Dealing With Discipline (3 page)

The conversation between Standish
and Wesley flowed past him as he looked around the room, searching
for the bright red hair of his new bride. Since she was the eldest
and tallest of her sisters, and the only one dressed in shimmering
white and gold, he found her almost immediately. She was facing
Hugh and talking to another man, laughing actually, and Hugh felt a
violent fission of jealousy lance through him. If she was talking
so freely with the man she must know him well enough to feel
comfortable; she was not the type to be so relaxed around a mere
acquaintance. Unfortunately he couldn’t see who it was because the
man’s back was to him, but he looked well dressed and his hair was
a dark auburn, almost brown. Perhaps he was a relation.

Not wanting to look like the jealous
bridegroom that he was, especially if the man turned out to be a
cousin, Hugh turned to his new father-in-law and waited for a break
in the conversation.

As soon as it came, he pounced.
“Excuse me gentlemen, Standish, I was wondering, who is that
talking to Irene over there?” He nodded his head in their
direction. “A cousin? I didn’t recognize him.”

Standish craned his neck, not having the
advantage of height, as Wesley turned to look as well.

“Ah… oh that must be Alex. Lord
Brooke, that is, Warwick’s heir, and our neighbor on the other
side. His mother is quite close with Caroline, so he and Irene
practically grew up together. He’s been like a big brother to her
since she was born, looked out for her while they were growing up
and such; I’m sure she’s quite relieved he managed to come in town
for the wedding, he hasn’t been in London for a while.”

As soon as he heard Brooke’s name,
Hugh relaxed a trifle. They were acquainted. Not well acquainted,
but they’d met and he knew Brooke was a good man despite the… ah…
circumstances with his wife. Well that explained why Eleanor’s
friend Grace wasn’t here at least, he’d been wondering about that
because he knew that she’d been invited. Grace’s mother was here,
being bosom friends with his own mother, but Lady Grace would never
deign to step foot in the same event as her husband if she could
help it.

Brooke was a rake, true, but he never dallied
with other men’s wives. Widows, actresses, a few select members of
the demimonde, but perhaps his own marital circumstances had soured
him on accepting another man’s wife into his bed.

Besides, the way Standish
made it sound, they were like Wesley and Eleanor. Of course, Edwin
and Eleanor had turned out rather differently. Controlling himself,
Hugh turned back to his father-in-law, determined not to become a
jealous bridegroom. It was good that Irene’s
almost brother
could come to their
wedding.

Chapter 2

“You make a beautiful bride,” Alex
said, smiling down at her. Irene loved the way his eyes glowed when
he looked at her, the special smile that he reserved for her. He
didn’t smile nearly enough, but he always smiled at her. So what if
he didn’t look at her hungrily like Hugh did? She wasn’t sure she
liked the way Hugh looked at her anyway. It rather unnerved
her.

“Thank you,” she said earnestly,
truly smiling herself for the first time that day. When Alex looked
at her she could almost forget everything else in the world. Like
the fact that he was married to someone else and now so was
she.

Alex had always been her knight in
shining armor, her hero. She had no doubt that if he’d known of
their family’s financial situation that he would have waited to
marry her. Her whole life Alex had always been everything that was
good and kind, he had not only tolerated her following him around,
he’d included her in whatever he was doing. Tall, handsome with his
dark reddish hair and dancing, warm brown eyes, she’d been in love
with him since she was a little girl. How could she not have
been?

Then he’d gone away to school when
she was sixteen, before she’d really grown into a young woman even
though at the time she’d felt like one, and by the time she’d seen
him again, he’d already married Lady Grace. Look how that turned
out. The smiling young man she’d known had disappeared, replaced by
a cold stranger… except for when he was with her, talking to her.
Then he turned back into Alex. Irene was good for him, she knew she
was. Who else did he always have a smile for? Who else could make
him laugh? Since his marriage she had seen no one else who was able
to do so.

If only he’d waited for her, she would have
made him the perfect wife. After all he was the perfect man and he
deserved nothing less.

But she would try to be a good
wife to Hugh, she truly would… but in her heart she knew that she
would be waiting for the day when she had given Hugh his heir and
his spare and then she could follow her heart’s desire. Although
she’d been wary of her mother’s insistence that this arrangement
would work, now, looking at Alex, she felt in her heart that it
would turn out fine. More than fine. Wonderfully. They could not be
together as man and wife but they would be together in another way
eventually.

“I’m so glad you could come
today,” she said feelingly. “It means so much to me that you’re
here to support me.” What she really meant was that it meant so
much to her to be able to see him at all, to know that he
cared.

“Of course, pet,” he said with a
chuckle, reaching out to take her hand in his. Warmth suffused her,
a burst of love and affection as he touched her. When they were
younger he’d called her ‘pet’ because some of the other boys had
teased her for following him around like a puppy dog. Alex had been
the one to show her how to take the sting out of their taunts by
embracing the idea, making it a special joke between them, turning
it into a good thing. He didn’t call anyone else in the world
‘pet,’ it was her own special nickname - and since coming to London
she knew that it was occasionally used by other men as an
endearment. Actually she hadn’t heard him call anyone else by any
other kind of nickname or endearment either. It thrilled her to
hear Alex call her that now, reassuring her that she hadn’t lost
his affection just because she was now married. Obviously her
mother had been right! “I wouldn’t have missed it for the world.
Although I doubt you need much support, your new husband seems like
a good man.”

“You’ve met him before?”

“On occasion, usually outside of London. He’s
a bruising rider. You two have a lot in common.”

Such an observation surprised Irene, although
most of her conversations with Hugh had included some discussion of
life in the country. Still, she hadn’t realized that Alex would be
considering her compatibility with another man.

“Alex.” The woman’s voice was low,
husky, and seductive, cutting across what would have been Irene’s
reply. The kind of voice that Irene couldn’t imitate even if she
practiced it. “What a surprise.” Alex stiffened immediately, a dark
look crossing his face.

Irene felt herself
withdrawing, sinking into herself, as Alex turned his head to look
down his nose at the elegant woman standing beside them. She was
older than Irene, obviously closer to Alex’s age, and a raving
beauty. Long black hair, creamy skin, and a shocking expanse of
bosom showing for a morning wedding; in fact, she looked quite a
bit like Alex’s wife in a superficial manner. From her time in
Society Irene recognized Lady Winifred March, a widow whom she only
knew of because she was rumored to be Alex’s latest mistress. Here,
at
her
wedding.

For a moment she felt outraged and
hurt, betrayed, but that was nothing compared to the storminess
that had darkened Alex’s face.

“It shouldn’t be, as I told you I
informed you I would be here when I saw you last week,” he said in
a low angry voice, one that Irene had only heard him use rarely. It
made her shiver, but Lady March just stood there provocatively,
leaning forward as if to give him a glimpse further down her ample
bosom. “I believe I recall asking you not to come.”

Lady March pouted at him.
Did the woman not realize how displeased Alex was by her presence?
Did she think he was playing a game? Obviously, no matter
how…
intimate
their relationship, Lady March didn’t know him as well as
Irene did. That thought filled her heart with a small surge of
warmth, bolstering her despite the situation. She watched,
fascinated by this display between the two of them. Never before
had she been so close to a man having any kind of interaction with
his rumored mistress – rumors that were obviously true – much less
between Alex and his paramour.

“I didn’t think you meant it,” the
lady purred, leaning closer to brush her chest against his
arm.

Half disgusted, half fascinated,
Irene couldn’t tear her eyes away from the sight. Was this what men
wanted? Despite Alex’s icy demeanor he was still looking at the
woman’s bosom. By comparison Irene’s own bosom felt very modestly
covered and not nearly ample enough.

“I did. You
received your
conge
, madam, and I have no further need of
you.”

With that he turned his back
deliberately and stalked away. Lady March sniffed in affront before
turning and stalking in the other direction leaving Irene standing
alone. Both of them seemed to have forgotten her presence, which
might have upset Irene more if she hadn’t known how very angry Alex
had been made by his ex-mistress’ presumption.

“What are you
doing?” her mother’s voice hissed into her ear, fingers suddenly
digging into the soft flesh of her upper arm hard enough to make
her squeal. “Why did you stand there like a ninny?! Bad enough that
you were flaunting yourself in front of Lord Brooke, looking at him
like you’re a lost little lamb, but to continue standing
here
that
woman…
with her reputation…” Mother was practically sputtering she was so
upset, but looking around the room no one else seemed to have
noticed they altercation. Only Hugh was looking her way and he gave
her a supportive little smile that made her heart beat a little
faster. The man truly was too good looking for his own good, and
she couldn’t help but feel a little surge of pleasure that he was
looking at her when there were beautiful women like Lady March
about.

If only he could save her from her
mother.

“Do not
embarrass us.” The fingers dug in and Irene bit her lip. There
would be bruises tomorrow. Despite her pale skin she actually
didn’t bruise very easily, but her mother’s digging nails and bony
fingers would surely leave a mark. The fabric of her dress wasn’t
nearly strong enough to guard her skin against the sharp pinch.
“Stay away from Lord Brooke. When you have given Hugh his heir and
spare,
then
you
can act the whore for Brooke, but not before.”

The words stung and Irene gasped
at being called a whore by her own mother, but there was nothing
she could do. She knew from past experience that trying to deny her
mother’s accusations or defend herself would only result in further
unpleasantness. Practically dragging her, her mother sat her down
in a chair next to Eleanor who was looking rather sulky and glaring
across the room at her husband. Unsurprisingly, he was now standing
with Hugh and their friend the Earl of Spencer enjoying their
conversation, but she could see his eyes continuously roaming over
to land on his wife. Who glared all the harder every time he did
so.

“La, my daughter is feeling a bit
overwhelmed by all the excitement,” her mother trilled with false
cheeriness. “Would you mind if she joined you, Lady Hyde?” Without
waiting for an answer she deposited Irene in the chair beside
Eleanor, turned and floated off to find her friends again. Eleanor
and Irene looked at each other.

“I’m sorry,” said Irene, rubbing
her forehead as she fought down the tears that were burning at the
backs of her eyes. Sometimes she wondered if her mother meant to be
cruel or if she was ignorant of how damaging her words could be.
“If you don’t wish for company I can sit elsewhere.”

“No, join me,” Eleanor said, her
eyes returning to her husband for a moment. They couldn’t keep
their eyes off of each other apparently, although Eleanor didn’t
look entirely pleased at the moment. Actually she looked rather
wary. “Was that Lord Brooke I saw you talking to?”

“Yes,” said Irene absently,
rubbing her arm where her mother had pinched the skin. “We grew up
together.” She found her gaze following Eleanor’s to the three men
across the room. They really were quite breathtaking as a group.
Hugh looked up and their eyes met, a tingle went down her skin and
she shivered and looked away.

He was looking at her
that way
again. That way
that made her feel hot and strange, that way that made it hard for
her to breathe. She much preferred the way Alex looked at her, warm
and comforting. Never setting her nerves on edge or disorienting
her. Alex made her feel safe and secure. Hugh, for all his
gentleness with her, always scared her a little even though he
wasn’t very scary in and of himself; but sometimes the way he
looked at her made her feel almost itchy inside of her own skin. Of
course she hadn’t known him as long as she’d known Alex. She’d also
known almost from the moment she’d met Hugh that he was going to be
her husband and she’d unfairly resented him a bit for that, so it
wasn’t truly his fault, but she couldn’t help it if she preferred
Alex’s settled company to Hugh’s unnerving
presence.