Helen Dickson (15 page)

Buoyed up with the excitement of knowing he was about to become a very rich man, and congratulating himself on his successful manipulation of this girl’s father, Henry released her and left them to organise the opening of more champagne.

‘It’s evident that you cannot remain here,’ Charles murmured, drawing her aside in an attempt to shield her from the curious, appraising glances being cast their way.

Maria’s eyes had turned a brilliant green in her despair. It was all happening like a crazy dream. ‘I have no wish to.’ Her face crumpled like a hurt child’s. She turned sharply away from him and said in a suffocated whisper, ‘This place is quite shocking. Please, Charles, do not leave me here alone with him…’

Her voice failed and she moved her head in a small helpless gesture that was more pitiful than words.

For a moment—for as long as it would take a tear to gather and fall—Charles hesitated. Then he reached out and grasped her shoulders and pulled her round to face him. The sight of her wet cheeks and wounded eyes sent a physical pain through his heart and made him speak with more violence than he had intended.

‘I would not do that. Alone with him—do you imagine for one minute that he would keep his hands off you? Can you not see that if you were to remain here your position would be intolerable?’

She nodded. ‘You have been right all along, Charles, I can see that now. I have never considered myself to be a coward. I would not shrink from my duty, no matter how unpleasant or dangerous the situation, but I cannot marry Henry—and had my father been aware of the true nature of his character, he would have shown him the door. Everything you told me about him is true. I—I am repelled by him.’

Charles placed his hands on her shoulders, looking deep into her eyes. ‘Be assured, Maria, that I have no intention of leaving you here.’

Henry appeared before them, his sharp eyes flitting from one to the other with suspicion. He had appeared to be quite drunk when they had arrived, but he had sobered quickly. ‘Come, I will not have you skulking in a corner. Come and meet my guests and then I’ll personally show you to your quarters.’

‘You must realise that Miss Monkton cannot possibly stay here,’ Charles said, dropping his hands from Maria’s shoulders.

‘No? Where else would she stay?’

‘She is a gently reared young lady, Winston. Take a look around you. That should speak for itself.’

Henry’s eyes narrowed. ‘I asked you where she would stay.’

‘At my home, which is where she has been since last night. My mother is in residence, so it is all proper and above board.’

A slow smile curved Henry’s fleshy lips and his eyes slid to Maria. ‘Damn, m’dear! You’ve an admirer here.’ Again he looked at Charles. ‘I trust you kept your hands off my property and that my judgement wasn’t
miscast when I asked you to escort my future wife to England, Osbourne.’

‘Henry, I would be obliged if we could go somewhere more private to discuss this matter of our betrothal,’ Maria said, aware of Charles’s anger simmering just below the surface that was in danger of erupting.

Henry looked at her hard and nodded. ‘Come with me. I would like to speak with you alone.’

He led them to a small study. Surprisingly it was empty of cavorting bodies. When Charles was about to follow Maria inside, Henry barred his way with a supercilious smile. ‘Not now, Osbourne. Where my future wife is concerned, your mission ends here. She belongs to me, remember.’

Maria looked at Charles. ‘Please give me a moment.’

‘Maria, don’t—’

‘I have to do this.’

Charles frowned. ‘Will you be all right?’

‘Yes, perfectly,’ she replied. She appeared composed and the mistress of her emotions, but her heart was beating like a soldier’s drum.

Charles threw Henry a warning look. ‘I’ll be just outside the door.’

When the door closed on Maria, Charles waited, his patience stretched, but the thought of her alone with Winston sat like a hot coal in the pit of his stomach. He knew Winston’s twisted nature too well not to feel deeply anxious, for the man was not to be defeated so easily.

Alone with her betrothed, Maria looked at him, marvelling that she could achieve such cool composure when she was burning, trembling inside. His leering
stare seemed to burn through her dress. She cringed. Then suddenly everything shifted and she felt strong. She looked at him in every disgusting detail and knew she couldn’t stand being touched by him, being close to a man like him—and even if he were not so rotten with dissipation, her attraction to Charles was so deeply embedded in her heart that she knew that she could not marry Henry.

‘You’ve changed, Maria—all grown up now, I see—ready for me at last.’

‘Please don’t speak like that. I find it most offensive.’

‘You are here to marry me are you not, Maria?’

‘No, Henry. I left France to escape the terror.’

‘Ah, yes, that too.’

His airy tone whipped Maria to anger. She did not flinch before the barely concealed menace. Now that she had decided not to marry him, she had recovered all her poise and confidence, as she always did when a fight was in prospect. Suddenly his bloated, insolently smiling face maddened her beyond bearing.

‘Are you about to tell me you are to retract your decision to marry me? If so, I would advise you to reconsider.’

Realising that Henry was determined to provoke her, Maria turned with the intention of opening the door to admit Charles. Henry stepped forwards to bar her path. Their combined movements brought them close together. He stared down at her with impudent admiration. Instinctively she stepped back, shrinking inside when he raised his hand towards her face, feeling her cheeks grow hot beneath his lecherous scrutiny.

‘Be so kind as to step aside,’ she said tightly.

‘Not yet, m’dear. I have in my possession a contract signed by your father agreeing to our betrothal. He fully approved of a marriage between us.’

‘My father is dead. He no longer has any authority over me,’ she informed him sharply. ‘Please don’t touch me.’

His smile was slow and lascivious. ‘Oh, such a proud one.’ He allowed his fingers to touch her hair, aware of the moment when she shuddered, but instead of being angered by her reaction, he was excited and challenged by it. ‘When we are wed I can see life will not be dull, and I was thinking it would have nothing to offer. I like my mounts to have fire in their veins, and I see you have plenty.’

Maria cut through his words. ‘Henry, I think you have not understood me. Things have changed. Over the past months I have come to have many reservations about our suitability. I will not be your wife. Please let me pass.’

‘You heard her, Winston,’ Charles said as he entered, having heard Maria’s raised voice and unable to stand outside the room any longer. Seeing Winston towering over her, crimson rage such as he had never felt rushed up from the depths of him, a sickening guilt that he’d brought her here in the first place. ‘That’s enough.’

‘Get out of here, Osbourne,’ Henry ground out, his voice hoarse with rage, his hands opening and closing convulsively.

Henry stepped back, the space he created giving Maria the opportunity to go to Charles. Her gaze became riveted on the drumming pulse in his cheek and the glittering violence in his eyes. The room was highly charged with tension and hostility.

‘Please, Charles, I think we should go. I don’t want
to cause a scene. I have told Henry I will not be his wife and I would like that to be an end to the matter.’

‘I would advise you to reconsider,’ Henry uttered furiously. ‘You’ll regret this, I promise you.’

‘How can you possibly expect me to marry you when you openly keep a licentious house of ill repute? I will not.’

Henry’s eyes blazed with fury into Charles’s. ‘You treacherous, backstabbing villain. I should have known you would do this. I understood you were escorting Maria to England for me, not to go sniffing after her like a dog yourself. I confess I had my doubts about you, but I listened to everyone else telling me that if anyone could smuggle Maria safely out of France it was you. You’re a strange mixture of trust and suspicion, Osbourne.’

‘Think what you like. It matters not one iota to me. Where Maria’s safety is concerned you have nothing to complain about, since she is here now. Suffice to say I’ve offered Maria my protection. She has agreed and will reside at my home for the time being. That is the end of it as far as I am concerned.’

Henry’s face became flushed and seemed to swell with the enormity of his fury. ‘You can’t do this. I will not let you take her.’

‘She is not yours to withhold.’

‘Yes, she damned well is,’ Henry spluttered, already seeing the fortune he craved slipping away from him. ‘I’ll kill you for this.’

Charles watched him with amusement. ‘No, you won’t. You know, Winston, you really should learn to control your passions. They’ve got you into trouble on numerous occasions.’

‘You traitor. You tricked me. You think you’re smart,
don’t you, and that I am a fool?’ he rasped, his drink-sodden face getting redder, his eyes bulging. ‘But you’ll not have her. I’ll see you in hell first.’

‘My goodness, such venom,’ Charles uttered with cold disdain. ‘Be careful. It’s not good for the digestion.’

‘Maria Monkton is mine—mine, I tell you. I had a legitimate arrangement with her father. I have loved and waited six years to marry the girl and I’ll not be cheated.’

Charles’s lips twisted with derision. ‘Love? Your actions towards Maria bespeak anything but love. Considering what she has witnessed tonight, is it any wonder she’s changed her mind? You have done it to yourself. Accept it. The lady no longer wants to marry you—and who can blame her? Look at you, man.’ His eyes passed over him with contempt. Debauchery and overindulgence in every vice and gratification had bloated his body and ravaged his face. ‘You’re a disgrace. Do you think you own her? She has her own wishes and her own will. She doesn’t want you. She is leaving with me.’

‘Like hell she is.’

‘When I brought her out of France, I did not do so solely on your behalf. I did it for her father, who was a close friend of my own. The terror in France is real. It is what they would have wanted me to do. They would have expected no less.’

Henry’s eyes narrowed and began to glitter dangerously. His smile was unpleasant. ‘A noble and honourable act,’ he sneered, ‘and you should be commended, but why don’t you admit that you want her for yourself?’

‘I am assured you have no hope of succeeding with
her, so if I have a mind I see no reason not to pursue her for myself.’ Charles’s eyes narrowed. He had been keeping a firm grip on his temper, partly for Maria’s sake, and partly because he didn’t want to cause a scene. He moved closer to Winston. ‘Whether you like it or not, she is leaving with me,’ he said, an icy, dangerous edge to his soft controlled voice. ‘My obligations where she is concerned are not finished. Nor will I stoop to barter insults with you. I suggest you speak to her courteously, for I will not allow you to abuse her.’

Maria stared wide-eyed at Charles in pure astonishment. He was furious, his lean dark face rigid with barely controlled anger.

‘
You
won’t allow it!’ Henry’s bloated face was scarlet with uncontrollable rage. ‘Who do you think you are? I will destroy you for this—you swaggering cockscomb. How dare you interfere in what is none of your business? Maria—’

‘Is no longer your betrothed. She deserves better than to be made to share the dunghill you have made of your own life.’

Henry raised his head, shocked out of his ranting fury into some deeper, darker emotion by Charles’s words. He held out his hand. ‘Maria, come here.’

Maria stared at his hand and shuddered. She took a step closer to Charles and looked up at him. His expression was taut.

‘By God! You will pay for this,’ Henry raged.

‘Your threats hold no fear for me, Winston. But know this. Maria is now under my protection. You are not to try to contact her. All communications must cease. Do I make myself clear?’

Charles turned to Maria, who was looking at him stony faced. Despite the strong attraction she felt for him, she resented the way he assumed authority over her, and what he had said about pursuing her himself was not to her liking at all and she was deeply angered and disturbed by it.

‘I would like to leave now,’ she said through frozen lips.

Charles raised his arm to guide her to the door. Henry reached out to stop him.

‘Take your hand off me before I break it,’ Charles said coldly. ‘Heed my warning, Winston. Keep your distance from Miss Monkton. You come near her or offend her in any way and you shall find society a very cold place to be. Remember how it was when your disgrace was made public in India.’

Henry’s eyes registered the threat. His expression sobered, but he glanced at Maria, as though mulling over how to get her back.

Seeing that look, Charles moved closer and looked him straight in the eye. ‘Leave it if you know what is good for you. You know what I mean.’

Henry settled his furious eyes on Maria. ‘Don’t think you’ll get away with this,’ he hissed. ‘I’ve wasted six years waiting for you to come of age. Six years wasted. This isn’t the end. I’ll find you.’