To Win His Wayward Wife (10 page)

Chapter 11

Benjamin stared at his sleeping wife. Even when she slept she was enchanting. Her mouth hung open slightly, revealing her pretty white teeth. Her hair hung lazily over one of her eyes in the most seductive manner he’d ever seen. She was still clad in her chemise with the front gaping open from of how she was laying on her side with both hands resting under her head.

Silently, he rolled away from her and walked to go get their clothes. They’d been asleep for at least an hour out in the sun and her shoulders were beginning to turn pink. He imagined his backside was, too, but considered that a small price to pay for having spent so much time in her presence. He hadn’t wanted to expose his past with Andrew. He knew it was showed him in the most unfavorable light possible. But she’d asked, and compared to telling her why he’d wanted her family shamed off the continent last year, it seemed the better choice.

At least she’d understood, or said she did anyway. She had a point though. At nearly thirty, it was time for him and Andrew to put the past behind them and act friendly toward each other, for the sake of their wives if for no other reason. For some reason telling her the story and admitting his jealous feelings aloud almost made it all vanish. Andrew may have known both of his biological parents, but his relationship with them wasn’t any better than Benjamin’s. As for being jealous of Andrew for having a wife who loved him and a child, well, he realized that wasn’t even jealousy. It was longing. Thinking about it logically, he realized Andrew really didn’t have anything he couldn’t get. Except Madison. And that was the crux of his newfound jealously of the man.

In his early twenties, the young girls used to chase Benjamin in throngs and declare their undying love and adoration for him. Now, in his late twenties, most women still pursued. He just didn’t care about it now like he did then. He could have married any one of those women and had a wife who loved him the way Brooke loved Andrew. But none of those girls were Madison. And to be frank, he’d be hard pressed to lie and say he didn’t believe that Madison had romantic feelings for Andrew.

It was in the way she talked to and about him. The way she’d appealed to Andrew to rescue her from her own husband. The way the two talked and teased in the dining room about some family joke they wouldn’t share with him. How she’d dressed like a nightwalker and met him in his study. All the other reasons: the mother who loved him, the wife who loved him, the son he created out of love, he could dismiss his jealous feelings over. But not Madison. She was
his
wife.
He
deserved her love. And as long as Madison continued to entertain romantic notions of Andrew, he, Benjamin, her husband, was left out in the cold.

He could always shed light on the ways Andrew was not a candidate for sainthood. But if he did that, he’d always feel like he’d only won her by default. He had no intention to win her that way. He’d rather lose her altogether than win her that like that.

He pulled on his trousers and scooped up his discarded clothes before going behind the bushes and grabbing her gown and sketch pad. Arms full of their clothes, he walked back to where Madison still lay asleep on the grass. He dropped all the clothes to the ground and reached down to grab his shirt. He shook out his shirt and draped it over Madison’s exposed skin to keep her from burning.

“How long have I been asleep,” she asked sleepily after he’d finished positioning his shirt over her.

“An hour,” he said quietly. “You can close your eyes and go back to sleep if you’d like.”

“Are you leaving?” she asked, turning her head to see his face.

He brushed her hair out of her blue eyes. “No. I’ll be here.”

“Why am I wearing your shirt?” she asked, fingering the edges of the shirt that was draped over her.

“You were starting to burn,” he explained. “I didn’t want you to have a sunburn so I covered you up.”

“Thank you. Do you burn?”

“Not usually, but I might have today,” he said as he repositioned himself on the grass.

“That’s good,” she said sweetly as she lowered her eyelids.

“Good?” he echoed. Perhaps his enchanting wife had a penchant for talking nonsense in her sleep.

“Yes, you could use some color in your cheeks,” she mumbled sleepily.

He let out a shout of laughter. “You’re being rather naughty.”

“Yes, I know,” she admitted. “Very naughty. I have a feeling that’s why you like me.”

He smiled. At least she knew he liked her. “You’re right, it is. Well, part of the reason anyway.”

She rolled over onto her back and looked up at his downturned face. “Do you want to know the reason I like you?”

His breath caught. She actually liked him? “Yes,” he said solemnly, nodding.

“You’ve been very patient with me,” she said, settling her head on his lap.

“I don’t want you to fear me, Madison,” he said, running his fingers through her somewhat tangled hair. “I don’t know why you do.”

“Yes, you do,” she said ruefully. “It’s because of what happened with Brooke.”

Should he tell her? Just blurt it out? What would it hurt at this point? She was already his wife. Just because she didn’t have any interest in him before didn’t change the fact that she’d married him anyway. “The reason I hired Andrew to ruin Brooke is—”

“Excuse me, sir. Are you Gateway?” interrupted a fellow carrying a messenger’s bag.

“Yes,” Benjamin said, eyeing him curiously.

“I’ve a note for you,” the messenger said, holding out a missive in his direction.

“Thank you,” he said, grabbing the missive with a frown. His frown deepened when he saw the handwriting on the outside. His estate manager at Glenbrook must be having problems. He’d deal with it later.

“Aren’t you going to read it?” Madison asked as he tossed it on the ground.

“No. There’ll be plenty of time for that later. Right now, I’m spending time with you,” he said with a smile.

“What if it’s important?”

“It’s not,” he said in a way he hoped she’d interpret as final. “Nothing is more important than you at the moment.”

“Thank you,” she said, moving her head closer to his abdomen. “Oh, am I hurting you?”

“No, why?”

“Your face changed when I moved my head,” she said, moving to sit up.

He pushed her back down. “My facial expression was not one of pain. Not the kind you’d understand anyway.”

She smiled at him and slightly moved her head around.

“Don’t tease,” he warned.

“Sorry,” she said with a wink. “You’re actually rather fun, did you know?”

“Once again, no. Nobody thinks I’m fun.”

“Well, I do.”

“Well, you’re the only one,” he returned, running a finger down her cheek.

“That’s not true,” she argued. “Lizzie likes you.”

He shook his head. “Yes, much to Townson’s dismay, she does.”

Madison smiled up at him. “See, I’m not the only one.” She turned her head and faced the water. “Thank you for teaching me to swim. I know I was rather shabby at it, but thank you.”

“You weren’t shabby at all,” he countered, rubbing her upturned cheek with his knuckle. “Your backstroke was perfect.”

“Is that the only stroke you know?” she asked after a minute.

“No. I also know the breaststroke.”

She whipped her head around to face him. “Did you just say what I think you said?”

“Yes,” he answered with a grin.

“Why do I get the feeling you made that up?” she mumbled.

He shrugged. “I don’t know. But I didn’t”

She shook her head, causing him more discomfort than before. “Surely it was a man who thought of it.”

“Probably,” he conceded. “Some call it the front crawl. Perhaps you’ve heard of it by that term.”

“No,” she murmured. “Dare I ask why it’s called the breaststroke?”

“Because when you do it, you feel the muscles pulling right here.”

***

Madison froze. His hand was most definitely resting right at the top of her left breast. His gentle but firm fingers were scorching her skin and sending the most unusual sensations skidding through her body. She shifted her eyes to his and saw a look she’d never seen before. She’d seen hunger and desire before, but she’d never seen such tenderness.

The tender look in his eyes was far more unsettling than him touching her breast.

“Perhaps I’ll teach you another day,” he said, moving his fingers away.

The absence of his touch was chilling. She’d noticed when he’d put his hand there, and yet, she’d noticed it more when it was gone. How bizarre. “Another day?” she repeated. She wasn’t sure what he’d planned, but she didn’t plan to live out the rest of her days swimming in her sister’s stream.

“Another day,” he confirmed. “I can’t get back in the water today,” he explained with a pointed glance to his drawstringless drawers.

“Right, because you want to keep me interested,” she teased. Although truly, how could any woman find interest in
that
.

“Exactly,” he agreed, humor dancing in his eyes.

“It’s probably time for lunch anyway,” she said, wiggling around and trying to get back up.

“You’re right. I cannot wait to hear the topic of conversation today,” he muttered sarcastically, taking to his feet.

“You lucked out. That was mild compared to what she had to say in her cottage,” Madison said, slightly blushing.

“My sincerest apologies. If I had known she was taking you off to elaborate more on her horrendous wedding night, I would have interfered,” he said quickly, putting on his shirt.

Madison scooped up her gown. “No, I’d heard all about that after our engagement was announced.”

Benjamin’s head snapped in her direction. His eyes searched her face. “She didn’t scare you, did she?”

“Oh, no,” Madison said laughingly, trying to pull her gown on. “And yesterday we actually talked exclusively about you.”

“Me?” he repeated a bit confused, jabbing a finger toward his still bare chest. 

Madison righted her sleeves. “How else do you think I knew you liked to run around in the field naked?”

Benjamin groaned.

“And,” she said, coming up to him to button up his shirt for him, “that was one of the less amusing things she had to say about you.”

Chapter 12

“What are your plans for tomorrow,” Benjamin asked Madison quietly as they took their seats at the table for their evening meal.

Madison leaned down to fix her skirt that seemed to be snagged on the heel of her slipper. “Going to Bath to tutor a group of illiterate bastards.”

“Excuse me?” he burst out, drawing all the attention of the table to him and Madison.

“I believe you heard me,” Madison returned evenly.

Benjamin stared at her and shook his head. “I don’t believe I did,” he said honestly. There was no way she’d just said what he thought he’d heard.

“No, you heard her correctly,” Brooke said, trying not to laugh. “Although I believe Liberty calls them illegitimate illiterates.”

Madison shrugged. “Illegitimate illiterates, illiterate bastards, same thing.”

“Say, Gateway, you’re a bastard, why don’t you go, too,” Andrew said, his lips twitching.

Benjamin shot him a peeved stare. “I’d love to, Andrew. But I wasn’t invited.”

“You are now,” Madison said with a smile that made his heart skip a beat.

“All right,” he agreed. “But only if you’ll spend the rest of the day with me in Bath.” He’d planned to ask her to go there with her tomorrow anyway. He was worried she’d refuse or her watchdogs wouldn’t approve, but her plans to go there already worked to his advantage.

“All right,” she said quietly. “You do know there’s not a lot to do there.”

“There’s enough,” he said with a wolfish smile. Yesterday he’d made plans for them in Bath that would be met with an automatic “no” if he told her now. Knowing this, he wisely decided to keep quiet about his secret plans.

After dinner was cleared and he’d walked Madison to her room and asked for his obligatory goodnight kiss, which was met with a quick peck on the cheek—again, he went in search of Andrew and Brooke. He knew Madison was right; he owed them both an apology for what he’d done. Not that he really thought it was so bad since it did end in their happy marriage. But all the same, he shouldn’t have interfered the way he had.

Stevens, the butler, told him they were in a private sitting room upstairs and Benjamin made his heavier-than-lead feet carry him there. After a light knock on the door, Andrew’s curious face greeted him. “May I talk to you,” Benjamin said quietly.

Andrew’s body stiffened and his gaze turned hard. “What’s going on?” he demanded.

“Nothing,” Benjamin said, shaking his head. “I owe Brooke an apology for something and I’ve come to make it.”

“Yes, you do,” Andrew said, opening the door all the way and allowing Benjamin to come in.

Brooke was sitting in rocking chair holding her infant, seeming unaware he’d entered the room. “Brooke,” he said softly, sitting down in the chair next to hers.

“Gateway,” she said, startled.

“Sorry, didn’t mean to startle you,” he murmured.

“It’s all right,” she said uneasily, her eyes shifting from him to her husband.

Running a hand through his hair, Benjamin said some words she should find somewhat familiar, “I’m a bounder of the worst sort, Brooke. But I’m savable. Part of being savable is admitting when I’m wrong. And I admit I was wrong last spring when I contracted someone to ruin you. I apologize.”

Brooke’s dark brown eyes searched his face. “I don’t understand,” she said at last.

“I know,” he said quietly. “One day you will, but I cannot explain it to you until I’ve told Madison. It’s only fair.”

She nodded. “Gateway, I—”

“Benjamin,” he corrected.

“Benjamin,” she said, shaking her head a little. “I don’t hold against you what you did to me. I let go of that long ago. Actually, I should thank you for it. I’d still be kissing bounders like you in the shrubs if it hadn’t been for you and your harebrained scheme,” she said with a grin. “I just don’t know you well enough to trust you with my sister. I know you’re not as dangerous as the
ton
thinks, but I just don’t know you.”

“I know,” he allowed.

She sighed. “As long as you tell Madison everything, that’s all I can ask for.”

“I will,” Benjamin said, standing up.

“Oh, Benjamin,” Brooke said quietly. “One more thing.” She closed her eyes for a minute and twisted the edge of Nathan’s baby blue blanket for a minute before looking at him again. “I think she likes you. Please be careful with her. She’s been through a lot.”

“I know,” he said solemnly. Brooke didn’t look like she believed him, but he didn’t want to expose his relation to Robbie because then he’d have no choice but to tell her the reasons he’d hired Andrew to ruin her, and Madison deserved that explanation first. “I care more for her than you can possibly understand.”

“I hope so,” Brooke said, cocking her head in interest.

Benjamin walked across the room to where an interested Andrew stood with his arms crossed, leaning against the door. “In case you haven’t figured it out yet, Andrew, the reason I chose you to be the one to ruin her was because of Lizzie. I know you didn’t know of my connection to her at the time—per her request, of course. I knew you were impoverished and were about to lose that estate in Essex. That’s why I leant you the money. I had no intentions of actually repossessing it. But when you defaulted and insisted you owed it to me, I was in a position to think of another way to let you keep that house so Lizzie would have a home.

“The simple solution was to give her one of my estates. However, that presented two problems. One, she wouldn’t take it from me, and two, it would cause gossip and questions. My only other option was to give you a bank draft, but everyone knows no self-respecting man would accept that much money.” He shrugged. “When another possibility presented itself—one I cannot mention just now—it seemed the best solution. It would give you an income and Lizzie a place to live.”

Andrew nodded. “I’d figured that out shortly after I married. I believe I was sitting on a hard bench reading a newspaper and waiting for my irate wife to emerge from her holdings when it hit me. I know I wasn’t very gracious the day I found out about our bizarre connection, but I want you to know I appreciate what you’ve done.”

“No need to thank me, just forgive me,” he said returned with a wry smile.

***

They were in the carriage on their way to Bath to help the illiterate bastards learn to read. As shocked as he first was to hear Madison say that, he had a feeling he was actually going to enjoy the activity. But not as much as he was going to like the activity that followed, of that, he was certain.

“You look awfully excited to go help a group of outcasts learn to read,” Madison mused as she sat next to him in the carriage.

“Well, seeing as I’m going to help my own kind—bastards and outcasts—I should be excited,” he quipped. “I just had no idea Liberty was involved in such an organization.”

“She didn’t either at first,” Madison said evasively. “You seem rather accepting of your position.”

“I’m not,” Benjamin told her. He knew she was alluding to the fact Andrew had pointed out his bastardy for all and sundry the night before. “If Andrew had been anyone else, I would have called him out. The fact is, most marriages among the nobility are not love matches and infidelity is very common. I’d estimate at least two third of the second born are bastards and at least a quarter of the first. Unfortunately, I fall into that category. I don’t like it, but I can’t change it. However, I do not advertise it and I would have been rather displeased if Andrew had made that comment in front of anyone who didn’t already know.”

“It's ironic how you spread rumors at school about him being a bastard, when he's not, and in the end, you're the one who is and hardly anyone knows it,” she mused, knitting her brows.

He nodded sadly. “I know. But in my own defense, I was only thirteen. Not to mention, in a legal sense, I'm not a bastard. The duke did claim me as his.”

She smiled at him. “There's no need to defend yourself, Benjamin. As I said yesterday, I do understand your side of the tale where Andrew is concerned and I sympathize with you.”

He smiled weakly at her.

“Anyway, Andrew didn’t mean anything by his comment last night,” she said nonchalantly. “I realized very early on in his courtship with Brooke that he’d never intentionally be cruel.”

Benjamin shrugged. Quite honestly his dealings with Andrew in the past ten or more years had been so limited he really couldn’t comment.

The literacy meeting was held in the common room at Paul’s church. Which was a vast improvement from where meetings were originally held, or so he’d been told. There were about thirty students ranging from young children around ages five and six all the way to adults who were in their forties. It was actually a rather humbling sight to behold. All his life he’d held a title and been an heir to a dukedom, never denied anything money could buy, and yet, he still felt empty. Whereas, most of the people in the room had next to nothing and were much more content than he’d ever been.

Lizzie caught sight of him after he’d walked in and directed him to help his wife with whatever group she joined. That was an instruction he didn’t need to hear twice. He hung to the side of the room by where the children were and watched for Madison. He assumed she’d join the children’s group. She seemed the sort that would want several children clutching her skirts and calling her Mama. He smiled; she’d make a great mother.

Madison came to his side. “Come on, we’ll go to the back corner.”

Benjamin frowned. The back corner? That was where all the forty-something aged people were. “Why?”

She shrugged. “Because they need to learn penmanship.”

“And you’re going to teach them?”

“No. We are,” she said, pulling on his sleeve.

He tried not to groan. He’d never liked practicing his letters as a child and now to volunteer to sit with a group while they did such a tedious task felt like pure torture. Why did people at that age need to learn to write anyway? They’d already survived forty years without the skill, why start now?

“Because people who are illiterate often get taken advantage of,” Madison explained, startling him. She laughed. “You must not have realized you were mumbling under your breath.”

“Sorry,” he muttered. “What do you mean they get taken advantage of?” He ran a duchy and he was quite certain many of his tenants couldn’t read or write, but they’d never complained about being taken advantage of. They’d complained about a great many other things, but never that.

“Think about it, if you cannot read or write and you get a bill from the local smithy, how in the world are you supposed to know if he’s ripping you off?”

That brought him up short. He had no idea how someone would know if they were being openly robbed. “You make a good point,” he conceded.

“Thank you.” She took a seat at the table full of adults. “Good morning,” she said to the group who had missed work or abandoned their household duties in order to come to the meeting. “I’m Mrs. Grimes’ sister, Madison and this is my husband—”

“Benjamin,” he cut in. Not that he’d care if society found out he, a duke, volunteered to help a group of people born on the wrong side of the blanket, but if she was going to be informal, so was he.

“Right,” she continued. “Well, we’re going to work on letters today. I’ve brought a stack of…”

Benjamin leaned back in his chair and watched her as she explained what she’d brought for them to use to write their letters. She got up and walked around to look over each of their shoulders as they practiced. Only once did she require his help and that was to ask him to sharpen a quill. She worked so well with them helping them hold their quill better so their letters would come out more smoothly and  teaching them tricks to remember the difference between a “b” being a line with a belly and a “d” being a line with a derriere. She was amazing.

Six years ago during one of their brief conversations, she’d told him she volunteered at an orphanage to help teach children to read and write. He’d had a hard time picturing it then. She’d been so young, it was difficult envisioning her demanding the attention and controlling the lesson. But now, seeing her actually do it, he was in awe. All the people at the table watched her as if they were just as fascinated by her as he was.

“Are you ready to go?” she asked, gaining her feet.

Benjamin nodded. “You’re quite good with them.”

“Thank you,” she said with a pink blush.

He helped Madison put away a few stray books and papers before heading out to the carriage. “Are you hungry?” he asked, leaning back against the squabs in the seat across from her. He would have rather sat next to her, but she’d arranged her skirt in a way there was no room to sit next to her without sitting on it.

“Famished,” she said with a smile. “The people I’ve been staying with, well, don’t tell them I said this, but they’ve been starving me.” Her eyes were positively sparkling with laughter

He chuckled. “I won’t tell them that if you don’t tell them I think their overall hospitality is lacking where I’m concerned.”

“Hmm. That seems odd. I’d think they’d welcome
you
with open arms. Perhaps you should write a letter to the master of the house complaining of poor treatment,” she mused, her traitorous lips twitching.

“I doubt it would do much good,” he responded casually. “However, I’ve a few coins to my name and I know an excellent place to eat in Bath. Would you care to go or shall I return you to Rockhurst to feast on gruel?”

She bit her lip and rolled her eyes up to look study the top of his carriage. “Gruel does sound delightful, I must admit. However, the company would positively ruin it for me. So, I think I shall endure your company alone and suffer a far less tasty meal.”

“Very well,” he said with a grin. He liked playing these games with her. It made him feel like they finally had something that was just between them. “Can I tell you a secret?”

“Please do,” she said, leaning her whole body forward, bringing her face scant inches from his.

He leaned forward, too. Closing the space to two inches between them, and in a stage whisper said, “I love waffles and hot chocolate.”