Secrets of Surrender (28 page)

Norbury flushed. He relinquished his coats.

The marquess strolled over, casually moving some light furniture so it was out of the way.

Lord Elliot set the coats down on a divan and took up a position behind Kyle. “Queensberry rules, of course.”

“Must I?”

“’Fraid so.”

Norbury lifted his fists and grinned. “He doesn’t know Queensberry rules. They aren’t used by his sort.”

“I know them. It just takes longer to thrash a man with them, and inflicts more pain in the end. Under the circumstances, I don’t mind.”

It still did not take very long. Norbury was neither quick nor strong, and his practice did not help him much.

For Rose. For Pru. For the others I do not know.
Kyle’s mind chanted his purpose with each hard punch to Norbury’s body. In ten minutes Norbury was on the floor again, unconscious and more punished than he appeared.

Kyle gazed down on him. The ice in him had turned to a cold fire that wanted to burn on and on. His fists would not unclench.

The marquess placed a hand on his shoulder. “I understand that you want more, but that will have to be enough. Prop him against the wall, Elliot. He’ll come around soon enough.”

Alexia could not stand too long without tiring, so Rose accompanied her in search of a quiet place to rest. They tried the library door only to find it locked.

“That is odd.” Alexia jostled the latch again.

The door moved this time, swaying in. The opening framed three tall, dark men standing right beyond the jambs, mere inches from Rose’s nose. She peered up at the marquess, Lord Elliot, and Kyle in turn. Kyle appeared a little flushed, and a bit angry, and very hard.

She and Alexia seemed to have interrupted an argument.

“The door was locked,” she said.

“Was it?” Lord Elliot asked innocently.

A moan sounded behind them. She angled her head one way and Alexia angled the other, to see into the chamber.

“Who…Is that someone on the floor over there?” Alexia asked. “Is someone ill?”

“That is just the Earl of Cottington,” Lord Elliot said. “He is still celebrating his inheritance with unseemly enthusiasm, and I fear he is in his cups. I am on my way to call for his coachman to come help him home. Discreetly, so the other guests don’t gossip about his condition.”

Rose squinted at Norbury. He did not look drunk at all. He looked—

A broad male chest in a deep blue coat suddenly cut off her view. Her gaze traveled up until she looked into amazing eyes.

“Kyle, did you thrash him?
Again?
”

“He and I merely had a conversation that was long overdue.”

Kyle took Rose’s arm and guided her away from the door, toward the ballroom. His expression captivated her. Not gloating. Not smug. Not even satisfied. He appeared a man contented that he had completed a piece of work that needed doing, much as he had after he fixed her garden gate.

Easterbrook strolled behind them, escorting Alexia. With one sharp glance he commanded a comfortable chair in the ballroom to empty of its current rump.

He settled Alexia down and fussed over her comfort. “You are looking a little pale. You need some refreshment.”

“I will bring some punch,” Kyle said. He walked off to do so.

Rose sidled closer to the marquess. “Did he thrash him good?”

“Thoroughly.”

“I am glad. That is not very ladylike, but it is the truth.”

Easterbrook glanced to Alexia, whose attention had been claimed by the arrival of a friend. “Mrs. Bradwell, you might tell your husband about our conversation when you called on me, if you have not already. If he starts to wonder if meting today’s punishment was worth what it will cost him, your brother’s tale might give him heart.”

Cost him? “I fear that he will only thrash him again if he knows about that child.” The real fear was that Kyle would kill him.

“They will not cross paths in the future.”

“I do not believe that can be avoided.”

Lord Easterbrook watched Kyle returning with the punch. “I spoke with an influential group of peers yesterday. I explained the new earl’s long history of bad behavior, and showed your brother’s letter. Their conclusion was the same as mine.”

“Since that means they agreed that Norbury would never even be judged, let alone punished, my husband will surely cross his path in the future.”

“I did not say he would never be judged or punished, Mrs. Bradwell. I said he would never be convicted in a public trial. The mere threat of one can be a powerful weapon, however.”

“I do not understand.”

“Several bishops will be calling on Norbury while he recovers from today’s beating. They will bear the tidings of a jury’s sentence, a very private one. Unless he is stupid and requires stronger persuasion, I predict that he will soon retire permanently to his country estate in Kent, where he will only entertain vicars and their wives in the future.”

“I do not think anything will stop him. Even in Kent, even alone, he will do as he pleases.”

“A very special valet and housekeeper have been chosen for him. It will be much like the close confinement of old—all the luxury but none of the freedom. Trust me, he has been stopped as of this day.”

Kyle passed them with a quizzical expression, as if he found her long conversation with Easterbrook curious.

“May I tell my husband this news that you confide?” Rose asked.

“Certainly, although I think he feels much vindication already. He threw his fists as if he intended to even the score.”

The marquess strolled in the direction of Alexia, and Rose fell into step. “Thank you for troubling yourself with this matter, Lord Easterbrook.”

“It was my duty to my station after you brought the sordid history to my attention, Mrs. Bradwell. As you said, the peers reserve a special justice for their own.”

CHAPTER
TWENTY-FOUR

R
ose loved the country in spring. She loved the smells of the earth warming and plants resurrecting their growth. Even the chilled air promised more warmth later in the day.

She loved the coziness of lying with Kyle in her bed, snug beneath the covers. The breeze cooled their bodies even while passion kept them hot.

“You are too beautiful,” he muttered. He gently kissed the hard tip of her breast, so sensitive this morning to the air and his touch and his tongue. “I ache whenever I see you.”

She playfully wrapped her hand around the source of that ache. His eyes darkened from azure to the deepest sapphire. “If you ache, I can soothe you.”

He let her, while he ensured that she ached too. His mouth and caresses made her float in blissful surrender. She knew the ecstasy very well now. Her spirit released all cares and worries, all defenses and excuses, and finally all separateness when they joined like this.

His hand, so strong and masculine, caressed down her body. His kiss found her ear. “It is not only my body that aches, Rose. Your caress soothes my heart too, if only for a while. Even your smile does.”

“I am sorry if your heart aches, Kyle. I am sorry if anything brings you any pain.”

“You misunderstand, darling. The ache is a good one, of love and yearning. You warned me that you were beyond romantic illusions, but I never promised you I would not love you anyway.”

She touched his hand, stopping its seductive stimulation. She held him, his breath on her neck and his heart beating against her own.

“I said that I would never lie to myself about that again, Kyle. But the truth is not a lie, and I know you would never say such a thing if it were not true. We could have made a good and reasonable marriage without love, but it is better that we love each other, I think.”

He rose up on his forearms and looked down at her through the strands of his mussed hair. Her confidence still wavered when he looked at her like this, so intensely and deeply.

“I did not expect to hear a declaration in turn, Rose. I was prepared to never hear it.”

Yet he spoke of love anyway, anticipating no reciprocation. That made her heart ache, in the good way he described. “I know that you would never speak lightly of loving, Kyle. I know that I can trust you. I have felt your love, and seen it, so I did not need words, either.” She traced the hard line of his jaw with her fingertip. “I am glad that you did say it, though. And that I did. It is, I realize now, the final surrender of the past, and to the future, and of my heart.”

He kissed her deeply, masterfully. He moved on top of her and bent her knees high and looked down at her exposed body while his careful caresses drove her to madness. Pleasure coursed through her in tight waves of exquisite sensation until she begged for him, loudly and without shame.

He rose up on his arms, his strength hovering above her frail, insane helplessness. His head dipped so he could watch the way he entered her. She did too, seeing in the clear light of day how she absorbed him again and again while he entered and withdrew in slow strokes.

It could not go on like that forever, much as she relished the profound sensation. His eyes closed and his head rose and he thrusted harder, faster. The power spun her into darkness.

She lost herself as she always did now. Lost herself in the physical and spiritual yearning. In the purity of his energy and presence that banished all other thoughts and aches but those about him. He brought her to fulfillment and crossed that glorious threshold with her, still bound together body and soul.

She held him to her body afterward, enjoying the contentment and security that their declarations had added to their union. She savored the perfection while the day brightened beyond her curtains, and the breeze drifted in, carrying the smells and signs of renewal.

“The day is fair. Let us take a long walk.”

Kyle posed the suggestion while Rose dried the pan in which she had cooked some eggs. She had done for them because they had come here alone, to be away from all the cares in London.

She loved spring, but fair days and warmth also meant mud. She put on her half-boots, grabbed a wrap, and followed him out to the garden.

They strolled out the far gate and onto the field beyond. In the distance she could see the hill on which she had lain that day when she dreamed of joining Timothy.

Today, with Kyle by her side, she could not even remember what perversion of the spirit had led her to think that joining Tim would be a good thing to do. Her heart had been too quick to tell itself lies not so long ago.

“I need to explain something to you, Rose. It is not happy news, I am afraid,” Kyle said.

She stopped walking and stared at him. His tone produced a sickly pang of foreboding in her heart. “What is it?”

“I am about to launch you into another scandal.”

“I do not believe that you are capable of creating a scandal.”

“Oh, I am. One that you have known before. I am ruined, darling.” He tried to speak normally, but she heard too much careful kindness in his voice.

He might worry about how she would react, but he did not appear sad about it himself, or even especially concerned. He might have looked at his boots after walking across this field and noticed that he had stepped in some manure. Unfortunate, but easily remedied.

“How ruined?” She almost gagged on the word. It had heralded so much unhappiness in her life.

“Totally. Norbury has withdrawn his property from our estate development. His father signed papers, but his solicitor can tie matters up indefinitely. In the meantime, I have timber arriving that must be paid, and other supplies on credit. The other investors will see losses but survive. I, however—”

“You were already blinking before this happened, and you will not survive. Will it mean debtors’ prison?”

“That will depend on the generosity of my creditors. There is little to be gained in that for them.” He lifted her chin with his fingertips. “Do not worry for me. I will come back eventually. It will take some years, however, and the opportunities may not be in London.”

He embraced her shoulders with his arm, and they continued their walk.

“You are provided for,” he said. “You will not have to ration fuel and bread again. You can continue your little war for respectability. There is your settlement from the marriage, and another trust that will provide an income of three hundred a year.”

“What trust?”

“I established one for you soon after we wed.”

“You were blinking hard but you put money into a trust? That was not wise, Kyle. You should have kept that money.”

“If I had foreseen current developments, I might have, but I do not regret that I did not.”

How could he be so calm about this? Ruin was not a minor thing. It was not some manure on one’s boot at all, but more like having one’s leg cut off. Yet he displayed no regret that his impulse to settle too much of his fortune on her had left him facing disaster now.

Panic welled inside her. His creditors might not be generous but instead vindictive. She could not bear the thought of him in debtors’ prison. Her heart beat heavily from the implications of the way he spoke of her secure future. It sounded as if he did not expect or want to have her with him if the opportunities were far from London.

“We will both live on that income you arranged, of course, so perhaps it was wise after all,” she said. “In fact, we should find a way to break the trust so that you can use the funds to avoid this ruin.”

“No. Even if the courts permitted that, I would not do it.”

She thought that she knew one reason why he had established that trust soon after they wed. That money must have been the encouragement he received from Easterbrook. It had been a reckless gesture to give it to her. Also a romantic one, long before she believed this marriage had a chance for such sentiments.

“It seems to me that if all those supplies are ordered that you would do well to use them to build something,” she said.

“There can be no land development without land, Rose. Trust me, the property in Kent, and the funds already paid to Cottington’s estate, will not be available for years even if I go to court and prevail.”

“Then you must find other land.”

“That takes money too. Even if the arrangement is similar to that with Cottington, payments are made up front.”

“Perhaps Lord Hayden would loan—”

“No, Rose. I will not be in debt to your relatives.”

Of course not. It had been stupid to even suggest it. He would have little left except his pride soon.

She looked ahead at the hill, then around at the fallow fields. One of her earliest childhood memories was of walking this path that she trod now, with her two brothers by her side. In her entire life nothing had changed in this landscape except the seasons.

Through everything, through her grief over deaths and loss, through the poverty after her father’s debts and again after Tim’s ruin, this property had served as testimony to her place in the world, no matter how poorly she might eat. The drawing room might hold only two chairs and a small table, but it was the place where her ancestors had hosted assemblies for the entire county.

Her throat burned. Nostalgia wanted to drown her. The emotion was not enough to keep her silent, however. She stopped walking and caught Kyle’s arm so he stopped too.

“Why not use this land, Kyle? Put the timber and supplies to work here. It would be inadequate repayment for what my brothers did, but something at least.”

“When I said in court that I had already been repaid, I meant it, Rose.” His smile charmed her but also proved that she had not swayed him. “It is your family home, darling. Your sanctuary. And it still belongs to your brother, who will return one day.”

He took her hand and urged her forward with him, into the breeze.

“Actually, Kyle, it belongs to me now, not my brother. Timothy wrote a letter to our solicitor, giving him a proxy to transfer the property to my name. If his last letter regarding the property’s disposition would stand scrutiny, this one will as well.”

They reached the top of the hill before he responded. “When did your brother write this letter?”

“While in prison, when I saw him before he was transported. I had Lord Hayden and the turnkey witness it.”

“Why would he do such a thing?”

“I told him to. I feared he might do something foolish during the years away and lose it. I also thought it might be useful to have that letter, and this property, as security. It appears that I was correct.”

He shook his head. “If it is yours, all the more reason why I cannot do it.”

“Heavens, but you can be a stubborn man.” She stepped close to him and let him see her vexation with his inconvenient nobility. “You are my husband. We are one, in pleasure and in love and in ruin. I will not attend parties while you go to debtors’ prison or struggle for years to rebuild your fortune. If you will not use this land and you will not break the trust, then we will pledge my income against your debts and live here on what else we can scrape together.”

“You will not live like that. I forbid it. You have endured that once and I will not allow it again.”

“I will, no matter what you think to allow. I will find a way to pledge the income. I will save every shilling of it and carry it to the creditors myself.”

A scowl began forming but did not get very far. He looked down at her long and hard.

“Please, Kyle,” she urged. “Think of this property as my gift to you, if you must. Think of it as my dowry. Think of me as one of your syndicate investors if necessary.”

“I would have to sell the land. Do you understand that? Leaseholds will not be enough. I will have to take the land through that lien while it is still in Tim’s name. Once it is yours, as your husband I can use your real property but not sell it.”

“Then use the lien to take it.”

He paced away and narrowed his eyes on the rolling land. “We could spare your house and the field behind it, I think. This hill too. The rest should be enough.”

She went to him and embraced him from behind. She rested her face against his strong back. “If it is not enough, we will sell the house and field too.”

He turned in her arms and looked down. “Are you very sure about this? It will never be the same, even if the house is spared. You are sacrificing something that—”

“I am very sure. Please do not argue against it anymore, or speak of sacrifice. If you love me, if you honor me, you will not.”

He did not argue. He did not even speak. He only kissed her as sweetly as he ever had. Her heart lightened with relief.

“Then it is decided. Yes?” she whispered.

“We will settle with the tenants at once, and find them other farms,” he said.

He held her tightly. His breath warmed her hair and his kiss pressed her crown. “You move me, Roselyn,” he muttered, his voice ragged with emotion. “You always have. First with your beauty, then with your goodness and passion, and now with your love. You make my heart burn and ache and fill with pride. Of all the good fortune that has come my way, you were fate’s greatest gift.”