The Rake and the Recluse REDUX (a time travel romance) (65 page)

“Who are you? And what have you done with the brother who has spent years complaining and harassing me for my stringent sense of propriety?”

“Gideon, we have all looked away from your behavior in consideration of the ordeal that Hepplewort forced upon Francine, but there is a point at which you must return to the present and conduct yourself in an acceptable manner.”

Gideon took Perry by the lapels, looking him in the eye. “I finally loosen a bit, and you come down on me like the Maharaja demanding my blood for indiscretions,” he railed. He released him with a push, spilling Perry’s whiskey as he turned away.

Perry wiped his hand and set the glass on the sideboard. He shook his head. “I have— I’ve goaded you for years, but I never thought for a moment that you would actually—” He turned and walked toward the tall windows that looked out over the south meadow, the land now dusted with moonlight. “You are supposed to be the strong one, the dependable one. And now that you’ve changed, where does that leave me?” He turned to Gideon, who remained near the entry. “I have never been interested in donning that particular cap. Yet here I am, saddled with two French chits—and not at all the way I prefer—until I can marry them off.” His shoulders fell and he rested his hands on the desk. “You don’t seem to understand,” he mumbled. “This isn’t the bullet I expected to take for you.” He collapsed in the chair behind the large, paperwork-laden desk.

Gideon watched silently, then moved to the sideboard to pour a fresh whiskey. He took a sip before walking to the desk. “I should have known better. I didn’t think that you would become just as resolute in your beliefs as I am.” He set the glass of whiskey on the desk in front of Perry. “And you’re right. You have turned your way of life over entirely, for the sake of
my
propriety and in the name of the dukedom, and I have been callous with that action.”

Perry glanced up, surprise registered in the set of his brow at his brother’s self-admonition.

Gideon sat down. “My affairs are not your responsibility and I have taken your efforts for granted.”

Perry shook his head, drinking the whiskey. “The tables have turned a bit, haven’t they? Only two months ago I was the one with a gentle foot in my lap at dinner,” he said with a wry smile. “Yes, brother, it was
that
obvious.”

Gideon dealt him a warning glare.

“I just— I cannot fathom the responsibility you have with your title,” Perry said. “Mine is only courtesy, or at least it was until you signed over Westcreek. But even that isn’t much of a responsibility. These two girls have me in a bind. Every time I look at them they giggle, and I should be enjoying it, not terrified of it. But they are my
responsibility,
Gideon, not my pleasure. I suppose I wouldn’t feel so desperately obligated if I didn’t know what they had been promised to, but— Rox, I cannot comprehend this, I cannot wrap my mind around it.” Perry shook his head. He appeared entirely defeated, and something in Gideon’s chest broke loose.

“Go back to London,” he said quietly.

Perry looked up and his jaw dropped. “What?”

“Go back to London. I hadn’t even considered where your head was in all of this, but it obviously isn’t where it should be. I won’t force anything on you, even under the guise of it being your demand. Go back to London,” Gideon commanded. “Go live your life. The girls are safe here. Shaw will see to Westcreek. Eventually, you will take your place.”

“But the house party and your wedding, I should be—”

“I don’t expect you to,” Gideon said. “I
want
, more than anything, for you to be here for my wedding. But not like this, Perry. If what you need is to get back to London, back to your life, I understand. Just as I need to be here. We are brothers, but as much as we are alike, we are just as different, and I need for you to be sound.”

Gideon watched as Perry relaxed incrementally and sat back in his chair. He looked stunned.

“Go back to London. I am not the only one deserving of happiness. Do what it is that you do, and then return. Hopefully before the wedding, but if not,
know
that I understand,” Gideon said with great emphasis.

Perry nodded and looked away. “Still the strong dependable one,” he murmured quietly.

“And you are still the brave and loyal one,” Gideon said. The brothers stood from opposite sides of the desk then both went to the end, meeting in a strong embrace.

Moments later, Perry left without another word.

The guests in the dining hall remained silent and pensive, waiting to be apprised of the situation by one of the brothers. Gideon returned only after hearing the carriage depart. His movements were deliberate as he perused the guests, from Shaw to the sisters. They all looked hopeful that he would enlighten them without prompt, but he didn’t. He waited, giving his brother time to get away from Eildon.

“My dear brother, though a bit brusque, was absolutely correct in the observations he made. I have taken leave of propriety as of late, and while none of you would dare blame me, my behavior has been deplorable. For that I beg your pardon. Especially you,” he said as he looked at Francine. “It was my greatest endeavor to protect you from the scalding opinions of Society. My improper conduct has done just the opposite. I will make an effort to do better.”

Francine reached for his hand but he stopped her, putting his hands behind his back and standing tall.

“Trumbull has quit Eildon. He returns to London, to his position in Society.”

Francine looked around the room apologetically, knowing Gideon was right. The weight of the reality of this world seemed to sink into her bones at that moment. She stood, drawing the other guests from their seats as she realized the power of propriety and marveled at it.

“I must also apologize,” Francine started, sending Gideon a warning glance before he could interrupt her. “I realize my arrival has turned this household upside down, and while I understand that I’m welcome here, there are things I still need to learn.” She smiled up at him then, and her eyes sparkled like the heavens at twilight. “I will endeavor to do better for you, for all of you. Because you are the only family I have ever really had.”

Gideon nodded, then returned to his chair. They finished supper swiftly and quietly. When they ascended the grand staircase afterward, he made a show of leaving her at the passageway before going to his suite.

It seemed hours before he heard the panel open next to the bed and felt her warm body crawl under the counterpane next to his. They lay facing each other, just staring for the longest time.

“Roxleigh?” she began.

“Lady Francine,” he said with a touch of annoyance, and she grimaced. “That is not a name I wish to hear you address me by in our bed.”

She lifted a finger to his mouth. “Hush, please. I need to talk to you about something, and I’m trying to work up the nerve.” She searched the darkness for his eyes, trying to decipher his mood.

He relaxed into the bed and waited.

“I’ve been thinking. I love the idea that in this bed you are all mine, to do with as I please. That I don’t share you with anyone, in this way. I believe our knowledge of each other will be more powerful, because it will be kept in confidence.”

“I agree, but—”

“Please wait, there is one more thing. I realize it may be a bit late for this discussion. However, I grew up having the issues of
safe sex
and
birth control
beat into my head and—”

“What? What are you talking about? Birth control? You mean preventing a—a babe? Are you not wanting to bear me children?” Gideon asked in a heartrending tone.

“Yes— I mean, no— I mean... yes,” she stammered, reaching for him.

He sat up in the bed and lit the candlestick on a side table. “I don’t understand. When you spoke to Hepplew—”

“Wait. Birth control is to prevent pregnancy, yes. And I do want to have your children, I just— Tonight you promised that we would be more proper, and we haven’t discussed this at all. I just don’t know what you want. If I’m already pregnant, awesome. It would be an incredible blessing. But if not, is there any such thing as birth control here?” She tensed and sat up as well, drawing her knees to her chin. “I mean the old pull ‘n pray isn’t exactly—”.

“Stop,” he broke in gruffly, the blood rushing from his head. “Just, please stop, you aren’t making any sense. If you were to become preg— uh, with child it would be exactly that, a blessing. And the
ton
would have no choice but to accept the babe as we are to be married long before it would arrive in this world. As for birth—that is, what you speak of, yes. Of course there are methods, though I’ve no idea about the one you referred to. What was it? Pull and what?”

“Pull ‘n pray,” she whispered quickly. “Gideon, I didn’t mean to offend. I only thought that as a sexually active couple we should have this discussion, particularly as we are to uphold the appearance of propriety before we become husband and wife.”

Gideon’s jaw dropped and he moved across the bed. “I beg your pardon, I am not accustomed to this. I realize I am no stranger to being
sexually active
, as you so eloquently put it, but my mistress always handled that end of our affair. That is not to say that I am ignorant, either, and if you wish to practice—” He gestured for her to remind him of the term she had used.

She blushed wildly. “
Safe sex
,” she whispered, peering at him from under the safety of her eyelashes.

“Yes,
safe sex
,” he repeated awkwardly, “before we are man and wife, then I have no issue with obtaining
French letters
, or whatever you would be most comfortable with.” He looked down, quite a bit flustered by the subject of their conversation.

She giggled through her blush and reached out to him. “Your Grace,” she said in her thickest English inflection, trying to lighten the mood, “the fact that you would hinder the creation of your issue at my behest is quite endearing to me.”

He looked up at her, his mouth drawn in shock, his eyes open with awe. “I— So you do wish to bear my children,” he said clearly.

“Yes, Gideon, as many as you will give me.”

“And this—this idea has all come about because of decorum?”

“Yes, Gideon. There is no other reason, as well as there being no other option.”

He looked at her questioningly.

“I have no intention of keeping from your bed until our wedding, as I’ve no doubt of your intentions to visit mine.”

He nodded. “You, milady, are quite the most unnerving innocent—no—
woman
I have ever bedded, and yes,” he said as she started to protest, “I do mean that as a compliment. For a chaste creature you certainly have a wide range of vocabulary at your control.” He slanted her a wicked grin. “What else have
you
to teach
me
?” he asked, turning and crawling across the bed toward her.

“Nothing, Your Grace. I am but your humble apprentice,” she said breathlessly as she watched his feline approach.

“Well then, shall we continue?”

She stilled, caught by his smoldering gaze. “Oh, I— well, yes, I— I suppose.” Her composure melted into the warm sheets beneath them.