Love With an Improper Stranger (14 page)

“In the dining room.”  He tucked a wayward tendril behind her ear.  “They thought we might benefit from some privacy.”

“They are correct.”  Glancing about the well-appointed home, she sighed.  “Blake, while my father provided a normal education, nothing I learned could have prepared me for all this, and I am completely out of my depth.  I know not how to be a duchess, and I refuse to bring shame upon you and your family, after you have done so much for Lucilla and I.”

“Lovely Lenore, you could never shame me.”  To her surprise, and silent thanks, he drew back and gave her space.  “And my mother can mentor and instruct you on the responsibilities associated with your role.”

“She offered to do so.”  At the prospect, she inhaled a shaky breath.  “But there is one thing that puzzles me, and I must ask you to explain yourself.  Why did you choose me, when I am sure there are plenty of women in the
ton
that would suit your purpose, and they would need no period of adjustment?  Given we have known each other for just over two months, how can you be so sure of your position?”

“In light of Mama’s expertise, you should rely on her counsel.”  Blake inched to the edge of the sofa.  “And as for your assertion, you are correct.  There are more prospective candidates than I can count, but I have never met one who fascinates me, as do you.”  He took her hand in his.  “And I cannot say how I know, but I am certain, as sure as I know my name, you are mine.  So permit me to make a suggestion.”

“Oh, dear.”

“Now, hear me out.”

“Have I a choice?”

“No.”

“All right.”

“Come here.”  Blake pulled her from the couch, anchored his arms about her waist, and rested his forehead to hers.  “While you labor under the false impression that you are somehow my lesser, the truth is you are my match.  I knew it when you cursed me in the middle of the street, when you spent the night in my lap, vomiting, belching, and snoring, as you fought seasickness, and later when you kissed me in my cabin.  You will be my wife, my lover, my friend, my partner, and my duchess.”  He tightened his grasp and chuckled.  “So I will not pressure you, as the decision is yours to make, but neither will I cede the fight.  I will win you, Lenore.  I dare you to try and leave me, because when I am done, you will never let me go.”

#

It was a particularly cold December night, when Blake stomped into White’s, no longer confident of victory.  For the past fortnight, he had tried everything to induce Lenore to proclaim her acquiescence to his proposal, and yet she persisted in an unrelenting, albeit admirable, state of resistance to his brand of passive persuasion, which weighed heavy in profuse bouquets of roses, jasmine tea, coconut rum, and the sweetest kisses he had ever tasted.  While his efforts had certainly aroused him, the woman had not budged.  So he had nothing more to lose, opted to swallow his pride and, at last, sought advice from the Brethren husbands.

In the same backroom, Blake found his allies, Dirk, Trevor, and Everett, along with Jason Collingwood, who had just returned from a mission.  As Damian remained at sea, Blake ventured into the shark-infested waters known as courtship on his own.

“Good evening, Blake.”  Trevor smirked.  “Did not expect to see you here, this evening.  How go the wedding preparations?”

“Very funny.”  After situating a chair, he sat.  He crossed and uncrossed his legs.  Then he folded and unfolded his arms.  Raking his fingers through his hair, he shifted his weight and cleared his throat.

“Something wrong, brother?”  Dirk grinned.

Blake reached the end of his tether.  “Oh, dispense the bloody advice and have done with it.”

“I thought you had no need of our counsel.”  Everett cast a side-glance at Trevor.  “Did you not proclaim to know all you need to know?”

“I was wrong.”  Smacking his lips, he shuddered, as the statement left a horrid taste in his mouth.  “Despite my best attempts to woo my prospective bride, she refuses to accept my offer of marriage.”

“Never thought I would live to see the day he would admit it.”  Everett emptied his glass of brandy and dragged his sleeve across his mouth.  “As my Sabrina would say, ‘
Holy Mother
.’”

“If you make one more wise remark at my expense, I will break your nose.”  In no mood for verbal jousting, Blake wanted answers.  “I want constructive criticism and useful advice—now, and if I do not get that, arses will be kicked.”

“Oh, I say.”  With an expression of unutterable confusion, Jason tugged at his cravat.  “I thought they were joking.  I mean, what woman, Alex excepted, does not live in anticipation of catching a duke?”

Those were Blake’s precise thoughts.  From past experience, he knew with some degree of confidence most women considered him pleasing to the eyes, and never had he suffered any difficulties between the sheets, in the back hall at the Theatre Royal on Drury Lane, in his coach, or wherever he chose to sate his lustful appetites.  Given his connections, fortune, and title, what more could Lenore want?

“Perhaps we should begin with the big moment.”  Dirk chewed the end of an unlit cigar.  “How did you observe the singular occasion?”

Uh-oh.  “I do not follow.”

“What he references is the actual proposal.”  Jason scratched his temple.  “You know, the instant you knelt before your lady, gifted her the expensive bauble, and asked her to become your wife and mother of your children, with all of the glorious unforeseen benefits the connubial noose entails.”

“I am not daft, Collingwood.”  But he had hoped to avoid that particular detail.  Swallowing his pride, Blake blurted, “I never asked her anything.  Rather, I did what any man would do in a similar situation.  I commanded her to marry me.”

For a few seconds, Jason just stared at Blake.  Then Alex’s husband swallowed hard and peered at Dirk.  “You were serious.”

“Would I lie to you?”  Dirk chuckled and shook his head.  “Brother, I could not make that up if I tried.”

“Yes, but never would I have imagined Blake would do anything so monumentally stupid.”  Jason pointed, and then he seemed to think better of his comment, as he rested his elbow atop an armrest and slumped to the side.  “I have nothing.”

Dirk swallowed hard.  “Neither have I.”

“I, too, am at a loss.”  Trevor furrowed his brow.

Perched at the edge of his seat, Jason wrinkled his nose.  “How does one recover from such an exercise in ignorance?”

“You tell me.”  Everett snorted.  “As you are the one who abandoned a pregnant Alex, after refusing to wed her.”

“That is not funny.”  Jason scowled.  “At the time, I did not know she was with child, and I always intended to make her my wife.”

“Gentlemen, can we focus, please?”  Blake rolled his eyes.  “Trevor, as you are my in-law, perhaps you can share the details of your successful offer for my sister, given your seemingly insurmountable difficulties.  How did you broach the subject with Caroline?”

For a few seconds, Trevor said nothing.  Slowly, he smiled.  When he discovered he had garnered Blake’s unreserved attention, Trevor jerked alert.

“Er, I made my case in the Chatham’s orangery.”  Then Trevor blushed, and Blake guessed the remarkable question was not the only thing his in-law popped that night.  “It was magical, and Caroline was overcome with joy.”

“Oh, I remember that, as you required the assistance of Sabrina and I.”  With a snicker, Everett snapped his fingers.  “If memory serves, Caroline was quite overcome, all right.”

“Will you cease your prattle?”  Trevor huffed a breath.  “It was an extraordinary evening, as Caroline and I resolved our first hurdle, and I got her to the altar, did I not?”

In the face of such rationale, Blake could not take issue with what he expected was a huge breach of hospitality.  “Brothers, it is blood under the bridge.  So, may we return to the matter at hand, as I would dearly love to secure Lenore’s concurrence before her uncle gains our shores and I have to pursue her to America?”

“America?”  Dirk narrowed his stare.  “What have the Colonies to do with it?”

“Apparently, the younger Teversham brother resides there, and I suspect he intends to take Lenore and Lucilla to live with him.”  Blake could not bear the thought of his lovely Lenore living among the backwoods heathens.  “And they are the Colonies no more, in case you forgot.”

“I did not forget, but I digress.”  The elder Randolph frowned.  “So let us reconsider your disastrous, if not comical, attempt at courtship.”

Too desperate to take offense, Blake leashed his temper.  “You are never going to let me live this down, are you?”

“Not a chance.”  Then Dirk checked his timepiece.  “But I dread admitting the truth to Rebecca, as she swore you would strike breakers, and I must pay my pretty spy’s price.  Yet, I am in your debt, as I gladly dispense her reward.”

“May I make a suggestion?” Everett inquired, with a smirk.

“Only if you are in earnest.”  Blake braced for another shot to his pride.  “At this point, I will take any advice.”

“Well, I happen to know that when Cara decided to chase Lance, she availed herself of Sabrina’s counsel and expertise at nabbing a husband.”  Everett sported a wistful countenance.  “While my unlikely countess provided valuable assistance to her relation, I always wondered why Lance never approached my wife for information about Cara, as no one knows her better.”

“Of course.”  Blake smacked a fist to a palm.  “I have access to a veritable expert on Lenore, living beneath my roof, and it never dawned on me.”  In his mind, he contemplated the logistics and possibilities, realized he needed to go home, and he stood.  “Gentlemen, I appreciate your guidance, and I know just what to do next.”

“Delighted to hear it.”  Everett raised his glass in toast, and the other Brethren followed suit.  “We wish you happy hunting, but should you falter again, you know where to find us.”

And so, with a spring in his step, Blake departed White’s, and steered his stallion for Grosvenor Square.  As he rode through the streets of London, blanketed in the saffron hue of the setting sun and the chill of encroaching night, he pondered his approach, given the bonds of sisterhood ran deep between the Tevershams, and he did not want to alienate Lucilla.

By the time he reined in at the entrance to Elliott House, and he handed his mount to the stable master, he had formulated a plan of attack.  He would be determined but patient.  He would be firm yet obliging.  If he was too aggressive, he risked frightening Lucy and losing Lenore, a prospect he found terrifying.

“Good evening, Your Grace.”  Jennings bowed and collected Blake’s hat, coat, and gloves.

“And the same to you, Jennings.”  In the foyer mirror, he checked his appearance.  “Are the Tevershams in residence?”

“Yes, Your Grace.”  The butler stretched upright.  “They are with Her Grace, in the back parlor.”

“Send Miss Lucilla to my study, posthaste.”  He tugged on the lace trim of his sleeve, rolled his shoulders, and set a course for his domain.

As he strolled into the manliest room of his home, a hint of cigar smoke lingered in the air.  At a side table, he poured himself a healthy dose of liquid courage, not that he needed it.  Amid the rich mahogany trim, leather wall coverings, and an impressive suit of armor once worn by his ancestors, he prepared to face what could be his greatest ally.

“You wish to see me, Your Grace?”  The bespectacled young lady curtseyed.

“Ah, come in, Lucy.”  To set the proper tone for their conversation, he led her to the chairs positioned before the hearth.  “And in the absence of others, please, call me Blake.”

“I prefer Cap’n, Your Grace.”  As usual, she plopped to her seat.  “So what can I do for you, sir?”

“There is a matter of some urgency that I would discuss with you.”  Beneath her scrutiny, he shifted his weight and cleared his throat.  Where to begin?  “I am sure that you are aware of how, in our day to day world, a man and a woman can become sincerely attached, and how what might at first seem a tendre forms into something more significant.”

“Upon my word, you want to marry Lenore, in truth.”  Lucy grinned, as she kicked her feet, back and forth. 

“I do.”  For some reason he could not fathom Blake perspired, and he downed the contents of his glass.

“But she resists your efforts.”  Lucilla clucked her tongue.

“She does.”  Well, things progressed better than he could have hoped.  “And I am at a loss to understand why.”

“And you thought to enlist my aid?”  When he nodded, she chuckled.  “Cap’n, I will tell you everything.”