A Lord Rotheby's Holiday Bundle (121 page)

Peter looked around the table and
cursed beneath his breath. “Where is Jane?” Everyone else was
precisely where he expected them to be. Trust his lovely fiancée to
complicate matters, yet again. She certainly had a knack for
it.

“
She had quite an eventful
evening, dear,” said his mother. “I haven’t had the heart to wake
her.”

The minx had better be well rested, if
she was still abed at this hour. Perhaps she had managed enough
sleep for the both of them. Of course, that would do nothing for
his rapidly building temper.

Sophie coughed. “Sorry, so sorry. That
bite went down wrong is all. I’m quite all right.” She flushed and
turned her attention back to her meal.

“
Did you get the license?”
Charlotte asked. “Mama and I made arrangements with a vicar of a
small church nearby. He’ll perform the ceremony this afternoon if
you have the license.”

“
Really, Peter,” Sophie
interjected. “Can’t you allow her a week to prepare? Or at least a
few days. This is all rather sudden, you know.” She took a bite of
the cheese she had been holding for several moments and grimaced.
“Oh. I thought this wouldn’t be so sharp.”

“
You said that the last
time you tried that cheese,” Charlotte said, then turned to Peter.
“She does have a point though. Why the rush? You announced the
betrothal at the ball last night. I should think that would be
enough to hold the gossips over, at least for a week.”

Giving her more time would
simply delay the inevitable.
And
it would give her more time to try to change his
mind. Which he would not be doing. “We’ll marry today. Mama, will
you please come with me. I need to wake my bride.”

Sophie rose so quickly that she bumped
her knee on the table, then bounced around in a little pain dance.
“Wait.”

Peter closed his eyes and said a
silent prayer for patience. “Wait? Sophia, she’s had more than
enough time to rest. Jane must get up and begin preparing herself.”
Could his sisters truly not understand the urgency of the matter?
Good Lord. He turned to his mother. “Please, come with
me.”

“
No!” cried out Sophie. She
rushed in front of him and placed both hands on his chest, as
though she could forcefully stop his progress.

He glared at her and removed her hands
from his body, pushing her to the side so he could
continue.

“
What on earth has gotten
into you today?” Mama asked as she followed behind him.

Sophie chased along behind them,
squeezing her way past him on the stairs and yet again stopping
directly before him. “I can’t allow you to do this,
Peter.”

“
To do
what
, precisely?” he growled. A
twitch that had been forming since sometime the previous evening
was now pulsing out a tattoo on his temple. “Are you attempting to
save your friend from marriage? Or just from me?”

“
Well, neither. Not
exactly, at least.” His sister, usually so calm and level-headed,
was now biting her lip. He had rarely seen the like from
her.

“
Then what, exactly?” If
she didn’t give him a straight answer about her current antics in
the next thirty seconds, he was liable to lose his temper and rip
her head from her neck.

He never lost his deuced
temper. Or rather, he never lost his temper until
she
tumbled into his
life.
Jane
. Now it
seemed to be happening on a recurring schedule—one that was
intensifying in frequency.

And he was going to be bloody well
married to her.

“
I...er...well, Jane isn’t
up there. In her chamber.”

Sophie’s eyes widened as he glowered
at her, advancing slowly up the next stair until he towered over
her from the stair directly beneath her.

“
In the house,” she amended
with a squeak.

“
Am I to understand that
you know where my betrothed is?” he asked as softly as he could
manage.

Sophie nodded emphatically. “But I
can’t tell you.”

Peter grabbed hold of her wrist,
half-dragged her the rest of the way up the stairs, and pulled her
into the nearest room, slamming the door closed after Mama came
through. The last thing he needed was for his servants to overhear
him bellowing at his sister in the front of the house, or for a
visitor to arrive while he was in a full temper.

Peter shoved his sister into a chair
and leaned over her. “You can’t tell me? Or you won’t tell me?” He
neglected to even attempt to keep his voice down.

She bit her lip. “Both.”

Impertinent chit. “Why?”

“
Why what?”

“
Why,” he roared, “do you
refuse to tell me the whereabouts of my fiancée? The woman I intend
to marry today. The woman I compromised last night. The woman
you’ve treated as your bosom friend these last months. The woman
you’ve been virtually inseparable from, and therefore whose welfare
you must care about a great deal.”

“
Because she asked me not
to tell you.”

He heaved a sigh and dragged a hand—a
hand that was desperately itching to box something—through his
hair. “And why did she ask such a favor of you?”

“
You would have to ask Jane
that question.”

The urge to strike a woman had never
consumed so fully him before now. Not ever. He took two steps back
to be certain not to give in to his instincts. “I can’t very well
ask her if I don’t know where she is, can I?”

“
No, I suppose
not.”

He had to give Sophie some credit.
Most men would have cowered in fear from him, the way he was
bellowing and raging at her. But she sat there, unwavering. Her
eyes widened a time or two, but she never even flinched.

Jane had clearly won his sister’s
devotion. While he was glad she had a friend so fully in her court,
now was not the time for such antics.

“
Peter, why are you so
upset she’s gone?” Sophie asked. “You ought to be relieved. She
granted you a reprieve.”

“
A reprieve?” he roared.
“From what?” Good God, Sophie was acting like an utter
nitwit.

“
From a marriage which,
obviously, neither of you wants. Your first marriage was just that.
Jane is simply making certain that you aren’t stuck in the same
circumstances as before—in a loveless marriage.”

“
It won’t be a loveless
marriage. It won’t be the same as before.”

She stood and faced him with shrewd,
narrowed eyes. “You admit it, then?”

“
Admit what?” Could she not
give him an inkling as to what she was talking about? He would
never understand how or why women felt the need to talk in circles
instead of just getting to the root of the issue.

“
Mama,” Sophie asked, “did
you hear him?” She turned to their mother, who had stood quietly
and watched the scene unfold up to that moment.

Mama’s face glowed with joy. Good God,
how could she be happy now, when his entire world—everything he’d
planned—was falling apart around him?

“
Yes. I heard him.” She
moved toward them and took Sophie’s hand in her own. “That is just
splendid.”

“
What’s going on?” The
women in his life were determined to be the death of him. And if he
didn’t take care, they might just succeed.

“
Calm down,” said Sophie.
“I’ll tell you where Jane has gone. But we’ll have to come up with
a plan to convince her to return before I tell you, because I know
you. As soon as you know where she is, you’ll barrel out the door
and try to force your way inside. And that, dear brother, will
never serve your cause with her.”

His head throbbed. “What have I done
to change your mind?” Nothing made sense.

“
Oh, nothing really. And
everything.”

“
You love her, Peter,” Mama
said. “You love Jane.”

“
I...” Love her? Mama must
be addled. There was no possibility he could love a woman who made
him want to leap from a cliff with such regularity. But then,
hadn’t he realized just that last night? That despite her
propensity to push him toward insanity, he loved her?

“
Mama, we shouldn’t push
him. He’ll get there in time.” Sophie winked and tried to hide it
from him, but did a poor job of the task.

“
Enough!” Blast, now he was
yelling at his mother and sister. “You said we needed a plan to
convince her to come back. So, what will convince her?” This had
better not take long. Devil take it, he still had to go to her,
wherever she was, convince her to come back, and then get to the
church so they could marry. And he still planned to do it all
today. Why wait?

“
She thinks you look at her
as an obligation,” Sophie said.

“
She is one of my
responsibilities. She will be even more so once we
marry.”

His sister frowned up at him. “Jane
despises that. She wants to be able to take care of
herself.”

Take care of herself? Countless ideas
began to course through his mind about how she intended to go about
such an endeavor. Yes, she’d been raised in the country, and not in
an aristocratic family. But she would never have to work as his
wife.

He could only pray that she had not
resorted to the worst of his many ideas. Surely she
wouldn’t.

Peter shook his head. “How am I
supposed to use this to change her mind about anything,
Sophie?”

“
We
need to convince her that she’ll still be able to take care of
herself, even if she is married to you. And that you look at her as
more than just something else to add to your list of
duties.”

Sophie had likely filled Jane’s head
with all sorts of madcap, Bluestocking ideas and the like. She
couldn’t possibly have come up with her scheme on her
own.

“
If she is my wife, it is
my responsibility to take care of her. To see that she never wants
for anything.”

“
But for Jane, that’s
different than it is for most ladies bred to be part of the
ton
, Peter. She’s been
quite patient since she arrived here to stay with us, accepting the
fact that servants would now do for her things she feels perfectly
capable of doing for herself. Why, I even convinced her to allow
Meg to go with her, and I intended to hire her a butler, as well.
This all goes against her nature.”

“
Hire her a butler?” Good
God, where had she gone? Peter shook his head. It didn’t matter.
“So what am I supposed to do?” He feared he would never understand
his sister’s rambling.

“
You need to give her some
responsibilities, as well. She needs to feel useful.” Sophie put
her hands on her hips and gave him a curt nod.

“
Such as?”

She sighed dramatically. “You expect
me to do it all for you. I told you what she needs. You figure out
the specifics.”

He scowled. “Fine. Now where is
she?”

“
Come with me. I’ll take
you to her.” Sophie started out the door, then stopped to look over
her shoulder. “Are you coming? And you should come as well, Mama.
We might need you.”

For the first time, he thought his
mother might be on to something. Perhaps Sophie should be married.
Soon.

Then she could be some other sod’s
problem, and no longer his.

Chapter
Seventeen

“
Stop the carriage here,”
Sophie said.

The brief journey through Mayfair to
Bond Street had commenced in silence. Peter had hardly been able to
bring himself to look at either his mother or his sister the entire
time, out of fear that he would once again berate them for this
blasted secret code which he could not seem to break.

Once the driver pulled to a stop,
Peter took a look around in dismay. Bond Street? This was no place
for Jane to live. Yes, it was Mayfair. But these were shops, clubs,
businesses. Not homes.

At least if she was here, however, she
hadn’t resorted to selling herself. Perhaps she thought to use a
skill. She might have asked for a position with one of the business
owners on the street, he supposed.

Not that Peter had any sense of skills
that Jane might have. Or did he? She’d mentioned sewing before. Was
she planning to work for Miss Jenkins or one of the other modistes?
He truly didn’t know her very well at all if he couldn’t even sort
this out. He only knew that she ignited his lust faster than should
be physically possible, while at the same time making him want to
throttle her.

He climbed down once the steps were
set out and then assisted Mama and Sophie in doing the
same.

“
Where?” was all he could
manage without losing the tight rein of control he held over his
temper.

Sophie pulled a scrap of parchment
from her reticule. She scanned it for a moment before scouring the
numbers on the buildings. “Here. This is the one. Number
Fourteen.”