Fenella J Miller (19 page)

Chapter Twenty

Penny huddled on the floor, her
back pressed firmly against the edge of the bed, unable to stop trembling. She
knew what was coming – what he intended for her. Why else had he locked the
bedchamber door?

 
She covered her ears with her hands and
resting her head on her knees, she waited.
And waited.
Why didn’t he come over and throw her on to the bed? Perhaps when he saw how
frightened she was, he would relent and let her go. She lifted her head from
her lap, removed her hands and opened her eyes, natural curiosity overcoming
her fear.

She blinked in astonishment.
While she had been cowering on the floor shaking like a
blancmange
he had been lighting candles. He was nowhere in sight.
If his intention was to ravish her, he was going about it in a very strange
way.

Where was the wretched man? She
craned her neck, but still couldn’t see him. He must be the other side of the
room waiting for her to make the first move. She scrambled on to her knees and
swivelling round peered anxiously over the top of the bed.

 
She recoiled and in her efforts to remove
herself, fell backwards in a tangle of arms and legs. Ned, who was lounging as
if he had no a care in the world on top of the bed, made no move to assist her.
She heard him chuckle and the last vestiges of her fear evaporated and
righteous indignation took its place.

‘I hate you, Lord Weston. And
nothing you can do or say will prevail upon me to change my mind. I shall not
be your wife, not now, not ever.’ She eventually regained her feet and as he
hadn’t answered she continued. ‘My beautiful gown is quite ruined and it’s
entirely your fault.’ This was untrue, but she was too cross to care. ‘I wish
to return to my room. You will unlock the door this instant.’

Again he laughed and rolling
sideways placed his feet on the floor. Before she had time to protest he lunged
forward and grasped her waving hands. ‘I promise to release you, but first I
wish to persuade you to change your mind. If, after five minutes, you are still
determined to sever the connection then so be it.’

Five minutes? It should be easy
to remain firm for such a short time.
‘Very well, my lord.
But I can assure you there is nothing you can say that will make me agree to
continue our engagement.’

His voice purred across her cheek
as he drew her closer. ‘I have no intention of using speech to convince you, my
love. I have a far more effective way of doing that.’

His lips trailed light kisses
down from her ear to the corner of her mouth. Resolutely she stood still,
forcing herself not to respond, trying to ignore the waves of excitement that
his touch was igniting.

His hair brushed her face as he
continued his sweet assault until his mouth was burning its way across her
breasts. She should push him away, he would stop if she asked him to, but was
incapable of speaking. She was adrift in a sea of pleasure and all rational
thought became swamped by her growing desire to become one with him.

Resistance was impossible. Her
arms moved of their own volition to tangle in his hair. She wanted him to kiss
her properly, to feel his lips crush hers. She tugged fiercely and he raised
his head. His eyes blazed with passion and he needed no further permission.

His arms scooped her up and she
was tossed unceremoniously on top of the bed. He flung his mangled neck-cloth
on to the floor and the diamond pin rolled unheeded across the boards. His
evening jacket followed and then he was beside her on the bed and it was too
late to change her mind.

She was uncomfortable; something
about this was not as it should be. The train of her gown was bunched
underneath her bottom and the bodice was cutting painfully into the soft flesh
of her breasts. She tried to roll away from him, to indicate she was having
second thoughts. It was too late – far too

late
– for his hands were sliding up her legs, pushing the
layers of material ahead of them.

The candlelight flickered and
danced, creating shadows on the wall, but Penny only saw the russet head
nuzzling her naked limbs leaving spirals of excitement in their wake. A
strange, heady lethargy held her captive. His tongue was flickering across her
inner thigh and her skirts were bundled under her chin when sanity prevailed.

What was she doing? She was
behaving like a light-skirt. She should not be here. He should not be touching
her like that before their marriage vows had been taken.

She pressed her knees together
and drew them violently towards her. This unexpected movement caught him under
the chin slamming his teeth together. He reeled back, spitting blood and
profanities in equal measure.

This was the opportunity she had
been waiting for. ‘Ned. I
have
changed
my mind, I shall marry you,
you
have no reason to
continue this.’

He wiped the gore from his mouth
with his shirt sleeve. For a moment she thought he was angry with her. When he
spoke she knew she had misjudged him.

‘Sweetheart, how can you ever
forgive me? I have always prided myself on self-control and tonight I have
shown none. I have no excuse apart from the fact that whenever I’m near I ache
to make love to you.’ He smiled ruefully. ‘Thank God you had the
commonsense
to stop things before they reached their
natural conclusion.’

‘Then you’re not cross with me?’

‘I’m angry with myself for
allowing my stupid jealousy to blind me. I know you didn’t encourage that man,
but seeing his pawing made me almost lose my reason. I’ve never felt like this
before and if anything ever happened to you my life would be over. I should
never seek another wife; James is my heir and I should be content in those
circumstances to leave my title and estate to him.’

Penny, her skirt restored to its
rightful place about her ankles, felt ready to join in the conversation. ‘Ned,
nothing is going to happen to me, and certainly not at the hands of the count.
He fancies himself in love with me and asked me to run away with him and become
his countess.’

‘The devil he did! It would give
me the greatest pleasure to shoot him through the heart.’

‘You mustn’t kill him; he’s a
gentleman and has promised to keep his distance in future. I can hardly credit
he’s a traitor, he seems so charming.’

‘It’s he who’s behind the
attempts on your life. I admit he’s not personally involved, but I’m certain
it’s his orders the smugglers are following. Their aim is to distract me from
my duties as a magistrate by attacking you.’ He grinned. ‘And it’s working,
isn’t it? I’m so busy watching you that they could have taken three wagons of
contraband past me and I wouldn’t have noticed. I think you can see now why I
have never sought a wife.’

‘That reminds
me,
he told me he was expecting a letter from London in which would be the
information that he was very rich. I asked him if he had an elderly relative
about to depart this world and leave him a fortune. He told me the money was
for services rendered.’

‘This week?
Thank God for that. This means the money hasn’t arrived yet. There’s too much
coastline for Captain Smith and his small band of militiamen to patrol
effectively. The French boat could come in anywhere, but now I know the count
is definitely involved, I can hazard a guess the handover will take place
within a few miles of here.’

Penny left the safety of the bed
and walked into the middle of the room where he was standing.

‘Are we friends? I should hate us
to part on bad terms.’

‘More importantly, are we still
betrothed? I love you, Penny, and if it’s your wish that we no longer get
married, then I shall I stand aside.’

‘I told you, Ned, I will marry
you. What I won’t do is spend any time alone with you until we
are
married. I have no wish to
anticipate our wedding night.’

If he noticed she had not said
that she returned his love, he made no comment. She was no longer sure how she
felt about him. She loved his handsome form and the way his hands sent shivers
of delight up and down her spine, but that was lust which wasn’t the same as being
in love
.

‘Then allow me to return your
ring.’ She held out her left hand and he slipped it back, then he raised it to
his mouth and gently kissed her knuckles. ‘The next time this ring is removed
it will be to place my wedding band on your finger. That day cannot come soon
enough for me.’

Releasing her hand, he walked
away and there was the distinctive click of the key being turned. She was
finally free to go. She looked down at her crumpled gown and saw her appearance
would instantly reveal where she had been and what she had been doing.

‘I can’t walk through the house
looking like…. like a woman of the streets. You must take me back through the
servant’s route. If we meet anyone at least we can be sure your staff will be
discreet.’

He chuckled. ‘They wouldn’t dare
be otherwise. Here, take this candlestick, I warn you, it’s black as pitch
along those corridors.’

The entrance was, as Penny had
suspected, in the dressing-room. This door was so well concealed it was hardly
surprising she hadn’t been able to find it. Ned led the way through a maze of
passages and staircases and although she heard voices in the distance they
didn’t meet anyone else.

Eventually they emerged in her
parlour. ‘Thank you. Please go; I have no wish for Mary to discover you here.
Goodnight, Ned.’

The door from her bed chamber
opened quietly and her maid came in. ‘Mercy me! I’ve never seen the like!’

‘Mary, you forget yourself! I
wish to see this dress pressed and back in my closet by tomorrow evening.’

‘Yes, Miss Coombs. Shall you
be wanting
anything from the kitchen tonight?’

‘No, thank you. I shall retire
immediately. I wish to ride before breakfast so please leave out my blue habit.
I shall require a bath when I return.’

‘Very well, miss.’

Penny tossed restlessly all
night. Her doubts about the veracity of her feelings for Ned and the wisdom of
agreeing to such a hasty marriage kept her awake. When she had accepted his
offer she thought she knew him, but every day she was discovering he wasn’t
quite the paragon she had imagined him to be. He had a fiery temper to match
his hair and a ruthless streak he hadn’t displayed when they were gallivanting
around London together. He was not what he seemed at all.

Did she really wish to be married
to a man who had spent the last ten years in secret work for the government? He
had promised to devote his time to her and his estate in future, but could she
trust him to keep his word? Surely, a man used to a life of action and
adventure would not settle happily into domesticity however much he loved his
wife.

Eventually she fell asleep after
accepting the unpalatable fact that whatever her reservations, she was
committed to marrying him. She had behaved like a wanton. She had no choice,
she had to marry him and make the best of it. Her mouth curved involuntarily.
At least she had no fears about sharing the marriage bed with him. That was one
part of the relationship she was eagerly anticipating.

The next week passed too quickly
for Penny and, she suspected, too slowly for Ned. He kept to his word and made
no attempt to seek out her company. He treated her with the utmost civility and
kindness and only she could detect the tension in him when he was close to her.

Mr Weston was her constant
companion and she enjoyed his company. He happily divided his time between
herself and his mother. The count also treated her respectfully, but she
occasionally detected a brooding darkness in his expression that gave credence
to Ned’s belief that he was indeed the traitor he sought.

Plans for the garden party to be
held for the villagers and staff were well underway. Her aunt was in her
element, there was nothing she liked better than organizing a grand event.

‘Penny, my dear, Mrs Weston and I
would like to bring you up to date and you must tell us how your trousseau is
progressing.’

‘It’s all but
completed, Aunt Lucy. I have sufficient garments to last me a lifetime. I can
only pray fashion does not dictate a drop in the waistline again, which would
make all these gowns redundant.’ She settled herself more comfortably in the
shade of the huge oak tree under which the ladies gathered most days for a cosy
gossip.

‘And your
wedding gown?
Is it as you hoped?’ Mrs Weston asked curiously.

‘Indeed it is, Mrs Weston. No girl
could have a more beautiful dress in which to progress down the aisle. Did I
tell you I have asked Mr Weston to escort me?’

‘Oh, my dear,
how delightful.’
She smiled archly. ‘Let’s hope there is no confusion on
the day. It’s hard to tell James from Ned when they’re dressed alike.’

Penny’s smile faltered as she
considered this outrageous statement. She sometimes thought she might prefer to
marry Mr Weston, he was so kind and gentle, quite unlike his formidable cousin.
Married to him she would be
secure
in the knowledge
whatever her misdemeanour she wouldn’t be berated like a schoolgirl.

‘Ah, there is the dear boy now,
Miss Coombs,’ Mrs Weston said as she beckoned to her son to join them.

She stared and knew immediately
why she would never marry Mr Weston. He was the image of Ned but lacked that
indefinable something that made her betrothed irresistible. She liked Mr Weston
a deal better than Ned, but didn’t love him.

Her radiant smile reflected the
relief that she did indeed love her future husband. Mr Weston must have thought
it directed at himself as he arrived at her side, his eyes dark with an emotion
she recognized as blatant desire. Embarrassed by her inadvertent encouragement
she merely nodded a welcome and turned to continue her conversation with her
aunt and Mrs Weston.