To Tame a Dangerous Lord (28 page)

His grandmother breathed a pained sigh. “Undoubtedly,
word of your union has already spread. One cannot keep a scandal of this magnitude quiet for long.”

“It is hardly a scandal,” Rayne said dryly.

“It most certainly is,” she muttered in derision. “And you will likely be the death of me.”

He bowed respectfully. “That would be extremely unfortunate, love, but I have high hopes you will outlive all your grandchildren. And to help ensure it, I will summon all your various doctors to attend to you immediately.”

She hesitated, then waved her hand in dismissal. “That will not be necessary. I will suffer in silence, as I always do. Now take yourself off, sir, since you are so vexingly determined to disoblige me.”

Rayne knew he had called her bluff, for she disliked being poked and prodded by her physicians. “As you wish, Grandmother.”

Aware that he hadn’t ended her objections to his marriage, though, he crossed to the door and let himself from the room, feeling her irate gaze boring into his back, as intense as any enemy surveillance.

To post her latest letter to Gerard, Madeline drove herself into Chiswick alone. After what had happened with her first correspondence, she didn’t want Rayne’s servants alerted to her attempt to contact her brother.

When she returned home to Riverwood, a note from Arabella was waiting for her, suggesting that they drive to London tomorrow and spend the day visiting her dressmaker and various other shops. She also suggested that Madeline make a list of items she needed.

The writing desk in the drawing room was out of paper, however, since she’d used the last sheets to write Arabella and Gerard. Not wishing to take Bramsley from his duties to fetch more paper for her, Madeline decided to search for it herself, starting in the most logical place—Rayne’s study.

Most of the drawers in his massive desk were locked, she discovered, but the lower left one was accessible. Inside, she found a thin sheaf of papers containing what looked to be a list of names, scrawled in a bold handwriting that she assumed was Rayne’s.

Madeline was about to return his papers to the drawer when an underlined name leapt out at her:
Roslyn Loring
. Curious, she let her gaze skim down the entire list. There were some three dozen female names in total, and Rayne had made notations beside each one.

It seemed to be a list of candidates he had considered for matrimony.

Startled by her deduction, Madeline perused all the pages in detail. Rayne had made three more columns to accompany the names. The first heading was
“Feat.,”
which she took to mean distinguishing physical features, including hair color—perhaps so he could remember the individual ladies or tell them apart.

The two other columns appeared to be descriptions of intelligence and personality and character. Under
“Intelligence”
he had assigned each lady a numerical rating 0 to 9. But under
“Pers/Char”
were words:

Lively. Timid. Charming. Talks too much. Dull. Deadly dull
. At least half of the candidates were rated “dull” or some variation thereof, but there were also some even less flattering terms such as
Simpers, Fawns, Vain
, and
Greedy
.

A pang of jealousy struck Madeline when she saw that Roslyn Loring had received a 9 for intelligence and a description of “intriguing” for personality—clearly the highest rating for anyone on Rayne’s list. And yet, she noted, “beautiful” did not appear anywhere on the pages.

Madeline chewed her lower lip thoughtfully. If this was Rayne’s tally of the advantages and disadvantages of the bridal candidates he’d considered and rejected thus far, she supposed she could take heart, since he seemed to value brains and spirit over beauty.

“May I assist you, my lady?”

With a start Madeline looked up to find Bramsley standing in the study doorway, frowning at her in disapproval.

“I was searching for writing paper,” she explained hastily.

“Forgive me, my lady, I should have mentioned it before. Lord Haviland does not allow anyone to touch his desk. Indeed, I am the only staff permitted to enter his study.”

Feeling somewhat guilty, Madeline shoved Rayne’s lists back in the drawer and stood. “I am sorry. I wasn’t aware that his study was off limits to me. But of course I will respect his wishes.”

It wasn’t surprising that Rayne would be protective of his privacy since his entire profession had been built on secrets, but she felt very much like Bluebeard’s wife at being caught here, even though she had certainly
not
been snooping.

Bramsley pointedly interrupted her musings. “I will be happy to bring you the writing paper you require, my lady.”

“Thank you,” Madeline said rather meekly.

Preceding the majordomo from the study, she watched as he shut the door carefully behind them. Then, desiring to change the subject, she added casually, “I am planning a drive with Lady Danvers to London tomorrow to visit her dressmaker, if you need me to perform any errands for you while I am there.”

Bramsley stared at her a moment, making Madeline keenly aware that she had just committed a solecism.

She sent him a rueful smile. “I suppose my habits as a former companion are too ingrained. My offer is vastly
out of place, isn’t it? Of course you have a large staff to call upon to run errands for you.”

His expression softened several degrees. “Indeed we do, my lady.”

“It will doubtless take me awhile to learn what is expected of me in my new position, so I hope you will bear with me.”

“Certainly, my lady,” the majordomo said with genuine warmth this time. “But if you mean to visit London … I should also have mentioned earlier, his lordship bade me instruct you on the financial arrangements he made on your behalf. Any bills you incur should be sent to his London residence, but he also established an allowance for smaller personal necessities. As for the estate, I generally manage the household accounts and landholdings, but he directed me to make the books available to you as well. If you wish, my lady, I will present them for your review when I bring the writing paper.”

Madeline felt strangely gratified; Rayne had remembered that she’d handled all the accounts of her family’s farm for years. “I should like that, Bramsley. Will you bring them to me in the drawing room?”

“As you wish, Lady Haviland.”

The majordomo bowed deferentially and then took himself off to fulfill her request. As Madeline made her way slowly back to the drawing room, however, the account books were not foremost on her mind. Rather, she was remembering Rayne’s list of marital prospects.

Her name had not appeared among the candidates, yet she couldn’t help wondering how he would rate her. She had worried that she couldn’t possibly compete with all the beauties who had thrown themselves at Rayne’s
head, but perhaps her plainness was not such an enormous drawback after all.

Even so, she would be wise to improve her appearance and make herself more attractive to him if possible. A new wardrobe would help, but more drastic action was obviously needed.

Besides, she’d had enough of wallowing in self-pity, Madeline decided. She would not be a helpless victim of circumstances, passively bemoaning her fate. She might have foolishly fallen in love with Rayne, but since she couldn’t change her feelings for him, her best course was to try and change his feelings for
her
—or at least make him want her enough to share her bed for more than mere conjugal duty.

Madeline frowned in thought. A good soldier’s daughter would marshal her defenses and call in reinforcements, but whom could she rely upon? She’d never had sisters or close women friends to discuss female matters with, and her conversations with her late mother were strictly one-sided. Therefore, she was at a severe loss in dealing with a husband who wanted her only for the children she could give him.

Yet Arabella had agreed to help her shop for clothing. Now Madeline wondered if she should also ask her neighbor for advice on how to appeal to a man of Rayne’s stamp. She would never be as captivating as Roslyn Loring in his eyes, of course, but perhaps with assistance, she might become enticing enough to keep him in her bed.

And she did have the advantage of being married to Rayne, after all, Madeline reflected, setting her jaw with determination. Even if she wasn’t able to inspire his passion at present, she would have opportunities to rouse
his desire that none of his other bridal candidates had had.

   Madeline gave serious consideration to developing a new strategy for her marriage so that by the time Arabella called for her the next morning as arranged, she was prepared to swallow her pride and ask for her neighbor’s help in a much more intimate arena than fashion.

Arabella’s first words, however, gave her pause.

“I am more than happy to advise you on purchasing new gowns, but my sister Roslyn has a better eye for styles and colors than I do. I hope you don’t mind that I took the liberty of inviting her to accompany us this morning.”

Madeline was a little taken aback. She was coming to know Arabella fairly well, whereas Roslyn was nearly a stranger. Yet she could hardly protest her employer’s generosity.

“I hate to impose on her grace,” she settled on saying.

“It is no imposition, truly. Roslyn is eager to help you. And in a way, she will be fulfilling her pledge to Haviland. We attempted to find him a suitable bride, but since he made an unexpected match on his own, it is only fitting that we endeavor to make your introduction to society successful.”

“Well, if you are certain she won’t mind …”

“I am certain,” Arabella assured her. “The ton will be agog to see Haviland’s new countess, and as a duchess, Roslyn can foster your acceptance even better than I can. As for me,” she added with a smile, “I want to smooth your path for my own selfish reasons. I’m exceedingly grateful that you plan to continue teaching at
the academy, Madeline. Not only have you spared me the trouble of searching for your replacement, our pupils adore you and would be heartbroken if you had to resign simply because you married a nobleman.”

At the praise, Madeline felt her cheeks flush. “It has been a pleasure to teach them.”

“I hope it will continue to be so for a long time to come. But I collect you would rather discuss our shopping expedition just now.” Arabella’s glance took in Madeline’s outdated pelisse. “Do you have a sum in mind for how much you wish to spend on a new wardrobe?”

“Cost does not seem to be a concern,” Madeline replied dryly, still bemused by her sudden wealth.

In addition to arranging an account for her gowns and other large purchases, Rayne had given her a shockingly generous allowance for fripperies. In fact, she had two hundred pounds of pin money burning a hole in her reticule right now.

But her bride clothes were not her chief worry. Taking a breath, Madeline plunged ahead and told Arabella of her dilemma—confessing that she had made a marriage of convenience but had little notion how to proceed with her new husband.

Nodding in understanding, Arabella gave a soft, wry laugh. “Marriage is unnerving under any circumstances, but I would find it petrifying to wed as you did. So you would like my opinion on how to manage a husband?”

“Yes, but even more …” Madeline faltered, striving for the right words. “The thing is, Arabella, I hold little feminine appeal for a man such as Haviland, and I thought … perhaps you could advise me on how to change his perception of me. You see, I hope to make
him want me as his true wife, but I suspect I will need to improve more than just my attire in order to accomplish it. Lord Danvers is clearly enamored of you, so I wondered if … if you would mind telling me some of your secrets.”

Arabella pursed her lips thoughtfully. “Of course I will, but I know an even better person to ask. Her name is Fanny Irwin … although I hesitate to introduce you since you might be offended.”

“Why would I be offended?”

“Because my friend is a renowned courtesan. Fanny had a genteel upbringing but left home when she was sixteen to seek her fortune. We have known each other since we were in leading strings, though. In fact, we were neighbors and bosom friends in Hampshire and played together as children.” Arabella wrinkled her nose in amusement. “My sisters and I refused to repudiate our friendship with Fanny, much to the chagrin of the ton, but you might not care to be associated with her.”

Madeline was a little surprised at the sisters’ relationship with a famous courtesan, but she had no objection. “I don’t mind in the least. I would be grateful for any help she could give me.”

“Trust me, her help will be substantial. She was instrumental in aiding both me and my sisters in our understanding of men and husbands. But we should keep your consultations confidential so you don’t invite scandal unnecessarily.”

When an image of Rayne’s imperious grandmother flashed through her mind, Madeline murmured her agreement. “That would probably be wise, given Haviland’s illustrious relations.”