The Heiress (11 page)

“What do I think of him,” Robert murmured thoughtfully, his eyes slipping toward the ceiling briefly, before he glanced back and said with a small shrug, “I always liked him. He was smart, with a good sense of humor. He tended to stand up for the downtrodden, defending anyone some of the nastier fellows picked on. We do not move in the same crowds now, but I’ve never heard a bad word against him since that time either. He seems a fine fellow.” He paused and raised his eyebrows. “Now why do you ask?”

“Because Suzette is going to marry him,” Lisa announced with a grin.

Robert sat up straight, amazement on his face and Suzette scowled at Lisa and corrected, “We
may
marry. He will give me his answer today.”

“He
will give
his
answer?” Robert asked with amazement. “
You
asked
him
?”

Christiana definitely had not explained the predicament they were in then, Suzette thought and supposed she shouldn’t be surprised. They had kept what their father had done quiet the first time as well. Robert was like family, and as such she didn’t doubt he probably would have offered to help, but none of them would have felt comfortable with that. It would have changed the balance of their relationship, making them beholden to him, and none of them desired that. Besides, it was just plain humiliating to admit to such a horrible flaw in their father. And she had no intention of confessing it now, so said, “Why shouldn’t a lady ask the man if she likes him?”

Robert appeared nonplussed by the question.

Not giving him a chance to recover, she asked, “Are his parents still alive?”

Robert hesitated, but then said, “His mother is, but his father died some years ago. That’s why the title and estate went to Daniel rather than his father.” He paused briefly to frown, and then added slowly, “I think I heard his mother was ill earlier this year, but I’m sure she recovered.”

“Does he drink?” Suzette asked.

Robert seemed surprised, but thought briefly before saying, “I don’t recall him drinking overly much when we were younger and I haven’t heard that he has taken to drink since.”

“What about gambling?” Suzette asked and noted the way Christiana and Lisa both stiffened and leaned forward a little. It was an important question considering what their father’s gambling had got them into.

Robert shook his head with certainty. “I’m sure he doesn’t. He always eschewed pastimes like that when we were younger. He said he thought anyone who threw money away on games was an idiot.”

“Mistresses?” Suzette asked. It wasn’t unusual for men to keep mistresses, either before or after marriage, but she found she didn’t like the idea of sharing him with another woman.

“I am sure he has had them,” Robert said with solemn honesty. “However, if he has, then he’s been very discreet about it.”

Suzette was about to ask another question when the sound of throat clearing made her pause and glance toward the parlor door. Haversham, the Fairgrave butler stood in the parlor doorway.

“Yes, Haversham?” Christiana asked at once.

“Lord Fairgrave asked that I relay the message that he has returned. He and Lord Woodrow shall be joining you here shortly, my lady.”

“Daniel’s here?” Suzette asked, sitting up and peering past the butler in hopes of spotting the man who had haunted her dreams last night.

“Yes, my lady. He is assisting his lordship in carrying something to the master bedroom.”

“Oh.” Suzette drooped a bit with disappointment, but her mind was now buzzing with worries and questions. Was he going to tell her his decision? He was supposed to. What was he helping Dicky carry upstairs? And would he take the opportunity to ask Dicky for her hand in marriage? She supposed, strictly speaking, that he should speak to her father, but Daniel was aware of the situation and probably thought it more appropriate to speak to Dicky.

“Thank you for relaying the message, Haversham.”

Christiana’s words distracted Suzette from her thoughts and she glanced up as Haversham said, “Of course, my lady.”

“There!” Lisa said brightly as the butler turned to move away. “Dicky’s going to join us. That will be nice, won’t it?”

Suzette grimaced at Lisa’s feigned good cheer. The young woman was peering at their older sister almost pleadingly and Suzette knew she was asking Christiana to give Dicky a chance. The young woman obviously believed his claims from the night before that he regretted his behavior and wished to make it up to Christiana. Suzette, however, was on the fence about Dicky. Despite Daniel’s comments last night about a brush with death changing a man, she just had trouble believing he could change so much so quickly. Still, she supposed Chrissy was stuck with him as her husband and it would make life easier for her sister if he had experienced something of an epiphany and become a new man.

“Chrissy?” Lisa asked and Suzette glanced to Christiana as the other woman stood up.

“I should have asked Haversham to have a tea tray prepared and brought to us. I shall do it now,” she announced as she hurried out of the room.

Suzette watched her go, and then simply sat there staring at the open door, waiting for Daniel to appear and put her out of her misery. Why had he suddenly announced last night that they should leave it until today as originally agreed? He’d followed her home and climbed in her bedroom window to tell her yes, for heaven’s sake. At least, she’d thought he had. What if he’d really come to tell her no, but had been forestalled by her assumptions? Suzette hadn’t really given him much of a chance to explain his presence, but had assumed that was why he was there and then had thrown herself at him like some loose woman.

Truly, she’d rather attacked the man when she thought on it. She was the one who’d kissed him first in her room and then . . . well, things had got quite heated. Perhaps he hadn’t wanted to tell her that he’d come to refuse her offer after indulging in such passionate moments. That would explain why he’d merely put her off in the end, Suzette realized with alarm and suddenly stood up.

“I need to change my slippers,” she announced and then hurried from the room before anyone could question her. Really, it was a lame excuse, but was all she could come up with off the top of her head to escape. She simply couldn’t wait any longer for Daniel’s answer. The not knowing was driving her mad. Suzette intended to hunt down the man and make him tell her whether he was willing to marry her or not at once. There would be no more assumptions or delay. She simply had to know now.

Haversham had said Daniel was helping Richard carry something upstairs, so that was where she headed, hurrying up the stairs and then striding along the hall. She was just passing her room when a door up the hall opened and Daniel stepped out. Suzette paused at once, her heart suddenly racing. This time she was not going to run up and throw herself at the man. She would let him come to her and tell her what his decision was and that was that.

Chapter Six

D
aniel closed the bedroom door behind him, but then paused, a little concerned about what might be taking place in the master bedroom. He and Richard had barely got the carpet-wrapped George in bed and covered him with the bed linens and blankets when Christiana had entered in search of her husband. She hadn’t seemed to notice the lumpy presence in the bed destroyed by the melting ice, but she might if Richard did not get her out of there quickly, and if she saw George there would definitely be trouble. Everything would have to be explained to her and he wasn’t at all sure how she would respond to finding out that Dicky really was dead, but hadn’t really been Dicky at all. Not to mention the fact that Richard was the true Earl of Radnor and was a man she hadn’t even met until the day before, just hours before he’d bedded her. She would probably be incredibly upset.

However, Richard had said he should leave and indicated he would handle things. Daniel supposed he would just have to hope for the best and go downstairs to wait and see what happened. There was very little else he could do at the moment. Shaking his head, he turned to start up the hall, but slowed as he spotted Suzette standing by her door in the hall facing him.

She looked beautiful to him in a gown of white muslin, her dark hair falling about her shoulders in soft waves. But her face was a little pale and there were dark smudges under her eyes that suggested she hadn’t slept any better than he had last night. It made her look oddly vulnerable and delicate and as he came to a halt before her he couldn’t resist reaching out to brush his fingers down her cheek.

“You look beautiful this morning,” he said quietly, his gaze settling on her lips. They were slightly swollen and rosy at the moment as if she’d been biting them with worry and he had a strong urge to kiss them better, but made himself resist the urge.

“Thank you,” Suzette murmured and managed a smile. She then blurted, “You look beautiful too. I mean handsome.”

Daniel chuckled slightly, and let his hand slip back to his side before asking, “How did you sleep?”

“Horribly, I kept fretting,” she admitted baldly, verifying what he’d suspected, and then she just flat out asked, “Are you going to marry me?”

Daniel supposed he should be surprised at such a bold question, but he wasn’t. He wouldn’t expect any less from Suzette. Smiling wryly at his own thoughts, he nodded rather than actually speak the lie. The moment he did, a whoosh of air slid from Suzette. A smile crested her lips and she threw her arms around his neck and pressed those lips to his. Daniel stilled, fighting the urge to kiss her back. He wanted to, but knew where that would lead and it wouldn’t lead to getting to know her better, unless one meant in the biblical sense. He was determined to get to know her in other ways, so reached up to catch her arms and withdrew them from around his neck so that he could urge her away.

“We need to talk,” Daniel said gently, when Suzette stepped back to peer at him uncertainly.

“Oh,” she breathed with relief. “Yes, of course.”

She glanced around and then reached for the door next to them, opened it and started in.

“We need to discuss when to leave, and I should pack and—” Suzette’s babbling died as she realized he wasn’t following and she glanced back to where he still stood in the hall and said, “Come in, my lord. There is much to discuss.”

Daniel grimaced, but shook his head. “I don’t think it’s a good idea for us to be alone for a bit. We seem to have difficulty behaving ourselves and—”

His words died as she moved back and caught his hand with a laugh to pull him into the room. “I promise I shall not throw myself at you again, my lord. I realize I must have seemed very forward last night. I can only assure you I am not normally so bold with men. In fact, I have never been that bold before in my life with anyone else.”

“I didn’t think you had,” Daniel assured her solemnly, taking several steps away to put a safe distance between them the moment she released his hand. Her lack of experience had been painfully obvious at first, though she’d learned quickly. He supposed he should be flattered that she’d responded so passionately to him, and it
was
nice to know that he wasn’t the only one so affected by their closeness, however he was very aware that he was standing in her room, just feet from her bed and she was closing the damned door, leaving them alone and . . .

“I am glad you didn’t assume I was free with myself,” Suzette admitted, moving to a chest at the foot of the bed. “I did worry about that last night.”

“No. I never assumed that,” he murmured, watching as she knelt by the chest and opened it. She then leaned over to sift through the clothes inside, and Daniel found his gaze widening on her behind as it bobbed up and then waved gently about as she went through the items in the chest. Dear God, the style of today’s gown was so thin that hers rode over her skin like a sheath leaving little to the imagination. She may as well have been naked, he thought as he noted the curve of her hips.

“How much should I pack, do you think?” she asked, lifting a gown out of the chest and sitting back on her haunches.

Without the view of her behind to distract him, Daniel glanced to the gown she’d lifted out of the chest and swallowed as he realized it was a night dress, a nearly diaphanous creation with little rosettes along the neckline. He could see right through it to the chest and bed and everything else on the other side of it and knew he would be able to see every inch of her skin through it were she to put it on. What the devil was an unmarried woman doing with a creation like that? he wondered with dismay.

“This was my mother’s,” she announced suddenly, turning to smile at him. “I have always loved it. Father had her clothes packed away and placed in the attic after she died, but I found this some years ago and took it to my room. I have never been brave enough to wear it. In fact, I’m not sure what moved me to pack it when we left for London, but I am now glad I did. I think I could find the courage to wear it with you.”

Daniel swallowed, imagining her in the gown, and then out of the gown, and then on her back under him.

Suzette set the gown over the end of the bed with a pleased little sigh and then bent to search through the chest again, her behind once more bobbing before his eyes as she said, “I suppose I should take at least three or four dresses, don’t you think?”

Daniel growled what might have been agreement as he watched her behind bobble about. Damn, the woman was driving him crazy.

“What is Woodrow like?” she asked suddenly, her voice coming muffled from inside the chest.

“I—It’s nice, I guess. Lots of farm land and trees, a small pond for swimming. Of course the house still needs some repair,” he answered, his voice and mind distracted by her behind.

“Will we live there or in the city, do you think?”

Daniel raised his eyebrows, the question actually garnering his full attention. Last night Suzette had said she wanted the right to live separate lives if she wished, but that question sounded as if she didn’t wish to after all. That was encouraging, he supposed. Well, it would be if he’d decided to marry her. Clearing his throat, he said, “Woodrow mostly, though I shall have to travel to town on occasion for business.”

“Oh, I’m so glad you said that!” Suzette smiled at him over her shoulder. “I grew up in the country and it’s much nicer than town don’t you think? The air is so sooty here, and it’s so crowded and . . .” She shrugged and turned back to the chest. “I would just rather raise children in the country.”

Daniel blinked slightly at the words as her behind bobbed into the air once more. Children? Of course were they to marry they would eventually have children, he realized and suddenly imagined a small Suzette with pigtails and sparkling eyes and a mischievous grin like her mother. The image was a charming one and Daniel found himself smiling.

“I should like to have a couple of boys as well as a daughter I think,” Suzette said happily, speaking into the chest.

An image of two serious young boys rose in his mind, one standing protectively on each side of the mischievous girl and his gaze shifted back to Suzette as she added, “I suspect you were a handsome boy when young. I wish I could have seen you then.”

Daniel tilted his head slightly, wondering if he’d imagined the wistful tone of her voice as she said that, but merely asked, “You won’t mind missing town life?”

“What is there to miss?” she asked, rising up to glance over her shoulder again.

Daniel shrugged. “Balls, soirees, the theater.”

Suzette laughed lightly and turned back to the chest. “I’ve never been to the theater, so surely won’t miss that. Besides they have balls and soirees in the country, you know. Perhaps not as many as in London, and certainly not so grand, but—” She paused and glanced back to ask curiously, “Have you lived in town all your life?”

Daniel nodded which brought a frown to her face.

“Then you must be used to the rounds of social events. Will you find country life too rustic, do you think?”

“No,” he said with certainty. Despite all the troubles he’d encountered with the reparations of Woodrow, Daniel had quite enjoyed his six months in the country earlier that year. He hadn’t attended any local functions, but the peace and quiet and natural surroundings had been soothing after a lifetime spent in town. “Besides, we didn’t attend many balls or soirees while I was growing up, and I haven’t been to the theater much either.”

“Why?” she asked with surprise.

“We were poor,” he said simply. “My father was a second son. He inherited the townhouse in town, and held a position with the bank but had little else when he and my mother met. She, on the other hand, was the eldest daughter of very wealthy parents. They didn’t think my father was good enough for her and were trying to force her into marriage with a baron whose wealth matched their own. However, she loved my father. She said she knew he was the man for her the first night they met.”

“Oh, how lovely,” Suzette murmured, giving up on the contents of her chest to turn and face him as he continued.

“Her parents didn’t think so,” Daniel said dryly. “When she went against their wishes and married my father, her family cut all contact with her.”

“Oh no.” Suzette frowned.

Daniel nodded, and then shrugged. “Still, Mother and Father were very happy together. Money was apparently tight but they were in love and didn’t care. However, then my father fell ill and died and that is when things got really tough. Mother had to release the staff and started doing mending. She also sold furniture to augment our income. She couldn’t afford clothes for balls and such, and the theater was out. We mostly stayed to ourselves to hide our lack of coin.”

“But surely you visited others in town or . . .” Suzette let her voice trail away as he shook his head.

“We couldn’t accept invitations out, because it would mean extending return invitations, and no one was ever allowed in our home.”

“Why?” she asked with a frown.

“Because most of the furniture was gone,” he pointed out with a grin that suggested it hadn’t bothered him. “It was sold off first to pay creditors and get us by. After that she sold her jewelry, one item at a time. Fortunately, most of it was quite good quality pieces she’d received from her parents while growing up, but there were a couple of lesser pieces my father had bought her as well and all of it went over the years . . . including her wedding ring and engagement ring from my father.”

“No,” Suzette cried with dismay.

“She sold those to pay for my schooling,” Daniel admitted and couldn’t keep the sadness from his voice. These last years as his return on investments had increased his wealth, Daniel had ensured his mother had anything she wanted. But the one thing he could not replace were the rings signifying his parents’ love, and he knew those had been the hardest sacrifice she’d made. The engagement ring and wedding ring his father had given her had been irreplaceable. His mother had truly loved his father, and still did. His being dead these last twenty years had not made that love fade. Daniel knew without a doubt that parting with those rings had been one of the most heart-wrenching things she’d ever done.

“How sad,” Suzette said softly. “It must have been hard.”

“Yes, my mother had it very hard for a long time there. She suffered horribly for her love of my father.”

“It was a willing sacrifice,” Suzette said quietly, and then added, “But I meant you. It must have been hard for you too.”

Daniel’s eyes widened, but he shook his head. “As a child I didn’t understand that we were poor or lived any different than anyone else, and then I was away at school and that certainly wasn’t hard. I had a warm bed, more plentiful meals than I’d ever before experienced and good friends. Richard was the best of them.”

“I thought you said you were not friends with Richard,” Suzette reminded him, her eyes growing narrow.

Daniel stiffened, hesitated, and then said carefully, “We were the best of friends as children. But I am certainly not friends with the man who has been the Earl of Radnor since the fire that burned down his townhouse.”

Suzette relaxed a little and then sighed. “So the death of his twin really did affect him?”

Daniel hesitated again. He really didn’t want to lie to Suzette about this, and had actually managed not to so far in this conversation by speaking very carefully. Finally, he said, “The fire in the townhouse and George’s death both changed everything. However, now the Earl of Radnor is his old self and a man I am proud to call friend.”

“Hmm,” Suzette muttered, not looking fully convinced. She turned back to the chest and changed the subject, saying, “Your mother sounds an interesting woman.”

“I suppose she is,” he said thoughtfully. Daniel had never really considered it much, he’d just loved her as a son should love the woman who had sacrificed so much for him. But he acknowledged her traits, saying, “She’s strong, smart, and charming. And she didn’t allow her circumstances to make her bitter. While the loss of Father struck her hard, she said every day of sorrow since was worth those few precious years they had together.”