Scandalous Love (25 page)

"You do not wish to
haggle over the details now?"

"If your daughter's
dowry consisted of one pence, I would marry her anyway," Hadrian said
flatly.

"Of course,"
Shelton returned.
"Honor first.
But perhaps you should have
recalled your family motto before you ruined my daughter."

"Touch
é
," Hadrian said
with another grimace. "I can only apologize. I am truly appalled by my own
behavior and I take full blame for all that has happened."

Shelton eyed him
thoroughly. "Maybe you had better direct your apologies to Nicole."

"She refused to
accept them. Perhaps you should know, she is not keen on the idea of our
wedding one another."

"Why?"

"I do not
know."

"Do not worry about
Nicole," Shelton said firmly. "While I do not relish the idea of
forcing her again to the altar—surely you have heard what a disaster it was
when I arranged for her to marry Percy Hempstead—she will do as she is told
this time."

"I assumed that you
would feel that way."

"Have you thought
of a date?"

"Yes. I have
already begun the proceedings to procure a special license so that we can be
married immediately. Does the second Sunday from today meet with your approval?"

"That kind of haste
will cause a scandal. People will guess why the two of you are marrying."

"I will take care
of the gossips. There will be no scandal, not the kind you are thinking of. I
shall make it abundantly clear that I am besotted with Nicole, a man so in love
that I could not wait a moment longer to wed her. Because of Elizabeth I shall
be condemned— not Nicole."

An expression which
Hadrian could not read crossed Shelton's face. "All right. I thank you for
sparing my daughter any further hurt."

Hadrian's jaw tightened.
He did not think he had misunderstood the Earl's reference, and he could not
let it pass. "I am sorry if I've hurt your daughter, Nicholas," he
said, very softly. "And if it will ease your mind, when we first met she
did not know I was engaged and she wanted to marry me. So much has occurred
since then, but in time things will straighten themselves out between us, I am
sure of it."

"But the question
really is how you will feel in time."

Startled, Hadrian took a
moment to answer, and when he did it was honestly. "I do not object to
taking Nicole as my wife."

Shelton stared at him,
his gaze searching. Hadrian felt an embarrassing tell-tale blush.

Shelton suddenly smiled.
"Yes," he said, just as softly, "I think you are right. I think,
with a little time, things will work out very well indeed."

"Aren't you ready,
yet?" Regina asked.

Nicole sat on her bed in
her underclothes. She glanced at her sister, who was a stunning golden vision
in yellow chiffon, and sighed. "I wish I hadn't promised to go."

"Nicole! You have
promised, and unless you claim you are sick, Uncle John will be terribly hurt
if you do not come!"

Nicole knew that Regina
was right. Although John Lindley was not actually her uncle, he was her
father's best friend and she had known him since she was a toddler. When she
was a child, he never failed to arrive at Dragmore with gifts for her and her
brothers and sister. Nicole could not have loved him more even if he were her
uncle.

But she had not
recovered from that afternoon. From Hadrian's wretched, so-honorable proposal.
She would never recover. How could she? When she wanted to marry him so much it
hurt—and when to marry him would pain her even more?

Regina approached, her
skirts whispering around her as she moved. "Nicole, what is it? I have not
seen you so up and down since you have come to London." She sat beside her
sister on the bed, her amber eyes registering their concern. She lowered her
voice. "It's him, isn't it?"

Nicole nodded, meeting
her sister's gaze.

Regina took her hand.
"He likes you, Nicole, it's so obvious. Once he has ceased mourning for
Elizabeth, you shall see. I am sure he will come forward to court you. And you
must encourage him—I will teach you how."

Nicole almost burst into
tears. She said, "He has already proposed marriage to me."

Regina gasped.
"What!? Why, that is stunning!"

Nicole shook her head.
"I refused."

"You what?!"

"I refused."

"Are you
insane?"

Nicole gripped her arm.
"He does not love me, he loves Elizabeth. He has given his heart to a dead
woman. He only offered to marry me because he has kissed me...
improperly." She blushed. She did not dare tell her sister the truth.
"Intimately."

Regina stared, confused.
"What do you mean, intimately?"

Nicole closed her eyes.
"Hasn't Lord Hortense kissed you?"

"Of course."

The way Regina responded
told Nicole that she had no idea of how a kiss could be intimate and shameless—
open-mouthed, hot, tongues touching.

"What did he do,
Nicole? What do you mean, he kissed you intimately? A kiss is intimate."

"There are
kisses," Nicole said softly, "and there are kisses."

Regina was perplexed—and
more than a bit curious. "Aren't you going to tell me?"

"All right!"
Nicole nearly shouted. Tears swamped her. "He kissed me so hard my mouth
is bruised! For ages and ages and ages! Our tongues touched! He touched me—
where he shouldn't! Does that satisfy your curiosity?"

Regina was shocked
speechless.

"Don't ever let
Lord Hortense—or any man—take such liberties with you!" Nicole cried.
"Or you will find yourself in my position!"

Still clearly stunned,
Regina managed, "You must wed him."

"I will not. I
cannot! He admitted that he was asking for my hand out of duty and nothing
more."

Her sister's eyes
widened again. Finally she found her voice. "All right, so it's not ideal.
But he is the Duke of Clayborough. You must say yes."

"I cannot!"
Nicole said again. "He treats me hatefully! I love him—and he has not one
shred of love in his heart for me! Don't you understand? I could not bear to be
his wife, loving him, while he feels nothing for me, while he runs to other
women—to his mistresses. Can't you understand this?"

"No," Regina
said bluntly. "All men have mistresses, Nicole. We are talking about the
Duke of Clayborough! You are stupid if you don't marry him—especially when you
love him!"

"I don't care that
he is a duke. I care about how he feels about me. And all men don't have
mistresses. Father doesn't have a mistress," Nicole fired back.
"Neither does the Viscount Serle!"

"They are
exceptions," Regina stated. "And you are being exceedingly
foolish."

"If you marry Lord
Hortense, will you be so blithe when you learn that he keeps a woman,
too?"

Regina colored slightly.
"I will not be surprised."

"Then you do not
love him!" Nicole lunged to her feet to pace in a flurry of silk
petticoats.

"I do!" Regina
cried. "I am madly in love with him!"

"If you loved him,
you would not be able to so casually accept his womanizing."

"Perhaps I am a
realist and you, Nicole, are a romantic!"

Both sisters stared at
each other. The very notion seemed absurd. Anyone who knew them would swear it
was the other way around, yet in that moment it appeared that Regina was right.
A knock on the door saved Nicole from responding.

Jane poked her head in.
"Nicole, when you are dressed could you join your father and me in the
library?"

Nicole was uneasy.
"Whatever for, Mother?"

"There is something
your father wishes to discuss with you," Jane said, her mien serious.

Dread overwhelmed
Nicole.
It was about Hadrian.
She was certain of it. Had they somehow
found out about her

visit to Clayborough
House yesterday? "What is it?"

"Just join us in
the library, please." It wasn't a request. Jane smiled and closed the
door.

Nicole realized how
nervous she was when Regina touched her arm, making her jump. "You had
better dress," she said. Her expression, usually gay, was grim. "And
you had better change your mind—quickly—and tell the Duke you will accept his
proposal!"

"Please shut the
doors."

Nicole looked from her
father, standing in front of his desk, to her mother, seated on the sofa. She
closed the mahogany doors behind her. "Have I done something I don't know
about?" She tried to smile.

Neither one of her
parents smiled back. Her father was very grim. The feeling of dread rose again,
washing over her. Especially when her mother got to her feet and came to her,
looking so terribly anxious. "Oh, dear," Jane said softly.

"What is it?"
Nicole asked.

"The Duke of
Clayborough was here today," Nicholas said. "He has asked for your
hand and I have agreed."

For an instant, Nicole
thought that her father was referring to Hadrian's visit when he had proposed
to her in the parlor. It took her a moment to comprehend just what he had said.
The Duke had returned to Tavistock Square after that and gone directly to her
father with his suit. "What?"

"Our lawyers are
meeting tomorrow morning."

"No!" she
cried violently. "I won't marry him!"

Jane's grip tightened on
her arm, but before she could speak, Nicholas was striding toward her. "I
believe that you have no choice."

Nicole froze, pinned by
the look in her father's eyes.
He knew.
Hadrian had told him. She
moaned.

"It's a little late
for regrets," he said, staring at her. "And because of the
possibility that you are with child, you shall be wed the second Sunday from
today."

"I'll
kill him,"
Nicole cried.

"There will be no
crying off, Nicole. If you were so set against marriage to Hadrian, you should
have considered that before allowing him to take you to bed."

Nicole spun out of her
mother's grasp and rushed to the window, trying to get a grip on her hysteria.
She was furious, furious with Hadrian for going to her father and telling him
all, not only humiliating her but insuring that Nicholas would accept his suit
and accept it with resolve. She was also filled with panic.

"Darling,"
Jane said, breaking the terrible silence. "It cannot be so bad. Hadrian is
a fine man. He will be a fine husband. And I know you have feelings for him.
Even if you think you no longer love him, in time, I am certain your feelings
will return."

Nicole whirled. "He
loves another woman! He loves Elizabeth!"

Jane and her father
stared as the implications of her emotional outburst sank in. Jane came to her.
"Elizabeth is dead."

"That makes it
worse. Can't you see? I could not have competed with her when she was alive,
but now, now I will be forever haunted by her memory!"

"You do love
him," Jane said softly, touching her daughter's cheek.

Nicole jerked away.
"You ran away from father because you loved him! And that is precisely why
I cannot marry Hadrian! Surely you, Mother, of all people, can
understand!"

"I was a
fool," Jane said. "The best thing that ever happened to me was your
father finding me and forcing me to marry him."

Nicole's jaw clamped
into a hard line. "I am not marrying him. I am not."

Nicholas spoke,
reminding them both that he was present. "I have accepted Hadrian's offer
and you will not change my mind. Or have you forgotten the possibility that you
are pregnant?"

Nicole winced at the
blunt terminology.

"Yes, Nicole,
pregnant," Nicholas said crudely. "I am not going to allow you to
bear me a bastard grandson."

Tears filled her eyes.
She had never known her father could be so cruel. "If we wait,
maybe—"

"No. Enough is
enough. Apparently you love the man anyway. You—"

"I don't love
him!" she shouted, and in that moment she did not. "I hate him!"

"Regardless,"
Nicholas said harshly. "My decision stands."

"Darling, it will
work out," Jane said consolingly.

She was panting. Again
she shook off her mother's touch. "There will be a scandal. Father—I cannot
bear another scandal."

"There will be no
scandal. The Duke is prepared to take all the blame for your hasty marriage. He
will make sure society thinks him a lovesick fool. No one will suspect the
circumstances, or if they do, they will be in doubt."

"He is going to
pretend
to love me?" She could not bear it!

"He is protecting
you from scandal," Nicholas said.