Historical Romance – The Best Of The Year. Кэрол Мортимер

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СКАЧАТЬ When she remonstrated with him, declaring that she did not wish to curtail his pleasure, he replied with perfect sincerity that escorting her home was his pleasure.

      They were in the hall, waiting for their carriage, and as he took his wife’s cloak from the footman and gently placed it about her shoulders, Gideon reflected on the change that had come over him in the past few months. By heaven, he was becoming quite domesticated! His wife’s soft voice brought him back to the present.

      ‘I heard Mr Williams say you had been invited to Martlesham House.’ There was a note of uncertainty in her voice.

      Gideon gave her shoulders a little squeeze.

      ‘I have no interest in associating with Max or his friends.’ He escorted her to their waiting carriage and settled himself comfortably beside her before adding, ‘I think I have outgrown such company.’

      ‘I am glad. I fear Max has little regard for the feelings of others.’

      ‘None at all, but it was not until he hoaxed me that I saw just how thoughtless he is.’ He turned towards her, saying earnestly, ‘I was careless, too. It was wrong of me to punish you for his trickery. I was a fool, Nicky, but I hope I have learned my lesson now.’

      ‘Oh, Gideon—’

      ‘I know this marriage is not what either of us wanted,’ he rushed on, needing to explain, to make amends. ‘But it will not be so bad, I promise you. I have no doubt we will rub along very well. And once the little matter of an heir is out of the way I shall not importune you with unreasonable demands.’

      She had twisted in her seat and raised her hand, as if to touch his cheek, but now it fell again.

      ‘Un-unreasonable?’

      ‘Yes. I shall not expect you to submit to my...attentions.’ He frowned. ‘What is it, Nicky? Have I upset you?’

      ‘No, no.’ She shook her head quickly. ‘I am merely tired, that is all.’

      She drew back into the shadows of the carriage and they lapsed into silence. Gideon hoped she understood what he had been trying to say. He feared he had phrased it very badly, yet he could not bring himself to state it quite as baldly as his father had done. Gideon could still remember his father’s words as they had lowered the wasted body of the viscountess into the family vault. ‘So many years of pain, the stillborn babes, the illness—if I had taken a mistress for my lusts I would have spared your poor mother a great deal of suffering.’

      His father had been at pains to impress upon him a husband’s responsibilities: his wife would expect to give him a son, perhaps two, but childbearing was a perilous occupation and a gentleman would not overtax his wife’s delicate body with his demands. That was twelve years ago. Gideon had been a mere boy of sixteen and devastated by the death of his kind, gentle mother. He had dreamed of joining the army, but his widowed father had insisted upon keeping him close, and when James had died two years later, Gideon’s fate had been sealed. Not for him the glories of the battlefield. The title and the heavy responsibility of the estate and its people was his fate. Was it any wonder, then, that when the inheritance from his godmother had given him his independence he had rushed to town and proceeded to kick up every kind of spree and lark? That was when he had fallen in with Max’s set and proceeded to prove to his new friends that he could drink, gamble and wench with the best of them. Or perhaps that should be the worst. His father clearly thought so.

      * * *

      When they reached Brook Street, Gideon suggested they should take wine together in the drawing room, but Nicky declined and with a brief goodnight she disappeared up the stairs. He watched her go and a shard of disappointment pierced him. She did not want his company, and, now she was carrying his child, she would not want him in her bed.

      * * *

      Invitations were flooding into Brook Street for balls, routs, riding parties and soirées and Dominique acknowledged that her sister-in-law was in no small measure responsible for her popularity.

      ‘If you had not taken me in hand, I should not go on half so well,’ she said to Gwendoline when they sat together in the supper room during Lady Grayson’s summer ball. ‘You have shown me just how to go on here.’

      ‘Nonsense, you would have come about,’ replied Gwen, justifiably proud of her protégée.

      The shy little sparrow, blown into town on the icy spring air, had been transformed into an exotic creature, dressing in hot, vibrant colours that made the most of her dusky curls and emerald-green eyes. Her liveliness and appealing manners charmed the hostesses, who considered her an asset to any gathering. She had also attracted the attention of a considerable number of gentlemen, but watching Dominique now, as Gideon led her on to the dance floor, Gwendoline concluded that her vivacious sister-in-law had eyes only for her husband.

      Not that Dominique doted upon Gideon: on the contrary, she never clung to his arm and smiled complacently when he went off to the card room, or partnered another lady in the dance, but Gwendoline noticed those occasional, unguarded moments when Dominique’s eyes would rest just a fraction too long upon her husband. She had seen that same look upon the faces of other young brides and it rarely survived the first year. After that they found other men to amuse and divert them. She sighed. As she had done in a vain attempt to pique Ribblestone’s interest.

      * * *

      Dominique went down the dance with her husband, wishing the moment could go on forever. She knew no greater felicity than to stand up with Gideon. He was always most attentive when they were in public and she could pretend at such times that they were really the doting couple society thought them. It was a game they played, but this evening her confidence had been badly shaken, following an encounter with her cousin.

      It was inevitable that they should meet Max occasionally, but they generally contented themselves with a brief nod in passing. However, this evening Max had sought her out. She thought he must have been waiting for his opportunity, because it was one of the rare occasions during the evening when she was standing alone. He asked her to dance with him and when she hesitated he gave a rueful smile.

      ‘I suppose you think me too bad a person to partner you, but can we not put aside our animosity, just for half an hour? We are family, after all.’

      ‘Very well, Cousin.’ She took his hand and let him lead her on to the dance floor, well aware of the curious glances of those around them. The rumours might have died down, but the circumstances of her irregular marriage to Gideon were not yet forgotten. She held her head up and smiled at her partner. ‘Perhaps this will show we are not at daggers drawn, my lord.’

      It was a lively country dance and, by the end of it, the earl’s countenance was more ruddy than ever and he was wheezing a little.

      She went to move away, but he caught her hand.

      ‘Not yet. I want to talk to you.’

      ‘I do not think there is anything to talk about.’

      He drew her towards the long windows which had been opened to allow in the balmy night air.

      ‘Are you not interested to know what is going on at Martlesham?’

      ‘My mother is a frequent correspondent. She tells me all I want to know.’

      ‘Let us step out on to the terrace a moment—’

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