His Reluctant Lady (27 page)

“
No, it won’t be in there.
At least not by me.”

“
You’re a good lady,
Agatha.”

The door opened and Agatha forced a
polite smile as she followed Christopher into the house.

“
Is my cousin receiving
company at the moment?” Christopher asked.

The footman nodded. “If you’ll follow
me…” He turned and led them to the drawing room.

“
It feels strange to be so
formal in a place I used to live,” Christopher
commented.

“
Well, it’s not your home
anymore,” Agatha softly replied.

“
True. My place is with you
now and will always be.”

“
I’ll tell Lord Clement
you’re here,” the footman said.

“
Tell him not to jump up and
down with joy lest he shows some enthusiasm,” Christopher called
out as he left.

Giving her husband a nudge in the side,
Agatha shook her head. “Manners, Christopher.”

“
I’m sorry. I couldn’t
resist. I had to do it. For old time’s sake.”

She sighed but held her tongue and sat
beside him on the settee. As she scanned the room, she noted that
it lacked any real warmth. The same had been true for her drawing
room before Christopher moved in and added a couple of his items to
it. She hadn’t thought about it until now, but she realized how
lonely she’d been before he came into her life. Looking at Perry’s
drawing room, she realized he experienced the same loneliness she
had. Even if Christopher hadn’t been the ideal ward, he’d eased
that loneliness.

When she heard the familiar tapping of
Perry’s cane, she turned her attention to the doorway where Perry
greeted them. “Agatha, I hope you’re making sure Christopher
behaves himself,” he greeted as he sat across from them.

The butler placed tea and biscuits
between them while Christopher did his part to look appalled.
“Making sure I behave myself? Agatha’s my wife, not my mother. If I
wanted to be mothered for the rest of my life, I would have stayed
here with you.”

Agatha shook her head and hoped
Christopher understood that now wasn’t the time to make jests. With
a tentative smile, she picked up the teapot and poured the
gentlemen some tea, though she doubted Perry would feel like
drinking tea after he heard the news. He’d most likely want some
brandy instead.

After the butler left, she began, “I
wish I could say that our being here is to bring you a good report,
but I’m afraid that isn’t the case.” She handed them their
cups.

“
You don’t need to say it,”
Perry replied, sitting back in his chair. “Your sister has decided
to marry someone else.”

“
Oh, so you heard?” she
ventured.

“
No, but I figured there was
no other reason you’d come by with bad news.”

“
I’m terribly sorry. There
is no excusing her behavior. She’s lost her wits.”

“
I don’t blame
her.”

“
You don’t?”

Perry shrugged and sipped his tea.
“I’ve gotten used to it. Every time I fancy a lady, she goes off
running to another gentleman. Your sister’s not the first one who’s
done it.”

Agatha glanced at Christopher who said,
“He thinks it’s his cane that repels them.”

“
If my limp was the result
of an injury, it’d be one thing,” Perry said, taking another sip of
his tea. “But this is hereditary. What lady wants to pass on a limp
to her child?”

“
Christopher doesn’t have a
limp,” Agatha replied.

“
It doesn’t happen to
everyone in the family, but there’s no telling if someone will end
up with it or not until you see if their legs are of even length or
not.”

“
Even so, you have wealth
and a title. Ladies will overlook a limp.” She stirred some sugar
into her tea. “And besides, it’s not like you have a something that
can’t be overcome. A limp is easy to adapt to.”

“
That’s what I’ve been
telling him, but he won’t listen to me,” Christopher said and
gulped his tea. “Well, now that we’ve come to deliver the news, I
suppose we should get going.”

“
Christopher,” she warned,
shooting him a pointed look.

“
No, he’s right.” Perry
finished his tea and set it on the tray. “You have better things to
do than stay here. I should go to White’s.”

“
But,” Agatha glanced at the
two gentlemen as they rose to their feet, “I enjoy our
conversations. Perhaps we might go for a horse ride.”

“
Actually, I’m in the mood
for chess.”

“
Christopher can play
chess.”

“
I don’t like to play
chess,” Christopher added as he helped her to her feet.

“
You don’t have to like it
to play it,” she replied, wondering why he insisted on being so
heartless.

“
I wouldn’t want to play
with him anyway,” Perry assured her, grabbing his cane and winked.
“He’s not very good at the game.”

“
Then maybe I can play a
game,” she offered. “I might not have played in a year, but I
wasn’t bad at it.”

Christopher steered her toward the
door. “Unless you’re as good as Lord Roderick, you’ll be wasting
his time.”

“
He’s right,” Perry told
her, keeping their pace as they slowly made their way to the door,
Agatha’s steps the most reluctant ones in the group. “Please don’t
trouble yourself on my account. This development didn’t shock me.
In fact, I’m surprised your sister even accepted my
proposal.”

“
And who knows?” Christopher
added as they passed through the doorway. “Next time, he might even
make it to the wedding day before the lady runs off.”

She gasped. Even if he had a teasing
gleam in his eye, he had no right to say that!

“
Don’t take what he says to
heart,” Perry said. “I know that, deep down, he only wants what’s
best for me. He says what he can to startle you. Shocking people is
what he does for amusement.”

She glared at Christopher. “Well, I’m
not amused.”

Christopher sighed and turned to his
cousin as the footman opened the front door. “For what it’s worth,
I am sorry we had to come by to tell you her sister eloped with
another gentleman.”

Agatha inwardly groaned. That didn’t
sound at all like an appropriate apology.

“
That came out wrong,”
Christopher said before she could protest. “I meant that I’m sorry
Miss Garrison accepted your proposal then ran off. The least she
could have done was told you before she left.”

Agatha relaxed. That was good, and he
seemed sincere as he said it, which was even better. It looked like
he did care about Perry, even if he had trouble coming out and
saying it.

“
I’d rather she ran off now
instead of at the altar,” Perry said and looked at Agatha. “I’m
fine. Truly, I am.”

Knowing there was nothing else she
could do, she released her breath. “I’m sorry.”

Once Perry indicated his thanks,
Christopher led her down the townhouse steps and to the carriage.
After he settled beside her, he held her hands and smiled. “You are
far more caring than you’d have others believe.”

“
My heart’s not made of
stone,” she replied as the driver urged the horses forward. “Though
I have to wonder if yours is. I can’t believe the things I was
hearing in there.”

“
My cousin didn’t want us to
linger there. When he’s upset, he prefers to be alone. Leaving was
what he wanted us to do.”

She considered his words and decided a
gentleman might want to be left alone after hearing his intended
ran away with another gentleman. “All right. I suppose you weren’t
the heartless cad you seemed to be back there.”

Chuckling, he wrapped his arm around
her shoulders and kissed her. “I’ll see what I can do about finding
him a wife.”

“
You will?”

“
Yes, I will. It’ll be all
right. You’ll see.”

“
And you’ll find him a nice,
reputable lady, preferably one who’s in her first Season? One
who’ll do him a lot of good?”

“
You sure do ask a
lot.”

“
Christopher!”

He pulled her closer to him and kissed
her, his tongue brushing hers in a most sensual way. She melted
against him and forgot what they’d been talking about.

Chapter Twenty-Three

A week later

“
Agatha, you must believe
me,” Sophie said, her eyes pleading with her sister to understand.
“Mister Landry is a wonderful husband. I’m very fortunate to be
married to him.”

Agatha glanced at their aunt who hadn’t
touched the tea she’d been offered though she looked
relieved.

Agatha shifted on the settee in their
aunt’s drawing room so she could get a better look at her sister.
“Are you aware that Mister Landry needs money?”

“
Yes, I am,” her sister
replied. “And I knew he needed money before I married him. He told
me.”

Agatha couldn’t believe what she was
hearing. “You married him knowing full well that he only wanted to
marry you for your money?”

“
He didn’t deceive me. I
appreciated his honesty.”

“
But Lord Clement was honest
with you as well, and he didn’t want to marry you to obtain
wealth.”

Sophie finished her tea and set the cup
on the table so she could reach for her sister’s hands. “I could
never fall in love with Lord Clement. He’s nice but I have nothing
in common with him. I wouldn’t know what to talk about, and I want
someone I can talk to. Mister Landry makes me laugh and enjoy
life.”

“
Sophie, I understand Lord
Clement bored you, but his feelings for you were
sincere.”

“
Which is why it wasn’t an
easy decision to make.” She sighed and glanced at their aunt. “I
know you both wanted me to marry someone who had a title, but I’ve
seen how happy Christopher makes you, Agatha, and he doesn’t have a
title. I can’t recall a time when I’ve seen you happier than you
are now.”

“
Well, yes. I am
happy.”

“
And Christopher doesn’t
bore you, does he?”

“
No.”

“
And doesn’t he make you
laugh and enjoy life? Isn’t he fun to talk to?”

Agatha knew she’d lost the argument.
Their aunt wasn’t thrilled with the news but was at least accepting
of it. She supposed that was all she could hope for. “Now that
Mister Landry has married you and obtained money, how are things?
Is he still charming and witty?”

“
He is. He’s a good
gentleman, an honorable one. He needed the funds to help pay for
his younger sister who’s ill and to get his parents out of debt. I
still have some left over, so we’ll be comfortable. And you needn’t
worry. He’s good to me.”

A couple months ago, Agatha never
thought she would ask the question but now she had to. “And what
about love Sophie? Will he love you?”

“
In time, I believe so. We
don’t know each other well enough yet for love, but we are enjoying
each other’s company and I think that’s a wonderful
beginning.”

With another look at their aunt who
finally sipped her tea, Agatha took a deep breath. The marriage was
already done. There was no going back and changing any of it. “I
hope that it leads to love,” she finally said.

Her sister relaxed and she squeezed her
hands. “Thank you, Agatha.”

She squeezed her sister’s hands in
return and smiled. “You’ll have to bring him over for a dinner
party. Christopher seems to think well of him, so it should be a
pleasant evening.”

“
That’s very kind of
you.”

She rose to her feet and retrieved her
reticule. “I’ll send you an invite within a week.” She went over to
her aunt and hugged her. “I think everything will work out for
Sophie,” she whispered.

Her aunt returned her hug and
nodded.

She bid her good-bye to Sophie and took
her leave.

***

Christopher was about to enter White’s
when Lord Pennella intersected him. “A word if you will, Mister
Robinson?”

Frowning, Christopher glanced at the
entrance which Pennella had successfully blocked. He turned his
gaze back to Pennella who, despite his pleasant tone, was clenching
his jaw. “I don’t seem to have a choice since you won’t let me go
into White’s. How unfortunate it is that I can’t walk through you,”
Christopher replied, hoping to ease the situation with a little
humor.

“
I’m not amused by your
joke, Robinson.”

After a tense moment of bearing with
Pennella’s intense stare, he relented. “All right. Where would you
like to talk?”

“
In my carriage.”

Christopher followed the direction that
Pennella gestured to and saw the footman who waited by the open
carriage door. Knowing this wasn’t going to be pleasant, he
followed Pennella to the carriage. As far as he could remember,
Pennella hadn’t killed anyone. He settled in the seat and remained
silent as Pennella sat next to him and instructed the footman to
tell the driver to take them to Christopher’s townhouse.
Christopher breathed a sigh of relief. Good. At least they were
going to his home where he’d be safe. He didn’t ask for trouble.
Truly, he didn’t, but it seemed that trouble had a way of finding
him and this was no exception.