Love Only Once

“ ‘Course you didn’t, but who’d believe it?”

  Percy said pointedly. “Your best bet is to be gone before the challenge comes from one of her uncles.”

  At that moment Tyndale appeared at the door and announced, “Lord Malory’s servant begs a word, my lord.”

  Derek looked up in surprise, seeing the servant standing behind Tyndale. “Oh, I say, Nicky, there must be some mistake. The chap doesn’t work for me.”

  “I didn’t think so,” Nicholas muttered, and Percy groaned.

  Chapter 8

  “NO!”

  Anthony Malory looked up as his niece ran into the room and stared wide-eyed at the pistol he was cleaning at his desk. He gave her an impatient look before he went back to examining the weapon.

  “It’s too late for nos, Reggie.”

  “You’ve already killed him!” she cried.

  He didn’t look up, so he didn’t see the color wash from her cheeks. “I’ve sent a man round to his house. I had no trouble learning the address this morning. He should be here soon to discuss the time and place.”

  “No, no, no!”

  When he glanced up, her eyes were shooting sparks at him. “Now, Reggie—” he began, but she advanced on him.

  “Is that your answer to everything?” She stabbed a finger at the weapon in his hands. “I thought we had this settled last night?”

  “That was before Montieth’s escapade became food for the gossipmongers. Or are you not aware that your name is on everyone’s lips this morning?”

  Reggie flinched but said evenly, “I do know it. I just left a room full of women who couldn’t wait to offer their sympathies.”

  “And what did you tell them?”

  “Well, I couldn’t very well deny that it had happened, because Lady Eddington’s driver witnessed the whole thing. But I did lie and say that I was brought right back, that Lord Montieth had realized his mistake quickly.”

  Anthony shook his head. “Which they didn’t believe. Did they?”

  “Well, no,” she admitted reluctantly.

  “Because that bloody driver waited a good hour for you to be returned, and everyone knows it. And it doesn’t take an hour to do what is being said was done. Your lying about it only suggests that you have something to hide.”

  “But that’s not true!”

  “Since when does the truth matter to passionate gossips?”

  “Oh, what am I going to do, Tony?” she cried miserably.

  “You will do nothing. You will weather it, with the support of your family. He will pay the price for besmirching your good name.”

  “You will not challenge him.”

  Anthony’s eyes narrowed. “If I don’t, Jason will, and Jason will get himself killed. He’s not the shot I am.”

  “No one is going to be killed, Tony.” She said this as if the matter were entirely up to her. “There has to be another solution. That’s why I came. I thought I would be too late to catch you before you left town, though. How did you find out?”

  “I was, in fact, leaving town, and my old friend George hailed me to give me warning that the cat was out of the bag. It’s bloody damned fortunate that I was late getting started this morning. Otherwise I’d be halfway to Gloucester by now, and old Eddie would have been left to deal with this. I can just imagine the mess he’d make of it.”

  “At least his answer wouldn’t be to grab the nearest pistol,” she retorted.

  Anthony made a face. “Does he know yet?”

  “No. He was closeted in his office all morning. He still is. Aunt Charlotte said she would try and keep it from him as long as possible. I thought maybe you wouldn’t mind…”

  “Coward. Eddie isn’t the one you need to worry about, though. It’s Jason who is going to fly through the roof.”

  “Well, at least he won’t hear about it for some time.”

  “Don’t count on that, puss. He’ll know by the end of the day, tomorrow at the latest. You think he doesn’t keep tabs on you when you’re in wicked old London?”

  “He doesn’t!”

  “Oh, but he does,” Anthony assured her. “He had regular reports on you when you were in Europe, too. Nothing escapes Jason. Even I am not shielded from his all-seeing eye. How do you think he finds out so quickly about all my bloody scrapes?”

  Reggie groaned. This was going from bad to worse. Jason could be just as hot-tempered as Tony. Besides that, he was a man of rigid principles. When there was any question of honor, his could not be tampered with.

  For him there would be only one solution, and if that didn’t work, he would be cleaning his pistols just as Tony was. But that first solution was intolerable. Nicholas Eden would never agree. He would rather face one of her uncles across the dueling field than be forced to marry, she was sure of it.

  She worried at her lower lip. “There must be something we can do, Tony, some story we can invent.”

  “Any one of a dozen, puss, but not one will be believed. The trouble is that Montieth has seduced innocents like you before. That he was alone with you—never mind that it wasn’t you he meant to be alone with—implies that he took advantage of the situation. He is such a handsome devil, you couldn’t have resisted him. That’s what people will think. And say.”

  Reggie blushed and looked away uncomfortably.

  “I don’t know why I’m even discussing this with you,” Anthony continued curtly. “There is only one thing to be done, and it’s up to me to see it done.”

  Reggie sighed. “You’re right, of course. I don’t know why I’ve been resisting the idea so.”

  He raised a suspicious brow. “No tricks, Reggie.”

  “No tricks. You will see that he marries me. That is the only thing to be done.”

  “Bloody hell!” Anthony shot to his feet in full fury. “He’s not good enough for you!”

  “Nevertheless—”

  “No! And no again! And don’t think I’m not on to you, Regina Ashton. You think this will solve your other problem, and you won’t have to look for a husband anymore.”

  “Now that you mention it… oh, Tony, I really wouldn’t mind having him for a husband, really I wouldn’t. And he reminds me of you.”

  “He is too much like me, which is exactly why he’s not for you!”

  “But he reminds me of Uncle Edward, too. And there’s also a touch of Uncle Jason in him. Why, he was quite put out when I suggested that what he had done would ruin me and he would have to marry me.”

  “You said that?”

  “I was in that kind of mood. And he got angry. He acted just as Uncle Jason would have.”

  “Why, that—”

  “No, no, Tony. He’s perfect, don’t you see? A little like all of you—just what I have been looking for. And besides, it will be a challenge to reform him.”

  “He’ll never change, Reggie,” Tony insisted. “He’ll never settle down.”

  “Oh, I don’t know.” She grinned. “We might make that statement about you, but we don’t know for sure about him. And he did like me. That’s a start.”

  “Don’t let’s put a nice face on it,” Anthony said. “He wanted you. But he’ll want other women, too, and he’ll go after them. He won’t be a faithful husband.”

  “I think I know that,” she said quietly.

  “And you still want him?”

  She didn’t want him dead. That was the alternative. “After all,” she said quietly, “he should make things right. He has involved me in a scandal, so he should be the one to get me out of it. This is a peaceful solution, and I’m sure Uncle Jason will wholeheartedly agree.”

  “This is not what I would call Montieth getting his just deserts.” Anthony glowered. “He’ll be getting you into the bargain, while you will go on suffering.”

  “He won’t see it that way, Tony. In fact, I’m positive he’ll refuse.”

  “Good.” Anthony smiled and went back to cleaning his pistol.

  “Oh, no,” Reggie said. “You must promise me you’ll d
o your best to convince him, Tony.”

  “All right,” he agreed.

  He was smiling in a way that made her want to hit him. She knew that smile too well.

  “I want Uncle Edward to be with you when you speak to him,” she said suspiciously.

  “But your Viscount will be here soon, puss,” he reminded her.

  “Then come with me to see Uncle Edward now. Leave a message for Lord Montieth to return this evening. And Tony,” she added slowly, untying her scarf, “I think Uncle Edward should see this, to impress on him the importance of getting Montieth’s consent.”

  Anthony’s face darkened. “You said he only kissed you!”

  She tied the scarf again, her look quite innocent. “Well, that was caused by a kiss, Tony.”

  “How dare he leave his mark on you?”

  Reggie shrugged, carefully avoiding his eyes. “Do you think Uncle Edward will make too much of the mark and assume the worst? I suppose he will feel it’s his duty to inform Uncle Jason of it. You don’t think they’ll want to rush the wedding, do you? I would rather wait a few months, just to be sure my first child is born after a decent interval of time.”

  “This is blackmail, Reggie.”

  She opened her dark blue eyes wide. “Is it?”

  “Jason should have taken a switch to your backside when you first developed this talent for manipulating people.”

  “What a terrible thing to say!” Reggie gasped.

  He laughed then, shaking his head at her. “You can drop the performance, puss. I’ll get your Viscount to marry you, one way or another.”

  She hugged him, her delight evident. “And there’ll be no more talk of killing?”

  “None that will matter,” he sighed. “Since Eddie is the logical, business-minded one of us, perhaps he can come up with something to bring the man round without resorting to violence.”

  He disengaged himself and turned to put the gun away. “You said Montieth wouldn’t agree, Reggie, and when a man is stubborn, it takes persuasion to change his mind. You can still change your mind, you know.” He looked at her intently.

  “No. The more I think about it, the more I feel this is the right thing to do.”

  “He might hate you for it, you know. Have you thought about that?”

  “He might, yes, but I will take the chance. I wouldn’t consider marriage if he hadn’t found me attractive. But he did try to seduce me—try, I said. No, he will be my husband, Tony. Tell Uncle Edward and Uncle Jason that I will have no other.”

  “Very well, then,” Tony replied, then added with a sharp look, “But you will keep that blasted scarf on, hear? There is no point in my brothers thinking any worse of their future nephew-in-law than they have to.”

  Chapter 9

  IT was half past ten o’clock in the evening, and Nicholas sat in his carriage outside Edward Malory’s house in Grosvenor Square, thirty minutes late for his appointment, but making no move to leave his carriage.

  He had given up trying to guess what this was all about. He had understood that morning’s summons from Anthony Malory perfectly well, but since that earlier meeting had not come to pass, he no longer knew what to think. He couldn’t conceive of Derek’s businesslike Uncle Edward demanding a duel, but what else could this be about? Bloody hell!

  Reggie watched the dark carriage from an upstairs window, her nervousness having increased to terror. He was not going to like what she had set in motion. No, most assuredly not. He must suspect why he’d been called there. Why else would he hesitate to come inside?

  Oh, Uncle Edward had had quite a lot to say about Lord Montieth, emphatic that she know exactly what she was letting herself in for. He had known the Eden family for years, had been very good friends with Nicholas’ father, in fact. So Reggie knew it all now, including the stories of the other young women he had embroiled in scandal because they were weak enough to succumb to his charm. He was irresponsible, he was without conscience, he could be cold and arrogant, or ill-tempered. The charm he showed the ladies was not all there was to the man. Yes, she’d heard it all, but to Uncle Tony’s disgust, she had not changed her mind.

  Reggie was using Amy’s room to peek out of the window, thanking her stars that she was alone upstairs. Aunt Charlotte had gathered her whole brood of children, all of them protesting vehemently, and descended on a friend outside London for the night. Reggie had been allowed to stay so that she would not have to wait until the next day to learn her fate. But she was to remain upstairs and not interfere in any way. Uncle Tony had been adamant about that. Even if she heard all hell breaking loose, she was not to venture downstairs.

  Nicholas was relieved of his hat and gloves and escorted to the drawing room. The house surprised him by being much larger than it appeared on the outside. He knew that Edward Malory had several children; and the house was certainly big enough to accommodate a large family. The top two floors were probably all bedrooms, he thought, and the downstairs big enough to include even a ballroom.

  “They are waiting, my lord,” the butler announced as they reached the drawing room door. No expression crossed the servant’s face, but his tone was disapproving. Nicholas nearly chuckled. He knew he was late.

  All humor disappeared, however, when the butler opened the door, then closed it behind Nicholas. On a cream-colored sofa sat Eleanor Marston, his spinster Aunt Ellie; and beside her, Rebecca Eden, his formidable grandmother. At the moment, she looked ready to call down the wrath of God upon his head.

  So. He was to be called on the carpet, was he? Lectured to by his own family as well as Regina’s? His one surprise was that they hadn’t summoned his “mother,” Miriam. How she would have enjoyed this!

  “So you finally mustered the courage to come inside, scamp?” the old dame began without preamble.

  “Rebecca!” Eleanor admonished.

  Nicholas smiled. He knew his grandmother didn’t doubt his nerve any more than he did. She simply liked to ruffle his feathers. Aunt Ellie was always quick to come to his defense, bless her. She was, in fact, the only one who dared admonish the old dame. Aunt Ellie had lived with the old woman for twenty years as her companion, and he marveled at her stamina, for his grandmother was a true tyrant, ruling all around her with an iron will.

  Long ago, Eleanor had lived with Miriam and Charles Eden at Silverley, in the first few years of his parents’ marriage, before Nicholas was born. But the constant bickering between the two sisters had sent Ellie back to her parents. Later, she had gone to visit Charles’ mother, Rebecca, out in Cornwall. She’d been there ever since that “visit,” coming to visit Silverley often through the years, but only to visit, not to stay.

  “How are you, madame?” he asked his grandmother.

  “As if you care how I am,” she retorted. “Do I come to London every year at this time?” she asked him.

  “You have made that your habit, yes.”

  “But have you paid me a visit once since I arrived?”

  “I saw you in Cornwall only last month,” Nicholas reminded her.

  “That is not the point.” Then she leaned back and said, “Well, you surely have fallen into it this time, haven’t you?”

  “So it would seem,” he replied dryly, then turned to face the two Malory men.

  The older man came forward to greet him cordially. Big and blond and green-eyed, Edward Malory looked nothing like his brother Anthony, and everything like his brother Jason. He was an inch shorter than Nicholas’ own six feet, but his build was stockier.

  The younger Malory man stood rooted to his place by the fireplace. Dark blue eyes seemed to be envisioning Nicholas’ dismemberment. Malory’s vivid blue eyes and coal-black hair announced to Nicholas that Regina Ashton was Anthony’s blood relation. It was more than that. She actually bore a startling resemblance to Anthony, even to the slight slanting of the eyes. Good God, he wondered, could Regina be his daughter? That would mean he’d sowed his oats a bit young, but it wasn’t impossible.

  “We
haven’t met, Nicholas,” Edward Malory said and introduced himself. “But I knew your father Charles very well, and I’ve known Rebecca for some years.”

  “Edward invests my money for me, and very nicely, too,” Rebecca explained. “Didn’t know that, did you, scamp?”

  Well, that explained how they’d gotten his grandmother here on such short notice. The proximity to family was starting to make him nervous.

  Edward continued, “And I believe you know my youngest brother, Anthony?”