Swept Away (23 page)

Eden rose up to kiss his lips lightly then replied in a seductive whisper, “I would much rather make love to you there, than here. If we’re seen being as indiscreet as this, I fear both our reputations will suffer irreparable damage.”

Raven broke into a wide grin, and wasted no time in giving their driver their change of destination. When they reached the townhouse, their attire was as impeccable as when they had left the ship to pay their call at the Lawtons’. They walked to the door with the same sedate pace they had used earlier, but once inside, Raven handed the startled maid his hat and gloves along with a firm order.

“Lady Clairbourne and I are not to be disturbed. We’ll be here for dinner, but not the night.”

“Yes, my lord.” The maid stood with mouth agape as the striking couple ascended the stairs with rapid steps. Raven had informed them of Alex’s death, and she could not understand why his widow was not dressed in black and heavily veiled, or what she and Raven planned to do until time for dinner. Realizing there would be no fine meal unless she informed the cook, she rushed to the kitchen to do so.

Not wanting to use Alex’s bedroom, Eden hesitated at the top of the stairs, but Raven quickly took her hand and led her down the hall to the room that had been his. He locked the door, then again removed Eden’s bonnet and unbuttoned her bodice. Her kisses inspired him to even greater haste than he had shown in the carriage, and he hurriedly peeled away all her garments and carried her to his bed. A massive four-poster, it supplied ample room for an amorous couple and he swiftly joined her in it.

With Raven, Eden had never had to worry that the strain of making love would be too much for him. Her only thoughts now were of the pleasure they shared whenever their emotions overruled their equally stubborn natures, and after the clash with her aunt, she needed the devotion he was eager to provide with his muscular body if not in prettily spoken promises.

Raven was far too hungry to possess Eden to continue their loving play for long once he had drawn her lightly perfumed body into his arms. Eagerly sharing his passion, she clung to him with a wanton grace, and the sweetness of her surrender again excited him as no other woman’s ever had. She not only drove him to the heights of desire, she gave pleasure in abundance and savored it in full measure, as always leaving him feeling wonderfully content, his soul as well as his body sated.

It wasn’t until a long while after the room was completely dark that they realized the sun had set, and having ordered dinner, they ought not to be too terribly late for it. Raven helped Eden dress, and artfully arrange her hair, and she thanked him with teasing kisses as she tied his tie. Once again as beautifully groomed as they had been upon their arrival, they walked into the dining room hand in hand but the table was not set, and there were no savory aromas wailing from the kitchen. Then they noted the house seemed unnaturally quiet, and when the butler greeted them, they jumped in alarm.

“Good evening, my lord, my lady,” Stewart called from behind them.

Raven was the first to turn toward the man who had been in his uncle’s employ for more than a dozen years. He was a humorless fellow, small, with sharp features, but he had always run Alex’s London townhouse with the same precision Jonathan Abbot managed Briarcliff.

“Good evening, Stewart. I know we gave you scant notice of our arrival and you needn’t apologize if you were unable to provide dinner. We’re sailing for Jamaica in the morning, and Lady Clairbourne and I will simply dine on board my ship.”

“I excused the rest of the staff for the evening, my lord, when it appeared you required privacy rather than their services.”

Stewart had been cordial, if somewhat stiff, when Alex had introduced him to her, but the butler’s expression was so clearly filled with disapproval Eden was insulted and felt certain Raven would be also. Then she realized why the man was eyeing them with such a contemptuous gaze. “We neglected to inform the staff of our marriage, Raven. I’d forgotten that they wouldn’t know of it when we came here.”

“Your marriage, my lady?” Stewart drew himself up to his full height, which was still less than Eden’s, and his expression grew even more hostile. “Surely I have misunderstood.”

“No,” Raven assured him with a broad grin. “With Alex’s blessing, I thought I could best provide for Lady Clairbourne’s future as her husband and we have married.”

After a lengthy and uncomfortable pause, Stewart finally chose to respond, “Alexander Sutton was one of the finest gentlemen it has ever been my privilege to serve,” he announced without a trace of a smile. “He was a man of honor, and even if he did suggest that you two marry, I can’t believe he meant you to do so before a proper period of mourning had elapsed.”

When Raven raised his hand, Eden quickly caught his arm before he could throw the punch she agreed Stewart had earned. “Please Raven, we’ve had more than enough such scenes for one day. Let’s just leave.”

Raven was not about to allow a butler to pass judgment on his actions and said so. “You served my uncle well, but if being in my employ disgusts you, then you are free to seek another position elsewhere. Don’t ask me for a reference as I’ll not give one to a man who shows me such a disgraceful lack of loyalty.”

Like many men of small stature, Stewart possessed the belligerent spirit of a bantam rooster and stood his ground. “If there is any disgrace here, my lord, it is you and Lady Clairbourne who have committed it. I don’t want a reference from you, as it would hold little value.”

Eden could not hold Raven then, and he slammed his fist into Stewart’s face. The blow knocked the butler to his knees. Satisfied he had taught the opinionated man a valuable lesson, Raven took Eden’s hand and hurried her outside, where their carriage was still waiting. His expression, however, remained filled with fury.

Chapter Twelve

August 1863

As they rode away from the townhouse, Eden laid her head on Raven’s shoulder. “I’m so sorry. That was my fault. I should have realized the people who served Alex would never understand our desire to be together.”

Still seething, Raven opened his mouth to respond with the bitter retort that had instantly come to his mind. Eden’s casual pose was so dear, however, that he did not want to upset her and softened his tone. “I realize you’ve been a countess only a few weeks, but even so you ought to understand we needn’t tolerate such insolent remarks from our servants. Stewart would never have dared speak to Alex like that. I may be young, but damn it all, I’m now the Earl of Clairbourne, and I expect to be treated with the proper respect. Alex was only nineteen when he inherited the title, and he never disgraced it.”

That Raven was still in his twenties had slipped Eden’s mind. He had such a forceful personality, she never thought of him as being as young as he was in years. She sat up slowly and turned to face him. The lamps that lit the carriage provided only dim illumination but she knew his face so well she did not need to see his expression clearly to recognize the hostility etched on his features.

“Alex and I used his health as justification for making our own rules, but I think you and I are going to have to be far more circumspect in our behavior. Are the people in Jamaica going to be as unforgiving as my aunt, Stephanie, and Stewart? They know you, of course, but all they’ll know of me is that I failed to mourn Alex’s memory for the proper length of time. Will they condemn me for it?”

“No more than once they won’t,” Raven vowed through clenched teeth.

Eden did not doubt that he would defend her, but she thought it would be more as a matter of his own pride than out of respect for her honor. She did not want him constantly put on the defensive on her account, though. Unable to think of a way to explain their marriage that lessened the scandalous nature of it, she again sat back and rested her head on his shoulder until they reached the dock where the
Jamaican Wind
was moored.

Raven barely tasted the broiled chicken they were served for dinner, while Eden took only a few bites before pushing her plate away. He hated to see her again so miserable and he racked his brain for a way to introduce her to Jamaican society that would not immediately make her the object of the most tasteless kind of gossip. Finally an idea struck him that he considered not only workable, but bordering on brilliant.

“News travels rather slowly between London and the West Indies,” he began with an encouraging smile. “If I were to introduce you as my bride, and fail to mention that you were also Alex’s widow, by the time the truth reached Jamaica, everyone would have had the opportunity to get to know you. Surely they would not judge us harshly then.”

Eden could not believe Raven would seriously suggest such a devious ploy. “Do you honestly expect me to deny I was Alex’s wife? I thought you abhorred pretense.”

Raven sighed as he conceded that point. “I do, but you’ll have to admit the circumstances of our marriage were extraordinary. Besides, I don’t want you to deny anything. We’ll just postpone revealing the truth until people are better able to accept it.”

Eden shook her head emphatically. “No, you’re wrong. They’ll not become more understanding if they learn the truth several months from now. They’ll just be all the more outraged by our duplicity and never trust a word we speak ever again.”

“That’s a risk I’m willing to take.”

“Well I’m not,” Eden insisted. “I won’t have you compromising your dearest principles to protect me. I know this may be difficult to understand, or believe, but even if I have to spend the rest of my life as the object of gossip, the time I shared with Alex will have been worth it.”

“A month with him would be worth a lifetime of scorn?” Raven asked incredulously.

“Yes, I loved him that much, Raven. I really did.”

Impressed by her spirit, or perhaps merely her stubbornness, Raven reached out to take her hand. “No one is going to insult you. I’ll not allow it. I’ll call out any man who dares to whisper a single word of criticism about us and I’ll think of a way to silence the women too.”

“If you kill a man in a duel, it will be called murder,” Eden reminded him. “I won’t have it, Raven. I buried one husband, and I wouldn’t survive if you were hanged for killing a man in a misguided attempt to champion my honor.”

Raven hoped that meant she cared for him, at least a little bit, but the prospect of being hanged for murder was not nearly as important a concern as avenging his honor, or hers. “I’m flattered you think I’d win any duels I fought. Thank you for that vote of confidence,” he remarked with a broad grin.

“Raven, please. This is too important a matter for you to make jokes of it.”

Raven disagreed. “I consider my good name, and yours, as important as my life. Just think about my idea. Old gossip isn’t nearly as titillating as new. That I’ve married will astound most people. That Alex died, well, everyone who knew him will grieve with us. Those two events ought to keep everyone occupied for a good long while.”

Raven’s tone was soft and conciliatory, but Eden could not be a party to the deception he suggested. “We can’t lie about Alex and me” She got that far, but her cheeks began to burn with an incriminating blush when she couldn’t bring herself to explain why.

Eden looked so stricken with guilt at the mere suggestion of a ruse, Raven could not help but wonder if he had not seriously underestimated her integrity. Wouldn’t a woman who was concerned only about wealth and position have welcomed the chance to protect her name? He had not offered the option of postponing the announcement of her marriage to Alex as a test, but if he had been using it as a clever means to assess her character, she had definitely passed with flying colors. Had all of his impressions of her been equally unfair? There was too much to sort through for him to come to a just decision at the moment, but he began to suspect his desire to protect Alex from a devious female’s wiles might have led him to misjudge her all along.

“I think I owe you an apology,” he offered graciously.

“For what?”

“For always questioning your word. I’ve not known that many women well, and while that’s no excuse, I should have realized that anyone who cares as passionately about a hopeless cause like the Confederacy, or who would brave a lifetime of shame to marry a dying man, had her own vision of truth and that it’s an honest one.”

Eden bit her lip to force back her tears. Only Raven Blade could pay such an insult-laced compliment, but while he clearly thought he had gained some sudden insight into her character, she knew he still understood far too little.

“I’m not a deceitful person, Raven. I know that’s the way some men see women, but I think it’s seldom the case. Oh I know there are women who are forced to lie, who pretend to love men in order to survive, but I have too much respect for myself, as well as men, to want to fool them. I never lied to Alex, and I won’t lie to you either.”

When Eden again looked away, her expression still troubled, Raven gave her hand an encouraging squeeze. “Maybe something else will occur to me before we get home. I won’t force you to keep your marriage to Alex a secret if it would upset you so badly.”

“I can’t keep it a secret, Raven.” Thinking only of how proud Alex would have been to have a child, Eden finally found the courage to confess the reason why. “I’m not absolutely certain yet, but there’s a possibility I’m carrying Alex’s child.”

Raven was completely dumbfounded by that totally unexpected announcement, and needed a long moment to collect his wits in order to respond. Even then, his expression still mirrored his astonishment. “But you were only married to him for a month!”