Caversham's Bride (The Caversham Chronicles - Book One) (32 page)

Two hours easily passed, while her husband read contracts and ledgers, making notes where necessary. She looked up when he tapped her knee with a finger. His grinning countenance was so handsome, she thought.

“We’ll be stopping in a clearing some yards ahead.” He motioned toward a copse of trees in the distance.

Lia nodded and set her needle into the cloth safely, while the two coaches and several horsemen, pulled into a grassy clearing. She dropped her embroidery hoop on the seat next to her, and watched eight guards on horseback remain mounted and in position, blocking them from the road. The door opened and a groom came up to let down the stairs.

Her husband exited first, then held out an ungloved hand for her. “I can let myself down,” she insisted.

“You’ll do no such thing. Prescott said you were to be careful of falling. Now take my hand,” he ordered.

She refused and soon regretted it, for he lifted her, then set her carefully on the ground. Even when she stood, his hands lingered at her waist.

“I’m fine. You can let go now.” His hands fell from her waist, and he took her hand and led her across the clearing. When they reached an appropriate cover, she asked, “May I have some privacy?” she asked when it appeared he might come behind the bushes with her.

“Certainly. I’ll turn my back after I assure myself there’s nothing there to hurt you.”

“Oh, what could there be out here with all this noise?”

“A wild animal?” he said, toying with her.

After Lia had taken care of her more urgent needs, she emerged from behind the bushes, to see her brother running toward them, the puppy on a rope bouncing alongside him. One thick, dark curl fell onto his forehead and he brushed it aside haphazardly.

He didn’t stop at all, but as he flew by, handed her the lead attached to the puppy, saying “Lia, will you walk Brutto for me?” Not waiting for her reply, her brother immediately disappeared behind the bushes she’d just come from.

Ren took the rope from her hand saying, “He’s going to be an enormous beast. I think he may be part bulldog, and part small horse. I’ve heard cook say he eats like one.”

“My brother, or the puppy?” she said, smiling. She still felt an endless joy at having her brother back safely.

Her husband chuckled. “Both.”

As she walked next to him, she wrapped her shawl around herself tighter and said, “I have thanked God daily that you believed me, and took a chance that what I was telling you was true.”

Ren stopped as the pup began to roll in the grass. He smiled before looking over at her and saying, “I have wondered myself at that. And all I can think of is that no one could fake the kind of fear and upset you displayed that night.” He lifted her hand to his lips, adding, “I, too, am glad that I took that chance.”

Luchino returned, took the pup, and led it back to where their coaches waited. Ren offered his arm and she placed her hand on it. Assisting her again, he supported her as she climbed into the coach, and for a moment his hands lingered on her waist. Something flickered in his dark metallic eyes and before she could make out what it was, he closed them.

Once she was situated again in her seat, she pulled her hoop back onto her lap and began working again, as did her husband. With each pass of the needle, she raised the courage to ask him the thing that had been bothering her the past few nights. She wanted to know why he’d avoided her bed, and had to let him know that she wouldn’t tolerate him keeping a mistress.

The coaches pulled onto the road again, and casually, as though it were nothing of importance, she asked, “Why have you not slept in my bed with me these past nights?”

Ren looked up from the ledger he’d been working in, and gave her a curious look. “I thought that if you weren’t feeling well, I would sleep next door until you were.”

Each time she thought of their agreement, she wondered if he would continue to desire her after she’d delivered the necessary heir. Yes, he promised not to separate her from her child, but she didn’t think she could tolerate him abandoning her in the country while he kept a mistress in Town.

Lia wanted to tell him how she felt. She shifted in the seat, nervous of what his reaction would be. He could quite simply ignore her wishes and do what he will, after all, most men did. But she had to let him know how displeased she would be if he went against her wishes. “I think that perhaps I should mention something to you. It isn’t something I knew about myself until just this morning, and I already feel very strongly about it.”

“And what is that, wife?”

“I feel very strongly that you not entertain thoughts of keeping a mistress.” There she got it out, and he didn’t appear angry with her. In fact, he was smiling.

“I do not currently have a mistress and I have no thoughts of acquiring one.”

“No visiting the ah....” She tapped her finger on her leg, trying to think of the English word for a whorehouse. “
Come si dice,”
she whispered,
“bordello,
either.”

“I will never visit another
bordello
again,” he said, trying to hide his smile. He wasn’t taking this as seriously as she, Lia could tell.

“Your needs are mine to care for. They are not the responsibility of another.”

“I agree, wife.”

His dark silver eyes and crooked smile told her he was up to no good. She wasn’t sure if he was placating her, or not. But when he moved his stack of papers and ledgers to the other seat, then reached for her to bring her to his side of the coach, she smiled. “Good. Never forget that you are mine.”

“As you are mine.” He kissed her forehead, then backed away to look into her eyes, his look turning serious. Her heart skipped a beat as she worried what he was going to say. “I suppose now is as good a time as any to tell you that I have begun an account in your name at our banking house, so that you have complete and total control over all funds you inherited. Both yours and your brother’s.” Shock washed over her leaving her speechless, and he asked, “Are you alright?”

Overcome at the generosity of his gift, she could only nod. When she found her tongue, she said “I never expected.... I mean, that is very generous of you, Your Grace.”

Her husband nuzzled the spot beneath her ear and whispered, “You’re welcome, Your Grace.”

Several hours later, the coach rolled into an inn yard. The proprietor stepped out, wiping his beefy hands on the apron around his waist. “Welcome, welcome, Captain... er, Yer Grace.” The portly old man grinned, revealing three missing teeth. “It’s wonderful te see ye again.”

“Hello, John, good to see you as well. Is our room prepared?”

“Of course. My Bridget’s bringing up the food now.”

“Sweetheart, this is John Donnelly, currently proprietor of The Drunken Boar, formerly my Quartermaster on
Warlock
.” Ren led her forward, “John, my wife, the Duchess of Caversham.”

Mr. Donnelly turned to her and bowed, “Ye must be a special woman indeed to have landed the Cap’n fer husband.”

“That she is, John. I had to marry her quick, before she changed her mind and decided she didn’t want me after all.” Lia wanted to believe he was as proud as he sounded. That he adored her as much as his body told her he did..

“Ye’ll find everything made ready in yer rooms. Timmy’ll care for your ’orses.”

In the corner of the yard, a boy talked with her brother. He appeared to be about Luchino’s age, and both came running forward.

“Timmy, help the grooms with the horses. Water ’em down and give ’em some hay,” the proprietor said.

“Yes sir,” the lad said.

“Can I help him, Lia?” her brother asked in Italian.

“Aren’t you hungry?” Lia asked.

“
Sí,
” her brother replied casually as he stood next to his new friend, “but I can eat later.”

“Why don’t you eat first, then come out and help,” she suggested.

Her brother turned to the other boy and said slowly, in proper English, “Do not start until I return. I shall eat fast.”

“There will be plenty to help with after ye eat, lad, I assure you,” the proprietor told her brother.

Ren led her into the building, and Luchino followed behind. Once they were situated in an upstairs room, true to his word, her brother ate quickly. Lia was sure he could not have tasted the food he’d been served, for within minutes his plate was clean and he was asking for permission to be excused.

“Go on,” Ren said. “Stay within sight of the building, and out of trouble.”

Lia understood the boy’s desire to be with others his own age, and was happy that he found someone to play with. After a few bites of her stew, she pushed around the chunks of potato, carrots, and beef on her plate, suddenly full.

“You barely ate a thing,” her husband said.

“I’m not that hungry.”

“Are you feeling well?”

“I’m fine.” She rubbed her forehead. “A little tired. I think it’s due to all this traveling lately.”

“After we reach Haldenwood, you’ll be staying put for quite a while,” Ren said. “For your own good and that of our babe.”

Lia sighed, giving her husband a tired smile. “I look forward to that.” Standing, she stretched upward first, then forward, to relieve the aching muscles in her back. Taking a seat on the edge of the four-poster bed, she sank into the downy mattress, making herself comfortable in the middle.

“We don’t have to leave if you’re not up to it. I’m sure John would love to have us stay the night.”

“Oh, no. We should keep moving to make it to your home by dark. Just give me a few minutes and I’ll be as fresh as the dawn.”

Lia woke hours later to find that the sun hung low in the sky, and she’d slept away the entire afternoon. Three candles lit the room and Ren sat in a chair near the bed, head bent low, for he too slept. She silently slipped from the bed, retrieved her boots and carried them out, not wanting to disturb him. Her husband was probably as tired as she had been, and could use the rest. Once she’d made it down the stairs, she sat on the bottom step, and put her shoes back on.

She stood as Mr. Donnelly came around the corner, his arms laden with linens. He startled when he saw her.

“Mr. Donnelly, sir, have you seen my brother?”

“He and Timmy’re out back playin’ with the dogs. Though they’ll be comin’ in soon as it’s gettin’ too dark to play out.”

She thanked the man and headed to the back door of the inn when she heard her husband’s heavy-booted footfall coming down the steps. She stopped and looked up to see him coming toward her.

When he reached her, he placed a chaste kiss on her cheek, and hooked her arm through his. “You’re looking refreshed,” he said. “Would you like to take a walk around the yard?”

“Is it safe?”

“Very,” he replied.

John Donnelly, hearing her question, said, “The cap’n’s got guards posted all around the place. No one’s coming onto the property until after ye leave tomorrow.”

Without giving her a chance to decline, he led her out the door. “We’ll have dinner when we return, John.”

“Aye, Cap’n Yer Grace,” Mr. Donnelly replied.

Ren led her around to the back of the inn, where the boys were demonstrating how two of Timmy’s dogs fetched sticks in the deepening twilight.

“Hey, Lia, watch!” Luchino and Timmy threw short fat sticks as far as they could, and the bigger dogs ran after them, with Brutto chasing behind. The beasts came running back, holding sticks in their jaws. Each boy reached into a pocket and gave the dogs a treat.

Her brother turned to her, his eyes bright with pride and excitement. “Brutto is very smart. He’s learning these tricks fast,” Luchino said. “Timmy taught me how. It’s easy.”

“Remember, Luchino, he’s still a pup, do not over tire him.”

When the two boys turned to walk away, she heard Timmy say, “I thought you said your name was Lucky?”

She didn’t hear her brother’s response as she was being led by her handsome husband to a wooden bench beneath an ancient, spreading oak tree, where he pulled her down on his lap.

“I can perfectly well sit beside you.” Lia attempted to leave the grasp of his arms, but he held her close.

“I’d rather you sit on my lap. You haven’t done so in a while.”

“Because we both know where that usually leads.” She removed his arm and sat next to him. “And right now, I’m watching my brother play. Which I haven’t been able to do in quite a while.” She looked at the two armed men at the edge of the inn yard.

He turned to face her on the bench. “The reason for all the guards is two days ago, the agents discovered Thomas in the park across from our house. He’s growing bolder and getting good at disappearing when he knows he’s being chased. I don’t have time to figure out how, but know that I will not chance that something should happen to you or the babe.”

“Your heir, you mean.”

His hand caressed the still-flat belly beneath her breasts. “No. Our child.” Her husband took a deep breath before continuing. “You would both be safer at Haldenwood. It is easier to protect you from Thomas there.” She looked at him curiously, wondering how that was possible. He soon added, “In London, it is difficult to protect you in a crowd, or in public. You cannot be expected to remain indoors always, Thomas knows this. And London is Thomas’ lair. He is intimately familiar with the city’s underbelly, and those who reside with him there.