Innocent in the Regency Ballroom: Miss Winthorpe's Elopement / Dangerous Lord, Innocent Governess

And now, after only a few days away, the house felt strange. It was as though she were visiting a friend and not returning to her home. She had not realised how thoroughly she had put it behind her, once she made her decision. But it was comforting to think that there would be no foolish longing for the past, now that she was settling into her new life. Once she had her clothing and her things, there was no reason to return again.

She rang for servants, signifying that a maid should be sent to her room to pack her belongings, and sent Jem and another footman to the library with instructions for the crating and removal of her books and papers.

In the midst of her orders, her brother hurried into the room and seized her by the arm. ‘Penny! You have returned, at last. When I realised that you were gone I was near frantic. Do you not realise the risk to your reputation by travelling alone? Especially when you gave me no indication of where you were going. I absolutely forbid such actions in the future. I cannot believe …’ Hector appeared ready to continue in his speech without ceasing, and showed no indication that he had recognised the presence of another in the room.

It annoyed her to think that he cared more about her disobedience than he did her safety. She pulled away from him, and turned to gesture to the man in the corner. ‘Hector, may I present my husband, the Duke of Bellston. Adam, this is my brother, Hector.’ She hoped she had not hesitated too much on the word Adam. She did not wish to appear unfamiliar with the name.

Hector ran out of air, mid-sentence, taking in a great gasp before managing, ‘Husband?’

‘Yes,’ she replied as mildly as possible. ‘When last we spoke, I indicated to you that I intended to marry, to settle the question of who should control my inheritance. And so I have married.’

‘But you cannot.’

‘Of course I can. I am of age, after all.’

‘You cannot expect me to take a stranger into our home, on the basis of such a brief introduction.’

Her husband stood the rebuke mildly.

‘Of course I do not. I have come for my possessions and will be moving them to my new home as soon as is possible.’

‘Your new home.’ Apparently, her brother was having some problem following the speed of events.

‘Yes, Hector. I will be living with my husband, now that I am married.’

‘You will do nothing of the kind. I have had more than enough of your nonsense. This is what comes of too much learning. Ideas. And telling jokes that are in no way funny. You will go to your room, and I will apologise to this gentleman, whoever he may be. And tomorrow, we will all go to the solicitors and straighten out the mess you have created.’

This time, she did not even bother to count. ‘I will go to my room, Hector. To gather my clothing. From there, I mean to go to the library and the study, and empty them as well. And then I will be gone from this house and your presence. You have no power over me to stop it. And that, Hector, is what comes of not enough reading.’

His face was growing red, and he was readying a response.

And from behind her, she heard her husband, quietly clearing his throat. His voice was mildness and reason itself. ‘Perhaps, Penny, it would be best if you saw to your packing, while I speak to your brother.’

She had the most curious feeling that he had issued a command, although it showed in neither his face nor his voice.

She opened her mouth to object, and then remembered how effectively he had dealt with the bankers. If he wished her to leave the room, then perhaps there was a reason for it. It would serve no purpose, challenging him in front of her brother. That would only prove Hector’s point: that she had been foolish to marry in the first place. She blinked at Adam for a moment, then shrugged her shoulders and said, ‘Very well.’ And then she left the room, shutting the doors almost completely behind her.

Then she turned back and put her ear to the crack.

Her husband waited for a moment, giving her enough time to get to her room, she suspected. And then he waited even longer.

When the silence became oppressive, Hector blurted, ‘Now see here, sir—’

Adam responded, ‘The correct form of address when speaking to me is “your Grace”. Perhaps you did not know it, since you obviously have little acquaintance with the peerage. But since we are family now …’ disdain dripped from the last words ‘… you may call me Adam.’

Hector snorted. ‘You cannot expect me to believe that Penny has been gone from the house less than a week, and has returned not only a married woman, but a duchess.’

Adam said, ‘Your belief is not a requirement, Mr Winthorpe. The marriage exists. The bankers have been informed of it, and I have taken control of my wife’s inheritance.’

This last seemed to give her brother pause, for he took a moment before letting out a weak laugh. ‘But you cannot wish to be married to my sister. She is a nothing. A nobody.’ There was another pause, and his tone changed. ‘Albeit, a very wealthy nobody. And that could not possibly have influenced your decision when seeking such a humble bride—’

‘Stop right there.’ Adam did not shout, but the command in the tone was no longer an implication. ‘I recommend that you pause to think before speaking further.’ His voice dropped to just above a whisper. ‘Here are the facts, and you would do well to remember them. Penelope is neither a nothing, nor a nobody. She is her Grace, the Duchess of Bellston. It will do you no good to hint that I am after her fortune, since she has gained as much, if not more, than I have by the union.’

There was another long pause, to allow the facts to sink into the thick skull of her brother. And then Adam said, ‘But you have lost by her marriage, have you not? I’ve seen the books at the bank, and the withdrawals you have been making to keep your business afloat.’

Hector sputtered, ‘I’ve done nothing of the kind. Those monies were for Penelope’s expenses.’

‘Then it shall not matter to you in the least that I am willing to take the management of the monies out of your hands. I can take care of my wife’s bills without your help. You need trouble yourself no further with the management of her funds, but devote the whole of your time to business.’ Her husband’s tone clearly said, ‘Dismissed.’

Penny covered her mouth to stifle a laugh.

But her brother refused to yield all. His voice rose to near a shout. ‘All right, then. Very well. She has married and you have taken her money, and her as well. I wish you luck, your Grace, for you will find her fractious nature, her impulsive temper and her unending stubbornness to be more curse than blessing. She may pack her clothes and leave immediately, if she is so eager to do it. But she shall leave the books where they are. I have no intention of allowing her to put the contents of the family library into trunks and carry them from the house.’

Her husband seemed to consider on it, and then replied, with a neutral, ‘If she wishes it, then it shall be so.’

Her brother shouted back, ‘But it will leave the shelves empty!’

Adam responded quietly, ‘That should not present much of a problem. You are a book printer, are you not? Bring home something from work to fill the shelves. I doubt it matters much what the titles may be, if one has no intention of reading them.’

If her brother recognised the insult to his intelligence, he let it pass without comment. ‘This has nothing to do with whether I wish to read the books in question.’

‘I thought not.’

‘It is the value of the things. Do you know how many pounds has been spent to furnish that room?’

‘Quite a few, I should think. She purchased many of those books herself, did she not?’

‘When I could not manage to stop her.’

Adam’s voice was cool reason. ‘Then I see no reason that she need purchase them twice to stock the library in her new home. It is not as if she will be returning here to study.’

And still her brother would not give up. ‘See here, you. You cannot think to take her from her family.’

‘That is generally what happens when one marries,’ Adam said, in a bored drawl. ‘There is something in the Bible about it, although I cannot say I remember the words. She is cleaving unto me, now. You have nothing to say in the matter of her future.’

Penny could almost imagine the wave of his hand, as he dismissed her brother’s argument.

‘Only because you have stolen her from me,’ Hector snapped.

‘Stolen her?’ The duke laughed out loud. ‘How long have you known your sister, sir? Is there some chance that you are adopted, or that she is some changeling, recently added to your family? I have limited acquaintance with her, I’ll admit. But in that time I have learned enough to know that it would be exceptionally difficult to steal her from a place she wished to be, or to dissuade her from a path she had chosen for herself.’

‘But that does not mean that I will allow her to behave foolishly.’

She was angry before she could even remember to count, and grabbed the door handle, ready to push her way back into the room and tell her brother that, after all that had been said and done, he had no right on earth to control her.

But Adam cut in before she could move. ‘You have no authority over my wife. Penelope shall arrange for the transport of the library and the rest of her things to my townhouse. She shall do so at her own pace and in her own way. If I hear of any interference from you in the matter, if you place even the slightest obstruction in her way, I will take whatever action is necessary to thwart you, and it shall be my goal, henceforth, to see that you regret the impertinence. Are we in agreement?’ His voice held a cold fury that she had never heard before, and he was every bit the man she had imagined from The Times, so powerful that he could move the country with a few words.

Hector appeared to have been struck dumb, and so Adam answered for him. ‘Very good. Our interview is at an end. I will be waiting in the carriage, should Penelope need me for anything. Which, for your sake, Mr Winthorpe, I sincerely hope she does not.’

Which meant he would be coming out into the hall in a moment, and he would realise that she was so lost to all manners as to listen at keyholes on private conversations. And, even worse, he might see the effect his speech had upon her, for her heart was fluttering so that she could hardly breathe.

She turned and sprinted towards the library, ducking into the open door, only to collide with Jem, knocking a case of books from his arms. The sound of the crash mingled with his bark of objection at people charging around the house and not watching where they were going.

Which in no way covered the faint chuckle she heard from the hall as her husband passed by on his way to the exit.

Chapter Six

Her heart was lighter, now that she had faced her brother at last. But empty as well. Hector was furious, and she’d cut herself off from the only home she’d ever known. It would have happened eventually, she supposed. Just as it should have happened four years before. But she had been prepared then. Now, the sudden marriage and all that came with it made her feel more alone than she had been, even though she had a life’s companion to share it with.

And what a strange companion she had chosen. It had been much fun to watch him in action against her adversaries. And she hoped that her current feelings for him were not too apparent, for the afternoon’s appointments and the masterful way he had handled things had left her breathless and not quite herself. She had half a mind to throw herself upon him, in a display of affection that would be most inappropriate towards a man who was nearly a stranger to her. And she feared that, if she spoke, she was liable to ramble on and sound as foolish as a schoolroom miss.

Her husband was seated opposite her in the hired carriage with a faint smile on his face, showing no effects of the day’s changes. When she said nothing, he spoke. ‘We have done a good day’s work, I think. Your money is taken care of. Your things will be brought to the house tomorrow. I recommend that we send your manservant on his way, and attend to our supper, for we have missed tea, and I am feeling quite hungry. I can recommend several restaurants …’

Eating in public. She had always found it difficult to relax when in a crowd, and sitting down to a meal surrounded by strangers seemed to amplify those feelings. Suppose she were to order the wrong thing, use the wrong utensil when eating or break some other rule that would make her appear gauche to the duke or the people around them? If she took a simple meal in her rooms at the townhouse, she need have no worries of mistake. She would beg off, and save her husband the embarrassment of being seen with her. She said, ‘I am accustomed to eat at home of an evening.’

‘And I am not,’ he said, with finality. ‘I belong to several clubs—Boodle’s, White’s, Brooks’s—and frequent them most evenings when I am in town. Of course, I cannot very well take you there. No ladies.’ He stopped to consider his options.

So many clubs. It gave her a good idea where his wealth might have run to. And why he had needed so much of hers. ‘It is more economical to dine at home,’ she offered.

He raised an eyebrow and said, ‘I imagine it is on such nights as the servants are engaged. My kitchen is most fine. You will know that soon enough. But remember, I have released the staff for the evening. You may go back, if you wish, and explain to them that economy requires they return to work.’

She gave a small shake of her head.

‘I thought not. In the future, you may dine at home, as you wish. But do not be terribly surprised if I do not join you there, for I prefer society to peace and quiet. And tonight, we will dine out to celebrate the nuptials. That is only natural, is it not?’

She nodded hesitantly.

‘I thought you would agree.’ He smiled again, knowing that he was once more without opposition and gave directions to the driver.

On entering the restaurant, they were led by the head waiter to a prominent spot with the faintest murmur of ‘your Grace’. Penny was conscious of the eyes of the strangers around them, tracking them to their table.

Her husband’s head dipped in her direction. ‘They are wondering who you are.’

‘Oh, no.’ She could feel the blood draining from her face and a lightness in her head as the weight of all the eyes settled upon her.

‘My dear, you look quite faint.’ He seemed genuinely concerned. ‘Wine will restore you. And food and rest.’ He signalled the waiter. ‘Champagne, please. And a dinner fit for celebration. But nothing too heavy. ‘When his glass was filled, he raised it in toast to her. ‘To my bride.’

The waiter took in the faintest breath of surprise, as did a woman at a nearby table, who had overheard the remark.

‘Shh,’ Penny cautioned. ‘People are taking notice.’

‘Let them,’ Adam said, taking a sip. ‘While you packed, I arranged for an announcement in tomorrow’s Times. It is not as if it is to be a secret.’

‘I never thought …’

‘That you would tell anyone besides the bank that you had wed?’

‘That anyone would care,’ she said.

‘I have no idea what people might think of your marriage,’ he responded. ‘But if I marry, all of London will care.’

She took a gulp of her own wine. ‘That is most conceited of you, sir.’

‘But no less true.’

‘But there must be a better way to make the world aware than sitting in the middle of a public place and allowing the world to gawk at us,’ she whispered.

He smiled. ‘I am sorry. Have I done something to shame you, Penelope?’

‘Of course not. We barely know—’

He cut her off before she could finish the sentence. ‘Are you embarrassed to be seen with me?’

‘Don’t be ridiculous. You are the Duke of Bellston. Why would I be embarrassed?’

‘Then I fail to understand why we should not be seen dining together, in a public place. It is not as if I do not wish my wife at my side.’

She was readying the argument that, of course, he would not wish to dine with her. He was a duke, and she was a nobody. And he was every bit as beautiful as she was plain. And if he meant to embarrass her by showing the world the fact …

And then she looked at the way he was smiling at her. It was a kind smile, not full of passion, but containing no malice. And she imagined what it would be like, if he had dropped her at the townhouse, and gone on his merry way. Perhaps he would mention casually to some man at a club that he had wed. And there would be a small announcement in the papers.

People would wonder. And then, someone would see her, and nod, and whisper to others that it was obvious why the duke chose to leave his wife alone. When the most attractive feature was a woman’s purse, you hardly need bring her along to enjoy the benefit.

Or, they could be seen in public for a time, and people might remark on the difference between them. But they would not think that the eventual separation of the two was a sign that he had packed her off to the country out of shame.

He watched as the knowledge came home to her. ‘People will talk, Penny. No matter what we do. But there are ways to see that they speak aloud, and then lose interest. It is far less annoying, I assure you, than the continual whispering of those who are afraid to give voice to their suspicions.’

The plates arrived, and he offered her a bite of lobster on the end of his fork. ‘Relax. Enjoy your dinner. And then we will go home.’

She took it obediently and chewed, numb with shock. Home. Together. With him. The thoughts that flitted across her mind were madness. After the rough start in Scotland, her new husband was proving to be almost too perfect. In the space of a few hours, he had gained for her everything she could have wished. And now, if he would only let her go home and seclude herself in that horrible pink room before she said something foolish … If he insisted on staring at her as he had been with those marvellous blue eyes, and feeding her from his own plate as though she were a baby bird, who could blame her if she forgot that the need for familiarity was a sham, and began to think that deeper emotions were engaged.

There was a very subdued commotion at the entrance to the room, and Adam looked up. ‘Aha. I knew news would travel quickly. But I had wondered how long it would take.’

A man strode rapidly toward them, weaving between the tables to where they sat. He noticed the space, set for two, and turned to the nearest empty table, seizing a chair and pulling it forward to them, seating himself between Penny and the duke. Then he looked at Adam and said, without preamble, ‘When did you mean to inform me? Do you have any idea how embarrassing it is to be at one’s club, enjoying a whisky and minding one’s own business, only to have the man holding the book demanding that I pay my wagers on the date of your marriage? Of course I insisted that it was nonsense, for there was no way that such a thing would have occurred without my knowledge.’

Adam laughed. ‘Ah, yes. I had forgotten the wagers.’ He looked sheepishly at Penny. ‘I stand to lose a fair sum of money on that as well. I had bet against myself marrying within the year.’

Gambling, again. And losing. Another confirmation of her suspicions. ‘You bet against yourself?’

He shrugged. ‘I needed the money, and thought it must be a sure thing. But when I found you, darling, I quite forgot—’

‘Darling?’ the man next to her snapped. ‘So it’s true, then? You ran off to Scotland to get a wife, and told me nothing?’

‘It did not occur to me until after,’ Adam answered. ‘Penny, may I present your brother-in-law, Lord William Felkirk. William, Penelope, my wife, the new duchess of Bellston.’

William stared at her, reached for his brother’s wine glass and drained it.

William was a younger version of her husband. Not so handsome, perhaps, but he had a pleasant face, which would have been even more pleasant had it not been frozen in shock by the sight of her. Penny attempted a smile and murmured, ‘How do you do?’

Will continued to stare at her in silence.

Adam smiled in her direction with enough warmth for both of them, and then looked back to his brother. ‘Manners, Will. Say hello to the girl.’

‘How do you do?’ Will said without emotion.

‘Penny is the heiress to a printer, here in London. We met when I was travelling.’

She could see the alarm in his eyes at the word printer, followed by a wariness. He examined her closely, and glanced from her to his brother. ‘You were not long in the north, Adam. The trip lasted less than a week. Your marriage was most unexpected.’

‘To us as well.’

He stared back at Penny, daring her to confirm the story. ‘My brother never spoke of you.’

Her gaze dropped to her plate. ‘We did not know each other for long before we married.’

‘How fortunate for you to find a duke when you chose to wed. You must be enjoying your new title.’ He had cut to the quick with no fuss.

‘Frankly, I do not give it much thought.’

‘Really.’ He did not believe her.

Adam took a sip of wine. ‘William, Penny’s feelings on the matter of her sudden elevation to duchess are none of your concern. Now, join us in our celebration, for I wish you to be as happy as I am.’ His voice held a veiled command.

Adam signalled for the waiter to bring another glass and plate, and they finished the meal in near silence, and William made no more attempts to question them.

Adam rubbed his temples and did his best to ignore the dull pain behind his eyes. It had been the longest meal of his life. First, he had needed to calm Penelope, who was clearly unaccustomed to the attention of the other diners. But he had done a fair job charming her back to good spirits. It had been going well, until Will had come and set things back on edge.

He’d had a good mind to tell his brother that the middle of a public dining room was no place to air the family laundry. If he could not manage to be a civil dinner companion, then he should take himself back to whatever foul cave he’d crawled from, and let them enjoy their food in peace.

When it was time to leave, William offered his carriage, and when they arrived at the townhouse, he followed them in, without invitation.

Adam should have refused him entrance, after his reprehensible behaviour in the restaurant. But if Will had anything to say on the subject of his brother’s marriage, it might as well be said now and be over with, when the servants were away.

They were barely over the threshold before Will said, ‘We must speak.’ He glanced toward the study, then to Adam, totally ignoring the other person in the room.

Penny was aware of the slight. How could she not be, for Will made no effort to be subtle? She said, with false cheer, ‘I will leave you two alone, then. Thank you for a most pleasant evening.’

Liar. But at least she was making an effort, which was more than he could say for his own family.

Penelope was barely clear of the room before William muttered, ‘I will send for the solicitors immediately and we will put an end to this farce before anyone else learns of it.’

‘The study, William,’ he snapped, all patience gone.

They walked down the corridor, and he gestured Will into the room, slamming the door behind them.

Will paced the floor, not bothering to look in his direction. ‘It has been only a few days, has it not? And most of that time, spent on the road. No one of importance has seen, I am sure. I will consult the lawyers, and begin the annulment proceedings. You will spend the night at your club, safely away from this woman.’

‘I will do no such thing. I have no intention of leaving this house, and there will be no more talk of annulments.’ Adam stalked past him, and threw himself into the chair behind the desk.