Keepsake (The Distinguished Rogues Book 5) (2 page)

Delightful tremors began and ended on the tip of Taverham’s tongue, and Miranda struggled to push her worries aside. If he wanted her like this, surely they had a chance to build a satisfying life together. Beginning tomorrow, she would convince him to expect her company everywhere he went. Their wedding night would be special, the most erotic she could imagine and arrange.

Taverham quickly brought her body to the threshold of release. She squirmed to delay the moment, but as usual, he would not allow her to hold back. She sobbed as her body shook and she pressed her mound against his face shamelessly. Before the tremors had subsided, Taverham was above her, entering her with one slow, sure thrust.

Once her body grew accustomed to his return, Taverham began to move. He was quick with his thrusts, urgent in his passions. He held himself above her, both hands firmly pressed to the mattress beside her head, his eyes closed.

Miranda stroked his chest firmly as his skin grew slick with his exertions and even hotter than before. She wrapped her legs about his waist tightly and dug her fingers into his sides the way he liked best.

His thrusts grew frenzied, and when he growled out a muffled shout of release, his eyes scrunched even more tightly shut. After a moment, he collapsed upon her, exhaustion claiming his strength. “I…”

As always after their joining, Miranda held him tight and waited for him to continue his words. Yet all that greeted her was more silence. Words of love and tenderness burned on her tongue, and she longed to unburden herself of them.

He started to lift his weight from her until Miranda’s fingers slipped from his skin. “I want you to be with child now,” he said in a tone that brooked no argument as he sat up. As if such a matter could be ordered as he would a carriage.

“I want that too. We will have a family. As large as we want it.”

“An heir first, then the rest will come later, once the estate is running smoothly again.” Then he rolled from the bed and threw on a shirt, turning his back to her. His movements were brisk as he made himself respectable once more. “Rest. Tomorrow we wed and the future can begin.”

He strode to the door without looking back.

Miranda stared after him in surprise at his haste to go. “Good night, Taverham.”

He paused with one hand on the door latch. “I won’t see you until the ceremony. Mama will visit you first thing in the morning to see all is well, the vicar will arrive at ten, the wedding breakfast will be served promptly at twelve, and the supper for our guests will commence at eight. I expect their amusements to last long into the night.”

Since there was nothing that required her attention, she agreed with him. “I’ll be ready on time.”

“Good.” He nodded, his expression distracted. “Immediately after we wed, I must attend to a private matter. Nothing to concern you.”

Miranda sat up in surprise. “But it’s our wedding day?”

“It’s just one evening.” He frowned. “Since Emily’s marriage it’s not been easy to be private with her. I’ll have to set a schedule so her needs and expenses are not forgotten in the rush to repair Twilit Hill. I’ve no idea how long our private discourse will take tomorrow. Her husband may prove adverse to any permanent arrangement, but I’ll have my way in the end.”

He rubbed his eyes. “You may retire whenever you choose tomorrow night if I have not returned in time to escort you to your new bedchamber. The day after, I will be engaged with my guardians over estate issues that require the most urgent attention from an early hour. In the unlikely event you need me, Branxton can arrange to have a message delivered.”

He slipped out the door without further explanation.

Miranda’s throat tightened, and she swallowed her hurt and shock at being so thoroughly dismissed from his life. That was
her
dowry he was planning to spend. The fortune she’d thought she’d be giving to a man she
hoped
might love her in return.

He expected to spend their wedding night with Emily.

She set her hands to her hips as anger filled her. Emily could have waited. Emily had a life of her own and a husband of her own too. She should not be forcing herself on Taverham on
their
big day.

What had Taverham said?
Emily’s needs and expenses must not be overlooked
.

What needs could Emily have that her husband couldn’t satisfy? What expenses could a gentleman pay to another man’s wife that were not improper?

Miranda balked at considering the most immediate answer that came to mind. An affair? No, surely not. It wasn’t possible for her husband and Emily to be involved intimately. Someone would have gossiped about them.

She slipped her hand over her belly where her child grew, and recollections of recent events filled her with suspicion. There
was
a disturbing closeness between her future husband and the married woman. They’d grown up as neighbors. They had secrets and a past she might never understand.

Miranda sank back against her pillows. Was she simply tired and not thinking straight? Miranda sighed deeply. She was being ridiculous. It had been a trying few weeks and her nerves about her new life ahead made her worry over everything and nothing. Taverham had many plans afoot to repair his estate with the funds her dowry would bring and likely Emily knew more of them than Miranda. But not for long. That would change. It would be her counsel and company Taverham sought after tomorrow’s wedding.

Besides, she’d learned long ago not to believe what she didn’t see with her own eyes. Perhaps Taverham was planning a surprise for her.

Cheered by that idea, she resolved to forget her nasty suspicions and look forward to tomorrow. Miranda rolled onto her side and stared at the darkened windows of her bedchamber. It was her last night as Miranda Birkenstock. Tomorrow she would become Lady Taverham, a marchioness no less, a pillar of society, and she would be the happiest bride that ever lived.

~ * ~

After the Wedding

Miranda stepped into the quiet garden and whispered, “Lady Taverham.”

She was a marchioness now and married. She could barely contain her happiness and danced a few steps across the terrace to express the thrill gripping her.

A male voice chuckled to her right, startling her.

She spun in that direction. “Who is there? Taverham?”

“An old fool.” Lord Applebee, one of her husband’s guardians, emerged from the shadows. “Your husband should not leave you to dance alone.”

She smiled despite her disappointment that she’d been unable to convince Taverham that his conversation with Emily should wait until tomorrow. “Lord Applebee, forgive me. I didn’t see you there, and you certainly are not a fool. You see more clearly than anyone.”

He smiled kindly. “You shouldn’t be out here.”

Miranda glanced over her shoulder to the crowded room she’d just escaped. “I just wanted a moment to myself. I feel like I’ve been smiling for hours.”

To prove her point, she brushed her fingers across her jaw because the strain of smiling at everyone
had
made her face ache. Her smiles now were for herself alone. She was a married woman and excited about her new life.

“Then take in the air and return inside quickly.” He shifted to stand between her and the gardens she’d hoped to escape to. “A new bride should lap up every bit of attention she can on her special day. And you deserve it all and more.”

“You’re too kind.”

Applebee smiled and bowed. As he did, she saw the shape of two figures stumbling toward the relative privacy of the rose garden.

Miranda chuckled softly. “Well, it seems I’m not the only one to have had the same idea of escaping the ballroom.”

She wished her husband was done with Emily and would want to sneak away with her.

Applebee glanced over his shoulder, then caught her arm. “Time to dance. Will you do this crusty old bachelor the honor of the next set, my lady?”

Although her husband’s guardian wasn’t the partner she wanted, she nodded quickly, eager to stay on his good side. “I’d love to dance with you.”

Applebee propelled her toward the open French doors rather quickly, and Miranda almost stumbled. As they reached the threshold, Lords Sorenson and Watts appeared, her father and Lord Louth trailing after in deep conversation.

Of all of Taverham’s friends, Lord Louth had been the first to offer her friendship. He was a nice man, one of quiet wit and boundless faith that she would be an exceptional marchioness. She smiled at him in relief. She had no need to guard her words with Louth.

“Now, my dear, do not be distressed,” Sorenson said soothingly, catching up her hands and squeezing them gently.

“She’s not,” Applebee replied, his head tilting at an odd angle.

“Oh, I thought…” Watts glanced into the garden beyond them and Miranda followed the direction of his gaze. She spied the pair in the rose garden again and noticed that they didn’t seem the least bit concerned about propriety. She frowned at that, trying to picture which of the wedding guests would behave in such a bold manner.

She took a pace in that direction, but Applebee tugged her back. “Come dance with me.”

“Why shouldn’t I know who they are?” A discomforting sensation filled her as no one answered. She shook off Lord Applebee’s grip. “This is my home and I want to know everything that happens here.”

She cut across the lawn, aware of their whispered pleas to wait. To stop. To not approach the rose garden. Their steps were soft behind her and when she paused, they did too.

At this distance she could not see the pair clearly, but she could hear their words… and their gasps and moans of ecstasy.

She would recognize her husband’s deep, rumbling voice anywhere.

A few more steps and she could see him better, clutching the breast of a woman, the pair of them deep in the throes of a passionate tryst.

She forced air into her lungs as he chuckled softly and urged the woman to go with him.

“I don’t believe it,” Lord Louth whispered from where he’d paused at her side. “That bastard.”

As Louth made to move toward the pair, Lord Watts restrained him. “It’s none of your business, lad.”

She reached for Louth too, but only to keep him from blocking her view.

The woman stood, and
it was Emily.
Miranda stifled a gasp as Emily curled her arms around Taverham’s broad shoulders. They kissed urgently and then Taverham swept her up into his arms and carried her away into the darkness.

“Well,” Miranda’s father said as he studied Miranda in disappointment. “He’s taken a mistress a bit faster than I was led to believe he would, but there you have it. Can’t help where a man’s passion leads him if he doesn’t find it with his wife.”

He turned away and left Miranda standing in shock among near strangers.
Her father had expected this betrayal?

Miranda certainly had not. She brushed away the tears that slipped over her cheeks, hoping for one last glimpse that proved her husband had not just run off with Emily on their wedding night.

The hope that had filled her since Taverham had proposed began to burn, the trust and love she’d felt for him curling into ash within her heart.

They were only just husband and wife!

How dare he make such a fool of her.

Lord Applebee moved to stand before her. “Surely you suspected?”

Miranda shook her head, darting a glance at those standing around her. She had only been married for her money, and the heir she would carry, and everyone knew it. She covered her face, too humiliated to let anyone see how deep his betrayal went, hiding the depth of her hurt.

What of the babe she carried? Taverham would never listen to her opinions on how children would be raised when he clearly cared so little for her.

“Ah,” Watts said as he patted her shoulder awkwardly. “We should have prepared you better. He’s never going to give her up, I’m afraid. Couldn’t marry her in the first place because she’d not the funds to repair Twilit Hill, and now he has won you…”

Miranda glanced swiftly at Lord Louth and saw her own astonishment reflected in his face. He hadn’t known either. At least here was one man who had never deceived her.

When their eyes met, his expression was one of fury on her behalf. “I’ll call him out.”

“You’ll do no such thing.” Miranda caught his clenched fist. She couldn’t allow him to risk his life or ruin his standing in society just for her. She wasn’t worth it. “You do not have the right to stand up for me, and I won’t risk seeing you hurt.”

The young man glanced away, and she winced as his jaw firmed into a belligerent line. Maybe Louth had developed feelings for her, but Miranda did not care for him that way. She’d loved Taverham and only him until this moment, and she’d been utterly wrong that she’d had a hope of winning his love in return.

She grew aware of a sharp pain in her chest and she backed away from Taverham’s guardians and Lord Louth.

She had to get away. Miranda might have been beguiled into ruin, into a marriage she couldn’t escape, but she would not expose her innocent child to such a father. She wouldn’t stay at Twilit Hill.

Applebee watched her with a keen eye. “Now, Miranda. Don’t do anything rash that you’ll regret tomorrow.”