Seduction In Silk: A Novel of the Malloren World (Malloran) (37 page)

“Reluctantly. Mother probably terrorized her into it.”

“Because your mother still had her plan. Without the child, there was still hope of Clarrie making a good marriage. Harpy Mallow.”

“Why do you call her that?”

“Giles described her that way. For once, he was right. All teeth and claws.”

She shivered. “Yes.”

He put an arm around her. “You are not at all like her.”

“I pray not. Giles was vile, but she set out to torture him as surely as if she had him tied on a rack.”

“And succeeded in the end, but by his ill luck, not a curse.” He could see she still doubted. “Only think of the wording, Claris. It’s all lies. The ‘suffer as I must suffer’ was about her, not Clarrie. The part about children dying as hers must die was perhaps most about Clarrie herself, whom she might have thought of as her child. She was already twisting it in her deranged mind. She was the victim, and Giles was entirely to blame. Giles alone had caused Clarrie’s death, so he must pay. In composing that curse, she made herself the righteous vindicator.” Perry thought for a moment. “And that’s why she forced your father to marry her.”

“What do you mean?”

“Once she’d established her version of the truth, she inherited the necessity of marrying well. It had to have been important, for it had led to Clarrie’s death. So it must still be important. However, she didn’t have the looks or charm, and she’d probably spent most of the money on the Town foray. There was one man she could get—a clergyman, but from a good family. She’d have sent a curse to your father for the part he’d played, and so she followed it up with a demand. Marry her and the curse against him will be nullified. He will escape hell.”

“Oh, the
wickedness
of it. Father would have done anything, especially when he learned that Clarrie had died. Poor man.”

“A kind heart, as always.”

“He did his best to suffer for his sins on earth, and Mother helped him.”

“Worrying again that you are like her? My dear, my dear, as Miss Pellew said, you’re more like Clarrie, but with steel and spine. What’s more, your father, though weak, was not a bad man. He probably only committed the one vile sin—to help Giles dupe Clarrie—and he truly felt his guilt. His pouring out money to the poor was unfair to his family but showed his contrition.”

“He was truly compassionate,” Claris said. “He felt the sufferings of others. Without Mother, he might have died a beloved rector rather than a mad one.”

The carriage came to a stop and he thought quickly. “Our explanation for our appearance is the truth. You ventured into a dubious part of Town and were assaulted. I rescued you.”

“And all in search of a superior mender of stockings.”

“What?”

She smiled at him, a wry smile but true. “I’ll explain later.”

The footman stared but accepted the explanation. Washing water was ordered for all of them and then Perry took Claris upstairs.

C
laris was glad of Perry’s strong arm around her as she climbed the stairs. Her mind had slid back to that moment of terror, firing the shot, his arrival, his driving off four attackers.

Four.

Terror turned to thrill. He’d been magnificent!

When they arrived in their room, he gently removed her hat, smoothing her hair, looking at her with such tenderness. Perhaps more than tenderness? Hadn’t he called her “love”?

The thrill swelled inside her, especially when he kissed her.

She clutched at him, wanted him—

Footsteps.

They broke apart.

Alice hurried in with the jug of hot water. “Oh, ma’am, thank the Lord you’re safe. Let me get you out of those clothes.”

“It’s all right,” Claris said as calmly as she could. “You may go for now.”

Alice stared, but then bobbed a curtsy and left.

Perry was looking at her, amused, quizzical, but knowing.

“I want you,” she breathed. “Now. This very moment. I know it’s shocking. . . .”

He swept her up and laid her half on the bed so her legs dangled from the knees down. She went up on her elbows to shift further, but he already had his breeches undone.

He flipped up her skirts and slid right into her, hard, hot, and strong. Leaning forward, he caught his arm around her to hold her up for his searing kiss. It couldn’t entirely stifle her sharp cries of pleasure as he thrust again and again. She brought up her legs around him, uncaringly bruised by his sword hanger.

They’d taken off nothing but her hat!

She thrust up to meet him again and again as the fever built and the ache exploded into a pleasure more intense than any she’d known.

He was braced on his arms over her, sucking in breaths, as she was heaving with them, but laughing down at her with such a light in his eyes. “My warrior bride.”

“That was . . . That was . . .”

“What?”

“Naughty.”

He hooted with laughter. “Then naughtiness is pure delight.”

He pulled her up into his arms and rolled them both onto the bed, despite shoes, sword, and riotous clothing.

He cradled her face and kissed her again. “I love you, Claris. Say you love me too.”

She searched him for humor, for a tease, but saw only honesty. “I love you, Perry. I didn’t want to say. It wasn’t in our agreement.”

“I tear up any such agreement. We have love. We are blessed.”

And a blessing was the opposite of a curse.

There and then, Claris ceased to believe that her mother’s misbegotten curse could have any power over her. In the midst of such love, it simply wasn’t possible. She tangled her fingers in his unruly hair. “If any powers come from beyond the grave, Aunt Clarrie will be working hard to make all right for me. For us.”

He captured her hand and kissed her palm. “And she’ll be particularly protective of our children.”

“She will. She will.”

They lay together as the clock ticked away the minutes, but when it chimed two, Claris pulled out of his arms and scrambled off the bed. “Dinner!” She stared at him. “Alice will guess.”

That twinkle entered his eyes. “The whole house will guess. You were noisy.”

“Oh, no!”

“We’re married. It’s blessed.”

“Not that.”

“Even that.” He kissed her again. “I propose that we scandalize our households on a regular basis, even into our old age.”

She pushed at him. “Don’t say such things.”

“I’m your lord and master and say as I please.”

“Tyrant!” she exclaimed, pretending outrage.

“Have no doubt, love, you rule here. But we must change.”

They acted as maid and valet for each other, stealing kisses as they stripped and as they dressed in fresh clothing. As he fixed a pin in his fresh neckcloth, Claris smoothed the bed as best she could. Smiling.

Idiotically, she was sure.

He loved her!

It was as if sun broke through on a gloomy day.

He loved her!

All was not perfect, for they must still be too much apart, but he loved her as she loved him, and that would be enough.

*  *  *

Claris went to make sure Ellie was all right, so Perry went down to the dining room alone. His amazing wife. Spirited, brave, and boldly wanton. He remembered at first sight thinking her ordinary. How wrong he had been.

She came down, sparkling with vitality and lovely with it. “She’s asleep. I think she’s fine, but we’ll summon a doctor if needed.”

“Of course. As there’s only the two of us, I’ll move my place to your side.”

She blushed at that. Did she too envision mad passion on the gleaming table, amid a scattering of sauces and fruits? He reminded himself that she must be bruised. In fact it was amazing that she wasn’t as exhausted as Ellie, especially when she was with child.

When the meal was over, he suggested that she rest for the afternoon. “I plan a visit to the theater tonight, if you feel restored enough.”

“Then perhaps I will lie down. Can the boys come with us?”

“Certainly. I’ve chosen a play they might enjoy.”

She kissed him. “Of course you have. Do you not need to rest?”

Was that the invitation he thought it was? Regretfully, he declined. “I have some matters to attend to.”

He escorted her upstairs but then made himself leave. He needed to deal with the men who’d attacked his wife.

He went to Bow Street to discover what he could about the Dun Street ruffians. They were known, as were some of their crimes, but none of their victims would prosecute. They were too poor and afraid.

Perry hired two Bow Street men to watch the street in order to catch them in a crime. Then he’d fund the prosecution. He hoped they’d hang, but transportation would do. That would remove only a ladleful from the swamp of crime in London, but Claris would in a small part be avenged.

He’d do something for the girl, Izzy, but he’d need to find out what she wanted. He could offer employment at the manor, but she looked like a London girl, so she’d probably not want that. She might not be comfortable in any fine establishment. He’d come up with the right plan.

He wished all his problems were so easily solved.

He took refuge in a coffeehouse again, hiding behind a newspaper, trying to sort through the mess. He loved Claris, and he wanted to wake beside her every morning of his life, but she wanted to live at the manor and he was locked here.

She believed Perriam Manor was hers, hers for life and to pass on to her children and her children’s children. It wasn’t, and he should tell her that—now. Love demanded honesty, but honesty could destroy love.

C
laris spent the rest of the afternoon resting. She didn’t sleep, but she daydreamed about Perry and all the ways in which their life could be perfect. She was sure he would be at Perriam Manor as much as possible, and she would visit him in Town when she could. She’d learned to celebrate the pleasures she had and not pine for more.

She’d moved to the drawing room by the time the twins came home full of stories about the river. Lovell had taken them on it to see the many important buildings along its banks. As they chattered, she smiled at their new confidence. They might even have grown, but perhaps that impression was because they carried themselves more erect. Lovell was having a good influence on their manner, but she suspected the main effect was from Perry.

When she’d been at the silk warehouse, he’d taken them to tour St. James’s Palace, where court events took place, and also to a fencing academy. She’d been doubtful about that, but after this morning she saw that a man should be able to handle a sword.

“We dined at the Star and Garter,” Peter said. “Such a grand place in Pall Mall. We saw a number of great men pass by. Lovell pointed out Lord Rockingham, Lord Greville, Lord Rothgar, and some others, gathering in a private room to discuss some weighty matter.”

His eyes were bright with excitement, but Tom said, “The wild beasts in the Tower were better.”

Claris shared a smile with Lovell, but the differences between the twins were becoming more pronounced and she worried what path they could find together.

The twins went off to their room, and Lovell said, “They’ll each find their own way in time.”

“Is my concern so obvious?”

“It’s a reasonable concern. I knew a set of twins at school who were very close, but as they moved into manhood they looked in different directions and seemed to accept it. I knew another set who were at odds all the time. Now, that was unpleasant.”

“Yes, they’re blessed in that respect. Thank you for your care of them. They’re coming along very well.”

“They’ll be fine men one day. They have good hearts.”

She smiled. “Yes, they do.”

When he’d left, Claris considered his words. She still worried at times about what she’d inherited from her parents, but she’d never worried that way about the twins. She realized now that was because they seemed so happy and sound.

Who could say why? She hoped it was in part because of her protection, but perhaps her father had been a good man once, or at least a normal one. Before he’d fallen into the company of Giles Perriam, and later into the claws of her mother.

Might Athena have been a good wife and mother if matched with the right man, a man she loved? Never sweet and docile, no, but not all men required that.

Perry didn’t seem to mind her own thistly nature. . . .

She relaxed back into daydreams.

The theater, and then tender loving in the night.

*  *  *

She wore her wedding gown to the theater, for the memories it carried.

All her family were present, and Lovell as well, so she had to sit close to Perry. That was pure delight, but she wasn’t so sure about the delights of the theater.

“It’s so noisy. And pungent.”

“I can’t waft away the smells,” he said, “but it will quiet when the music starts. As long as everyone approves of it, that is. Rebellion is always possible.”

“Rebellion?”

“Theater audiences are easily roused, especially the servants up there.”

Claris leaned forward to peer up at the highest level of seats. Someone up there threw orange peel down among the people sitting on benches in the center. A nimble young buck caught it and was applauded.

“I thought this would be a dignified occasion.”

He chuckled. “Theater started in the marketplace and has never shed that ambience. Those bucks in the boxes on the stage could well cause trouble.”

One row of boxes rose from the front edge of the stage, and one lower box was full of young men who were possibly drunk.

Perry took her hand and raised it for a kiss. “Don’t look so worried. This will be magic.”

Musicians filed into an area beneath the stage, sat, and began to play. The audience did quiet a little. Presumably they approved. Claris certainly did.

“An orchestra,” she said with a happy sigh.

“A very small one. I forget all the things you haven’t experienced.” He was still holding her hand, and she was happy to have it so. “I hope to take you to hear a larger assembly, and your first large choir. Tomorrow we go to Ranelagh, so your first fireworks. What other wonders can I find for you?”

Claris leaned closer to whisper, “Only you.”

He kissed her lips, but then a woman walked onto the front of the stage and sang an introduction to the play. Such a voice, and such a magical world revealed as the curtain slowly rose. Trees. A woodland glade. A castle in the distance.

Claris leaned forward as if drawn into that other world.

*  *  *

Perry watched her, amused to see her as absorbed as her brothers. The play was a light adventure involving a highwayman and an heiress fleeing a tyrannical father. Pure nonsense, but it was amusingly played, and the sword fighting was impressive. The dying villain spouted enough blood to satisfy the boys and to make one woman in the pit faint. All in all, a great success, but when they left the theater he was happy to be able to send the overexcited boys back with Lovell and escort the ladies in another carriage.

Predictably, Athena dismissed the play as folly. “For in reality he’d hang and she’d be whipped into marrying her gouty suitor.”

“The theater is for fantasy, not reality,” he said.

“And thus deludes the rabble. Perhaps I shall write a play that portrays truth.”

“By all means.”

And I hope it’s a grand success,
he thought,
providing funds for you to live here, where you wish to be.
Athena Mallow could well make life miserable for Claris back at Perriam Manor. How did he solve that problem?

*  *  *

He woke the next morning to find Claris smiling down at him.

“I’ve died and gone to heaven.”

She chuckled and kissed him. “Then our bed is heaven.”

“Which it is.” He drew her in for a kiss, but no more. They’d made love last night, but gently, for she’d admitted to being sore from the attack.

He stroked her bruised hip. “Your grandmother should know a cream or liniment that would help.”

“She’s given up her witchy ways.”

“Knowledge doesn’t evaporate. Do you know how she learned herbal lore?”

“From some philosopher in Paris. Her memoirs would be interesting.”

“And probably shocking, but I’d like to read them.”

Claris chuckled. “Perhaps she could make a fortune from them, and be able to live in Town. I’m sure it’s what she wants, but according to Ellie she’s run through most of her money.”

As he’d suspected.

“I could rent rooms here for her.”

“Rooms she’d like?” she asked dubiously.

“Beggars can’t be choosers? But yes.”

She frowned. “I should pay it out of the manor’s income, but . . .”

“But?”

“I have plans. For improvements, not just to the manor, but for the tenants and laborers. I want to pass on a thriving estate, but also one where everyone thrives, not just our family.”

Pass on.

In the night he’d tried to come up with ways to live at the manor most of the year, but once she knew the truth she’d scarcely tolerate him for the thirty days. If he were to pay for rooms for Athena, he needed his father’s allowance and his sinecures.

“My income can stretch to cover rooms, especially as I’ll be giving up my establishment in the Lyceum.”

“Why?”

“What use have I for a home which doesn’t allow women? I hope you’ll visit me in Town from time to time.”

“From time to time,” she agreed, smiling. “As you will visit me? Rather more often than thirty days a year?”

“From time to time to time,” he said and kissed her again, restrained himself again. “You should linger in bed, for we go to Ranelagh tonight. And that’s your lover speaking, not your master.”

She laughed, glowing, her delightful freckles like gold on her skin. “Then I will obey, my lover. I will be indolent and thus ready for yet more pleasure. At Ranelagh and later.”

He left her with a smile, but as he went downstairs the smile died. Once he told the truth, she might never glow like that again.

*  *  *

Claris managed to be indolent for three hours but then rose to make full use of her last day in London. There were a number of items she wanted to buy for the manor, and Genova had agreed to accompany her.

When Genova arrived, Claris told her about Dun Street and the attack.

“You fired the pistol. You’re a warrior at heart.”

“I was simply terrified.”

“But you took the pistol.”

Dun Street had made Claris nervous. “Perhaps I should take it today.”

“We’re not going to any dubious parts of the city, so a pickpocket is the worst danger, and I have my footman as escort.”

So Claris was able to enjoy the expedition, and she managed to acquire everything on her list, including an ingenious new form of bellows that she’d seen at Sappho’s, and a supply of powder that she’d been told made ink that flowed smoothly and didn’t fade.

At that shop she indulged in some writing paper of excellent quality and ordered a seal. There was a seal at Perriam Manor, but the bold P referred to the legal owner, Perry. The new one, with a CP design, would be her own.

In the early evening she helped Alice to pack, surprised by how much she’d managed to acquire in one week. As well as the silk, she’d purchased slippers, soap, and yards of ribbon and lace without any clear idea of what she’d trim with it. London could be dangerous to her income!

Even so, she’d return.

She and Perry went to Ranelagh alone, for Athena and Ellie were at another salon, and she hadn’t thought her brothers should have another late evening. She’d bring them here someday, however, for they’d love it as much as she did.

She wandered in a daze through lamplit groves and around a pretty lake. She was amazed by the huge Rotunda. When they went inside, she looked up, up, up at the tiers of boxes lining the circular interior.

Perry said, “The tower in the middle can hold a fire in the winter to keep the place warm. Come, let’s enjoy refreshments.”

He’d reserved a box on the second row, and Claris saw that it was the best location. The lowest row was open to anyone strolling by. Clearly this suited some, but she wouldn’t like it. Too high and it would be hard to watch the passersby.

Perry pointed out some famous people, but they were just names to her. She admired some of the ladies’ gowns and saw details she might like to copy. For the most part she simply enjoyed the glittering ambience, the wine and ham, and her husband by her side.

And then came the fireworks.

Again, Perry found the perfect place from which to watch them explode fairy jewels into the sky. She gasped and cried out along with everyone else, and applauded vigorously at the end.

“That was astonishing! We could have fireworks at Perriam Manor.”

He seemed taken aback. “At great expense.”

“But perhaps once, for some grand occasion.”

“What grand occasion do you anticipate? A visit from the king?”

“Of course not. But I want my people there to see fireworks, at least once. And I shall,” she stated, remembering who was in charge at the manor.

“Then why not on the birth of our first child.”

“Perfect!”

*  *  *

She traveled back to Godwin Street in a daze of happiness but woke the next day fighting tears. It was time to go home.

The house had been rented for only a week, so she couldn’t linger if she would, and she was as eager to return to the manor as she was sad to leave Perry. He was to escort them but would be able to stay only two days. She’d always known how it must be and would not put a sad face on it, though she wished he’d travel in the coach rather than riding.

There would be room, even in the one coach, for Athena had shocked her by declaring that she and Ellie would not return to bucolic misery. She’d suspected it would come to that, but not immediately.

“But where will you live?” she asked.

“Sappho has offered sanctuary for a while, and some other ladies are generous. I truly cannot bear the thought of country isolation, Claris, and you’re well able to take care of yourself and your brothers. My duty there is done.”

It was, and Claris was relieved. This might also mean that Perry wouldn’t have to provide lodgings for her grandmother in Town. She couldn’t help feeling a little hurt, however, that Athena could discard her and her brothers without a twinge.

That made her sharp when she said, “You could have mentioned this earlier. It disarranges the plans for the journey.” She regretted that when she saw Ellie’s unhappy face. She hugged her. “If you wish to visit Perriam Manor, you will always be welcome.”