Nicole Jordan (11 page)

“Of course it can wait,” Raven said. “I trust Mr. Lasseter to keep his word.”

And strangely enough, she did. She had little doubt he would do as he promised. Her bigger fear in marrying him was that she could completely lose her independence, since a wife had few rights. She wouldn’t be able to manage him the way she could have managed Halford. On the contrary, if any husband could prove to be domineering and difficult to control, it would be Kell Lasseter.

He was watching her with that enigmatic look again, as if trying to determine her motives. Subjected to his dark-eyed scrutiny, Raven suddenly felt her stomach twist in knots.

This man would soon be her husband. She was actually about to marry a notorious stranger, heaven help her.

If her misgivings about marriage were profuse yesterday when she was about to fulfill her long-held dreams with her ideal match, they were utterly rampant now. But she had no choice, she reminded herself, trying to curb her panic. Indeed, she was fortunate that Lasseter had agreed to rescue her.

“Well, then,” her aunt said, returning to practical matters, “we have a great number of preparations to make. Raven, while Mr. Lasseter sees to the special license, you must write Halford and give him to understand the circumstances and beg his forgiveness.”

“Yes,” she agreed, grateful for the distraction. “I owe him an apology of some kind. And I should send a word of explanation to Brynn and Lucian…”

“And I will do the same with my chief acquaintances,” her aunt added, “while Jervis sends a notice to the papers.”

Lasseter interrupted, addressing Raven. “It would be better for you to write from Richmond. The longer you remain here, the harder it will be to support the pretense that we were wed last evening. As it is, we can say that we only stopped here to inform your family of our union.”

“Yes,” Raven agreed, seeing the wisdom of his suggestion. “We should be on our way.”

“Is such unseemly haste really necessary?” Lady Dalrymple protested—simply, her niece suspected, because she disliked someone else being in charge. “Raven should at least be allowed to change her gown for something more suitable.”

“No, Aunt Catherine, Mr. Kendrick is right. My attire isn’t overly important. But I will eventually need access to my belongings. My trunks were packed for my remove to Halford House. Were they delivered there yet?”

“Not yet. With all the chaos yesterday—”

“Her trunks can be retrieved once we decide on living arrangements,” Lasseter said with an edge of impatience.

“But a valise was prepared for her wedding trip,” her ladyship insisted. “She should be permitted to take it with her. She cannot go about town looking like a ragamuffin.” The suggestion was accompanied by a derisive look at Raven’s ill-fitting skirts.

“Perhaps that would be wise,” Raven agreed, remembering that the valise would contain a nightdress among other garments.

“Very well,” he acceded.

Rising, Lady Dalrymple rang for Broady and instructed the grave-faced butler to have Miss Kendrick’s valise loaded at once onto Mr. Lasseter’s carriage.

After that, there seemed to be little more to be said except for farewell. Raven, however, couldn’t help but contrast her leavetaking now with the previous day’s. Yesterday she had been about to marry an illustrious duke; today she would wed a notorious gamester who was suspected of murder….

Her relatives’ qualms were almost as great as her own, it seemed. Her aunt remained icily polite, while her grandfather was actually distraught. Lord Luttrell took her hands in his own trembling ones and squeezed her fingers hard.

“If you ever find yourself in need, my dear…I hope you know you can count on me.”

A sudden ache of emotion tightened her throat: surprise, gratitude, affection. She was amazed and relieved that her grandfather didn’t mean to treat her in the scurrilous way he had her mother. Her voice sounded raspy when she murmured her thanks.

Her grandfather then turned to Lasseter with a fierce stare. “If you harm her in any way, I warn you, sir, you will answer to me.”

“Grandfather—” Raven objected, feeling the injustice of the remark, but Lasseter offered the elderly nobleman a cool smile.

“I intend to save her, Lord Luttrell, not harm her. You will have to be satisfied with that.”

Raven intended to apologize for her grandfather’s animosity once they were out of earshot, but Michael O’Malley was waiting for her directly outside the salon door, pacing the hall.

The groom’s expression held despair and remorse and more than a little concern.

“Oh, Miss Raven, I feared…Sure and I had to see for myself that you were all right,” he said in his Irish lilt.

“I’m fine, O’Malley, truly.”

Beside her, she felt Lasseter stiffen at the name. He eyed the groom sharply but didn’t comment.

“Who was the bastard responsible?” O’Malley demanded. “That scurvy case Lasseter, was it?”

“Yes,” Raven murmured, “but please keep your voice down. I don’t want it advertised. In fact, I intend to try to put it behind me.” She hesitated. “This is his brother, Mr. Kell Lasseter. He has agreed to wed me, O’Malley.”

“Wed?”The elderly groom looked shocked for a moment, before his gaze narrowed in piercing scrutiny. “Saints preserve us.”

The two men regarded each other with almost dislike while Raven quietly explained the need for her unexpected union.

“I ken you’ve no choice, Miss Raven,” O’Malley finally said with reluctance, “but I mean to accompany you. I’ll not let you out of my sight again.”

She looked to Lasseter, whose expression was grim. “Please?” she asked. “May he come with me?”

To her surprise and gratitude, Lasseter nodded. “He can act as a witness for the ceremony. And no doubt you will want someone nearby to protect you in case my abusive tendencies get out of hand.”

It was said with irony, but Raven chose not to press the issue. Instead she had a footman retrieve a cane for Kell to use and then led the way outside, where her valise was being loaded in the boot of the waiting coach. When the task was finished, O’Malley climbed up to join the coachman while Lasseter handed Raven inside and then settled beside her.

Soon they were off, but they had gone barely half a block before Lasseter spoke.

“Your groom is Irish.” It was not a question.

“Yes. He was in service to the Kendrick family when my parents wed, and he decided to accompany them to the Caribbean. Actually O’Malley has been like a father to me. He practically raised me.”

“He’s the one who taught you to shoot.”

“Yes…that among other things.”

Lasseter’s mouth curled at her admission. “I wonder that you allow him to serve you in such an intimate capacity. Your relatives obviously scorn anything Irish.”

“I am not my relatives,” Raven assured him in a stern voice.

She couldn’t tell from Lasseter’s enigmatic expression what he felt about that, but she was inclined to think her groom’s being Irish was the only reason he’d granted her request to have the servant go with her. She’d seen Kell Lasseter’s anger when her grandfather had derided his bloodlines. In fact, she’d caught the slightest glimmer of hurt mixed with the fury in his dark eyes, the slightest vulnerability. His Irish blood was unquestionably a sensitive matter with him.

“Is Kell an Irish name?” she asked curiously.

“It’s Gaelic. Short for Kellach. It means something like ‘strife.’ ”

She repressed a smile but couldn’t resist replying, “Rather fitting, I should think.”

The responsive flicker in his dark eyes might have been amusement, but the glance he gave her was unreadable. “Kell is actually my middle name, the one my mother gave me. Sean chose to use his Irish name as well.”

Any humor Raven felt disappeared abruptly at the mention of his brother, while her misgivings returned full force as a wretched thought occurred to her. Sean Lasseter would shortly become her brother-in-law.

Frowning, she hesitantly broached her concern. “After tonight your brother and I will be related by marriage. But I…it will be difficult for me to treat him with civility. I would prefer to have nothing to do with him.”

“I see no reason why you should have to deal with him,” Kell responded without inflection.

“But he may not consider his vengeance complete. I might even need protection from him.”

She saw Kell’s jaw harden momentarily before he spoke. “I will see to it that he doesn’t abuse you again.”

Deciding to be content with his assurance, Raven lapsed into silence for the rest of the journey.

At length the coach turned off the main road and onto a smooth gravel drive. The well-kept grounds were landscaped with lush foliage that offered occasional glimpses of the Thames River. And when they drew to a halt, Raven found herself impressed. The house seemed more a mansion than a country cottage, large and elegant and built of mellow red brick.

“Is this your home?” she asked Kell. “Or do you use it primarily for diversions?”

“Diversions?”

“I’m aware that gentlemen often have pleasure houses for the purpose of keeping a mistress.”

He glanced at her for a long moment, but his reply was less forthcoming than Raven could have wished. “This is indeed a pleasure house, but it is unoccupied at the moment.”

“Because you already have Emma Walsh? Is she your mistress?”

One dark brow lifted sardonically. “I offered to wed you, Miss Kendrick. Not to divulge the details of my personal life.”

Raven found herself flushing. “I simply wanted to know the circumstances of our relationship so I would not be caught off guard.”

“I believe we agreed to live separate lives. Are you acting the managing wife before we are even wed?”

“No, of course not!” Raven retorted, stung by the accusation.

Thankfully O’Malley came around just then to hand her down from the carriage. But it was Kell who escorted her up the front steps. As he ushered her inside the house, his touch on the small of her back sent a sensual shock rippling down her spine. Raven was glad he was eager for them to live apart. Enduring such close proximity with Kell Lasseter day after day would be unnerving in the extreme.

The interior of the house was just as elegant as the environs, not at all the sort of residence she would think of as belonging to a gamester…or to a gamester’s mistress.

They were met by a butler and housekeeper, who were apparently a couple. If the Goodhopes were startled by their master’s announcement of his impending marriage, they were too well disciplined to show it. Kell ordered Miss Kendrick’s valise unloaded and a bedchamber prepared for her, but he waited until the servants had left to execute their respective tasks before he spoke again.

“It may take me the better part of the day to arrange for a special license at Doctor’s Commons and to engage a clergyman. While I’m away, you can make use of the drawing room”—he pointed toward a door off the entrance hall—“or perhaps you would prefer to rest.”

Raven shook her head. She’d had little genuine sleep the previous night, but at the moment she had more pressing matters on her mind than rest. “I should write Halford as soon as possible.”

He nodded. “I will have one of my grooms deliver your letter.”

“If it is all the same to you, I would rather send O’Malley. I don’t care to trust such an important commission to a stranger. His grace is not likely to take the news well, and it would be better if only O’Malley were there to witness his reaction.”

“I suppose so.” Kell made a scoffing sound deep in his throat. “Halford is as pompous and stiff-necked as they come. I can’t imagine how you ever came to be betrothed to him in the first place. He hardly seems to be your type—Never mind,” Kell said curtly. “Ican imagine. Doubtless you were enamored of his title.”

Raven felt herself wince. He wouldn’t understand her determination to make a magnificent match, or her distress at having those plans shattered. “I don’t deny,” she admitted, “that his title was one of his strongest suits.”

She saw Kell’s mouth harden with something like contempt, but then he shrugged. “Do whatever you like. But you may consider the staff at your disposal. It isn’t large, but Mrs. Goodhope can send a maid to attend you later.”

“I can make do without a lady’s maid.”

He looked skeptical.

“Truly, I managed to dress myself for years,” Raven said. “Servants were a luxury when I was growing up. Not until I came to England did I have anyone to wait on me.”

Kell’s dark brows drew together as if she’d surprised him once again, but he made no comment. “Very well, then. I will see you this evening.”

He started to turn away, but Raven stopped him. “Mr. Lasseter…Kell…I am grateful for your…sacrifice. I know this is not what you planned for your future.”

His mouth curled in a cynical half smile that was not unattractive. “I can only conclude my innate chivalry overcame my good sense.”

“Even so, I should like to thank you.”

“You can thank me once your reputation is safe.” He hesitated before giving her a pointed glance. “You realize, of course, that we will have to consummate our union. Unless you want there to be a question about the legitimacy of our marriage.”

Raven’s breath suddenly escaped her. She hadn’t thought that far ahead. “I…suppose you are right.”

His smile was humorless. “Are you certain you don’t wish to withdraw now, Miss Kendrick? The prospect of sharing my bed doesn’t intimidate you?”

She gazed up at him, at his strong, chiseled features. She was indeed intimidated. The scar slashing across one high cheekbone marred his masculine beauty and suggested he was capable of violence, while those midnight eyes were heart-stoppingly intense. His mere glance made her quiver inside—as did the thought of making love to him.

“It need only be once, isn’t that so?” she murmured finally.

“Yes, it need only be once.” The edge of determination in his voice implied that he didn’t relish the obligation any more than she did. “Until tonight then.”

With a brief bow, he left her standing there staring after him.

Alone, Raven bit her lower lip, wondering if she was making a terrible mistake by allying herself so intimately with a perfect stranger. Especially one so compelling as Lasseter. He was dark, dangerous, and handsome as sin, with a damn-your-eyes attitude that was inexplicably appealing—the precise opposite of the husband she wanted. Despite her every instinct of self-preservation and common sense, she was attracted to him against her will. The heat and vitality that throbbed from him set her every nerve ending on edge. And the thought of the night to come…