The Marquess of Cake (33 page)

“How can you say that?”

“I can say that because I saw you, not three hours ago, arm in arm with some man on Oxford Street. And frankly, you should not be appearing in public in such shabby clothing. It is a poor reflection on our position in society.”

Alys stared at him, the corners of her lips faintly tilted, as if she found his speech amusing.

“Really,” he said, all the words he wanted to say quite failing him.

“But I must say, your hair is lovely today. I like the curls.”

“Hortense has a special technique,” Alys said. “I did meet with a dressmaker just this morning, Michael. I know my wardrobe is frightful, but Mother ordered the mourning clothes, which were very appropriate, and I haven’t had time to plan.”

He waved his hand. “I do understand. I’m sorry.” But as he rubbed his chin, he remembered that man.

“I was simply out walking with Gawain, you know. I can’t imagine anyone would assume he was an inappropriate companion. I realize we do not look very alike, since he takes after Mother and I take after Father, but the limp and the eye patch make him quite memorable, I’m afraid. No one could possibly mistake him for anyone else.”

“I only saw him from the back,” Michael muttered, feeling a fool.

That forgotten scene from his past must have predisposed him to suspicion.

“I had to take him out to yell at him. Matilda has been in bed with a sick headache since Sunday evening. She simply cannot cope with the consequences.”

“Of Theo going to India?”

“Of the seduction, of course,” Alys said sharply. “You do know what transpired?”

Michael felt his left hand tremor. “I believe I do not.”

When he saw the look she gave him, he wished he had the power to read minds. She entwined her fingers in her lap. The tips of her fin-

gers reddened from the pressure. “I do not wish to put the events into words.”

He reached over and quickly patted her hands, then folded his arms across his chest. “I am afraid you must if you wish me to understand.”

She shut her eyes. “Rose discovered our secret, Michael. She gave Matilda her own interpretation of why you married me. Apparently she thought it was the seduction that was key, not your brother’s death.”

He lifted a brow. He’d welcomed a nasty, gossiping traitor into his home. How despicable to gossip about your own sister. “I had no idea.”

“Yes, well, Matilda decided that since Mr. Bliven was your friend, he would be willing to marry her if she provided the same, er, service to him.”

“I see.” While his face stayed calm, he felt red-hot rage sweep his thoughts.

“But she is not me. Our family fortune changed so greatly between our respective youths. She was not prepared for the consequences.”

No matter what Alys thought, she would not have been either.

How could he have served the woman he loved so ill? “And he left?”

“Yes, feeling no responsibility whatsoever. He claimed he was previously engaged to a woman who lives in India.” Her eyes filled with tears. “Oh, Michael, it was terrible. I don’t know how to help her.”

He rose and reseated himself next to her, then put his arm around her and pulled her close. “I am so very sorry, my dear. Do you want me to try and catch him before he gets too far afield? He didn’t send me his itinerary but Gawain must know it. I am afraid I cannot recall the lady in question’s name.”

She sniffed. “Gawain doesn’t. Mr. Bliven has vanished. He must plan to send word once he’s reached India.”

He reached for his handkerchief and wiped her eyes with it, wishing he could take some immediate action.

She leaned her head into his shoulder, muffling her voice.

He spoke. “I think Matilda should go to the Farm. We can put it about that Rose requires her. If there are no consequences, then she can return for the Season if she feels herself capable.” He didn’t want either sister on his property, but for now it was best.

“Lady Lillian Cander suggested her actions to her,” Alys said.

“Who knows what she will gossip about?”

“I will call on her father,” Michael said. “I cannot leave London now, because of my mother, so I might as well make use of the time.”

“I will stay here with you,” she said.

“Do we need to file a breach of promise suit?”

“I am afraid the commitment was all in Matilda’s head. She thought to force a declaration, rather than acting in conjunction with one. I am simply appalled, and I feel terrible that this could soil your reputation as well.”

“I did not introduce Mr. Bliven to your sister. Your father did that,” he said.

“But he is your friend.” She took his handkerchief and dabbed at her eyes.

“That does not mean I would consider him a responsible suitor.

Nor would anyone who knows him, I am afraid.”

“I knew his behavior was incorrect when we saw them at the Farm,” Alys confessed. “But my mother is not used to high society, even less so than I am. She must have thought they were secretly engaged or some such. I was too focused on my own concerns to do anything.”

“You could not know what your sister was planning. You haven’t lived in the same house for much of the courtship.”

“And Gawain! Supporting that man. I am afraid I have a very unsuitable family.”

“Theo probably told him only what he wanted to convey, just as he did in the letter to me. Anything to get enough money to flee your sister’s demand.” That memory of his mother’s hand flashed through his mind. “Every family is about the same, I believe. For every Victoria and Albert there must fall a Prince of Wales.”

“Then your brother must be a scoundrel, since you are not.”

“Only where you are concerned.” He found her mouth with his own, then licked the seam of her lips with his tongue until she opened to him with a little moan. He plundered, pulling her close until she was half across him, before he came back to his senses.

She panted as he set her back in her place. “I missed you.”

“I like to think I am the scoundrel, but I never should have let you leave.”

“We do have a certain effect on each other.”

“Then we are lucky to be husband and wife.”

She smiled tentatively. He reached into her hair to toy with one of the springy curls.

“You shall have to pay your maid well, so that she does not leave you.”

“She has an illegitimate child,” Alys whispered. “I hope you aren’t disappointed with me for choosing her.”

“What happened to the father of the child?”

“He forced her,” Alys said simply.

He felt a surge of love. “And you wanted her because she so easily could have been you?”

Alys nodded. “And now my sister.”

“I still think we could file for breach of promise. Matilda is connected to my family. Theo could be shamed into marrying her, or he won’t be received anywhere in England, and that is not good for his family, despite what he claims about the other woman.”

“Maybe he truly loves her. I didn’t have the impression that he cared about Matilda.”

“Perhaps not. Certainly he is attempting to start over far away. But India is full of younger sons, and even better, their wives. Ultimately, we can kill his prospects in India almost as easily as we could in London.”

“Has he done this before?”

“Perhaps you should ask Lady Lillian that. I vaguely remember some scandal at school with an innkeeper’s daughter, but we were so young then. I have never made it a practice to involve myself in the love affairs of others.”

“I can’t imagine an innkeeper’s daughter would have thought a student at Eton would marry her.”

“One would think not.”

Alys sighed. “Should I begin packing, then, and move to Hatbrook House?”

The clock on the mantel signaled the hour. He patted her hand. “I do apologize, but I am late.”

“To go to the Crosses’?”

“Exactly. Do your parents know what has happened to your sister?”

“My mother does.”

“I’ll schedule an appointment with your father then, and tell him that Matilda is welcome to go to the Farm. I can’t imagine he will disagree.”

“Rose will not be pleased if it hurts her chances in local society.”

“We can shut Matilda away and claim she is ill, if necessary. No one near us could be surprised, given Rose’s history.” He rose. “I am sorry to leave you, my dear. May I claim another audience tomorrow? I must persuade my mother of the surgery, which is of some urgency, according to the physician.”

“Then I should go south with Matilda, and you will come home as soon as you can? Should I hire a nurse for your mother?”

“We shall decide all after I meet with your father. I imagine my mother will convalesce here at the start. And I do not want you to be run ragged by her. She does not improve, I’m afraid.”

“She is my family now too, Michael. I know my duty.”

He caressed her curls again. “How I wish I could be your seducer, my lady.”

She leaned her cheek into his hand. “I know.”

“I realize we were not in accord when we saw each other last.”

“I must learn patience,” she said.

He appreciated the thought. “As must I. I have not been a good husband, but I will improve. I am not used to help, you see.” He caught her lips in his, letting his hands slide from her curls to her slender back to her curvaceous hips.

“I wish we could start over,” she whispered.

“Life insists on forward movement.” He cupped her cheek. “But if we are in charity with one another all will be well.”

“Have you nothing better to do than stare at me?” his mother asked, grimacing for a moment before she returned her gaze to the fire in her sitting room.

Michael pulled her rose afghan over her leg, brushing it with his fingers in the process. How long had it been since he’d touched her?

“Mother, I have a most indelicate question.”

“Trouble in the marriage bed, Hatbrook?”

He lifted his gaze to her face instantly. But she wasn’t sneering.

Her tone did not contain its usual venom, not that she sounded prepared to be helpful, either.

“As you may recall, my bride is not in residence.”

“Where is your cake bride? Dashed if I can understand why you would marry a girl who bakes and then stop eating cake.”

The older his mother grew, the more her speech sounded more like a young man’s than a mature lady’s. He wondered if she, like Alys, strained at the bonds of feminine behavior. He remembered now, that he had compared Alys to his mother on the day he met her.

Strange that he’d forgotten that.

“She is with her family. Her sister suffered a shock.”

“How disagreeable.”

Now his mother sounded like a petulant widow again.

“What was this indelicate question?” she queried as she reached for a chocolate and popped it into her mouth, chewing with it slightly open.

Michael closed his eyes. “I have a memory of you kissing another man when I was quite young. It was summer and Judah must have been a babe.”

“Judah was not born at all,” his mother remarked, licking her fingers. “That would have been Judah’s father you saw, though I am amazed you have a memory of something that transpired when you were two.”

Judah’s father? “What are you saying?”

“I am saying that your father transgressed one too many times, and with a dear friend of mine, no less, and I retaliated. I did not expect this to result in a child, but thankfully the timing was such Judah might just have been his, so there was no trouble in society’s eyes.”

Her eyes closed, and the skin around her eyes tightened as if she had momentary pain. “Though there were enough whispers that it affected our reputations. Neither of us were liked enough to overcome scandal.”

“Mother, you need to have the surgery,” Michael said.

She opened her eyes again. They were watery. “Is there no other way? I could stop eating chocolate.”

“You look very, very ill. I think we must take the doctor’s advice.”

“I do not want to die. I have enjoyed these earthly pleasures far too much.”

He blinked rapidly, almost overset by the plaintive tone in her voice.

“But what is left to me in my old age if I cannot have rich foods?”

she said.

“You are not so old. Why, your hair is not even gray.”

“It is kind of you to say so, but I went gray half a decade ago. My maid is artful with techniques to disguise my voyage to the grave.”

“Good God, Mother, have a heart! You will shock me into mine with all this talk.”

“You have too much to live for. Do you know, last winter was the first time I saw you come to town and not gain a double chin? Though

I didn’t realize it, you were fairly wasting away from love with that unsuitable girl. At least she has been bred to stand up for herself, but she desperately needs a new wardrobe.” She shuddered. “And that hair. Not to mention her appalling taste in maids.”

That was the mother he knew so well. “Hold your insults, madam.

My wife has had a difficult transition.”

“It was rather sudden. I expected happy news.”

“I am sorry we could not provide that for you.”

She waved a yellowed hand. “She has a good build. She will give you children. I have no doubt.”

He needed to get his wife back into his bed, first.

“Do you know, I think I shall have the surgery,” she mused. “I would not like to die before seeing my first grandchild, knowing there most likely will be one within the year. And I do suggest you persuade her to choose her husband’s comfort over her sister’s, so this will be possible.”

“I thought to suggest her sister return to the Farm with us.”

“If that is what it takes. Good heavens but these Redcake chits are a needy set.”

“At any rate, we will not leave London until you are recovered.”

“Do not delay your happiness on my account. Now, go send word to the surgeon. I have letters to write.”

“Very well, Mother.” He stood and kissed her on the cheek.

She put her hand to the spot when he was done. “You haven’t kissed me since you were a boy.”

“I do not want us to have such a difficult time anymore. I shall need your advice.”