Regency Rakes 02 - Rescued By A Viscount (26 page)

“Good morning, Lord Kelkirk.”

“Plimley.” Simon nodded. The man really was too good-looking. Even he felt flustered in his presence. Louis just stared in wonder at the Adonis as he stood aside to let them enter. “We are here to see, Miss Belmont, please.”

The butler gave him a gentle smile. “If you will follow me, I will take you to her.”

“Before we do, Plimley, can I thank you for caring for Miss Belmont for the years you have known her?” Simon felt someone needed to thank the man for his support of Claire, and as her family did not know of her sleeplessness, he thought it was up to him.

The butler stopped briefly. He didn’t turn but gave a deep sigh before simply nodding his head and continuing on.

Interesting, Simon thought, following his very straight back. Did the man have no faults? His voice didn’t annoy and his appearance was stunning. Perhaps he had one toe that turned in, or maybe his ears were over large. Moving closer, Simon saw the perfectly shaped ears and dismissed the last. Plimley was not alerting Claire that they were here. In fact, he was taking them right to her, which was another point in the man’s favor. He wondered if it was a chore to be so perfect? Simon had certainly never perfected the art. He heard the raised voices then, as they reached a closed door. There was both a male and a female voice, and he guessed the latter belonged to Claire, as he didn’t think Lady Belmont could yell like that.

“You are a hypocrite, Mathew. You sit in the House of Lords and work for the poor, bringing attention to the conditions in which they are forced to live and work, yet you cannot even take the time to acknowledge your brother’s child.”
Definitely Claire
, Simon thought.

“You defied me, Claire, and traveled to Liverpool alone. You have brought shame on this family.”

Releasing Louis, Simon lowered his feet to the ground.

“Stay with the handsome man now, Louis, and he will take you to the kitchens for some food. All will go well,” he added as the boy shot a worried look at the door behind which Claire was arguing with her brother. He couldn’t understand what was being said, but he understood the anger behind the words.

“Aunt Claire is all right, Louis. I promise you.”

The boy took Plimley’s hand then, and the butler led him away.

“I did what you should have done, Mathew. What your responsibility as head of this family should have been.” Claire’s voice was lower now; she was no longer shrieking at her brother.

“You are a disgrace, sister. No man will have you now, and I demand you leave London at once. I wish never to set eyes on you again!”

Simon opened the door on those words, the handle crashing into the wall as he pushed it wide. No one, not even her brother, spoke to Claire like that. Stalking forward, he passed his now open-mouthed betrothed and grabbed her brother by the shirt front. “I will have her, Belmont. She is to be my wife, and you had best watch how you speak to her in the future.”

“Wife?”

Simon released the man to prevent himself from planting a fist in his face. It would not be a good start to his nuptials if he struck his future brother-in-law.

“Your sister has a heart bigger than any I know. She is brave and beautiful, and you should be bloody worshiping her. She went to collect Louis because he is your brother Anthony’s son, Belmont, and she is willing to give up everything in her life just to secure the child’s safety. Have you no idea of her worth?”

Before him, Mathew Belmont seemed to wilt before his eyes.

“How dare you treat her so callously? She is worth ten of any lady I know.”

“You wish to marry my sister?” Belmont whispered.

“I do, and Louis will live with us.” Simon did not look at Claire but heard her sniff. “Would you turn your back on your nephew, Belmont, because he was unfortunate enough to be born out of wedlock? Are you like so many of the others who live among us, a shameful bigot just because you were lucky to be born on the right side of the sheets?”

Ashen now, Mathew looked at his sister.

Simon looked at her, too. Her skin was pale and her eyes over bright. She was close to tears but apparently reluctant to let her brother see her shed them. Her close-fitting riding habit hugged the body he now knew intimately. Her hair was plaited in two long tails, with one sitting higher than the other on her head, which suggested she had done the job herself. She still wore her dirty boots, and in his eyes, she had never looked more beautiful.

“Simon, you should have stayed with Louis and your aunt and uncle. Coming here and saying what you have–”

“We will marry, Claire, so it would be in your interest to get used to the idea, and Louis is with me–in fact he is in your kitchen with Plimley.”

“You brought him to London?”

“He would not let me leave without him. He wanted to see his aunt, who, incidentally, I’m bloody furious with. How dare you run from me again?”

“I thought it best–”

“Well, stop thinking,” Simon snapped. “It only makes you do idiotic things.”

She flew around the desk and into his arms so fast, he stumbled backwards several steps.

“Thank you, oh thank you so much for…well, everything.”

He held her face in his hands. “We will wed, Claire. I’ll have your word.”

“But you do not wish it.” He saw the vulnerability again, the belief that she was not worthy.

“I wish it with everything inside me, sweetheart,” Simon said, kissing her. “Now go and collect your nephew. Your brother and I need to talk.”

“Is he really Anthony’s child, Claire?” Mathew Belmont sat now, and he looked suddenly a lost man.

“Yes, Mathew, he is.”

“Go now, sweetheart. Louis will be scared alone with strangers. Give us a few minutes, and then bring him back to meet his uncle.”

“I won’t let him hurt him, Simon.”

“He’s a good man, Claire–you know he is,” Simon said, knowing Belmont was listening. He hoped he was right. She nodded, and then he watched as she ran from the room. He walked to the chair on the other side of the desk and sat, giving Belmont a few moments with his thoughts.

Lifting his head, Mathew Belmont stared at him for several seconds before nodding. “I don’t understand how you came to be involved in any of this, Kelkirk.”

Simon sat forward, looking steadily at Claire’s brother. “I intercepted her as she was about to get on the stagecoach for Liverpool.”

“Dear god.” The man was now whiter than the paper on his desk.

“Precisely.”

“What happened to your face?”

“I got these protecting your sister,” Simon said, deciding it wouldn’t hurt Belmont to hear a few details, even if he modified them slightly.

“Dear god,” he said again, however this time it was a hoarse whisper.

“I will marry your sister as soon as can be arranged,” Simon said, making sure the man understood his claim on Claire.

“Should I ask why?” Suddenly, Mathew Belmont was a brother. His eyes narrowed as he glared at Simon, who was glad to see evidence of emotion because it meant he cared.

“No.”

Neither man looked away until finally Mathew said. “I could not have chosen better for her, Lord Kelkirk. Thank you.”

Simon had thought about this conversation on the way to London, and he believed it was time to rid this family of their secrets. Only then would they start to heal the wounds left by their brother’s death and the years of misunderstandings and indifference. He hoped Claire would understand why he was doing it and forgive him. Simon knew the importance of family, and deep inside, he suspected Claire did, too. “Did you know your sister doesn’t sleep, Belmont? That she walks these halls for hours until dawn? She has not slept well since Anthony’s death.”

“Anthony once mentioned it to me. However I did not ask Claire until recently if she still suffered, and she did not give me an answer.”

“She rigidly controls everything else in her life because only then can she get through each day.”

“How do you know these things?” Once again, his eyes were narrowed, and he had half risen from his chair.

“A little late now for brotherly concern, don’t you think, Belmont? And how I found out is not the concern, only that I did.”

Belmont sank back into his chair. “She has been looking tired lately.”

“Perhaps if you had looked a little further than the end of your nose, you would have seen how much she needed you,” Simon snapped.

Simon vowed then and there that he would never treat Claire so carelessly. Their marriage would not be starting under ideal circumstances, but then neither had Eva and Daniel’s, and look at them. She would know she had a husband who cared for her, Simon vowed.

“Why didn’t she tell me?” Mathew Belmont whispered. “I would have helped her.”

“You’ll need to ask your sister that, Belmont, because right now I want to discuss our wedding.”

Louis smiled as Claire entered the kitchens. He was sitting on a bench and had two maids and Plimley dancing attendance on him, all trying to get him to talk by tempting him with cake.

“Thank you all for looking after Louis.”

“Tis our pleasure, Miss Belmont. He’s a sweet little boy.”

“Thank you, Plimley. Yes he is.”

Lifting Louis down, Claire saw the questions in the eyes of the maids and butler, and she knew there would be talk soon. Squaring her shoulders, she took her nephew’s hand and made her way back upstairs.

Claire’s ride to London had left her muscles aching and her head a mass of turbulent thoughts. She had hoped the time alone would give her clarity, yet she was more conflicted than ever. She loved Simon–there was no doubt in her mind about that–and the thought of marrying him was a dream she knew with only a few words she could put into reality. But did he really wish to marry her? He’d said he did and she wanted to believe him. They needed to talk alone so she could be sure his insistence was not motivated by honor.

“We are seeing Simon?”

“Yes, Louis, we will see Simon.” She squeezed his hand gently.

Her interview with Mathew had started well enough, with him showing concern over her early return and asking what had occurred. Then things had steadily grown worse as she’d explained where she had been. Simon had arrived when Mathew had started yelling, and his words had warmed her. He had said her heart was bigger than any he knew and that she was brave and beautiful.

Approaching her brother’s study, she heard only the rumble of male voices, yet no yelling. Surely that was a good thing? Leading Louis in, she found her brother and Simon seated, conversing with each other over Mathew’s desk. Simon rose and came to her as she approached.

“Have you eaten all the food in the kitchens, Louis?”

The boy flashed a small smile and nodded.

“I will surely have to seek employment to keep my pantry stocked, then.”

“Dear Christ, he is the image of Anthony as a child, Claire.” The words were a hoarse whisper from behind Simon. Claire picked up Louis and held him close.

“Introduce Louis to his uncle, Claire.” Simon brushed her cheek with a warm hand as he spoke, and she wanted to lean into him and feel his strength. “He will not hurt either of you, and if he does, I will kill him.”

The words were spoken in jest, yet Claire knew if Mathew said or did anything Simon did not like, then he would make the man pay, and it was that knowledge that gave her the strength to leave his side and face her brother.

“Louis, say hello to your uncle.”

Mathew came to meet Claire as she moved around the desk. “His eyes are identical.” The wonder in Mathew’s words mirrored those of Claire’s when first she’d met the boy. “It is as if Anthony is here in this room with us.”

Louis let Mathew place a hand on his head as her brother came to terms with what was before him. She saw that his fingers shook as he slid them down one soft cheek and cupped Louis’s chin. “Will you ever forgive me for my ignorance, Claire? For nearly losing him and the chance to let Anthony’s legacy live on in our lives?”

It was the tear that rolled down his cheek that undid her. Her strong brother, the man who seemed to need no one or nothing, was crying. “I only said what I did to protect you and mother. I never truly thought a child existed, Claire. I need you to believe that.”

“Mathew, we have a nephew,” was all Claire said as she leaned into him with Louis. “He’s ours to love, brother, and it is my belief that he has not had much love in his past, so we have much to make up for.”

She felt his arms wrap around them, and his cheek rested on top of her head. “I will make it up to you, Claire—to both of you,” he vowed.

“There is nothing to make up, Mathew. We start with our future now—today. The past, we leave behind.”

She felt his lips in her hair. “Yes, Claire, we start to live today.”

Sniffing, Claire stood once more. “He speaks only French, Mathew, so we have much to teach him.”

“Hello, Louis,” Mathew said in faultless French.

“Hello,” Louis replied in his gruff little voice.

“How old is he?”

“Six, we believe,” Simon said, coming to her side.