The Wicked Wager (18 page)

Emma glanced at Richard leaning next to her
chair and offered a tremulous smile. He gently touched her cheek and pulled her
off the seat into his arms.

Lord Raikes had spent the previous evening
and most of the night coming to the conclusion that he was a pompous idiot with
a decided prejudice against women.

He had initially started writing to please
himself, and using words he learnt on his travels had been a way for him to
remember all he had seen. The indigenous words brought up the flavour of the
country like nothing else did.

He had continued writing in a similar vein
in spite of his publishers request to simplify his work for his readers. He
wrote to reflect his intelligence rather than his desire to instruct or tell the
world of the various curiosities he discovered.

He wanted to prove to that long forgotten
love that he was better than anyone. He wanted her to regret letting him go,
and over time, as her face faded from his memories, his methods became a habit.

As for Catherine, she had been unaware of
the identity of the author. She did not know she had been insulting him every
time she spoke. He could hardly blame her, for had it been another writer he
would have laughed and mayhap joined in with his own scathing observations.

He had forgiven her, and he intended to
make up for his earlier harsh comments.

He entered the morning room and found
Catherine in the midst of unravelling a blue yarn.

He paused briefly to take a deep breath,
and then composing his face into a mildly curious expression asked, “What are
you knitting?”

Catherine eyed him silently, and then
tilted her head in Emma’s direction, who sat staring out of the window.

He ignored her hints and took a seat next
to her.

“A sweater,” she finally answered his
question loudly, hoping her cousin would look up and join her fiancé.

Emma glanced up and smiled encouragingly in
their direction, then went back to searching the landscape.

“Are you supposed to miss three stitches in
a row?” he asked.

“Yes, it is part of a pattern,” she lied.
She had never missed a stitch since she had turned sixteen. What in the world
was wrong with her?

“I see. What do you think she is trying to
find?” he asked, nodding in Emma’s direction.

“It’s raining, I doubt she can see
anything. Perhaps she is just thinking.”

“What do you think requires such deep
concentration?”

“Why don’t you ask her, My Lord?”

“Oh, but I do not want to disturb her. She
may be untangling some difficult problem. I may interfere in her train of thought.”

“But you have no qualms in disturbing me?”

“No, since knitting cannot require a great
deal of concentration.”

“I could be solving some great, urgent
problem while my hands remain occupied. Like you pointed out, I do not need to
think to knit.”

“True, so was something bothering you?”

“Pardon,” she asked, confused, staring into
his eyes.

He blinked, and a smile tugged at the
corners of his lips.

“I asked if something were bothering you.
What are you thinking of while you knit?”

“You,” she replied, and then blushed in
embarrassment as she realised what she had said. Her colour deepened as his
smile grew.

“We are giving a party tonight, My Lord, in
honour of your presence,” Emma interrupted. She had noticed the scene and could
sympathize with her cousin’s dilemma.

“I look forward to it. Are many people
expected?”

“Just a few families from the neighbourhood
are invited. It won’t be a fully-fledged ball, but we will have dancing after
dinner. We have tried to keep the guest list relatively young.”

“It will not be at par with what
you
are used to, My Lord, but we will try our best to amuse you,” Catherine broke
in.

“I am sure it will be delightful,” he
politely replied, immediately making her feel small for her slight jibe.

Emma had had enough of the tension between
the two.

“Can you two get along for one day without
sniping at each other. My Lord, stop seeking her out and disturbing her … and
Cat, you can say what you like with me in the room, but please do not behave
like this in public. I will ignore it, but others will not.”

She marched out of the room leaving them to
sort out their differences. Richard had been right. She had carefully observed
her cousin during the entire interaction and noted the blush. Her cousin had
tensed the moment Lord Raikes had joined her. Her fingers trembled when she had
tried to answer his questions.

The only reason Lord Raikes could possibly
affect her cousin’s composure to such an extent was if Catherine were attracted
to him.

The misunderstandings between Catherine and
Lord Raikes would not have arisen if circumstances had been different. She felt
she was to blame, since the crux of the matter was the wager.

She wondered if the charade would ruin any
chances of a romance blossoming between the two. 

Everyone assumed Lord Raikes to be Richard;
hence, she was worried Catherine would become a target for gossip if people
noticed. Her attraction to Lord Raikes was clear as day, and people would
assume that she was trying to ensnare an affianced man. Even Lord Raikes’ behaviour
would be noted and commented upon.

She finally concluded that she had been
right in warning them. It had to be said, and she was the only one who could
have said it.

Lord Raikes watched Emma leave, her words still
ringing in his ears. He finally broke the silence and spoke,

“I think she is right. At least for
tonight, let’s call a truce. I do not want to give people any reason to
gossip.”

“Perhaps you should avoid me the entire
evening, that might be best.” Her voice trembled as she spoke.

“Lady Arden?” He watched a tear fall and
immediately pulled her into his arms, knitting needles and all.

She feebly protested, pushing against his
chest. He murmured soothing nonsense until she gave up struggling. The moment
her head settled on his chest a dam seemed to burst within her, and she wailed
to her hearts content.

Lord Raikes was alarmed at the display of
such excessive feminine emotion, though his alarm soon turned into contentment.
He tightened his arms around her as he realised how right she felt in his arms.

“Hush, what is worrying you? I will stay as
far away from you as you like, but please do not cry.”

“You are not doing a very good job of
staying away,” she hiccupped and continued, “I cannot help fighting with you,
and I truly am trying for Emmy’s sake. She will marry you and go away. How will
I visit her if you forbid my presence? I keep saying the wrong things and doing
the wrong things around you, and I can’t understand myself anymore. Yesterday
you made it clear that you disliked me and that you hold a low opinion of my
character, yet out of kindness and for Emmy’s sake you tried to speak to me
amiably. Whereas I cannot even manage to be polite in your presence … now even
Emma has noticed. She will hate me for behaving like a child.”

“I do not dislike you. On the contrary …”
he stopped and clenched his fists in frustration. Then his face softened, and
he lifted his hand to tenderly stroke her golden hair, “I promise by my honour,
you will never be stopped from visiting Emma, however many times you wish, and
however long you want to visit her. I would never pose such unreasonable
restrictions on my wife. She will have all the freedom she wants, including
reading whatever inappropriate material she chooses.”

Catherine laughed and then hiccupped. She
rubbed her tear stained face against his shirt, and his muscles tensed. She
felt the change in him and suddenly sat up.

“I made your shirt wet.”

“It will dry,” he replied gently.

She smiled hesitatingly, and his eyes
darkened as he watched her lips turn up. That smile was his undoing, and the
words tumbled out,

“Look, I am not what I seem to be. That is,
I am what I am, but I am not what I say I am. I am pretending to be me, but I
am me … what I mean to say is that I am being myself, but I am not …”

“Are you alright, My Lord? You are not
making any sense,” Catherine asked confounded.

He groaned, “I am not alright, I am trying
to explain …”

“What are you trying to explain?” Prudence
called from the door.

Lord Raikes thanked god for her timely
arrival. His friend would never forgive him for what he had been about to say
and do.

He would have to keep his distance from
Catherine from now on. The next time they were left alone he wasn’t sure if he
could stop himself from tasting her lips.

“Emma, how did you manage to invite so many
people and not one of them has met Richard?”

“Lord Raikes, credit me with some of the
deviousness of the earl. I only invited the ones that have not yet tasted the
London season. Apart from that, none of them are the sorts that move in social
circles belonging to your class. They live their life in this village, and the
duke encourages us to befriend them, as he does not abide by distinction.
Unless it crosses lines of propriety, he believes in judging a man by his merit
and not birth.”

“That is noble of him. I have spent
considerable time with your uncle since my arrival here, and I have learnt to
respect him. Are you sure he is unaware of this charade?”

“Why, has he said anything?” she asked in
alarm.

“Keep moving your feet, the dance is not
over. No, he has not, but sometimes I wonder how we have managed to fool such
an intelligent man. He hardly misses any detail, and I find it hard to believe
that he is not aware of everything that is going on in this house.”

“Oh, he is growing old, and Richard’s plan
is brilliant. How can anyone fathom such an absurd situation? I am the only one
who has met the earl, and if I say you are Richard, then they have no reason to
doubt my word. You worry too much, My Lord.”

He stared down at her face thoughtfully. He
was not so sure. Still, it was just another fortnight before this ridiculous
plot was over.

“I wonder if we can delay this entire thing
by another week?” he asked hopefully.

Emma stopped dancing and refused to budge.

“Whatever do you mean and why?”

“I need time to woo Catherine.”

“You can’t be serious? You are supposed to
be my fiancé! We are meant to be madly in love. How can you make eyes at my
cousin? What will people think? Besides, she believes you are in love with me
and are to marry me. The more you pester her, the more you fall in her eyes.
Even if she felt something for you, she would never admit it.”

“I can’t help the things I say to her, and
the more I mean them the angrier she gets. She thinks I am a cold, heartless
man who is playing games, courting anything in skirts.”

“Oh, you poor thing.”

“I am glad you see my dilemma, while
Richard thinks this whole situation is hilarious.”

“Men can be so callous,” she replied.

“Exactly!”

“Now, go dance with Prudence as I cannot
stand her glaring a minute longer, while I go rescue my uncle from Mrs Barker.”

“I thought you were sympathizing with me?”

“I was, but now duty calls. Oh, don’t look
so miserable. Once I am married, I will call Catherine over for a visit, and
you can have three months of uninterrupted courtship.”

“I am not going to wait an entire month to
get her!”

“Oh, no, not you too, why can’t a man wait?
First Richard and now you! Please do not plan some convoluted scheme to get my
cousin. My nerves will not be able to handle another one of these situations.”

“I am not waiting an entire month,” he
replied stubbornly to her departing back.

***

“I need some fresh air, My Lord.”

Lord Raikes stifled a sigh. Prudence had
spent two whole dances clinging to his arm. He had hoped to be excused to ask
someone else, but it seemed it was not to be.

“I will accompany you to the balcony if you
wish?” he said, fervently hoping she didn’t.

“Thank you, My Lord,” Prudence replied,
fluttering her lashes.

They strolled out through the doors, with
Prudence having to bend slightly to avoid hitting her giant hairdo on the door
frame. A little bit of hair from the top came off, and the curls scattered onto
the floor. She did not notice, and he did not point it out.

She led him towards a dark corner, and he,
guessing her intentions, started sweating profusely.

He was running through excuses in his mind
when she leaned forward and pressed her full length against him.