The Mischievous Bride (22 page)

He was breathing heavily and said nothing.

She finally looked up. Feeling bold, she caressed his cheek.

With an oath, he scooped her off the ground. “Confound it, woman. When you touch me like that, I lose all sense of—”

“Miss Millicent,” Lord Knightengale called, his deep voice sounding near.

Marcus muttered a curse and dropped her feet to the ground.

Milli swallowed hard as her eyes clung to his. Raw desire swirled between them

The sound of footsteps drew nearer. Marcus spun on his heels, protecting her from the intruder.

“Knightengale,” Marcus said, his voice harsh. “Catching a breath of fresh air? Or kissing the ladies?”

Milli couldn’t help but peek around Marcus. The huge man’s face twisted with rage as he swung his gaze toward Milli’s flushed features.

Milli patted back a curl and swallowed past a sickening taste creeping into her mouth. Was Marcus using her to inflame her suitors? Was that why he had taken her to the gardens? He had said as much when they were dancing. What a fool she had been.

Had Knightengale been listening? She was mortified.

Knightengale’s glittering gaze pierced the darkness, but he said nothing about her disheveled appearance. “I’ve come to take Miss Millicent to supper,” he said to Marcus, his tone as calm as a summer breeze. “What say you, Miss Millicent?” Knightengale put out his arm for her.

Milli dropped her gaze and adjusted her sleeve. She was waiting for Marcus to intervene, but he said nothing. With a broken heart, she worked past the turmoil in her heart, looked up and smiled. “I, um, would be—”

“Miss Millicent!” Suddenly Lord Hughmont appeared around the bend. He glanced at her and grimaced. She was glad the moon wasn’t in full brightness tonight. Though she could detect his facial expression, she couldn’t help but be thankful the light was dim. She lifted a hand to another stray lock and frowned.

An embarrassing heat shot through her as Hughmont threw an accusing glance toward the two towering men.

Milli felt the blood drain out of her. He could tell she had been thoroughly kissed. She wanted to run away and hide. “I, um—”

“She needed to fix her hair,” Marcus put in. He bent down and picked up a few of her pins that had fallen to the ground. Within seconds, he had pinned her hair back in order.

Milli felt cold and lifeless. Three men were vying for her attention, and one of them, the one she really wanted, was only pretending.

A wave of nausea swept through her. She wanted her Papa. She wanted Lizzie. She wanted to leave as swiftly as possible.

“I don’t feel so well.” She put a hand to her head and staggered.

With an oath, Marcus pulled her into his arms.

Knightengale came forward. “Here, let me take her.”

Hughmont jostled for position. “We are almost engaged. It is my right—”

Marcus glared at the men. “I have her, gentlemen. Make way. I will take her up the back way.”

“I say,” Hughmont argued. “Don’t think that is quite proper, Clearbrook.”

Knightengale glared at Marcus. “You haven’t been interested in her before, why now?”

“I am family. You are not. Now, make way. Or do I have to plow you down?”

Marcus’s hold on Milli tightened. But she didn’t care.
I am family.
So, that was how he thought of her.

An ache swelled in her chest. She wanted to cry. She thought faking her swoon, would make them leave her alone and fetch Lizzie. She wasn’t thinking at all. She should have run from all three of them. Marcus’s kiss had addled her senses. If she were a man, she would box their ears!

Before they could say another word, Marcus whirled around and hastened up the back stairs with Milli in his arms.

She kept her eyes closed, feeling the beating of his heart against his ears. Grief overwhelmed her.
Oh, Marcus. You are a fool! I could have loved you forever.

Marcus kicked open her bedchamber door and plopped her onto her bed.

She gasped at the drop.

He looked down at her, his eyes like chips of ice. “Which one do you favor?”

“Well,” she said, scooting back and grabbing a pillow. “It certainly isn’t you!”

His eyes slid over her. “Your actress abilities need a bit more practice, little girl. If you want to swoon, make it dramatic, then the gentlemen will do anything you want. Ask my sister Emily if you need lessons.”

She threw her pillow at him. “Lessons?” she shrieked. “I have had enough of your lessons to last a lifetime. Don’t you dare try your lessons on me again.”

He caught the pillow and threw it back onto the bed.

A screech pierced their ears.

Milli frowned. “Look at that! You hit Cleo!”

Marcus glowered at the white and black cat slinking toward Milli. “That cat has hated me since you’ve had it. I don’t like it.”

Milli lifted her chin. “Well, la di da. I do.” She put the fluffy feline in front of her while it pawed at Marcus. She smiled wickedly. “Cleo will protect me now. You can leave.”

He growled. “I recall that feline ruined my best jacket.”

“My, my, you do hold a grudge. That was four years ago. Before Lizzie married Stephen.”

His silver eyes blazed down on her, and she realized she was pushing her luck. Even Cleo seemed to shudder. The next second, her cat jumped from her arms and slipped under the bed.

Marcus’s lips curled into an unfriendly smile. “Protector?”

Milli squirmed. “You scared her. I don’t like people scaring my cat, and I certainly don’t like taking any more lessons from you!”

He leaned over her. She leaned back. His arms straddled her head. “I will do anything I blasted well please.”

Her skin tingled from the very breath of him, but she refused to cower. She glared back, daring him to do his worst.

His eyes dropped to her lips, then back to her eyes. “Perhaps another lesson would help? It looks as if Hughmont wanted to have part of the action. Knightengale was seething. I wonder which one will ask for your hand. Maybe both?”

Milli swatted him with another pillow. “You swine!”

He shot her a hard smile and stepped away, his eyes locking with hers. “Gather yourself and be downstairs in ten minutes, or I will come looking. Jane has enough to worry about without you missing in action again. This is not going to be like the last ball you attended.”

She flushed. “I hope you know I hate you.”

He chuckled and turned on his heels. “Ah, if that is how you kiss when you hate someone, I wonder how you kiss when you love them.” He glanced over his shoulder. “But have a care. Some men cannot control their feelings, and a little teasing can push a man only so far until he breaks.”

Milli watched in silence as he left, wondering if he was talking about himself or some other man.

Cleo decided to come out from her hiding place and jump onto the bed.

“Some protector you are,” she said, stroking its back.

The cat looked up with glassy green eyes and rested its head on her lap.

“Hmphh,” she said, falling against the mattress and looking up at the ceiling. “I suppose I will have to go downstairs and act as if nothing happened.”

Cleo stretched out beside her. “Meow”

Milli grimaced. “I totally agree.”

Chapter Seventeen

“S
he is rather fetching, is she not?” Stephen said, stepping next to Marcus as they moved near the table in the supper room.

Marcus angled his gaze toward Milli who was standing beside Lord Hughmont. So, she had recovered enough to come down and eat? He wondered if his threat had prompted her. Or was it Hughmont?

His pale silver eyes turned to stone as he watched Hughmont’s gaze lower to the creamy expanse of skin below her neck. His hands clenched. What the devil was Hughmont doing? Milli should swat the man. Was she that oblivious?

“It looks like Hughmont thinks she’s dessert,” Marcus replied curtly.

Stephen scowled. “Who the devil does he think he is?”

“She’s an innocent,” Marcus said harshly. “I don’t like it either. But if Hughmont is our man, we have to let things take their course.”

Stephen muttered an oath. “I hope Elizabeth isn’t watching. Hughmont is acting as if he’s already her husband.”

Marcus felt his heart jolt at the thought of any man having Milli. The mere thought of his little princess with another man tugged at his very soul. He would like to pick up Hughmont by his starched cravat and throw the man out the window.

He watched as Milli’s gray eyes sparkled with life. She had swiftly changed her tune from her angry mode in her bedchambers. And that only made him more furious.

Their last kiss had turned him upside down. He had wanted to prove to himself that he could conquer his feelings for her. But it had only made things worse. 

The little princess would be a Bath bride in no time if she kissed the other gentlemen with such affection. His lips thinned as he watched Hughmont sit next to her and hand her a glass of champagne.

Marcus grimaced. Lady Madeleine’s indiscretions came back to haunt him. But Milli was nothing like her, he thought. His little princess didn’t hide her actions at all. Milli was not afraid to do what she wanted, when she wanted.

 “I think you have a problem,” Marcus finally said as he watched Hughmont bend toward Milli again.

Stephen jerked his gaze toward his brother. “Me? I thought we were all in on this plan?”

Marcus scowled. “But you are her guardian. Go take that champagne from her hand and eject Hughmont from his seat. Better yet, eject him from the ball.”

“I want to,” Stephen said, his eyes narrowing. “Oh, how I want to.”

Stephen glanced at his wife, then back at Milli. “But I cannot. Shelby’s murderer is out there, and we must find him. We have to give the man, whoever he is, a bit of rope to hang himself. With Elizabeth all worried about Milli’s suitors, and then, keeping an eye on you, not knowing when the villain will strike, I find myself in quite a dilemma.”

Marcus glowered at the sight of Milli chatting with another gentleman. Men flocked to her like bees to honey. “I don’t believe you need to keep an eye on me. I doubt the culprit will use poison this time. In fact, it will be more subtle. Like a carriage accident.”

“Hell’s teeth, how could you talk like that?”

“I don’t have a care about what he will do to me. What the devil do you think he will do when he has Milli under his power?”

Stephen paled. “I hope Elizabeth never discovers what we are doing. If she does, she will attach herself to Milli’s side until this is over. That will only make her a target too.”

Marcus grabbed a plate of ham and peas. “We may never discover the villain if I don’t push the matter. This is what we agreed to do, so confound it, let me do it.”

Stephen grabbed a plate and shoved Marcus aside to plop a piece of beef onto his plate. “Why don’t you marry Milli and save us all this trouble?”

Marcus almost dropped his food. “What?”

Stephen’s eyes glittered with challenge. “Yes, then when you are killed, we could investigate further.”

Marcus slapped some beef onto his dish. “You would allow me to marry her then?”

“Are you interested?”

Marcus hands tightened on his plate as he listened to Milli’s alluring laughter. “She’s drinking too much.”

Stephen piled on a mountain of peas. “We are here to protect her. I doubt a little champagne will go to her head.”

Clayton stepped between them. “Hell’s bells, Stephen. Milli’s drinking too much. Go over there and grab her glass. Hughmont and Valford keep refilling it.”

Stephen pulled at his jacket. “I think I can handle one small female.”

Roderick walked up to the group, a frown settling across his face. “I believe the girl is trying to prove something. The question is, are we going to let her?”

Marcus caught sight of Valford taking a seat on the other side of her. Like Hughmont, the man let his gaze wander over Milli’s bodice. He gritted his teeth. “He’s treating her like an actress back stage at Drury Lane.”

His brothers turned. “What?”

“Valford,” Marcus spat. “Look at him.”

The gentlemen shifted their gaze back to Milli only to see Valford glaring at her creamy white skin.

“The cad.”

“The cur!”

“The rotten scoundrel.”

The duke swore, taking a step in that direction, but Stephen held him back. “Thunderation,” Stephen uttered. “She is my ward. I shall take care of the matter directly.”

Marcus dropped his plate to the table. “No. I will take care of the matter. It fits well with our plans, does it not?”

He didn’t wait for an answer. He strode directly to Valford’s side and whispered in the man’s ear. The small man’s face turned an ugly shade of red. He abruptly rose and left the supper room as if the hounds of hell were on his heels. Marcus let out a wicked smile as he took the vacant seat with Milli none the wiser.

“Oh, I think it would be wonderful,” Milli said to Hughmont, taking another sip of her champagne. She giggled and turned toward the man on the other side of her. “And what do you think about Paris in the spring, Lord Valford?”

“Paris in the spring is for the birds.”

Milli blinked. “Oh, I, uh...I thought you were Lord Valford.”

Marcus shot her an unwavering stare. “I believe I am a bit taller than the man.”

Milli blushed.

Hughmont leaned over the table, staring at Marcus. “I thought you had other plans tonight.”

Marcus popped an olive into his mouth. “No other plans that I know about.”

“Why don’t you take supper with the general’s daughter? Miss Canton is casting covert glances as we speak.”

Milli stiffened and took another sip of champagne. “Lord Hughmont, would you pour me some more champagne, please? I have a great thirst tonight.”

Marcus could see the defiance in her posture. “I think you have had enough.”

Milli scowled, her gray eyes blazing. “I daresay, Lord Marcus, you can think all you want. But it won’t change my mind.” She sighed dramatically. “La, the mind is but the union of two souls, thinking and working together in unison. It is not for the negativity of love.”