The Six Month Marriage (7 page)

‘Servants are one thing,’ interrupted Madeline, not
wishing to talk about it. ‘Even my uncle treated his servants well for the most
part. But –’

‘Not just his servants,’ said Jenny resolutely,
arranging Madeline’s hair into a chignon and pushing in pins to hold it in
place. ‘His friends . . . and his women friends, too,’ she added boldly. ‘Treats
them courteous, like, and friendly, not showing them up and humiliating them,
like your uncle. And not just his friends and his women friends. He treats his
sister well, by all accounts.’

Madeline was interested, despite herself. It was not a
small thing for a man to be loved by his servants. Servants were always in a
position to know what a man was really like. But marriage . . . that was too
great a risk.

‘No, Jenny, I cannot do it. If I marry him, he will have
too much power over me. I have asked him to provide me with a reference and I
intend to find a position as a governess instead.’

Jenny said nothing, but her silence spoke volumes.

‘As a governess I will be respectable,’ said Madeline. ‘I
will be able to earn my keep. And I will be safe from my uncle.’ As she spoke
she realised that she was trying to convince herself, rather than Jenny. ‘And
perhaps, in time, I may be able to open a small school of my own.’

‘Just as you say, miss.’ Jenny’s tone showed that she
didn’t like the idea. She had been with Madeline since Madeline’s childhood,
and was very protective of her mistress.

‘You don’t approve?’

‘It’s not for me to say, miss,’ said Jenny woodenly.

‘I
can’t
accept the Earl’s offer,’ said Madeline.
She stood up and began to walk round the room. ‘I have no guarantee he will
honour his side of the bargain. He says he will provide me with a house and an
annuity when the marriage is annulled, but I have only his word for it. Once I
am in
Yorkshire
I will be
alone, with no one to turn to – trapped again.’

‘And once you’re a governess?’ asked Jenny obstinately.

Madeline sighed. ‘I know. It is fraught with problems
too. The master of the house may be another man such as my uncle. And the Earl
is at least honourable.’

‘And you spent last night under his roof without coming
to any harm,’ Jenny reminded her.

Madeline nodded. She had been half afraid to go to sleep
the night before, being under the same roof as a strange gentleman and knowing
how so-called gentlemen could behave, but she had passed the night in safety
and comfort.

‘And he would have a good reason for treating you right,’
said Jenny. ‘If he didn’t, you could run away and he wouldn’t get his fortune.
He needs to present himself, with his wife, to the lawyers at the end of the
six months, I think you said?’

‘He does.’

‘So it stands to reason he’d treat you well,’ said
Jenny.

Madeline crossed the room again, more slowly this time.
Her brow was furrowed in concentration. If the Earl did as he said then her
problems were over. If not . . .

She sighed. Marriage to the Earl was risky, but it was
also her best option. He was unlikely to treat her badly because he needed her.
Even if he did not, as he had promised, provide her with a house and purchase
her an annuity, then at the end of the six months she would be no worse off
than she was now. And it was not true that she would be alone. She would have
Jenny with her, which she would not have if she took a position as a governess.
But still, could she do it? Could she take such a chance?

Her mother’s warning came back to her.
Marriage is a
trap
, her mother had said. But this marriage would not be a trap. This
marriage had its end built into its beginning.

Resolutely Madeline made her decision. She would accept
the Earl’s offer. However risky that offer may turn out to be.

Madeline
went downstairs. Having made her decision she acted on it straight away, and
found Lord Pemberton in his study. He was writing at his desk as she entered,
but as soon as he looked up and saw her he threw down his quill and stood up.

She straightened her shoulders and smoothed her skirt, then
she said, ‘Lord Pemberton. I have come to ask you if I can change my mind.’

‘About?’ he asked.

‘About becoming your wife.’

‘Does this mean that you accept my proposal?’ he asked.

‘I – yes. It does.’

He smiled, then sat on the edge of his desk and folded
his arms across his chest. He looked younger; friendlier. He stretched his
long, firm legs out in front of him. ‘May I ask what made you change your mind?’

‘It was Jenny.’

‘Jenny?’ he asked in surprise.

‘Yes. She told me . . . she has friends among your
servants . . . and they all speak well of you, she says.’

He gave a shout of laughter.

‘What’s so funny?’ she asked.

‘This,’ he said. ‘This situation. When you came in I was
writing you a reference so that you could take up a post as a governess, but at
the same time Jenny was giving a reference for me!’

Madeline’s face broke into a smile. ‘A commoner must
seek a reference from an earl, but an earl, being already at the top of the
tree, must go full circle and get one from his servants!’ she giggled. The
absurdity of the situation overcame her, and she collapsed into laughter. It
felt good to laugh!

But she quickly recovered herself. She knew very little
about the man in front of her, after all, and although she had agreed to enter
into a sham of a marriage with him she knew she must not let down her defences.

He, too, had sobered. ‘We will marry as soon as you are
twenty-one,’ he said, becoming business-like. ‘I don’t think your uncle is
likely to make any further difficulties, but as your birthday is only a week
away I suggest we wait until you are of age. It will make it far more difficult
for him to cause trouble if he changes his mind.’

Madeline nodded in agreement. What the Earl said made
sense.

But there were other things she needed to know. ‘What
will happen afterwards? When the marriage is annulled?’

‘Why, I will claim my fortune and go on to marry
Letitia. And then —’

‘Is the fortune really so important to you?’ she asked.
Despite the fact that she had agreed to the six-month marriage she thought it
strange that Philip, in love with Letitia – for why else should he marry her? -
would arrange a sham marriage, even to claim his fortune. And stranger still
that Letitia, being in love with Philip, did not object.

‘Yes. It is. My estate is badly run down. My father
loved it, but as he got older he neglected it, particularly after my mother
died. And as I was away fighting Napoleon I could not take a hand. Without the
fortune I can’t maintain the estate, let alone improve it. I can’t repair the
tenants’ housing, and I can’t introduce new measures on the home farm to make
it more successful. In fact, I can’t do any of the things I need and want to
do. And once I have claimed the fortune,’ he said, ‘I will provide you with a
handsome annuity, and a choice of houses to live in. I own many properties in
and around
York
, and you can choose
which one you please. Or, if you prefer, I will buy you a respectable house in
the country.’

‘And you are sure that you will be granted an annulment?’
she asked.

‘I am. As long as the marriage is not consummated, there
will be no difficulty in having it annulled. The only problem you may not have
thought of is that if you want to marry again your bridegroom may wonder why
your first marriage was annulled.’

‘That won’t be a problem,’ said Madeline definitely. ‘I
have no intention of marrying again.’

‘You are very young to be so sure,’ he said, looking at
her curiously.

‘Nevertheless I
am
sure.’

‘Is it because of your uncle’s behaviour?’ he asked.

‘That and . . . other things.’

He looked at her searchingly for a minute but then, to
her relief, he allowed the subject to drop.

‘As soon as we are married we will set out for
Yorkshire
,’ he said. ‘The journey is a long
one, but we will take our time. You have been out of
London
before, of course?’

‘When I was a child I lived in Hampshire,’ she said. ‘But
I have never been to the north.’

‘Then you should prepare yourself for a surprise. The
landscape is harder, but grander too. I think you will like it. But now to more
important matters. By the time we arrive in
Yorkshire
you will need some suitable clothes.’

He scrutinised her closely, and Madeline realised how
little she must look like a countess.

‘My sister’s clothes are all very well for here,’ he
said, ‘and will have to do for the journey, but as soon as you arrive at
Stonecrop you will need something more suitable to wear. My sister uses a very
skilled modiste here in
London
,
a Madame Rouen, who can take your measurements and help you choose some fabrics.
Madame Rouen will then send the details to her cousin, Miss Silverstone, who is
a
York
modiste,’ he explained. ‘That
way, by the time we reach
Yorkshire
, Miss Silverstone will have made up a number of dresses for you.’

‘You seem to have thought of everything,’ said Madeline.

There was a tension in her voice, and she felt a sudden
spurt of fear as she wondered whether the Earl meant to control her life.

She felt a moment of panic and she almost told him she
had changed her mind.

But then he said, ‘Not everything. You will be free to
organise your own time in
Yorkshire
, I promise you. I will be busy with the estate, and it will be up
to you to do as much or as little as you wish. You don’t need to be
apprehensive about the coming months, Madeline. You have nothing to fear.’

Except the way I feel every time you touch me, thought
Madeline with a strange shiver.

But she kept that thought to herself.

The
day of the wedding was cold and wet. The summer sunshine had given way to a
spell of unsettled weather. It matched Madeline’s unsettled feelings. She felt
relief at having escaped from her uncle on the one hand, but wary of the coming
six months on the other. Because despite Jenny’s arguments in his favour, and
despite the things she herself had seen, she still knew very little about the
Earl and she was determined to be on her guard.

As she walked down the aisle on Jason Fellows’ arm she
saw Philip waiting at the altar for her. He was looking imposing in a blue
tailcoat, pale blue waistcoat and cream breeches. His dark hair was brushed
à
la
Brutus, and his amber eyes were glowing brightly in the red and gold
light that fell through the stained glass windows.

There were few other people at the ceremony. Young Mr
Murgo was there at the front of the church, standing beside Philip, together
with a clergyman.

Sitting in the pews at the left-hand side of the church
were a well-dressed gentleman, an extremely elegant young lady and an elderly
woman of mousy appearance who was evidently her companion.

The young woman - young still, though she was a good
five or six years older than Madeline - was expensively dressed and had an air
of consequence about her, as though she knew her own place in the world, and as
though that place was an exalted one. Her hair was a rich chestnut colour, and
she was very beautiful. She gave an arch smile as Madeline walked past her, but
Madeline had no time to wonder who she might be as another few steps took her
to the altar, where Philip was waiting for her.

The ceremony began. It was a brief, formal affair. There
were no hymns or readings, just an agreement by Madeline and Philip to take
each other as husband and wife; a joining of hands; and a pronouncement by the
clergyman that they were man and wife.

And then it was over. For good or ill, Madeline was no
longer a spinster. She was Philip’s wife.

A brief picture of her mother flashed before her eyes,
but fortunately she had no time to think about her mother’s unhappy fate as the
elegant young woman immediately rose in a cloud of expensive scent and went
over to Philip, taking his arm with a proprietorial air. ‘Philip.’ She turned
her face up to his in the most charming manner. ‘I am so glad you are married,’
she purred.

‘Madeline, may I present Miss Bligh?’ asked Philip,
turning to Madeline.

Of course! That was who the elegant young woman was.
Miss Bligh, Philip’s intended bride.

She was undeniably beautiful, and extremely elegant. She
carried herself like a countess already, her tall, willowy figure showing off
her expensive and fashionable clothes to great advantage. Even so, Madeline
could not help being surprised at Philip’s choice. For all her beauty and
elegance, there was a hardness in Letitia’s eyes that spoke of a selfish
nature, and a curl of her mouth that suggested disdain. However, Philip’s
choice of a bride was not her concern, and so she reminded herself.