The Bride Says No (9 page)

“Of course not,” she lied.

At that moment, Tara blew her nose in the most unbecoming manner. Not even Annefield’s strong doors or thick walls could hide the sound. She’d never been an attractive crier. Even when she was a child, the whole household always knew when she was distressed. She chased her nose blowing with hiccupping sobs.

Mr. Stephens’s brows rose to his hairline even as he tried to stifle a laugh.

A dimple
. He had a deep one in his left cheek. Its appearance surprised Aileen, because, well, she didn’t want to notice charming little quirks about him. She wanted him gone, out of their lives.

And he knew it, just as he believed there was nothing she could do about his presence. He nodded toward Tara’s door. “Is she reacting to your warning? Or had you warned her yet?”

Hundreds of years of Scottish pride surged through Aileen’s soul. “Are you mocking us, Mr. Stephens?”

He shook his head at the stiffness in her tone, as if he found it amusing. “Why would I ever think of mocking you, Lady Aileen?”

“For the same reason you feel it is safe to challenge me, but I warn you, sir. I will not be patronized.”

“I shall remember that fact, my lady,” he promised, turning as the door leading to the back stairway opened. A man of slight build and a meticulous air entered the hall. Several garments were draped over his arm, and there was no doubting he was Mr. Stephens’s valet. He glanced at her, then went about his business, entering the room.

“Until dinner, Lady Aileen,” Mr. Stephens said. He followed his man, shutting the door behind him.

“He didn’t offer a bow or a nod of his head or an ‘I beg your pardon,’” Aileen muttered to herself. “The man is as high-handed as a duke . . . or a bastard.”

Her conclusion was punctuated by another bout of Tara’s heartbroken snuffles.

“You will make yourself sick if you keep this up,” Aileen warned her through the door.

The answer was more boo-hooing, and Aileen felt drained.

Even if she could gain admittance, Tara was in no condition to listen to her. Indeed, Tara was probably done for the night. She would take a tray in her room, and Aileen would be forced to suffer through an evening with her obnoxious sire and a houseguest too full of himself.

For a second, she debated asking for a dinner tray herself, but she knew that Mr. Stephens would believe she was avoiding him. He seemed to take a mildly perverse pleasure in goading her. So far, she had held her own, but she’d only known him less than two hours. Undoubtedly he would grow more insufferable with longer acquaintance. Men with an overabundance of confidence usually did . . . but her pride would not let her cry quarter.

She went to her room.

It had been ages since Aileen had “dressed” for dinner. With just herself in the house, she’d had little use for formalities. She wondered where Ellen, the upstairs maid, was. The girl usually checked with Aileen each evening before she left. Tonight was the first time Aileen could truly use help.

She went to her wardrobe and chose a gown of pale peach muslin she hadn’t worn since the days of her marriage. The gown was trimmed in a dark green ribbon that contrasted nicely with the dress and her coloring. It took a few more minutes to find the finely woven stockings she used to wear in London.

In London
. Those days seemed so long ago. She had told herself that she had not missed the city, and she hadn’t . . . until now. Yes, her heart was in Scotland, but she also relished life in town. She’d forgotten how much.

Aileen set to dressing, taking more care than was her custom. There was a certain reverence in dressing properly. But she was also honest enough to admit she did not want Mr. Stephens to consider her dowdy. After all, family pride was at stake.

She was dressed and massaging lotion into hands roughened by gardening when a knock sounded on the door.

“Come in,” Aileen called, hoping it would be Tara.

Instead, Ellen entered.

“I’m sorry I’m so late, my lady,” the maid said. She was of Aileen’s age, with pale blonde hair she kept neatly hidden in a mobcap.

“That is fine. There have been so many unexpected changes today.”

“Very true, my lady. Is there anything you need of me?”

“Please help me with my hair,” Aileen instructed, sitting down before the mirror at her dressing table. “It’s been so long since I’ve done anything but knot it at the nape of my neck, I’ve forgotten where to put the pins or even if I own them.”

“You own them, my lady,” Ellen assured her. She took a box of hair fripperies from a draw in the dressing table and set to work. However, after a few minutes of Ellen combing and tugging at her hair, Aileen began to lose patience.

“Don’t fuss overmuch,” Aileen told Ellen. “It is almost the dinner hour, and I need to see to the details. Plus, I should check on my sister before I go downstairs.”

Ellen paused, holding a twisted strand of Aileen’s hair in her hand. “Lady Tara has already gone downstairs for dinner. I came to you as soon as I’d finished with her.”

“She’s gone down to dinner?” Aileen repeated dumbly.

“Aye, my lady. She had me help her dress.”

“But . . . she was very upset,” Aileen protested, trying to reason the matter out. “She was overwrought.”

Ellen thought a moment and said, “She appeared well to me. Well, her eyes were a bit swollen, but you know how it is when you are young. What would linger on our faces disappears from theirs. She told me she wished to please her intended. She wanted to make him feel as if he was marrying the loveliest girl in the valley, and she was a fetching sight when I finished with her, although that isn’t difficult to achieve when one has Lady Tara’s looks.”

“No, it isn’t,” Aileen said, distracted. Her sister was surprising her. She was far more resilient than Aileen credited her for. She also acted as if what Aileen thought was of no consequence—well, unless she was in trouble.

And she was already downstairs.

For some reason that Aileen could not quite define, that last thought annoyed her most.

“Thank you, Ellen. I’ve decided I don’t want much done with my hair after all.”

“Let me gather it up on top of your head and give it a bit of style the way Lady Tara instructed me,” Ellen said eagerly. “She said the fashion is all the rage in London.”

“And I especially don’t wish that,” Aileen answered, waving the maid away and twisting her hair herself into a quick knot at the nape of her neck. She stuck three pins in it and announced, “It shall be fine.” She was uncertain if she was speaking to the maid or to buoy her own spirits.

She rose from the table, forced a smile for Ellen’s benefit, and left the room.

There was no mistaking the matter, Aileen thought as she went downstairs: Tara was avoiding her—and it hurt. They were sisters, yet how well did they truly know each other anymore? The bond was there, but was it strong or a mere thread of memories past?

As Aileen reached the bottom step, she once again had that sense that life was happening somewhere else, to someone else. There had been a time when she’d come down these steps and her family had been waiting for her.

Now they were gathered in the front receiving room, and by the conversation about pork pies and racehorses, no one had noticed she was missing.

Aileen walked to the doorway.

This room was usually the first to greet visitors to Annefield. It was decorated in cream and greens. Portraits of Davidson ancestors looked down from their places on the wall. A pianoforte took up one corner of the room, and the seating was designed for comfort, but with a stately elegance.

The earl, dressed as if for dining at his London club, was pouring a glass of whisky at the table set up for such things. Because of the cool night air, a small fire burned in the hearth. Mr. Stephens, his attire more fitting for a country evening, with tall boots and an excellently tailored green wool coat, stood in front of it. At his elbow was Tara.

She looked especially lovely this evening in a gown of blue gauze the delicate color of a robin’s egg, and a finely woven shawl over her shoulder. She’d had her shining curls styled high on her head so that they fell artlessly down to her shoulders. She looked young, fresh and vibrant.

And there wasn’t one sign of her earlier tears in the way she smiled adoringly up at her betrothed.

Aileen suddenly felt very provincial. Dowdy, even . . . and wished she had let Ellen play with her hair.

Tara saw her first. “Here’s my sister. I am so glad you are here, Aileen. I’m famished, and Cook has promised to serve venison. That’s your favorite dish, isn’t it, Mr. Stephens? I requested it for that reason.”

There was a breathlessness to her voice, a forced eagerness. It was the sound of a woman pleasing a man, and it tugged at Aileen’s heart. Women should not feel as if they had to pretend. That was one of the lessons she’d learned from the horror of her marriage.

No pretense, not for her, not anymore.

A step behind her warned her that Ingold approached. She turned as he formally announced, “The dinner is served.”

This simple formality annoyed Aileen. Even when
she
had guests, Ingold did not “announce” dinner. They were simple Scottish folk, and Mr. Stephens was a bastard. He might act like the duke himself, but he wasn’t. He did not need dinner “announced.”

She took charge of the room. If they were going to be staid, then she would be the staidest. “Shall we proceed to the dining room?” she drawled out in London formality.

Tara slid her arm into the crook of Mr. Stephens’s. “This way, sir,” she said, her voice cajoling, tempting. “You will escort me, won’t you?”

Aileen wanted to roll her eyes. Of course he would. There were only four of them in the room.

What happened to women when they were around men? Why did they think men couldn’t see through such pandering? And why wasn’t that true? She’d played the game herself, and she’d not met one man who hadn’t wished to be flattered—

“Daughter?” the earl said, interrupting her ranting thoughts.

Aileen tore her attention from the ninnyhammer her sister had become to see her father offering his arm. “Since we are being formal?” he said. He had added his own fawning drawl, aping the tone she had used.

She placed her hand on his arm. “She shouldn’t work so hard to try and impress him.”

“Hard?” her father echoed.

“Yes, having Ingold announce dinner and the like.”

“I’m the one who insisted upon that. You’ve been languishing in Scotland for so long, you’ve forgotten fine manners. Or what is expected of a lady dressing for dinner. Your hair is a mess.”

She wanted to retort that his breath smelled of pork pies. “I didn’t have a choice about ‘languishing in Scotland,’ Father,” she said tightly. “You banished me here, remember?”

“I sent you
home
.”

She shrugged away his denial and released his arm to walk into the dining room on her own.

The dining room walls were a soft gold so that the carved marble fireplace stood out. The smell of well-prepared food scented the air. The table had belonged to Aileen’s mother. The dishes and silverware had been part of the dowry she’d brought to her marriage to the earl of Tay.

When Aileen was first married, she had been resentful that her father would not let her have these things. Now she was thankful. Geoff would have kept them in the divorce.

The leaves had been left out of the table so that it seated four cozily. The earl took his place and instructed Mr. Stephens to sit opposite him. Ingold saw to the earl’s chair while Simon, who served as stable lad, kitchen boy, or footman as the occasion warranted, pulled out Aileen’s chair. Mr. Stephens gallantly seated Tara himself.

Tara dominated the conversation during dinner. She flirted outrageously, or so it seemed to Aileen. Granted they hadn’t spent any time together for three years, but this false laugh, this coy tilt of the head, this silly banter could not be Tara.

And Aileen wanted to say as much. She tried to keep her attention on her food, to ignore what was happening.
It was not her business
—even if it did fill her with foreboding. She’d been this foolish once. She’d gone after Geoff. She’d wanted him desperately, and when he’d asked for her hand, she’d been as proud as any hunter who had bagged a rabbit.

Of course that was before she’d learned Geoff’s parents and her father had arranged the whole matter. All she’d had to do was act insipid and obey instructions like a lamb to the slaughter.

For his part, the earl kept signaling for his wineglass to be refilled. The candlelight reflected on the sheen of his face. There was pallor to him, and, for the first time since his arrival, Aileen noticed he was looking a bit unkempt. He had not changed his neck cloth, and it was stained from the pork pies, or perhaps some other eating adventure.

Meanwhile, Mr. Stephens was the epitome of the discreet guest. He answered Tara when necessary, referred a few remarks toward Aileen, and deferred to the earl in the most flattering way possible.

Aileen found him completely intolerable.

The meal finally ended with the earl suggesting, “Why don’t my daughters retire to the sitting room while Stephens and I enjoy our port?”

“Excellent idea,” Aileen said, jumping to her feet, anxious to end this interminable meal.

Her sister held her seat. “Can’t we stay?”

Through groggy eyes, the earl looked at her as if she was daft for making the suggestion.

“Very well,” Tara said with a little pout of her lips. “Don’t linger long.” She placed her folded napkin beside her plate and gracefully rose. “We’ll be in the sitting room with sweetmeats to settle our dinner.” There was a definite purr to her tone on the word “
sweetmeats
.” “Hurry to join us.”

“I shall,” Mr. Stephens answered, an equal warmth in his voice, and Aileen squelched a strong desire to scream.

Instead, she led the way out of the room. At last she had her chance to speak to Tara. Simon closed the dining room doors behind them.

However, before they reached the privacy of the sitting room, Tara confronted her. “
Don’t
lecture,” she said, a warning finger raised at Aileen. “Don’t say one word.”