Regency Romance: The Rake's Fake Marriage (Historical Arranged Marriage Romance) (19th Century Victorian Romance) (81 page)

''But I am
pauper
and no use to her at all.''

''It is not common knowledge that you are a pauper. Indeed, it is only in your honesty toward Miss Emily, that you have revealed it to anyone. Society thinks you are the well to do son of the Earl of Rochester. You must make amends for you actions and step out with her until you and the others have concluded your actions.''

*****

Emily removed her bonnet as the sun beat down on the two cousins. ''This garden is the nicest I have ever seen,'' Beatrice said. ''Your mother is the
perfect
gardener.''

''And you, my dear cousin, are
the most perfect
schemer
?''

Beatrice looked at her with a humorous look
on
her face. ''Why Emily, how on earth could you think that?''

''Because I have
noticed
that Charles Carrington will visit me tomorrow. What on earth did you say to him.''

''He is a man of honor and I just called upon that honor. What of Mr. Masters? How did you find him?''

''Quite agreeable. In
fact,
he is handsome, witty and knowledgeable.''

''That is marvelous. Then you want him to win the auction?''

''I am not sure. He
is,
let's say, a little too well versed in activities of the bedroom for my liking. I believe he has, in all probability, had a lot of
women,
and I am not certain I would ever be able
to fully trust
him to be faithful to me. Thus far, dear cousin, Mr. Carrington has made the best impression on
me,
and his circumstances won't allow us to be any more than friendly toward each other.''

*****

Charles looked at Emily as the maid placed the tea tray on the
delicate
table. He waited until she
was finished
and had left the room before he spoke.

''Miss Emily, how can you ever forgive me? Miss Beatrice told me you have knowledge of our silly wager and that you are desperately worried about your reputation.''

''Yes, Mr. Carrington, she was correct, I am
apprehensive
indeed.''

''Please call me Charles. Miss Beatrice rightly pointed out that such activities have a habit of becoming common knowledge. She also
stated
that
should that happened, you would
be protected
if society believed you to be in a courtship of substance. I am prepared to make that pretense,
to protect you
. But I must tell you that my circumstances have not changed since the last time we
met,
and I cannot allow you and
me
to become any more than friends.''

''Charles, you have put my mind at ease. I have been desperately worried during the past few days. I cannot thank you enough for having the courage stand by me in this difficult time.''

''You do of course realize that I am unable to take part in this auction with any
significant
sums and that one of the other two will win? Are you prepared for that?''

''Yes
entirely
. Once a winner has been declared, I shall accept his advances in good faith. I must add Charles, that it is such a shame that you have no chance of winning.''

*****

''The river is remarkably high for this time of year,'' Emily pointed out.

''Yes, there has been so much rain recently.
It is a delightful pathway we are walking. It is as if we have been whisked away to a planet of our own.
It's so serene.''

''If we wanted to, we could walk all the way to York along it. I have never done
so; I
keep within an easy distance of home, but I do like to explore some of the smaller paths leading from it. But Charles, enough of paths. I want to know why your father saw fit to disinherit his only son. Tell me why.''

''It is a very private matter and one that I have not spoken of, to anyone but my mother.''

''Please forgive my intrusive nature, I
really
am intolerable sometimes.''

''I attacked my father in such an aggressive way, he
was hospitalized
for a short time,'' Charles blurted out.

Emily was shocked. ''You attacked your father? Why?''

''Because he is a scoundrel. He is continually unfaithful to my mother and one evening when she objected to his
behavior, he
beat her, brutally. When I saw her black eyes and
busted
lips, I was unable to control my anger.''

''What a horrible situation for you, my poor dear. I am quite shocked.'' She put her hand on his arm in a gesture of support, but he pulled it away from her.

''Emily, whatever you feel for me
and, however,
my situation came about, it is inappropriate for you and
me
to touch. You
are compromised
on two fronts. First by my stupidity in entering into this ridiculous auction and second by my financial situation. I am endangering you. As soon as the
auction
is finished
, I will wish you well and leave your life forever.''

''Charles, stop walking and look at me.'' When he'd told her about the situation with his mother, Emily had stopped walking, hoping he would do the same. She'd wanted to comfort
him,
but he'd just carried on. ''Charles stop, damn you.''

He stopped. Her harsh
words
ringing in his ears. When he turned to her, she could see more sorrow in his
eyes,
and it pained her greatly. ''You will not leave my life. I forbid it. I have never met a man like you. I don't care that you are the most handsome man I have ever seen. More important is that you are a man of principal and a man who cares passionately about people. Especially women. You will take those few steps back to me, take me in your arms and kiss me, this instant.''

''Oh Emily. I cannot do that. I vowed to myself that I would not touch you. You don't seem to understand. I have told you several times. I will repeat myself. I have no means to keep you. Do you want a life of poverty?''

''I don't care about money. It is you I want. If you
will not love
me, then I will never marry any man.''

''Then you will remain single. In the first months of our
marriage,
you would be happy, but as time went by, a life of poverty would eat away at that happiness. You don't know what you are asking me to do. You are asking me to take you down a path that will ultimately lead to
misery,
and I won't do that to you.''

''Mr. Carrington, you are quite the most frustrating man I believe it is possible to encounter. I know you are doing this for the right reasons. However, without you, what substance would my life have? I understand your point of view, but you must change it. I demand you do so.''

''I do not react kindly to ultimatums, Emily. You may follow me back to the house from where I will take my leave of you, or you may continue the walk alone. In either case, this is the very last time you will see me. I bid you farewell.”

*****

''Emily, please dry your tears. Here, take this,'' Beatrice passed her a handkerchief.

''Now tell me, what is so
bad
that you have held onto me and
constantly cried
for the last ten minutes?''

''Those three arrogant,
cruel
men.''

''What about them?''

''You know I want Charles, desperately?''

''Yes, I remember how upset you were when he left you. And if you want my opinion you should forget him.''

''I can't forget him. I am in love with
him,
and the worst of it is.......oh Beatrice.'' Emily began to sob again.

''Dear cousin, it pains me so much to see you like this. If Mr. Carrington has no means and refuses to be with you, what can you do? You have little choice but to accept it and carry on with your life.''

''To make matters worse. I have learned from the Duke that he is going to bid the sum of twenty thousand pounds for
me,
and I also know that Mr. Masters is unable to
bid
so much. I am going to be stuck with that arrogant,
conceited
man,
and I can't stand the thought. The plans I had to manipulate the bidding in my favor have come to nothing. The Duke simply has too much money and has decided to outbid everyone regardless.''

''And what has Mr. Carrington been bidding.''

''A pittance. The other two have been laughing at him. But Beatrice, the man I love has no money and certainly not twenty thousand pounds. That is enough to keep a peasant family for a thousand years. I
am trapped
in a terrible situation.''

''No, you are not. You are an independent
woman,
and
you
are strong.
Simply
tell whoever wins the auction that you are not interested in courting them.''

''But how can I refuse the advances of a Duke. If I
refuse,
my mother and father will see me into a sanatorium.''

''No, they will not. You
are being
melodramatic now. Let the men have their fun and
be done
with them.'' Beatrice held Emily tightly and stroked her hair as Emily sobbed into her shoulder.

*****

''Cabby, can you travel any faster?''

''It's the fog, Sir. I don't want to run anyone over.''

''Well go as fast as you can. We have no time to spare.'' Charles looked at his friend James. ''Thank you so much for doing this. It is a favor I will never be able to repay.''

''Not at all Charles. You are a dear
friend,
and it is I who will never be able to repay you. You remember how you fought off that
prefect
at school? The one who wanted to give me twenty lashes. Well, if it hadn't been for you knocking him unconscious, I would still have the scars across my backside.''

''Now remember what I told you. Just knock on the door and enter, don't wait for him to open it. We need to catch him in the act. Clear?''

''Clear as crystal.''

''Here we are, Sir, number
twenty-one
,'' the cabby said, relieved his horse hadn't killed anyone in the pea soup fog that had enveloped London earlier that afternoon.

Charles got out and paid the cabby. He looked at number
twenty-one
. It was a large house with black railings. The front door was black with a large brass door knocker at its center. The curtains
were closed,
and Charles knew why.

He knocked on the door. Mrs. Pearson answered. She looked at the two young gentlemen and smiled. ''Good evening, gentlemen. Please come inside, out of the damp air.''

''We have come on urgent business,'' Charles said. ''We are members of staff of the Earl of Rochester. We urgently need to speak to him. It is a matter of state and
a matter of the
highest urgency.''

''Well, he can't be interrupted now, he is busy.''

''Madam, tell me where in this house we can find him or I will have your tongue cut out,'' Charles said violently. Mrs. Pearson didn't like the
threatening
look in his eyes and believed he was
actually
capable of performing such a terrible act on her.

''Room sixteen, first floor, second door on the left.''

The two men climbed the stairs as fast as they could. ''Here it is,'' Charles whispered. ''Now remember what we practiced?'' James nodded. ''Then go in and say your piece. I will wait here and at the right moment, I will come in'' Charles added.

James knocked on the door and opened it. Charles, standing next to the
door
so that he couldn't
be seen
, heard a man shout, ''What the hell......get
out.......
you........'' Then he heard James interrupt him.

''You are, I believe, the Ear of Rochester, the Minister for Family Affairs, are you not?''

''I
am,
and if you don't leave now, I will have you shot.''

James looked at the naked young lady lying next to him and threw her a dressing gown. ''Put this on and go downstairs,'' he told her. When she had gone, he looked at the
Earl,
who was still as naked as the day he arrived into the world.