If the Earl Only Knew (The Daring Marriages) (14 page)

“No, I must change now. You are laughing at me with every second I am in this hideous gown. I cannot abide it one second longer.” She leaned over and hiked up the hem of her dress, grabbing a small dagger strapped to her calf. Wynbrook could only stare. What was she going to do? He feared for a moment that she might do him harm, though he made no effort to defend himself. Fortunately, her target was not him but rather the offending garment. In a quick movement, she reached around to her back with the knife, slicing through the ties of her gown.

“What are you doing?” Wynbrook cried, lurching across the carriage to grab her arms. Interesting how he moved quickly when he thought she might do herself harm but not at all when he considered his own safety in jeopardy.

“Let me go,” demanded Kate.

“Not while you’re holding that dagger. You are not yourself.” Or maybe she was exactly like herself—he didn’t rightly know.

Kate offered the dagger to him, raising one eyebrow. “Here, take it. I’m finished with it now.”

Wynbrook released her but sat beside her carefully. “Finished with what?”

“Avert your eyes.” Kate did not wait to see if he did or did not comply, which he did not. She stood in the coach as it rolled down the rough country road, stooping a bit so as not to bump her head. With one swift motion, she reached down, grabbed the hem of the offending pink gown, and pulled it up over her head, tossing it to the opposite seat in the carriage where it slumped down on the velvet seat like a vanquished foe.

If her gown was off of her, what was she wearing? His gaze shot back to her. She smoothed her hands down one of her new, gauzy white gowns made of the lightest, most ethereal fabric. It was so light and formfitting, she had managed to wear it under the pink gown.

She sat back down, folding her hands before her prim and proper, yet the gown was so sheer he could almost see through to her petticoats. Little wonder she could wear it under the pink silk; it was barely there. It was nothing more than the latest fashion, clearly one his sisters had chosen for her, but his jaw went slack.

Struggling, he finally formed words. “You wore that under your gown?”

“Yes,” said Kate simply, looking decidedly more comfortable though infinitely more desirable. He was not laughing now.

“I cannot believe you…you just took your gown off in front of me,” stammered Wynbrook.

Kate regarded him with an expression similar to one of his tutors when he was slow with his sums, the look of resigned patience with the intellectually feeble. “First, I did tell you to avert your eyes. Second, I agreed to wear that travesty for the wedding and not one moment longer. So I have now removed it. It was no different from removing a coat since, as you see, I am fully clothed. You saw nothing.”

What he saw was that Kate had removed her gown before him. What she had underneath was irrelevant, since his imagination supplied the rest. It was going to be a long night, and he feared Lady Kate would be prominent in his dreams.

“Yes, yes, of course.” It was the only thing he could think of to say.

“You can return my dagger to me now,” Kate demanded, holding out an empty palm.

He should have withheld it from her on principle, but a rebellious side of him wondered if she had the knife maybe she would remove another layer of clothing. He handed the dagger back to her. She accepted the dagger and leaned down, pulling up her skirts once more to reveal a shapely ankle. But she did not stop there and pulled her skirts even farther to reveal the sheath strapped to her calf. She replaced the dagger, dropped her skirts, and sat up tall, folding her hands in her lap as if nothing out of the ordinary had occurred.

The carriage ground to a halt and the unwanted pink silk garment slid into a bright heap on the floor of the carriage. Wynbrook realized their time together was over. His mind spun, trying to comprehend what had just occurred. Had he truly witnessed her removing her gown in front of him? The pink puddle at his feet seemed to indicate it was true.

Kate alighted from the carriage, accepting the hand of the coachman. If the man noticed the change in attire, he had the self-control to not say a word.

At least with Kate, life would never be dull.

Wynbrook followed Kate into the house like a moth following a flame. She was not at all the lady for him, he felt compelled to remind himself. Everyone expected him to make an offer to Miss Frances, though in truth he’d never had much interest in the match. Frances was a perfectly pleasant girl, from a well-known family, and she would make a socially acceptable countess.

Kate, on the other hand, would make a terrible countess. Her brusque manner had none of the inviting social grace of his mother. No, she simply would not do. Besides, even if he did ask for her hand in marriage, she would most definitely turn him down flat.

Wynbrook realized with a start that he was considering Lady Kate as his future bride. Had he lost his mind?

“John!” Tristan appeared with a bemused smile. “So lost in your thoughts you can’t even acknowledge your brother?”

“Sorry. Woolgathering.”

“Left your mind behind?”

“Somewhere with the pink frock,” muttered John.

“Kate changed quickly,” Tristan commented with a laugh.

“You have no idea.”

“Be cryptic if you like, but the guests are beginning to return for the wedding breakfast. You might want to be present since you are our host!” Tristan left him with a smile.

“Yes, yes, of course,” mumbled Wynbrook, his eyes still on Lady Kate. She and her brother had taken up defendable positions in a corner of the room, near an exit. Though he needed to attend to his responsibilities, he could not tear his gaze away from Kate. The formfitting gown hugged her curves, which had increased with the past few weeks of good food. In truth, Kate’s appearance had improved dramatically once she had lost the look of haunted deprivation and gained more rounded edges. She was looking very fine indeed.

“Lord Wynbrook!”

Wynbrook was startled for the second time in a handful of minutes into recognizing he was not paying the slightest attention to anyone around him save Lady Kate.

“Lord and Lady Devine,” he said quickly. “And Miss Frances. I am so glad you were able to come to the wedding.” Wynbrook greeted the couple and their young niece, who was expected to make a brilliant entrance into society, if not move directly into marriage. A marriage in which he was supposed to play the role of groom.

Admiral Lord Devine and his wife were very kind people who had been friends of his family since well before John had been born. Their niece was very pretty and exactly the sort of young, biddable girl he should be marrying. Yet, as he glanced again at Lady Kate, he knew he could never marry Miss Frances.

“We would not miss dear Jane’s special day for anything. It was a moving ceremony,” said Lady Devine.

“Yes, quite,” said Wynbrook. He had not paid the least bit of attention other than to ensure the marriage was good and legal.

“I think it is a very good thing for young people to be married. Do you not agree?” she added, giving him a pointed look followed by a smile at her niece.

Wynbrook cleared his throat. “Yes. I have heard some people approve of the marital state.”

“I do believe now that Jane is wed, you also shall consider taking a bride.”

“Now, my dear,” Admiral Devine gently chastised. “Do not badger the man about getting married.”

“Oh, but I must!” cried Lady Devine with a charming smile. “Lady Wynbrook was my dearest friend and I know she would have John in thumbscrews by now for being still unwed. I am only doing my duty to speak for his poor mama.”

John laughed, for everything Lady Devine said was true. His mother had begun plotting his wedding from the moment he’d turned eighteen. “I accept the chastisement on behalf of my mother. I am sure she would be pleased to know you are carrying out her wishes.”

“Well played, my boy.” Admiral Devine laughed and gave John a hearty slap on the back. “Only do take care.” He leaned in to give a little friendly advice. “Nothing like a wedding to turn a lady’s head to marriage.”

Wynbrook took the warning to heart. As invited guests began to arrive for the wedding breakfast, all he could see were determined mamas with their unmarried daughters. And here he was an unmarried earl. It was a travesty so great, they all were determined to remedy the situation, with Wynbrook being the prize catch of the day.

He soon found himself surrounded by eligible females—tall ones, short ones, plump ones, skinny ones. All he needed to do—nay, was
expected
to do—was pick one. He could have no further excuse. It was considered nothing short of criminal that he had not chosen a bride already.

He looked over to Kate for some sort of sympathy, for he knew she would be standing alone amidst the crowd, but he could not find her. Instead, there was a crowd of young gentlemen surrounding the spot where he had seen her last. He looked closer and realized she was in the middle of the feeding frenzy.

His heart began to pound. How dare they surround her like vultures? They were only after her money, the opportunist knaves. He was marching toward the group before he realized what he was doing. Kate would not like to be smothered by fortune hunters. The gentlemen parted before him and he found Kate, but not as he was accustomed to seeing her.

This Kate was regal, aristocratic, and in command. With a start, he realized the men might not be swarming around her for her money but for her beauty. Those surrounding Kate were not base fortune hunters but his friends, many of whom he knew had no need for an heiress. It was even worse than he’d thought. They were here not for her money, but for the lady herself.

Her ethereal eyes flashed, and he knew he must say something since he had barged his way over in a great state. Where was her brother, anyway?

“Lady Kate, forgive me, but your brother wishes to see you in the drawing room.”

She raised an eyebrow but laid a hand on his sleeve and allowed him to escort her out of the hall. “My brother is in the privy,” she whispered to him when they were out of the dining room and beyond hearing of the guests.

“Oh, well, I guessed you would not like to be swarmed so came to save you.”

“I was not in need of rescuing,” she said staunchly.

“Forgive me for misreading the situation.” He led her into an empty drawing room and shut the door behind them. It was a relief to be outside the room where he felt hard-pressed to make some young lady an offer, and it was even better to separate Kate from her would-be suitors.

Kate sat tentatively on a chair, not quite looking at him but not quite avoiding him either. “Do you think those men were merely fortune hunters?”

“You are well dowered,” he insinuated, though his conscience pricked him to say it.

“I wonder that you would invite such gentlemen to your sister’s wedding.” She looked at him directly, a gaze he was not equal to return.

“I… that is to say…they might not all be seeking a rich wife.”

“Then why would they seek my company?”

Wynbrook was now the one staring at the art on the walls. “Well now…very nice in your new Town togs. Polite to be receptive to our guests.” He stumbled over his words.

“I see,” she said, but said no more, remaining curiously quiet.

He wondered what precisely she saw. He knew she would not be right for any of those men who swarmed around her. He knew it in the very marrow of his bones.

“Have you…” He cleared his throat. “Have you any thought towards marriage?”

“Marriage is an institution designed to subjugate women and rob them of their resources and basic freedoms. A woman’s dowry should be her resource to dispose of how she pleases, not held in trust until such time as she weds and then handed over wholesale to her husband.”

“Yes, yes, I quite agree,” said Wynbrook, heartily relieved that she was not considering any of the young bucks who had swarmed around her as candidates for a groom.

“Then why did you encourage your sister to enter into the institution?”

“Well, I…” He had stepped in it again. He really needed to be more careful when he spoke with his Kate.
His
Kate?

Fortunately, the drawing room door opened and Darington walked in, stopping a moment and frowning at the two of them before shutting the door behind him. Wynbrook realized he had been caught alone in a closed room with the sister of a lord. Had circumstances been different, he might have been called upon to make an offer. He had no fear of this but still felt the need to explain.

“Your sister was being crowded by a bevy of admirers so I helped to facilitate a rescue,” said Wynbrook as justification for being found alone in a room with Kate.

“I was fine,” muttered Kate.

“You here to escape company as well?” asked Wynbrook.

“Lot of young ladies,” said Dare, clearly uncomfortable with the female company.

“I am afraid there are. But we must be brave, can’t avoid them forever. Have you found a bride yet, old man?”

“None that would have me,” muttered Dare.

“He offered for Penelope Rose,” explained Kate.

“The new Duchess of Marchford? Unfortunate. But do not despair, plenty of fish in the proverbial sea. I fear I must return to the guests. Brotherly duty and all.” Wynbrook walked to the door, secretly hoping Dare and his sister would remain safely in the drawing room—where no young men could find her.

“Rather be fishing for actual fish,” commented Dare.

“True, indeed. Many times in society, I’m not sure if I am the hook or the bait.”

The corner of Dare’s mouth twitched up a fraction, the closest thing to laughing Wynbrook had seen.

“Perhaps we shall remain bachelors forever and you can teach me how to sail,” said Wynbrook.

Darington nodded. “Happy to have you on board.”

Wynbrook opened the door, and they stepped out into the hall where some of the guests had congregated, chatting in small groups. “Perhaps you will allow me the honor of taking command of the
Lady Kate
,” said Wynbrook, thinking perhaps he would make an escape to a life at sea.

“No,” said Dare flatly.

“No? You would deny me the
Lady Kate
?”

“She is a tempestuous lady, needs a firm hand. Not for the young and inexperienced,” said Darington in all seriousness.

Wynbrook realized the man did not jest about his ship. “Is there anything I could do to prove my worth?”

They walked back into the dining room as Darington shook his head. “Sorry, for you have been good to us. But the
Lady Kate
is not for you.”

* * *

Captain Silas Bones pulled up his collar against the cold. It was a bright January day, the sun glinting off the pristine snow, but bitterly cold. He looked down on Arlington Hall with resignation. He had used the information from Sir Richard to follow Wynbrook and Darington, but they had kept in tight company and had not given him the opportunity to attack. More and more people arrived at Arlington Hall.

“No hope for it now,” he said. “Might as well go back to the inn.”

His men, four in all, stamped their feet in the snow behind him. He had been so close to getting his hands on the ledgers. Where was all the gold? Had it all gone to the bank? Wouldn’t have been his choice, but was it theirs?

“Your father will be sailing into Portsmouth soon,” said a large man with massive forearms. “What are you going to tell him about his cargo?”

Silas ground his teeth. After their failed attempt, Wynbrook had posted footmen as guards and barred the doors. Silas had hoped he would have more of a chance when they parted for the country estate, but now the country was crawling with gentry.

“What do you propose we do? Show up at the door and pretend to be wedding guests?” growled Silas. Had things been different, he might have been one of those guests. But that was forever barred to him. And Darington was to blame.

“Captain will be mad as fire if you don’t have his money.”

“I know very well the character of my father! Now, unless you would like to return to him and report on your failure, I suggest you shut your mouth and do what you’re told.” Silas glared at the large man.

“Aye, sir,” said the big man.

“Wait here. Tell us when they depart,” said Silas, leaving his detractor to cool his opposition in the freezing temperatures. In a flash, he made a decision. If he couldn’t be a thief, he might as well go for kidnapping and ransom instead. “I am done trying to find the ledgers. Time to go for Lady Kate.”

Silas sighed again as he trudged back to his modest inn. From a wedding guest to a thief to the abductor of young maidens. It was a long way down and he had the feeling he was not done falling.