15. Chapter 15 #2
Two pairs of horrified eyes turned to me as they separated from an embrace on the sofa, and the three of us stared at one another.
“Lily!” Martha squeaked as she stood, her usually flawless brown hair was in disarray around her shoulders, and her cheeks were flaming with color. “What are you doing up so late?” she asked as she tried to put her hair in place.
Everett also stood, clearing his throat. “I can explain. This is not what it looks like. We were just kissing.”
“Everett!” Martha said as her hair continued to fall out of place. “We weren’t kissing when she came in—you didn’t need to tell her.”
“How—what—when—?” I couldn’t form a sentence to save my life.
“If anyone else discovered the two of you, alone, regardless of how—innocent—it might be, the repercussions would be immediate. Martha’s sister would call for a wedding before morning.
“Everett, you should know better than to compromise Martha’s reputation. ”
Or perhaps he didn’t know.
“We didn’t do anything untoward,” Everett defended. “I simply stole a kiss.”
The color in Martha’s cheeks deepened. “You cannot steal something that was freely given to you.”
They shared an intimate smile and laugh.
“Martha!” I had never seen this side of her before.
And even if Everett didn’t understand societal expectations—Martha certainly did.
“What would your sister think if she knew you were meeting with Everett alone? What would people say if they knew this was happening in my home? It is not simply your own reputations at stake.”
“All is well, Lily,” Everett said with a charming grin and a placating voice. The chip he usually carried on his shoulder around his brothers was not there tonight. “If the Welby family can survive all the other scandals that have plagued us, surely we can handle a little midnight rendezvous.”
Martha giggled and Everett grinned.
I closed my eyes and asked God for patience.
“You two cannot meet like this again,” I told them. “And Everett, if Ames learns of this, he will expect a marriage proposal from you to Martha in the coming days.”
“What?” Everett’s eyes widened. “For a little kiss?”
“If this incident gets out—”
“How could it if you don’t tell anyone?” Everett asked.
“We do not know if a servant saw you.”
“How could they?” Everett went to a panel in the study and pushed it open. “We used the secret passageway. No one saw us.”
Surprised, I glanced inside the passageway, shocked that I hadn’t noticed the door before. “Does every room connect to the passageway?”
Everett shrugged.
“And do all the Welby brothers use it for secret rendezvous?” I asked.
It was the wrong thing to say as Everett’s eyes narrowed and Martha’s widened. “Why?” Everett asked. “Have you caught another brother using it to meet with another young woman?”
I would not involve Everett in Brant and Molly’s scandal.
“Was it Collins and Ruth?” he demanded, an edge returning to his voice.
“Go to bed.” I gave them a pointed look. “Both of you. We’ll discuss this more in the morning.”
“Come.” Everett took Martha’s hand. “I’ll take you back to your room the way we came.” He led her toward the passageway, but I stepped in to intercept her.
“ You go back the way you came,” I said to Everett. “I will escort Martha through the hallway like civilized human beings. And I do not want you to use the passageway again to visit her. Do you understand?”
He scowled at me. “I didn’t know I was getting another mother when Ames married. For goodness’ sakes, I’m older than you, Lily. And from the experience I had, having a mother isn’t worth the trouble.”
I stared at him, my heart breaking at his statement—even as my frustration mounted. “If you do not act like a child, I will not have to treat you like one.” I lifted an eyebrow at him. “And I’m more like an older sister, not your mother.”
Everett gave me a scathing look, but I chose to ignore it.
With a lingering glance at Martha, he disappeared inside the passageway, and I led Martha to the hallway.
“You do not have to say anything to anyone, Lily,” Martha said quietly as she finished pinning up her hair, smoothing it into place with the palm of her hand. “Mine and Everett’s meeting was very innocent, I promise you. I would never do anything to compromise myself or him.”
“There is nothing innocent about being alone with a man so late at night. You know that as well as I do.”
She wrapped her arm around mine and let out a contented sigh as we approached the Great Room. “What if I told you I think I’m falling in love with him?”
I blinked several times. “Truly?”
“When you know, you know.” Her eyes shined. “He’s funny and passionate and even when he gets angry, he’s charming and comical.”
“That may be, Martha, but if you are serious about him, I would caution you to go about it in the right way. Would you rather Everett choose to marry you—or be forced to marry you?”
She squeezed my arm, apparently oblivious to my caution. “Could you imagine if we became sisters-in-law?”
“As much as you may want it, I do not think your family would be happy with that turn of events.”
Martha blinked and pulled back. “To be sisters-in-law with the Duchess of Severton?”
“To marry a fifth-born son with no title. Everett is young, and the more I get to know him, the more I realize he needs time to grow and mature.”
“He is three years older than me.” She strengthened her hold on my arm again.
“And, besides, my oldest sister, Harriet, is married to the Marquess of Queensbury and they live in Cummertrees, Scotland. That’s all the title my mother needs.
” Martha grinned. “I’m free to marry for love, and if Everett loves me in return, I cannot see any reason to wait.
He might be a little headstrong and impetuous, but that makes it fun to be around him.
And we will have all the time in the world to grow and mature. ”
I had forgotten that her sister was a marchioness. “Are you certain your family will not object, should Everett wish to marry you?”
“They will not—and, frankly, I’m certain Beth would be relieved to return to New York. She does not care for England and has only stayed because I wanted to be here.”
We were soon at her bedroom door. “Please heed my warning. Do not create a scandal you will regret.”
Martha blew me a kiss and closed the door, oblivious to my plea.
When I returned to my room, it was still empty, but a moment later, the connecting door between my room and Ames’s opened and he appeared. Relief overwhelmed me and I raced into his arms.
He held me tight. “What is this?”
“Where were you?” I pulled back to look into his handsome face. “I was worried.”
A beautiful smile lifted his lips. “You were worried for me?”
“I could not find you anywhere—I thought the worst had happened.”
His smile disappeared as his face grew serious. The scar on his cheek tightened, reminding me more of the Ames I’d first met in London. “I spoke to the smugglers tonight, if that is what you mean. I just returned from the cave now.”
“And?”
“I told them I do not want them using our caves anymore.”
I leaned forward. “What did they say?”
“Exactly what I knew they would. They will not give up their source of income without a fight. I told them if I catch them using the cave again, I will alert the authorities, and because I have not taken any money from them since my father’s death, their threats of telling the authorities that I’m an accomplice are unfounded. ”
“Do you think they will stop?”
He was quiet for a moment and then said, “I hope they will, but I do not think they will.”
I hoped he was wrong.