Chapter 7
Chapter Seven
Cecily’s father sent for her later that morning. As she stepped into his study, he pointed to a chair opposite where he sat at his desk. A number of papers were arranged in front of him.
“Settlement papers for your dowry. My solicitor drew them up last week; I was just going through them before you and I pay Lord Horsham a visit this afternoon.”
“So, I am to go through with this farce of a marriage?” she replied.
“Yes. And considering the conversation that you had with your mother this morning, I have decided the sooner the better.”
She had wondered how much of her argument with her mother would reach his ears.
Her mother, as usual, had scuttled off and no doubt told him everything that had transpired.
There was nothing held in confidence by Lady Norris.
She would do whatever it took to protect both herself and her family name.
“I mean it when I say I shall have nothing to do with any of you once I am married,” she said.
Her father folded up the papers and placed them into a leather satchel. He rose from his desk and rang a small bell. A footman appeared within an instant.
“Take these to Lord Horsham. Inform his lordship that Lady Cecily and I shall be arriving at one o’clock.”
After the footman had left, Lord Norris came to Cecily and held out his hand. She reluctantly took it, and he pulled her to her feet.
“Now listen here. I have done far more for you than many other men in my situation would have. I gave you my name and ensured your place among the nobility of this country. After you marry Lord Horsham, and yes, you will be marrying him, you will be the picture of a happy bride to all who see you. I don’t give a damn what happens to you in private.
If you try to embarrass me in public by ignoring me, I shall do what I should have done all those years ago. ”
Cecily met his gaze and tried to hold it, but quickly failed. “And what is that?”
“Had you destroyed.”
A red-eyed Cecily and her father alighted from the Norris town carriage just after one o’clock that afternoon. She knew her father well enough to know that his threats were never empty. Sometimes she wondered why he had ever bothered to acknowledge her as his daughter.
Inside Lord Horsham’s home, she followed her father into a formal drawing room and took a seat on a plain black leather couch.
As her gaze roamed the room, she picked up on a constant depressing color theme.
Everything from the furniture to the curtains and floor coverings were either black or a dark unappealing brown.
No woman’s touch had ever reached this house.
“Ah, Norris. Good to see you,” said Lord Horsham, stepping into the room. He did not bother to acknowledge Cecily.
Her father and Lord Horsham shook hands. “Did you manage to check the settlement papers that I sent?” asked her father.
Lord Horsham nodded. “Yes, they are all in order. Dowry was a little less than I had hoped for but needs must. Once I have that filly of yours in foal, I will be satisfied.” He laughed dryly, then coughed.
Cecily felt nauseous. She was being discussed as if she were nothing more than a brood mare. When Lord Horsham handed the papers to her father, she knew she had just been sold.
Her father turned to her. Lord Horsham nodded in her direction, the first actual sign that he had noticed she was present in the room.
“My solicitor’s office is just around the corner. I am going to deliver the papers myself. That will allow his lordship and yourself some private time to get better acquainted. I shall be back shortly for you,” said her father.
Lord Horsham chuckled once more. “Don’t be in too great a hurry, Norris. Young Cecily and I will need time to get comfortable, if you gather my meaning.”
A chill slid down Cecily’s spine. She had lived long enough without parental protection to know the words of a predatory male. She was being left to her fate.
As soon as her father had made his convenient exit, Lord Horsham made his move. He took a seat on the couch next to Cecily and took her by the hand.
His touch was as cold as she had imagined. His grip was full of self-assurance. In handing over the marriage settlement papers to Lord Norris, he had finalized the purchase of his bride. The matter of a wedding was now a mere formality. “So, my dear, what do you think of my home?”
Cecily was no fool. She knew that old rouse. Get them talking, gain their trust, then move in for the kill. She was having none of it. “Actually, I find this room rather dark. Is the rest of the house decorated in the same vein?”
He brushed a hand along her arm and pulled her close.
She caught the smell of his bad breath. His hand then moved to her knee.
“Well you could make redecorating the house one of your projects when you come to live here. Though I don’t know how much energy you will have each day after I have finished with you in my bed,” he whispered in her ear.
She shuddered involuntarily, unable to hide her disgust at his touch and smell.
He tightened his grip on her knee. “Don’t be shy, my dear. I know you are not a virgin. Your reputation is already tainted. But I don’t mind used goods. It means on our wedding night, I shall be able to ride you with abandon. Tell me, have you learned to suck cock?”
She shook her head, repulsed by the thought of touching any part of him. A glass or two of something stiff like a strong brandy would have been most welcome.
Lord Horsham withdrew his hand and sat back on the couch. Cecily gritted her teeth in an attempt not to sigh with relief.
“Never mind. You can be trained,” he said.
“You mentioned about refurbishing the house; I would like to undertake that task. Some brighter colors and newer furniture could lift these rooms,” she said. Anything to change the topic.
“If you are going to undertake any changes to the house, you can start with the nursery. Provide me with an heir. After that, you can do whatever you like with the rest of the house, and your time,” he said.
“A library with books for the children would be next. I should like our children to be well-educated,” she replied. I cannot believe I am having this conversation.
Lord Horsham snorted. “Yes, well I shall engage nursemaids and governesses for that purpose. I will decide on the upbringing of any children you produce. You of course, could not be trusted to make those sorts of decisions.”
His words shook sense back into Cecily. For the briefest of moments, she had begun to imagine what it would be like living in this house as the wife of a man old enough to be her grandfather. A man unlikely to see his children grow to adulthood.
“But shouldn’t I have a say in our children’s upbringing? To put it delicately, Lord Horsham, you are not a young man. I shall need to know how to manage things when the inevitable happens,” she replied.
She didn’t wish him ill health, rather, she was seeking to find a practical solution to a situation she would more than likely have to face in the coming years.
He waved her concerns away. “Don’t worry about any of that, my dear girl. Your father will take over the estate if my son has not come of age when I pass. He will handle all the money and take charge of the children. He will have guardianship over the entire estate.”
The marquis put his hand on her knee once more, then began to move it higher up her leg. Cecily pushed his groping hand away and got to her feet.
“I suggest we wait until we are married for any further intimacies, your lordship. I shall adjourn to the hall in anticipation of my father’s return,” she said, heading for the door.
She raced out into the hallway and nearly bowled the butler over in her haste to be out of the house. Once she was outside in the street, she quickly hailed a hack.
She was not going to wait for her father’s return—she had to escape.