Surrender Becomes Her (26 page)

He studied her wan little figure, aware that it didn’t matter too much to him what lies or half-truths she and Hugh may have concocted around Edmund. All that mattered to him was that she was here and she was his wife. His wife. Not Hugh’s. Never Hugh’s.

Marcus tried to feel remorse over the intense pleasure that knowledge gave him, but it was beyond him. He wasn’t, he thought wryly,
that
noble. Reminding himself that there were greater things at stake here than his personal gratification, he forced himself to concentrate on the lies surrounding Edmund’s birth. Putting aside the right and wrong of it, she’d borne this burden alone for over a decade and, while he might have been furious that she had never given him the chance to share that burden, he was keen to hear the truth.

He glanced around the feminine room and grimaced at the two dainty chairs. It was going to be a long night and he sure as the devil wasn’t spending it sitting in one of those fairy-sized chairs.

Abruptly, he said, “Come to my room. There’s a fire.” He looked at the teapot, shuddered, and muttered under his
breath, “And something considerably stronger to drink than scandal broth.”

Isabel was grateful for the interruption and she said nothing when he took her hand and fairly dragged her from her bedroom to his. Only after he was ensconced in a burgundy mohair-covered chair near the small, cheery fire and had shoved a snifter of brandy into her hand did he say, “Now tell me. All of it.”

I
sabel looked around the comfortable room lit only by a pair of tall, silver candlesticks on the wide, carved oak mantel, gathering her courage and trying to think how to start. For too many years, she had lived with the fear that someday the events surrounding Edmund’s birth would be made public and everything she and Hugh and Edmund’s mother had tried to do would be destroyed. Not so many lives would be ruined now—Edmund’s mother and Hugh were dead—but Edmund and Lord Manning were very much alive and it was for them that she had lived the lie. She glanced over at Marcus’s hard face. A lie that was no longer hers alone…Stalling for time, she sipped the brandy. The liquor warmed a path from her throat to her belly and, knowing the moment could not be postponed, she took a deep breath and said, “Her name was Roseanne Halford.”

Marcus started. “Not Ham-Handed Halford’s only child?” he asked incredulously.

Isabel shrugged. “I don’t know, but probably. Roseanne came from a very well-connected family.” Leaning forward, she said fiercely, “She wasn’t just a little nobody. Her birth and family was as good as yours and mine. Her father had even arranged her marriage to the heir to a barony, although it was never publicly announced.”

Marcus frowned, recalling some old gossip about Halford
and Lord Brownleigh, known to be great friends, and the possibility of a match between Halford’s daughter and Brownleigh’s heir. The unexpected death of Halford’s daughter while touring in Italy had cut up both families and ended any hopes of the two families uniting. If Roseanne Halford had died in India, the direction Isabel’s tale was going, then it appeared that Halford had done some altering of the facts surrounding his daughter’s death.

When Marcus made no reply, keeping her eyes on the fire, Isabel said softly, “Hugh met her when he was traveling in the north of England and when…” A knife-blade of pain sliced through her as she remembered that awful day. She took a deep breath and pushed on, saying, “And when she died, I wrote to a Mr. Halford at Vyne House in Bellingham to tell him that his daughter had died.” Her face hardened. “I didn’t tell him how she died, only that she had been visiting some friends in Bombay and had taken ill and died suddenly.”

“Vyne House is Halford’s country estate,” Marcus said quietly. “So his daughter and Edmund’s mother are one and the same.” He hesitated, waiting for Isabel to take up the story; when she did not, he prodded, “She and Hugh met and…?”

Tiredly, Isabel said, “They fell in love. Hugh offered for her, but her father turned him away.” She flicked a glance at him. “At that time, Hugh was not in line to inherit the title and Mr. Halford informed him that he had a better match in mind for his only child.”

Marcus nodded. “Halford was ambitious.”

“And his ambition killed his daughter,” Isabel said harshly. “If he had allowed her to marry Hugh, she might still be alive.” Sadness overcame her and she muttered, “Even Hugh might still be alive. He…he was so unhappy after she died that he stayed away from home as often as he could. If it hadn’t been for Edmund…and me, I don’t doubt he’d have lost himself in the jungles.” Her hand closed into a fist. “If it
had been Roseanne waiting for him at home, he wouldn’t have been sleeping in that wretched hut in the middle of the jungle where he was bitten by a cobra.”

Attempting to distract her, Marcus asked, “Hugh and Roseanne, uh, anticipated their vows?”

“They were in love,” she said dully. “They didn’t mean to, but…” Her eyes daring him to say otherwise, she declared passionately, “Hugh was an honorable man. He intended to marry her. He would never have deserted her. When her father crushed their hopes he begged her to run away with him, but at the time she was too timid to defy her father. Hugh left Bellingham with neither one of them having any idea that she was already carrying his child.”

Isabel rubbed her forehead and said painfully, “And then I met him by the lake and ruined everything by convincing him to marry me.” She raised tragic eyes to Marcus. “It is all my fault! If I had not badgered him into marrying me out of hand none of this would have happened.”

“You didn’t get Roseanne pregnant,” Marcus said dryly.

Isabel bit back an unhappy spurt of laughter. “No, but I created an insurmountable impediment to their happiness.”

Discovering a streak of selfish single-mindedness, and not too interested in Hugh and Roseanne, Marcus asked with suspicious idleness, “Since you and Hugh were married, how is it that the marriage was never consummated?”

“I know the match was my doing,” she admitted, “but if I could have undone it, I would have. It all happened so fast, there was no time to think, to reflect…to come to my senses. One moment I was sitting beside the lake begging Hugh to marry me and take me to India with him and the next we were at the Manning townhouse in London and married.” She bit her lip. “Almost immediately, though we said nothing to each other at the time, we both realized that we had made a horrible, horrible mistake.” Her expression miserable, she added, “We spent a horrid afternoon together, trying to pretend that we were thrilled with the marriage.
And that evening…” She swallowed. “And that evening when he came to my bedroom, I locked him out. He was my husband, but he was a stranger and I was frightened. I spent the night huddled in bed terrified. Hugh went downstairs and got roaring drunk.”

Marcus tried to feel sympathy for Hugh and failed, but he had no trouble applauding Isabel’s actions. “And the next morning? What happened then?”

“Hugh was very kind. He said that we were both under a great deal of strain and that we had all of our lives together; there was no need to rush. He was sailing for Bombay within two days and we had much to do before he left. He said that we could put off any intimacies until I had arrived in India. He swore that he would court me as I should have been courted before we married, and only when I was comfortable would we consummate our marriage.”

Marcus couldn’t fault Hugh’s reasoning. “But I take it Roseanne appeared before this admirable plan could be put in motion?”

“Yes. Hugh made all the arrangements for my sailing to India on a ship that was leaving two weeks after his. He hired a companion for me, Mrs. Wesson, and had spoken with a young colleague of his, Mr. Akridge, who was sailing on the same ship that I was, to act as my escort. Before he left, he set up accounts for me to draw on and made a list of purchases I was to make—or rather, his man of business in London, Mr. Babb, would make.” She smiled faintly at Marcus. “Hugh was very capable and he made certain that I had nothing to worry about.”

“Until Roseanne showed up on your doorstep. Which is what I presume happened?”

Isabel nodded. “Yes. Precisely one day after Hugh sailed. She was terrified her father would find her and exhausted from the desperate journey to reach Hugh before he sailed. Meeting me devastated her.” Isabel shuddered. “I’ll never
forget the look on her face and the horror in her voice when she cried, ‘His
wife
?’ and fainted dead away at my feet.”

“Couldn’t have been very pleasant for you.”

“No, it wasn’t! By the time she roused, I had ordered William, the butler, to take her upstairs to one of the bedrooms and had summoned a physician. He had just begun to examine her when she came to.” She shook her head. “Poor Roseanne! She was so confused, so startled and frightened when she woke in a strange bedroom with a strange man bending over her. It took us several moments to calm her down and assure her that she was safe and that we meant no harm.”

Isabel took a sip of brandy, her gaze on the fire, her thoughts far away. Finally she shook herself and looked over at Marcus. “She was a very sheltered, sweet girl and she would have been perfect for Hugh.” She smiled faintly, memories rushing through her mind. “Roseanne was biddable and agreeable and so very willing to please that one couldn’t help liking her.”

“You apparently did.”

She nodded. “By the time she died I loved her dearly and I would have done anything for her. I know you’ll find it hard to believe—she and I only knew each other little more than six months—but in that short time, she became the sister I never had. There was no jealousy between us; I didn’t love Hugh, had never been in love with Hugh, and more than anything in the world, I wanted them to be together—as they should have been. I blamed myself for the situation we were all in, but Roseanne”—her eyes filled with tears—“Roseanne blamed herself and tried to comfort
me
!”

“I would remind you that it wasn’t your fault. Hugh had no business running away with a chit just out of the schoolroom! If anyone is to blame,” Marcus said grimly, “it is Hugh. Not you. Not even Roseanne.”

Isabel smiled sadly. “I think you are forgetting how deter
mined I can be when I want something. I gave Hugh no chance to think about what we were doing. I pushed him into the marriage.”

“You were seventeen!” Marcus said furiously. “He was a man of thirty or more. He should have known better.”

Isabel waved a dismissing hand. “It doesn’t matter now. What matters now and what has mattered all along is Edmund and his fate.”

Marcus took a grip of his unexpected show of temper and muttered, “Yes, yes, of course. Tell me the rest of it.”

“Once the physician and everyone had left us alone, in her fear and despair, Roseanne blurted out that she was pregnant with Hugh’s child. I was horrified because it changed the whole situation. It was no longer just a case of not being able to marry the man she loved, but there was a child at stake now. She would have been ruined, but worse, the child would be branded a bastard, just another by-blow of a well-born gentleman. From the beginning, Roseanne and I were united to prevent that from happening, and fortunately, so was Hugh.”

Marcus’s grandfather, the Old Earl, was noted for cluttering the English countryside with his bastards, so Marcus was well able to understand and sympathize. He’d always been appalled by his grandfather’s numerous illegitimate children, even if the Old Earl had carelessly acknowledged and provided for them, but even the Old Earl’s blessing never took away the stigma of illegitimacy. The ranks of the
ton
were closed to them and their position in life was not always easy. Hugh had tried to act honorably and Marcus would not fault him on that even if he blamed him for the situation. Finding Isabel staring expectantly at him, he said, “So you and Roseanne sailed to India together to lay the problem at Hugh’s feet—where I might add, it belonged.”

“Yes. I dismissed Mrs. Wesson and substituted Roseanne in her place. I ordered Mr. Babb to make the necessary arrangements and to buy the extra items we would need.” She looked down at her robe, unconsciously pleating and un
pleating a section of it. “The trip to Bombay was ghastly. Our quarters were cramped, the food toward the end nearly uneatable. It took over four months and Roseanne was sick through most of it. Her constitution was not robust and I feared she might die or lose the baby. I was terrified the whole time.”

“I assume you kept Mr. Akridge in the dark?”

“Oh, definitely. We hardly ever left our cabin.” Isabel looked guilty. “I suppose even then I was thinking of a way to protect Roseanne and her child, and the idea of passing the child off as mine with Roseanne acting as his nursemaid had already crossed my mind. There were several difficulties but none that I didn’t think we could overcome. I was certain that Hugh would agree to it. The main problem would be the timing of the baby’s birth.” She glanced at Marcus. “Edmund is actually six weeks older than everybody believes.”

“I’d already worked that out.” He took a long swallow of his brandy. Seeing his snifter was empty, he poured himself another and, standing by the fire, his arm resting on the mantel, he looked across at Isabel and asked, “So how did Hugh react when the pair of you showed up on his doorstep?”

“Oh, Marcus!” she breathed, her eyes sparkling. “You should have seen his face when he saw Roseanne. It was as if the brightest light in the universe had illuminated it. And the love…” She choked back a sob. “His whole face, his entire being radiated his love for her. He was overjoyed to see her.” Her voice thickened. “And then his gaze fell upon me…. It was dreadful. The worst moment of my life.”

“Good God! The bastard surely didn’t blame you?” Marcus exclaimed, outraged at the notion.

Isabel shook her head. “No. Never! It was just that one moment his dearest dream appeared to have come true and the next he realized what a nightmare we were all in.”

“One of his making,” Marcus snapped.

“Perhaps,” Isabel agreed, not wanting to argue with him. “And despite the difficulties that lay before us, he was beside
himself with joy at the news that Roseanne was carrying his child.”

“I suppose none of you considered an annulment?” he demanded sarcastically.

“Yes, Hugh did. But time was not our friend. Obtaining an annulment in India was out of the question. By the time I could return to England and the annulment could be secured, the child would have been born.” She stared off into space. “If Roseanne had lived, I’m certain that we would have faced the scandal and found a way to end the marriage—provided the child could have been protected.” She looked up at him, pleading for understanding. “All three of us were determined to save the child—and Roseanne, too—from a life of disgrace and shame. We hadn’t thought out all of the ramifications, but we all agreed that as far as the world was concerned I was the one who was pregnant. Within days of our arrival in Bombay, I wrote the letter to the baron telling him that I was with child.”

“Yes, I know,” Marcus said tightly, remembering too well the fury and pain he had felt at the news. The baron had been so happy, laughing and constantly talking about his coming grandchild, and Marcus had walked around wanting to smash his fist through a stone wall. He took a deep breath. “He even chided Robert for being a laggard in producing an heir.”

“You do understand,” Isabel said earnestly, “that at the time we had no idea that Edmund would end up being the heir? We all assumed that Robert and his wife, Georgine, would have children. Even after Hugh died and Edmund and I returned to England, though they had been married for several years, everyone, myself included, still expected Robert and Georgine to have children.” She smiled in memory. “I remember how excited we all were when Georgine announced that she was pregnant. Edmund was looking forward to having a cousin to play with and, of course, the baron was delighted at the prospect of another grandchild and hoped for a
boy, Robert’s son and one day, his heir.” She sighed and shook her head. “No one ever expected that Robert and Georgine, along with their unborn child, would die in that yachting accident, leaving Edmund next in line for the title.”