Lilly (5 page)

Kitty sighed and
patted Lilly’s shoulder.  Reece wished her to Hades.

He looked at
Lilly deeply.  He breathed in her newly mixed scent and noticed how the material over her bosom pulled.

“What if I wouldn’t have any more mistresses?  I’m thirty five, I need a son, what if you were enough?”
Reece asked, surprising himself.

She looked at him in
astonishment and wonder.

“M
y, you are good.  No wonder women fall like trees in a gale at your feet.  One would almost think you were serious, if they hadn’t been forgotten this morning for our planned meeting or witnessed you with your mistress just minutes ago.  Really Lord Randall, you must think me a goose.”

Before he could answer, they arrived back at Castleford Manor and her Aunt Ellen came outside to greet them.

“Major Sheridan is here, he’s been waiting on you for hours Lilly.”

E
llen raised startled eyes seeing Lord Randall dismount and stand beside Lilly.

“What’s he doing here?” H
er aunt hissed.

“Just passing a boring day I’d imagine.  I must go inside and see the major.  I fulfilled my agreement, I saw y
ou today.  Now I must go inside,” Lilly said, turning to Reece.

He grabbed her arm and turned her.

“This Major Sheridan, who is he?”

“My other gentleman,”
Lilly whispered and smiled. 

She removed her arm again.  Lord Randall really did like touching her,
how annoying Lilly thought as she rushed inside.  Reece turned to her aunt.

“Is she serious, is this major open to marrying
Lilly?”

“Yes,” Aunt Ellen beamed.  “He is a handsome, rugged gentleman and would make her
content.  Something you cannot do.  Leave Lilly alone, I should never have encouraged the match, I thought too much of your fortune and too little of your faults.”

Reece watched Lady Ellen storm back into the manor and sighed. 
It seemed all the Castleford ladies were outspoken.  Reece felt like he’d been horsewhipped. 

……….

“Lilly, I’m sorry I wasn’t here this morning, a problem came up, but I wanted to talk to you,” Major Sheridan said taking her hands and kissing them in a courtly manner unlike him.

“Major, come into the drawing room, would you care for a brandy?”

“Yes.  Who is that outside talking to your aunt?”

“Oh that
’s the earl, the one who plans on marrying me, then stranding me here.”

“The one
you told me about, the man who paid a clerk to write you love letters?”  The major asked in disbelief.

“Well, they weren’t exactly love letters, more lists of possessions, stories, tales of trips, now I think on it, the poor boy probably had no idea what to write.  It must had been a silly task for him.”

“You’re forgiving,” the major said, still watching Lord Randall from the window.

“It wasn’t personal, Lord Randall had
never laid eyes on me before.  His solicitor picked me I believe.  He just agreed.  Now he’s seen his brown mouse, he thinks he’ll still go through with it,” Lilly said, pretending lightheartedness.

“
So it is true, he still thinks to marry you?”

“I think he
’s playing a game, stalling, perhaps filling time so when he returns to London and his crowd, he’ll have a new adventure to tell.”

“He sounds like a child.  How old is he?”
  The major asked gruffly.

“Five and thirty and could we stop talking about him.  What did you want to say to me?”
Lilly asked, sitting and arranging her skirts.

“I think you know
Lilly, but I talked to your father and he said he could not entertain my suit, as funds were exchanged.”

“What?”
Lilly asked, truly surprised.

“It seems your grand lord
out there had his solicitor send funds to your father’s accounts yesterday and his creditors have been paid with it.  It was a large amount Lilly, I cannot match it.”

Lilly
was never so surprised.

“Father has creditors?  I manage our funds, we don’t owe creditors.”

“Lord Castleford arranged it without telling you Lilly.  He’s had the gun tested several times, a foundry hired to make parts, he got in too deep; he avoided telling you.  He arranged a transfer of funds in the post, money lenders.  He’s spent all the earl’s money to repay them Lilly.”

Lilly
stood and raced out of the drawing room and into the drive where Lord Randall still stood.

“Did you send father money?”
Lilly asked, not believing her father would deceive her so.

“My man Mr. Commons did. 
I thought you knew.”

“No, I didn’t know.  How much?” asked
Lilly, wondering how she was ever going to pay it back.

“Ten thousand pounds.  Your
father signed a promissory note, other papers.  The loan becomes a gift when we marry.”

“Ten thousand?”
Lilly whispered.  It might as well be ten times that, for she could never repay it.

She looked up at Lord Randall in horror.  She would
really have to marry him.  She was truly attracted to him, and he meant to mistreat her, if aunt’s stories were true.  He would use her for gaining children, abandon her here.  If she didn’t like him, or if she could hate him, she might be protected.  Lilly was afraid he already had power over her, this marriage would wound her every day she faced being deserted.  What tales from town would she hear over the lonely years, the parties, the women, it would break her.  She needed to know the extent of his plans for her.

“Do all your mistresses live with you in your townhouse?  O
h, never mind I forgot, I’ll never be there.  That is sad, I’ve always wanted to visit London,” Lilly sighed and murmured.  “I suppose I’ll never have happiness now.”

“Why not
sweetheart?” He said taking her hands and pressing them to his chest.

“
I thought when I married, it would be to someone who would care about me.”

“How do you know I don’t?”
Lord Randall asked.

She
frowned with a sad little twist to her full lips.

“Remember I know you for a rogue,
I am not a goose.  You care for nothing except having an heir and going back to town.  Will you leave me here at our manor with father, or do I have to live alone at Hillside Park?” Lilly asked, trying to picture her future.

“You
’ll be my countess and you’ll reside at the Park.  I’ll be there sometimes too.”  Reece added, watching her eyes mist over.  He never thought to see his future bride cry because she must marry him.

“I suppose you’ll be there a few d
ays every ten months,” Lilly said, deciding to start building her protective wall by using sarcasm to show Reece what an impossible idea he planned.  She would use irony, disdain, and mockery to test his limits.

“Ten months?”
He asked, surprised at an actual number.

The normal s
ound of his voice chilled her.  Lord Randall believed his planned arrangement was workable, feasible; even practical.

“Ten months, j
ust to get me with another child.  I will have to raise them all on my own,” Lilly said and her breath caught in her throat.

Suddenly her eyes grew wide and she stepped away from him.

“You don’t mean to pay someone else to do that do you, like the clerk?” Lilly asked, a tear running down her cheek.

“God, what you think of me.  No, I’m capable of
siring my own sons.”

“Oh, I know you’re capable, I just didn’t think you’d be interested in doing it with me.”

Her sad little voice did something to his throat and he coughed to clear it.

“
I’m interested.  You’ll have a fortune to spend, clothes, jewelry, what women want,” Reece offered, knowing Lilly meant to marry him now by her questions and wondering why she was so miserable.

“Is that what we
women want?  I’ve never had it or missed it.  I’ve always had friends and family who loved me.  When you come down once a year, will you bring your mistresses like you did this time?”

“No.  I didn’t bring Marlena, she followed me.  You have no good opinion of me?”
Reece asked sadly.

“No,”
Lilly answered truthfully.  “Aunt said you host wild parties.  Would you share me with your friends?”

“Hell no!
  Listen Lilly, you’ll be my wife, mother of my children.  There won’t be any sharing,” he said with force.

Maybe not on her end, but she would be required to share him. 
Lilly couldn’t believe her father had accepted Lord Randall’s money and spent it already, what could she do but marry this heartbreaker.

“I don’t see another solution
.  So, if that’s what you want.  If sons are what you need, but remember I might have daughters, who’s to say.  Then we might as well marry immediately, so you can get back to town and your other ladies,” Lilly added, laying the first bricks of protection around her heart.

Other ladies was surprisingly the last thing Reece was thinking of.  He took her into his arms and kissed the top of her head.

“I won’t hurt you Lilly.  You’ll be safe with me.”

Lilly
felt like she’d just been sold at a slave market.  If she didn’t marry him, her father could go to debtor’s prison. She trembled realizing her last dream of being loved was over.

“Yes, you will
Lord Randall.  You will hurt me all the time.  Since you arranged the loan, you knew you’d get your way. Did you bring a special license?”

“Yes,” he answered, not meeting her wet eyes.  He knew he had he
r cornered when he left London.  What he didn’t know was that he would want her so urgently when he saw her.

“Saturday then?  That way you can leave for London first of the week.”

“You think I will get you with child in such a short time?”

“
Does it take more than once?  Frankly I don’t know anything about it, but I’m sure you know everything a thousand times over. For you it will be like trying on another new pair of boots.”

He laughed, she understood nothing of men, for if she did,
Lilly would notice how much he wanted her.

“I’ll meet you at the village vicars
Saturday morning then.  Don’t feel like you have to come here until then.  I’m sure you and Marlena have plans,” Lilly said, adding another brick to her defenses.

“I sent Marlena
back to London, I told you I dismissed her.”

“Oh yes, sure you did.  Really you don’t have to lie all the time.  What is your given name?”

“Reece, and I’m not lying.”

“See you Saturday Reece,” she smiled sadly up at him and turning walked slowly away, her long curly hair swaying with the movement of her hips.

“You think I’m marrying you Saturday and leaving Sunday Lilly, you’re sadly mistaken,” Reece said under his breath.

……….

CHAPTER FOUR

The Brother

Randall Hillside Park

Residence of the Earl of Suffolk

Suffolk, England

Robert insisted on coming down for the wedding and arrived early Friday.  Some of Reece’s other friends also wanted to attend, but he stopped them.  The idea of gentlemen from town attending the small village ceremony, joking, behaving irreverently, ogling his wife, it was too much for him.  For the first time, Reece was ashamed of the men he’d previously called friends.

The earl
also sent a list of instructions that Bell should be dismissed as well.  Both mistresses now seemed tired and old to him.  He wanted nothing else to do with them and a part of him was still angry that they’d repeated his brown mouse comment all over London.  Lilly was a kind person, she didn’t deserve ridicule from jealous cats.

He had Hillside
Park cleaned, aired, and gathered the servants together to tell them his plans and instruct them to obey his new countess or answer to him.  He would not leave Lilly unhappy with a surly, lazy staff.

Reece ordered fresh flowers to be set about and a luncheon to be served
for her family after the simple ceremony.  He sent a message to the vicar arranging for music and food to be served in the village.  He surprised himself by actually enjoying his domestic designs and felt truly cheerful for the first time in years.

“So, I don’t get to see her until the wedding?” Robert asked
, soon after arriving.

“No, I decided you should not.”

“Why not?”

“She just doesn’t need to see you is all.  She’s marrying me.”

“Gads, you sound jealous and we both know that’s ridiculous.  So was she as bad as you feared?” Robert asked.

“No,
I’m sorry I spread my comments about so easily in town.  You were right Robert, for the mother of my children, she deserves better.”

“My, that’s a change coming from you, she must be very pretty.”

Reece looked at his brother and felt envy.  His brother was five years younger, fitter and every bit as handsome.  If Lilly saw Robert before the wedding, she might change her mind, or switch brothers.  That was something he would not risk.

“She’ll be my wife Robert.  Hands off her.”

“Hands off?  What a thing for you to say.  You shared your mistresses at parties if what I heard was true.  I’ve ridden your horse…” Robert joked.

Reece walked up to his brother and rested his hands on his shoulders.

“Don’t even joke about it, I mean it, stay away from my wife.”

“Good God, have you gone mad?  Now you’ve got me curious.  I think I’ll ride over there right now and see her.”

Reece could see where this was going.  If he argued, Robert would surely go and he had no desire to get in a fistfight a day before his wedding night.

“Go ahead then.  She’s got brown hair, brown eyes, tall, alright looking
, not a country mouse but definitely not a beauty,” Reece said, trying to put his brother off.

“What’
s the worry then?”  Robert asked, confused by his brother’s changing mood.

“Just don’t need any upsets this close to getting it finished
.”

His brother
grinned and walked out the door, Reece not far behind. 

“If you’re going I’m coming with you.”

“What for, you’ll see her tomorrow?”

“Not for Lilly
, just to keep you company,” Reece said, slapping his brother on the back a little harder than necessary.

Robert looked at him strangely but went around to the stables and ordered their horses saddled.

“Damn it,” Reece muttered.

……….

Lord Castleford Manor

Residence of Viscount Castleford

Suffolk, England

Lilly had spent the last few days packing and kissing her aunts repeatedly, for she felt she’d never live with anyone who loved her again.  They too were preparing for their trip to town, maids bustled about, chests were hauled up, then down, narrative spiced with angry sparks flew between the two sisters, and Lilly wondered how Aunt Mary could ever stay a month with Aunt Ellen.

The cook and housekeeper promised
Lilly they would watch over her father and make sure he rested and ate his meals.  Viscount Castleford was distracted, a blank silly man, dressed in stripes and dots, browns and blues, once he wore two different boots, his mind wondered often and his staff observed him closely.   Lilly’s heart broke watching him look right through her and she never questioning him about the money.  No use having a confrontation now that she was leaving and with his heart unwell.   Lilly understood her father’s grief and desired nothing more than to have him return to her in not just body, but mind.  However, Lilly could not communicate to a blank stare or a dead eye, it hurt too much.

Viscount Castleford stayed in his workroom, hunched over his drawings, oblivious to the world and his daughter ever since Lady Castleford had died.  He retreated inside calculations and hid between puzzles, having no desire to surface.  A part of his humanity was missing, raw nerves bound by bands of sorrow
, rested under scientific theory.  He feared if he ever rose above his study on projectiles, ranges of barrel thicknesses, velocity, and distance charts, he would go mad.

……….

Lilly washed her hair Friday morning in spring water and wore it down and loose to dry in the sunshine.  She wore a lavender day dress trimmed in dark violet ribbon, with a modest neckline and small sleeves. She was brushing her hair when she heard horses in the drive outside her window.  Looking down she saw two tall gentlemen riders.  One was the earl of Suffolk and the other must be his brother, for the resemblance was uncanny.

Lilly
had not seen her future husband for a few days and had imagined Reece at drunken parties with a woman on each knee, so she was surprised to see him here.

Her aunts joined the two lords in
the drawing room and when Lilly entered, both gentlemen had brandies and were seated in deep leather chairs.  At the sound of her entry, both men glanced in her direction and stood.

“
Brown hair, brown eyes, she’s definitely not a beauty he says, what an ass,” Robert said softly, but Lilly heard him and looked down to hid the hurt.

Reece
noticed the movement and wanted to grab his brother’s cravat and twist it.

“Oh, the earl
thinks little of me, just too plain I suppose compared to all his other ladies,” Lilly said, taking Robert’s hand and pressing it.

Robert flushed with embarrassment for he never meant for her to hear his remark.  He looked at Reece and
knew his brother wanted to punch him.

“You must be his brother Robert
Randall, you look very alike.  And though I am definitely not a beauty, I think you both very handsome,” Lilly smiled sincerely.

Her aunts looked at Lilly
with surprise and then switched to angry frowns at the gentlemen.  Such an unkind remark for a young lady to hear right before her wedding day.

Reece was fighting an internal battle of what to say and how to explain, but time passed and he said nothing.

Lilly went to the window and wiped a tear from her eye, hiding her movement as best she could.  She wondered if she could stand the constant pain the Randall family was capable of inflicting.  Lilly turned to the quiet room and spoke.

“Now that you
see me, perhaps you can talk Reece out of this marriage he believes he has to complete.  If he would forgive the debt to father, or perhaps I could make installments over time.  I have been thinking that is just the thing,” Lilly offered, surprised by the hurt the remark had given her.

Still no one spoke and suddenly
Lilly left the room, astounding everyone.  Robert went to follow her but Reece gave him a shove and followed her instead.

“
Lilly,” Reece said, following her into the music room.

She
motioned for him to go away.  Reece ignored her small hand wave and came up behind her.  He pressed his large hands into her shoulders and massaged her lightly.  He wanted to run his hands through her hair and kiss her all afternoon.

She sighed and cleared her throat.

“Did you say that to your brother?” Lilly had to ask.

He knew what she meant but he answered, “What?”

“Oh, Reece the truth for once without the game, did you describe me to your brother as a girl with brown hair and eyes, definitely not a beauty?”

Lilly
turned suddenly and saw the truth on his face.

“I see you did.  I told you that you would hurt me,
and we’re not even married yet,” Lilly said, deciding she could not be insulted and neglected every day for the rest of her life. 

“I won’t be at the church
tomorrow Reece.  I’ll find another way to pay father’s bills.  I’ll go to London and be a plain mistress to a plainer man, but I won’t marry you,” Lilly rushed, anger in her voice.

“
The hell you will!  Lilly, I only said it because I was trying to dampen his interest.  I meant to keep Robert away from you,” Reece explained, tightening his hold on her shoulders.  The thought of Lilly becoming a mistress to anyone infuriated him.

She laughed in a toneless voice.

“Oh, because you were madly jealous, really Reece?  I might believe you ask your brother to come here and insult me, so I would call off the marriage.”

“Never, I don’t want out
of the marriage,” said Reece, trying to turn her into his arms. 

The earl considered again how hard he was working to keep Lilly. 
Reece was surprised by the strength of his fear in losing her.  He never remembered feeling such strong emotions for any woman.  Somehow Lilly had become important, necessary, someone he needed.

“Listen, I know you w
ant someone plain and simple who can be abandoned here in the country, but I’ve decided I deserve a better life than that.  I grow tired of paying for father’s crazy ideas, mistakes, and schemes.  Let him once again become a man and find his own funds,” Lilly said, stopping because she feared she’d burst into a sob.  She knew she could not desert father, no matter how angry she became.

Robert came into the
doorway and saw the pain on Lilly’s face and wanted to tear out his tongue.  Coming around to face her, he looked deeply into her beautiful sad face and wanted to kiss her himself.

“Lady Castleford, I beg your pardo
n.  What I said was something I said in jest, Reece did not say it.”

“Noble
if dishonest, lying must run in the family.  No Reece said it, he just admitted it.  You don’t have to feel sorry, for I thank you for showing me what my life would be like married to a man who thinks I’m nothing but a jest.  I won’t be there tomorrow.  Go away both of you and find some other country mouse.”

“Gads
no, don’t call off the wedding for something thoughtless I said,” Robert pleaded catching the look his brother shot him, it stung like lead.

“
Lilly, we are getting married tomorrow and nothing this jackass half repeated is going to change that,” Reece shouted, deciding his best earl’s voice was necessary.

She just wanted them gone.  It was too crowded
in the small music room and Lilly decided to lie herself.  Was it a sin to lie to a liar?

“Alright
I’ll be there, but go home, both of you.”

Before they could say another thing,
Lilly turned, went into the kitchen, and up the back stairs.

“If she’s not there to
morrow, I’m going to break both your arms!” Reece snarled and left banging the front door.

Robert could not believe several things.
  First, Lilly was so beautiful and didn’t know it.  Second, his careless remark might have ruined the wedding.  Third, his notorious brother seemed mad over Lilly.  And fourth, a part of Robert hoped she would not marry Reece, for he wanted her himself.

The brothers rode home in silence.  Brooding and mystified at what just happened to both of their lives since they’d seen
Lilly Castleford.

……….

“Aunts, please guide me.  I believe Major Sheridan meant to propose, but for father accepting the transfer of funds from Lord Randall.  Then I agreed to marry the earl, as I saw no other choice, now his brother Robert let slip that his lordship still thinks of me as a plain mouse.  What should I do?” Lilly asked.

Aunt Mary hugged her and patted her arm.

“What do you want dear, who, any of them?”

“I don’t think the major and I would be happy,
he still loves his past wife.  I can tolerate the earl a few days a year, but that is a terrible life, isn’t it?  I thought Robert very handsome, but of course he’s not asked me.”