Reckless Rules (Brambridge Novel 4) (37 page)

Bill raised an eyebrow and put an arm along the back seat of the barouche. He took a lock of hair from the nape of her neck and twirled it round a long elegant finger.

“I’m going to amend them,” Victoria said hurriedly. “If you want to marry me, I will be patient. And if you marry me, I won’t let anyone
else
get too close…”

“And number ten?”

“Record and remember.” She hung her head. “I couldn’t think of anything for that one.”

“I’m quite interested in the three that you added yourself,” Bill said quietly.

“Do I have to?”

Bill nodded. “You kept that list from me for two weeks. I felt like a laughing stock. It’s the least that you can do.”

Victoria took a deep breath. “
Never-let-a-man-tell-you-what-to-do-ever-again,”
she said in a rush, shutting her mouth like a trap.

“I can see where you might be coming from on that one,” was all that Bill said. “And the others?”

“Rule twelve,
the more people think they know about you, the more you can hide
.”

“Hmm. An eminently sensible rule. One that I could have employed time and time again. You see, Victoria,
mon petit beignet de crème
, it is about who you want to hide
from.”

Victoria opened her eyes wide. The last time he had called her that had been several years before, when they first met. She shivered as Bill slid his hands into her hair and undid the fastenings that held her elaborate style in place.

“And the last rule,” he whispered. “Before I give you
my
answer?”

Victoria leaned her head back into his caressing hand. “
Beware the lady with the brass hair pin
. I want to change that one,” she added hurriedly. “Beware the lady with the brass hair pin,
who loves you.
” Victoria closed her eyes and waited for the mocking laugh. But it never came.

“I accept,” she heard through the haze of her embarrassment. Bill’s voice ran shivers through her body. She had never heard it tremor, nor sizzle with such emotion. She opened her eyes and looked him fully in the face.

“Victoria Colchester, I believe that you have done for me, what you asked me to do.” He frowned. “You have given me not only all the reasons why you should marry me, but the reasons why I should marry you.”

Victoria made to speak, but Bill put a finger to her lips. “I have one more rule to add to your list.” Victoria blinked. “Victoria Colchester, on her wedding night to Mr. Standish, shall allow him to give her a final course of
treatment
, to love her and if she should so like it, allow him to administer it in perpetuity for the rest of their days.”

“Oh yes,” Victoria breathed, as Bill removed another pin from her hair. “Oh yes,
of course.”

EPILOGUE

Edward Fiske sat bolt upright in the pew and faced forward. His ash blond hair was cut neatly around his ears, and his grey coat sat loosely on his shoulders. He barely looked round as another man slid into the pew.

“The last time I was in a church,” the man slurred, “I thought I was sat next to the second to last sane man in London.”

Edward sniffed as the smell of alcohol assaulted his nostrils. He couldn’t believe that Lady Colchester, Mrs. Standish as she had just become, would invite a drunk to her wedding. Her husband on the other hand just might have done. Amongst the wedding guests there were all sorts of… oddities. Perhaps a homeless man had wandered into the church by accident? He drew his coat around him a little further. But the man wouldn’t stop talking.

“And now that bloody man. That jumped up smith has had the gall to go and marry. I thought bloody wrong, didn’t I?”

Edward shuffled round in the narrow pew with a feeling of horror. He swallowed as he met the still keen-eyed gaze of Lord Lassiter staring at him. He wanted to turn back and face forward. But one didn’t ignore a peer of the realm. Especially if that peer was about to become one of your colleagues working for the Crown.

“Err yes?” he said.

“And now there’s only one sane man left. And that’s me. It’s a crying shame.” Freddie seemed not to have needed Edward’s response.

“I’m not married,” Edward said, keen that the facts should represent themselves.

“But you’re not sane, man,” Freddie said, seeming to acknowledge their conversation for the first time.

Edward frowned and pulled at his grey coat. Freddie can’t have known surely? He kept those types of things well hidden. He had been doing so
well
.

“You’re a bloody accountant, bean counter, adder upper. No sane man would do something like that and like it.”

Edward stopped pulling at his coat and gave a quick sigh of relief. Although it was short-lived.

“So tell me. Why did you give up on Celine?”

This time Edward could not stop himself. His eyes flickered to where the glamorous ex-courtesan sat in the sea of what seemed to be a very female-heavy wedding audience. He turned round to look at Freddie again. Freddie gave him what could only pass for a grin stolen from a shark.

“From what I hear you might need a little help yourself if Miss Fanthorpe has anything to do with it.” Edward licked his lips. Had he gone too far?

“
Touché,
Mr. Fiske.
Touché
. The bean counter has claws. I’m not sure why the devious minx has set her cap on me but she’ll soon give up when she finds out I’m not reliable.”

Edward faced away as Freddie made no effort to disguise the hip flask he took from his pocket.

“You know,” Freddie continued conversationally, “you’ll need that kind of daring as you go after Mr. Khaffar. From what I heard, he doesn’t like you very much. It seems old Granwich has it in for you too. I wonder what you did to get
that
assignment.”

Edward knew what he had done alright. He just wasn’t going to tell an expansive Freddie, or anyone else for that matter. He chewed his bottom lip, a habit he had formed as a boy, hoping that Freddie would stop speaking.

“You are bloody lucky Pablo Moreno survived his brush with death,” Freddie continued. “Although from what I hear he’ll swing at Newgate in a month. You’ll have to see what you can find out from him about Mr. Khaffar, although as his ex-accountant I’m not sure he’s going to be very amenable to you.”

“Yes,” Edward said monosyllabically. It was indeed the only lead he had.

“Well I…” The rest of what Freddie was going to say was lifted away in a cloud of organ music. Edward sagged in relief, even allowing himself a little chuckle as, after the bride and groom passed, Miss Fanthorpe collected the unprotesting Freddie and shuffled him away.

His own way out of the pew, however, was blocked. Angry eyes stared him directly in the face. She had not toned down her dress for the occasion. She did not need to, for she was Celine.

“Going somewhere,
cheri
?” the ex-courtesan asked.

***

“Did you see his face?” Victoria asked as Bill handed her back into the white barouche.

“Which one?” Bill said with a chuckle. “I remember being sat with Freddie last year. He claimed we were the only sane men left. I wonder what he was telling Edward.”

“Oh, definitely Freddie’s. Do you think I was a little mean to suggest to Miss Fanthorpe that she set her cap on Lord Lassiter since Mr. Cryne was no longer… eminently suitable?”

“Not at all. That woman seems to have grit and determination. She’ll keep Freddie on his toes. It might even solve one or two of his problems. Edward on the other hand…”

Victoria nodded. She had had a small
tête-à-tête
with Celine a few days before the wedding. Just to clear the air. And to make sure that Celine never approached Bill again for
treatment
or anything similar. That was her domain now. Victoria swallowed as Bill stroked her spine. She had daringly laid it bare in her wedding dress. She was no longer the confined Victoria. She was a woman of passion, shivering passion.

Victoria turned to Bill as the barouche came to a halt outside Colchester Mansions. “Do you think that I might have my last round of treatment now, Mr. Standish, after all, it is in the
rules
?”

Bill’s eyebrows flickered upwards. Slowly he climbed out of the carriage and, with ease, plucked her from its door. Swinging her round, and into his arms, he held her up as light as a feather. Victoria laughed into the bright sunshine.

Turning as lithe as an athlete, cradling Victoria in his arms, Bill strode across the doorstep of the house, past the new brass name plaque and open-mouthed wedding guests and past the newly painted empty walls of the hall. He took the stairs two at a time. When he reached Victoria’s bedroom, he kicked the door open, and with care laid her on the bed. Pressing a small kiss to her cheek, he was gone.

“Wha…?” Victoria managed from a sea of sensual mist. “Where?”

Bill stood at the door of the bedroom and looked down at the two wet noses that poked curiously round the door. He smiled. “Out Brutus, out Ponzi.” Gently he pressed the inquisitive snouts back into the hall. “No witnesses, or rules are needed now. This is just for Victoria and I.” Gently he drew the door closed and turned back to the bed.

Victoria raised herself to her elbows and pouted. “I believe I won’t need my shoes,” she murmured, pointing her toes and letting her dress slide off her leg.

Bill’s throat contracted as a milky white calf slid into view. His chest constricted tighter than when all the chains had been locked around him. Quickly he made his way to the bed and took hold of an elegantly clad foot. He slid his hand up Victoria’s leg. She arched in pleasure.

“My treatment, please,” she whispered. “My very talented Mr. Standish.”

Bill smiled. “Anything for my lady.”

Their tale is over, but for others, the story has only just begun…

Before turning the page to read the Prologue to
Maddening Minx
the fifth book in the Brambridge Novels series:

Firstly thank you for reading 
Reckless Rules
. I hope you enjoyed it! Please do let me know what you thought by leaving a review on Amazon and/or Goodreads.

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Reckless Rules
 is the fourth book in the Brambridge Novels series. The other books currently available in the series are 
Somewhat Scandalous
,
Burning Bright
, 
Dangerous Diana
, 
(
Reckless Rules
)
and 
Maddening Minx
. Click on the titles to discover more about them, or visit
www.pearldarling.com
for my blog, books, and more.

Finally and most importantly, if you'd like to dive straight in to read the prologue of the next book in the series,
Maddening Minx
, please turn the page now!

MADDENING MINX

BOOK FIVE OF THE BRAMBRIDGE NOVELS

PROLOGUE

Edward descended the stairs from the attic, pushing the spider cobwebs out of the way with windmilling thrusts of his right arm. Going up there had been madness. And yet he did so every time he visited.

A cackling followed his footsteps as he reached the bottom of the stairs and kicked the door shut with his boot. Wiping his hands on his coat, he strode down the hall, his feet clicking against the polished oak floor boards;
mad mad mad
with every step.

“Ah there you are. You’ve been up to see her again, haven’t you?” The middle aged lady that appeared in front of him folded her arms across the gold lace of her bodice and glared him with equally golden eyes.

Edward sighed. “Yes, Dowager Lady Rochester. I have, as I do so every time I visit.”

“Hmmph. Visit. You should be here all the time. There is plenty of work for you to do here.”

“I must go. I’m late already.”

“Back to London again I suppose.”

Edward nodded. “I’ll see Franklin and then I will be gone.”

“I don’t know why you don’t take him with you. It’s not natural to leave him behind. And to take his younger brother with you seems to me rather odd.”

“We have an arrangement.”

“Your father and I had an arrangement.”

“It’s not quite the same with Franklin’s brother.”

The lady did not laugh. Turning on her heel, she clattered back down the corridor and, entering a room to the right, slammed the door with a huff. “I’ll not say goodbye,” she shouted through the wood of the door.

Edward smiled. That
was
her way of saying goodbye.

Ducking his head into the open door on his left, he glanced around the room. Franklin stood in the corner, meticulously hanging the coats of bath superfine and solid buckskin breeches and riding outfits on long hangers, before packing them into paper. He looked up and nodded.

“Look after her… them won’t you, Franklin? Contact me in the usual way through Alasdair. The offices haven’t moved.” Edward scratched the side of his face. Two days growth and still his whiskers hadn’t lengthened.