Pascale Duguay (6 page)

He must have finally fallen asleep after all, because he was dreaming that his nose was buried in Belinda’s lush, flower-scented hair, one arm wrapped around her slender waist. His hand moved to stroke her smooth belly, then continued upward to caress the beautiful, lush breasts through the thin fabric of her nightshirt. Eager to feel her bare skin, he undid the top buttons and exposed the fleshy mounds. He wrapped his hand around one breast. It was so warm and soft that his loins immediately hardened in response. Without stopping his caress, his mouth moved to her neck and nibbled at the tender skin. Agitated voices suddenly entered his consciousness, but he forced them out, unwilling to relinquish the best dream he had had in a long time.

Patience did not want to open her eyes. She was dreaming that Edward was making love to her, and it felt so wonderful. Unfortunately, the sound of loud voices was intruding in her dream, forcing her back to reality. Reluctantly she opened her eyes and found her aunt and Lady Rutherford staring at her, their mouths wide open. She felt a hand stiffen on her breast and looked down to find that her bare chest was covered only by Edward’s hand.

Lady Westbury was the first to recover. “The carriage is waiting outside. We expect you to join us as soon as you may.” She gently pushed a stunned Lady Rutherford out of the room before closing the door on the equally dumbfounded couple.

They were riding in Lady Westbury’s carriage back to Hawkridge Manor. Patience had taken in that much at least. Things had happened so swiftly after their discovery that she had had trouble assimilating all of it. Edward — or she should say Julius — had not spoken a word to her since their discovery. He had been dressed before she had even gotten out of bed. She had not been able to move as she stared at him with a mixture of revulsion and awe. How could this grown man, whom she had been fantasizing about only moments before, be the same unsightly and unbearable youth of her childhood? Only once he had left the room, his packed travelling bag in one hand, could she shake herself into action.

Not a word was spoken inside the carriage as they made their way in the darkness. Lady Rutherford kept her eyes on the hands tightly clasped in her lap. Lady Westbury, who was sitting next to her friend and directly across from Patience, was peering out into the darkness. Patience could have sworn she was smiling to herself. As for the Earl, he kept throwing angry looks in her direction as if this was all her doing.

Just like the old days,
she thought. She had never been able to please the man as a child. She did not see why things should be any different now. Had she known that the man she had been looking after for the last few days was the pimply, arrogant, pompous ass of her youth, she would never have accepted a ride in his phaeton in the first place. She would rather have walked barefoot all the way to Lady Rutherford’s home — or his home, to be more precise.

Patience had no idea what would happen next. She could not wait to meet with her aunt in private in the hope that Lady Westbury would believe that nothing had happened between Julius and herself, no matter that all the evidence was pointing to the contrary. But that hope was squished as soon as they set foot in the huge mansion. Lady Westbury, ignoring her niece’s pleading looks, clasped her hand and forced her to join the others in a nearby salon, Simmons hard on their heels.

“Of course you both know what this means,” started Lady Westbury, jumping right into the heart of the matter as she slammed the door on the butler. Patience winced when he nearly got his long nose trapped in the doorway. “I hope you are ready to do the honourable thing, Julius?”

Patience transferred her attention to the Earl. She found herself holding her breath as she stared at his clenched jaw. There could only be two possible answers to this question. Realizing that she really did not care to know what he wanted at the moment, she blurted, “Aunt Louisa, Lady Rutherford, I know what you must be imagining, but it was not like that at all! The Earl and I did not…I mean we never…well, nothing happened between us!”

“My dear Patience,” said her aunt, “it does not matter what we think. The whole countryside is already aware that the Earl and a gentlewoman shared a bedroom in that cottage for almost a week. The news will soon be all about London. You will be socially ruined if you do not marry Julius.”

The Earl came to stand next to Patience. He took her cold hand in his even colder one, and for a moment she was certain he would join her in dispelling this ridiculous notion that they must absolutely be married. Without looking at her, he said in a voice devoid of all emotion, “Do not worry. I will do my duty.”

He immediately dropped her hand, made a stiff bow, turned and walked out of the room, leaving a stunned audience staring after him.

Julius strode to his study at the end of the hall and slammed the door shut behind him. With shaking fingers, he lit the branch of candles sitting on the mantelpiece. It had taken all of his self-control not to strangle Patience when he had made his declaration. How could she have gotten him stuck in such a coil? If only she had given him her real name at the outset, he would not now be forced to marry her. He should have realized who she was earlier. What a fool he had been not to recognize that hair. True, Patience may have changed from a skinny little girl to a desirable woman, but that hair should have told him right away who she was. He had never met anyone else sporting that particular shade of red.

Julius could not deny that Patience made his blood boil with desire. But as desirable as she may be, she had none of the qualities he had been looking for in a wife. The image of Miss Cecilia Arlington came to mind. The two women were as different as night and day. He could not imagine Miss Arlington setting off all by herself, travelling on foot under an assumed name, hopping into the first vehicle that chanced by, making up the most outrageous stories, breaking an innkeeper’s nose, and sharing a bed with an unknown man in a farmer’s cottage for days on end under false pretences. However, he could certainly imagine Patience doing so!

He well remembered all the scrapes she had gotten into while on a visit with her aunt all those years ago. He had not had one moment’s peace during her entire stay. When he was not busy rescuing her after she got stuck climbing the highest trees on the estate, he was fishing her out of the pond, half-drowned, because the chit had decided she wanted to learn how to swim. She had littered the house with any ailing creature that crossed her path, going so far as to sneak a garden snake into her room on the pretence that it was feeling poorly. How anyone could tell how a snake was feeling was beyond his imagination. Of course the animal had escaped and scared all the maids into hysterics when it had been discovered below stairs. When Patience had finally left, it had taken a week to air out her room from all the smelly plants and weeds she had gathered there to experiment on — nearly setting the house on fire in the process.

He could not conceive what her parents had been thinking when they had named her. Never had he met someone so inappropriately named. The thought of her parents brought on another worry. It was common knowledge that Lord Bingham was addicted to gambling, and more often than not, under the hatches. Julius would not be surprised to find that the whole thing had been orchestrated by her father. Suddenly feeling the need for a drink, he reached for the decanter of brandy and topped his glass. Emptying its contents in one shot, he refilled it before walking slowly to stand in front of the empty fireplace.

No, Patience would definitely not be anything like the ideal wife he had drawn on paper. Reaching for the list he always kept in his breast pocket, he took it out and briefly glanced at it. Lifting it to the nearest candle, he set it on fire and thrust it into the empty grate watching as the flames consumed his dreams until nothing but ashes remained.

Patience spent a restless night punctuated by dreams that were filled with a wrathful Julius berating her for her duplicity and promising all sorts of dire retributions. Waking up after a particularly horrid nightmare, she was glad to find that it was finally morning. Just as she was about to get out of bed, a gentle knock sounded, followed by a maid bringing in a jug of hot water and her dress, which from the looks of it had been cleaned and pressed overnight.

“Morning, miss,” the maid said, scurrying to place the jug down next to the washbasin while nervously glancing about her.

“My name’s Trudy, Miss. I was assigned to be your personal maid,” continued the woman, her eyes still darting around the room while she placed the dress neatly over the back of a chair.

“Is anything amiss, Trudy?” Patience could not help herself from asking. “You seem a bit anxious.”

“Oh! Beg your pardon, miss! But I’m mortally afraid of snakes!” she blurted blushing at the revelation.

“Snakes?” Patience asked puzzled.

“Well, seeing as you kept a snake in your room last time you visited, I was wondering, well, more like hoping…” trailed off the visibly shaken Trudy edging closer toward the door.

Patience burst out with laughter before setting to reassure the maid. “You may rest easy. I did not bring a snake with me this time nor do I mean to do so ever again! If I remember correctly, the ungrateful animal escaped out of the nice, comfortable home I had made for it. Were you the pour soul who discovered it in the kitchens?”

“Aye, miss, and what’s more, I was the one who had to help my lord chase it back into the garden seeing as Simmons refused to go near the thing, and all the other maids were busy screeching loud enough to lift the roof! And not a footman in sight of course. They’re never around when needed.”

This reminiscence did much to restore Patience to her customary good humour. After dismissing the maid, she got out of bed and walked to the washstand. The first thing she saw when she looked in the mirror was the red marks that the Earl’s kisses had left on her neck. She pressed a wet cloth onto the telltale signs of last night’s events, but to no avail. Sighing, she put on her grey dress. At least, its high neckline would cover most of the marks. She brushed her hair and twirled the mass into a bun at the nape of her head.

For a moment, as she contemplated going downstairs, she was tempted to hide away in the bedchamber. But not facing facts had never been in her nature. Unlike her father, who tried to forget his losses in drink, she never shied away from the truth. But just this once, it would have been nice to escape what lay ahead.

Reaching into her valise, she took out a small vial filled with an amber liquid. Then, squaring her shoulders, she marched down the steps and made her way to the breakfast parlour.

She found Simmons standing outside the closed doors of the breakfast parlour. When she reached his side, he made to open the door for her, but laying a hand on his liveried arm, she stopped him.

“Yes, miss?” he inquired with his nasal voice and a slightly apprehensive expression on his features.

“Here, Simmons.” Patience placed the small vial in his hand. “I brought this especially for you. I thought it might help you breathe easier as it worked quite well on one of the tenants back home who suffered from much the same affliction as you do. Just swallow a teaspoon once a day and you should be seeing improvements fairly soon.”

The butler, recovering from his initial surprise, answered, “Why, thank you, miss. I am much touched to think you should have gone to such trouble on my account.”

Patience laughed at this. “I rather think it is the least I could do after turning your life upside down the last time I came for a visit.”

Simmons forgot himself so far as to bestow a fatherly smile on her, before opening the door of the breakfast room and shutting it again behind her.

The Earl sat at the table alone. Patience had hoped for such an event. Her aunt was rarely out of bed before ten, even in the country. As for Lady Rutherford, she assumed her future mother-in-law would not be too keen for her company this morning. That lady’s pale ashen face last night could not have told her in clearer terms that this was the last thing she wanted for her highborn son. Julius could have done much better than the penniless baronet’s daughter that she was.

Patience ignored the covered dishes on the sideboard and sat across the Earl who was reading the paper. He gave her a curt nod before returning to his paper and cup of coffee. Patience poured herself a cup and took a few fortifying sips. As Julius showed no sign of wishing to make conversion, she took matters into her own hands.

“Did you sleep well, my lord? I hope your headaches have disappeared and did not disturb your rest last night.”

“If anything disturbed my sleep, I would not say that headaches were to blame,” responded Julius in chilling accents.

Patience tried again. “Even so, you should still be careful. Head injuries are not to be dismissed so easily.”

“Still playing doctor, Patience? I find it amazing that you did not manage to poison yourself with all the smelly concoctions you used to brew.”

Patience had not expected this interview to be easy, but she had hoped for a modicum of restraint from such a high stickler of propriety.

“I now see that my efforts would have been better spent finding a cure for your moodiness instead of your severe case of skin blemishes. By the way, your ailment seems to have cleared up quite nicely. I wonder, did you follow my advice after all?”

Julius did not respond as he deposited his newspaper on the table and cut through his beef tenderloin with more force than was necessary. He would gladly suffer torture rather than admit to having used the ointment she had left behind for him. At the time, he had been torn between the fear that his appearance would never improve and that of doing irreparable damage to his face by using a gooey mess made by an eleven-year-old girl. In the end, he had decided that his appearance could not get much worse and found that the ointment worked surprisingly well, not even leaving a single scar to remind him of his former state. Until now, that was.

Patience broke into his reminiscences. “You know that I dislike this situation as much as you do.”

Julius put down his fork and knife to glare at her. “Do you really?”

“I beg your pardon?”

“It seems to me that you did a splendid job of ensnaring the catch of the Season. This whole escapade must have taken much planning. You are to be congratulated,
Belinda.”

“Do you seriously think I would wish to be married to such a man as you?”

“And what kind of man is that?” Julius could not resist asking. “One with a number of estates and worth so much that a gambler would go to any means to get his hands on his fortune?”

“No! All I see is a self-important, arrogant, obnoxious beast who cares only about himself! I truly pity the woman who will succeed in marrying you, my lord.”

“It would seem that has already been taken care of,” he nearly shouted back.

“If you think that I consider this ridiculous situation as final, then you will be happy to know that it is far from being so.” Patience flung her chair back and flew out of the room.

Julius sighed and pushed away his barely eaten breakfast. He felt as grumpy as a surly bear this morning. He had barely slept a wink last night, his mind returning to the inevitable fact that he was to marry Patience. She was right on one count at least; the whole situation was ridiculous. This hoyden was so far from what he had imagined as a bride that he would have laughed out loud had he been able to do so. As it was, he could only stare murderously at his mostly untouched breakfast. What did she think she was about anyway? Did her father truly believe he would pay all his gambling debts without a word? His own gambling father had almost ruined them once. He had not gotten them out from under the hatches so that another leech could take his father’s place. The whole Bingham family be damned! He threw down his napkin and stood abruptly. Maybe a hard gallop on his favourite stallion might help him dispel the dark cloud hanging over his head.

Patience took refuge in the rose garden. Hidden from view by a curtain of tall, climbing vines, she sank onto a bench and tried to get a hold on her temper by taking deep, slow breaths. She was dying to run to her aunt’s room but knew that she needed to calm herself first. If she wanted to convince her aunt to help her out of this mess, she needed to have a clear head.

Her aunt’s behaviour had been extremely odd last night. She was certain she had seen the older lady smile in the carriage. Could she actually be pleased at having caught her niece in that embarrassing way? Why else was she so set on seeing her married to Julius? It was not as if she was known in these parts. No one had heard her real name. So why could they not have hushed up her part in this escapade? Was there something going on that she was not aware of?

Feeling slightly calmer, she got up and made her way to her aunt’s chamber meaning to get some answers. She had not gotten very far last night. Lady Rutherford had pleaded a headache and Lady Westbury had thought it best to see her to her room, saying they would speak in the morning. Patience did not care that it was still very early according to her aunt. Awake or not, she meant to find out what was happening.

As it turned out, Patience found that lady sitting up in bed, sipping from a cup of hot chocolate. She looked up, startled, as Patience flounced into the room.

“Dear child, what is the matter now?”

“There is quite plenty that is the matter now, starting with this marriage which I have no intention of taking part in!”

“It seems to me as if it is a little late to back out now. One does not share a bed with a man for nearly a week and then come crying at the injustice of it all.”

Patience felt her cheeks burn. But before she could come up with an appropriate answer, her aunt’s eyes softened as if taking pity on her.

“Why don’t you tell me how this came about in the first place? Your butler, Peters, told me as much as he could, but I would rather hear it from you.”

“Oh, Aunt, Papa was at his most outrageous! The day your letter arrived, he announced that I was to be married to one of his cronies. You remember Sir Rupert Carlton, don’t you?”

“Perfectly thank you, and the less I think of him the better! But why fly off by yourself? Why did you not wait for my arrival?”

“Because Papa was set on seeing me married before you came to get me. He had no intention of seeing you whisk me away!”

“It seems to me to be very odd behaviour even for my brother. I knew he cared more for his well-being than yours, but to go to this length to avoid paying for a few dresses for your come out when he knows perfectly well that he stands to make much more in the long run…”

“What do you mean, Aunt? Surely you are not talking of me securing a rich husband? I have neither fortune nor beauty.”

“Obviously, you have no idea what you are talking about, child. Don’t you know you have just caught the biggest prize on the marriage mart?”

“But I did no such thing! Julius got stuck with me not because of my charm or my beauty but through my own fault. In fact, he thinks Papa and I set a trap for him and blames me for the whole! He has no wish to marry me in the least!”

“Tell me your adventures from the beginning, and I will be the judge of that.”

Patience told her aunt the whole while this lady in turn frowned, smiled and laughed out loud, especially at the part where Patience broke the innkeeper’s nose.

“Dear child, can you not see that Julius is utterly smitten with you? Why else did he not dump you at that village and wash his hands of you? I have never known him to do anything out of his way for anyone, except for his mother, of course. He positively dotes on her. Take it from me, Julius may not wish to acknowledge it yet, but he is very much taken with you. A man’s pride often makes him blind to what is right under his nose. My advice to you is do not take heed of anything mean he might say to you at the moment. His mind simply needs time to adjust to what his heart has decided for him.”