Regency Romance Collection From Christina Courtenay (9 page)

‘
Amelia, as you are aware, I’m heir to an earldom. This carries with it certain duties and responsibilities, including that of begetting an heir myself.’ Amelia felt her cheeks grow hot, but she remained silent. ‘At the time of our marriage, I despaired of finding anyone at such short notice and your offer came as a welcome surprise. However, I only checked your background briefly with those present at the ball and I have come to think that perhaps I acted rashly. I should have taken more time to satisfy myself as to your suitability.’

Amelia frowned.
‘Are you saying I’m not good enough to be your wife?’

‘No. Yes.
I mean, I don’t know – that’s the whole point. I know nothing about you really. The thing is, as and when you present me with an heir, I have to be sure that he is actually mine.’

‘
You are accusing me of unfaithfulness already?’ Amelia stood up, her fists clenched, ready for battle. She could not believe what she was hearing.

‘Not exactly.
What I’m saying is that you could already be carrying a child, intending to pass it off as mine.’ Amelia gasped, but he ignored her and continued with what sounded like a rehearsed speech. ‘I must make sure this is not the case. Therefore I have invited an eminent physician from Harley Street, Dr Augustus Harcourt, who is a specialist in obstetrics. He should be arriving later this afternoon and I would be very grateful if you would allow him to examine you.’ He stopped directly in front of her, fixing her with his gaze.

‘Of all the low-down … No!
I most certainly do not want to be examined by some stranger I’ve never met.’

‘
Amelia, please,’ he pleaded quietly. ‘I need to know that I haven’t been duped. I want to trust you, really I do, but a part of me tells me that I’ve acted like a fool and …’

‘
You most certainly have.’ Amelia was so angry, she hardly knew what to do with herself. ‘And to think I was beginning to like you. Hah! Very well, I will allow the good doctor to paw me, just to prove you wrong, but you can forget your heir in any case for I don’t ever wish to speak to you again. I shall seek an annulment.’

With her head held high, she turned and marched out of the room.

Dr Harcourt proved to be a very nice, rotund little man and the examination
, although intimate and hugely embarrassing to Amelia, was not painful in any way.

‘
You couldn’t possibly be carrying even a two-month old baby,’ he declared. ‘There is nothing there at all.’ When Amelia did not reply, he very wisely said no more, simply bowed courteously and took his leave, presumably to report his findings to Lord Demarr.

During the days that followed, Amelia made it perfectly clear to her husband that she
wanted nothing to do with him. She treated him coldly, hardly speaking to him at all unless asked a direct question. Although she hadn’t set the proceedings in motion as yet, she was still determined on an annulment. She knew it would break her heart to have to leave Marr Place. And she had no idea how she would tell the little girls.

How can I leave them now?

To her amazement, everyone in the house appeared to be siding with her and she guessed that somehow they had all
got wind of what had happened. She supposed it was inevitable that everyone in a house like this would know everything going on, but it was still disconcerting. The servants tiptoed about, giving James strange looks, and Jamieson even went so far as to frown at his master.

Lord Holt kept shaking his head every time he looked at his grandson and even the girls did not go out of thei
r way to talk to their father. They had understood that Amelia was angry with him for some reason, and they wanted her to be happy again. In the end, James took himself off to Westfield once more, muttering about ‘not being wanted in his own home’. Amelia breathed a sigh of relief, but she still didn’t send for a solicitor.

Two days later, Miss Keyes, her former governess, arrived at last to take up her new position. Amelia was delighted to see her, as they had been very close, and took her up to her room without delay.

‘
Well now, haven’t you landed on your feet young lady,’ Miss Keyes commented with a smile as she looked around her. ‘I never thought you’d end up a viscountess, not in my wildest dreams.’

‘
Neither did I, but much good it has done me, and it may not be the case for much longer.’ Amelia proceeded to tell her old friend and mentor everything that had happened, ending with the recent visit of the doctor, but to her surprise Miss Keyes did not take her side, as everyone else had.

‘
Your husband sounds like a very sensible man to me,’ she said.

‘Sensible?
Surely you don’t mean that you think him right in believing the worst of me?’ Amelia demanded indignantly.

‘
No, of course not, but one cannot but see why he felt he had to do what he did.’ Miss Keyes put her hand on Amelia’s arm in a soothing gesture. ‘You really did not know each very well, did you, and perhaps he has been hurt by a woman before. Did you not mention something about a scandal?’

‘Well, yes, but …’

‘Do you know any of the facts about it?’ Amelia shook her head, beginning to see her friend’s point. ‘Precisely. And with Sir Bernard going round telling all and sundry that you were his mistress, he did have cause to doubt you. Often there is no smoke without a fire, as they say.’

‘
But he shouldn’t have married me if he believed that,’ Amelia protested.

‘
Perhaps not, but you both acted rashly, did you not? You married him without knowing what scandal he had caused. I think you should give the poor man a chance to make it up to you. I’m sure everything will work out in the end.’

‘
I don’t know. I’ll think about it. Anyway, it’s lovely to have you here and I hope the girls will like you as much as I do.’

‘
Well, let’s go and meet them and find out.’

CHAPTER ELEVEN

When the doctor told him the verdict, James was aware of a feeling of great relief, but also shame tha
t he had not trusted his wife. She had never appeared to be the sort of woman who dissimulated, unlike his first wife, and he wished now that he had listened to his intuition where Amelia was concerned.

But now it was too late.

Sitting all alone at Westfield, night after night, he at first tried to drown his problems with brandy, but upon waking up for the third day in a row with a mammoth headache, he knew that was not the solution. There had to be some way of earning Amelia’s forgiveness, and the only way he would find out was to go back to Marr Place. He decided to ask his grandfather for advice. Amelia seemed to like the old man and James knew that Lord Holt was a wise old bird who missed nothing. If anyone knew what to do, it would be him.

Before he had time to do so, however, Amelia surprised him by demanding to speak to him the minu
te he walked through the door. It was as if she had been lying in wait to pounce on him the moment he returned.

‘Yes, of course. In the library?’

Amelia nodded. As soon as they were inside, with the door firmly closed, she turned to him, looking nervous, but determined. ‘We really cannot go on like this,’ she said. ‘The discord between us is affecting the children, and much as I appreciate their support, I feel it is wrong that they should take sides against their own father.’

‘
What exactly are you proposing that we do about it?’ he asked carefully.

‘
Well, I thought perhaps we could declare a truce and at least pretend to be friends again. After all, that was our original bargain, was it not? We could try to put what happened behind us.’

‘Could you do that?
Amelia, I swear I will never doubt you again. I am profoundly sorry for any hurt I caused you. I really wasn’t just thinking of myself, you know, but my family’s honour.’ He smiled ruefully. ‘I’m sure grandfather would say that was the first time I’ve done so, but I have never intentionally set out to damage my good name.’

Amelia held out her hand.
‘A truce then?’

‘
A truce,’ he agreed, clasping her hand with both his and wishing that he could take her into his arms instead. That would have to wait though, as he felt he had to somehow earn her trust again. ‘Perhaps we should take the children for a picnic this afternoon? It looks like a beautiful day and we can show them that we are friends again.’

‘That’s a good idea.
I’ll go and speak to cook immediately.’

Summer began in earnest and they had a few weeks of perfect sunshine, blue skies and only a slight breeze to stir things up a bit. After that first outing, they decided to take advantage of the weather and organised such trips almost every other day, sometimes alone with the children, sometimes accompanied by Lord Holt and Miss Keyes. There were plenty of things to see in the neighbouring countryside, beautiful vistas and shady forest glades, and they set out for these jaunts with picnic hampers filled to the brim by Cook.

The children relaxed again and blossomed in this new peaceful environment, and even began to call Amel
ia ‘Mama’ instead of her name. This pleased her greatly, of course, and James seemed happy with this as well.

‘
I am glad Chloe is not so timid any more,’ he commented one afternoon as they were lying side by side in the shade of a huge oak tree, watching the girls play with a ball nearby.

‘
Yes, she seems to have come out of her shell at last. It’s strange how different they are both in looks and temperament,’ Amelia added.

‘It’s not really that strange,’
James said slowly. ‘They are only half-sisters after all.’

‘What do you mean? Were you married twice before?’

‘No, but I’m afraid that my former wife was not entirely faithful to me. In fact, after she produced Mathilde, we never again shared a bed, so I know for a fact that Chloe is not mine.’

Amelia was speechless for a moment be
fore finding her tongue again. ‘And yet you acknowledged her as yours? That was very kind of you.’

‘Not really.
Since she is a girl, she doesn’t affect the succession of the earldom after all, and I simply could not bear to have her adopted or given to someone who may not care for her. I felt her place was with her sister and I have come to love her as much as I do my own child.’

Amelia
was amazed by his revelation. She had come to realise that he had a generous nature, but to take in another man’s bastard without ever differentiating between the children was truly noble in her eyes.

‘
I love them both equally as well,’ she said.

‘I’m glad.
You make a wonderful mother.’

He was looking at her as if he wanted to make her a mother
in her own right and Amelia found herself wishing that he would, but at the last moment he pulled back and didn’t so much as kiss her. Amelia sighed inwardly. These last few weeks had shown her that Miss Keyes had been right, but now she wasn’t sure how to let James know that she had forgiven him. She wanted to start afresh, but how to tell him?

She took a deep breath and changed the subject slightly. ‘So, the scandal you spoke of, was that to do with Chloe then?’ she asked.

‘Oh no, it happened long before.’ James stared into the distance and sighed. ‘I thought you’d have been told by now, but either way I suppose I ought to give you my version of it.’

‘Please, if you don’t mind? I’ve heard nothing.’

‘Very well then. I was rather young when it all happened, barely twenty and a bit green to say the least. Marguerite was an émigré and very lovely, a few years older than myself, and I thought her perfect. There were rumours that she was in a loveless marriage with a violent man, although I learned much later that she’d spread those rumours herself and they were far from the truth. Anyway, to cut a long story short, I believed her to be in danger and ran away with her to the continent. Her husband divorced her and I married her because she was carrying Mathilde.’ He scowled. ‘That was the only reason, because by then I’d found out her true nature.’

Amelia put a hand on his arm and squeezed it in silent sympathy. ‘You were not to know.’

James shrugged. ‘I should have listened to my friends. They warned me to be careful, but I thought myself in love. It didn’t last long.’

‘And what happened to Marguerite?’

‘She died giving birth to Chloe and I returned to England soon after, although by then I was ostracized so I went abroad again. My grandfather was the only one who stood by me. Wouldn’t have a bad word said about me in his hearing.’

Amelia smiled. ‘I can imagine. He is rather ... forceful.’

‘You could say that.’ James smiled back. ‘But for all that, it was your more gentle brand of rehabilitation that worked. Everyone in the neighbourhood talks to me now and it’s all thanks to you.’

She felt her cheeks heat up. ‘I didn’t do much
really, I just ...’

‘Yes, you did, and I thank you for it.’

James took her fingers and brushed his lips over her knuckles. Amelia held her breath, hoping he might do more than that, but he soon dropped her hand and that was that.

James was waging a daily battle against himself as the urge to make Amelia his in every way was getting stronger all the time. He was determined to be patient and give her time to forgive him for not trusting her, but he was becoming more and more frustrated. He thought he detected signs of her softening towards him, but he couldn’t be sure. Perhaps he should simply ask?

As he paced his library one afternoon, wondering how best to phrase his ques
tion, a visitor was announced. It was a rather dishevelled and travel-stained Bootle, Lady Marsh’s erstwhile butler.

‘This is a surprise. What brings you here?’
James asked, greeting the man with pleasure. ‘Have you finally left the old dragon’s employ and come for those references we promised you?’

‘
Not exactly, my lord.’ Bootle looked grave. ‘I’m afraid I’ve come to warn you. Sir Bernard has somehow got wind of your marriage – some army fellow he met in London let slip that he had seen you with your new bride and congratulated him on the exalted connection. He was in a rare taking, I can tell you. Ranting and raving about Miss Amelia’s duplicity, low morals and I don’t know what else besides. He has sworn to pay her back somehow, and even his mother’s strictures failed to calm him down. I’m right fearful for Miss Amelia’s safety.’

‘I see.
Well thank you for coming to warn us. You must of course remain here until you can find another position. I’m sure you could do with a rest after coming all this way.’

‘
Perhaps I could help you keep an eye on Miss Amelia?’

‘That’s a good idea.
It would be best if we didn’t worry her with this news though. I’ll just take precautions so that no one can slip in unnoticed and tell the staff to be vigilant.’

That same afternoon saw the arrival of yet another surprise visitor, this one initially not as welcome. He demanded to see Lady Demarr immediately.

‘
I regret her ladyship is not at home, sir,’ Jamieson informed him.

‘
Well, what about his lordship then? Damn it man, it’s a very serious matter!’

‘
I shall inform his lordship of your presence. If you would care to wait in here?’ He showed the guest into the front parlour and went in search of his master.

‘
Captain Marshall, what can I do for you?’ James was not at all pleased to see the man who had seemed so friendly with Amelia.

‘
My apologies for intruding in this fashion, my lord, but I have news of a possible threat to your wife.’ Captain Marshall grabbed James’s arm in some agitation. ‘I was greatly disturbed by an occurrence reported to me by a fellow officer yesterday.’

‘
And what might that have been?’ James disentangled himself unobtrusively.

‘
The man is a gaming companion of someone named Sir Bernard Marsh, who claims to be Lady Demarr’s cousin. He called her by her maiden name and told the fellow he’d been searching high and low for her. He seemed distraught and the officer, who had been told the good news about Miss Amelia’s marriage, thought to put Sir Bernard at ease by telling him. Only, it had the strangest effect – the man apparently went berserk, screaming about revenge. When the officer tried to remonstrate with him, he actually knocked him down. I thought I had better come straight here to warn you.’

‘
Thank you, Captain, that was very kind of you. I appreciate your concern for my wife. You needn’t worry though, I had already been warned by Sir Bernard’s butler, and I’m taking every precaution in order to protect her.’

‘
Well, thank goodness for that! Her father was a very good friend of mine and I couldn’t help but worry.’

‘Thank you, but
I’m rather glad you didn’t catch my wife at home, because I think it best not to worry
her
with this.  It’s better if we keep it to ourselves, don’t you think?’

‘
Oh yes, females having delicate sensibilities and all that. Of course. I quite understand.’

‘
Now, I’ll have Jamieson show you up to a guest room. I trust you’ll stay overnight at least? You can always tell my wife that you wanted to come and see for yourself that she was all right. I gather you expressed some concern for her in London.’

‘Oh, yes, but she reassured me then.
Splendid idea though, thank you. Delighted to stay for a short visit and you can count on me,’ he tapped his nose with his index finger, ‘mum’s the word.’

Although not a bluestocking in the true sense of the word, Amelia had read widely and her father had delighted in teaching her subjects that were normally only taught to boys. Consequently, she knew her understanding to be superior, and it irked her to be treated like an imbecile. This was precisely the feeling she had that afternoon.

First, there was Bootle, telling her some
cock and bull story about how he couldn’t stand Lady Marsh and her mean ways another moment and had decided to come and ask Lord Demarr for the promised reference. This was of course reasonable enough, apart from the fact that Lady Marsh’s mean ways had never affected him before.

Next, there was Captain Marshall, with yet another strange tale of how he and his fellow officers had been worrying about her sudden marriage and had decided he had better visit her to make sure e
verything was as it should be. Amelia couldn’t understand why they should suddenly start to worry about her after so many weeks, when it was surely too late to do anything about it anyway. Besides, she had already told him that she was fine when they met in London.

When she found her husband having a whispered conversation with an individual of dubious appearance in the hallway, however, she decided that enough was enough.

‘May I have a word with you please, James.’ Amelia crossed her arms over her chest and fixed him with a glare.