Chapter Four

 

Johnathan stood in nothing but his smallclothes as he gazed out his bedroom window at the garden highlighted by the bright rays of the full moon. A cool breeze moved the curtains and cooled his skin. The sound of movement behind him reminded him that it was not just the heat of the summer that had heated his body this night.

“My Lord, shall I bring you a brandy?” Margaret asked as she placed a hand on his shoulder. Her voice was pleasant, but he knew what she truly wanted—to get close to him.

“No, retire to your room for the night,” he replied without turning. “You are not needed any longer.”

She hesitated and allowed her hand to slide down his arm in a light caress. However, holding this woman, or any woman for that matter, was the last thing he wanted. In fact, the further away they kept from him, the better.

He turned his head slightly to glance over his shoulder. “Goodnight, Margaret,” he said in a sharp tone. Her hand left his arm and a few moments later he heard the door close softly behind her. He did not look at the women when they parted ways, he never did, whether he took her to bed or not. Too often he recognized the look of rejection on the women’s faces and the sadness in their eyes, and each time he hated himself for it. Therefore, by never fully turning when he asked them to leave, he saved himself the anguish of guilt.

He let out a sigh. An earl had no reason to feel guilty for anything he did. If he wanted to take a woman, any woman, into his bed, he should be allowed to do so, especially one in his employ such as Margaret. She had no right to expect anything in return, though she was paid well for fulfilling his needs. If she expected him to marry her, or even put her up in an apartment like some sort of mistress, she could simply forget those foolish notions or she would be out of a position.

The guilt for his thoughts returned and he let the curtain fall back into place. Perhaps he should have allowed the girl to pour him a brandy. But no, it was better this way. Plus, he was capable of doing at least that much on his own.

As he sipped at the fiery liquid, he thought back to the party several nights earlier and the antics of Miss Alice Huntington. Johnathan had to admit the woman had spirit and was quite cunning, but were those qualities suiting a marchioness? This had been the reason for hesitating on giving Mr. Huntington an answer immediately; she was much too bumbling in so many ways, and yet there was something about her that he could not seem to pinpoint. Then there was the promise of what Johnathan could receive in return, which was too great to not accept. Furthermore, he had never been presented with a woman he could not tame, and thus when he did finally get the upper hand, it would be as any other conquest. The only problem was this time he could not push her to the side. Was the price too high?

He walked to the small table beside his bed, grabbed his brandy, and came back to look out at the night sky as he stood in front of the open window. He took a sip and smiled. The quality of the brandy was much better than that which Mr. Huntington had served at his party. Once again, his thoughts turned to the elder daughter, and he wondered how he was going to convince her to marry him. The thought of how her father had manipulated him into accepting such a deal still pricked his pride and made it difficult for him to consider his next steps with the woman.

He had gone back the following day to visit with her as he had promised only to find that she had gone into Exeter with her mother to go shopping. In his rush to leave the stables that morning, he had forgotten to stop and ask Mr. Huntington if he could visit, and he was halfway home before he realized his mistake. That was what one deserved for the smugness he had felt in manipulating her into setting up the meeting in the first place.

“Blast it!” he grunted before downing the rest of the brandy. How that woman could get under his skin was beyond him. The way she had led him so quickly to anger and then had the audacity to give him that look of triumph, as if she had somehow won a battle only made matters worse. And yet, when she tripped over the stool and lost those unbecoming eyeglasses, she had looked at him and he felt for a short moment that he could be lost in those bright green eyes. A red curl had come loose from her chignon and hung down next to her cheek and a completely different woman seemed to stare back at him.

However, that moment was gone so quickly, he had to have imagined it, for she was once again the severe spinster he knew her to be. It only proved what he already knew—women were good for producing heirs or a simple tryst to ease the physical needs of a man and nothing more. Once upon a time, he had fallen for the alluring words of a woman; however, in the end, he had learned a valuable lesson.

Never open your heart to any woman, for in doing so only ended in heartache and misery.

Jane’s image entered his thoughts and her sweet words whispered in his ear. She had fawned over him until he promised her whatever her heart desired; from clothing to books to the most exquisite jewels, she could have had it all. However, that had not been enough.

Johnathan shook his head, removing Jane from his mind once again. She was no longer worth a moment of his thoughts as far as he was concerned.

Although it was difficult to force her image back into the recesses of his mind, he did so by bringing forth an image of Miss Huntington. His earlier conversation with the woman had not gone badly, per se, but it also was not a battle which was won. Granted, he had snapped at her when she mentioned his trysts and the publicity of them, but overall, the meeting had gone reasonably well. It was time for him to rein in on his conquests; he was becoming much too old for his womanizing. Yet, he would not give them up completely, even once he was married. He would simply be much more inconspicuous with those visits. It was not unheard of for a man to seek out another woman’s bed, especially not a man of his rank; however, he would never convince Miss Huntington to marry him if he did not lessen the publicity of such acts.

He stared out into the night and considered all the ways he could win over the serious, but lovely, Miss Huntington. When the moon was high in the sky, a light tap on the door brought Johnathan from his thoughts.

“Come!” he called out.

The door opened and a young woman entered, the shift she wore barely concealing what lay beneath. Joanna was eighteen years of age with a pleasing figure and the face of an angel. “My Lord,” she said once she closed the door and dipped into a light curtsy. “You requested my presence?”

There was a longing in her eyes, and his body responded. He would not reject her, at least not until his needs were fulfilled.

***

Anger threatened to erupt in Johnathan as he sat in his study opposite Mr. Joseph Langley, a man seeking support for a business venture in which Johnathan knew would be more than advantageous for them both. However, the man was impatient, a trait that ground at Johnathan’s nerves.

“I do understand what you are offing, Blackmoore,” Mr. Langley replied. “However, without the real estate secured, I will not commit to anything. I have other men who are quite interested in joining me, and to be perfectly honest, I am beginning to wonder if it would be more prudent to go with them.”

Johnathan wanted to shake some sense into the man, but he knew the importance of patience. At least in times like this. “Your concerns are not unfounded,” he assured the man. “However, in two months’ time, I will have procured several storefronts from which to choose.”

Mr. Langley’s eyebrows rose. “Oh? And how has this miracle come about? There have been no properties for sale or rent in any reasonable area of London for months.”

Johnathan smiled as he rose to pour the two men a second drink. “Soon I will marry a woman whose father holds the deeds to four properties. He has offered those holdings as part of his daughter’s dowry. I will see that you have one of them.”

“Well, pray tell, who is the lucky lady?”

Johnathan laughed. Yes, Miss Huntington was lucky, indeed. “I am sure you know Mr. Dudley Huntington? He deals mostly in fabrics and textiles but also has a few other ventures to which I hold an interest.”

The man’s eyes lit up. “Oh, are you speaking of Miss Emily Huntington? She will make a wonderful marchioness.”

For some reason the man’s exclusion of Miss Huntington as a possible prospect upset him, but he kept his tone even. “I speak of Miss Alice Huntington,” Johnathan replied as he handed the drink to Mr. Langley.

Again, Mr. Langley’s eyebrows rose. “The elder daughter?” He cleared his throat. “Well, yes, I have met Miss Huntington. She is a bit…severe,” he said, a shake to his head. “Are you certain she will know how to conduct herself in a social setting?” He gasped and then quickly added, “But she is a lovely woman, nonetheless. I imagine she has some very good qualities she can also bring to the marriage.”

Johnathan chuckled. Severe was certainly a fitting term for the woman he would soon win over, but he was not certain she actually had any truly redeeming qualities. And as to her comportment, she could barely walk without bumping into something or tripping as it was. And then there was her headstrong manner with which to contend. “Yes, well, be that as it may, I am certain she and I will be able to come to some sort of arrangement for how she will spend her time once we are wed that will keep her out of trouble.” He took a sip of his brandy. “You are married, are you not?”

“That I am. Helen and I have an…understanding,” he said with a sly smile. “I stay out of her way and she stays out of mine.”

“Is that so?” Johnathan asked with true interest. Perhaps this man could help him in more than business matters. “And how have you orchestrated this ‘understanding’, as you put it?”

The man laughed as he repositioned himself in his chair. “Well, my wife has an interest in gloves. I have no idea what it is about gloves that can interest a woman so; however, there you have it. Anyway, I allowed her to open a glove shop.” Johnathan gave the man a surprised look, but before he could make a comment, Mr. Langley cut him off. “No, no, I realize it is highly unorthodox, but it keeps her busy and I do not have to lift a finger. Of course, we keep the fact that she runs the business from our friends, but rather tell them that I own it and from time to time she goes to visit to see what new gloves are available. They have no idea how often she goes into the shop, and if they happen to stop by and she is there, she tells them that she is looking for a new pair of gloves. The women who work for her play the part to perfection and are well-paid for their silence, so our friends are none the wiser.”

“How remarkable,” Johnathan exclaimed. “And is the shop profitable?”

Mr. Langley slapped his knee and laughed. “Of course not. No woman would ever make more money than I,” he said, continuing to cackle. “However, it is quite profitable to my own sanity. It was the best business, and personal, decision I ever made. She serves her purpose in my bed and will eventually give me an heir, but the remainder of the time she is happy to be doing something she considers ‘worthwhile’.”

Johnathan could not imagine allowing his wife to do such a thing. A marchioness owning a shop of any sort was unheard of. What a ridiculous notion.

His inner thoughts must have shown on his face, for Mr. Langley leaned forward and placed his elbows on his knees. “Have you ever noticed how Lord Farworth walks around in a disagreeable mood every time you see him?”

The image of the older man and his pinched face came to Johnathan’s mind. “Yes, he does tend to be ill-natured.”

“Then you have Mr. Pontefort. If I have ever seen the man smile, I will eat my hat.”

Johnathan chuckled. “Your point, Langley?” he asked.

“My point is this: Both men married women who wanted the upper hand. Rather than give their wives something to keep them entertained, they instead live in constant irritation. I believe I have found the remedy to the forceful woman. All the proof of a pudding is in the eating, as they say. All one needs to do is look at how well my marriage is going and how happy I am.”

Johnathan rubbed his chin. The man made a valid point. He had met the wives he mentioned and had to admit that both were quite disagreeable, to say the least. Mrs. Langley seemed content in her life, and perhaps there was merit to what Mr. Langley said. However, Johnathan was unsure if the woman he was going to marry had a head for business. She was intelligent, that much he believed, but that did not mean that she could learn and understand the inner workings of a trade. Perhaps he would have his bookkeeper do the bulk of running the business while giving her what would appear to be the ‘reins’ when in reality, her power was no more than a facade. Then, when it was time for her to birth an heir, she would be tame enough to keep at home where she belonged. The idea held much promise with little work on his part.

“Give her a shop, allow her to run it,” Langley said as he placed his glass on a side table. “It will teach her discipline and keep her under reign—forgive me for speaking so bluntly, but you know I speak the truth. In the end, she will be grateful to you, and you will have gotten what you wanted from her.”

Johnathan nodded and then finished off his brandy as he thought over the man’s words. Once he married Miss Huntington, he would be too busy to teach her the inner workings of a business, but he knew something had to be done before she got the idea that she had more power than she did. This would not only give her an outlet, it would keep her busy and maybe even make him a few shillings on the side. Yes, it was a good plan.

He stood and took Mr. Langley’s glass. “Another?”

“But of course,” the man replied. As Johnathan refilled the glasses, Mr. Langley asked, “And what does Miss Huntington think of your upcoming marriage? Do you believe she might try to resist? Some women can be that way.”

Johnathan laughed. “I expect her to resist, of course, perhaps even argue, but in the end, I care not what she wants.” Margaret walked by the open door, her hips swaying provocatively, though she was unaware of it herself. He would have to send for her later. “No,” he said aloud once the woman was out of his sight, “It makes no difference what Miss Huntington wants when it all comes down to it. It only matters what I want.”

***

The following day, Johnathan awoke refreshed and invigorated. He had sent Margaret back to her room immediately after he was done with her and felt no regret in doing so. Today he would begin the largest conquest he had ever undertaken in his life. He would prove to that scoundrel Huntington that he, indeed, had the ability to close a deal, even when it came to someone as stubborn as the man’s daughter. Anger trickled into the happiness at the audacity of the man to believe Johnathan incapable of winning over any woman, and the fact he had been tricked into accepting the deal only worsened that anger. However, he pushed it aside, for he knew he would win it all in the end. He always did.

His footsteps echoed through the large hall as he made his way to the front door where his butler, Stanton, waited with his hat and coat. It was as if the man had memorized his schedule or somehow read his mind, for he was always there, early or late, ready to do Johnathan’s bidding.

“Is the carriage ready?” Johnathan asked as he allowed Stanton to place his coat on his shoulders.

“Yes, My Lord,” Stanton replied stiffly.

“What do you think?” Johnathan asked as he held his arms out. “Do I look like a man ready for courting?”

“The coat fits perfectly, My Lord,” the man replied. “She is a very lucky woman to have been allowed to be in the presence of a gentleman such as yourself.” The perfect answer, as always.

Johnathan looked at his watch. If he left now, he would arrive at Glassberry Estate just at the stroke of three. In every venture, be it business or personal, timeliness was of great importance. It showed that he was committed to whatever agreement he was seeking and demonstrated his attention to detail and consistency.

The carriage pulled up in front of the door and Johnathan smiled. It was a grand vehicle, the best available, and it would make a great impression when he rode up in it. He could win Miss Huntington over without the grandeur, but he would do whatever it took to earn her trust, even if it meant being someone he was not. For he never lost, and he would not allow this to be the first time.