Rebel Enchantress (47 page)

Delilah didn’t need Nathan to tell her the humiliation he must have endured. His face went blank, like a mask, all lines of expression smoothed away, and his voice was even, low pitched, dead, as if he were telling a story that bored him slightly. His eyes, focused on something she couldn’t see, were empty.

He was like a living shell.

“The earl, shouting that he would ruin me, had me thrown out of the house. By the next day all my commissions had been withdrawn. There wasn’t a footman in town who would allow me to leave my card. It was as if I had never existed.”

Nathan was silent for a few minutes.

“I went to work for my father, as I should have in the beginning. I may be a good painter, but I’m a good businessman, too. Unfortunately, we discovered this too late. We were at war with the colonies then, and other merchants refused to give them credit. My father thought the colonies would lose and all accounts would be collected by the British army. He gave credit to everyone who wanted it. By the time he realized his mistake, it was too late. I held things together for a time, but in the end we lost everything. Even though I begged him not to, my father wrote his noble brother-in-law, but the earl refused to answer his letters. He even put an announcement in the
Times
saying he would not be responsible for my father’s debts. My parents died of shame and poverty.”

“So that’s why you hate Americans so much.”

“I used to think it was their canceled debts that ruined my father, but I realize now he ruined himself. He was too concerned with pushing me into the upper class to pay proper attention to his affairs. And he made a bad business decision because he wanted to make a lot of money fast.”

“And your painting?”

“I only began the portrait when I thought I would never have you.”

“I think you ought to finish it. Not just because of me. You ought to be very proud you can create something as beautiful as that.”

“Do you really like it?”

“Very much.”

“I’ll think about it. In the meantime, it’s time for your nap. You’ll never become strong again without your rest.”

“But I’m always sleeping. Can’t I stay up a little longer?”

“Not today. If you continue to do so well, Mrs. Stebbens says you can start getting up for a few hours tomorrow.”

“Mrs. Stebbens has nothing to do with it. It’s you, and don’t think I don’t know it.”

Nathan grinned, not at all abashed at being found out. “We worked it out together.”

“Bosh,” Delilah said, but she took her nap.

Jane came over in an ox cart.

“I want to see my sister-in-law,” she announced to Mrs. Stebbens. “I know she’s here.”

“Sit yourself down,” Mrs. Stebbens said. “You don’t look like you ought to be out and about.”

“I’ve got to see Delilah.”

“You might as well take a seat. Nobody’s going to see Miss Delilah without Mr. Nathan says so.”

“She’s my sister-in-law,” Jane began.

“Then you ought to keep her at home instead of letting her go about in blizzards. Sit down. I ain’t going to hurt you.”

Jane sat.

“Now you enjoy a nice cup of coffee while I go find Mr. Nathan. It’s a nasty cold day out, it surely is.”

Nathan entered the kitchen in less than a minute. Mrs. Stebbens discreetly remained in the butler’s pantry.

“I’m Jane Stowbridge, and I’ve come to take Delilah home,” Jane announced the minute Nathan stepped through the door.

Nathan didn’t bother to fence. “How did you know Delilah was here? I’ve strictly forbidden anyone to breathe a word.”

I guessed. I got a message from Reuben, saying he was all right and not to worry but that I was to keep Delilah from going after him again. I knew then she’d left Pelham. This was the only place between our farm and Pelham she could be.”

“As long as she was alive and able to get here.”

“Nothing’s happened to Delilah, has it?”

“Yes, something did. She nearly died.”

Jane went dead white. “And now?”

“She still has to spend most of the day in bed, but she’s recovering. I don’t think she’ll have any permanent damage, but I’m worried about her lungs. She has a persistent cough.”

“I’ll see she gets the best possible care once I get her home.”

“You may see her, on conditions, but she’s not going anywhere until I’m satisfied she’s fully recovered.”

Jane’s expression hardly changed, but her indignation was easy to see. “May I remind you she’s my family, Mr. Trent. Not yours.”

Nathan’s eyes grew hard. “Pity you didn’t remember that before you let her go off to Pelham.”

“I was ill. I didn’t know.”

“It was your business to know.”

No one, most especially a stranger, had ever taken Jane to task for anything. She could only stare at Nathan in surprise.

“I’m taking care of her now. As soon as she’s strong enough, we’re going to be married.”

Jane’s body stiffened, and her eyes grew cold and hard. “I wasn’t aware she had accepted an offer from you.”

“It seems to me, ma’am, that all you are aware of is your husband and your hatred of anybody he hates.”

“I won’t sit here and be talked to like this.”

“You will if you want to see Delilah. I won’t have you upsetting her by making her feel it’s her duty to be home, waiting on you hand and foot. You’re going to tell her she should stay right where she is until she’s completely well. You’re going to tell her you can do without her for a while longer. And you aren’t going to tell her anything about Reuben that will upset her.”

“And if I don’t agree?”

“You’re welcome to some more coffee before you leave.”

Jane studied Nathan carefully, but she couldn’t see much of the man Delilah had described. He looked just as cold and implacable as Ezra Buel ever did. It was easy to believe they were kin.

Jane made up her mind. “I dislike you, and I don’t trust you, but I’ll do as you wish because I believe you have Delilah’s best interest at heart. And because I believe you will do what you can to insure her reputation is unharmed.”

“Delilah has done nothing to be ashamed of.”

“After being here alone with you for a week, I doubt the rest of the world would agree.”

“The rest of the world can go to hell, which is where I’ll send anyone who tries to hurt Delilah.”

“Tm her sister-in-law. I love her.”

“Prove it by trying to think of her first instead of Reuben or yourself.”

Nathan didn’t think much of Jane, but he had to give her credit. She’d taken his accusations without flinching. The woman had plenty of courage. Why hadn’t she used it instead of bleeding Delilah dry?

“Jane,” Delilah cried happily when Nathan ushered her sister-in-law into the room. “You shouldn’t have come to see me. What about your condition?”

Jane was shocked to see Delilah looking so pale and weak.

“I’m fine. I came in the cart. How are you feeling?”

“Much better. If Nathan’s not after me to rest or eat some soup, Mrs. Stebbens is up here making sure I don’t get out of bed for as much as a glass of water. I’ll be thoroughly spoiled by the time I’m better. I won’t be fit for work. How is Reuben?” Her face tightened with worry.

“He’s fine. I don’t know where he is just now, but I’ve heard no reports of fighting.”

Delilah relaxed. “Maybe there won’t be any more. Now tell me about the boys. Daniel was trying so hard to act like a little man.”

Nathan left the two women to catch up on family news, but he made a note of the time. Jane would get twenty minutes and not a second more, even if she did have to travel nearly an hour each way.

Still, he would have to make some pretense of feeling more charitably toward Jane. Delilah loved her family, and if he didn’t want to give her pain, he must do his best to get along with them. But the Stowbridges would have to do some of the giving. And they weren’t going to keep plaguing her the rest of her life. If he had to, he’d take Delilah someplace where she’d never see them again.

“She seems weak still, but she’s in good spirits,” Jane said when she met Nathan in the downstairs hall.

“She nearly died. She’s lucky to be alive.”

“I appreciate the care you’ve given her.”

“Damnation, Nathan cursed. “I didn’t do it for your appreciation or out of Christian charity or any other laudable reason. I did it because I love her. Why is it so hard for you and your husband to believe that?”

Jane’s expression didn’t change. “At least you’ve made her stay in bed. It’s more than I could have done.”

Nathan’s attitude softened a little. “It’s easier here. At home she would want to help. Here she knows we won’t let her lift so much as a spoon.”

“Can I see her again?”

“Come anytime. I’ll send the buggy for you. I only ask that you do not tire or upset her.”

“It may seem hard for you to believe, Mr. Trent, but we love her, too. We just see her differently. I’m used to her being a tower of strength. You see her as someone fragile to be protected. I suppose both of us might be right.”

“It doesn’t look the way I remembered it,” Delilah said. Nathan had brought his easel into the bedroom so he could put the finishing touches on her portrait.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing. I can’t put my finger on it, but it’s different somehow”

Nathan thought it wiser not to tell Delilah he had redone the painting as a portrait of the woman who had nearly died in his arms. Someday, if she asked, if she guessed … he knew he would tell her regardless, but not today.

“Where will you hang it when it’s finished?”

“In the drawing room if you think it’s good enough. In the attic if it’s not.”

“I wouldn’t let you hide it in the attic”

Nathan stepped back, decided the last stroke had achieved what he wanted and dropped the brush into a jar of cleaner. “I’d burn it if I thought you didn’t like it.”

I’d keep it even if I hated it. I never thought anybody would paint a picture of me. That only happens to truly important people.”

“And women whose future husbands happen to be portrait painters”

“Are you really going to be my husband?” she asked. “I know we’ve talked about it, but … ”

“I keep asking, and you keep refusing—you’re a very stubborn woman—so I decided to keep you here until you agree to my outrageous demands”

“Do you mean I’m well enough to go home?”

“You are home”

“You know what I mean.”

“You’re well enough for just about anything except going back to Jane and the boys.”

“You’re not just saying that to keep me here?”

“Would it?”

“No, not if they needed me. But if you wanted me to stay …”

Nathan was at Delilah’s side instantly. “I’ve never wanted anything more. I would marry you tomorrow if I could”

“We can’t; Delilah said with a happy laugh. “We have to post the banns first.”

“I know”

“I can’t stay here after that.”

“Are you still worried about what people will say?”

“Not really. I could have had you take me home that next morning, or have asked Jane to stay with me, if I’d been concerned about wagging tongues. I didn’t suggest it because I knew Jane would probably stay, and I so desperately wanted you all to myself, even if it was to be for just a little while.”

Nathan’s happiness disappeared.

“Just a little while? You’re not thinking of going away again, are you?”

“I have to go, but I’m coming back this time.”

“You won’t let anybody stand in your way?”

“That’s what I wanted to tell you that night. I knew then I loved you more than anyone else in the world. I couldn’t explain that to Jane, though she feels the same about Reuben.”

“I know. She doesn’t see how you can love me.”

“I’m afraid she’ll always feel that way. Reuben, too”

“If you can accept Serena and Priscilla, I can accept Reuben and Jane.” Nathan sat next to her on the bed, put his arms around her, and drew her close. “We have strange families, the two of us.”

Delilah put her arms around him. “I don’t want to think of our families or the war or anything—except us.”

Nathan feathered a kiss on her cheek.

“And you can stop treating me as if I’m made of porcelain. I may have gotten a little too cold, but I’m plenty warm now.”

Nathan didn’t need a second invitation. They fell back on the bed, wrapped in each other’s arms. “I was afraid you might not be strong enough.”

“I know. I decided if I didn’t say something, you might never touch me again.”

Nathan kissed the delicate shell of her ear. “You like my touch?”

“Very much,” Delilah said, turning her head to make it easier for him to continue his attentions. “I’ve been thinking about it for days.”

“And I’ve been thinking about touching you ever since I saw you,” Nathan admitted. His tongue played along the edge of Delilah’s ear sending shivers of delight all through her body. Her stomach knotted and then shot tendrils of delicious tension into every muscle. Now Nathan was blowing gently on the wisps of hair behind her ear and along the side of her neck. More shivers, more tendrils of tension, until she squirmed away from him. But the harder she tried to twist away, the more Nathan tormented her until she captured his teasing lips in a hungry kiss.

“You know that drives me crazy,” she said in a breathless whisper.

“Not half as crazy as being next to you for months and not being able to touch you,” Nathan replied, once more snuggling in the crook of her neck.

“You did touch me”

“If I had touched you the way I wanted to, we would have created a scandal that would have been heard from here to Boston.”

“Oh,” Delilah replied. She turned to face Nathan and blocked his path to her tortured ear.

But Nathan did not give up so easily. He kissed the tip of her nose and then gently kissed her closed eyes. His tongue bathed her eyelids in soothing warmth. His fingertips traced the line of her cheekbone; his lips followed with a trail of kisses. Delilah tried to recapture his mouth, but Nathan seemed famished for the taste of her body. His tongue traced arabesques down one shoulder, then made a gentle arc back until it arrived at the mound of her breasts.

“It’s only fair for what you did to me with those tight breeches,” Delilah managed to say. “I couldn’t take my eyes off you.”