Chapter 18
What in the world was she to do now? Benjamin seemed bent on the idea of holding her hostage. But that didn’t mean she had to stay. She may not be able to find the nearest town on her own but surely one of his servants could help her. She’d just have to ask them when he wasn’t around.
She walked around the house. It wasn’t anything special. It was two stories and made completely out of smooth grey stone. Not just the outside, but the inside, too. The floor was large smooth-sided stones with carpet runners placed in the middle of common walkways. Around the edges of most of the rooms the rocks could be seen. The walls were also rocks. Some smooth, some not so smooth around the edges, but not jagged or dangerous. Just interesting. None of the windows were very big. They were all half windows that started about four or five feet off the floor and were about two to three feet tall and three feet wide.
Most of the rooms had a large fireplace and very little furnishings. No decorations or sconces hung on the walls. A few miniatures and candle stands were placed on flat surfaces throughout the rooms. She picked up a wax candle and noticed that it was fresh. Just like the last one she’d picked up. Apparently he either replaced his candles after each time he used one, which wasn’t likely, or he didn’t come here often.
She crept into the library and frowned when she saw only five volumes on the shelves. That was only further confirmation he never came here. Where in England was this place? Was it truly so far out of the way she’d never be found? No. She wasn’t going to think that way. She’d find a way to leave, even if she died trying. She wasn’t going to let him manipulate her like she’d let Robbie. In a way those two were just alike, it truly wouldn’t surprise her to find out they were relatives. Like Benjamin, Robbie could manipulate anyone into doing anything. Even if it took him five years.
Plopping down onto the settee that was positioned just below the only window in the drawing room, she closed her eyes, leaned her head back and drifted back in time. Back to a time when she’d let her vulnerabilities get the best of her and first started playing the puppet to Robbie’s skillful manipulation.
***
Brooklyn, NY
March, 1807
“Who was that?” she asked Robbie with a grin.
“Who’s who?” he asked, leading her onto the dance floor.
“Stop that,” she said laughingly. “You sound like an owl.”
He smiled and took his place in front of her for their dance. “All right, I suppose you refer to the man I was just speaking to?”
“Yes,” she said, putting her hand in his and casting a quick look to the handsome man with the unkempt and rather scruffy looking beard.
“He’s my cousin,” Robbie said blandly. “His name’s Leo. He’s from England.”
How intriguing. “And what is he doing here?”
Robbie shrugged and spun her, making her almost hit Big Thomas in the process. “Don’t know. Don’t care.”
“Is he staying with you?” She sent Big Thomas an apologetic smile and watched as he nodded his little head and licked the drool that was forming in the corner of his mouth.
Robbie stepped on her foot, presumably to get her attention back from where she’d been watching Big Thomas and his partner in awe. Really it was amazing his partner’s arms could stretch far enough to hold onto him. It was even more amazing the man didn’t topple over to the floor every time he danced because he was so top heavy. “Why do you care?”
“Hmmm?” she asked. “Oh, about your cousin.” She’d thought he’d read her thoughts about Big Thomas and his little twig dance partner. “Right, I just wondered. He’s rather handsome.”
“Handsome?” Robbie scoffed, twirling her even more wildly than last time. “He’s not handsome. He looks like a beggar. He’s got that scraggly beard. His clothes are dreadfully out of date. And anyway, it looks like he has an interest in Brooke.”
Madison craned her neck. Sure enough her handsome fellow was talking to Brooke. Brooke looked to be laughing about something he’d said and he had the largest grin she’d ever seen on his face. She hadn’t gotten a good look at him when she’d walked up to Robbie, but she’d seen him earlier from across the room watching the dancers and convinced Brooke to walk with her to go stand by him. She’d waited for him to come ask her to dance. But he hadn’t. Instead, Wendell Marshall had.
After enduring Whiney Wendell for five minutes, she decided to take matters into her own hands. Hoping for an introduction, she walked over to where Robbie was talking to this handsome stranger. However, once again, her plans to dance with him crumbled and she found herself dancing with Robbie. Not that she didn’t like Robbie. She did. But just not in that way. Not anymore, anyway. She had once, but thankfully Brooke talked sense into her head and she now understood that had been a girlhood crush, nothing more.
“They just met, surely he’s not smitten with her already,” Madison said airily. Everyone said Madison might be the more stunning of the two, but Brooke had the more exciting personality. She liked to tell jokes and laugh. Whereas Madison found she didn’t usually think other people’s jokes were funny, and very few found hers to be. Mama used to tell her she had a dry sense of humor. And unfortunately for her, decent men didn’t seem to like her dry wit or occasionally crude comment. That was something she was working on. She’d repeatedly been told she needed to watch her mouth. And though she’d explained to Mama and Papa numerous times that wasn’t physically possible, she knew what they meant. She needed to be more mindful of what she said and who she said it to.
Robbie shrugged. “Ever hear of love at first sight?”
“Why, Robbie,” she said teasingly, “have you become a romantic?”
“No,” he said flatly. “I’m just saying.”
“Hmm, well, I shall discover the truth of it tonight,” she said cheekily. “I shall interrogate Brooke into the wee hours of the morning to extract the details if I must.”
“Why should you care?” he said with a suggestive grin. “I’m not in love with Brooke.” He gave her waist a light squeeze.
Her eyes met his. He thought she was still interested in him and now that she wasn’t, he was interested in her. What a coil. “Robbie, you’re not in love with me, either,” she said evenly, not wanting to hurt his feelings. “I know I’ve embarrassed myself in more ways than one trying to catch your notice, but it was all a bunch of girlhood fantasies. I don’t harbor those feelings for you any longer and I don’t think you truly feel the same way for me.”
He stepped on her toe again. Except this time it seemed to be more of an accident than before. “You what?” he asked, blinking owlishly at her. “But you’ve been in love with me forever.” He flashed her his most charming smile.
She squeezed his shoulder in a friendly gesture. “I know. But as you always said, it was just an infatuation, not love.”
“I see,” he said slowly. “And you think you love Leo all the sudden?” His voice sounded bitter and angry.
“No,” she said softly. “Robbie, it’s just not that way between us. But no, I haven’t suddenly transferred my affections to him. He’s a stranger. I just thought he looked handsome and thought perhaps I might like to meet him, that’s all.”
He nodded once and didn’t say a word for the rest of their dance.
True to her word, Madison went to Brooke’s room that night to ask questions about Robbie’s cousin and see if he was smitten with her. Long ago the two had decided if one had marked interest in a particular gentleman, the other would not interfere. That had never been a problem before and she desperately hoped it wouldn’t become one now.
Madison put her hand on Brooke’s doorknob and went to twist it when suddenly the knob seemed to be pulling her. She looked up and blinked at Brooke. “I…uh…” She looked at her hand that was still outstretched and holding onto Brooke’s door. “Can we talk?”
“Yes,” Brooke almost squealed with excitement. She grabbed Madison’s arm and yanked her into her room. “I was just coming to find you.”
“You were?” Madison asked, blinking at her sister.
“Yes. I met the most charming man tonight,” Brooke said with a smile.
Madison felt a wave of sadness come over her. Too bad she hadn’t gone up to him sooner, now he was as good as snagged. All Brooke had to do was turn up the charm and he’d be eating out of her palm within a week. “Oh,” she said, trying not to act too disappointed.
Brooke nodded enthusiastically. “Yes. He’s somewhat handsome, in a rugged way. He was extremely friendly and was terribly funny when he practically begged me to—”
“I’m very happy for you,” Madison cut in. She really didn’t think she wanted to hear all this. Not that she’d set her cap set on him, but she still hurt to listen to Brooke prattle on about him for a reason she couldn’t explain.
“Me?” Brooke asked, her brows furrowing in confusion. “He wasn’t interested in me. He was interested in
you
.”
“Me?” Madison squeaked. Her heart started slamming in her chest.
“Yes,” Broke said, nodding. “He confessed to being a bounder of the worst sort and said he needed saving, specifically by you. But have no worries, he assured me he was savable.”
Madison couldn’t stop smiling. He’d seen her and was just as interested in her as she’d been with him. Perhaps there was such a thing as love at first sight. “What do I do now?” she asked.
“Talk to him,” Brooke suggested in a tone that made Madison feel like the simpleton Robbie was.
“Right,” she clipped. “But when?”
“When you see him again, of course,” Brooke said with a giggle.
“I know that,” Madison said hastily, taking a seat on Brooke’s bed. “I just wonder when we’ll see him again.”
Brooke sat down next to her. “In two days when we go to church. Surely if he’s staying with Robbie, he’ll come to church. Mr. Swift cannot afford not to attend each Sunday. It’s how he tries to convince everyone he knows that he’s a fair banker.”
“You’re right,” Madison agreed. “I just hope Robbie doesn’t spoil it.”
“How would he? You’d think he’d be happy to pass your attentions to his unsuspecting cousin,” Brooke teased.
Madison shook her head. “I don’t know. I think I may have made a mistake tonight when I told Robbie I’d moved on and inquired about his cousin.”
Brooke cast her a questioning glance.
“I can’t explain it exactly. His face changed and he actually looked disappointed,” she said with a shrug.
“Do not feel sorry for the man,” Brooke said sharply, piercing her with a stare she’d perfected as a way to cripple her younger sisters and bend them to her will. “He’s bad news and rather slow to boot.”
“I don’t know. He may not be as slow as you think,” she said, shaking her head. “I mean he seems to get girls with no problem.”
“That’s charm,” Brooke corrected, “not intelligence. For goodness’ sake, he cut a line in his trousers—and who knows what else—because he was using a knife to cut a piece of paper while using his leg as a hard surface.”
“That was just a lapse of judgment,” Madison said in his defense.
“All right. What about the time we caught him making change in the offering plate? Was that a lapse in judgment, too?”
“Well, no, that was just flat out disrespectful,” she said, trying not to laugh. “But that doesn’t mean he’s one wheel short of a carriage. It just means he’s an idiot.”
Brooke rolled her eyes. “How about the time he came to visit and excused himself at dinner and came back into the dining room with the chamber pot on his head? Does that convince you he’s dimwitted or do you require more examples?”
Madison shook her head. “I still don’t think he’s as dumb as you think. I think he just wants attention.”
“Why are you defending him?” Brooke demanded.
Madison sighed. “I don’t mean to. It’s just that even though I don’t have those feelings for him any longer, doesn’t mean I think we should be cruel about him.”
“As long as that’s the only reason,” Brooke said skeptically.
“It is,” Madison assured her.
“Madison, I know you think he’s just a man need in rescuing. And, don’t get me wrong, that is certainly the case, but let someone else do it.”
“I know,” Madison said, nodding. “That’s why I was scouting elsewhere tonight. Most notably, his cousin.”
“Very good,” Brooke encouraged. “I can tell he has a tender heart, Madison. He’ll treat you much better than Robbie.”
“Let’s just hope he’s not as addled as his cousin,” Madison mumbled. If he was, it wouldn’t necessarily shock her. She always seemed to attract the strangest of men.
She went back to her bed and slept not a single wink that night. She was too anxious planning what she’d say to him the next time she saw him.
Sunday came and she tried to no avail to get Leo’s attention. Every time she’d get close enough to talk to him, someone would show up and try to distract her.
For the next three weeks it was the same way. Only a few times did she actually have conversation with him. Each time their conversation never lasted more than a few minutes, but those few minutes were enough to keep her intrigued enough to keep her looking forward to their next chance encounter.
During their brief chats she’d told him she volunteered, sewed and even painted. And he’d said he was more of an observer of art, liked to study war, hated parlor games and thought Robbie was a dunce. However paltry all those little facts seemed, it was enough to know she’d found someone she could happily spend the rest of her life with. At sixteen almost seventeen, it wasn’t too young to think of marriage and if he’d have asked, she would have agreed on the spot. Even if they’d only spent less than a combined thirty minutes talking, it was enough to know in her heart she’d be absolutely happy.
One of the most convincing ways she knew she’d be happy with him was that he didn’t seem to mind her accidental slip of the tongue. On one of the occasions they were able to talk, their conversation had started because he’d overheard her tell a bawdy joke about a dockside tart.
“Do all young ladies in America talk that way? Or is it just you?” he teased with a bright smile.
She blushed. She’d had no idea she’d been overheard, especially by him. “Unfortunately, it’s just me,” she said as evenly as she could. She’d never been embarrassed being caught saying something inappropriate before, but this time she was.