Chapter Eighteen
Silver Meadows, the Belinda School for Curious Ladies
A week later
L issa paced through the parlor, past the portrait of Belinda Mabry and her friends, and into the dining area before turning back. She itched to go out and practice throwing her daggers, but she’d been forbidden due to the cold. The duchess had kept a close watch on her since they’d arrived and Lissa admitted to a shortened version of the truth.
“Dague, you’re going to give me a migraine.” Ellie pulled out another stich in her embroidery loop. “Do sit down.”
A shiver raced up Lissa’s spine. “You can’t call me Dague anymore. It could put my life in danger now.”
“I apologize. I forgot. Lissette, please sit down.”
Sophie tsked. “She’s worried.”
That got Ellie’s attention. “Are you?”
Lissa stopped, finding the question a bit absurd. “Of course I am. Anthony is my husband now, even if it is just a marriage of convenience.”
“I’d be thrilled with a marriage of convenience. I so dread having to experience another Season.” Sophie patted Eleanor’s arm in sympathy, but Eleanor wasn’t distracted. “If it’s just a marriage of convenience, then why worry?”
Lissa moved to stand behind a straight-back chair that faced the two ladies and the portrait, gripping the top of it. “Because he’s been my friend for years. I care about him, not to mention if they all fail, I’ll be sent to prison, too. It will be my fault. If I didn’t go with him to Leighhall’s, I would have never discovered the truth, and he’d be safe now.”
Sophie studied her as she did everyone. “Are you not looking forward to your new life as a baroness?”
Lissa hadn’t thought so far ahead, but now that Sophie mentioned it, she could easily imagine what it would be like. “No, I am not looking forward to life as a baroness, but I am looking forward to being Anthony’s wife. I know we wouldn’t remain at Bellamore long. He would still do his investigations, only I would help. We are good together in figuring out puzzles.” She smiled as she thought of their recent adventure. “And that’s not the only way in which we are good together.”
“Lissette!” Ellie put down her embroidery. “You certainly don’t mean…”
Lissa grinned, happy to enlighten her friends as she had Dory. “I do mean. He is an excellent lover, and I have learned so much more than what is in the duchess’s secret book.”
Eleanor blushed and Sophie appeared puzzled.
“Ellie, did you not share the Education of the Feminine Species with Sophie?”
The blush grew darker. “No. I haven’t even gone beyond the title page myself.”
Dumbfounded, Lissa stared at her friend. “But why?”
Ellie looked at her and then at Sophie and then back at Lissa. “If you insist. I didn’t want to know about what I would never have the chance to experience.”
“What?”
“No. Don’t say that.” Sophie wrapped her arms around Ellie.
The woman gave a curt nod. “It’s true. I am not sought after by anyone, except for an occasional old man with poor intentions. I’ve resigned myself to being a spinster.”
Lissa remembered wanting to be just that, but now, she couldn’t imagine her future without Anthony in it. It was a sobering thought. Also a revealing one that required examination.
“Ellie.” Sophie’s soft voice in such a commanding tone was odd. “You are not going to be a spinster. You are a beautiful woman, with a large, caring heart, that any man should be pleased to have for a wife.”
Ellie sniffed and nodded, but Lissa could sense her friend didn’t believe any of it, even if it was true. “This is why I never wished to marry. Why is it that we must impress the men and they decide whom they want? Why can’t they impress us and we choose whom we want?”
“Because that’s not the way of the ton .” Ellie said the words with finality, but her lips did quirk up at the idea of having the choice.
“Would you choose Anthony?”
Sophie’s question caught Lissa by surprise. Would she? “I suppose if I absolutely had to choose a husband, I would choose him.”
“Now, that’s what I thought after he first visited here.” Ellie slapped her leg with her statement, causing the embroidery loop to fall from her lap.
Yet at that time, if someone asked if she’d choose him, Lissa would have said… What would she have said? She would have said yes because, based on her knowledge then, he wasn’t a peer and had wealth. And now?
“You love him.”
She snapped her gaze back to Sophie. “What? Why would you say that?”
“Because it’s true.” Sophie’s green gaze didn’t waver.
Was it? Was that why she’d been pacing the confines of Silver Meadows for three hours worried she’d never see Anthony again? The answer was so obvious, she couldn’t believe she’d missed it. Sophie was correct.
Somewhere between being friends and being married, she’d fallen in love with Anthony. She loved him with all of her heart, her every breath, her very being.
The butler stepped into the parlor. “Lady Bellamore, you wished to know when a carriage entered the gate. I have been informed that—”
She didn’t wait for Harrison to finish, but ran past the man and out the front door.
The Northwick coach was followed by the Roxburgh coach, which was the one in which she was most interested. More coaches came down the lane behind it. Were there people inside, or had they all been thrown in prison? Surely the other coaches would have returned to their homes if no one rode in them. Hope sparked in the depths of her soul.
Unable to wait, she hurried down the grand steps of the mansion, not for the first time wishing there weren’t so many. By time she reached the bottom, the first coach was coming to a halt and her breath was making small clouds in the cold air.
She ran to the second coach.
Just as it came to a halt, the door opened and Anthony jumped out. “Lissa.”
She ran into his arms, tears in her eyes that he was back, even not knowing the outcome. To hold him again meant more to her than breathing.
“Lissa, all is fine. Everything is fixed.” He lifted her face and wiped at her tears. “Are these tears of happiness?”
She tried to speak but had to swallow hard to get her voice to work. “No. They are tears of relief…and love.” Her heart skidded to a halt. She wasn’t sure what he would think.
His smile widened. “Here I already thought I couldn’t be happier, and yet you make me more so. Je’taime aussi . With all of my heart.”
She shivered with happiness and kissed him, showing him how full her heart was now that she had him back.
A male clearing his throat had them separating, and she blushed to find the Duke of Roxburgh looking at them, his brows raised in question.
Anthony addressed his father. “We were just celebrating that Lissa loves me.”
“I would think you would be celebrating that we weren’t all thrown in prison and that Leighhall will be on his way to Australia soon, his estates forfeited to the Crown.”
“Father, that’s an excellent point.”
Lissa had been so worried about Anthony, she’d forgotten all about the plot. “Is the king still alive?”
His Grace nodded. “He is. The regent was aware of Leighhall’s fascination with weapons and his ideas for killing the king, but he simply replied to Leighhall as a pastime. He didn’t expect anyone to learn of it and was quite furious.”
“At least, that’s what he stated.” Anthony rolled his eyes, clearly not believing any of it. “And now he’ll be able to take all his weapons back. That’s why Leighhall hid them. They were gifts from the regent.”
“So was the king actually in danger?” Had they really traveled so far, so fast, for no reason?
“No, according to the regent.” Lord Roxburgh exchanged a look with his son before continuing. “However, it is unclear if the king would have remained so. We were delayed because the regent insisted on sending men to bring Leighhall to him. They found the viscount taking his anger out on a woman in his dressing room. Fortunately, they interrupted in time and she was still alive.” He looked at his son thoughtfully, and his gaze softened. “I’m glad you escaped when you did.”
A hard shiver raced through her at the thought of how easily she and Anthony could have become two of the viscount’s victims.
“Hear, hear.” Lord Harewood strode up with Dory on his arm.
Lissa stared at her friend, who not only appeared blissfully happy, but even more beautiful in her maroon pelisse that matched her hair perfectly. “You went with them?” Lissa gestured toward Lord Harewood.
“Of course not. My husband wouldn’t allow me in the same town as that man. It makes me shiver thinking about how I was at a house party with him. Though it is odd that a thought can make me shiver when it’s such a beautiful autumn day, even if a bit cold. It’s fascinating that despite the warmth of the sun, it is still so cold, yet in the summer, the sun does add warmth. I’m sure Ellie could explain such an odd circumstance. Though I can’t imagine—”
“Dory,” Lord Harewood interrupted his wife, a smile on his face.
She laughed before grasping his arm. “I was rambling again, wasn’t I?” She turned her gaze back on them. “I’m so thankful that all of us are out of harm’s way and have nothing else to worry over.”
“I agree.” Lord Harewood held his hand out to Anthony. “Thank you for your assistance in this matter. If I had known how dangerous it would become, I assure you that I wouldn’t have hired you.”
Anthony shook the man’s hand. “If that had been the circumstance, then we would all have to look over our shoulders for the rest of our lives. No, it was fortunate that you did.”
“I suppose you’re correct.” Lord Harewood turned to Dory. “Shall we go in and celebrate?”
At Dory’s nod, they walked toward the house.
“Hired?” His Grace frowned. “Tell me you did not accept payment for your investigation.”
Anthony shrugged. “I had to. It makes these lords more comfortable, and the work is usually much less dangerous than when I was with the Bow Street Runners.”
His father’s eyes rounded before he shook his head. “I don’t want to hear anymore.” Turning about, albeit awkwardly, the man started for the house, his wooden leg making his walk more that of a sailor than a duke.
Anthony pulled Lissa close. “We should celebrate our success.”
Just as she recognized his intentions, his mouth came down on hers in another kiss, but this one was far more passionate than the last, and she couldn’t resist wrapping her arms around his neck and pressing herself into him despite the presence of others walking past.
When she was breathless, he broke away. “I’d best get you inside. You’ll freeze out here.” Anthony’s arms loosened from around her.
“I don’t feel cold. All I feel is warmth.” She gazed into his eyes, seeing and feeling the love he professed. “Maybe we could make use of this coach and relieve ourselves of some of these clothes?”
Anthony’s nostrils flared, sending heat flooding her body. Then he lifted her in his arms and deposited her inside the coach. “Coachman, bring us to Ravenridge. And when we get there, bring us back.”
She laughed at his orders and scrambled onto the seat as he jumped in to join her.
“My wife’s wishes always come first.”
She eyed him slyly. “I wish that all my clothes would come off.”
He laughed. “What an odd coincidence, as I was just wishing the same thing.”
As he pulled her back up against him to undo her buttons, she sighed. “I do believe we are perfectly matched. If I’d known that disarming the baron would have led to such happiness, I would have done so years ago.”
His lips found her neck, and he murmured against her skin, “But you didn’t know I was a baron.”
She cocked her head. “True, and you didn’t see me as a woman.”
He pulled away her dress to cup her breasts. “But I do now and am I ever pleased to do so. I have no defense against you.”
At the feel of his fingers upon her, she arched into his hands, the shock of desire burning her up. “I’m the one defenseless.”
He slipped his fingers deeper into her dress and pulled out a dagger. “Liar.”
She laughed until his mouth came down on her bared breast and the dagger dropped to the coach floor. As the excitement of his touch filled her body and her heart, her last lucid thought flitted through her head: Mon amour , ma vie . My love, my life.