Steam & Sorcery (23 page)

The whole way home, the boys peppered Merrick with questions about his engagement to Caro. The children were clearly thrilled, which would make it all the harder for Caroline to refuse. Good. He knew he’d put her back up with his precipitous announcement, but it was better than having him pound the living hell out of her uncle in the middle of the exhibition, which is what he’d wanted to do. Still,
asking
her first probably would have been a good idea.

“We haven’t made any specific plans yet,” he informed the inquisitive bunch. “I only just talked her into it.”

“Shall I look for a replacement tutor?” Edwin spoke quietly from his corner of the carriage. “Or will Miss Bristol allow me to continue?” His pointy nose practically quivered in disapproval.

“I’m sure Caroline will want you to continue,” Merrick assured him. “We will need to find a new governess, though. That’s going to be an awkward undertaking.”

Edwin nodded. “If I might suggest, Miss Bristol may have some…connections in that arena, at least one of whom could possibly be willing to work for a former colleague.”
Distasteful though that might be,
he didn’t add, though he probably wanted to.

“Excellent idea, Edwin.” Merrick glanced at the younger boys on either side of him, who had gone silent, eyes wide with horror at the thought of a new governess. “Though I imagine that even as Lady Hadrian, Caroline will want to remain closely involved in their education.” She was also the only woman he knew who wouldn’t object to taking on a husband already saddled with five young wards. Once they had a child or two of their own, the house would truly be full to overflowing. Oddly, he found he liked that idea very much.

As soon as they were in the house, Caroline sent the children up to the nursery and swept into Merrick’s study, dragging him by the elbow behind her. She hadn’t even bothered to remove her bonnet or gloves.

“What in the world were you
thinking,
you great, hulking idiot?” Hands on her hips, she tapped one toe impatiently upon the carpet.

“Oh, I don’t know.” Locking the door behind them, he slapped his own gloves down on a chair and tossed his walking stick into the general vicinity of the corner before rounding on her. “Perhaps I was thinking of shutting your obnoxious relative up and ensuring that you have some shred of a reputation left.”

“But
marriage?
It’s ludicrous. Do you know how much worse my reputation will be after a broken engagement with my employer? I’ll never find work in England again.”

“Caro, just what the bloody hell is so ridiculous about marriage? It’s a common institution. Lots of people find it a perfectly reasonable lifestyle.” Her indignation would have been amusing if it hadn’t been quite such an insult. Was he
that
unthinkable as a husband?

“Lots of people aren’t a bloody baronet who can trace his ancestry to Camelot and a Roman emperor. Lots of people don’t spend their evenings running around fighting vampyres in the stews of London. Lots of people aren’t rich as bloody Midas.” She stabbed a finger into his chest to punctuate every sentence, then stepped back and crossed her arms over her chest. “Lots of other people aren’t a penniless, part-faery bastard who teaches young children for a living. You’re above my touch, Merrick. Right now, you think we’re compatible, but it isn’t going to last. Eventually you’re going to resent being tied to someone like me, and I—I couldn’t stand that. So this farce has to end. Immediately.”

“Caro.” He took hold of her shoulders and stepped closer, forcing her to look up at him. “You’re the granddaughter of an earl and you were raised a lady. You love children, particularly my motley collection, and you’re willing to risk life and limb to protect them. God, woman, have you thought of how magnificent our own children are going to be?” It was a thought Merrick certainly couldn’t get out of his mind—the image of Caro holding an infant with her fair hair and Merrick’s brown eyes.

Her lips twitched, almost quirking into a smile before she frowned again. “More likely they’d be more terrifying than all five of the others put together.”

Merrick laughed. “Probably true. But in a magnificent sort of way.” She was starting to soften and he wasn’t about to let up. “Look at it this way. My work is dangerous. If I married some frivolous debutante, do you think I’d dare come home filthy or wounded after an assignment? How would she handle that? With you, I’d know the children were in good hands while I was gone, and when I came home, I could actually talk to you about my work.”

“If you came home battered and wounded, I’d scold you until you recovered,” she grumbled. “And what makes you think I’d want to marry someone who could get himself killed any night of the week?”

A small tickle of fear took up residence in his chest. Did she really not want to marry him? “Caro, you’re what—twenty-seven years old? And you were a virgin. You have to at least
like
me, to have allowed me to be your first lover. Besides, not even you can deny that the passion between us is extraordinary.”

“Mere chemical attraction,” she said with a shrug. But her eyes were wide and her lip trembled. She was more affected than she wanted to let on. “And don’t be ridiculous—of course I like you. So would any woman with eyes and half a brain. That doesn’t make this a good match. I mean marrying the governess? How cliché. You can do better, Merrick.”

“No.” He cupped her face with one hand and brushed the thumb across her full lower lip. “It doesn’t signify anyway. I’ve announced our engagement in public. Word has most certainly gotten back to Her Majesty by now, as well as my superiors. I’m not backing out now, and neither are you. The engagement continues, and let me warn you,
Miss Bristol,
the engagement will not be a lengthy one. I’m sick of climbing out of your bed in the middle of the night. At least after the wedding we won’t have to sneak around.” He wouldn’t have to use prophylactics either—something else he was looking forward to.

Her eyes squeezed shut, a suspicious glint of moisture on her long lashes. “Victor will go out of his way to hurt us, you know. It would be so much better if I just left London—maybe England altogether.”

“And then who would comfort Jamie after one of his dreams?” He dropped a kiss on her nose. “Who would give Nell confidence or fuss over Piers’s cough?” This time he kissed her cheek. “Who would love them, Caro?”
Who would love me?
She must, mustn’t she? Surely she wouldn’t have made love to him otherwise. He found he wanted that more than he wanted to breathe.

“You love those children.” He brushed his lips against her forehead. “You know you do. And they love you back. Can you envision any other potential bride even tolerating my wards, let alone raising them alongside our own children? No. And I’ll have it no other way. It’s you, or I remain unmarried. I think there’s a third or fourth cousin to inherit the title and estates.”

Her choked laugh sounded more like a sob. “You make it hard to be noble, Sir Merrick.”

“Then don’t be. Marry me, and be happy instead.” This time he kissed her lips, softly at first, but with increasing fervor when she responded, her mouth softening and opening for him. When he finally broke it off, they were both breathing heavily. Merrick dropped to one knee and took her hands in his so she couldn’t run away. “Caroline Buckman Bristol, will you do me the great honor of becoming my wife?”

Instead of words, she dropped to her knees as well, leaned in and kissed him. “I won’t be an easy wife, Merrick. And I’ll castrate you if you sleep with another woman.”

This time he laughed with pleasure. “I can live with that, as I’ll simply kill any other man who touches you.”

“Then yes. Since you won’t take no for an answer, I’ll marry you, Merrick. And may God help us both.”

“No. It will be the rest of the world who’ll need His assistance. Together, my dear, we’ll be a force of nature.” He pulled her close and sat back on the carpet, dragging her into his lap.

“If we don’t kill each other first.” Her fingers pulled at the knot of his cravat and the buttons of his waistcoat even as they kissed.

Once they had each other naked, he laid her back against the soft rug, propped himself up on his elbows and gazed down into her lovely face as he slid into her welcoming sheath. The sensation of being bare inside her moist heat was almost enough to send him over the top before they’d even begun. “Mine,” he said. He pulled almost all the way out, then shoved back in, all the way to the hilt. “All mine.”

“Yes.” Her fingernails dug into his shoulders and her legs twined around his as she eagerly met every thrust. “All yours. And you are mine.”

“Till death do us part.” Then he began to move in earnest, and his lips claimed hers.

Only moments later, they lay on the rug, dragging in much needed breath and holding hands. The experience had been the single most erotic and explosive of Merrick’s entire life. Right now, he’d swear their hearts were pounding as one.

“The wedding,” he said with as much force as he could muster. “Will be
soon.
”

She choked out a laugh and replied, “Yes, dear. Whatever you wish.”

Merrick chuckled. “I doubt I’ll ever hear that again.”

“Probably not.”

He kissed her hair, then rolled to his feet and helped her to hers. “And now, we have our family to face. We’ll talk to them at dinner? All of them?” Yes, they’d heard, but since they
were
family, they deserved a straightforward announcement.

“Our family.” She smiled up at him. “Yes, I do like the sound of that.”

Caroline raced upstairs to wash and change for dinner, her mind in a whirl. Without thinking, she put on her rose-patterned dress and her mother’s pearls. Catching a glimpse of herself in the mirror, she smiled at her reflection. For once, she did feel as pretty and cheerful as a flower. Humming a tune, she went into the nursery to take the children down to dinner.

“Miss Caro, no.” Jamie’s wail pierced the atmosphere of the room and all movement stopped.

“Jamie?” Caro ran over to the boy and crouched down. “Dear, what’s wrong? Is your arm hurting?” His cast had only come off the day before.

He shook his head, tears spilling out over his lashes. “That’s the dress. You can’t wear that. They’ll get you.”

Oh, goodness, she’d forgotten his dream—and if the children were right, it had been a genuinely prophetic one. She gathered him into her arms. “I promise, Jamie, I’m not leaving this house tonight. Your dream was about vampyres in the carriage, right?”

“Y-yes.” He buried his face in her shoulder.

“Well, then, I should be perfectly safe right here in our own dining room, shouldn’t I? Or would you rather I go put on a different gown?” She wouldn’t mind changing if it would ease his mind.

“You’re n-not going anywhere?”

“Promise.” Though she and Merrick had originally planned to visit the MacKays that night, the sudden engagement had caused them to change their minds and stay home with the family.

“Then it’s all right, I guess.” He wiped his eyes with the sleeve of his good jacket, but Caroline handed him a handkerchief before he could use it to blow his nose.

“Then let’s go down to dinner, shall we?” She stood and took him by the hand. “I hear there are to be spice cakes for pudding.” She couldn’t help but wonder if the decision to stay in that evening had in fact saved her and Merrick’s lives.

Jamie seemed certain of it. Mollified, he went along, clutching Caroline’s hand tightly, and the others followed them down the stairs.

Dinner was an exuberant affair. Though the children could barely sit still in their seats, their delight was contagious. Even the starchy Mr. Berry smiled now and again. Merrick was adamant that the wedding be held within the month, so Dorothy took out a pencil and notebook right at the dinner table to begin taking notes, while Miss Julian sat beside her, muttering suggestions.

By the time she’d taken the children upstairs and put them to bed, Caroline’s head was spinning, trying to sort fancy from reality. All she knew for certain though, was when Merrick asked her for something, she couldn’t tell him no. And she wanted this, so very, very badly. She only wished he’d spoken of love, instead of friendship, compatibility and desire.

Oh well. She would simply have to love enough for both of them. She didn’t think that was likely to be difficult.

It seemed strange to get up the following morning and carry on in a normal fashion, as if the world hadn’t shifted on its axis. Caroline managed, though, eating breakfast in the nursery with a smile on her face. While the children were still thrilled, they’d also had time to consider that Caroline and Merrick’s marriage would mean some changes in the household—namely, the installation of a new governess—or two. Caroline was considering hiring separate ones for the girls and the boys, which might make things easier to manage.

The family didn’t attend church as a rule, and there were no lessons on Sunday, so the children soon grew restless and bored. Somehow, Caroline managed to get them through a relatively civilized luncheon. They ate alone, in the nursery, as Merrick had left the house that morning to consult with his friend from Scotland Yard, Inspector Dugan. Dorothy was off making wedding arrangements, and even Tommy and Mr. Berry were away, giving the house an empty feel, even though there were still a dozen or so servants on the premises. As it was a cool, sunny day, Caro found herself looking forward to their walk in the park as much as the children were.

To her surprise, though, Wink requested to stay behind.

“George needs some repairs,” the girl said. “I think he leaned on your leg last evening.”

Caroline winced. Come to think of it, the clockwork dog was missing today. “I’m so sorry, sweeting. I’ll try harder to avoid touching him.”

“It’s all right, miss. It’s a simple repair. I’ll be done by the time you’re home from the park.”

“Well, we won’t be long. I’ll leave Johnson and Becky with you.” Caroline hated to leave any of the children behind, but Wink really should be fine in a houseful of devoted servants.