Dealing With Discipline (4 page)

“What did Lady March have to say
to him?” Although Eleanor wasn’t looking at Irene and her attention
seemed to be entirely on the men across the room, Irene couldn’t
help but remember that Eleanor was friends with Lady Grace. Good
friends. Was she asking to make conversation, because she was truly
curious or because she wanted information to tell Grace?

Unfortunately Irene wasn’t
sure what Alex would want her to say so she just spoke the truth.
He’d seemed quite intent on cutting Lady March, and if anyone
else
had
been
watching they’d know that much at least.

“She was
flirting. He wasn’t interested. He reminded her that he’d given
her, her
conge
.”
Suddenly her breath caught in her throat and her eyes jerked away
from Hugh’s laughing face (why had she been watching him anyway?)
and sought out Alex’s familiar head of auburn hair as the
significance of that remark finally dawned on
her.

Of course she’d known that
Alex had mistresses. How could he not, what with the way things
were with his wife? It had always made Irene’s heart ache with
jealousy, to know that other women were having a part of him, a
piece of him. But if he’d given Lady March her
conge
, it must have been recently;
he was too angry about being approached and she was too eager to
speak to him for there to have been any real time. How long would
it take him to find another mistress?

Would she return from her
honeymoon, finally knowing what passed between a man and a woman,
only to have to watch him indulge in
that
with yet another
woman?

Or would it take him longer to replace Lady
March?

Perhaps she could use her
honeymoon to learn… to learn everything that a man might want.
Everything that pleased a man. Surely her husband would enjoy
having a wife who knew what he desired, and when he tired of her
and she’d given him his heir they could go their separate ways and
she could show Alex how well she could please him. Of course, she
wasn’t entirely sure what being a mistress to a man entailed, but
she knew it had something to do with the activities of the marriage
bed. Whatever it was she was sure she could learn to do it for
Alex. Learn to do it better than any woman he’d ever done it with
before.

“My dear?”

Her heart seemed to leap into her
throat as she looked up into Hugh’s glowing blue eyes. Guilt
swamped her as she realized that she was yet again thinking
adulterous thoughts on her wedding day. The way he was looking at
her was almost tender, although there was still a hint of that
strange hunger as well. Barely married for three hours and already
she was thinking about the day when she would betray those vows.
She was truly an awful person.

“Yes my lord?”

“I think you can call me Hugh now,
sweetheart,” he said, laughing a little as he reached out for her
hand. Instinctively Irene placed her fingers in his, allowing him
to help her to her feet as she blushed, feeling rather
silly.

“Of course. I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be sorry,” he murmured,
stepping close enough to her that she could feel his body heat, his
hand searing her as he placed it against the small of her back. His
other hand still gripped her fingers and she found herself staring
up at him, feeling like a trapped bird, her heart pounding inside
of her chest. The smile that spread across his face was rather
wicked and her face heated as his eyes traveled back down to sweep
across her bosom. Beneath her dress her breasts seemed to tighten
in the strangest manner. “You can call me whatever you wish,
sweetheart, but I prefer Hugh.”

“Hugh.” She repeated, and then
nearly gasped as his eyes actually seemed to darken, like the sky
when it was going to storm. The strangest expression ran across his
face and suddenly it was almost as if they were the only two people
in the world. Her breath caught in her throat and she found that
she couldn’t speak another word, not that she could think of one to
say.

Someone cleared their throat,
loudly and closely, and she and Hugh both jumped and then turned
their heads to stare at Edwin. Who was staring back at them,
grinning. He shook his head and turned to his wife.

“Nell, can you help Miss – uh,
Lady Petersham to her room.”

“Right, yes.” Hugh suddenly came
to life again, as debonair and smooth as always as he looked down
at her. The intensity of his gaze had lessened again; the moment,
whatever it was, had passed. “My dear, as soon as you’re ready to
travel we may leave.”

“Oh...” Irene said in sudden
understanding as she looked down at her dress. Of course. She’d had
her maid set aside a dress this morning for her to wear when it was
time to go. The dress she’d been married in was far too fine to
travel a long distance in a carriage, not to mention not as
comfortable as the dress that she’d set aside. A feeling of almost
panic sparked inside of her. It was time to go so soon?

But there was nothing to be done.
At least Eleanor would be with her and hopefully her mother would
stay downstairs to entertain the guests. She was currently across
the room and not even looking Irene’s way so perhaps it was time to
make good an escape. Turning to her sister-in-law she smiled
tremulously.

“You don’t mind going with me?”

“No, I’d be
happy to go upstairs with you and spend some time with some
worthwhile company,” Eleanor said with a sniff and a pointed look
at her husband. Irene bit her lip as Edwin raised his brow at his
wife. She had always found Edwin a little frightening, with his
dark good looks he managed to look rather dangerous, the way she’d
always pictured a fallen angel to look (and she’d heard she wasn’t
the only lady of the
ton
to make that comparison). Although Hugh looked
just like a true angel and yet she still found his presence
disturbing, but she didn’t truly find
him
frightening. Just her reaction
to him.

******

Sighing, Hugh watched his new
bride and his sister walk away. Irene seemed quite skittish at the
moment, although he chalked that up to wedding nerves. Especially
now that they were going to be alone in a carriage for hours, and
it would be the first time that they would be alone and completely
unchaperoned together, but as long as they made good time then they
should be to the first of his family’s estates by sundown.
Understandably she also might be a bit nervous about the wedding
night.

He could only imagine what her
icicle of a mother had told her to expect.

“What is the matter with Nell?” he
asked, wondering why she’d been so sharp with Edwin.

“I have no idea,” Edwin replied,
staring daggers after his wife as she left the room with her arm
linked through Irene’s. They made an attractive pair with their
contrasting hair of gold and red copper. “But I certainly intend to
find out.”

With a wry smile, Hugh gave his
friend a sidelong look, thankful that he’d ended up with a sweet
bride like Irene and not a termagant like his sister. Not that he
wanted to hear any details about why Edwin enjoyed disciplining his
sister so much, but he had to admit he found himself curious as to
what discipline might have to do with bedroom activities. It was
certainly not something he’d ever thought to combine, despite the
fact that he’d been raised to wield the cane when necessary,
whereas Edwin certainly had not. But it was only a mild curiosity
and he was quite content to have it go unsatisfied. With a docile,
sweet wife like Irene he was quite sure he would never need to use
any kind of strict discipline.

“Excuse me, Viscount
Petersham?”

Now that was a sentence he’d heard
more than enough of this morning, and the masculine voice was
completely unfamiliar, as quite a few of them had been. Stifling a
groan he put on his best social smile and turned to find himself
facing Lord Brooke.

“Ah, Lord Brooke, thank you for
coming today,” he said with a smile, holding out his hand for the
other man to grip.  He felt rather relieved that he didn’t
need to search the other man out to speak with him, it also boded
well that Brooke had approached him first.

“Brooke,” said Edwin, offering his hand in
turn.

“Hyde.”

“Standish tells me you and Irene
grew up together,” Hugh said once they’d gotten past the
pleasantries. “I confess I’m glad she had a long-time friend to
attend the wedding today, although she’s made some acquaintances in
London, I could tell that she feels much more comfortable with
you.” Hugh did his best to sound nonchalant, although truly he was
waiting to see the other man’s reaction to his words. Wondering
whether Standish’s depiction of Irene and Brooke’s relationship was
correct.

Brooke’s smile seemed to almost
split open his face, like a crack in a rock.  Not that his
face was particularly craggy, just that the man always seemed
morosely somber when Hugh saw him.  In fact he couldn’t
remember having ever seen Brooke smile before.  Then again,
considering the state of his marriage and his lack of heir, he
didn’t have much to smile about.

“She was the little sister I never
had,” Brooke said, shaking his head at the mental vision he had of
a little girl with red pigtails done up in clashing pink ribbon. It
was had been a shock for him to see Irene all grown up, every time
he’d returned to visit after leaving for school. Seeing her on her
wedding day had been double that. “Still is. I hope you don’t mind,
but I felt it was my brotherly duty to speak with you.”

Hugh raised an eyebrow, a little
surprised but not offended. In fact he was feeling quite relaxed
now that he’d heard Brooke’s own declaration. “You waited until
now?”

“Ah, I just came back to town
recently,” Brooke said, his face hardening again. “I’ve had some
business to attend to at my estates.”  Apparently not very
pleasant business. Or perhaps it was just the necessary business of
making enough money to cover his wife’s outrageous expenses. 
The woman did seem to enjoy spending his money even if she avoided
his company. A small smile broke through again as he refocused on
why he was speaking with Hugh.  "I wouldn't have missed
Irene's wedding for the world."

"That's good of you," said Hugh,
smiling back.  There was still that small twinge of jealousy
that this man had known his wife for so much longer, but it was
obvious from the way Brooke spoke of her, not to mention Standish'
attitude, that there was nothing romantic between the two of them.
While Hugh had to admit to himself that he would prefer his new
wife’s friends be female, if she was going to have a close male
friend at least it was one like Lord Brooke who obviously saw her
in a familial light. "She seems to be quite shy, although I’ve
quite enjoyed the time that we’ve spent together."

“She and Eleanor seem to get along
well,” Edwin offered. “Nell likes her quite a bit, so I’m sure
she’ll make certain that Viscountess Petersham is never left out at
social events. My wife can be quite the champion for her friends.”
It felt strange to call a woman by his friend’s title, but the
obvious masculine smugness that settled onto Hugh’s expression had
Edwin and Brooke exchange an amused look. From his relaxed
demeanor, every moment with Hugh was helping to ease Brooke’s
potential qualms about how well Irene would be cared
for.

"I'm sure she'd be a wallflower if
her mother would let her," Brooke said dryly, with a little twitch
at the corner of his mouth. He shook his head. "Every time I see
her in a ballroom it's a bit of a shock, she's much more at home
out in the country."

"So she and her father have told
me.  I'll admit, I was relieved to hear that she prefers the
countryside although we’ll have to come to London for at least part
of the Season of course.  My parents would have pushed for the
match anyway, for the land she brings with her, but I couldn't
imagine myself with a wife who wanted to spend all her time in
London."

"Yes... I'd heard it was an
arranged match."  Brooke hesitated, unsure of his right to say
his next words and yet determined to do his duty by Irene anyway.
 "Do you… care for her at all?"

"Quite a bit," said Hugh honestly,
unaware of the smile that spread across his face as he thought of
Irene's sweet smile and beautiful face. "Otherwise I wouldn't have
offered for her, land or no land.  The more I've come to know
her, the more I appreciate her company."

"You'll probably enjoy her company
even more in the country," said Alex, looking rather relieved.
 More so at the change in Hugh's expression than his
reassuring words, anyone paying attention could tell that he was
sincere in his affection for his new wife. "She blossoms out
there." His voice lowered to a mutter. "Especially once she's away
from her mother."

Edwin murmured his agreement and
Hugh made a small expression of distaste. Obviously none of the men
were enamored of the Baroness. It hadn’t taken Hugh or Edwin long
to realize that Irene quickly clammed up in the presence of her
mother and barely dared to breathe when the woman was
watching.

"We'll be touring my estates for
our honeymoon, I'm hoping she'll enjoy that.  She didn't seem
interested in going further afield, although Edwin and my sister
just returned from their honeymoon in Paris." He nodded at his
friend, acknowledging the trip.