What social trials might she have experienced that she exhibited such cynicism? And why would such a beauty have to go to such lengths to marry?
Once the reception was finished, they would be having a long conversation. ****
Katherine focused her attention on Matthew’s stock as he smoothed back a stray curl from her cheek and tucked it behind her ear. She tried to relax beneath his
touch, to appear normal when he focused his attention on her, but it was difficult when the experience was so new.
At the prison, his lack of fear in the face of the Hicks’s enmity had made her doubt the wisdom of a partnership with him, but at the time, she had not had any other choice. Now faced with the strong, self-assured, devastatingly handsome man he had become, she knew she had made a mistake. If he held a grudge to the death, how would he respond when he discovered a woman had once more betrayed him? How would he react to sharing his name with a woman whose reputation had been sullied? How would he feel when he discovered he had married a woman no longer a virgin?
She shuddered. Betrayed by Lady Rudman, he had lost his freedom for nearly three months. Married to a woman who had lied by omission, he would feel even more trapped—if they could not dissolve the marriage.
No matter what happened, she would not hold him to the contract. She had struck a bargain; her reputation might be in tatters, but her honor was still intact. When his supplies were loaded aboard his ship, and he had assembled his crew, she would wish him on his way—if she were around to do so.
First, she had to get through this reception. As they congregated in the dining room for a meal, she skimmed the faces of the twelve couples who made up the party.
Some she had met at her uncle’s house, others were strangers. All seemed to view the marriage with—for lack of a better word, shock.
Matthew held her chair for her and slid it forward when she was seated. She caught the sullen expression on Lady Rudman’s face from across the table. The woman’s blond, tightly curled locks hung against her shoulder like fat caterpillars crawling across the deep emerald gown she wore. Her green eyes held an arrogance that hinted at challenge whenever she looked at Katherine.
In her opinion, Matthew’s rejection of the woman showed good judgment, but his continued gestures of affection toward his new bride lacked wisdom. “You are courting disaster, Captain,” she said in a hushed tone as he ran his thumb over the back of the hand he held. “You are encouraging her to make a scene.”
He smiled. “That will be her husband’s problem, not mine.”
“No, it shan’t, it will be mine. It will be I who will be trapped in the parlor with her while you gentlemen are smoking your cigars and drinking your brandy after the meal.”
He studied her, something in his gaze sharp and probing. “If it comes to a contest of wills, I’ll place my money on you. Any woman who would brave a prison in search of a groom is made of much sterner stuff than Jacqueline Rudman.”
She drew a deep breath. “The point is not whether or not I can handle her jibes, Captain. It’s whether or not I am willing to. It is not very complimentary to either of us that you are showering me with attention only to pique her jealousy.”
He cocked his head his expression intent. “Would you rather I ignored you and caused a wave of speculation among your friends?”
“These are not my friends,” she said with more fierceness than she intended.
“Are they Edward’s then?”
“Yes.”
He nodded, his black brows drawn into a frown.
For months, she had endured public speculation, rumor, and innuendo. She had ignored the men’s insults, deflected the women’s attempts to divine information, and learned to show a calm immobile face in numerous socially uncomfortable situations. He would invite all those things if he continued and Jacqueline Rudman caused a scene.
He would soon discover he had taken on more than he bargained for when he became aware of her situation.
She owed him something in return for that at least.
She leaned close as though to whisper in his ear, her cheek nearly brushing his. “I understand your desire for revenge, but what are you willing to risk to gain it?” She drew back to look into his face.
He rested a forearm on the table at the same time he caught her hand. He toyed with her fingers as he studied her features. As the pale blue intensity of his gaze settled on her face, an airless feeling filled her chest, and it
became difficult for her to draw a full breath.
“Certainly not my freedom again or my family.” His voice sounded husky alerting her to the fact that he too felt the tug of attraction between them.
She looked across the table at Lord Rudman in conversation with her uncle. “Then leave it. Go back to America and try to forget the past three months. As horrible and humiliating as it has been, it was just a temporary inconvenience. You will have your ship and the money and you will have your life back.” If she could go back to what had been before, she might forget her own quest for justice. But as much as she wished it otherwise, nothing would ever be the same. She no longer had a reputation or a family to lose. The advice she offered him could not apply to her.
“When do you plan to return to America, Captain Hamilton?” Jacqueline Rudman jumped into the lull.
Katherine was grateful, for her groom was looking at her with more and more interest as their conversation progressed.
“Within the month,” Lord Rudman answered for him.
Matthew’s expression hardened instantly and Katherine placed a hand upon his sleeve in warning.
Jacqueline’s light brown brows rose. “That leaves little time for you and your bride to enjoy being entertained as a couple.”
The thought of dealing with the normal social situations their marriage might encourage brought a knot of anxiety to her stomach. “Less than you know, Lady Rudman. We must travel to Summerhaven to retrieve my clothing and a few other possessions before the voyage.” Edward, sitting at the opposite end of the table, flipped his hand in a prissy, dismissive gesture. “A servant could do that. There is really no need for you to travel to Birmingham to an empty house.” She tensed, surprised. “What do you mean by empty, Edward?”
“I have let the servants go and closed the house.
There was no need for it to remain open when no one was there.”
Anger, like molten lead, began to simmer inside her.
“Why would you do that?”
His beaky nose rose, his expression smug. “I had every right, my dear. It is after all part of my inheritance.”
Fighting back the emotion threatening to choke her, she kept her features under taut control.
“You do not have any use for my apparel, Uncle.” She leaned forward to study him with a purposely speculative light in her gaze. “Do you?”
Edward’s face turned red, and he answered in an indignant tone. “Of course not. If it is so important to you, you may send someone to fetch your things from Summerhaven.”
She held her tongue with an effort. She would be going to Summerhaven if she had to walk. No one would be going in her stead.
She turned to find Matthew watching the exchange.
He leaned back in his chair, his long lean frame settling into a relaxed slouch, his arm resting on the back of the Chippendale chair in which she sat.
“I don’t mind accompanying Katherine if she wishes to go. There may be things a servant would find difficult to locate.”
A smile leaped to her lips as quickly as Edward’s smirk died from his.
“If you are to leave within a month, Captain Hamilton, you have precious little time to spend collecting Katherine’s possessions,” Edward said.
“I think I can spare the few days that the trip there and back will take.”
Containing her relief and satisfaction with an effort, Katherine nodded. “Thank you, Matthew. I appreciate your consideration.”
Edward set his wine glass aside. “Suit yourself, but the servants will not be there to see to your comfort.”
“I am sure we will manage, Uncle.” His sour look said he hoped they did not.
“Though I have servants in my home in Charleston, living on board ship six months out of the year has insured that I can manage my own care sufficiently.” Matthew toyed with loose curl on her shoulder. “I think I’ll even be able to assist Katherine in that as well.” Her cheeks burnt. The images that his suggestion
brought to mind stole her breath and made it impossible for her to meet his gaze.
“Matthew, you must not tease Katherine so.” Clarisse flashed him an admonishing frown from down the table.
He offered Katherine a smile. “My apologies, sweetheart.” He raised her hand to his lips to brush her knuckles with a kiss.
She wished the warm moist heat of his lips did not inspire her limbs to go weak as warm butter.
“Will Mrs. Hamilton be traveling with you on board your ship?” one of the other women asked from down the table.
“No. This will be my last voyage as a sea captain.
Now that I’m wed, I’ll be settling into married life and concentrating on being a husband and father.” Her lips parted in surprise. She wondered if he truly intended to give up his ship after all he had gone through to get it back.
“Would it please you to have me underfoot and at your disposal, Katherine?”
She had been toyed with enough. She pretended to straighten his immaculately tied stock and offered him a smile. “It is a relief to know that you will be settling down. No woman wishes to think her husband enjoys being away from her for nearly half a year at a time.”
“You seem such an adventurer, Captain Hamilton.” Jacqueline Rudman’s attention focused on Matthew, her expression projecting polite concern. “I hope life in America will not seem boring after life at sea.”
“I’m looking for challenges in other places now, Lady Rudman. I believe I’ll find it in marriage and fatherhood.
I’m sure Lord Rudman feels the same way.” Avery Rudman frowned, making his jowly bulldog features appear even less attractive. “Indeed, Hamilton.
Marriage is a challenge, but fatherhood sounds an equally worthy endeavor.”
Katherine bit the inside of her lip to contain a smile.
Lady Rudman appeared less than enamored with the idea.
Clarisse commented from her place at the foot of the table. “You and Lady Rudman have been married a reasonable amount of time, Avery. I am sure you would
both find it rewarding. With a family to see to, women look within their household for fulfillment and place less importance on the adventures of the exterior world.” Katherine met Lady Willingham’s gaze. When the woman winked at her, she bit her lip again. Some of the tension eased from her shoulders as she realized she had an ally in the room.
“Being unmarried I know precious little about parenthood, but I do know about the adventurous spirit.” At his words, she turned her attention to the man at her right and searched her memory for a name as she studied his square-jawed features. He appeared to be in his mid forties. His brows were heavy, his hair thick and wavy and barely contained within the black lace at the nape of his neck. His beard grew so dark a shadow colored the lower half of his face. She had earlier experienced a moment of recognition when introduced to him at the chapel, but she hadn’t been able to place where or when she had seen him before.
“I have made investments in America both before and after the war, Captain Hamilton. Profitable ventures. You are a lucky man to have captured one of our English beauties so easily, especially one with so illustrious a blood line who is willing to leave England for America.” She caught Edward’s satisfied smile and his attempt to straighten his posture.
The man continued. “I knew your uncle many years ago, Mrs. Hamilton. Lord John Wesley Pemberton was a fine soldier.”
She almost laughed aloud as Edward stiffened then frowned. “Thank you, sir. My mother was very proud of her brother.”
“He and my sister’s husband, Lord Ardsley, served together before his death. You have obviously inherited some of your uncle’s adventurous spirit if you are eager to leave England for climes unknown.” Something in the man’s smile caught and held Katherine’s attention.He seemed so familiar. “A woman must follow where her husband, and her heart, leads, Mr.
Drake.” she said, finally remembering his name. As his green eyes focused on her, anxiety knotted her belly. She reached out a hand and her fingers came to rest on her
groom’s long muscular thigh. Mortified, she started to jerk her hand away, but Matthew captured and held it in place with his own. He shot her a warning look and laced her fingers with his.
“You must call me Garrett, with your husband’s permission of course,” Drake bent his head in Matthew’s direction.
Matthew returned the gesture.
“It is a shame you are retiring from the sea, Captain Hamilton. We could have done business together. I have holdings in several export companies here in London.”
“Unfortunately, this will be my last trip, Mr. Drake. I have several business ventures of my own to run once I get home.”
“That is my loss then, I have heard you hold several records for your crossings between England and America.”
“That was in my first years of captaincy, not recently.”
Katherine studied her groom with renewed interest.
She had learned very early in life that a man’s desires, his drive to succeed, to control or possess, often lent an understanding to his character. As she studied the hard masculine planes of his face, a shiver of both heat and fear raced down her spine. The more she learned about her temporary husband, the more she wondered if perhaps she had made a bigger mistake than she realized.
“Shall we retire to my study for brandy and cigars, gentlemen?” Talbot rose from his seat at the head of the table.
Matthew followed suit with more haste than was probably polite. The reception had run on endlessly. Now the Rudmans and Edward lingered. He’d had more than enough of their company and wished them gone.
He observed his uncle’s guarded expression as Talbot closed the library door behind them. Matthew shifted his attention to Lord Rudman’s bullish features. A dark, powerful anger twisted inside him tightening his facial muscles and bringing knots of tension to his neck and shoulders. He drew a deep breath to ease the feeling and gain control of the emotion. Folding his hands behind him, he turned to the fire, and braced a foot on the hearth.