Chapter 17
Nathanial
After signing the marriage contract, Nathanial wrote a letter to his sisters, advising them of his upcoming nuptials and that he would be returning home afterward with his new bride.
A week or so in the country would give him enough time to set things in place with his new funds and, hopefully, give Society enough time to find some new bit of salacious gossip for them to sink their teeth into.
He and Miss Little would return quietly to London and reinsert themselves into the remainder of the Season to thwart any further gossip.
If she wanted a proper honeymoon, she would be disappointed.
Her duty was going to bring him a rich dowry, invigorate the ducal coffers, help him restore what he could of the family’s reputation, and guide his sisters through their Seasons to the best of her ability. And bear him an heir.
That last would require…
Blast. His body had reacted in an altogether unwelcome manner, though eventually necessary. But he was angry. He did not want to be aroused. He did not want to be reminded of his damnable attraction to her or the way he had started to question his resistance against that attraction.
Knowing he might have eventually convinced himself to offer for her, only for them to end up together like this… somehow, it made everything worse.
He felt as though he was choking.
He needed to get out of the house.
Striding from Lord Blackstone’s study, Nathanial took the back halls in hopes of avoiding the other house party guests as he made his way out to the stables.
To his relief, he saw no one but servants along the way.
The bustling activity was all for his upcoming wedding, which did nothing to help his mood, but it was far better than having to engage in conversation with anyone.
Reaching the stables, he signaled for a horse. With Miss Little’s trepidation around the big beasts, he felt assured she would not follow him out here. Unfortunately, there were others.
He turned at the sound of footsteps behind him and groaned when he saw Christian.
The other duke was frowning at him. He came to a halt several feet away from Nathanial and put his hands on his hips.
“I do not think Miss Little was part of her father’s plot,” he announced.
The headache from this morning, which had finally started to subside, reemerged with a vengeance. Nathanial gritted his teeth before forcing himself to relax his jaw, as the tension only made his head throb even more.
Thankfully, one of the stableboys was already walking up with a horse for him, a frisky bay gelding who tossed his head like he was eager to run. Good. So was Nathanial.
“This is Caspian,” the stableboy said, handing the reins to Nathanial.
Rather than answering Christian’s inanity, Nathanial stepped into the stirrup and lifted himself onto Caspian’s back. He did not groan when Christian signaled for one of the grooms to bring his own horse. He just kicked Caspian into a gallop, getting out of there as quickly as he could.
Given his head, Caspian eagerly sprang into motion, and they ran pell-mell out of the stable yard and toward the drive.
The air rushed by him, stealing his breath, his focus fully on keeping his seat, and he reveled in the rush of freedom.
The urge to just ride into the distance, not stopping, never to be seen again, was so strong…
But it was not realistic.
He could not abandon his sisters.
He could not abandon the Milfords.
He could not abandon his tenants.
He could abandon his future wife. Christian, it seemed likely, would step into the breach and save her reputation. Of course, the thought of Christian doing so and being the one to wed and bed Miss Little made him grind his teeth again. Well, it was only natural that he should feel possessive now.
Regardless of how it came to be, she was going to marry him and be his wife.
Jealousy was now not only understandable, it was nearly expected.
It was no wonder that his mood had darkened again by the time Christian caught up with him.
He slowed Caspian to a trot, giving the horse a rest, which he needed by now.
Though Nathanial had hoped Christian would not be able to find him, he must have gotten lucky in deciding which way to turn down the road.
“Why do you think Miss Little did not know?” he asked. He felt marginally calmer, a little less constricted, but he wished it had been any of his friends other than Christian following him.
On the other hand, the fact that it was only Christian might indicate that Christian was also the only one who believed in Miss Little’s innocence. Or it might mean nothing at all.
“Because I do not think it is in her character to trap a man into marriage with her.”
“Yes, well, as you have spent so much time with her over the past few days, I am sure you have an accurate measure of every aspect of her character.” Nathanial snorted. “Before this morning, would you have said that her father had the character to trap a man into marriage with his daughter?”
“Well…” Christian’s hesitation spoke volumes, though he rallied quickly enough. “I have spent more time with Miss Little than her father and gotten a better measure of her. Despite the short length of time.”
“Yet somehow, I ended up in her bed last night, slept through the whole night, and she waited to commence her screaming until her maid found us.” Nathanial’s voice was flat. Emotionless. The anger that he’d been feeling had settled from hot to something deeper, simmering rather than raging.
“She is a very sound sleeper; she also slept through Lady Johanna’s departure, and by all accounts, that was a rather noisy production which woke most of the others.”
“Or was pretending she’s a very sound sleeper part of their plan as well?” Nathanial snorted, shaking his head. “Because she woke up before I did this morning.”
“You were snockered.”
Caspian danced sideways, and Nathanial realized he was gripping the reins too tightly. He relaxed his fingers as best he could.
“Regardless. She woke and screamed, bringing everyone to her room. I’m kneeling on the floor vomiting into a chamber pot while her dad is shouting at me like he’s on Drury Lane, ensuring everyone down the hall can hear him.
And they can, because now she and her maid have gone silent for him to be heard clearly.
” The more he thought about it, the more certain he was.
Everything had ticked by like clockwork.
Surely, that could not be coincidence.
If he was convinced of anything, it was that Mr. Little loved his daughter. He wanted her to be happy.
Why would he participate in trapping Nathanial into marriage with her, unless he thought it would make her happy? Why they, or she, had chosen him rather than Christian, who had actually been showing interest in her, unless for some reason they thought he was the better option?
“For Mr. Little’s purposes, it hardly matters which duke she marries.
Unless, of course, it matters to her. For some reason, though I have done my best not to encourage her, while you have done the opposite, she must have chosen me.
” His tone was grim, his barely suppressed anger thrumming just beneath the surface.
Caspian was becoming anxious again, reading his rider’s mood, but Nathanial was doing his best under the circumstances.
“And what is so wrong with that?” Christian’s horse was also becoming agitated, as was he.
Exasperation hung in the air around him, marring the beauty of the blue sky above him.
“You’ll have a wife who meets the vast majority of your requirements.
You know that the rest of us will support you and your sisters when they make their come-outs.
Lady Astrid and Tiffany would both be happy to guide them.
I think the only reason you are upset is because you set your mind against her for some reason, even though you wanted her, and the only reason you are upset now is because you did not get to hem and haw before changing your mind and choosing her. ”
“Yes! Exactly!” Nathanial knew he was shouting, but at this point, he did not care.
Caspian was dancing beneath him, and only the fact that he was an excellent rider allowed him to keep his seat.
“I did not get to choose her. I had one choice left in my life, one place where I was only partially boxed in, where I had some say in how my life was going to go. You do not think it important because you have choices. You do not have to marry this Season if you do not want to. You do not have to do anything you do not want to do.”
Christian’s mouth dropped open in shock or perhaps to say something, but it did not matter. Nathanial was speaking too quickly, too loudly, to be stopped.
“If you want to rut your way through London’s actresses while pretending you’re searching for a bride and ending the Season without one, you can.
No one will even be disappointed in you because your father is no longer around to see you doing the opposite of what he wanted.
We both know you were not going to propose to Miss Little, and it is not because you were concerned over my feelings for her.
It is because then you would actually be fulfilling your duties and doing what your father wanted.
And you will not do that, even though the man is in the grave and will have no idea that you have finally lived up to just one of his expectations. ”
Panting, Nathanial had finally run out of breath. Christian stared at him, paler than he had ever seen the other man, his eyes wide and wild. He looked as if he was in pain.
Which was exactly how Nathanial felt.
Though he also knew he had gone too far.
His tongue flicked out, wetting his lips.
“Christian—”