Caversham's Bride (The Caversham Chronicles - Book One) (28 page)

“What do you mean by sick?”

“My lady vomited when she got back here from dinner.”

“What do you think could be wrong?” he asked, now concerned about Lia. He hoped she wasn’t coming down with anything. He resolved to get her out to the fresh air of the country quickly.

“Perhaps it is just the stress from the journey, as Her Grace suggested. Then again, it could be something more.”

“Such as?”

“Could she be with child?”

Ren didn’t have to think about it. It was what he’d planned, but he hadn’t thought it would happen this quickly. He’d been with her each day and night for the past five weeks, and she’d not yet come into her monthly flow.

“It’s very likely.” A slow smile grew on his expression. Then he noticed Lia’s maid relax and also smile.

“Congratulations, Your Grace,” Ghita said. “You and my lady will have beautiful children.”

Ren held up a hand to stop the maid. “Ghita, my wife does not suspect, does she?” The maid shook her head. “Do not tell your mistress the news just yet. I would like to arrange for a gift.”

The occasion called for something special, a magnificent jewel or other precious bauble.
Women love a trinket at times like these
, he remembered his father telling him when his stepmother, Amelia, became pregnant with his sister, Sarah.

Still smiling, Ren returned to his room and poured himself another glass of port. Nipping the end of a cigar, he imagined his grandmother’s joy on hearing the news. All of it. Kicking off his shoes, he lifted one foot then another, onto the stool in front of his chair. Staring into the fire before him, he envisioned an infant. His son. The lad would, of course, look like his father, so no one could ever dispute his parentage. He finished the wine and stood to refill his glass when there was a knock on his door.

“Yes?”

Niles entered, carrying a silver tray on which lay a note bearing the regent’s seal. Even from this distance it was recognizable, which dampened Ren’s good spirits.

“This arrived by messenger just now, Your Grace.”

“Doesn’t the messenger know the hour?”

“I assume so, Your Grace,” replied the obviously tired, stern-faced butler.

“Leave the note on the desk and I will respond in the morning. I am in no mood to deal with him tonight.”

“Shall I show the messenger a room, Your Grace? The man says he was told to await your reply.”

“Why that arrogant....” Ren restrained himself in front of his butler. Snatching the missive from the tray, he broke the seal and scanned the contents. Cursing to himself, he grabbed the quill and dampened the tip in the inkwell.

We will attend
, was all he wrote. He would explain how he came to be married when he and Lia attended the dinner. He tossed the quill onto the desk and handed the note back to the butler.

“Did a reply ever come from Brightman?”

“No, Your Grace,” his butler replied. “The butler has informed the messenger that Lord Brightman is in the country, and the messenger left word that you have returned, sir.”

“Thank you, Niles.”

The man gave a slight nod of acknowledgement and left. After Niles was gone, Ren let loose every expletive he’d previously withheld to the now empty room.

Damn the man. How had he found out so quickly? And worse, if the Regent new about his foreign bride, then who else knew? How long would it take for Thomas to learn of his wife, and her possible changed condition?

This was yet another reason to get her to Haldenwood as soon as possible.

L
ia stirred and rolled over to her other side, not wanting to face the sunshine streaming in through the windows. Even without knowing the time, she knew it was late. She semi-consciously recognized the sound of someone walking into the room and setting a tray on the table, then china and silverware clinking. Reaching for her blankets, she pulled them over her head in an effort to mute the noises and resume her peaceful slumber.

“My lady, it’s time to get up,” Ghita said softly.

“No, I want to sleep just a while longer.” The aroma of freshly brewed tea filled the room, Lia lifted her head from the pillow, holding her hands over her eyes to shield them from the light.

“It is almost noon, you must get up,” the maid repeated, this time more firmly. “His Grace has summoned a seamstress for you, and she’s already here.”

“So soon?” Lia buried her head under a pillow, holding it down with an arm. “I’ve not been here a full day yet!”

“I do not understand their language, but I gather there is to be an important event soon.”

Lia lifted a corner of the pillow and peeked out curiously to see Ghita holding out a dressing gown for her. “What kind of event?”

“
Non sono certo
,” Ghita replied. “
Una cena formale?”

The maid helped her to her feet, and Lia immediately felt dizzy and queasy. She slowly sat back down on the edge of the canopied white four-poster, and closed her eyes. She cradled her head in her hands, and prayed for the ill feeling to pass. How was she to attend or host a formal dinner feeling like this?

Lia thought about it a moment and shook her head. “I think we should inform my husband that tonight would not be a good night for inviting guests to dinner,” she said.

“It’s too late. His Grace is already gone and will not return until late this afternoon.” Ghita put a slice of warm unbuttered bread in her hand. “Before you stand, take a few bites of this. It will help you feel better. Then you can drink some black tea, without the cream or sugar.”

Lia didn’t question how Ghita knew about her illness this morning, she just did as she was told. After swallowing her first bite, she immediately began to feel better. “I didn’t realize that I was so fatigued from the trip. It’s affected my stomach in a rather odd manner. Do you think this will work?”

“I’m sure it will,” the dark-eyed maid replied, smiling down on her mistress. “Now let’s get you presentable for that seamstress waiting below.”

For the next three hours, Lia was measured by two women from head to toe. Each woman took her own set of measurements. Her height, width, bust, circumference of her arms, waist and even the fingers on both hands were measured. That ordeal over, one of the women brought in three partially completed gowns, one white, another a pale yellow, and the last a burgundy and gold combination. Lia’s arms ached from holding them out for the seamstress and her assistant. As they pinned the dresses to size, another girl began piecing together undergarments, finishing them with nimble, speedy fingers. What was even more amazing was that the assistant doing this work couldn’t be more than twelve.

When they released her, Lia set out to find what mischief her brother was up to. He’d been abnormally quiet all afternoon, so she guessed he was probably in the gardens playing with his new pup. As she hadn’t yet had a chance to see much of her new home, she went in search of Luchino, satisfying her curiosity on the way.

S
hortly before nine, in his office at Caversham House, Ren leaned back in the leather wing-back chair, and sipped from his morning cup of coffee. He tried to make sense of the information in the folio his investigator had sent over that very morning. His cousin had gone into hiding immediately after he’d taken the shot at him. He knew that cutting Thomas off and banning him from all the ducal properties would make him desperate. Now he waited for his cousin to make a mistake, especially now that news of Ren’s new wife was spreading. It would be just a matter of time before Thomas would slip up.

Ren couldn’t chance Lia getting injured, so he planned to leave in two days time. Haldenwood was secure, Cartland assured, as there had been no sight of Thomas on or near Haldenwood, or any of his other properties. Letters from his grandmother and sisters confirmed the investigator’s report, as they’d assured him all was well at home.

Ren laughed as he read Sarah’s scribblings, in which she said that by his next trip she would be big enough to accompany him should he need another hand on the ship. She had no way to know that his sailing days were over, for he now had two new reasons to remain ashore.

The door opened and his good friend, Michael, strode into the room. Grinning big, his dark brown hair damp and mussed, his breeches mud-splattered, Michael looked as though he’d raced from his uncle’s estate, Woodhenge, back to London.

Ren returned a lazy smile and stood. “How goes it? Out to visit the uncle on the crown’s business?” The two men shook hands.

“I stopped there last night, but no, my business was at Haldenwood.”

“By your smile, I see nothing is amiss at home. Why were you there?” Ren tried to hide the fact that his heart was sinking. He prayed his sister wasn’t back up to her old stunts. Turning a wide gaze to his friend, he asked, “Not something Elise did, is it?”

Michael reassured him, as they took their respective seats. “Not at all, thank heaven. I never saw her, she was visiting a friend in the village.” He sipped from his coffee cup the footman handed him. “Anyway, do you remember that young chestnut stud your under groom was training last summer? Solid, just a small star between the eyes?”

Ren’s felt the contents of his breakfast rise. If Elise was up to something he would ring her pretty little neck, then ban her from polite society forever.

“Well, I went to Tatts last week, looking for a new mount, something sensible for town use. I wanted something young and with some life in him still. As I walked past the pens, I saw two men with your livery, one of whom was the lad who rode the chestnut that day. He was with another of your grooms and they were looking for two or three good broodmares of a certain conformation.”

Ren nodded and smiled, all the while vowing to kill his sister for luring Michael out to Haldenwood on the pretense of seeing a horse. He thought she was over her childhood infatuation with Michael. The only way to finally get her over this was to marry her off to someone—anyone—as soon as possible.

“I asked your groom how that horse was coming along, and they both raved about what a soft, responsive mouth he had and how he would take the merest shift of seat as a cue. I asked if they’d sold him yet, and the lad assured me he was quite available if I were of a mind to come out and try him.

“They weren’t jesting.” Michael’s eyes lit with excitement as he spoke, causing Ren a measure of relief. “I rode him for about two hours, and found him to be a most excellent ride. So, I’m now in debt to you for the sum of two hundred pounds. I could talk them down no further.”

“Two hundred!” Ren coughed. His sister was over-charging his friend for a well-trained mongrel.

“In their defense, they asked for four hundred. We negotiated a two month stay with you for next summer to breed him to the six mares they just purchased.”

“Six mares!” Ren was glad they were headed back to Haldenwood soon. He had to check his sister before she jerked the reins from his grasp.

“Are you well?” Michael asked. “You are repeating everything I say.”

“I’m fine.” He closed his eyes, exasperated. “I just need an hour or two in the boxing ring.”

“Now that you’re back, we should meet at Jackson’s for a few rounds. I have not been able to find a worthy sparring partner the entire time you were gone.”

He nodded, then smiled at his friend. “Enough of that. I have news.”

“News of what? I know they have not captured Thomas yet.”

Ren stood and took two cigars from the humidor behind his desk, and and held one out for Michael. “As you just returned to Town, you likely have not heard. I am wed.” Upon seeing his friend’s shocked expression, he added, “And I suspect she is already carrying my heir.”

“Good God, man, congratulations!” His friend stood and came around to shake his hand. “How and when? Where and who?”

He told Michael the rehearsed version of their meeting, thinking he didn’t need to know all the details. He then covered the report from the investigator, Cartland, with him. “Thomas has not surfaced in the nearly five months I’ve been away.” Ren leaned back in his chair and puffed on his cigar. “If the Regent discovered I returned with a wife before the day was through yesterday, then how long can it be before Thomas finds out as well?” He didn’t want to think of a life without Lia. “I am very taken with her, Michael, and to protect her, we’re leaving for Haldenwood as soon as possible. The day after tomorrow, I hope.”

“So soon?” Michael asked, doing the same. “Aren’t you going to show off your new wife around Town? Take her to a few balls, soirées, and what-not. You know how women like that sort of thing, and we can hire security for her.” His friend grinned, adding, “I cannot wait to see the raised eyebrows once word hits the street.” Then as though remembering something grave, his gaze met Ren’s steadily, his lips thinned, and a muscle in his cheek twitched. “By the way, there are a few things you should know, and it would be better that they come from me.”

Michael had Ren’s full attention. “What now?”

“I think Margaret may cause trouble for you.”

Ren’s expression hardened in astonishment at hearing the name of his former fiancée. He looked at his long-time friend through narrowed eyes, one brow arched in question.