“Thank you.” She stuffed the money into her pocket. “Where’s Georgy?”
“She lost her bet—said it made her feel sick,” Teddy explained.
“You shouldn’t have left her up on the bridge. I’ll go and find her.”
“Do you want me to come with you, Lu?” her brother asked.
“No, of course not. All you Oxford men will want to go and celebrate with Abercorn and his teammates. Don’t worry about us; we’ll be fine.”
“I’ll stay with you until you find her,” James’s brother volunteered.
“That’s very kind of you, Claud.” She glanced at James and found his eyes upon her. In his moment of glory in achieving his goal, she could not deny his irresistible attraction. She gifted him with a smile. “Enjoy your victory.”
James could not take his eyes off Lu. Standing beside the river in the sunlight, her cheeks flushed with excitement, she looked like a beautiful water sprite. Their friends and the cheering spectators receded, and it seemed as if there were just the two of them. He fantasized sweeping her up in his arms and carrying her to his boat, then rowing her across one of his private lakes in Ireland.
When they were secluded, he undressed her, slowly removing one garment at a time, until she stood before him in naked splendor. She smiled seductively and beckoned to him. He threw off his clothes and closed the distance between them. She came into his arms eagerly, sweetly, her lovely emerald eyes brimming with love.
“Come on, let’s celebrate our Oxford victory.” Charles and George Grey linked arms with James, and the lovely vision of Lady Lu disappeared in an instant.
On the last day of July, Parliament recessed for the summer. When the duke arrived home for dinner, he asked if the family was packed and ready to return to Woburn the following day. “We’ll spend a few days in Bedfordshire before we start our journey to Scotland. I accepted Earl Grey’s invitation to break our journey at Howick as we do every year.”
“The Greys are very hospitable and Northumberland is lovely in August. The packing is almost complete,” Georgina said. “We’ll be able to leave for Woburn tomorrow, after we pick up the children at Campden Hill.”
“James Hamilton was in the Lords this afternoon. Believe it or not, he has business in Scotland, so I invited him to travel with us. He thanked me very much and said he’d join us at Woburn in a couple of days.”
Louisa opened her mouth to protest, then closed it again. She had been particularly careful not to mention that they were going to Scotland, and she was dismayed that he had somehow ferreted the information out of her father.
The duchess was elated at the news. Neither of her daughters had received an offer and the season was over. “Without Abercorn, Oxford would have lost the boat race.” She gave Louisa a speculative glance. “James is a particular favorite of mine.”
After dinner, Georgy took her sister aside. “I want you to do me a favor, Lu.”
“Of course I will.”
“When we get to Campden Hill tomorrow, I want you to find some way to get Mother to stay overnight.”
Georgy’s face was so earnest that Louisa felt concern. Since their house in Kensington was next door to Holland House, she surmised that her sister was desperate to have one more try at making Teddy Fox offer for her. “I’ll think of something,” Louisa promised.
“Thanks, Lu. I knew I could count on you. Will you help me finish packing?”
The following day when their traveling coach arrived at Campden Hill, Rachel and Alexander ran out to meet them. “Mama! Lulu!”
Georgina swept her little girl into her arms and Rachel covered her mother’s face with kisses.
Alex unbuttoned his shirt. “Lulu, look at my chicken pox marks,” he said proudly. “I’m going to be a doctor when I grow up.”
Louisa examined his chest with great interest. He was no longer the chubby-cheeked six-year-old. Now that he’d turned seven, he was growing quickly. “Each scar is a badge of honor that attests to your bravery.”
“Oh, jolly good. I didn’t realize they were scars! Georgy, have a look.”
“You are a horrid lout. They are repulsive.”
Alexander looked inordinately pleased and trotted into the house after his father.
“Rachel, why don’t you show me the garden?” Louisa took her little sister’s hand. She led her across the lawns so they could dabble their fingers in the fishpond. Rachel giggled when the carp glided over to nibble their fingertips. “Shall we go next door and see Aunt Holly?”
They were climbing the steps of Holland House when Beth came through the front door. “Hello, Louisa. I saw the carriage turn down the drive and was just coming over.”
“How lovely. I’m sure Mother would appreciate an invitation to dinner tonight. That way we won’t have to drive all the way to Woburn this afternoon.”
“What a good idea. I expect Henry and Teddy will be here in time for dinner.”
In the Hollands’ dining room, Teddy sat between the Russell sisters and told them how much he would miss them when they were in Scotland.
Georgy felt enormous relief that he had arrived from London, and that because of the Hollands’ dinner invitation they wouldn’t be leaving for Woburn until tomorrow. By the time dessert was served, her uncertainty had vanished and was replaced by a feeling of confidence. She had been worried that she wouldn’t have a chance to talk to him, but sitting beside him made her anxiety vanish. Her mouth curved in a self-satisfied smile. They’ll all be so surprised when he offers for me.
When the meal was over and Lady Holland led the way to her sitting room so they could enjoy their wine, Georgy murmured to Teddy, “Go into the garden, and I’ll follow you in a minute or two.”
He winked at her knowingly.
Georgy spied her chance, and when the conversation turned to politics, she slipped from the room and made her way into the night-scented garden.
As she approached him beneath the willow tree, he said, “Not here—they’ll see us from the window.”
“Wait, Teddy . . . I have something to tell you.”
“Well, hurry up.”
“I think . . . I think I’m going to have a baby,” she murmured.
He took a step back from her. His face turned to stone. “What the devil does that have to do with me?”
Georgy felt the blood drain from her face. “Teddy, it’s your baby.”
“Just because you’re in trouble, don’t try to pin it on me.”
“Teddy, you’re the baby’s father. You’ll have to offer for me!”
“Offer for you? You must be jesting. If I were to offer for anyone, it would be Louisa.”
Georgy recoiled as his cruel words hit her in the face. She dashed toward him and clawed at his cheeks. “Louisa wouldn’t have a swine like you!”
He took hold of her wrists in a cruel vise. “Girls like you are for bedding, not wedding. It’s the oldest trick in the game. Credit me with some sense. I’m not about to fall into your tawdry marriage trap.”
Chapter Fifteen
My monthly courses are only a few days late. I’m likely worrying over nothing. Georgy closed her bedchamber door, thankful that Campden Hill was large enough that she didn’t have to share a room with Louisa.
She undressed in front of the mirror and rested her hand on her flat stomach. I’m not having a baby . . . God wouldn’t be that cruel to me. She stared at her reflection and wiped the tears from her cheeks. I was so sure that Teddy Fox would marry me. I can’t believe what a cold, cruel bastard he is.
Georgy thought about her sister’s aversion to marriage. She’d always accused her of being naive and advised her to marry a doting husband. Now Louisa’s response echoed in her mind: “Perhaps you are the one who is naive. I don’t suppose doting husbands grow on trees. From what I’ve seen, men are arrogant and selfish.”
Arrogant and selfish describe Teddy Fox exactly. She clenched her fists and smashed them against her reflection in the mirror. She gasped as the
glass cracked. She stared in horror as her distorted face gazed back at her. Teddy doesn’t want to marry me because I’m ugly. He wants to marry Louisa. I hate her! I hate her!
An hour later, Louisa closed her bedchamber door. I wonder if Georgy is still out with Teddy. I hope with all my heart that he asks her to marry him. Her dearest wish in life is to be a wife. I suppose going to Scotland is the last thing Georgy wants to do. I warrant she’d much rather stay here so she can be close to Teddy.
As she undressed and got into bed, Lu’s thoughts drifted to James Hamilton. I wonder if the Irish devil really has business in Scotland. He won’t let up in his pursuit. He is tenacious as a terrier! She reminded herself that he was only traveling with them, and not staying with them at the Doune, their Scottish house in the Cairngorms. I refuse to let thoughts of Abercorn spoil my holiday in Scotland.
The moment Louisa began to dream, however, Abercorn appeared. She was dancing alone in the center of a vast stage. The delicate notes of the music lent themselves to graceful steps that carried her swaying and spiraling across the boards. She leaped into the air, light as a dragonfly, and as the music ended in a crescendo, she swept into a low curtsy and bent her head to touch her ankles.
The applause was deafening, though Abercorn was the only one in the audience. He was in the front row, tossing dozens of red roses to her feet and shouting, “Brava!” He jumped up onto the stage and took her in his arms. “Lady Lu, you were superb!”
A feeling of joy engulfed her senses. Exhilaration spiraled through her belly, making her breasts tingle and her spirits soar. Happiness flowed about her as she floated in a sea of bliss. She gazed down into his eyes. “James, I owe it all to you.”
He took possession of her mouth in a sensual kiss designed to steal her senses. His familiar male scent stole to her, filling her head with delicious fancies. Her mouth softened and her nipples ruched as the hard muscles of his chest pressed against her breasts. Her arms stole around his neck and she clung to him with an innocent desire she could not control. When the kiss ended a heartfelt sigh escaped her lips. But when she raised her lashes and saw the look of possession in his dark eyes, she felt threatened.
“Marry me, Louisa!”
In a flash, her happiness turned to fear and she woke up trembling.
In the morning Louisa finished her packing. When she saw her sister, Georgy made no mention of Teddy, and Lu knew that he had not proposed.
“I can’t wait to leave,” Georgy said brightly. “Scotland will make such a welcome change of scene.”
Louisa felt awful about her sister’s disappointment, but she kept a wise silence.
“I’m so glad you’re traveling with us, James. I need another man I can rely on beside my husband. It will seem strange not to have Edward and Charles with us, and Jack has decided to stay at Woburn to look after things in our absence this year.”
“It is my pleasure, Your Grace.”
“Pleasure?” Louisa didn’t try to hide her amusement. “Cosmo, Henry, and Alex will make it their business to ruin your pleasure.”
“I know what boys are like—I have a younger brother.”
“Claud?” She laughed merrily. “Please don’t delude yourself. Claud is a gentleman—my brothers are savages.”
Jack came into the breakfast room. “The three carriages are ready, and all your luggage has been loaded onto the baggage wagon.”
“Thank you, darling. I don’t know what we’d do without you.” The duchess kissed Jack’s cheek. “We shall see you sometime in September.”
The family went out to the courtyard. The drivers were mounted on the traveling coaches and grooms stood at the head of each team, gentling the horses until the passengers were seated. The Duke of Bedford was already in the saddle, and he held the reins of Abercorn’s Arabian mount.
James helped Lady Bedford into the carriage, then picked up Rachel and set her inside. Then he helped the nursemaid.
“I’m not sitting with Rachel and her nursemaid,” Alex declared. “I’m going in the coach with Cosmo and Henry.”
“No you’re not, you little pissant.” Henry pushed him away.
“You are fighting already,” Lu scolded. “If we let the three of you travel together, the coach will be demolished by the time we get to Northampton.”
Mr. Burke, Woburn’s steward, came out with a large food hamper and handed it to the second female servant who was traveling with the Russells. Georgy immediately climbed in beside her, drawn by the thought of food.
“Alex, I’ll give up my seat and let you ride with Georgy,” Louisa coaxed.
“I’m not riding with her—she called me repulsive!”
“Georgy is right. You’ve turned into a horrid lout just like your brothers.”
Alex grinned from ear to ear.
His father soon wiped the grin from his face. “Bloody hell! Alex, get in the coach with your brothers. They have my permission to clout you round the ear if you misbehave.”
Just as Louisa was about to climb in beside her sister, Georgy declared she had changed her mind. “The smell of the food is making me feel queasy. Lu, put it in the next carriage.”
Louisa took the food hamper and handed it to Cosmo. Then she took her seat beside Georgy, the grooms took their places beside the coach drivers, the duke and Abercorn cantered from the courtyard, and the three carriages lurched forward on the first leg of their journey.
After two hours, Bedford drew rein in a lovely shaded spot beneath some copper beeches, and motioned for the carriages to do likewise. While the grooms watered the horses, the duchess retrieved the food hamper. She opened the lid and stared at her sons in disbelief. “It’s empty! What happened to all the food that Mr. Burke provided?”
“We thought it was for us.” Cosmo wiped his mouth on his sleeve. “Don’t you have your own hamper, Mother?”
Lu came up behind her mother and gave her brothers a withering glance. “I shall add gluttony to the litany of your sins.”
“Well, at least we can have a drink. There are cases of wine and ale in the baggage cart.” The duchess directed one of the grooms to locate the libations. “Lu, would you inform your father there’s no food? He’s less likely to smite you, darling.”
Louisa approached her father. “We are only stopping for a drink. We’re not making good time, I’m afraid.” She threw Abercorn an apologetic smile.
“Nonsense, James and I want something to eat.”
Reluctantly, she explained. “The boys devoured everything in the hamper.”
“Goddamn it. Oh well, we’ll just have to wait until we arrive at the Northampton manor. It should only take us another hour. I shall sit in the coach with the reprobates. You can ride my horse, Louisa.” He handed her the reins.
She glanced at Abercorn, who was doing his best to hide his amusement. “Shall we water the horses?” he asked with a straight face.
Lu felt embarrassed. “I warrant you wish you hadn’t agreed to travel with us.”
“Not so. What more could I ask, than having you beside me in the saddle?”
He was so dangerously attractive that she wanted to erect a barrier between them. She bit back a terse remark, knowing it would be less provocative if they remained friends. At this slow pace, it would be days before they even reached the Greys’ Howick Hall.
It was considerably longer than an hour before the Russell entourage reached their estate near Corby in Northamptonshire. Since it was late afternoon, the Duke and Duchess of Bedford decided they would have dinner and stay overnight.
“James, I’m sorry we’ve only covered about thirty-five miles today.”
“Don’t be sorry, Louisa. I enjoyed every one of them.”
She tried her best not to blush. “Let’s make a pact. If you don’t importune me to marry you on this journey, I promise not to get angry and bite your head off.”
“To me, you are desirable whether you are angry or not,” he teased.
She thumped him in outrage, an
d he threw up his hands. “All right, I surrender. I shall pretend we are just friends.” He winked. “After dinner, will you take me on a moonlight tour of the property?”
“You are an Irish devil!”
“Mea culpa, Lady Lu.”
After dinner the Duke of Bedford stood up from his chair. “I give you fair warning. We leave at the crack of dawn.” Implicit in his words was the threat that those not ready would be left behind.
As Louisa led Abercorn from the dining room, her brothers followed. “I’m giving James a tour and you’re not coming. I suggest you have an early night.”
At their loud protests, James said simply, “I want to be alone with Lu.”
They hooted and made kissing noises.
John Russell stopped them with one word. “Bed!”
Outside, Louisa explained, “The only time I ever come to this estate is when we are on our way to Scotland, so I can’t really tell you much about it.”
“Then allow me. This landholding provides much of your father’s wealth. The rolling hills are perfect for grazing sheep. The farmers who occupy the cottages on your father’s land are shepherds who tend large flocks. The only farming they do is sowing and harvesting hay crops for winter fodder. Each family has its own cow, pig, hens, and a treasured, indispensable shepherding dog.”
When they came to a stone wall, they both climbed on top and sat down to gaze across the hills and vales that the moonlight showed were dotted with sheep.
“You knew all that without me telling you. Let’s see—what else?” James mused.
Louisa’s mouth curved into a smile. “The children laugh and have rosy cheeks.”
“That’s because they are happy and well fed. Your father is a good landlord.”
She watched his face change as if a shadow fell across it, and knew he had a troubling thought. “What is it?”
He shook his head.