His Wicked Wish (18 page)

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Nate's steps slowed as he neared the open door in the upstairs passageway. He dreaded this encounter. He didn't much like children. They tended to be sticky and loud and tiresome. But like all unpleasant chores, it was best to get this over with and done.

He stepped into the doorway. The nursery looked much as it did in his youth. The schoolroom with its low shelves of books formed the main area with the bedchambers located down a corridor to the right. The same alphabet animals were framed on the walls, and a globe of the world sat on a pedestal. But the room seemed to have shrunk compared to the vast space he remembered from his childhood.

Of course, he had been much smaller then, a mischievous rascal who had spent a good deal of time banished to a stool in the corner and facing the wall. Sitting still for hours had been the absolute worst punishment for an active lad. The whippings administered by the Earl of Gilmore had hurt much more, but at least they'd been over swiftly.

The tableau on the far side of the room drew his attention. There, a young girl sat at a child-sized oak table by the windows, swinging her feet and kicking up the hem of her yellow gown, while she wrote with chalk on a slate. Nearby, a plump nursemaid dozed in a rocking chair with a tiny redheaded girl cuddled on her ample lap. The little one was sucking her thumb while watching the other girl.

Nate felt rooted in the doorway. These must be his nieces. The two daughters that his brother had sired.

His throat tightened unexpectedly. A hot moisture prickled his eyes. Aghast, he looked away and swallowed several times. How absurd to feel moved by the sight. They were merely children.

And they were not his responsibility. That burden fell to the head of the family, their grandfather, the Earl of Gilmore. Yet Nate felt a duty toward them nonetheless. Long ago, David had watched over him, protecting him whenever possible from the earl's wrath. And this was Nate's chance to return the favor.

A deep breath expanded his chest. With determined steps, he started toward the children. As he approached, the girl at the table twisted around in her miniature chair to watch him. The nursemaid awoke and spied him, her eyes like two black currants in a doughy face.

With the toddler in arms, she struggled to wrest her fleshy form out of the rocking chair. “Oh, milord! Pardon me!”

“Pray remain seated,” Nate said. “There's no need to get up.”

Clearly discomfited, the servant settled back down to her rocking.

He squatted down on his haunches by the girl at the table. She was a fairy-child with reddish-brown hair tied back with a yellow ribbon and hazel eyes exactly like David's. A smudge of chalk dust adorned her minuscule nose. She didn't appear frightened, only curious.

“Hello,” he said. “I'm your uncle Nate. What is your name?”

She stared at him. Her expression had a quiet solemnity that reminded him again of his brother. A weight sat on his chest, making it difficult to breathe.

Blast, why had he come here? He didn't know how to hold a conversation with a child. “Perhaps you'll tell me your sister's name, then,” he tried.

She regarded him for another long moment, until he was almost ready to give up and leave. Then she said in a clear, bell-like voice, “I'm Caroline. And she's Laura. She cries at night sometimes. But
I
never do.”

“That's very good of you. I suppose that means you're not a baby anymore.” He fumbled for a topic, then spotted the slate where she had been practicing her ABCs. “I see you're learning to write.”

“I'm on
Q.
It's a circle with a tongue.” Caroline bent her head over the slate again and laboriously drew the letter, a bit crooked but recognizable.

“Excellent,” he said. “Do you know any words that begin with
Q
?”

She thought a moment, then announced, “Queen! Like Queen Victory.”

He grinned, using his thumb to wipe the smear of chalk dust from her pert little nose. “Queen Victoria, indeed. Well done.”

Even as a sweet smile bloomed on Caroline's face, the tap of footsteps sounded behind him. Lady Sophia's sharp voice rang out. “What is going on here?”

Nate jumped to his feet and turned around. He hadn't known anyone else was here. Gowned in somber gray, his widowed sister-in-law stood in the doorway to the children's bedchambers. He could appreciate why his brother had married her. Sophia had delicate features, lustrous brown hair, and a fine figure—though the effect was spoiled by the vinegary look on her face. Directly behind her trailed a thin, fortyish woman clad in black, her dark hair in a severe bun.

“I was just observing Caroline at her work,” he said. “She's doing a marvelous job with her writing.”

Sophia glided over to Caroline to pat her hair and fuss over her, before going to the rocking chair. The red-haired toddler stretched out chubby arms, and Sophia picked her up, hugging her close and crooning in her ear before handing the child back to the nursemaid.

Nate had the distinct impression that his sister-in-law was checking to make certain he hadn't harmed the girls in any way.

He tried not to be annoyed. She seemed an attentive mother, if a trifle overprotective. And he was a stranger to her, after all. Over the years, she'd known only the poison disgorged by the Earl of Gilmore.

Though by now she'd probably also figured out that Nate had married a common actress for the purpose of revenge.

“Miss Jameson will take over now.” Sophia gave a nod to the governess, who scurried toward the child. “We were just consulting on Caroline's progress in her schoolwork.”

He bowed. “Then I'll leave you to your occupation.”

As he turned to go, she said, “One moment, if you please. May I have a word with you?”

“As you wish.”

Sophia marched toward the other end of the schoolroom, stopping near the door to the outer passageway. As he joined her there, she lifted her chin and said in a hushed tone, “I confess to being very surprised to find you here. You don't seem the sort to be interested in children.”

“I wanted to meet my brother's brood. They're lovely girls. How old are they?”

“Caroline is five and Laura is two.” Like a mother hen guarding her chicks, Sophia regarded him combatively. “It would have been proper for you to ask my permission to come here. That would have allowed me to prepare my daughters.”

“Prepare?”

“Caroline is often shy with strangers. They frighten her.”

“Really? She wasn't frightened of me.” Nate was rather proud of that now. “We conversed quite well.”

Sophia didn't appear mollified in the least. She said stiffly, “Nevertheless, I must ask that your … wife refrain from visiting the nursery. I trust you can see that a woman of her kind might have an unwelcome influence on my daughters.”

Nate stiffened. The audacity of this woman, to suggest that Madelyn would corrupt his young nieces. He'd never heard anything so ridiculous. His mind conjured the image of his wife, the look of wonder in her big blue eyes as he'd entered her for the first time. The shock of her innocence was seared into his memory.

But Sophia wouldn't care about that. He'd known many ladies like her in the past. Only bloodlines mattered to them.

It took every bit of effort to hold his temper in check. Aware that he and Madelyn would have to live under the same roof with this woman for the coming months, he told himself to choose his words carefully. “I don't believe you've stopped to consider—”

The retort died on his tongue. Madelyn stepped into the doorway. A vision in blue silk, her blond hair in a simple knot atop her head, she looked from Sophia to him and smiled brilliantly. “Oh, dear me! Have I interrupted something?”

 

Chapter 13

A moment earlier, Maddy had stopped in the passageway outside the nursery. Detecting the murmur of voices, she'd hesitated to intrude upon a private conversation between Nathan and his sister-in-law. At least until Lady Sophia had said,
A
woman of her kind might have an unwelcome influence on my daughters.

The comment cut deeply into Maddy's heart. It confirmed everything she had ever known about the snobbery of the upper class. A woman of her kind, indeed!

When Nathan did not respond, she knew she ought to retreat, to pretend she hadn't been eavesdropping, if only by accident. But she would not tolerate such shabby treatment. If her own husband wouldn't stand up for her, then she must do so herself.

Maddy stepped through the doorway of the nursery just as Nathan said, “I don't believe you've stopped to consider—”

He fell silent as his gaze flashed to her, his green eyes intent. Her heart skipped a beat. He looked exceptionally attractive today in a blue-gray coat and white cravat that enhanced the sun-burnished angles of his face. Though he wore the elegant garb of a gentleman, there was always something uncivilized about him. Perhaps it was the boldness of his stare or the way he tied back his black hair with a leather thong.

Both he and Lady Sophia appeared startled by her abrupt appearance. They must be wondering what she'd overheard. Good, Maddy thought. They oughtn't be talking about her behind her back.

She shaped her lips into a dazzling smile. “Oh, dear me, have I interrupted something?”

“Certainly not,” Nathan said. “I was just on my way out.”

“Well, I'm so glad to have found you, darling,” Maddy gushed, gliding to his side. “I've been looking all over the house. And Lady Sophia, how lovely to see you again.”

Turning her attention to the woman, Maddy felt an unwelcome twist of envy. David's widow oozed refinement from her glossy brown curls to the fashionable cut of her gray gown. It made Maddy keenly aware of the old blue dress she'd donned after her fitting. The style was several years out of date, though recently she had added a bit of lace at the bodice and adjusted the sleeves to give it a more modish flair.

Nathan dropped a kiss on her cheek. “Speaking of lovely, you're looking quite beautiful today.”

The gravelly sound of his voice flowed through her as a primal thrill. She accepted his compliment with a grain of salt; he was playing the role of devoted husband. Yet the masculine scent of him, redolent of sandalwood and leather, sparked vivid memories of the pleasure they'd shared the previous night, when she had buried her face in the crook of his neck while he'd moved inside her. Now, she blushed as a throb of desire heated the place where they'd been joined. Her flustered feeling intensified when he slipped his arm around her waist, his fingers idly rubbing the small of her back.

But he was gazing at his sister-in-law. “As I was saying, Sophia, I don't believe you've stopped to consider. At this time next year, my child—Madelyn's child—may be sharing this nursery with your daughters. They'll be cousins. Won't that be splendid?”

The idea of bearing his baby caused a quake inside Maddy. Before the auction, when she had been intending to enter into a temporary arrangement as a gentleman's mistress, she had learned from one of the other actresses how to avoid pregnancy with a vinegar-soaked sponge. But Maddy had taken no such precautions the previous night.

Should she have?

No. She was a married woman now, and a child would be a boon to her bargain with Nathan. How wonderful to contemplate motherhood. Her heart melted at the notion of cradling his baby in her arms, a tiny boy with a thatch of black hair and miniature dimples …

“Splendid, indeed,” Lady Sophia said in a brittle tone.

Maddy came out of her reverie to see that the woman's face had gone pale. And no wonder, for Nathan was the heir now. His child would take precedence over Lady Sophia's daughters.

It had to be a bitter pill to swallow.

Maddy looked across the schoolroom at the two little girls. A nanny in a black gown sat with the older child, helping her as she drew on a slate. The younger one napped in the nursemaid's ample arms.

The sight brought a smile to her lips. “Are those your daughters, my lady? How precious they are. Quite the prettiest children I've ever seen. You must be so proud of them.”

“Yes, thank you.” Lady Sophia hesitated, then pursed her lips and said with rigid politeness, “Would you care to meet them?”

Maddy would have liked that if not for the woman's obvious reluctance. As infuriating as Lady Sophia might be, Maddy decided not to push herself where she wasn't wanted. “Perhaps another time,” she demurred. “I wouldn't dream of disturbing the sweet little darlings. And anyway, I must steal my husband away from you. He and I have an important matter to discuss.”

In the guise of devoted wife, she slipped her hand into the crook of Nathan's arm, then tilted up her head and batted her lashes at him for good measure. One corner of his mouth twitched in a faint grin and his eyes warmed with appreciation. A wave of intense attraction washed through Maddy. To regain her equilibrium, she had to lower her gaze to the starched white folds of his cravat.

“Wait,” Lady Sophia said sharply as they turned to go. “Lord Rowley, did you not promise the earl that you'd find your own place of residence very soon?”

“I did,” he said. “However, all the best homes are likely to have been let for the season. So who knows, perhaps we'll stay right here for some time to come. Good day.”

With that, he whisked Madelyn out of the nursery and down the narrow passageway. Their footsteps echoed on the uncarpeted floorboards. Despite the weighty matter pressing on her mind, Maddy needed to keep all of his subterfuge straight. There were things he hadn't made clear to her yet.

“You aren't intending to look for a town house at all, are you?” she asked. “Your plan has always been to remain here.”

“How astute of you. To remove my disreputable bride from Gilmore House would defeat my purpose.”