Читать книгу Regency Vows: A Gentleman 'Til Midnight / The Trouble with Honour / An Improper Arrangement / A Wedding By Dawn / The Devil Takes a Bride / A Promise by Daylight - Julia London, Alison DeLaine - Страница 45
ОглавлениеNEARLY AN HOUR after James left, Katherine was on her way downstairs when someone called at the door. It would be Honoria and Phil, of course, returning to learn every last detail.
Instead, Bates admitted the Duke of Winston.
“May I offer my congratulations,” he said as Katherine descended the stairs. “It would seem London’s most ravishing pirate has finally been captured.”
She surveyed his rakish black hair, his burgundy coat embroidered with a gold-and-black geometric pattern, and the sword that hung at his side. “I prefer to think of myself as having made a strategic defensive move,” she told him.
He glanced at her hip as she joined him in the entrance hall. “At least reassure me you are unarmed this evening?”
She raised her brows and curved her lips a little.
“Very well.” He grinned. “I shall be on my best behavior.”
“And instead of your congratulations,” she added meaningfully, “I would prefer your apologies.”
He laughed. “Very well. You may have those, as well. And if there is ever a way I can make it up to you, you have only to name it. I confess to being on the blackguard side of things when it comes to beautiful women—and you are spectacularly beautiful, Lady Dunscore.” His eyes flashed wickedly. “Forgive me. Lady Croston. Would seem Croston’s a bit on the blackguard side of things, too. Should have suspected he fancied you for himself, for all he kept trying to fob you off on everyone else.”
Fob her off?
“Never would have suited with any of them, I daresay. Although, if you should ever grow tired of Croston and care to, shall we say, expand your horizons...”
“I shall certainly keep you in mind,” she said.
“Excellent. I need a few words with Croston. Is he at home?”
“No. He’s gone out.”
“And left you here alone? The man must have lost his mind.” Wicked thoughts sparkled like dark jewels in his eyes.
“Either that, or he wishes to make sure the committee is in no doubt as to our marriage.”
His brows flicked downward, but he smiled. “Rest assured, the committee was quite adamant in its decision. And for the record, I voted in your favor.”
Voted? In her favor? Her mind scrambled to make sense of what he said. “I am flattered, Your Grace,” she managed. “The committee has made a decision already?”
He cocked his head. “Surely you knew.”
Her blood ran cold. “News is sometimes slow in traveling to Dunscore, and I was only there a few days.” Her mind reeled. “You’re saying the committee reported in my favor.”
Something like alarm lit his eyes. “I would hate to rob Croston of the pleasure of telling you himself,” the duke said smoothly.
“When was the decision made?” she demanded.
He held up a hand. “Please—Croston will have my head if I discuss this with you further.”
“When was the decision made?”
“If you’ll excuse me, that light in your eye makes me damned nervous.” He bowed hastily. “Good evening—a pleasure, as always.”
* * *
LONG AFTER SHE and Miss Bunsby had put Anne to bed, Katherine waited in the library at James’s desk. She sat in near darkness in the giant leather armchair that had been crafted for comfortable arrogance. The only light came from a fire that had burned low but still cracked and flickered. She smoothed her hands across an expanse of mahogany that screamed of power. Command.
Her own power and command lay buried beneath a heart that ached so badly she could hardly breathe.
That night on the ramparts, she’d told him things she’d never thought she would tell anyone. Things she hadn’t even told William because he, with the brutal captivity he had suffered, would not understand.
James did not understand, either. She’d been thinking perhaps that was all right. That perhaps it had been unfair of her to ask him to try.
No, not unfair.
Unfair was James lying to her. Taking advantage of her ignorance after she’d given herself to him so completely.
A footman carrying a note to her solicitor had quickly confirmed the date of the committee’s decision. Bates had claimed not to remember when James had left for Dunscore, but one of the stable boys had proved less forgetful.
James had known. He’d bloody known what it meant to her, and he’d still tricked her into marriage.
She brought her hand down hard on the desk, relishing the sting. James may have thought himself powerful, but starting tonight the power in this marriage belonged to her. What she had given James of herself she would take back.
An hour passed—perhaps more—before she heard him talking to Bates in the entry. She tensed. Her throat constricted so tightly only the thinnest ribbon of air could pass. Her heart pounded so hard she could feel its beat in her legs.
When he came through the library door, he didn’t see her at first because he was reading something in his hand. The urge to go to him rose up, but she squashed it. He was almost to the desk when he glanced up. When he saw her, he stopped.
She leaned back in the chair with her palms flat on the desk. “Good evening, Captain.”
“Likewise.” He paused. “Captain.” The look in his eyes changed from pleasure at the sight of her to the guarded calculation that had marked the first weeks of their acquaintance.
A ferocious urge to forget everything welled up inside her. Whatever he might have done, they were still married. She could let it go.
Except he’d taken her independence, her birthright, and now she could not get them back.
“How were your visits?” she asked. “Is everything finished?”
He tossed the sheaf of papers in his hand onto the desk and stood opposite her. “I suppose you could say that.”
She stared at him silently across the mahogany expanse, partly to see what else he would offer without her prompting, and partly because her throat was too tight to speak.
“Katherine—”
“I suppose I could say that, couldn’t I,” she interrupted, suddenly not wanting to give him an opportunity for more lies. “Especially given that the committee had already decided not to attaint me when you left for Dunscore.”
There was a barely perceptible change in his eyes, and her belly dropped. “I see Honoria and Phil returned, after all,” he said darkly.
I didn’t know. I hadn’t heard. That was what he was supposed to say. Heaven help her, she wished it were true so badly she would almost be willing to accept a lie. Thank God—thank God—she hadn’t told him she loved him.
She stood up suddenly. “Bastard,” she spat. Damn him— No I’m sorry, no Let me explain. Just I see Honoria and Phil returned, after all. “This was why you sent them away. And then you made love to me in order to cover up your lie.”
He leveled those green eyes at her. “That isn’t true.”
“I should kill you right here.” She came around the desk and drew her cutlass, so enraged that her vision hazed over.
He didn’t move.
“Draw, damn you!”
“I won’t draw on you, Katherine.”
“Why not?” she demanded, and saw the truth in his eyes. “You do pity me. Even now.” It wasn’t to be borne. “Draw!”
He just stood there, watching her.
She raised her blade to his neck. “I should slit your throat for what you’ve done.”
“When I left London for Dunscore, I had every intention of telling you about the vote.”
She stared at him and wondered how her heart could keep beating when it hurt so much.
“I’d planned to tell you, Katherine. But when I saw you—”
“I don’t want to hear any more of your lies.”
“I don’t expect you to believe me.”
“After all this talk of helping me, of winning over the committee— God. After all that talk of guilt—”
“Do not tell me how I feel.” He pointed at her, heedless of the blade.
“Dunscore could have been mine. It was mine. And you stole it!”
“The trusts we woke Deal’s solicitor in the middle of the night to draft say otherwise. Dunscore remains in your name.”
“You betrayed me!”
“Would you have agreed to marry me under any other circumstance?”
“Yes!” The answer shot from her lips on its own, stunning them both into silence.
He blanched, and his mouth thinned. “If we would have married, anyway, then I fail to see why it matters now what ultimately brought us together.”
He may as well have stabbed her through the heart. She forced her mouth into a curve. “No. Nor would I expect you to.” Finally she sheathed her blade.
“Katherine...” He came toward her, but she backed away, ready to draw again. He held his hands up, but his eyes blazed. “I would do it again,” he said harshly. “If it was the only way to have you, I would do it again.”
Katherine could think of only one reason for him to say such a thing. “God, I’m a fool. Croston is in debt, isn’t it? I should have known.”
“Croston is not in debt.” Anger raged across his face. “Enough of this. We’re leaving for Croston in the morning, and I haven’t had time to prepare.”
“You may go to Croston,” she told him stonily. “Anne and I shall stay here. In a few days, after she’s recovered from the journey, we will return to Dunscore.”
“You will do nothing of the kind.”
“I make my own decisions, Captain. I am the countess of Dunscore.”
He jabbed his finger at her. “You are my wife.”
The words struck like blows. “Yes,” she said. “And you managed it with deceit as your grappling hook and lies as your cannon fire.” The pressure in her chest and belly ached so badly she nearly doubled over with it. It hurt to look at him. “I’ve been taken captive before, Captain. I may not be able to escape, but this time I will have my captivity on my own terms.”
