Simmer All Night (16 page)

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Cole had to search to find the woodpile at Hartsworth the following morning, but eventually he located it out behind the brewhouse. Long ago he'd learned that the physically demanding activity of chopping firewood was a great way to work off mental steam. He had a lot of steam that needed working off.

He was angry at Christina, her grandfather, Welby, and the entire British population. He wasn't too happy with Jake and Elizabeth Delaney. Most of all, he was furious with himself. How could he have acted so irresponsibly? How could he have lost control that way? In the space of a few minutes out in that cursed, miniature Greek temple, he'd sacrificed every bit of self-discipline and honor and good sense he'd ever possessed to the gods of Stupidity up there on Mount Think-With-Your-Dick.

And to make it even worse, out of all the women in the world he had to go and act the idiot with Christina Delaney. Elizabeth's daughter. His best friend's sister. A member of a family that had made a place for him.

"I deserve to be horsewhipped," he muttered, giving the ax in his hand another hard swing. He felt the sweat dribble down his back as wood splintered, divided, and fell to each side of the chopping block.

He'd driven her into this betrothal. Cole knew that. It wasn't enough that he'd acted like a cad, oh no. Guilt had gotten hold of him and he'd lashed out, using words as a weapon in a manner that was downright cruel. And reckless, reactionary Christina had fought back in the way that nettled him the most.

"Married to that charming, debonair, worried-about-his-vests viscount." Cole set another log on the chopping block. He simply couldn't see it.

Of course, he shouldn't have to see it. She shouldn't have agreed to marry the man. She barely knew him. She certainly couldn't love him, because otherwise that debacle in the folly never would have happened. Christina had a lot of faults, but a lack of loyalty wasn't one of them. If she'd given her heart to one man, she'd never have come so close to giving her body to another.

And damned if it hadn't been close.

Cole swung his ax. Wood split. The physical work helped, but not nearly enough. Tension hummed in him like a hive filled with hornets.

He still couldn't believe it had actually happened. What had gotten into him? Sure it had been a while since he'd had a woman—all right, a long while—but he'd never been a man to let his johnson lead him around. And this was Christina. The girl he should consider his sister. Her brother would kill him.

If Jake ever found out what mischief Cole had wreaked in the folly—
now
there's an appropriate name
—he'd shoot him dead. As well he should. Cole quickly dealt with two more logs and the pile of firewood at his feet continued to grow. Sweat rolled down his face and dripped onto his shoulder. Like rain. Like yesterday.

Memory flashed of a bare-breasted Christina and like lightning, heat filled his loins. What had he done?

Pushed her into a hasty marriage, that's what.

Cole sent the ax sailing, twisting round and round like the blades of a windmill. He launched into a string of curses blue enough to make a sapphire sky look pale. What should he do now? Chrissy had landed a titled fish—exactly what her mother wanted for her.

While he understood why Elizabeth felt the way she did, he didn't agree with her. Christina shouldn't marry a man she didn't love.

He hated to say it, but this illness had obviously scrambled Jake's and Elizabeth's thinking. Jake's mistake was understandable. After all, he had no experience with marriage or love. But Elizabeth... well... under normal circumstances, Cole felt certain she'd know better. After what she'd shared with Christina's father, how could she possibly wish a loveless marriage upon her daughter?

Cole loaded his arms with split logs and carried them to the woodpile. But then, Elizabeth didn't mean for Chrissy to marry without love. She didn't mean for her to accept the first Englishman who'd asked. By accepting Welby's suit, Chrissy was reacting to being sent away from home, reacting to what had transpired between the two of them yesterday in the folly.

Which brought the blame right back around to Cole and the question at hand. "What am I going to do about this betrothal?"

"That's almost identical to the question I've been asking."

Cole glanced over his shoulder to see Lana Kleberg standing beside the brewhouse, her two children eyeing the woodpile with interest. He shot the lovely widow a rueful grin, embarrassed at having been caught talking to himself, until Sophie stepped forward and spoke in a tone filled with awe.

"That's a lot of wood, Mr. Morgan. You've cut enough to last until Thanksgiving."

"Shoot." Michael folded his arms and snorted with disdain. "All that wouldn't last a winter's morning here at Hartsworth."

"I'm not talking about here. I'm talking about home."

When the bickering continued, Lana Kleberg interrupted. "Enough, children. Run along now while I speak with Mr. Morgan. I'll meet you back at the house in half an hour."

"But Mama," Sophie protested. "You just got over a headache. You might need us to help you back to the house."

"I'll escort your mother," Cole assured the girl.

With that, Michael's obvious disdain notched down into disgust. "We can't count on you. You were supposed to stop Miss Chrissy and you didn't."

Cole had no reply to that. The boy was right.

"Go on children," their mother said sternly.

Throwing Cole a pair of fierce looks, the two obeyed Lana. Cole sauntered over to the tree branch where he'd draped his shirt. Shrugging into it, he asked, "In regard to your question, I take it you were referring to Christina's happy news?"

"Happy news?" Lana wrinkled her nose. "Your sense of humor escapes me, Mr. Morgan."

"Call me Cole, please."

"Please tell me you know how to fix this problem. She simply cannot marry Lord Welby."

"Let's sit down and talk about this." Cole gestured toward an iron bench a short distance away. Once they were settled, he asked, "So, you are against this marriage? I thought you wanted her to marry an Englishman."

"Of course I'm against it. She's not in love with him. That's the kind of marriage she needs and deserves. Chrissy needs to love and be loved in return. She is a very emotional woman who feels things deeply. It will destroy her spirit to marry without love. You know her, Cole. You know this won't make her happy. Are you going to stand by and watch her make the biggest mistake of her life?"

Frustration filled him. Lana Kleberg didn't know the whole picture, and he couldn't tell her. "I don't know what to do. What's your idea? What do you think I should do?"

"I don't have an idea, although after watching Chrissy pretend to be happy this morning at breakfast, Michael's solution actually appears worth considering."

Imagining the picture, Cole decided he'd made the right choice in skipping the morning meal. "So what is Michael's solution?"

"He thinks you should go to Welby and threaten to break his legs if he doesn't call the wedding off."

The idea was appealing. Mentally, Cole pictured such a scene. The thought of throwing a few punches at the pretty-faced lord made his fist itch to fly.

He glanced at the boy's mother and observed, "Your boy is a bloodthirsty pup, isn't he?"

She shrugged. "Michael loves Chrissy."

"Well, her family loves her, too. Listen, ma'am, the reality of the situation is that I can't do a blessed thing to Welby. It's not my place to interfere in family matters like this. Her grandfather approves, so our opinions are of no consequence."

"That's ridiculous, Cole," Lana said. "Chrissy and the earl are just getting to know one another. As far as family matters go... well... it is my place to interfere because she considers me and my children family. She told me so. We talked a lot about family on the voyage over here."

That piqued Cole's interest. "Oh? What did Christina have to say?"

"She said that it takes more than blood relations to make a family, that it takes listening to one another and caring about how a person feels. She said that to be a family, people had to learn to compromise. What I remember most clearly is when she talked about being in love."

"In love! Who is she in love with?"

"My children," Lana replied with a smile. "She asked Michael and Sophie if they'd be her new family. She said she'd always wanted a sister and that she needed a new brother since the one she had didn't want her anymore."

Cole closed his eyes, shaking his head. The part about Jake not wanting her was stupid. Cole knew his friend loved his sister deeply. Jake honestly believed this trip was the best thing for her. It tore at Cole's heart to think that Christina felt unwanted by her family, even though those feelings were certainly unwarranted. He cleared his throat. "All that is well and good, but I don't see how it has much to bear on what's happening here. As long as Christina is set upon this course of action, like I said before, it doesn't much matter what the rest of us think."

"She does appear to be set on the idea," Lana said with a sigh. "The children and I all but wore our tongues off last night trying to talk her out of it, and it did not one whit of good. Why, the girl has enough cotton in her ears to batt a quilt. That leaves us with the wrong bridegroom, which is why we came to see you this morning. This is a man's job. Cole, you need to somehow convince Welby he shouldn't marry Chrissy."

Cole shook his head. "I can't. Word around Hartsworth is that the man is totally besotted. I heard he has already sent for a tailor because he intends to order up a whole new set of vests in order to look his best for his bride-to-be."

Lana snorted with disgust and Cole nodded with agreement at her reaction, then continued, "Besides, from what I'm told of how things are done over here, Welby can't break off the engagement without his honor taking a blow. These Englishmen take honor as seriously as we do at home."

Lana winced. "Unless something drastic happens Chrissy won't be the one to call the wedding off. Oh, I can't bear it. This has all happened too fast."

Too fast. Hmm. A glimmer of an idea fluttered in Cole's mind. "How fast? When do they plan to do the deed? Is the date set?"

"I asked the viscount that this morning. All he said was 'soon.'" After a moment's pause, she added, "I just don't understand this. I know she's impetuous, but not even Chrissy would jump into an engagement this fast. Something must have happened to push her into making this hasty decision."

Cole winced. Something had happened, all right, and it was his fault. He'd pushed her into acting rashly. He was the reason she was rushing into marriage.

Rushing. Fast. Rash. Hasty. The words bounced around in his brain and finally molded the solution into shape. "Time," he said softly. "That's it. That's what we need."

"Time? What do you mean?"

"A long engagement. It solves both problems. 'Marry in haste, repent at leisure.' I've heard Elizabeth say it. And Chrissy will have time to come to her senses. In fact..." his voice trailed off as another flash of inspiration hit him. "Of course. It's perfect."

"What's perfect?" Lana asked, her voice sounding somewhat peeved.

Cole took her hand and lifted it to his mouth for a kiss. "I'll need your help. And the children's. Y'all can concentrate on Welby. I don't think our cause would be served for me to have much to do with him. This plan will take some heavy-duty persuading, but I think I know the arguments we can use. I'll work on Christina, though I'll need to give her time to cool off. Y'all can start right away. I think we can pull this off."

"Pull what off!"

"We are going to convince Christina to go home before she says 'I do.' After all, it's only right that she take her fiancé home to meet her mother."

Chapter 7

The clocks throughout Hartsworth chimed two A.M. as Chrissy hurried down the corridor toward Cole's bedroom. She absolutely, positively didn't want to be doing this, but she had no other choice. She'd never guessed her engagement to Welby would create such trouble, but it had. The viscount was downright possessive of her; he barely let her out of his sight. Every time she ventured from the family quarters at Hartsworth there he'd be, lurking and ready to pounce upon her—in a gentlemanly way, of course. The only time she'd been able to dodge him was when Lana ran interference for her. Thank goodness Lord Welby appeared to have a soft spot for her friend.

Even then, he always found her eventually. Chrissy sometimes wondered if he had a sixth sense that kept him apprised of her location. It was enough to drive her crazy.

It was enough to make her consider calling off the engagement.

Of course, she couldn't do that. Pride, among other things, wouldn't allow it. Maybe Lana was right and she had acted rashly in accepting the marriage offer, but darned if she'd put up with Cole Morgan ambling around saying "I told you so." And that's exactly what he would do.

In the four days since their... interlude... in the folly, she and Cole had exchanged exactly two words. They'd passed in a corridor the morning following her betrothal announcement—neither noticed the other in time to alter their direction without being obvious—and he'd said, "Fool," to which she'd replied, "Idiot."