The Earl's Inconvenient Wife (Regency Collection Book 1) (12 page)

The butler haste
ned to obey, and though Mister Robinson looked like he wanted to protest, in the end, he followed the butler down the hall, his shoulders slumped in defeat.  Claire couldn’t help but feel sorry for him.  In a way, she understood what he had to be thinking.  Trapped here, in this house, with someone like Roderick to remind him of everything he’d ever done wrong…  She sighed.

Roderick turned to her.  “What?”

“Nothing,” she quickly replied.

“You think I was harsh on him just now?” he pressed.

Though she didn’t wish to get into another argument with him, she figured she might as well answer his question since he asked it.  “Very well.  Yes.  I think you were too harsh.  He is an earl’s cousin.  It seems inappropriate to give him a stableboy’s job.”

He hesitated for a moment before saying, “If you understood the situation, you wouldn’t be in such a hurry to condemn me.”

“Then perhaps you’d like to enlighten me?”

“This is a matter
between me and Lord Clement, and it’s something he wishes to keep confidential.”

She considered his words and decided he was right.  If Lilly had told her something in confidence, then she’d rather die than tell anyone her sister’s secret. 
She couldn’t fault him for doing the same.  She indicated her acceptance with a nod and decided she’d eat breakfast while he got things settled with Lord Clement’s ward.

Chapter Twelve

A
fter breakfast, Nate wrote Perry a quick letter to let him know his ward arrived at Weston and had the letter sent to him.  He went to his bedchamber where his valet helped him into his riding outfit.  The entire time he was getting ready to go to the stable, he wondered if Mister Robinson was giving the stable master any grief.  He fully expected him to after all the years Perry had been soft on him.  He couldn’t blame Perry.  Perry had a good heart, but what Mister Robinson needed was the firm hand of discipline.

As he headed out of the house, he caught sight of Claire writing at her desk in the drawing room.  He paused for a moment, a slight twinge of guilt nagging him.  The weeks at Weston had been long and tense.  He didn’t delight in keeping her here, despite what she must think.  But how was he going to get an heir unless they were under the same roof? 
If there was another way to do the job, he’d do it.  But there was only one way she was going to conceive the heir, and he needed to figure out how in the world he was going to make it happen because as things stood right now, he was going to have to pass on his title to his cousin.

“Are you ready to go riding, my lord?” the butler asked him.

Turning to him, he nodded.  “Yes, I’m ready.” With another glance at his wife, he saw that she had looked in his direction.  Startled, he quickly averted his gaze and strode out the door, not sure why his heartbeat picked up.  Clearing his throat, he thanked his footman, who opened the front door for him, and strode out of the house.

He headed for the stable, trying to assure himself he wasn’t heartless.  Yes, he knew he had avoided Claire as much as he could, but that didn’t mean he was insensitive toward her needs.  He had, after all, told her the truth: that they hadn’t consummated their marriage.  Was it his fault if she refused to believe him?

He sighed.  If she hadn’t gone shopping with her sister, he’d feel safe enough keeping her in London.  Why couldn’t she exercise more restraint?  If she honestly believed she’d consummated the marriage with him, did she assume that potentially giving him an heir meant she could be reckless with his money?

Perhaps if he limited how much she spent at the shops, then they might return to London and she could be happy again?  Not that she was happy with him anyway.  To her credit, she wasn’t putting on a pretense with him.  She was letting him know exactly what she did and didn’t like.  If nothing else, he certainly appreciated that about her.

The familiar guilty sensation returned.  Could it be possible she had been telling him the truth—that she had nothing to do with the scandal that led to their marriage?  If she had been a part of it, surely, she’d be trying to soften him up in order to get him to allow her greater freedom with his money.

A horse neighed, bringing his attention to the stable.  He blinked, surprised he’d already crossed the distance across the lawn.  Amazing how a little thing lik
e being preoccupied with guilt should make him forget his surroundings.  Taking a deep breath of the warm air cooled occasionally by the breeze, he put Claire far from his mind and focused on why he came out here today.

As he suspected, Mister Robinson
was arguing with the stable master.  Since the youth’s back was turned to him, Nate crept forward, careful that his steps were quiet lest he give himself away.  The stable master glanced in his direction once but didn’t alert Mister Robinson that he was there.

“I will not degrade myself by cleaning this…this…” Mister Robinson motioned to a stall’s floor.  After a moment of silence where he waved his hand and shook his head, he finally grunted.  “You know the word I’m thinking of here.”

The stable master’s eyebrows rose.  “Manure?”

“Yes.  That’s it.  I will not clean up that filth.”

“You are.”

“I am not!” He straightened his back and lifted his chin.  “I am the cousin of an earl.  I have noble blood in my veins.  I have people waiting on me.
  Someday, I will marry a lady of high status, higher than mine, if I dare say so myself, and given where I come from and where I’m headed, I will not touch a shovel that touches that…filth.”

Roderick stopped right behind Mister Robinson and clasped his hands behind his back.  “You think you’re too good to do
what Lord Roderick tells you, don’t you?”

“You bet I do,” Mister Robinson vehemently agreed as he spun around, only to grow pale as soon as he realized who he spoke to.

“You are testing my patience, Mister Robinson,” Roderick said, not in the least bit disturbed by the youth’s insolence.  “I might be a friend of your cousin’s, but I will not let that dissuade me from doing what’s best for you.”

“Best for me?”

“Yes, best for you.  You will be an adult soon, and that means you will have responsibilities.  I am going to teach you how to be responsible.”

“And you’re going to start by having me shovel out horse droppings?”

“Yes, and if you can handle the small tasks I give you, you can move on to the bigger ones.”

Mister Robinson gri
maced.

“If you don’t do the work you’re assigned in this stable, I will give you a job less favorable.”

“I can’t imagine anything worse than clearing animal waste.”

Nate’s lips curled up into a smile.  “I can.” Before the insolent boy could say anything else, Nate gestured to the
stall.  “Now go in there and clean it up.”

Though Mister Robinson grumbled, he retrieved the shovel from the stable master and went to the stall, tiptoeing his way through pieces of horse manure.

Satisfied, Nate turned to the stable master and waited as he got his horse ready.  He watched Mister Robinson who was gingerly digging the shovel under the manure to pick it up.  With a grimace on his face, he lifted the shovel and tossed the manure to the aisle of the stable.  He shuddered and then turned back to the next piece of manure.

With a chuckle, Nate accepted the reins to his horse when the stable master brought the stallion to him. 
After he got into the saddle, he left the stable and urged the horse toward the path that would take him past the pond.  A ride was just the thing he needed to refresh his mind.  Content, he turned his attention to the land around him and enjoyed the morning.

When he returned to the manor, he washed up and changed into new clothes, wondering if he should read a book or attempt to have a conversation with his wife.  It was a question he often wondered, and as before, he opted to read a book.
He had no idea what he could say to her that she’d find of interest except if he told her she could go to London.  Since he had no intention of doing that, he decided it was best to say nothing.

He entered his library and sat at his desk.  Closing his eyes, he leaned back in the chair and let his mind wander.  The truth was, Claire wasn’t the only one who missed London.  Parliament was in session, and he loved going to White’s to discuss what was happening
there, especially with Perry.

The door opened. 
He sighed and turned his head in the butler’s direction, afraid to ask if Claire had, once again, tried to talk him into sneaking her out of the house so she could go to London.  Though his servants consistently refused to take her to London, it didn’t seem to stop her from asking.

The butler came into the room and handed him a letter.  “This came for you, my lord.”

Eyebrows furrowed, Nate took it and straightened in his seat.  He read it, at first surprised and then worried.  Glancing up at the butler who waited for his instructions, he said, “Tell the steward I want to see the ledger.”

“Yes, my lord.” He bowed and left the library.

Nate read through the missive again.  He hadn’t had any dealings with Lord Hedwrett.  If Lord Hedwrett’s letter was to be believed his steward had borrowed money and was trying to pay him back in installments, but Lord Hedwrett wanted all of it back immediately.

He glanced at his books and shook his head.  So much for reading.  He’d be spending his day workin
g through the budget to find out if his steward was being honest in his bookkeeping.  He grimaced.  Just what he wanted to do.  The steward entered the room with the ledger.  Bracing himself for what was most likely to be an unpleasant discussion, Nate motioned for him to sit and got ready to talk to him.

***

That evening before dinner, Claire studied Marion’s reflection in the mirror as she was buttoning the back of her gown.  “Are you sure there’s nothing I can say or do to convince you to take me to London?”

Marion offered her a patient smile.  “My lady, you know the answer to that.”

“Do you approve of Lord Roderick so much that you’ll let me wilt away here?”

“You needn’t exaggerate.  I’
ve heard stories of gentlemen who are far worse than your husband.  Believe me, my lady, he’s a good one.”

Claire rolled her eyes.  This was th
e same reply she got from all the servants.  But still, Marion had been with her for years.  Marion ought to understand why she wanted to return to London and see her family.  Disappointed, Claire didn’t say anything else.  She really should stop pleading with the servants to help her get to London.  It wasn’t doing any good.

Marion finished dressing Claire and patted her shoulder.  “Give it time, my lady.  You’ve onl
y been married a short time.  Given the circumstances around your marriage, you can’t expect things to resolve themselves right away.”

Gritting her teeth, Claire forc
ed a smile and left the room.  When she reached the bottom of the steps, she was surprised to see that Roderick was getting ready to head out.  “Where are you going?” she asked, striding over to him.

As he put on his hat, he turned to her.  “I nee
d to verify some financial dealings.”

“Are you going to London
?”

“No
.  The business I need to do will be at other gentlemen’s estates.”

“But can’t I go with you?”

Though she suspected a twinge of remorse in his voice, he said, “The business I am tending to isn’t suitable for a lady.”

She frowned.  What,
exactly, did he mean by that?

“I won’t be gone for long.  A week.  Two at the most.”

“And you’re going somewhere that I can’t be at?” she asked, her spine stiffening.

“Ladies don’t partake of the business I need to tend to,” he replied.  “I’ll return as soon as I can.”

She watched as he left, her hands clenching and unclenching.  She knew it was her place not to inquire further.  What a husband did when away from home was not to be the wife’s concern, but even so, she couldn’t deny that sting of betrayal she felt in knowing he was most likely running off to a mistress or some unsavory place where prostitutes worked.

“Are you ready to eat, my lady?” the butler asked as he approached her.

Despite her anger, she straightened her back and nodded.  If Roderick thought she’d look the other way like other wives did, he had another thing coming.  She might not have gotten the marriage she hoped for—one filled with love, but she could find a way to get to London.  It was just a matter of looking at her situation from a different point of view.  The servants wouldn’t oblige her, but that didn’t mean all was lost.  She could still return to London.  And she would.  It was just a matter of finding out how she could get around the servants.  Satisfied, at least for the moment, she went to dinner.

Chapter Thirteen

C
laire let out a weary sigh as she stared out the window of the drawing room.  It was cloudy, but at least it wasn’t raining.  It seemed to her that just about every day since Roderick left, Weston saw rain, as if the whole place mourned his absence.  It only added to the gloomy atmosphere around her.  At the thought, she rolled her eyes.  He’d only been gone for two and a half weeks, but it felt more like months.  Perhaps time with his mistress or out gallivanting around with an unsavory crowd amused him enough to forget her altogether.

She struggled
not to let his outright rejection affect her, but as the days wore on, she felt herself slipping into a state of limbo—not feeling as if she were truly here and yet knowing she was.  The days were beginning to blur into one another, and that morning she had to ask Marion what day it was.  Friday.  It was Friday.  She closed her eyes and repeated it to herself.

“My lady?”

She opened her eyes and turned her attention to the butler who held a missive in his hand.

“This came for you,” he said, holding it to her.

Her heart leapt in anticipation as she took it.  As she hoped, it was from her sister!  “Thank you.”

“Would you like me to bring you some tea?”

She nodded and sat on the settee by the window while he left the room.  It seemed like years since she’d last seen her sister, and yet, she knew it’d only been a short time.  She opened it, eager to find out if her family would make a visit.  As she read through the letter, her eyes grew wide.  Her sister was entertaining the affections of Lord Hedwrett, and from the way it sounded, her sister was willing to marry him if he proposed.

“Poor Mister Morris,” Claire whispered, thinking of the man who’d done everything he could think of to win her sister over.

Claire shouldn’t be surprised.  Lilly was determined to marry a man with a title, and Lord Hedwrett, a viscount, would do it.  With a sigh, she continued reading the letter and noted that her parents would be delighted to come for a visit but wanted to make sure Roderick extended the invitation.  Claire placed the letter in her lap and debated when his invite would be possible.

“No!  I won’t do it anymore.  My cousin’s an earl.  I deserve to be treated better than this!” someone shouted from the hallway.

Surprised, she hurried to the door in time to see an irate young man that she recognized as Lord Clement’s ward, shove the butler away from him.

“I h
ave my orders, Mister Robinson,” the butler calmly said.

Mister Robinson grunted.  “I don’t care what Lord Roderick told you to do.  I’m not a stableboy.  I demand to go home.  This place is nothing more than a prison.”

She couldn’t help but sympathize with him.  In many ways, Weston seemed like a prison to her, too.  All she did was eat and sleep.  Drawing and journaling her thoughts did little to ease the boredom of her life.  She closed her eyes and wished she could see her family again.  If she could, she’d feel connected with the world again.

The butler glanced her way and bowed.  “My lady.  May I get something for you?”

Clearing her throat, she shook her head.  “No.” Ashamed that they caught her eavesdropping, she added, “I think I’ll go for a walk.”

“Then I need to get you a parasol in case it rains.”

Her face grew warm.  So she needed something after all.  He was right.  If she got caught in the rain, she’d need it.  As he went to retrieve it, she offered Mister Robinson a tentative smile.

The youth let out a long sigh.  “How do you manage it here?”

“I keep busy,” she told him, unwilling to tell him the truth.

He stepped toward her and lowered his voice.  “I don’t know how.  I’d die of boredom if it weren’t for playing stableboy.” He rolled his eyes.  “I can’t wait until I’m twenty-one.  I’m tired of being told what I can or can’t do.  My guardian is unreasonable.”

She didn’t know why he was working at the stables, and since it was none of her business, she didn’t dare ask him.

“So you had the misfortune of marrying my guardian’s friend,” he said.

“Misfortune?” She thought that was an odd choice of words.  Just what did people say when they talked about her marriage to Roderick?

“I don’t know who I feel sorrier for.  I mean, I’m forced to clean out stalls all day, and you’re stuck inside the house, going about your day doing all the things ladies do.” He paused.  “What do you do all day in this prison anyway?”

“I write and draw.”

“And that fulfills you?”

She shrugged.  What was she supposed to say to that?  Her purpose wasn’t to be fulfilled.  It was to give her husband an heir.  Outside of that, she didn’t know what her purpose was.

Mister Robinson’s eyebrows furrowed.  “Don’t you have any interests besides writing and drawing?”

“I look forward to seeing my family.”

He laughed.  “That’s not the case with me.  When I see my guardian coming, I run away from him.”

“Lord Clement is a good man.”

“People say that, but I have yet to see it, though I will say he knows how to smile, even if it is with fiendish delight.”

Despite herself, she chuckled.  It wasn’t appropriate for her to do so, considering he was mocking Lord Clement.  Forcing aside her laughter, she said, “That’s not fair, Mister Robinson.  You must be respectful of your guardian.”

“I know you
’re right, but I’m rather perplexed my guardian sees it fit to put me under the care of Lord Roderick.  And you know what your husband has me doing?”

“Yes, I know.”

The butler returned with her parasol, so she thanked him and took it.  Since they were watching her, she nodded in their direction and headed for the front door.  The butler hurried to open the door for her.  Once she was outside, the door closed behind her and Mister Robinson had resumed his litany of complaints.

Though it wasn’t raining, she opened her parasol and took a walk along the grounds.  She wished she hadn’t found Mister Robinson’s protests so interesting, but considering how little else there was to do, he had provided the greatest amount of entertainment
she’d enjoyed since she’d left London.

She brushed a tear from her eye.  How she wished she’d gotten her mother or father to join her on the veranda that night when her fate had been sealed.  And now she’d spend the rest of her life in quiet misery, her only reprieve being the times when she could see h
er family since she had yet to figure out a way to escape.

She passed the flowers that bloomed along the property, but this time, she hardly saw them.  She glanced at the front door of
the manor and saw Mister Robinson leave for the stables.  She stopped walking and watched Mister Robinson as he plopped on his hat and stomped toward the stables.  From a distance, it was hard to tell if he was a young gentleman or a young lady.  He was wearing men’s clothes, of course, but it occurred to her that if she wore similar clothing, she might pass for a stableboy.

As soon as the thought came to her, she rejected it. 
No.  She couldn’t do something that outrageous.  It was ridiculous she’d even entertain such an idea.  She knew the way to London, but she couldn’t exactly carry her clothes with her.  And she sure couldn’t continue on in London dressed in stableboy’s clothes.

With a sigh, she turned back to the path and tried to focus on the flowers.  They were so pretty.  Even with the overcast sky, their colors were vibrant.  She su
pposed she could get her drawing pad and do her best to draw them, even if her talent for it was far from ideal.  She went over to the flowers and traced one of the purple petals with her finger.  If she could draw it in such a way that it resembled a flower, she might be inspired to paint it and hang it up.

Most of the walls in the manor had nothing of interest hanging on them.  Portraits of those who lived there before was about all she’d seen.  If she’d known the people, she was sure she’d be interested in them, but in some ways, walking down the hallways and passing those portraits were a bit spooky, especially at night when she ima
gined those eyes following her.  Silly, childish imaginings.  She was married now and the lady of a manor.  She really should be mature enough to assume her responsibilities, and one of those responsibilities was to stop imagining things that weren’t there.

Straightening up, she continued her walk, deciding she wasn’t in the mood to draw today.  She didn’t feel like playing on the piano either, and the servants would have thanked her for that if they’d ever heard her play it.  Sadly, she had more talent drawing flowers t
han she did playing the piano.

Her steps slowed as she approached the gazebo.  The sound of a horse neighing caught her attention, so she turned and saw that Mister Robinson was heading her way on a horse.  Surprised, she waited for him.

He pulled the reins on the horse when he came within talking distance of her.  “You walk almost every day, even when it rains?”

She shrugged.  “I like to walk.”

“There’s no denying that, but I can’t help but notice you aren’t smiling.”

She didn’t know what to say to that so she kept silent.  She glanced at the gazebo where she usually sat for a while during the day and let
her mind wander.  With him staring at her, she thought it’d be rude to do so now, but at the same time, she had no idea what to say to him.

“Lady Roderick, isn’t there something you want to do?  Something that will bring a smile to your face?”

She turned her attention back to him, wondering if she should be reading more into his suggestive smile than she initially had.  “Where are you going with this?”

“I thought perhaps you might like to try something new.”

She narrowed her eyes at him.  “New in what way?”

He laughed and shook his head.  “Pardon me, my lady.  I meant nothing inappropriate, I assure you.  I only meant to ask if there’s anything I can do to help ease the burden of living in this dreadful place?  I was wondering if I can do something to brin
g some light to your dark world.”

“The only thing that would brigh
ten my day is if I saw my family, especially my sister.”

“Your sister?”

“Yes, she and I are close.  That is, we were close.  But then I married, and…” Unable to find the words to continue, she shrugged.

“I understand.” He sat back in the saddle and slapped his hand on his leg.
  “You need to visit your family.  That’s easy enough.  Tell the footman and coach driver to take you to her residence.”

“I can’t
,” she slowly replied.

“Do you need an invitation
?”

“No
.  They won’t take me there without Lord Roderick’s approval.”

Mister Robinson grunted and rolled his eyes.  “Not without Lord Roderick’s approval?  You’re his wife, not his ward.”

“But he is my husband, and they listen to him before they listen to me.”

“Well, he’s not here now.  And when he was here, he kept to himself to the point where I be
gan to wonder if I imagined him.”

“No, you didn’t imagine him
.  He’s very real.” Though she knew it was wrong, she quickly added, “I’ve seen him scowl with grave disapproval many times, so I know this for a fact.”

His eyes lit up and he chuckled.  “You have a marvelous sense of humor, my lady.  One wouldn’t think it upon first meeting you.  I suspect the almighty Lord Roderick’s scowls have had an unpleasant effect on you.”

“There are certain things about our marriage that—” She stopped herself in time before she embarrassed herself.  Mister Robinson was cunning in extracting information from her, but she’d told him more than enough already and was determined that she wouldn’t say any more.

He shrugged. 
“Some gentlemen are unlovable.  It can’t be helped.” He studied the sky for a moment and then grinned.  “You should see your family.  How far are they from here?”

“I’m afraid it’d take two days to get there
.  I can’t leave in the morning and come back in the evening.”

“So?  You don’t need anyone’s
permission to go.  Stay there for a few days.  Even better than that, stay there forever.  Then you can get out of this prison.  I know I’d never come back if it was me.”

She shook her head.  “
I can’t run out of here with the carriage.  It’s so big everyone will notice me.  And I can’t travel alone on horseback because I’m not a gentleman.”

His lips curled up into a wide smile.  “Lady Roderick, you have a terrific idea!”

“No.  I can’t do it.”

“Of course you can.”

She shook her head.  No, she couldn’t.  There was no way she could.

“
You don’t have to be a gentleman to look like one.  I could lend you my stableboy’s clothes.”

“But I couldn’t keep stableboy clothes while in London.”

“I’m sure your family can provide ladies’ clothes upon your arrival.  If you want to get out of here, then do it.”

She was ready to argue
, but the more she considered his words, the more she realized he was right.  She could do it.  She could get out of this place.  This was the break she needed!  No one else was willing to help her, but Mister Robinson was.  With a firm nod, she said, “All right.  I’ll do it.”