The Convenient Bride (7 page)

Her tears flowed freely and silently in the darkness, as she wondered at the wisdom of having agreed to marry a man who didn’t love her.

Lucy awoke to find Max placing dozens of
small kisses over her shoulder. When his lips moved onto her neck, brushing her skin with the lightest of touches, she couldn’t help but giggle.

“That tickles,” she said, trying to place her hand over her neck but Max caught her wrist.

Rather than stopping, he increased the pressure of each kiss and quickly, mirth turned to desire and Lucy became putty in his hands.

They shared another round of blissful lovemaking but as they lay in each other’s arms, sated, at least for a time, Lucy’s thoughts turned to the day ahead and she began to make noises about rising.

Although he would have preferred a third round, perhaps even a fourth and fifth, he knew that Lucy was a conscientious young woman and wouldn’t appreciate being delayed for too long. Instead he settled for a tender kiss, then he pulled his nightshirt on and left her to her morning ablutions, as he returned to his own room to prepare for the day.

He had to be directed to the breakfast roo
m, which felt odd, as if he were simply a visitor in the house rather than the husband of its owner but he tried not to let it bother him; he would soon learn the layout of the house, after all.

When Lucy joined him, she was wearing a simple pale
green gown, cinched at the waist and her long, luscious hair was plaited, ending in the small of her back. He thought that she looked lovely, preferring it when she kept things simple, which allowed her beauty to shine through.

After breakfast
they headed to the estate office where the steward, Matthew Hewett, was waiting for them. He was a middle aged man, with sun darkened skin, long chestnut hair, slightly sun bleached at the ends and a craggy and hard looking face, until he smiled at Lucy, when his features were transformed.

She introduced him to M
ax, Mr Hewitt congratulated them and made some small talk, then they got down to business.

Max couldn’t contribute anything to the discussion but he listened intently as they discussed their plans
. When they got the estate map out to discuss felling woodland, he was surprised to realise that Lucy owned so much land; she must have 20,000 acres in total. They discussed how much woodland to fell, how long it would take and what to plant next spring.

That discussion took over an hour
and then they moved onto the possibility of purchasing a flock of Merino sheep for wool. They would be kept on a few rocky hills that were ill-suited to crop farming and their fleece, which was top quality, would be sold. Mr Hewitt assured Lucy that he knew of an experienced shepherd who could manage the flock.

Finally they moved on to the topic of the tenants and how to best deal with those who had fallen into arrears.
Lucy and Mr Hewitt discussed the usual options of eviction, the Court of Chancery and debtors’ prison, however Lucy was unwilling to use any of those options as not only was she unlikely to get her back rents paid, she would likely ruin a whole family in the process of trying.

Max listened as they discussed the Coulson family and finally decided to speak up.

“What if you employed them to clear the woodland?” he asked.

Both Lucy and Mr Hewitt turned to him, appearing to have forgotten
until that moment that he was there.

“What do you mean?” Lucy asked.

“Well they have five boys who can work, as well as the father. I would suggest taking their land from them, then adjusting the rent of the house to include the monies owed, spreading the debt over, perhaps five years?”

Lucy and Mr Hewitt looked at each other, seemingly having a silent conversation.

“I don’t see why that couldn’t work,” Lucy finally ventured.

Mr Hewitt nodded slowly, needing a little longer to think through the ramifications.

“They’re only a few months behind so spread out, and with gainful employment clearing the woodland and working the crops, it should work, providing they stick to the terms.”

“Well if they don’t, they will have to be evicted,” Lucy added. She h
ad a good heart but she wasn’t foolish.

They went on to discuss the other two farms that were in arrears and worked out a similar deal for each of them
. Mr Hewitt said he would go and see each family this afternoon to discuss the idea, then let Lucy know their answer as soon as he knew.

Next Mr Hewitt
described the problems they were having with poaching recently and the options for stopping it.

Finally they talked about the game birds and Max was included in the discussion
, as they decided how many hunting parties they were likely to host and whether their stocks needed building up.

Lucy and
Max left then and as Lucy closed the door behind them, she slipped her hand into Max’s and beamed at him.

“Thank you for that suggestion. I had considered the possibility of turning the debt into a loan but I knew they couldn’t afford the repayments. I never considered levying a charge on the house rent. At least this way the f
amily can continue to work and we will get our money eventually.”

“Our money?”

“Well I assume you will help me spend it, no? Doesn’t that make it ‘ours’?”

Max smiled and he found that he liked the praise. It had just been an offhand suggestion and he had honestly expected there to be a very good reason why they couldn’t implement it.

T
hey had spent so long with the steward that it was now time for lunch, so they returned to the house. Their horses had been sent across from Max’s country home once they knew they would be coming here, so after lunch Lucy suggested a ride in the grounds, so that she could show him around and Max happily agreed. Besides, she did look very fetching in her riding habit so he could enjoy more than one type of view this afternoon.

Lucy seemed surprised that he had remembered the names of most of the features on the
estate from the map they had looked at with the steward, such as Rook’s Crag, Meadow Point and Steed Wood. They only managed to see the eastern side of the estate that day, so they promised to go out again the following day and Max suggested that they take a picnic, as they sometimes did on his estate when they were younger. Lucy loved the idea and readily agreed.

***

They examined the north side of the estate woods the next day.

“There’s an area through the North Wood
where we would play as children,” she said as they rode. “It’s probably gone now but we built a ‘den’ there and would dare each other to climb the trees. We saw a drawing of a tree house once, in a book about South America and Peter swore that when he took over the estate, he would build a tree house there, where our children could play. ”

Max watched as her bright smile diminished, probably as she remembered that her brother was no longer able to keep that promise.

“Perhaps we could build one?” Max suggested. “We can call it Peter’s Fort, or something.”

Lucy’s smile brightened a little. “That’s a wonderful idea. And after felling the eastern woods, we will have plenty of material. Perhaps we should wait thoug
h, at least until the estate has settled down following these changes.”

“Well, our children won’t be ready to climb trees for a few years at least.”

Lucy loved the way that ‘our children’ sounded. She could almost believe that they really would be a happy family.

She had always thought that Max would make a good father. Although she was aware that discipline would probably fall to her and the nannies, she couldn’t help but think that any child
would be beguiled by Max’s adventurous spirit.

After din
ner they retired early to bed again and after they had made love, they idly planned the tree house. By the time they were finished, Max had suggested so many additions and improvements that it would surely rival the main house in its size.

They
then lapsed into silence until Max grew amorous again and after another bout of delicious sex, they drifted off to sleep.

***

As the end of their second week at the estate approached, Lucy found that she was settling well into married life.

Max had surprised her by spending almost all his time with her and
it reminded her of when he came home from school in the holidays; when they would spend most days together, roaming about his family’s country home and the grounds.

He
was even taking an interest in her plans for her estate, asking to read a few of the articles that Lucy had sent on to the steward, which related to her ideas for improvements, although most of her collection was at Stark Hall. He had suggested that they stop there on the way back to London so that he could read the rest, which she couldn’t object to.

Max had seemed surprised when she had asked him to deal with Mr Kirk, the butler, about household issues but even
although he didn’t know the man, it was traditionally the husband’s place to deal with the butler while the wife dealt with the housekeeper.

She wondered if he expected her to leave him out
of her household arrangements because she had placed her property in trust, but that had never been her intention.

While here, she had also been
drawing and painting again, something which she had loved as a child. Seemingly being around the same vistas once more had inspired her. Max always accompanied her, usually reading on a blanket beside her as she worked. A few times she had stopped sketching or painting the scenery and used him as her subject instead, though he was usually unaware of it, being engrossed in his book about life on the American frontier.

Max s
till only told her that he loved her during their (rather frequent) bouts of lovemaking but he was so attentive the rest of the time that she found even without having his love, she was very much enjoying his company.

She had awoken early this morning and after seeing Max’s sleeping form beside her,
the bed sheet down around his waist, she had been compelled to try and capture him in repose. He looked so handsome as he slept, not to mention relaxed and content, so she had slipped from bed, pulled her nightgown on and found her sketchpad.

She had managed half a dozen different sketches so far, focusing on his whole body or sometimes just his features. His beauty really could rival that of the statue of David, she thought absently as she focused on shading the chest area.

She also had a small suspicion that she could be pregnant. Her monthly friend was only one day late so it could be just a case of wishful thinking, but she found the idea of becoming a mother very appealing. She wondered how Max would feel about the news but decided not to tell him until she was certain. After all, she didn’t want to get his hopes up for nothing.

The next time she looked over to Max, she could see that he was watching her.

“Are you drawing me?” he asked, sounding pleased by the idea.

“I couldn’t sleep.” She blushed to have been caught.

“Well you know, I have the perfect cure for insomnia.”

Lucy closed the sketchbook and put it aside
, stripping off her nightgown to rejoin him for a little while.

“You think this is the cure for everything,” she teased as he pulled her against him.

“Well, you must admit, it’s a very pleasant way to spend a few hours.”

“Hours!”
She laughed. “We have to go back to London today, remember?”

“We can wait another day, surely? There is nothing pressing waiting in London, is there?”

“I suppose not, but your parents will be worried.”

“Then we shall send a messenger
with a note. ‘
Dear Mother and Father, I'm terribly sorry but I cannot return to London today, as Lucy has tied me to the bed and refuses to let me up until I have sated her every carnal desire. Do not worry though, because as tortures go, this one is really rather pleasant. Your ever loving son, Maxwell
’.”

“You are a very wicked man!” she laughed.

“You have no idea,” he said, his voice deep with desire as he flipped them over, so he was hovering above her. He pinned her wrists on either side of her head and Lucy felt rather like prey that he had captured. It was a surprisingly erotic feeling.

“Are you just going to threaten all day
, or show me how bad you can be?” she taunted.

Max gave her a rakish smile. “Oh, you’re really asking for it now,”
he said.

He moved down her body until his head was level with her
bush, then he lifted her thighs, slipping his arms beneath them and grasping her hands again. With a wicked smile, he licked, sucked and ticked her clitoris to three earth shattering orgasms and she was literally begging him to take her.

As she recovered from her third climax he finally took pity and, crawling up her body,
thrust into her wet heat. As he looked down, her usually sleek hair was a tangled mess upon the pillow, whilst her cheeks were flushed from exertion. She welcomed his intrusion, her hips rising up to meet his thrusts but he decided not to give her a fourth orgasm, as she would surely be so sensitive by now that it could be painful.