Wishing For Rainbows (Historical Romance) (14 page)

“How can you be so blaze about this? I know it may not mean much to you, but this is my future my father is signing away,” Ursula snapped. All of her earlier enjoyment had now vanished, and been replaced with a soul-deep hurt that echoed in her voice.

“Why are you so averse to marriage?” he asked reasonably, refusing to allow the issue to drop in spite of her distress.

“I am not,” she countered.

“Then why object to it so vehemently?”

“Would you want to marry someone of your father’s choosing?” Ursula snapped.

She wanted to smack him for his callous disregard of her feelings. Did he usually dally with ladies and then wave them off so they could marry someone else? Was he that much of a rogue? How could he be so heartless?

“Of course not, but I am not a female. I can marry whom I choose,” he declared somewhat pompously.

“Well, that’s good for you,” she declared with a sniff. “Meanwhile, I am to be ferried off to Yorkshire to be married to some odious country fellow so I can live in the middle of nowhere and count sheep for the rest of my life.”

In spite of her upset, Trenton battled to withhold his smile. “I am sure your father would never settle for a man like that in your life.”

“Oh, you know that for a fact, do you?” she snapped.

“Well, I do have it on good authority that the man your father has accepted is most suitable for you. He is strong, dependable, and extremely loyal,” he mused thoughtfully, thoroughly enjoying witnessing this new, rather spiky side to her.

“So are most dogs,” she countered crisply. “But I am not expected to marry them!”

“I am sure it won’t be as bad as all that,” he murmured soothingly. He knew immediately he had said the wrong thing when she threw a glare at him that could have frozen him on the spot.

“Am I to understand that my father has taken you into his confidence about who my prospective husband is too?” She stared at him when he hesitated. “You know who it is, don’t you? You knew all along that this was what my father would do?”

Trenton slowly nodded. There was something secretive in his eyes that she didn’t like but couldn’t quite focus on because of the crippling sense of betrayal that swept through her.

She looked at him in disbelief. “You knew all along that my father was signing my future away to someone else. That’s why you got mad with me for going to the conservatory the other night. Tell me, is that why you hinted at the dinner the other evening that I was to marry a Yorkshireman? You were telling me that you knew I was to marry; that my husband had already been selected for me?”

He didn’t move or make any attempt to deny the accusation, but sighed as though he was digging deep for his patience. Now, she was in no mood to listen to what he had to say though. She had never been so disgusted with anyone in her life, and had certainly never felt this betrayed.

To think he had encouraged her affection while knowing all along that she was marrying someone else left her feeling slightly sick.

“Tell me, did my father pay you to shower me with affection and take liberties so you could deliver me to my future husband unscathed?”

“Ursula,” he growled darkly. All trace of mirth vanished from his face and was replaced by something that was infinitely dark and dangerous but she didn’t care what he thought. Her broken heart wouldn’t allow her to stop.

“Ursula, listen to me,” Trenton demanded.

“I think we should now consider our association at an end,” she whispered in a voice that was fuelled with hurt.

Before he could say anything else, she whirled around and strode down the path.

Trenton swore as she disappeared and threw a glare at the maid. “Go back to the house. I will escort her home once she has calmed down. Tell Adelaide that I will bring her home in time for dinner.”

Ursula swiped at the tears on her face and tried to calm down. This was London, a place where ladies were expected to glide and look serene no matter what they did, or where they went. But it was difficult given the anger that was so strong she physically shook. Knowing she would draw censure if she carried on like this, she forced herself to slow her pace to a steady walk.

Suddenly, the steady thud of hoof beats behind her grew louder.

“Stop right there,” Trenton demanded as he pulled his horse to a stop. He quickly dismounted and tugged her unceremoniously toward the sheltered protection of the trees beside them.

He was glad that she had taken a walk so early in the morning because they practically had the park to themselves, but he still needed to preserve their privacy. Once they were away from prying eyes, he moved around to stand in front of her, and forced her to look up at him.

“I am sorry if I upset you.”

“You are in league with my father,” she whispered. “How could you do that to me?”

Trenton sighed and knew that he had to explain. Unfortunately, the arrival of a nursemaid and her young charges warned him this was neither the time nor the place. He sighed and looked down at the woman he so desperately needed to hold. She looked so damned miserable and alluring at the same time that it was all he could do not to haul her into his arms right there and then.

“Well, well, anyone who sees you two standing together like that would think you are in collusion about something,” a rather smug voice drawled suddenly.

Trenton groaned and closed his eyes on curse before he turned around. “Are you following us, Brampton?”

When Ursula tried to walk away, Trenton grabbed hold of her wrist to hold her still. He didn’t care what Brampton thought. If the man put them together in his mind, then he would have no reason to continue to pester Ursula.

“I am just enjoying the morning air.” Brampton sighed. “Although not as much as you it seems.”

“Go away, Brampton,” Trenton snapped.

“I don’t think so. Someone has to preserve this delightful young lady’s reputation.”

“Well, it most certainly won’t be you,” Trenton snorted. “It’s a little like putting a juicy steak in front of a starving dog and not expecting it to eat it.”

Ursula was aware that her head was swivelling back and forth as the men traded insults, but struggled to find a way to intervene.

“I must be going,” she whispered hesitantly. She glanced down at the hold Trenton had on her but he didn’t take the hint.

“No, we must be going,” Trenton corrected her. He knew that if he allowed her to leave the park right now it would probably the last he would see of her until she reached Yorkshire. It was important that he clarify the situation with her father, and enlighten her about what had been agreed.

“You are causing a scandal,” Brampton informed them, and nodded toward a group of ladies walking along the path. “First you release Barbarella from your agreement, Trenton. Then you are gadding about all of London with her.” He nodded toward Ursula as though she was nothing more than a piece of baggage.

“I had no agreement with Barbarella,” Trenton growled. “Anything she has said to you in that regard is utter nonsense. I have not ever, nor would I ever, offer for Barbarella. God, give me some credit for having taste. She is more your league, not mine.” He drew his gaze up and down Brampton insultingly to make sure that the man knew it was a slight. He then turned toward Ursula and held his arm out in a gentlemanly fashion.

“So the gossips and half of London have got it wrong have they?” Brampton asked, clearly determined not to be thwarted.

“I am afraid they have. Did her father make an announcement? Did he put an advertisement in the broadsheet? Has there ever been an engagement party? No. So I would ask you not to spread scurrilous rumours. Please focus on your own affairs and I use the term ‘affair’ lightly, given your own endeavours.”

Ursula watched Brampton’s face change into something that was hard and almost cruel. He stepped threateningly toward Trenton and, for a moment, she wondered if he was going to start a fight.

“I warn you now not to mess with me, Calderhill,” Brampton snarled.

“Are you threatening me?” Trenton laughed mockingly. “You? London’s notorious wastrel?”

“Can we leave now?” Ursula asked when the air between them became palpable.

“Yes, we can, my dear. Let’s go this way though. You so wanted to walk the Ladies’ Mile that it is a shame to allow anything to ruin our outing,” he growled and escorted Ursula away without a backward look.

“I will bring you down, Trenton,” Brampton warned as they walked away. “You won’t get away with this.”

“What is he talking about?” Ursula asked when they had left Brampton far enough behind that he wouldn’t be able to overhear her.

“I don’t know. I think he may have had plans for you himself, but my presence in your life has thwarted him.”

Ursula mentally cheered but then remembered their earlier argument and frowned at the path beneath their feet. “I think I should like to go back now,” she whispered.

“We need to talk,” Trenton warned as he studied the distance they had yet to walk. If they continued toward the end of the mile they would be closer to his home than Adelaide’s. He looked at the scowl on Ursula’s face, and wondered if she was worried by what she had just witnessed, or still angry at him for their earlier altercation.

“I don’t think there is much to say,” she protested.

“Well, I think you need to listen then because what I have to tell you is important, Ursula. It is about why I have been looking out for you,” he warned. He watched the shadows in her eyes be replaced with curiosity that he knew would aid his cause.

She wanted to ask him whose offer her father had accepted, but then had no intention of marrying the man so didn’t want to ask for fear of appearing interested. She scowled at the skyline ahead of them.

“I have decided not to return to Yorkshire at all,” she informed him pertly. “Unless my father is going to kidnap me and drag me out of Adelaide’s house, I refuse to go back to my father’s. I wish to stay in London indefinitely.”

“I thought you didn’t like the place much?” Trenton frowned.

“I don’t, but it is better than what Yorkshire has to offer,” she declared darkly.

“Don’t worry about it too much right now.”

“Yoo-hoo! Miss Proctor? I say, Miss Proctor.”

“Oh, no,” Ursula groaned and sighed deeply. “It’s that dreaded Sinnerton woman again.”

“Let’s go this way,” Trenton replied as he urged her to walk faster. “Don’t look back. She will only wave at you. If we keep our heads together we will look as though we are deep in conversation.”

“Oh dear,” she whispered when they reached the pedestrian gate at the end of the mile. She glanced back at his horse dubiously.

“I need to go this way,” Trenton told her and nodded to the considerably larger gate further down the road. “I will meet up with you down there. Just promise me that you won’t stop to talk to anyone. I will keep an eye on you.”

Desperate even for a few moments alone, Ursula nodded and hurried toward the gate. She didn’t slow her pace as she watched Trenton mount his horse and canter across the grass. They looked a powerful combination as they thundered across the open space and were thrilling just to watch. It was a little disappointing when they momentarily disappeared from sight and she found herself scouring the landscape for him returning.

She was so busy thinking about him that she wasn’t aware of the huge carriage lumbering toward her. It was only when someone shouted a warning to her that she snapped out of her daze and glanced over her shoulder.

The sight of the whites of the horses’ eyes as it thundered down on her was something she knew she would never forget. Her scream was instinctive as she stepped backward, and only just managed to jump out of the way as the carriage careered past without slowing down. A gentleman walking toward her shouted an insult and waved his cane after the coachman, but he didn’t even appear to have heard him because he didn’t look back. Nor did he slow his pace as he careered across the park and disappeared out of sight.

Trenton heard several people shout and swore loudly when a large, black carriage raced down the path a few feet away. His heart tightened painfully in his chest when he heard a woman scream and he knew, even without looking, that Ursula was in danger.

As the carriage passed, he caught a fleeting glimpse of the coachman. The resemblance to the man he had seen on the embankment on the day that Ursula had been attacked rang alarm bells in Trenton. He spun his horse around and raced toward the main gate, and swore with relief when he saw Ursula in conversation with an elderly gentleman. Assured that she was alright, he set off in pursuit of the reckless carriage.

As he raced through the park, he mentally apologised to Ursula for abandoning her, and hoped she had the good sense to remain where she was until he could get back to her. He wished now that he hadn’t sent the maid away, but there was nothing he could do about that now. It was more important that he identify the person responsible for what he suspected were now two attempts on Ursula’s life – three, if he counted the break-in at Adelaide’s house the other week.

Determined to catch his quarry, Trenton kicked his horse into a canter and gave chase.

“I am alright, thank you,” Ursula assured several gentlemen who gathered around her to make sure that she was alright. “No, really, I am fine.”