The Bellerose Bargain (14 page)

"I don’t mind that they find me pretty," she replied.

"Pretty?" he laughed. " Tis not the way of the courtiers to look and not touch,
cherie.
Even Perry," he said, raising a hand toward the closed sitting room door. "Had I not been here, your virtue would not have been protected."

"There are servants in the house, milord. He would not have been allowed to hurt me."

Geoffrey turned away and grumbled. "I doubt what he had in mind resembled pain in any way."

"Is there something I have done to offend you?"

He turned back to her, and, as he looked her over, he wore a mixture of lust and anger. "I would see you more suitably gowned, Charlotte, once the wedding has taken place and you live with me."

She laughed suddenly and stood up, walking casually around the settee, thus putting it between them. "I thought the marriage purely a means to an end for you, Geoffrey. How I dress and what I do should not matter to you as long as I appear as the wifely sort."

"And you think exposing most of your flesh wifely?" he countered. "Charlotte, it is dangerous to appear too inviting."

Her head dropped and she looked down.

"You see what I say is true?" he asked.

She raised her eyes to meet his. "I don’t mind what I do for you—this marriage thing." She took a slow breath. "I don’t like the name."

"Name?"

"Charlotte."

"It’s only a name."

"But not mine. I feel as though you’re talking to someone else."

"I thought it was understood it would become yours, even—"

"Never mind," she interrupted, bolstering herself for a more serious subject. "The clothing," she said, returning to the cause for his ire. "I’ll wear whatever you like if you’ll have it made for me. But pray don’t be too dotish in your style. I should not have to suffer too greatly in this position."

His jaw set. "You enjoy the attention."

"Aye," she returned enthusiastically.

"And how can you play wife to me while the men ogle you?"

"As planned. Let them look; it should not matter. You will have your ships. And the envy of the court."

He moved closer to her, looking at her over the settee. "And with that I would have respect. I won’t be laughed at, nor will I wear a cuckold’s horns."

"You are a jealous fool!"

"And you act a harlot."

"No. A woman—and you cannot appreciate it."

"A wife is modest and loyal."

"A husband is loving."

"Love? This has nothing to do with love."

"Then there is no cause for your rage," she said, turning her back abruptly.

Geoffrey’s heart began to pound. He felt certain he’d lost control of her, for she showed the greatest contrasts: warm and cooperative one moment, sassy and presumptuous the next. He walked around the settee and, grabbing her shoulders, turned her around to face him.

Surprise was etched on her features and he relished it. Her mouth was half opened in astonishment and she watched him in stunned silence as he spoke.

"We have a bargain and you will play my wife for the court, for the world. And you will play it by my rules or not at all. Do you understand me?"

He noted her expression of fear and not just surprise. "Please don’t hurt me, milord."

A puzzled expression came over his face. Nothing akin to fear possessed her moments ago; why now? He wondered if she expected a beating. Her past was much a mystery to him. Perhaps beatings were a regular part of her life before now.

He loosened his grip on her arms but his gaze was intense. He saw her features relax somewhat.

"Is that how you are controlled? By beatings?"

She shook her head. "I do not wish to be beaten, milord."

"There is a better way to teach you what I expect," he said hoarsely, and, with no hint of his intention, he slipped an arm about her waist and covered her mouth with his.

Alicia’s eyes flew open wide and her hand instinctively pushed against his chest, trying to resist him. But he seemed to enjoy her resistance and held her closer, pressing against her, molding her velvet-clad body to his. Her pushing ceased, but she dared not embrace him lest he become aware of her immediate defeat.

She could not be captured.

Her lids gently dropped and she tried to resume the fight, but he must have thought her weak or foolish, for happily, she did not succeed in moving him a breath away.

His lips released hers and he dropped a kiss to the rounded knoll of her heaving breasts. Then his mouth was poised close to hers again.

"While you live with me as my wife, whether in truth or by bargain, you will do my will."

"In truth, your will," she whispered. "By bargain, our will."

"I will return you to your tavern lovers," he warned.

The jibe dug deep. He truly believed her a whore.

"You cannot," she breathed. "You love your ships too well."

"I will not fight you long, Alicia. I will win."

He released her and strode quickly away from her. At the sitting room door, he paused and looked at her.

"Set the wedding date with His Majesty. And have a care with your behavior."

She pursed her lips and would not reply. He left without another word and she stood still, but for the transformation her lips made from a stem pucker to a lazy half smile. Trembling still possessed her and her fingers brushed the place on her bosom where his lips had branded her. She was profoundly aware that as he had touched her so intimately, so passionately, he had called her by her given name.

"Perhaps the fight will be longer than you expect, milord," she whispered to the empty room. "But I think you unclear as to the winner."

In an afternoon that was wet and cold, when even a short walk about the palace was inadvisable, Charles, his son James, duke of Monmouth, and George Villiers, duke of Buckingham, stepped from the royal coach and began to walk toward the chapel. The queen, though compassionate by nature, would not attend a Protestant service of any kind.

Charles looked up at the sky and examined the moisture collecting on his hat, coat, and arms. "Beastly day for it," he remarked. "Can they blame me for the weather, George?" Charles asked with some humor.

"They shouldn’t, Sire," Villiers replied, speaking of the subjects Charles ruled. "But I think they will, just the same."

"I doubt not," the king muttered, taking long strides to the chapel door. The constant downpour of rain, the frustration of not putting a quick end to the Dutch conflict, one mistress pregnant, a heatedly pursued woman still a virgin, and countless other miseries did not plague him overmuch. But the damn rain spoiled his walks in St. James Park, and that had made him a trifle cross.

The chapel was dim. Inside, the others waited: Castlemaine, Frances Stewart, a minor few courtiers and ladies; and near the front of the chapel stood Lord Seavers and his friend Preston Tilden. All rose and curtsied or bowed as the king entered.

As if to still any apprehension, Charles put forth his hands to pat down nervousness. "She is on her way. She’ll arrive any moment."

The round-faced chaplain smiled and bobbed and others either relaxed in their stance or sat down again. Charles took note that there were no special provisions made for the day; no special bouquets or streamers, no musician or reader. He scowled slightly, shook his head, and considered the waste of space he viewed. This wedding of Seavers’s could have been done by contract and no ceremony. Charles thought Geoffrey would one day regret being so damned tight-fisted and uncaring.

Charles left Lady Charlotte’s apartments just ahead of her, allowing her to finish her primping and preening with just her women, and thought he had beheld perhaps the loveliest bride he had ever seen. But as her women fussed all around her, he had not seen her smile. Indeed, she looked deeply saddened, though he couldn’t imagine why. Seavers, he guessed, had been oafish in his courtship and the bride had second thoughts. Charles’s next emotion was an intense desire to get the thing done before any more time was required of him. He wanted this ward married, the ships built, and as little trouble as possible.

There was the sound of the heavy oaken doors opening, and the look of relief on the face of the priest told Charles that Charlotte Bellamy had at last arrived and his part in all this would soon be over. He turned to behold her, a striking creature done from head to toe in white, with lace trimmed in silver thread adorning her gown. Ahh, Charles thought appreciatively, Barbara ought to dress all the women at Whitehall.

The bulk of Alicia’s hair was pulled sharply away from her face and fell to her shoulders. Tiny curls framed her face. Transparent lace covered her from her breasts to her neck, allowing for a deep plunging V. Her slim waist was caught by a silver chain and her tiny slippers glittered as she took a step. A black cloak lined with silver fox was pulled off her shoulders by her woman, and then a long lace veil that fell from her crown was lightly fluffed. Charles caught the sound of a sigh and turned quickly to look in the direction of Lord Seavers, hopeful, as hopeful romantics often are, that the sigh had come from him.

But Seavers’s expression was serious, if not stern. He stood as he would while commanding a ship, hands behind his back and legs braced slightly apart. The man had gained a reputation in warfare that was nothing less than fantastic, and he held claim to several victorious moments in battle; but Charles feared he was slightly daft if the sight of this bride did not even warm his cool eyes.

Preston Tilden, on the other hand, smiled openly, and his pale blue eyes shone as he beheld the beauty before him.

Well, thought Charles, something exciting may come of this yet.

It was not as if Geoffrey Seavers were seeing something other than what the other men beheld; it was the feeling in his gut that caused his slight scowl and cool eyes. Aye, she was beautiful, and the plan he had been talked into by Rodney had seemed a simple and temporary project, until this transformation in Alicia.

The first inkling that it would not be so simple and impersonal an arrangement came when he viewed her in the inn, garbed in only her linen wrap. Later, at their introduction, he recognized open desire in himself. And when he tasted her lips, his agony heightened. He had not lost sight of his goals. But he did not know how to keep himself from an irrevocable involvement with her. Even now, as she approached him, her shining eyes somewhat sad and uncertain, he fought the urge to cradle her in his arms and comfort her. He had been plagued, since early in his youth, with the dramatic longing to take care of the women whose lives he touched.

And this one was no exception.

They knelt together, exchanged their promises, hers all done in the name of Charlotte Bellamy, and rose to seal their marriage with an embrace and kiss.

Alicia faced her husband, a husband only in a play to entertain those present and to secure an inheritance. Tears clung to her dark lashes and her lips trembled. She had done well to conceal what her heart cried throughout her life, but this once it was more than she could hide.

True, all of her life she could do what had to be done, behave the way she was expected to behave, feel nothing—or at least let nothing she felt show; whatever role was required of her, she could perform. It kept clothes on her back and food in her stomach. Even this wedding was a means to a specific end: life would be comfortable on her hundred pounds.

But this thought did little to console her. This wedding was like a dream she had nurtured; a dream that one day she would be loved, wanted. That it was just another role for her to play hurt her deeply. And though the final plans had not yet been made, their arrangement would end and she would leave. How, she wondered, am I to leave? Feeling what I’ve come to feel?

His lips released hers and she looked for a moment into his concealing eyes. He seemed to reconfirm for her that all her longings would be unmet; that for this union, tickets should be sold as in the Duke’s Theatre. A tear dropped from her lashes and coursed its way down her cheek. For an instant, through clouded vision, she thought she saw a change in his eyes, something close to compassion.

His hand came up to brush the tear from her cheek and then he kissed the same place. His voice came lightly into her ear.

"It’s all right, Charlotte. Brides are oft sentimental on their wedding day."

"Oaf," she muttered back to him.

His earlier sternness returned, and within she felt a certain victory. She had, after all, forgotten her place. Her eyes quickly dried as she took pleasure in teaching him just how well she would play the willing chattel.

A brief though formal supper in Lord and Lady Seavers’s apartments followed, lovingly prepared and displayed by Mrs. Stratton and a staff of giddy and excited servants. To serve an intimate crowd of under thirty people, with the king and his competing mistresses among them, was a feather in any servant’s cap. And while courtiers’ curiosity had peaked when Lady Charlotte was summoned and just arriving at Whitehall, most were satisfied now to have seen her. Since the wedding was done and the newest beauty at least temporarily locked apart from the admiring courtiers and jealous ladies, this group had bored of the folly and did not stay long. The night was young when Charles said his farewells and was followed by his train of faithful pups to a rowdier dinner elsewhere.