It’s Marriage Or Ruin

‘Very much so. To have a woman like you in our midst is a grand thing.’

‘I paint,’ she said.

‘So do I.’

‘I know you mentioned that you dabbled in it.’

‘Yes. After my lessons ended, I’ve spent a few stretches of time with a canvas. Father wanted Marcus to focus on music and languages and the more boring aspects of learning, and I was the second son. I liked charcoals and oils, so Father indulged me. My mother has one of my paintings on the wall. I signed it simply Westbrook.’

‘I saw it. It’s good. Skilful.’ A fine showing, but not exceptional. Especially adept if he didn’t practise. He had natural skills. She realised he had signed his family name and it hadn’t occurred to her that he was the one who’d painted it.

He bowed in acknowledgement of her words. ‘Marcus doesn’t let me scatter around my attempts at landscapes in his residence, but I have a few tucked away there. Of course, I would be pleased to dig out a few for you to critique, privately. If Marcus knew of your presence, he would be so angered. Propriety and all.’

‘That is thoughtful of you.’

‘We artists should support each other.’

She pondered her choices. Mr Westbrook seemed willing to ruin her. Considerate of him. She pushed aside her awareness that she really didn’t care for him. He would certainly make her option of choosing marriage or choosing to be ruined easier. Marriage to him would distress her so.

Her mother and Marcus returned to the room and she slipped her hand from Mr Westbrook’s and increased her distance from him. Her mother’s view wavered, uncertain about whether to be upset Westbrook had taken her hand, or to scold Emilie for pulling away.

But if she were to guess, by the glare in his eyes, Marcus’s teeth were near to breaking.

Emilie turned, following her mother’s exit to the carriage.

Marcus wasn’t given to sweetness as his brother was. But Marcus would be so much better for a portrait.

How he had not married gave her cause to guess the women of the town were smart to avoid a rascal, or had no wits about them that they wouldn’t try to entrance someone so superb.

She doubted she was up to the task of having Mr Westbrook for a husband. She figured if one got used to having ravening hawks about one, but at bay, one could become complacent. And the sly hawk could wait patiently, relaxing, paying scant attention, until the guard was lowered, pounce on the little weasel, gulp and be done with it.

Such a shame that Mr Westbrook would be the better man for her husband. He did paint, of course. She had noticed the buttons on Westbrook’s coat and knew they were mother-of-pearl and had a nice stone in each centre. Marcus’s buttons were unremarkable. She knew he, as the elder, could have had as nice a coat as Westbrook had. Perhaps Marcus wasn’t inclined to spare the coin, or perhaps he didn’t care about fashion as much.

Scrutinising them from memory, she could see why she’d mistaken Mr Westbrook for the eldest. His tailor spared no expense and Marcus wore muted tones and few frills.

But he didn’t need embellishments.

She could hardly stand how her stomach turned over when she saw him. That could disrupt her. She must keep him a safe distance from her.

She feared if she lingered in his arms, she might become a shadow of herself. A woman who hid inside herself, waiting for Marcus to notice her again. She couldn’t become vulnerable to him. He was just a man.

Emilie couldn’t risk corruption from someone like him. Her life had to revolve around her aspirations. Some day, she would enter a gallery and her work would grace the wall, or her landscapes would be purchased as a legacy to hand down to grandchildren. If it meant scrawling a signature across the bottom, and perhaps even letting Mr Westbrook claim credit, she didn’t care. She wanted her impressions to live and be noticed. Only by being exhibited would anyone other than her family have access to them.

She could easily paint and display, or sell them as Mr Westbrook’s work, although she envisioned herself better than him. Having to sign his name to her creations—actually, she wasn’t sure if she could do that.

But no one would dare ignore a painting done by an earl’s son. She could pull off the ruse, but she wasn’t sure she wanted to. And she wasn’t sure she wanted to be in any sort of a compromising position with Westbrook either.

Marcus, on the other hand. She might like to see him more. Purely in the interest of inspiration. But, she would have to content herself with engravings of Michelangelo’s work, although she wasn’t sure if Marcus was more of a David or a Moses.

Marcus was flesh and blood. Distracting. And he could not see the colours that made her landscapes come alive. He would never know the true appearance of a scene. He’d never comprehend her passion.

Chapter Four

Marcus had watched his brother at the birthday celebration and noticed Nathaniel could not keep from observing Emilie. He could read the ideas in his brother’s mind as clearly as if they were spoken. He wanted to shove Nathaniel into the wall.

With a brief goodbye, he set out on foot, leaving the carriage for his brother.

He strode to Lady Semple’s address, letting the exertion calm him.

The butler let him in.

She sat in her chair by the fireplace and didn’t burn coal, but had a few twigs which wafted a warm comforting scent into the room.

‘So many young beauties in London, yet you have time for a moment with me.’ Her turban had a fringe of white hair escaping from it.

‘Youth has its allure, but there is much beauty to be found in the mature appearance as well.’ He bowed to her.

Her visage reminded him of a sage and the sharpness of her wit and her astute observations drew him to her. For that reason, he always spoke with Lady Semple when he saw her and he always found her conversation enlightening. Sometimes too enlightening, as she could speak about anything without a stammer or a blush, and she made him uneasy if she got carried away.

‘But I fear one must search harder for beauty in the older countenance.’ She reached to adjust her turban and her hair moved in such a way he wondered if the locks were connected to the wrap.

‘Not with you, Lady Semple.’

‘I do not have to search for your flattery, which is always appreciated and shared with my friends.’ She batted away the words. ‘Will you be joining us again this Thursday for cards?’

‘Lady Semple, that is first in my calendar.’ He moved closer.

She got to her feet, and put a hand to the small of her back. ‘Weather is changing. I’d best move or soon I won’t be able to.’

She appraised him. ‘So what brings you here? All flattery aside, as I know that you are deeply devoted to me, particularly when I am losing funds to you in a game of cards.’

‘You know my brother, Nathaniel. The one who refused to let you win the money back.’

‘Without spectacles, I can scarce tell you apart from a distance.’ She stopped him, reaching out. She tucked away a piece of his neckcloth which had escaped his waistcoat. ‘But, I doubt I’ve spoken to Mr Westbrook in years.’

‘Occasionally people mistake me for my brother and he for me. If I am in the act of doing something well, I correct them.’ They moved into an alcove. ‘If I am not so sure of my actions, I thank them for their greeting. He said he is the same.’

‘I am sure you must always correct them.’

‘Of course.’ He smiled, putting innocence into his words and following them with an exaggerated leer. Her laugh would have fitted a tavern woman.

‘And what of Miss Emilie Catesby? Are you well acquainted with her family?’ He kept his voice bland, but her reaction told him she read the direction of his reasoning.

‘Miss Catesby. I’ve heard her mentioned.’ She straightened the turban, again moving the silver fringe. ‘You’ve not asked me in the past if I know of any female. You tend to know much more about the young women of the ton than I do.’

‘I suspect she has been brought to London to find out if any of the men might suit her as a husband.’

‘That is what I’ve heard also. I’ve also been told she’s had no beau because it would limit her time at a canvas. Her mother has brought her to search among the rakes of the ton for a suitable husband. A shame. With the exception of yourself, many men in this town might blind her to their follies so they could make an offer for her. I know from experience that can happen.’

‘Do you predict I might not be able to do that?’ he asked, smiling.

‘I assumed you had no follies to blind her to.’ She touched her ear.

‘I would hope not.’

‘I am sure.’ She paused. ‘How well do you know her?’

‘Hardly at all. She’s got some connection to Wilson, the Duke of Kinsale—and the Duchess has seen that Miss Catesby has many events to attend. Perhaps in search of a romance.’

‘Sad to have a parent pushing offspring to do such a thing. Your father is still pressing you to marry, isn’t he?’

Marcus remained silent.

She laughed. ‘Do not let him give you that old rubbish about dying without holding a grandchild. He will likely outlive us all. By many years.’ She smiled. ‘Remember, whom the gods love dies young.’ Her lids dropped. ‘Please pass that information along to him from me. He is so forgetful. The type who might forget a secret betrothal.’

‘You and I both know he has never truly forgotten it.’

Elbows tucked at her side, she shrugged. ‘Good. But we both ended up the better for it. Except…’

Except his mother. ‘She is not thrilled with him. Perhaps, they share a bond that is between them. They occasionally share a few civil words. Much more recently than they have in many years.’

‘I do feel better for your telling me that. He didn’t treat either her or me fairly.’

‘Mother has also mentioned a grandchild and how she feels inferior to the others who natter on and on about the accomplishments of their cherubs.’

Lady Semple sighed. ‘That is a first, isn’t it?’

‘Yes. But the volume of my parents’ discussions hasn’t lessened. It’s best if they communicate by message or letter. Mother has her discreet lady’s maid read Father’s letters aloud and the woman omits irritating references. It is the best for everyone and Father doesn’t know.’

‘If it works for them.’

‘Once the lady’s maid read three pages, gave her an awkward cough and said, He judges you are in good health. Then Mother pointed to the fire and the maid tossed the letter in.’

Marcus had reasoned that moving out of the family home would distance himself from two things: the rows his parents had on the rare occasions they spoke and the opinions of his father. Nathaniel hadn’t even asked Marcus if he could move in, just followed with his belongings a few days later. Now their father showed up on a whim, questioning them about their pursuits and chiding them on their responsibilities.

‘And now your mother has joined in?’

‘Yes.’

‘Your father does like to get his way. Like his sons.’

‘I would agree. We are more alike than I aspire to be.’

‘Many of the women here have tried to catch your eye, have they not?’ Lady Semple asked.

‘I cannot say for certain.’ He clasped his hands behind his back.

‘I can,’ she insisted, ‘as I have watched on the occasions you have graced us with your presence. At least, I think it was you,’ she teased. ‘Perhaps they were searching for Mr Westbrook.’

‘Well, if the women have tried to catch my attention, then you must assume they were hunting for me and not my brother.’ The earlier irritation returned to him.

Emilie hadn’t pretended to mistake him for Nathaniel. She really had.

Lady Semple clasped his arm.

‘Don’t marry to spite your father or to please your mother.’

‘It would seem a simple task.’

‘Your father forsook love to please your grandparents. That turned out wonderfully for your father, to a point, and the best for me, but he’s fortunate your mother hasn’t smothered him in his sleep.’

‘They tend to sleep in different residences.’

‘Ever stuck your hand in the fire to see how hot it is?’ the older woman asked, eyebrows arched.

‘If a woman is on the way to nuptials above all else, what difference would one rake over another make?’ he asked.

‘This could be interesting.’ Lady Semple chortled. ‘I will watch to see what happens. Would you invite me to see such a thing? That is the only way I would believe it.’

‘I will keep your words in mind. But I don’t know that my mother would appreciate it.’

‘I don’t know,’ she said. ‘We’ve spoken.’

‘You have?’ he asked.

‘After I was out of mourning for my husband, she approached me and told me that I had been indeed fortunate to have had the love of two husbands, one mine and one hers. She asked how I did it.’

Marcus didn’t speak. He couldn’t.

‘I told her. The truth.’

‘What?’

‘It is the enigma many women have and they don’t know it. They believe it is brains. Or beauty. But really it is joie de vivre.’ She held her hand close to her throat, as if pulling her spirit from her body. ‘A sense of fun.’

Marcus watched her.

‘Yes.’ Suddenly her age fell away and she cavorted as if on gilded slippers. ‘When I am about in London, have you ever seen me act any way but as if I am at a soirée? A soirée of grand proportions. That the world is a game and I have the winning hand.’

‘It’s true.’ He recalled the first day he had seen Emilie and the way that she—even though they were both young and he was twice her size—had called herself a highwayman.

Then, today, Nathaniel had found time for a private conversation with her. But he was certain Nathaniel saw her as a conquest, nothing more.

‘I hope you would like to see me close to a spirited woman like Miss Catesby, not Nathaniel. I admit I have not always done as I should, but he often gives the notion he would prefer to never do as he should.’

‘You must mend your ways for me to encourage a romance.’

‘A flawed concept, but entertaining.’

‘You men do like your entertainments.’

‘Agreed.’

He scrutinised her expression and thought of the lively and forthright conversations they’d had and he didn’t think he could be wrong in his assessment of her. Although he didn’t always admire her choices, he admired her discretion.

She snorted, making her hair flutter. ‘Don’t forget to join us for cards. I love having a man of your age visiting me.’ She raised her brows. ‘Please be dishevelled as you leave.’

‘Only if you agree to have a chaperon.’

She let her eyes drift heavenwards. ‘Josephina, Millie and Meg will be there. That will give us enough to complete the table.’

‘Plan on it.’

He departed, ruminating on the misery a union could bring and the knowledge that he couldn’t put it off indefinitely.

His father had claimed matrimony to be much like thrusting oneself on to a blade, but the bloodletting was very necessary for the peerage.

If one must be impaled, Emilie would not be as bad as others. However, he was not so sure Emilie wouldn’t choose Nathaniel over him. But, still, his attention kept following her.

He strongly doubted Emilie could ever ignore a man’s indiscretions.

No, he suspected Emilie would react much as his mother had. Fire and brimstone.

Now he could not shut the memory of Emilie dancing from his mind.

She had swirled across the floor.

He forgot her elegance for a moment and could see the image of her creamy breasts above the bodice of her gown and realised instantly he must put his mind elsewhere.

Chapter Five

Well past midday, Marcus awoke when Robert cleared his throat in the room.

He waved his valet away.

‘Your father is here. I have told him that you have been out and about earlier taking nosegays to the debutantes of the ton,’ Robert said. ‘And, that you returned to your room to change as you had got a smudge on your cravat which smelled of a marriageable innocent’s perfume.’

‘Father has arrived?’ Marcus thrust the pillow at Robert, who caught it easily.

‘Yes. And I fear he suspects I have misinformed him of your habits. He practically called me a liar…’ Robert dropped the pillow on to a chair ‘…which, of course, is often the case.’ He indicated the trousers and shirt he’d laid out for Marcus and added a waistcoat and cravat near the mirror.

‘I will see him,’ Marcus groaned, pushing himself from the bed. He donned the shirt and trousers.

Before he was completely ready, Robert had the brush to his hair. ‘Can I not trim your locks a small amount?’ Robert grumbled. ‘Your father complains of it, as if I have nothing better to do than hold scissors. He makes certain to do so loud enough that I hear.’

‘I will tell him that I was searching for a bride and he’ll be mollified.’

Robert stared at Marcus.

‘He might be right,’ Marcus continued. ‘I should not be so skittish about being wed. Perhaps if one does not forcefully throw oneself against the blade, but does so only a bit, one can recover to continue with living.’

‘Are you daft?’ The valet dropped the brush and took a cravat and began to unroll the linen. ‘I thought I’d raised you better than that.’

Marcus felt the tugs as Robert put the cravat in place. ‘I might do my duty and make my father less angry with me.’

Robert snorted. ‘The day I see you marry—I cannot even imagine such a thing. Besides, we have no room for a woman’s nonsense.’

Marcus scowled. ‘A bachelor’s household has been fine, but now perhaps it’s time to change.’

‘Whatever you wish. Whatever you wish. And I wish for you to make a wise decision. You know, like the winter you skated on that iced-over pond. Now that was a wise decision—making sure that when the ice cracked you would only go into the water up to your knees.’ The valet raised his chin, put his eyes to half-mast and opened the door for Marcus to leave. ‘Your feet thawed out quickly and I’m sure you hardly felt the cold.’

Marcus ignored Robert, grabbed the waistcoat and strode to see his father, making sure he was in control of himself before he opened the door.

His father sat at Marcus’s desk, holding his arms extended so he could read the papers he’d pulled from the drawer.

‘You and Nathaniel were at the birthday celebration yesterday.’ His father squinted at the page in front of him. Then he put the missive down and tapped his fingers against the wood. ‘You spoke briefly to many young ladies and only gave much attention to an Emilie Catesby.’

‘Yes.’ Marcus finished doing up his buttons and pulled the chair near the doorway closer to the centre of the room, turned it so that he was facing the back and sat astride. He crossed his arms across the back. The light from the window behind his father shone in and the window dressing was open wide so that the contrast of the brightness into the dark room made it hard to discern his father’s expression.

‘Am I to imagine you have listened to my counsel?’

‘Of course,’ Marcus answered. ‘I always listen to you.’

‘Because I give you no choice.’ His father lifted the lid on a carved box, checking what was inside. ‘Where are the cigars Robert always has hidden away?’

Marcus pointed to the book on the desk. His father tipped up the cover of the false book, finding the cigars. ‘Have you selected a bride to offer for?’ He put one in his pocket and picked up a letter from the table.

‘No.’ Marcus frowned. ‘Last night, I gave serious thought to what you said. I can’t make the wrong selection.’

His father read as he talked. ‘That I can imagine, as I have been stating the same thing for years now. And don’t worry about the permanence of the union, that’s not a finite promise. The children, you will keep them for ever. Choose a good mother for your heirs. They’ll thank you.’

Marcus considered the silver in the other man’s hair and the set of his jaw. He had been told that he stood exactly like his father. But he knew he didn’t have the same chip on his tooth that his father had—but then he had not been caught by a jealous husband. He’d never once kept company with a married woman.

‘While I do respect your view,’ Marcus continued, arms still resting on the chair back, ‘I must reflect on my own and will choose someone not distasteful.’

‘You have selected many mares for our stables,’ his father insisted. ‘This is no different. Pick some well-bred stock, acquire it and nature will take care of the rest.’ He threw down the letter after glancing at the script.

‘I do not like the implication that I am only needed to sire a grandson for you.’ Marcus bit the words out. Nor did he like his father reading his correspondence.

‘Then we will let your brother do so,’ his father stated. ‘I am getting tired of waiting.’

‘Father, my son would surpass his in inheritance anyway. Do not rush him.’ He certainly didn’t want his brother pushed towards Emilie. ‘I realised the value of your words recently. Give me some leeway to view the options before you start grumbling anew.’

The older man selected another missive, then let the paper flutter to the table. ‘You say you take into account my words, yet you didn’t parade about with more than a few women when your mother’s likeness was unveiled. I keep listening for tales of you with one of the peer’s daughters, yet I hear nothing. It’s as if you are putting on a charade to make your mother and me keep silent.’

‘I’m not.’ Marcus kept his words calm. Blast, his father had been asking questions of someone about his son because he hadn’t been at the unveiling. ‘But I remained near the fence and tried to discern bloodlines.’

‘Pick good breed stock,’ his father repeated, rising and glaring at him, ‘although the lineage is important, it’s still no guarantee of siring the most agreeable offspring. Your mother and I both are from well-bred families.’

‘Thank you, Father. While I deeply love Mother, I am so pleased to have inherited your traits.’

‘You are welcome, my son.’ He moved closer, planting a soft kick at the leg of Marcus’s chair. ‘I am pleased to hear that you are considering my words. I don’t want to grow old without the comfort of a grandson.’ At the door, he said, ‘And I especially don’t want you to grow old without the discomfort of a son.’

‘Thank you, again, Father.’

‘And those whiskers.’ His father appraised Marcus. He raised his voice so that it might carry outside the room. ‘Robert needs to get a better shaving kit for you. And the hair. Sad no one ever taught him to trim it properly.’

As his father departed, Marcus touched his chin and swore softly.

Then Robert entered. ‘I do thank you for leaving the door open, sir. I would have hated to miss your father’s encouragement.’

‘I feel it is easier for you that way.’ Marcus gripped the top of the chair, before he relaxed his elbows.

‘You are like my own…nephew,’ Robert admitted. ‘Not that it is anything to be proud of.’

‘Not that I am proud of it.’ Marcus crossed his arms on the back of the chair, rested his chin on them, while his thumb was pressed against his cheek. ‘But if a man were to have an uncle underfoot, one like you would do.’

Robert hastened to the desk and studied the top.

‘And he rifled your papers, didn’t he?’

‘Yes.’

‘He should respect your privacy.’

‘As you do?’

‘Of course.’

‘And?’

Robert picked up one of the papers and also stretched his arms out, squinting.

Marcus reached out and ripped the paper from the valet’s hands before tossing it on to the table. ‘I should have a wife. And if she could annoy Father, it might reduce some of the pain of marriage.’

Robert clasped both hands over his ears. ‘I cannot trust what I’m hearing.’ Robert coughed, gulping. ‘I must have a lie down to absorb this tragedy.’ He pulled the door shut with a soft click.