Historical Romance – The Best Of The Year. Кэрол Мортимер

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СКАЧАТЬ for a widow to attend an evening of this nature providing she takes no part in the dancing.’

      ‘I must show some respect or lose my reputation—but I have wanted to dance with you, Hal.’

      ‘Not as much as I would wish to have you dance with me,’ he murmured and laughed softly. ‘I should like to take you in my arms and hold you close as we waltzed.’

      ‘One day,’ she said and smiled up at him. For a moment she thought he would reach for her...would kiss her...but with a sound that might have been a moan of passion or a groan of self-denial, he stepped away from her. ‘I have been thinking, Hal. When my affairs are settled I think I should like to go abroad for a few months. In France or Italy I should not be obliged to pretend to be in mourning for a man I disliked intensely.’

      ‘Yes, that might be best,’ he agreed. ‘We could even make it our honeymoon. When we returned the whole affair would have blown over.’

      ‘But you have things to do here,’ Madeline said. ‘Your estate, your commission to be resigned...’

      ‘Once I set the estate renovations in hand I shall be entirely at your disposal. As for my commission, it was my intention to journey to London and visit headquarters so the thing may be done in the proper manner, but I shall wait until we are certain Rochdale has left the district.’

      ‘Oh, Hal, you make me feel so much better...so protected and cared for,’ she said and reached out to touch his hand. Just at that moment they heard the strains of the supper waltz and impulsively she took his hand. ‘Dance with me here,’ she whispered. ‘No one will see us.’

      ‘Maddie, my love.’

      Hal placed a hand at her waist and took her right hand, drawing her close. They swayed to the music, dancing in the shadows of the night, lost in the sweetness of the moment, their unspoken feelings in tune as the world and its censure was forgot. Madeline felt herself swept away by a kind of magic as the years melted away and she was once again a young girl, dancing with a young man she had fallen in love with at her very first ball. All of the hurt and pain of the last few years had somehow melted away and she wanted to be held in his arms for the rest of her life.

      After the music died away, Hal stood with his arms about her still and she looked up into his face, her heart beating frantically. He lowered his head, kissing her so softly that it was like the touch of a flower petal, as soft as gossamer and so brief that she hardly knew it had happened. Almost at once he released her.

      ‘Forgive me, I forgot myself,’ he said. ‘It was the magic of the music...’

      ‘No, no, do not beg my pardon,’ she whispered. ‘I liked it...you know that I—’

      The sound of a slow clapping of hands interrupted her and they both turned to see that they had been observed. A man stood in the shadows of the garden, but as they stood as if turned to stone, he walked towards them. Madeline drew her breath sharply as she saw him clearly in the light of the lanterns.

      ‘How touching,’ Lord Rochdale said, a malicious leer on his face. ‘The grieving widow and her lover...and Lethbridge hardly dead a month.’

      ‘Madeline does not need to answer to you or anyone,’ Hal said coldly. ‘It is none of your business, but since you take an interest, we are to be married as soon as it is possible.’

      ‘Romance lives,’ the marquis sneered. ‘I had no love for Lethbridge. He was a cheat and worse. But perhaps he was right to believe that his wife had a lover.’

      ‘No! That is a lie!’ Madeline cried.

      ‘Spread such lies and you will answer to me,’ Hal said furiously. ‘Come near her again, Rochdale, and I’ll kill you.’

      ‘As you did her husband?’

      ‘It was not I that killed him—but an assassin.’

      ‘Paid by someone, presumably. And who had the most reason to see him dead?’

      ‘You are mistaken, sir. I might have killed the count in a duel, but I am no murderer.’

      ‘Have I said you were?’

      ‘If I were you, I should leave a house where you are not welcome. And my warning stands. Come near Madeline again and I shall kill you.’

      ‘You are welcome to the lady. I have other interests,’ Rochdale said. ‘However, I demand payment of the debt your husband owed me, madam—twenty-five thousand pounds. I shall give you one month to pay or I foreclose on the estate and shall tell what I saw this evening. If you wish to keep your secret, make arrangements to pay me.’ He inclined his head. ‘May I be the first to felicitate you on your engagement.’

      They watched as he walked past and into the ballroom, which was now empty because everyone had gone down to supper.

      ‘Hal...’ Madeline said, her hand trembling as she placed it on his arm. ‘Do you think he is telling the truth? Did Lethbridge truly owe him so much? I do not know, but I think his whole estate can be worth no more than fifty thousand pounds at the most, and if there are other debts... It may be impossible to pay such a sum.’

      ‘I was told that Lethbridge had lost a large amount at the tables to Rochdale,’ Hal said looking grave. ‘A gambling debt is normally a debt of honour, but you can only pay what the estate will fetch.’

      ‘And what if he demands more—and supposing I am not the heir?’ She looked up at him anxiously. ‘He may try to ruin us, Hal. I can bear it for myself, but I do not wish to bring shame on you or your friends.’

      ‘You must send for your husband’s lawyers,’ Hal said. ‘Rochdale must be obliged to show the notes Lethbridge gave him...and then you can pay what is available. You cannot do more. No court in the land would expect it.’

      Madeline gripped his hand. The marquis had destroyed the magic of their dance and that sweet kiss, making her remember the last dark days of her marriage.

      ‘I do not care for the estate. My settlement should be safe and that is all I need. If the estate is mine, I will arrange for him to be paid—but if there is another claimant...’

      ‘Then it will be his decision whether or not to pay.’

      ‘If he is not paid, he will make everyone believe that we were lovers. He might spread a rumour that it was you that had my husband murdered.’

      ‘He could never prove it, for it is a lie,’ Hal said grimly. ‘I have witnesses that I did not even fire when it was my right to do so had I chosen. You must not let Rochdale distress you, Madeline. He cannot harm us if we stand firm.’

      ‘He can and will ruin both our reputations,’ she said. ‘He is welcome to what he is owed but...’ Tears trembled on her lashes. ‘I am a curse on those who love me. Forgive me, Hal. I have brought so much trouble on you.’

      ‘Do you think I fear his threats?’ Hal said. ‘I meant what I said to him, Maddie—if he comes near you again I shall kill him. As for the money, I have no personal desire or wish for you to inherit it, but it would have made you independent.’

      ‘I do not need a fortune to be happy,’ she said. ‘Truly, all I want is to be your wife, Hal.’

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