Chapter Twenty-Seven
In the drawing room of his Charles Street residence, Elliot stood by the mantel and stared at the clock as it ticked the minutes. Hard to believe he was to be married in less than an hour.
He glanced at his sister, who’d arrived in London yesterday. She wore a simple sky-blue gown that he’d purchased for her at Harrods. He’d wanted to buy her something more elaborate, but she’d said it was the bride’s day to shine. He had a feeling that wasn’t the sole reason. His sister didn’t wish to stand out.
“Are you nervous?” Meg asked, grinning. The playful tone in her voice was refreshing after the row they’d had last night. The stubborn girl still insisted she would not return to Mrs. Gibbs’s School.
“Anxious more than anything,” Elliot replied.
“I can tell. If your foot taps any harder against the floorboards, you might weaken them.”
The sound of rain pattering against the panes of glass drew his attention to the window. He walked over and pulled a heavy curtain panel back. The sky had shifted from blue to gray with dark, angry clouds hovering above.
“Hopefully, it will stop before the ceremony.” Meg stepped beside him.
He nodded. A black carriage with the Duke of Fernbridge’s seal moved slowly down the street. Even with the light rain, he could see Fernbridge’s blond hair and the scathing expression on the man’s face. Nina had sent a letter to the duke explaining she’d accepted Elliot’s marriage proposal.
For a minute, Elliot thought His Grace intended to stop. But it wouldn’t be in Fernbridge’s nature to concede defeat, and he was sure that was how the duke saw Nina’s decision to marry Elliot.
* * *
The light drizzle that started before Nina and Elliot’s wedding had turned into a torrent of rain by the conclusion of the ceremony. So far, if one disregarded the inclement weather, everything else had gone off without a hitch.
Startling, if Elliot considered the lethal glower Nina’s brother James had hurled at him during the ceremony. At one point, he’d wondered if the man contemplated putting a knife in his back. Even her debauched brother, Anthony, was giving him a deadly stare as Elliot and Nina stood in the vestibule, preparing to exit the church.
Elliot’s gaze shifted to the Dowager of Huntington. The old woman’s countenance was unreadable. Perhaps that was how Nina’s grandmother looked while planning someone’s demise.
Elliot thought of the urn that had tumbled off the roof at the house party, and, once again, wondered about the old woman. No, a preposterous thought. She was cantankerous, overbearing, but surely not capable of murder. It was an accident. Though it seemed he’d had his share of them.
At least, he’d scraped up enough blunt to have all the wheels on the carriage replaced and the interior reupholstered with navy velvet. He would not have either his wife or sister riding around in an unsafe vehicle.
Nina and Elliot dashed to the carriage and settled inside.
“Husband,” she said, talking over the patter of the rain hitting the roof. She smiled. “I’ve been relishing the thought of calling you husband all week.”
Husband? The word seemed odd, yet somehow perfect when she peered at him with her lovely face with no traces of apprehension. The fact that she trusted him meant more than anything else.
“It sounds beautiful coming from you.” He touched her cheek, and though it seemed unnecessary with the rivulets of rain slipping over the windows making it almost impossible for anyone to see inside, Elliot tugged the shades down.
In the darkened space, Nina’s soft laugh filtered into the air. “What are you up to, Elliot?”
“Throughout the ceremony, all I could think of was making love to you again.” He pulled her onto his lap and brushed his lips gently against hers before deepening the kiss.
With a purr of pleasure, she wrapped her arms about his neck and returned his heated kiss.
Having her in his arms with their mouths pressed together felt so right. Perfect. He slipped his hand under the skirt of her white gown, gliding his hands over one of her smooth legs, encased in silk stockings.
She moaned against his mouth and parted her legs slightly.
He found the small slit in her drawers and drew his finger over her already wet folds.
She moaned again.
Damnation. He needed to stop. They were probably close to Huntington’s residence and entering the house for the wedding breakfast with a cockstand pressing noticeably against the front of his trousers would surely break some unwritten rule of proper etiquette.
He pulled back. “We need to stop, love.”
Nina smiled at him, her eyes a bit glassy from desire, and her breaths, like his, uneven.
She nodded and started to slide off his lap.
“No, stay. Let me hold you for one more minute.”
“I’d like that.” She rested her head against his shoulder and combed her fingers through the hair at his nape.
The pounding of the heavy raindrops hitting the carriage’s roof slowed.
“The rain is stopping.” Nina raised her head and glanced at him. “Caroline said rain on a wedding day is good luck. She said it drizzled the day she married my brother.”
Elliot wasn’t a superstitious man, but he hoped Lady Huntington was right.
The carriage stopped, and Nina slipped off his lap.
Inside Nina’s family residence, they greeted the guests.
After the wedding breakfast, which took several hours, they were shown into a large drawing room.
Elliot watched Meg make her way into the room. He frowned. Damp weather sometimes affected his sister’s leg, and today was no different, if her limp was any indication. The oppressive guilt Elliot always experienced when he witnessed Meg’s pain ratcheted up. He fought the urge to go to her and ask how she felt. She wouldn’t appreciate it. She’d told him last night not to treat her differently.
Nina, standing next to him, touched his arm. “All the chairs are taken. I’ll go ask a footman to bring in more, so your sister need not stand.”
As she turned to leave, he caught her hand. “I thank you for your thoughtfulness, Nina, but it’s fine.”
She blinked. “I don’t understand.”
“Meg doesn’t wish for any special treatment.”
“Elliot, I would not wish any guest to not have the option of sitting, if they desired to.”
He motioned with his chin as Talbot walked up to Meg and pointed to a now vacant chair.
Meg scowled at Talbot and limped away.
“See, Talbot was only trying to be helpful, but she’s taken offense.”
“Aw, I see. She desires others not to offer her special treatment. I can understand that.”
“What is wrong with others wishing to help her?” Elliot asked.
“Might I ask what happened? Was it an accident?”
The air in the room suddenly felt scarce of oxygen as if the chimney was blocked, sending smoke into the room. He would eventually tell Nina what had transpired. But he didn’t wish her to look at him differently, and if he told her, he feared she might. “Yes, an accident. A terrible accident.”
He was relieved when Talbot walked up to them, ending the discussion. Talbot took Nina’s hand in his and kissed her gloved fingers. “Might I say, Lady Ralston, you are the loveliest bride I’ve ever seen.”
“Thank you, my lord. You are too kind.” She smiled. “If you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go chat with my new sister-in-law.”
As Nina walked away, Talbot frowned. “I hope she has better luck than I did. I showed your sister there was an empty chair and she almost bit my head off.”
Elliot opened his mouth to respond, but his friend waved off his reply.
“So, you’ve gone and done it. Gotten yourself leg-shackled.”
“I don’t look at marriage to Nina that way.”
“Yes, yes, I know you think yourself in love. I will admit one thing: Your wife is truly a delightful woman.”
“She is extraordinary in every way.”
Talbot made a sour face. “Oh, bugger. Am I going to have to hear you wax on poetically about love and marriage?”
“You might.” Elliot clapped Talbot on the shoulder. “Wait one day, my naysaying friend, it will be your wedding I’ll be attending.”
“Won’t be for many years. I intend to stay a bachelor until I’m well into my forties. Tell me, what is the status of our acquisition of Langford Teas? Is the inventory matching the books?”
“Yes. Everything is going well. The sale shouldn’t be delayed.”
“Good.”
“I’ll be leaving London in about ten days. Nina has asked to see Ralston House.”
“Really?” Talbot scrunched up his face.
Elliot nodded. The thought of Nina seeing the rundown residence made him rather apprehensive, but she’d asked to visit, and he would not lie to her or make up an excuse not to go there.
He glanced at Meg, who was smiling as Nina chatted with her. Nina would be a good influence on his sister. Perhaps she’d be able to convince her to return to school.
“Oh, bloody hell, Elliot, you’re truly besotted,” Talbot said, breaking into his thoughts.
“What?” He blinked at his friend.
“You’re staring at your wife as if infatuated. That is why I don’t wish to marry. It turns a man’s mind to mush.”
“You better hope not, if I’m to run Langford Teas and increase the profits.” Elliot grinned.
Huntington walked up to them. “Might I have a word in private with you, Ralston?”
“Of course. If you’ll excuse me, Talbot.”
Elliot followed Huntington into his office. The room was richly furnished with an enormous desk and mahogany paneling covered the walls. They’d already discussed the marriage settlement. He presumed Huntington wanted to threaten him one last time, as he had on several occasions over the last week.
“Have a seat, Ralston.” The marquess motioned to one of the two chairs facing the desk.
“If this is going to be another lecture on my need to take care of your sister, I prefer to stand.” Elliot was being generous with his wording. Both men knew Huntington had threatened him more than lectured him.
“I don’t intend to lecture you. This rushed wedding didn’t give me much time to have you investigated, but I have come across some rather interesting information.” Huntington sat and removed a folder with several sheets of paper from the top drawer of the desk.
He wasn’t surprised Huntington had had him investigated. The man clearly loved his sister. Elliot would probably have done the same if the tables had been turned.
“After seeing the inside of your London town house, most of what I found out wasn’t that much of a surprise, except for this.” Huntington slipped a paper across the polished surface of his desk.
Without picking it up, Elliot could see it was information about Langford Teas. He and Talbot had been careful to not let anyone know of their intention to buy the company. “How did you . . . ?”
The marquess waved a hand in the air as if that wasn’t important. “Is this why you married my sister?” Huntington’s jaw tensed.
“No. Talbot has the collateral, and I will run the business.”
Huntington strummed his fingers on the top of his desk. “I’d be willing to invest in the company.”
“Why?”
“Because my sister’s happiness is paramount to me.”
Elliot slid the paper back across the desk. “I don’t need your money, Huntington. You can shove it up your arse.”
Instead of looking offended, Huntington grinned.
“Well, if I had known saying that to you would have made you smile, I would have said it a while ago.”
“I think you might just prove me wrong, Ralston. And whether you believe it or not, I hope you do, for my sister’s sake. And yours.”
* * *
By the time Elliot, Nina, and his sister made their way to Elliot’s Charles Street residence, darkness had settled over the city’s sky. Elliot glanced at Nina, who rested her head on his shoulder. Though the two residences were relatively close, Nina had fallen asleep the moment she’d settled inside the vehicle.
Elliot pressed a light kiss to the top of Nina’s head.
“You do love her, don’t you?” Meg tipped her head sideways and studied him in the dark compartment.
“I do.”
Pleasure lit up her face. “I can tell. Don’t worry about her family. They will come to realize it as well.”
He hoped she was right.
Meg shifted her position, and he noticed how she cringed. Like a puff of smoke, his good mood evaporated, weighed down by his guilt. He needed to make Langford Teas a great success, not only for his wife but for his sister’s sake. He’d already decided Nina could use her dowry to purchase whatever she wished, but he’d not touch it, and the remainder would be left for their children. Elliot was sure that if they were prudent and judicious, they could muddle through their tight finances once Elliot and Talbot owned Langford Teas.
“Your month at Ralston House has nearly come to an end. I’m pleased you are going to return to school shortly and finish out the term.”
“I don’t intend to return to Mrs. Gibbs’s School.” His sister squared her body like a ram about to butt heads with another equally stubborn ram.
“Why the bloody hell not?” he asked in a low voice that still conveyed his agitation.
“Don’t you growl at me.”
“Why do you not wish to return?” he asked, attempting to keep his voice calm.
“I can be of more help at Ralston House. Wait until you see what I have done.”
“I don’t want you to scrub floors and walls. You are a baron’s sister.”
Meg didn’t answer—just avoided his regard by staring out the window.
“Don’t you want to attend the London season?”
“No,” she replied, her gaze still centered outside.
Elliot tried not to grind his back teeth together. “Why not?”
“I’ll end up being a wallflower. Don’t you understand?”
“Is that what you think? Meg, you are a lovely young woman.”
Silence stretched between them.
Perhaps, it was best not to argue with her. Hopefully, Nina would know what to do. God, he hoped she would, since he was at a complete loss. He’d also have to admit what had happened to Meg.
The carriage’s wheels slowed as the vehicle pulled in front of their town house.
Meg motioned to Nina. “She’s the soundest sleeper I’ve ever seen besides Camille Edgerton, who slept like a rock at school.”
His sister’s mood appeared to have shifted back to less defensive.
The coachman opened the door and assisted Meg as she stepped out of the carriage.
“Nina, darling. We are here.” He drew his finger over his wife’s cheek.
A slight smile curved up one side of her mouth, but, otherwise, she didn’t move. He lifted her into his arms and tried not to curse when he conked his head on the roof of the carriage as he carried her out.
“How romantic, Elliot. You’re going to carry your bride over the threshold,” Meg whispered.
He grinned. “I don’t have much of a choice.”
“Oh, I think you would have done it anyway,” his sister said.
True. Though he’d hoped his wife would have been awake when he’d carried her over the threshold . . . and when he carried her to their bed. Their bed. Good God, he was married, and he would be waking up with Nina beside him every morning. He liked the idea, though he didn’t think Zeb would be as pleased.
Meg opened the door and it squeaked, sending a bone-chilling noise into the night.
Elliot glanced at Nina and couldn’t help his smile. She’d not even blinked.
Since he’d told the servants not to wait up, no one rushed forward to greet them.
Meg followed Elliot up the stairs.
“Good night, Meg.” He kissed her cheek, then carried his sleeping wife into their bedchamber.