Bonds of Matrimony (13 page)

           
“I
had to do something,” she explained in defense of her actions.
 
“Grandmother worried that we would be
taken advantage of by every man we encountered on our way to America.”

           
She
sat silently for a moment, clearly in thought.
 
“I can understand that,” she finally answered.
 

           
“As
for the rest, it’s mostly true.
 
I
am not terribly ladylike.
 
I love
racing my horse through the woods.
 
I hate riding side-saddle and wearing skirts.
 
I enjoy playing cards.
 
But these aren’t the activities of a
lady
,”
Chase frowned.
 
“So I have, on
occasion, dressed as a man to pursue my less ladylike interests.
 
But I have
never
cheated.
 
I play
fairly, and I win on occasion, too.”

           
“Your
parents must have been mortified,” she laughed.
 
She quickly realized her blunder and ducked her head.
 
“I’m sorry.
 
I don’t mean to sound as though I’m judging you.”

           
Chase
thought of her parents’ mortification.
 
Unlike Elisabeth, they had judged her and found her guilty of a number
of crimes against them.
 
And then
they had passed down her sentence.
 

           
“Lord Booth is a womanizer,” Chastity had argued against the man her
father had arranged for Reese to marry.
 
“He’s engaged in numerous sordid affairs with many married women, not to
mention taking the innocence of Madeleine Forsythe, thereby ending her engagement
and making her an outcast.
 
And Mr.
Stockton is obnoxious and disrespectful.
 
I overheard him telling Lord Booth he would break me like a wild
stallion and have me eating out of his hand.”

           
Her
father had only responded by saying, “You shouldn’t be eavesdropping,
Chastity.
 
It’s not any of your
business.”

           
“Not
my business?
 
They were talking
about me!”

           
“I’m
certain you misunderstood.”

           
“I’m
certain I did not,” I argued indignantly.

“Although you and
your brother seem to be trying very hard, you have not yet ruined our family
name so badly that we are shunned by society.
 
But you have absolutely succeeded in making yourself a
horrible match as a wife.
 
Men believe
that you are bull-headed, strong-willed, and disobedient at best.
 
Some have been known to say that you
are the worst possible example of an English lady.
 
Your mother has even heard people claim that you are not all
together right in the head.
  
So if Stockton is willing to marry you, then you will marry him without
another word to the contrary.”
 
He
had picked up his plate and turned from his eldest daughter.

           
“I
won’t marry him, Father,” she had muttered.

           
He had stopped just short of the doorway, but he did not turn to face her.
 
His voice had been quiet and cold.
 
“The wedding is scheduled for the 12
^th
of September.
 
We have arranged for
a suitable dowry.
 
As long as you
do as we’ve instructed and marry him, the two of you will live comfortably long
after your mother and I are dead.
 
If you refuse, come the 12
^th
of September, you will be on
your own.
 
You will no longer be
welcome in our home, and you will no longer be our daughter.”

           
Although
his threats had hardly been as violent and hateful as Lord Capulet’s to Juliet,
Chastity knew they were no less sincere.
 

Putting thoughts of their
betrayal behind her, she smiled at Elisabeth.
 
“They
were
mortified,” she laughed lightly.
 
“They were ashamed of me.
 
They were especially disappointed that I didn’t have a single suitor
come courting after the last season.”

           
“Were
you disappointed?” she asked with a grin, already knowing the answer.

           
“Marriage
is just one more method of control,” Chase answered carefully.
 
“It’s just a ceremony where your father
hands your life and body over to another man.
 
I felt that if I could keep from getting married, my father
would one day allow me to control my own life.”

           
“So
it
is
true!” she gasped to herself.

           
“What’s
that?” Chase asked, curious about what she’d heard.

           
“My
brother danced with you at a ball that first season.
 
He told me that you insulted him and treated him like a
child,” she whispered this last word.
 
“He was so humiliated.”

           
Chastity
was actually embarrassed to remember how rudely she had behaved to those well-meaning
gentlemen last year.
 
“I’m sorry
for what I said to your brother,” she apologized.

           
“Don’t
be,” she laughed.
 
“He’s such an
egotistical fop.
 
For months,
whenever he did something to anger me, I would remember your insults and laugh
all over again.
 
He truly deserved
every word you said to him.”

           
“What
about you?
 
Why are you here with
your cousin?
 
And why is your
family still in England while you’re here in America?”

           
“I’m
sure you’ve heard.”

Chase stared blankly at her,
not daring to confirm or deny her suggestion.
 
She wanted to avoid offending her or hurting her by revealing
the talk of the ton.
 
She decided
to allow her to tell her own story.

She continued on after a
long sigh.
 
“The future Earl of
Cardiff began courting me.
 
William
Bradford is his name.
 
He was so
handsome and charming.
 
And I was
so young and foolish.
 
My parents
were thrilled about the betrothal.
 
Everything was so perfect,” her eyes filled with tears at the
memory.
 
“I even let him…” she
swallowed thickly, not sure how to explain.
 
“And then, two weeks before our marriage was supposed to
take place, I came home and found him…” she paused, seeking strength to
continue the story, “with my mother in the bed she shared with my father.
 
I was heartbroken and disgusted.
 
I had never felt so betrayed in all of
my life.
 
And I was so
humiliated.
 
When my father found
out, he called off the wedding, and his health began deteriorating.
 
He could hardly get out of bed.
 
He passed away on the day I was
supposed to be married.
 
My older
brother became the next Earl of Bracknell and my guardian.
 
My mother was in a rush to clear her
own name.
 
I think she probably
felt somewhat responsible for my father’s death.
 
She convinced him to arrange my betrothal again to Lord
Bradford.
 
Can you imagine?
 
She betrayed me first by carrying on
with the man I love and then forces me to marry him anyway!
 
I had no way of knowing if she and
William still have a relationship.
 
But I was so hurt that he would take my mother to bed after he had made
love to me.”

           
“That
must have been a nightmare,” Chastity replied, barely above a whisper.
 
“And you truly loved him?”

           
The
tears had been welling up in her eyes, and they now tumbled down her beautiful
face.
 
“With all my heart.
 
I hated my mother for what she did.
 
I know that William is to blame,
too.
 
But she’s my own mother!
 
So I turned to the only person I knew I
could trust.
 
Colton’s mother was
my father’s sister.
 
When she
passed away, his father brought him here, but our fathers wrote to each other
often.
 
We began writing each other
when we were young.
 
He even came
and stayed with us for a summer when he was twelve.
 
I was eight at the time, and I adored him more than anyone
in the world.
 
When I wrote to him
about my father’s death and my mother’s betrayal, he bought a ticket and came
to England.
 
He arrived the day
after I learned that my brother had re-arranged my betrothal to William.”

           
“And
he persuaded you to leave with him and come back to America,” Chase finished
for her.

           
“No,”
she corrected.
 
“It was my idea.”

           
Chase
studied the surprising young woman sitting before her.
 
Her boldness and bravery was a shock to her.
 
She had felt sympathy when she first explained
her betrayal and humiliation.
 
Now she
felt respect and admiration for her.
 
She had so much courage.

           
“Nobody
knew that Colton was in London.
 
I
packed all of my new dresses for the season and pretended to be excited to
go.
 
I agreed to the betrothal and
pretended to forgive him and my mother.
 
And one night, after everyone had gone to bed, I sneaked out of the
house and met Colton in the street.
 
We traveled to Liverpool on separate train tickets, and he bought my
passage to America under another name.
 
Naturally, I had to spend most of the passage in my cabin.
 
We didn’t want to run into anyone who
could tell my mother where I’d gone.”

           
“You
didn’t leave a note or anything?” Chase asked in amazement.
 

           
Her
eyes hardened, and for the first time, Chase saw her cousin in Elisabeth’s
eyes.
 
They got the same cold
expression in their eyes when they were angry.
 
“I didn’t owe them any explanation.
 
I hope they think I’m dead.
 
As dead as they are to me.”

           
She
grew quiet, and Chase sat silently reflecting on what she’d just explained.
 
The day she had spied on her
conversation with Webb, he hadn’t been rejecting her.
 
He’d been encouraging her to return to her cabin for the
sake of her safety.
 
He’d been
concerned and protective.
 
And here
Chase had been preparing his downfall as revenge on behalf of Elisabeth
Davies.
 
Suddenly, she felt sorry
for the way she had been treating him.
 
He’d gone out of his way to rescue his younger cousin, to allow her to
retain her pride and self-respect.
 

           
Chase
stood up and slipped out of her robe.

           
“What
are you doing?” Elisabeth asked.

           
“I’m
just going for a walk.
 
All of this
excitement in a new country.
 
I’m
feeling restless,” she explained lamely.
 
She slipped into the clothes she had worn earlier that day, not
bothering to pull her damp hair back in the yellow ribbon again.
 
As she reached the door, she felt
compelled to say something to Elisabeth.
 
She paused with her hand on the doorknob and turned to smile at
her.
 
“You’re amazing, you know,” she
said quickly.
 
“I have all the
respect in the world for you.
 
More
women should follow your lead and stand up for themselves and take control of
their lives.”

           
She
blushed and grinned.
 
“Are you sure
it’s safe to wander about the city by yourself?”

           
“I’ll
be fine,” Chase assured her.
 
After
all, she didn’t actually plan on leaving the hotel.

           
She
paced the hallway a few times before a man’s voice signaled his approach.
 
He came around the corner with another
man.
 
As they passed, both men
looked her over thoroughly, their eyes lingering for a moment at her
breasts.
 
Their attention made her
uncomfortable, and she suddenly realized how vulnerable she was standing alone
in the hallway of the hotel.
 
A
scoundrel had to only open his door when she passed and pull her inside.
 
She would be defenseless against him.