She sighed. “Even if it is, you overlook a prime motive.”
“Your lush body?”
She turned crimson, stood up, and threw her napkin down on top of her desert, which had just arrived. Her footman was blushing, too, and hurrying back out the door. Good God, she couldn’t believe Sebastian had said that, and with a servant in the room to hear it!
“You are, without a doubt, the most despicable man I have ever met. I was referring to the title that will pass to my husband’s son, much more incentive than a—a—”
“Lush body,” he reminded her.
Even more color shot to her cheeks. Without a thought, she picked up her napkin, smeared now with cream and whipped chocolate, and tossed it at his head. Bloody hell, she missed. But at least the chocolate and cream splattered across his forehead, she noticed, on her way out the door.
“Don’t run away mad, Maggie,” he called after her.
“Go to the devil, you odious man!”
Was that laughter she heard? No, just her imagination. She remembered that Sebastian Townshend had forgotten how to laugh.
Chapter 12
A BRISK AUTUMN WIND tugged at the skirt of Margaret’s riding habit as she walked to the stable. An avid horsewoman, she owned quite a few riding habits, one for each day of the week, and had had to restrain herself from buying even more. Edna had laid out the emerald green one for her today and attached white and green lace streamers to the top hat she wore with it.
She was quite fashionably clad, but there was no one around to appreciate it. She sighed. She’d overslept this morning. She hadn’t been able to sleep last night because she’d been so angry with Sebastian and appalled at her own behavior. She still couldn’t believe she’d tossed her good breeding out the door and thrown her dinner napkin at him. The man addled her, plain and simple.
When she’d gone downstairs this morning, the house had been quiet. Florence and Gussie had probably gone shopping in Edgeford to restock the pantry, now that she was home. A few pastries had been left in the dining room, and she’d grabbed two and wrapped them in a napkin, one for her and one for her mare Sweet Tooth.
Before she went to Europe, Daniel Courtly had been in the habit of joining her each morning on her ride. She supposed she ought to send word to him that she was home. She’d been gone so long, though, he might have started courting someone else in the neighborhood.
There were a number of ladies still available in their small social circle to whom he might have switched his attention. Actually, the circle wasn’t that small anymore. A prime location, close enough to London to make traveling there a short jaunt, but even closer to the coast and the cliffs that offered such magnificent views, the area surrounding Edgeford had received a moderate in-flux of new neighbors over the years who either built new homes or bought existing properties they could expand. And many of them followed Alberta Dorrien’s lead.
For a good fifteen years now, Alberta, with the esteemed title of dowager duchess, had been the social matriarch of the neighborhood, entertaining frequently, including not one but two grand balls each year that drew the ton from London. Margaret had missed Alberta’s summer ball this year while she was traveling in Europe. She’d met Daniel at one of Alberta’s earlier balls.
She sighed over Daniel. She had been selfish in continuing her friendship with him when she had no intention of marrying him. Although he was quite suitable for a husband, her feelings for him didn’t run in that direction. She liked him. She felt they were friends. Their humor was compatible. But he didn’t excite her. And so she didn’t encourage him, flirt, or otherwise lead him to believe she’d like their relationship to progress to the next stage, which was probably why he’d never made any serious overtures toward her. Perhaps they were just friends and she had only imagined that he’d been courting her.
Ned, the head groomsman, led Sweet Tooth out of the stable as Margaret approached. She was surprised that she didn’t need to wait.
“You didn’t keep her saddled all this time, did you?” she asked, her tone slightly scolding.
“No, m’lady,” he assured her. “Edna sent word that you were coming down.”
“Did she?”
Margaret was distracted by her mare, who’d gotten the scent of her and ripped her reins from the groom’s hand to reach Margaret sooner. She was nearly butted to the ground by the mare’s affection.
“She’s really missed you,” Ned was saying. “She pined something terrible that first month you were gone. Barely ate. Tried to bite me every time I got near her. I finally had to bribe her with sweets to behave.”
Margaret had to do the same, and quickly offered Sweet Tooth both pastries to get her to settle down. It helped only marginally. The mare was scolding her and greeting her in her own unique way.
“I’d suggest you ride her immediately,” Ned said. “She’s too excited by your return to stay still. Ian will only be a moment. He’s saddling up now.”
Another of the White Oaks’ grooms, Ian was her regular escort, which was necessary because Daniel usually accompanied her on her rides. “I’ll just take a quick turn about the grounds to get the wind out of her, and come back for Ian.”
“A good idea,” Ned agreed and offered Margaret a heft up, which she accepted.
Goodness, she was barely in the saddle when Sweet Tooth took off at a gallop. She loved her horse, but sometimes the mare showed her Thoroughbred breeding too much. She came from a line of prominent racers, so prominent that Margaret was contacted several times a year by breeders who wanted to bring their best studs to the mare. She refused them all. She wasn’t going to let her favorite mount become too fat to ride.
She lost her hat on that brief race around the house. At least she didn’t lose her perch. It had been close. Sweet Tooth had gone too long without a good ride. Retrieving the hat, but not bothering to attempt to place it back on her head at the right angle, she swung by the front of the house to drop it off before she collected Ian. And got detained.
Daniel was there at her front door knocking when she rode up. His smile was nearly blinding when he saw her.
“Good God, Maggie, I was beginning to think you were never coming home!”
She blushed as she dismounted. Daniel never called her Maggie. Only the people who’d known her for most of her life did. And she couldn’t imagine how he’d picked up on her childhood name when she couldn’t recall even a single time he’d heard her called that. Which meant he was giving her what he thought was a personal nickname, which was too personal for their relationship. Goodness, what could he have been thinking while she was gone?
Daniel Courtly was a fine-looking man. Blond, blue eyed, with a tall, strapping body. He was quite handsome, actually, more so than she recalled. Perhaps it was the new mustache that he hadn’t sported previously. It gave him a somewhat dashing, rakish air.
She smiled. “It’s good to see you, Daniel. How did you know I was home?”
“Found out early this morning when I came by. I’ve been in the habit of stopping by a few times each week just to check if you’d returned. I never expected you to be gone so long!”
“Neither did—”
She didn’t get to finish, because she had the breath knocked out of her by his unexpected and highly improper bear hug. A rough one, too. First the horse, now this. So much mauling in one morning was a bit much!
And then she heard the door to the house open, and the most ominous voice said, “I hope you have an innocent reason to be hugging my wife.”
Daniel released her instantly. She didn’t manage to catch her breath because she lost it again when she saw Sebastian standing on the doorstep, looking as ominous as he’d sounded. She was reminded of how menacing he’d looked when she’d first met him. This was much worse. There was murder in his bright golden eyes, in fact, his very tone had implied that murder would be done if an innocent reason wasn’t forthcoming.
Daniel must have drawn the same conclusion, but he was too sh
ocked to answer. He simply stared incredulously at Sebastian as he blushed profusely. Margaret’s cheeks were red as well, but with anger. When had they decided that they were going to go the “fake” marriage route? Had she missed something? She could have sworn he’d said he was going to do some investigating before they determined whether it would be necessary to pretend they were married. And, really, shouldn’t the final decision have been hers?
“Need help?” Sebastian said into the painful silence, as he slowly walked toward them. “Childhood acquaintance? Old friend of the family? Relative I don’t know about?”
Daniel snapped out of it and quickly replied, “Margaret and I are old friends—well, not so old, only a few years. But I was merely welcoming her home.”
“Innocent—I suppose,” Sebastian allowed as he crossed his arms over his chest, but added, “As a precautionary measure, though, you’ll keep your hands to yourself henceforth. It’s nothing personal, old chap. I’m merely appalled to discover that I make a jealous husband.”
Put that way, Daniel relaxed slightly. He nodded and even courteously extended a hand for introductions. “I’m Daniel Courtly. And you are?”
Sebastian turned his back on them and walked back into the house without answering. So rude! And he’d left Margaret there to do the lying. Good God, she hoped she wouldn’t blunder it. She wasn’t exactly adept at telling falsehoods.
“I’m sorry, Daniel. His behavior is inexcusable. I’m as appalled as he is to learn of his jealous nature. Never witnessed it before.”
“You’ve married,” was all he said, the shocked expression returning to his face. “I don’t believe it.”
The hurt in his tone made Margaret distinctly uncomfortable. “I find it hard to believe m’self,” she assured him. “I didn’t leave here with the intention of looking for a husband in Europe. It was love at first sight, yes, indeed, that’s exactly what it was. Quite unexpected.”
“But he’s not foreign. He’s English. Who is he?”
“Henry Raven.”
“Raven? I’m not familiar with that name. Where is he from? London?”
She blushed. “I’m not at liberty to say.”
“You must be joking.”
“No. Let’s leave it at that, please. You’ll find out more about him soon enough.”
“I see—no, I bloody well don’t,” he said, angrily now. The hurt look on Daniel’s face made her feel so guilty, when she really had nothing to feel guilty about, well, other than lying about being married. She could deal much better with his anger.
“I’m devastated if you haven’t guessed,” he fumed. “I thought—obviously I thought wrong. Bloody hell, I don’t even like to ride! I merely took up the habit to be with you.”
She was about to remind him that their relationship hadn’t progressed far enough to warrant his heated reaction, when he up and left. He even shot her a look of disgust as he mounted his horse and rode off.
Margaret sighed. That had been so unpleasant, and so unnecessary. Blast Sebastian! What could he have been thinking to announce their “marriage” in such a rude way? The news was going to spread now. The visitors would start arriving that very day to wish them well and meet her new husband. And what the devil was she supposed to tell them? Yes, I’ve married. No, you can’t meet my husband, go away. Bloody hell. She was afraid this was going to cause quite a scandal.
Chapter 13
S HE FOUND SEBASTIAN IN THE DINING ROOM, looking over the selection of pastries laid out on the table, his back to the door.
“When is luncheon served?”
Margaret was nonplussed. How had he known she was there? She’d made no sound as she’d entered the room, had been especially quiet, in fact, so no servants would come out to see if she needed anything.
“The usual time, but you’re going to be served a piece of my mind first.”
He glanced over his shoulder and raised a brow. “Something wrong?”
How could he look so innocent, as if he hadn’t just rearranged her life? A ruse, no doubt, but it wasn’t going to work.
“What could be wrong? You just dashed that young man’s hopes, and most brutally. That was not the way to break the news to a man I’ve long been friends with. And about that news, how dare you change your mind about…our marriage without warning me first? I specifically recall—”
“Settle down, Maggie,” he cut in.
He’d turned to face her and popped a small cream puff in his mouth, then licked his fingers—slowly. Good God. Her stomach fluttered oddly, her pulse quickened. Thoughts deserted her as she stared at his mouth.
“Don’t do that,” he snapped.
She blinked. “What?”
“Bloody hell,” he said and turned back toward the table.
With his back to her again, her senses returned to normal, as did her thoughts. She wasn’t sure what had just happened, but she had a feeling it wouldn’t be wise to dwell on it. He’d managed to distract her from her anger for a moment, but she still wanted an answer from him.
“That nonsense about you being jealous—” she began.
“Was nonsense,” he replied, turning back around to face her.
“I know, but why did you do that? What was the point? And why are we suddenly ‘married’ when you weren’t even sure it would be necessary?”
“Timothy was very productive this morning. Now that I do deem it necessary to enact the farce, which was your suggestion, I might add, it was crucial that I stop you from making any blunders before the news spread.”
“I don’t make blunders,” she replied stiffly.
“In the usual sense, you probably don’t,” he allowed magnanimously. “But I was referring to your saying something to Courtly that would lead him to believe nothing has changed between you two, when in fact our ‘marriage’ changes everything. Are you getting the point yet, Maggie? If we’re going to go through with this, you don’t want to leave a doubting Thomas in the wings who could come forward later to denounce us.”
“It’s doubtful I would have said anything of the nature you’re implying. My relationship with Daniel wasn’t that close.”
“It was close enough for him to put his hands all over you.”
She blushed furiously. “That was no more than he claimed. He was welcoming me home.”
“A handshake would have sufficed,” he pointed out dryly. “Be that as it may, I merely made sure in the quickest way possible that no doubts would arise later. As it happens, I was looking for you to tell you what Timothy found out. Finding you in the embrace of another man, well, I actually thought it was too late, that you already might have blundered. Mentioning our ‘marriage’ was a calculated risk at that point but the only way to set the stage for our deception.”
“A handshake and introduction wouldn’t have sufficed?” she shot back.
He actually started to smile. No, surely it was her imagination. “Sorry, not my way,” he said.
“No, your way is to shake things up and get everyone’s emotions in a tangle.”
He shrugged. “Habit. Works very well in my line of work. People tend to say things they wouldn’t otherwise say, when they’re angry.”
She glared. “I’m not your mark, Sebastian, so don’t use those tactics on me.”
“But you exhibit such magnificent beauty when you’re angry, Maggie.” His golden eyes roamed up and down her body. “Hard to resist.”
“What rubbish.” She snorted and stomped angrily out of the room.
But she didn’t go very far. She was at the foot of the stairs when she realized he hadn’t told her why he’d deemed their pretend marriage necessary. He’d known she would come back, the odious man, because he was standing where she’d left him, facing the door and popping another cream puff into his mouth.
She glanced away before she could see him lick his fingers and stared at the floor as she began to pace it. “What was Timothy’s report?” she demanded.
“You might want to hear it first
hand. He’s pumped up proud of his deception.”
“Where is he?”
“Where else would a young boy be this time of the day? And while you’re there, tell your kitchen staff I’m ready for lunch.”
She bristled at the order but left to find Timothy in the kitchen. It looked like the boy had just finished eating, so she suggested, “Come for a ride with me, Tim. I’ve still to exercise my mare, and Ian has a horse saddled that you can use. You can be my escort.”
He beamed. The boy really did like being assigned new responsibilities. Odd for a child his age, when most would rather be off playing.
They rode toward Edgewood and stopped on a knoll overlooking Sebastian’s ancestral home.
“So what did you find out this morning that disturbed Sebastian?” she began.
“He didn’t look disturbed.”
“He never looks disturbed about anything, which is beside the point. What did you learn?”
“Well, I was in the stable down there asking for a job. Couldn’t get hired, though. All the jobs were taken. One of the grooms was French. Seemed very out of place, him. Wouldn’t talk at all except to tell me to get lost.”
“That disturbed Sebastian?”
“No, didn’t even mention that to him.”
Margaret rolled her eyes and decided to let Timothy tell his tale without interrupting him. “Go on.”
“Well, I was about to leave and go ask at the kitchen for work, when the big lord himself walked in and started saddling his horse. None of the other grooms came forward to do it for him, so I hurried over and offered to help, just like I worked there. Didn’t think he’d know the difference, and he didn’t.”
“That was rather ingenious of you.”
Timothy grinned. “I thought so. Well, I started chattering a bunch, ’bout this and that, nothing personal, mind you, just enough to make him relax and not really hear me, if you know what I mean. Then I mentioned his sons, told him I’d heard he had two fine ones. He definitely heard that. Got all stiff. Could have chilled milk next to him, he got so cold-like.”