’s clipped words reignited Millie’s anger, which had only just begun to simmer down. She turned and confronted him. “Trouble me? When have my thoughts and feelings ever affected anything you do? You kiss me at your whim even though you have every intention on marrying someone else.” Millie was shaking and emotional and tired. Too much had happened and she could not keep her thoughts bottled up any longer. “Never once did you consider how your such a decision would affect me. You continue your advances, playing with my emotions, knowing full well how you disturb me. But the worst of it all, you are making me crazy. Do you know how hard it has been for me knowing that your life is in danger and not being allowed to even
talk
about it? Will you even discuss it with me? Tell me what those men are planning? What you are planning? And how my amulet is involved? Of course not. And now, for inexplicable reasons, I find myself in a dusty room, without servants or warmth, in the company of a man who loathes me, seeks to make me unhappy, and tries to humiliate me whenever possible. So explain to me, Charlie Wentworth, how
exactly
are you going to trouble me no more?”
talk
about it? Will you even discuss it with me? Tell me what those men are planning? What you are planning? And how my amulet is involved? Of course not. And now, for inexplicable reasons, I find myself in a dusty room, without servants or warmth, in the company of a man who loathes me, seeks to make me unhappy, and tries to humiliate me whenever possible. So explain to me, Charlie Wentworth, how
exactly
are you going to trouble me no more?”
For the first time that night, Chase realized Millie’s fury with him was very deep and very genuine. In other circumstances, he might have reacted differently, but the memory of seeing another man dare to place his lips against the softness of her skin was still fresh and very vivid. “Excuse me, madam. If you think so little of me, then why were you trying to make me jealous?”
Millie’s dainty jaw went rigid. “Jealous?
You
, jealous? First of all,
my lord
, I would have had to know you were in attendance tonight if my goal was to make you jealous. The first time I was aware of your presence was when your fist suddenly appeared over my shoulder and right into poor Mr. Eddington’s eye!”
You
, jealous? First of all,
my lord
, I would have had to know you were in attendance tonight if my goal was to make you jealous. The first time I was aware of your presence was when your fist suddenly appeared over my shoulder and right into poor Mr. Eddington’s eye!”
Chase wanted to shake her. “Poor Mr. Eddington! If you say that one more time . . .” He forced himself to take a deep breath. “Poor Mr. Eddington is a very lucky fellow. He should be praising God I did not call him out this evening.” Never would she understand the extraordinary act of will it took for him to walk away and not pull the man up by his cravat and hit him again.
Millie tried to adjust the excruciating headdress. The attempt just made the pain worse. “You insufferable . . . egotistical . . . maniacal . . .” she stammered, half in pain, half in anger.
“Would you just get to the insult, Millie? I am getting old waiting to hear it.”
“Typical Charlie Wentworth,” Millie responded, her voice trembling. “Whenever he is in error, he switches the focus of the argument.”
“Unlike you and your childish name-calling.” Chase’s fingers were clamped so fiercely on the mantel it was a miracle he had not cracked the marble. “Besides, I am not ready to admit I was even slightly in the wrong this evening. Do not try to spin some cork-brained story. Mr. Eddington’s eyes never left you. Never has a man made it more obvious that he wanted a woman.”
“I guess throwing a lady over your shoulder and marching her out the front door in the middle of a Society ball does not count.”
Chase moved so quickly Millie never even saw it coming. One moment he was at the hearth and the next his hand was clamped around her wrist, dragging her to his chest. His eyes glinted with raw possessiveness. “Understand this, Mildred Aldon. You are mine. And no man touches what is mine. If another man dares to kiss you again, he
will
die.”
will
die.”
Chase let go and Millie took several steps back. Hot, furious tears burned her eyes. “Well, calm yourself. For while you are correct that jealousy was the topic of tonight’s adventure,
you
were not its object. If you could expand your pea-sized view of this evening’s events just slightly, you would have realized the only reason Mr. Eddington was staring at me was because I commanded it. The fool almost ruined everything, and would have if he had not finally managed to control his constant need to search for his
true love
, Lily Moreland. Thank goodness the charade is finally over and he and his intended are together.”
you
were not its object. If you could expand your pea-sized view of this evening’s events just slightly, you would have realized the only reason Mr. Eddington was staring at me was because I commanded it. The fool almost ruined everything, and would have if he had not finally managed to control his constant need to search for his
true love
, Lily Moreland. Thank goodness the charade is finally over and he and his intended are together.”
“You are telling me that everything I saw tonight was to make
Miss Lily Moreland
jealous?”
Miss Lily Moreland
jealous?”
“Partly, but a good deal more was focused on getting her parents to realize that a successful merchant could be welcomed by higher Society.”
Silence filled the room for several seconds before Chase found his voice. “Are you telling me my mother set you up with a
merchant
?”
merchant
?”
Chase’s voice filled the room, causing Millie to take several more steps back until she bumped into a large settee situated in the middle of the room.
Millie was shocked at his outrage. “Do not claim social superiority above working men. I know you think differently, Charlie Wentworth, especially as you are a working man yourself!” Regaining her confidence, Millie came forward several steps. “Indeed I do! I know you and Reece have started your own specialized shipping company. I also know that you are beginning to turn a tidy profit from your endeavors. So do not expect me to believe you are upset that a man of trade
pretended
to be interested in me.”
pretended
to be interested in me.”
Chase’s eyes narrowed. “Who else have you told, Millie?”
Millie sensed his sudden change and realized her instincts to remain silent had been correct. “No one,” she whispered. “I saw the documents one morning when writing regrets to would-be suitors. I moved them to a drawer so as not to disturb them. They were out where anyone could see them, Chase. I did not think them private, but I never spoke of them to Aimee or Jennelle. I thought Aimee might read something into it and get her hopes up regarding Mr. Hamilton.”
Chase’s eyes softened almost imperceptibly before he turned and roughly raked his fingers through his hair, trying to get his scalp to relax. Nothing tonight was going as planned. “Ah, Millie. How is it that, no matter how hard I try to keep you safe, you come within an arm’s length of danger? Please, say nothing of the shipping company. It’s very important, love.”
His whispered plea affected Millie more than anything else could. She walked over and placed a hand on his back. “Aimee will be vexed when she finds out, but she will not learn about your trade endeavors from me.”
Several moments passed, and Millie determined the agony she was enduring mattered more to her than her pride. “Chase, I know you are extremely angry with me, but can you please help me take this blasted headpiece off? I can no longer live with the pain.”
Chase turned and inclined his head to look down at the intricate headdress. “Lord, Millie, whatever inspired you to wear such a thing?”
Millie gave him a scathing look. “I was trying to make someone jealous, if you recall.”
“Bloody hell, how many pins do you women use to keep your hair in these crazy loops all over your head? I could build a bridge with the amount of wire buried in here.”
Minutes later, Millie felt the weight of her mane fall down her back to her waist. “Thank you,” she breathed. “I cannot tell you how much better that feels.”
Chase watched as Millie shook loose her long, dark locks. He felt his abdomen tighten and all his muscles become tense. He wanted her, but even more, he wanted her to want him. Badly.
The heated look in the depths of Chase’s amber eyes rattled Millie’s nerves all the way to her toes. There was something mesmerizing about his gaze. It would continue to break her heart if she let it. She closed her eyes and reminded herself he was going to marry another.
“Millie . . .” Chase took a step forward.
Millie’s eyes popped open. She quickly avoided his embrace and moved to put the settee between them. “M-my lord, I do not know why you and I affect each other so, or why I cannot stop myself... when around you.” Millie knew she was babbling. Nerves prompted her to continue. “Jennelle says it is common for a man to physically desire one woman while interested in marrying another.”
“She says all that, does she?”
Millie unconsciously bobbed her head up and down. “Ah, yes. Men are often attracted to those they cannot have,” she said, frozen and unable to move as she watched Chase go around the velveteen couch.
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