Chapter Twenty-Five

Giles tapped the paper beside Lilly’s plate and she picked it up. Her eyes widened as she reached the end of the long document. “You never signed. Why?”

“Shocking lapse on my part, isn’t it?” He shrugged off her question. He didn’t remember why he hadn’t but given Lilly wasn’t expected to survive her fall he supposed at the time it hardly seemed important. “It suits our purposes today very well.

Footsteps thundered down the hall toward them, then Giles’ bedchamber door burst open.

“Damn you, Daventry.” Lord Winter rushed inside and appeared to be frothing at the mouth. 

Despite having the best intentions of marrying Lilly, Giles stepped back from him. “Now, sir, there is no need to get into a lather. Would you care for some breakfast?”

Winter appeared to shake himself and glanced at the unmade bed that was clearly well used. His jaw tightened, and his hand curled into a fist.

He and Lilly were both fully dressed and, aside from the unmade bed, looked at first glance to be perfectly respectable. Except for the fact that neither of them were married to the other. Yet.

Giles had used seduction to get Lilly to agree to marry him. He’d pinned her against the wardrobe doors and withheld her release for so long that she’d screamed out her acceptance. He’d enjoyed tormenting her like that. Hearing her sob his name when she came had made his remaining irritation with her resistance disappear altogether.

What could be wrong with being married to him? He was attentive in bed, not to mention very restrained. This morning he could have taken her virginity easily, and had considered it repeatedly, but something held him back. To his considerable shock, he found he wanted to wait until they were respectably married.

All his adult life, Giles had lived his life on the edge of respectability, but there appeared to be one thing he held sacred. He would not risk creating a life in Lilly’s body without a ring on her finger, and a permanent change to her name.

“What gives you the right, sir, to take advantage of my daughter in such a way? She’s no mean trollop to swagger after like a jaded lothario! She deserved better treatment than this, and she will have it before the week is through. We are not without means, you degenerate scoundrel. You may be above me in rank, but we are not without friends. Did you think to dabble with her and then discard her for greener fields? Guess again, Daventry! I will see that the deed is done properly.”

“The deed has already been done,” Giles assured him, then ducked a blow. He had not meant his words to be taken quite that way. He trapped the older man’s swinging hands, pinned his arms behind his back, and turned him to face his daughter.

“Lilly, if you please, the paper. Show your father what I was referring to.”

Lilly looked white with fright and she shakily held the document up to her father’s gaze. 

When Lord Winter sagged, Giles carefully released him, prepared for the next swinging fist. He had certainly made an impression on his future father-in-law. Oh well, at least he would not be expected to call him Papa.

“You never signed to end the agreement.” Winter took the paper and it shook in his grip. “You are still betrothed to Lilly?”

Giles glanced at Lilly and winked. “So it would seem.”

On the whole, Giles was actually happy that he would marry Lilly. Since the chemistry between them in bed was thrilling, and he did like her out of it too, he thought they had a chance to be happy.

He was not used to feeling this good. Three trysts this morning had not sated his ardor for her touches. Good God, the woman had taken him into her mouth with such hunger and generosity that his cock stirred a little even now.

The next time he had her would be after they were married, and he could finally enter that sweet, frail body that belied such a fierce passion for life. He doubted he would ever tire of her. He knew she did not believe him capable of monogamy, but the depths of their combined passions were barely tapped. He felt closer to her than any other. He couldn’t imagine wishing to stray.

Lilly was passionate, uninhibited, and the most giving woman he had ever taken to bed. He hoped he did not pass out when they did make love. 

There it was again, he chided himself. He’d called it making love. He could not abide to use the word fuck when thinking about Lilly. Winter was right. She did deserve better treatment.

He walked around Winter and pulled Lilly up from her chair and into his arms. She was shaking badly from the violence her father had exhibited, completely unprepared for such raw emotional displays. He kissed the top of her head and settled her into the window seat, pouring her another cup of tea just the way she liked. She took it and when Giles turned back, he found Winter gazing at him in astonishment.

“I thought you barely knew each other.”

Giles shrugged off the question, grabbed another chair for Lord Winter, then sat to finish his breakfast. When the stunned man joined him at the table, Giles looked him in the eye and let some of his own anger show.

“You left her with only the mean attentions of an incompetent nurse who drugged and deserted her the first night. What would you have had me do? Ignore her? Allow her to suffer needlessly? She’s endured more than her fair share of misery, but fortunately has recovered and now is mostly pain free. I followed your instructions and contacted no one. Not even you, since I did not have your direction, if you remember.”

“What do you mean, mostly pain free? I thought you said she was cured,” Winter asserted.

“Nothing of the sort was spoken in this house. If you can bear to consider the matter, you can see when she is in pain. Like the stubborn Winter she is, she does her best to keep that knowledge wedged firmly behind clenched teeth,” Giles informed him, disgusted at explaining such an integral part of Lilly’s character to her own father. Did the man truly not know her?

Lord Winter rubbed a hand across his face.

“Papa.” Lilly fidgeted. “Am I truly betrothed to Giles still?”

“It makes no difference now. You will be married before the month is out.”

Giles discarded his teacup.

Rapid steps approached the open bedroom door. He stood, clasped Lilly’s cold fingers in his just as Barrette burst into the room, red faced and puffing mightily.

“What is the meaning of this?” The foppish demeanor had been discarded for hissing outrage. The man acted nothing like the amiable gent he had pretended to be just yesterday.

“Congratulate us. Your cousin has agreed to marry me. Again.” Giles pressed a lingering kiss to Lilly’s trembling fingers. He glanced at the clock as it struck the hour. It was exactly thirty minutes since Lilly had last screamed his name. The thought of it made him smile, and he wondered when he could get her alone.

As if reading his thoughts, Lilly blushed a deep shade of red. He turned to find Barrette glowering at his uncle.

“Are you three sheets to the wind? There can be no wedding!” Barrette’s gaze fell on Giles. “You have obviously coerced the baron into agreeing to this travesty of a marriage. Lillian isn’t fit to be a wife. You are just on the hunt for funds.”

Winter surged to his feet. “Now see here—”

Barrette sneered. “No, you see here, you old fool!”

Lord Winter bristled. “How dare you? Lord Daventry will marry my daughter, as has always been the case. Just remember, it isn’t unheard of for a man to challenge his relation to a duel for an insult. Do not tempt me.”

Giles dropped Lilly’s hand and stood beside the baron. “I believe that shall be my honor, my lord. He just insulted my future wife.”

A successful duel would teach Barrette a lesson, but if Winter failed and died, Barrette would have control over Lilly’s future. They had to be married. 

Barrette shook with rage. “After everything I’ve done for you, Uncle, you’d consider dueling over that pathetic creature? She probably arranged the whole affair just to live in the center of another scandal.”

“Be gone,” both Giles and Lilly’s father growled in unison.

The little weasel held his ground. “You forget, sir, that I reached this destination in your company. I’ll leave when you do and not a moment before.”

 Giles had had enough. He reached past the baron and grabbed hold of Barrette’s arm. He hauled the lightweight to his bedchamber door and threw him towards Lord Carrington’s grinning visage. “Dump him in the village to await the stage.”

“With pleasure, my friend.”

Carrington grasped Barrette’s arm and hauled the spluttering man down the hall and hopefully out of the house.

Giles found Lilly standing, but her hands twisted with agitation. He moved around behind her and rubbed into tense muscles again.

“That’s how you did it, isn’t it?” Lord Winter exclaimed, watching Giles automatically soothing Lilly’s neck and shoulders that had clenched again in worry. “It never occurred to me, or any of those medical men.”

“It was an accident.”

“A damned lucky one at that!” Lord Winter approached them. “How often?”

“Every day.”

“Since when?”

Giles considered the embarrassment Lilly would suffer if he answered honestly, and judged she would probably blush bright red. He could not answer.

“Since the day after you left me, Papa.”

Lord Winter groped for his chair and sank into it, gulping loudly. “That long.”

Giles eyed him for a moment then bent to Lilly’s ear. He drew in a deep lungful of her scent to get him through the next few hours. “Why don’t you go and rest to give your father some time to get used to the notion. Ring for Mrs. Osprey as soon as you get to your bedchamber.”

She didn’t automatically go, but gave her derrière a gentle pat out of sight of her father, and she took his suggestion to leave.

Lilly didn’t need to hear any more. 

“You do care for my daughter, don’t you, Daventry?”

Giles paused to consider how he felt about Lilly. He hadn’t tried to put that into words. They were friends and lovers, but Giles didn’t think Lord Winter would be happy to hear it phrased that way. “She has been uppermost in my mind for some time now, sir. I will take good care of her.”

Winter did not seem completely happy, but let it pass and began to discuss the wedding and marriage settlement. He informed Giles that Lilly’s dowry remained unchanged. Giles had paid little attention to the amount but the mention of the size now surprised him. “Are you certain that’s right?”

“It is what your father and I agreed.” 

Giles hurried to read through the former betrothal document to confirm that statement. 

There it was in very clear letters. Lilly had a dowry of sixty thousand pounds. 

Giles sat down as the shock set in. He’d had no idea Lilly would have been the most eligible bride on the marriage mart for all these years if only she’d been well. 

He glanced toward the door as Mr. Barrette’s reaction to the happy news of their marriage played over in his mind again. With funds of that size up for grabs, he wondered how far Lord Winter’s heir might go to stop any marriage Lilly might want to make.

~ * ~

“And I’m telling you it is.”

Lilly jumped at the sound of Giles’ voice raised in anger. When she’d come downstairs, she’d discovered that Giles and her papa were ensconced in his study. By the sound of it they were not getting along. She leaned closer to the door, trying to better hear her father’s reply.

“The money is not open for discussion.”

Debates over finances always caused strife between men but a dowry was a sign of a girl’s worth, and a source of pride for her family. At least that was what her papa had always claimed.

“Her dowry does not need to be that large. I’ve already told you of my concerns,” Giles insisted. “You risk crippling your estate and putting Lilly in…”

“Ahem.”

Lilly spun to find Lord Carrington a few paces away. He appeared amused by her eavesdropping. “I wasn’t—”

Carrington smiled. “Of course you were, but no matter. I shan’t tell on you.”

“Thank you.”

“I must say, meeting you has proven exciting. And throwing your cousin from the house this morning was a spot of fun. Detestable fellow—tried to convince me you planned it all.”

“I—”

Carrington held out his arm. “No one could make my friend behave in such a way if he was not completely committed to the outcome he has now. I offer an apology for doubting your motives. Shall we have tea in the drawing room?”

Lilly glanced up at Lord Carrington and frowned. She didn’t know whether to trust such a reversal in his demeanor as a true overture of friendship or not. He was attempting to charm her.

She took his arm rather than speaking because there was a maid near to act as chaperone who followed them into tea.

“I cannot wait to see the ruckus this marriage will cause amongst the ton.”

“You mean among Giles’ paramours?”

Carrington coughed. “I was referring to society at large, not his past associations.”

Lilly frowned. “You needn’t pretend that he is one step away from sainthood. I am aware of some aspects in his life most women in my position would not be. I don’t expect he will change.”

“Past aspects.” Carrington shook his head. “Do you know much about his family?”

“A little.”

“The Wexham’s are an oddity in society. Always have been, too. They don’t marry until they must, and once they do, they pledge constancy to their wives. Decidedly unpopular stance to take in this day and age. I used to tease Daventry about it when I was young.”

“You disapprove?”

Carrington shrugged. “My friends have all made love matches, not matches designed for dynastic greatness. As far as I can see, they remain besotted with their choices of wives, and their connections and dowries, or lack of, held little sway in the decisions. I didn’t understand the appeal before I became engaged.”

“And do you understand now?”

Carrington nodded and turned his face to the window. In profile, she could see why most women liked the look of him. He was handsome, could hold a compelling conversation, but he was nothing like Giles Wexham. Could Giles pledge eternity to one woman?

“What does Carrington understand?”

Watching Giles stalk across the room set her heart to pounding again. He dropped to the cushion beside her, leaned over, cupped one hand about her face, and kissed her soundly.

Lilly pushed him away. “Please.”

She glanced around, but her father hadn’t followed Giles and Carrington had stepped out of the room taking the maid with him.

“Suddenly shy?” Giles dipped his head and his lips caressed her ear. Gooseflesh rose along her skin in waves. “You were not so restrained last night.”

Lilly licked her lips, struggling not to think about sharing Giles’ bed. Her body hummed in anticipation. “Papa sounded angry earlier. I don’t want to upset him.”

He caught her earlobe in his teeth, and she vibrated with pleasure. He let go and kissed the skin behind her ear. “Your father and I have come to an understanding at last.”

Lilly set her hand upon Giles’ arm, intending to push him away, but her fingers curled around his limb and pulled him closer. “And that was?”

Giles’ breath was harsh. “I get to marry you as quickly as I can arrange it. If I thought you could bear a trip to the border, we would be on our way already.”

Lilly frowned. That had not been what they had been arguing about.

“Is it safe to return?” Carrington asked, a plaintive whine in his tone.

She sat up straight and fought a blush. “Please do.”

Carrington settled himself in an opposite chair, long legs crossing until he had just the right pose. “The two of you will be besieged with invitations once the announcements are made.”

“I’m sure Giles will enjoy the attention.”

Giles settled his arm around her shoulders and squeezed. “We will both enjoy the outings until you grow weary and then we will go home together. I can have no reason to attend balls without you by my side.”

 Lilly bit her lip, appalled that he would give up so much so quickly. She feared it would be a decision he would regret all too soon.