Make Me Love You (30 page)

“I have a hack waiting.” He took her hand to lead her downstairs and outside.

He’d tried to second-guess her? Or just cover all contingencies? She was impressed.

She was able to find exactly what she needed for the teas, pleurisy root and fenugreek seeds. She would have stopped at another shop to buy a brush, too, if Dominic weren’t in such a hurry.

She mentioned it though when they got back to his house before she headed to the kitchen. So she hoped a brush would be waiting in her room before the end of the day—if he was going to maintain this new considerate attitude. She supposed he might just be making amends for their harrowing trip. Or bribing her with kindness to help his mother. She hadn’t exactly seen this side of him before their adventure at the highwaymen’s camp to know if he was usually like this when he wasn’t fighting against a marriage he didn’t want. But time would tell. . . .

“W
HAT THE DEUCE DID
you put in my water?”

Brooke flinched at Anna Wolfe’s tone. Dominic came forward in concern to take the glass from his mother’s hand, giving Brooke a questioning look. Had she really thought this would be a simple matter? Obviously the mother was going to be a complaining patient just like her son.

With a sigh Brooke said, “A little cayenne and lemon. It’s going to help you breathe easier—if you drink it. And the tea I just poured for you will start clearing your lungs of congestion, and, well, frankly, it’s going to make you sweat.”

“I don’t sweat” came the reply ladies tended to make.

“Today you will want to, so be glad when you do. Sweating is a faster means of removing harmful things from your body, which will help you to feel better sooner.” Since Dominic hadn’t bothered to introduce Brooke, and Anna had already been told she was there to help, she said, “I’m Brooke, in case you were wondering.”

“I know exactly who you are,” Anna said disparagingly. “
His
sister.”

Brooke stiffened and glanced at Dominic. He pulled her aside for a moment. “She’s known about what your brother did and what it caused Ella to do for as long as I have. That was something I couldn’t keep from her. I apologize in advance. Treating her may not be pleasant.”

May not be? Brooke felt a hysterical laugh coming on. Did he think she would refuse to help if she knew his mother despised her as much as he . . . ? But he didn’t despise her any longer. He couldn’t, not when he trusted her to help his mother.

She nodded and moved back to the bed. Like mother, like son. They even glared the same way! With a sigh she told Anna, “I’m sorry about my brother, but I’m nothing like him.”

“You still aren’t welcome in my house.”

Dominic began, “Mother—”

“She’s not and never will be. I told you not to bring this viper in here.”

The older woman might be making her feelings quite clear, but her words were slowly uttered, some even wheezed. She’d been helped to sit up halfway in bed. Her eyes were fully open now. Amber eyes like Dominic’s.

Brooke thought she ought to leave. Her presence was upsetting the older woman. She started to, but Dominic put a hand on her arm to keep her there before he said to his mother, “She’s here to help you at my behest. I already told you this and how quickly she was able to mend me with her knowledge of herbal remedies. Her brother might be despicable, but she can be trusted. However, when you are well, we will both leave if that is still what you want.”

“She put
pepper
in my water!” Anna said accusingly. “Or did you not know that’s what cayenne is?”

“It does sound odd. But maybe you should see if it does what she claims before you refuse it?” He handed the glass to his mother with a quelling look.

She took it but didn’t put it to her lips. Brooke hoped she would when she was done complaining, but she wasn’t done yet. Anna told him in a half-beseeching, half-commanding tone, “You can’t marry her, Dom. She’s a blatant reminder of what we lost.”

“You no longer make my decisions, Mother. That burden is on me. And you have gotten worse, not better, according to your doctor. He has given up on you. I will not. So you
will
follow Brooke’s instructions and you will cease your complaints about it. Or do you not want to survive this malady?”

“To see you leg-shackled to her? No, I would rather not live for that.”

He swore, quite foully, and stalked out of the room, telling Brooke to come with him. But she didn’t move right away, having noticed the tears that came to Anna’s eyes when he walked to the door. She understood Anna’s point of view. The woman wanted the best for her son. In her eyes, Brooke was the worst.

Dominic was waiting for her at the door. As soon as he closed it, she said, “My presence upsets her too much, when she needs peace and quiet to recover. She won’t get that if I go in there again.”

“So you’re not going to help her?”

“Of course I am. The nice thing about the regimen to combat pneumonia is that I’m not needed to deliver it, merely to do
the mixing and steeping. You can make sure she drinks every drop, or her maid can.”

“Thank you. I will leave you to it then and return shortly. I need to dispatch that money to those miscreants we spent the night with.”

The look he gave her clearly told her that he was remembering what they had done that night. It left her blushing.

“A
ND NOT EVEN A
note to say you’re back in London?”

Dominic swung around, surprised to see his two closest friends outside the bank, but he had to chuckle at Archer’s aggrieved expression. “I rode in late last night. Have you even been home since last night to see if I sent one this morning?”

“Oh,” Archer said contritely.

Benton elbowed Archer before saying to Dominic, “Good to see you, old chap. I’ve got wonderful news, but we hear you do as well. This calls for another celebration.”

Dominic raised a brow. “Is that what you two have been doing?”

“I don’t know about him,” Archer elbowed Benton back, “but
I’m
sober by now.”

“Only because we slept with our heads on the table,” Benton insisted.

“I would never,” Archer said, aghast. “But I did watch you sleep. Quite boring. I surely would have left you there to snore
it off if the serving wench hadn’t kept me entertained. But this does call for another round. Shall we?”

Each taking one of Dominic’s arms, they steered him across the street to one of their favorite taverns. He knew from experience that there was no point in protesting. Besides, he’d missed these two friends, had known them most of his life, having attended school with them.

Archer was the tallest of the three by a few inches. He was often called the golden boy not just because his family had such deep pockets. Blond and green eyed, too handsome by far, he was considered the
ton
’s most eligible bachelor and was at the top of every hostess’s invitation list. Benton, while just as handsome with his brown hair and eyes, had developed a bit of a reputation as a gambler, so he didn’t receive nearly as many invitations, which might be why he’d been seeking a wife outside London.

It was a shame they didn’t see one another more often. Benton had been in the west courting a duke’s daughter, had apparently started wooing her before she came of age to get his foot in the door. Now that was dedication, Dominic thought, to court a woman that long, but he hadn’t seen Benton often since his friend had decided on that path, to know if he’d succeeded. But he guessed that was what they were celebrating. Archer visited Rothdale occasionally, so Dominic got to see him more often.

Getting a table, Archer ordered drinks. Dominic felt compelled to note, “You look tired.”

“I am tired. Did I not mention I’ve been up all night making sure Benton didn’t get robbed while he slept?”

“You could have taken us home,” Benton pointed out. “I would have appreciated a bed instead of a table.”

“But where’s the fun in that, eh?” Then Archer turned to
Dominic. “So tell us, is she at least pretty, this chit Prinny wants you to marry?”

“Wants? What exactly have you heard?”

“It’s swirling around town that you’re going to marry Whitworth’s sister,” Archer said. “He’s been crowing about it, you know, claiming the Regent himself got you off his back so he won’t have to fight any more ridiculous duels with you. Is he really that chummy with Prinny?”

“I doubt he even knows George. But our Prince found out the last duel wasn’t the first. And now he’s going to strip me of everything if I don’t ally with the Whitworths in marriage to end my vendetta.”

“What the deuce did Whitworth do to warrant more’n one duel?” Benton demanded, angry on Dominic’s behalf.

“I would as soon not display my rage in this fine establishment,” Dominic replied. “Leave it go.”

“Really?” Archer complained. “You still won’t fess up? We need to get him foxed, Benton.”

Dominic rolled his eyes. He probably could tell them what Robert had done, they were his closest friends, after all. But his mother would never forgive him if it somehow got out. He wouldn’t forgive himself, for that matter.

So he changed the subject by asking Benton, “If you’ve been celebrating, does that mean your lady has said yes?”

Benton beamed. “We’re to be married next month. You’re both invited, of course.”

“Then congratulations are indeed in order. But you do give new meaning to the word
perseverance.
Did it really take two years to win her?”

Benton grinned. “No, she was in love with me within a month. It took two years to win over her father!”

They laughed. Dominic ordered another round. But when Archer started to nod off, Dominic told Benton, “It looks like he really did keep vigil all night. Get him home. I’ll see you both later this week.”

Leaving his friends, Dominic took a hack to Bond Street to find Brooke a brush and comb set, something beautiful and special, a token of thanks for making this trip with him with few objections. He’d expected more. Any other lady he knew would have been railing at him most of the way. But not Brooke. The woman defied description. She’d faced his animosity with smiles and a stubborn resolve. She was too logical, too pragmatic—too accepting. And too hopeful? Did she really want this marriage? Or was she just more afraid of what would happen if she refused it? Maybe a little of both.

He thought about everything that had happened since she’d arrived at his door and was surprised he had so many memories of her already—and that he recalled every one, even smiled at a few. She was amazing, bold, intelligent, beautiful. And fearless, or mostly so. The woman had met a wolf in the wild and hadn’t run from it! Or perhaps she just hid her fears well? She did have a temper, not a harsh one, not one that lasted long. An interesting temper.

She was also sensual and bold for a virgin, yet she’d been just that. And she wanted him. That thought was never far away. She’d wanted him.

He found her the brush set in one of the first shops he passed, then recalled that she was having a birthday around the day they were to marry. He stopped in a few more shops that offered mostly jewelry, but nothing caught his eye until he saw the gold-etched cameo surrounded by tiny light green peridots
that nearly matched the color of her eyes. He bought it, only to find out it was actually a locket. Presenting her with an empty locket seemed like only half a gift, so he went in search of an art gallery and found one after he crossed into Old Bond Street.

Shopping done, he headed north again, keeping an eye out for a hack to get him home sooner. So he wasn’t looking at the line of shops he passed and didn’t see the man who’d just stepped out of one of them. He didn’t hear the hail, either. But he definitely couldn’t miss Robert Whitworth suddenly stepping in front of him, blocking his way. Or the similarities between the two siblings, which were made more remarkable with the man standing this close to him—the same light green eyes, the same black hair.

“Well, well, my soon-to-be brother-in-law,” Robert said with a sneer.

“Still gadding about London ruining virgins, Whitworth? That is your forte, isn’t it? I’m surprised someone else hasn’t disposed of you for me by now.”