HisLadysKeeperfinal.wps (3 page)

“You are right, St. Martin. She does need a keeper. I’ll be most happy to take up that post, if you’re still offering it to me. Someone needs to tame this woman’s wayward ways. She must be taken into hand—and I will have supreme satisfaction in taking her into my keeping.”

“What?” She blustered. She was so furious that she could feel her cheeks

burning. She wanted to strangle both her brother and Hart, but she couldn’t decide whom she would deal with first.

“I grant you one token. You are right, she is quite capable of handling that pistol of hers.” Hart inclined his head to Mallory.

“Mallory, you must tell this man at once to stop talking about Gemma as if she isn’t here. That is most insulting—and beyond galling.” Elizabeth looked up in disdain at Hart. Gemma smiled. Elizabeth could always be counted on to give Mallory quite the challenges when the need presented itself. “What is
he
talking about, Mallory? Out with it, this instant! Why ever would Gemma require a keeper? Oh, what have you done this time?”

“She needs one, much like you required one before you found me. Gemma is too reckless. She has a penchant for finding trouble, and she hankers after adventure. That worries me. She will end up getting herself burned badly one of these days. It is my job as the only male presence in her life to protect her.”

“She will be getting married soon,” Elizabeth countered, shaking her head in disapproval. “Once she is wed, her husband will take precedence over you. You must learn to capitulate to that event.”

“That’s my point—her choice in husbands is something to be desired. I thought you already understood that, Elizabeth. Admit it, our Gemma makes grievous errors in judgment on a daily basis. I can’t understand why. Mama raised her the same way she raised me.”

Gemma seethed. Shrugging Hart’s hand off of her, she jumped down from

Midnight. “Well, I hope you are quite happy with yourself, dear brother,” she spat.

Holding her sense of decorum, she restrained herself from hitting Mallory. “You are a hateful brother! If I had heart troubles like Ann does, well, you would have given me a fit.”

“Ann isn’t like you. She has a level head on her dainty little shoulders.”

“Ah.” Elizabeth snapped her fingers. “I think I understand now. You and

Gemma are two peas in a pod. The two of you are so much alike, and yet, Mallory, you can’t see that. Why she is the female version of you … though I daresay she looks every bit a woman. Thank heavens for that.”

A muscle jumped in her brother’s cheek. “That’s just it, darling. Gemma
is
like me. Do you now know why I’m worried?”

HIS LADY’S KEEPER Marly Mathews 12

Gemma shook her head. “What is going on here? Some sort of secret society discussion? If this has anything to do with your adventures at sea, you can spare me the details.”

Realization appeared on Elizabeth’s flawless features. She touched her hand absently to the one black curl that blew around her face. “Oh, I see.” Now, Elizabeth looked more than just a little flustered. “Can you trust this man you’ve hired to watch over her?” Elizabeth asked, her little mother hen instinct was rearing its pretty little head again.

“I would trust Hart with your life, my life and our child’s life.”

“Then, I think, Gemma, that you now have a guardian angel. Be happy for it, dearest. I’m quite certain that Mallory is only working in your best interest. Besides, it will be quite a few months yet, before you are wed.” An uncomfortable expression crossed Elizabeth’s face. “Nothing is truly set in stone, Gemma, until you take those vows. Life is a game of chance. We never know what our destiny holds in store for us. I certainly didn’t see Mallory coming into my life, and finding him and sharing in the love we have for each other, makes my life worth living.”

Gemma couldn’t believe it. She didn’t want to listen to Elizabeth’s sage words of advice. She’d given up on finding love long ago. She wanted to marry just so that she could be out from under Mallory’s watchful eye, and she was making a grand marriage bargain, why couldn’t anyone see it the way she viewed it?

“Well, you can all go and stuff it! I will not have my own personal bodyguard. I should have gone to Kilworth’s sister’s house this season, instead of letting you two whisk me off to the barrens of the Scottish Highlands.”

“Barrens? You should be honored by the majesty of my ancestral lands. You do need a personality change, my dear lady,” Hart hissed, his eyes narrowing at her.

“Mallory? Are you going to let him talk to me in that way? He is nothing but a hired man for pity’s sake! You are a duke, I am your sister, live up to the station that you have been born into!” Gemma shouted, surprised by her tone. In fact, she could care less what station he held, she was still smarting from their manipulations. Mallory had planned all of this, and now, now, she was stuck with a keeper of all things! Hart might be a foul wretch, but he set her heart pulsing faster than any other man. If she wasn’t careful, she was going to jump right into his little web and be happy with her sticky situation.

Mallory took Elizabeth’s hand and guided her back to the gardens. “There is no reasoning with you, Gemma, when you are in this sort of foul temper … you are acting like a petulant child! Hart, have fun, she’s yours to deal with now.” With one last wink in her direction, her brother and Elizabeth were off.

“Don’t even say it, Hart. I don’t want to hear it. I don’t belong to you! Contrary to what my brother seems to believe I don’t belong to any man!” Taking a hold of Midnight’s reins, she walked toward the stables. “Oh, and don’t follow me. In fact, why don’t you go and find a nice fire in hell to bathe in?” A stable groom came to meet her to take Midnight off her hands.

“Give her a good brushing, and make certain she’s well taken care of.”

“Yes, my lady.” The groom lowered his head, and talking softly to Midnight they wandered off toward the stables. She quickened her pace, trying to cross the long distance between the stables and the house in the shortest time possible.

HIS LADY’S KEEPER Marly Mathews 13

“Yes, Her Grace was correct. You are just like your brother. Oh, this will be the most enjoyable season I’ve spent in ages.” A grin cracked across his dark features.

Tossing her head, she walked further away from him.

HIS LADY’S KEEPER Marly Mathews 14

Chapter
Two

He followed her toward Mallory Hall. Mallory and his wife had seemingly disappeared, and since Gemma’s mother and the other five sisters wouldn’t be arriving from London for another sennight, Gemma didn’t have any other family members to seek safe haven with. Meaning, she was all his. He was going to have to work quickly in order to get his objective accomplished in time. He couldn’t be more pleased with the way everything was turning out. Soon, Gemma’s anger would dissolve and in its place there would be the molten fire of love just for him.

He strolled along behind her, followed her into the grand house and then stopped when she headed for the stairs.

“You don’t need to follow me. I’m retiring to my chambers. I’m quite certain that my brother didn’t intend for you to escort me everywhere, especially when it comes to trailing along behind me into my bedchambers. I don’t think the terms of your employment would extend that far.”

“Indeed, it wouldn’t. But I shall stand sentry outside of your door.”

“You are exasperating.” She tossed her head again, in that haughty yet entirely beguiling way of hers.

“I am only earning the wages your brother is paying me.”

She nodded sighing. “I’m sure it’s quite a tidy sum. My brother is very generous when it comes to such matters. His purse can now afford it, so there is some blessing in that.”

“Indeed, you are correct. I am being well compensated.” He smiled. He liked goading her and watching her emerald green eyes light up with fire. She had spunk, and that attracted him immensely. He’d never met a woman quite like her, and he was quite simply dazzled by her feisty personality.

She would make him a grand wife. The thought struck him and hit him like a lightening bolt to the gut. Aye, he’d never been able to find the ‘
right
’ kind of woman to keep up with him—though by the way Gemma St. Martin handled herself, he felt quite certain they would make a grand match.

“I should travel right back to London … I doubt you’d leave your precious

Scotland to follow me. That would certainly put you off and put you soundly in your place,” she decided, watching him closely no doubt to gauge his reaction to her threat.

He set his jaw in a grim line. “I would follow you to the ends of the Earth, Lady Gemma, if I had to. You can travel back to London, but since you and Her Grace are so close, I don’t think you’ll leave her, not when she’s counting on you.”

“What do you know of my relationship with Elizabeth? She does not mean as

much to me as you would think. I must put up with her; after all, she is the mother to my niece.” She whirled on him. “How dare you tell me that Elizabeth and I have a close relationship? In truth, I’ve warmed up to Elizabeth over the past few years, but try as I might, I know the two of us will never be bosom chums. We are from different worlds, and the two of us will never be able to be heart-to-heart sisterly friends, though I do HIS LADY’S KEEPER Marly Mathews 15

respect Elizabeth,” she admitted, however grudgingly.

Aye. He’d hit the right spot. He knew that by mentioning the friendship or lack thereof between she and Elizabeth would get a reaction and he’d been correct.

The color in her cheeks made her even more alluring. She was so pale that it gave her a healthier glow. Even though she closely resembled Mallory, her willowy build made her almost look as if she’d blow away in a great storm. She was perfectly proportioned in all of the right spots. She gave the impression of being taller than she actually was, since he didn’t think she could stand much more than five foot five. Her light blond hair made her look like an angel, and her green eyes made a slow fire burn in his belly. She had high cheekbones, accented by her aristocratic nose and slightly protuberant almond shaped eyes, which sparkled like gemstones. Her hair was swept off her forehead opening her face up. Then, her crowning glory was the dimples she sported when she smiled. A man could fall in love with those dimples.

Maybe he already had.

Mallory knew what he was doing, when he’d enlisted his help in ridding his sister of her stuffy husband to be. How she could pick out a man like Kilworth when she had a brother like Mallory was beyond Hart’s comprehension. He wouldn’t have to worry about her wanting to marry Kilworth after tonight. His plans were going to go into the next stage later this evening, and once that happened, there would be no stopping his seduction of Gemma.

“Your brother has told me that you and Elizabeth have grown very close … he says that the two of you share a lot of the same interests. Problem is you’re too headstrong for your own good. Your brother fears your stubbornness will be your undoing. I had to tell Mallory to give you the benefit of the doubt. In truth, I couldn’t believe that such a headstrong seemingly reckless woman existed. Now, after meeting you, I see the validation in Mallory’s concerns. Everything he said about you was bang on the mark.”

“My brother this, my brother that. Well, here’s what my brother should do! He should stop prying his aristocratic nose into my affairs and keep it instead firmly pointed in his own affairs. My brother has no right casting judgment on me. He can be the most trying, most stubborn man in the British Isles when he puts his mind to it. He takes being a noble St. Martin to an entirely new level.”

“Ah, your family lineage is quite important to you, isn’t it? I think you hide behind that ancient pomposity when you actually should be facing the world without your superior airs.”

“I don’t have airs. If you’d like to meet a few snobs, I’ll introduce you to some of the so-called friends I left behind in London. I’m glad to be rid of that lifestyle. It was becoming suffocating. Sometimes, I wish we were living back at St. Martin Castle, with the leaks, the skeleton service staff, and the dwindling pool of money.” She let out a mournful almost wistful sigh. The way she smiled at the memory made his insides clench. Somewhere lurking deep beneath Gemma’s rigid exterior was a girl filled with dreams, dreams that had been dashed.

“Yes, well, you’ve been rewarded with the type of lifestyle you should have been used to from the cradle. A family as blue-blooded as yours never should have had to live without the finer things in life … I don’t know how you managed without your large wardrobe, and stable filled with champion bred horses.”

HIS LADY’S KEEPER Marly Mathews 16

“Now you are mocking me.” She slumped down onto a cushioned bench. They

now sat in the West Wing.

“No … I’m not mocking you, per se. I’m just pointing out what happens when a penniless duke marries an heiress of Elizabeth’s gargantuan and seemingly endless wealth.” He settled himself on the bench beside her. She shuffled down ensuring that they had a good deal of distance between them. “If putting more distance between us, makes you feel more secure, then so be it. But I assure you, if your brother didn’t trust me not to hurt you, he never would have enlisted my aid.”

“An hour ago, you had a pistol pointed at me, and you were wearing a mask,

making you seem quite threatening. I believed that you were fully prepared to use that pistol. I don’t call that a fair first meeting.”

“I had to see how you would react in the face of grave danger. I was also told to do it. It seems your brother wanted to make a point—in truth, he sought to give you a wake up call—problem is, I don’t think it had the desired effect on you.” He drank in her beauty. She was a bold tempered woman, and the vibrant colors she wore matched her strong will. Right now, he just wanted to freeze the moment so he could appreciate the way her emerald green eyes were offset by the sparkling ruby hued riding outfit she wore.