“You are quite wrong. Your letters always reminded me of what was really important to me. What did Miss Petersham think of your writing to me?”
She had been frowning thoughtfully over his words, but at the mention of her companion, her eyes twinkled. “Poor Becky. We are quite close, you know, except in matters that concern you. Eliott and I discussed it most thoroughly and decided that in the case of our letters, it would be best to commit a sin of omission. She never found out.”
“Then I daresay that she will not welcome me with open arms.”
“True, but Eliott is my guardian and she can hardly turn you away. She will come about, you will see. I fear though that she will be excessively disappointed that we will not be going to London. I fancy she expected me to snare a royal duke.”
“You and one of the fat German dukes. Good lord.” He squeezed her hand. “Come, Cass, let us get my mare, and I shall escort you back to the hall.”
He felt her fingers close over his and saw that she was looking up at him, a disturbing smile on her lips.
“Before we go, Edward, I would that you kiss me again. I have never been kissed before and I must own that I like it a lot.”
He leaned down and kissed her lightly on her closed lips.
She stared up at him doggedly. “That is not at all how you kissed me the first time.” She added hesitantly, “I like the other things you did—with your hands.”
He stood stiffly before her, trying to still the twisting desire in his loins. “Cass, it is not proper.”
“But why, Edward? Did you not come back to be my husband?”
“No—yes. Dammit, I have not yet spoken to Eliott. And as much as you scoff at the idea, there is your Season in London.”
One thick-arched brow flared upward. “Season in London? Come, Edward, I was but jesting. Now that you are returned, everything has changed. I shall have no duke, not even a royal one.”
“It is important, Cassie,” he said heavily. “You have been sheltered. It would not be fair of me to prevent you from meeting other gentlemen. Don’t you understand? You may meet someone else whom you would prefer to wed.”
Cassie raised her chin in a proud, stubborn gesture that he remembered well. “I admit that I am young and not much experienced. But I am not a fool, Edward, nor am I a silly, romantic girl whose mind is filled with maudlin drivel. I have long known that you are the man to suit me. I beg you not to question my motives or my feelings.”
“You call this place a Garden of Eden, Cass. You know nothing of what lies beyond even Ipswich.”
“Edward, you make it sound as though I have been raised in a convent. You know that Becky needled Eliott the moment I turned seventeen to let me put my hair up and entertain lavishly. I assure you, I have been most feted by many gentlemen, even some from your precious London. I have found them, for the most part, to have very little under their powdered hair save empty, vain heads. Now, I would that you cease this nonsense.”
“Very well, Cass, we shall discuss the matter another time.”
“Edward, if you do not believe me, I shall simply have to seduce you and force you to wed me.”
“What do you know of seduction, Miss?”
“If you will kiss me again, I daresay that I shall come by it quite naturally.”
There was a woman’s smile on her face, and Edward’s honorable intentions crumbled. He pulled her roughly against him and kissed her temples, the tip of her straight nose, the hollow of her throat. His lips touched hers, featherlight. “Part your lips, love.”
She obeyed him willingly. His hands cupped her hips as he explored her mouth, lifting her off the ground to press her against him.
Through her gown and petticoats, Cassie felt the fierce hardness of him. She had seen animals mate and knew that when men and women coupled, men entered women’s bodies. She felt an almost painful ache building between her thighs and realized that she wanted more than anything to feel Edward naked against her, caressing her, making himself a part of her. She dug her fingers into his back and pressed her body so tightly against him that she could feel his heartbeat against her breasts.
She gave a cry of frustrated disappointment when he abruptly pulled her away from him.
“Enough, Cass,” he said harshly. “No, don’t argue with me. I refuse to be seduced by a slip of a girl who supposedly knows nothing about it. Come, let me escort you to Hemphill Hall.”
Chapter 2
Cassie drew Edward up the wide front steps of Hemphill Hall and thrust open the door, nearly toppling Menkle, the Brougham butler.
“Menkle, look who is home, finally. And to stay.”
Menkle forgot his dignity and bestowed a toothful smile upon the viscount. “Welcome home, my lord.”
“Thank you, Menkle.”
“Where is Eliott, Menkle?”
“In the library, Miss Cassie, reviewing the account ledgers, I believe.”
Cassie laughed. “Poor Eliott, I’ll wager he is muttering to himself and tugging his hair. Guilder was here all morning—our agent, you know—and left Eliott frantically toting up columns of numbers. He will be pleased to be rescued, Edward.”
Eliott Brougham, fourth Baron Tinnsdale, was in fact staring past his account books out over the east lawn, a young lady in his thoughts. He started guiltily every few minutes and forced his attention back to his task. He looked up, startled, as Cassie burst unceremoniously into the library.
“Close your books, my love, for I’ve a surprise for you.”
“What, Cass, you’ve finally caught that large sea bass for my dinner?”
“It’s not a fish, Eliott, but I trust that I have finally caught him.”
“Edward. Good God, man, it’s been ages.” Eliott quickly rose to shake Edward Lyndhurst’s outstretched hand.
“I trust we do not disturb you, Eliott. This madcap sister of yours dragged me in here without a by-your-leave.” He has become a man, Edward thought, gazing at Cassie’s brother. Though he had the same open, smiling face, three years had added firmness to his jaw, and his light blue eyes seemed to hold widened experience, if not wisdom.
“I am quite used to her bursting in upon me.” Eliott laughed. “I am only safe when I am taking my bath.”
“Edward is home to stay, Eliott,” Cassie said, tugging at her brother’s sleeve, “forever.”
“Oh?” Eliott said carefully, his eyes upon Edward’s face.
“As Cass said, Eliott, she’s finally caught me,” Edward said blandly.
“He kissed me, Eliott. Would you not say that he has compromised me irrevocably? He must now do the honorable thing.”
“I think what he should do first, Cass, is join us in a glass of sherry. Despite all your letters, Captain Lord Delford, I vow we have a good deal of catching up to do.”
“Your letters were so terribly military, Edward,” Cassie said by way of explanation, “that I saw no reason for Eliott not to read them. There was only one that I did not show him, for he would have been obliged to call you out.”
“To your safe return home, Edward,” Eliott said as he clicked his sherry glass to Edward’s, then to his sister’s.
“To a new beginning,” Cassie said.
“To a continuation of a long ago beginning,” Edward said.
“Let us sit down,” Eliott said. He had often wondered if Cassie’s lifelong infatuation for Edward would endure into adulthood, but as he watched them, he could not doubt that it had. He saw their eyes meet, and although they made no move to touch each other, they might as well have been locked together.
Eliott cleared his throat. “Your mother is well, Edward?”
“She enjoys her ill health, as always. Uncle Edgar’s death came as something of a shock to her.”
“Your uncle was an honorable gentleman,” Eliott said. “Your estate was in capable hands. Speaking of hands, Edward, did that shoulder wound you suffered a couple of years ago heal well?”
“Not even a twinge now. I was fortunate e
nough to fall into the care of a sober surgeon. In India, that commodity is hard to find.”
“I insist upon seeing the scar,” Cassie said.
Eliott frowned at his sister. “Really, Cass, Edward will think that you have not been properly raised. You should have seen her, Edward, when you finally wrote of your wound. She was like a raging virago, and if it had not been for my calm good sense, I think she would have sailed her sloop to India by herself.”
“I was very worried, though speaking of Eliott and good sense together is far off the mark. But since he became Baron Tinnsdale, he is so full of self-consequence that he must needs continually make up all sorts of outrageous qualities for himself.”
“At least his idea of good sense does not include swimming like some sea nymph in the ocean or taking his life in his hands in a rickety sailboat.”
“My boat is not at all rickety, my lord. And as for my imitating a sea nymph, I will doubt your honesty if you say that you were displeased.”
“Cass, I trust you were wearing something while you were swimming.”
“She was like Venus coming from the sea. Quite a lovely prospect, I must admit.”
“I was wearing a shift,” Cassie said, gazing from her brother’s raised brows to Edward. She rose gracefully and shook out her skirts. “Now that you know the extent of Lord Delford’s brazen behavior, Eliott, I shall leave you to deal with him. Do not let him escape, brother, else I shall have to take my shredded virtue and hie myself to a convent.”
After Cassie left the library, Eliott turned to Edward in some embarrassment. “She is ever forthright to a fault, but of course you know that.” He tugged a moment at his collar. “You did not, that is, Cassie did not—”
Edward blinked in surprise, and said in an amused voice, “She was wearing a shift, Eliott, a very wet but quite modest shift. My intentions are honorable, you know, so there is no need to call me out. I want to marry her, but I must admit I am uncertain what to do about her London Season. She flatly refuses now even to consider it. As well as being forthright, she is headstrong.”
“Stubborn as a mule once her mind is made up.”
“True. Still, if you insist that she spend the Season in London, then between the two of us, we should be able to rein her in.”
“She has never wavered in her affection for you, Edward, though I believed for some years that it was naught save hero worship for a brave—and absent—military man. If you wish to wed her now, I’ll not cast a rub in your way.”
“Such support will likely result in Cassie naming our first son after you.”
“Cassie a mother.” Eliott shook his head, bemused. “It seems but yesterday that she was a child herself, intent only upon learning how to bait her hook. Yet I remember the time I crammed my horse over a fence and broke my leg. She was motherly, bullying me and forcing all manner of vile potions down my throat.”
“I am glad that I did not return to England when I was laid up with my shoulder wound.” Edward smiled gently at the still-bemused Eliott. “What do you say, Eliott, can we arrange a wedding in, say, two months?”
“Captain Lord Delford moves quickly once he is on the attack, I see. I can see no problem. Becky will take charge and see that everything comes off aright. Speaking of Miss Petersham, it is better that I deal with her myself.”
“As you will, Eliott. Now, my friend, there is much I wish to discuss with you. How has Eliott Brougham found life as the fourth Baron Tinnsdale?”
Chapter 3
Eliott Brougham smiled down at the agitated Miss Petersham. “Come now, Becky, Edward Lyndhurst is one of my oldest friends and a man of honor. If Cassie wants him, I’ll not kick up a ruckus.”
“She just turned eighteen, Eliott. She’s but a girl and can’t know her own mind. Her dashing viscount comes galloping home, dripping with countless stories of his exploits, no doubt, and practically begs her to fall into his arms.”
“You’re off the mark there, Becky. If I know Cassie, it is she who very likely encouraged Edward to fall into her arms. It’s certainly not as if Edward were a stranger—after all, they’ve written to each other for the past three years.”
“They have what?” Miss Petersham drew in an appalled breath.
Eliott had the grace to look sheepish. “Now, Becky, Cassie and I decided not to tell you, for you’d have disapproved.”
“You mean that Cassie decided not to tell me and you, you wretched boy, fell in with her. You are four years her senior, and her guardian since his lordship’s death.” Miss Petersham groaned and took several perturbed steps about the room. “Promise me, Eliott, that you will not let her wed him until after her Season in London.”
Eliott shook his head. “I cannot understand why you are not content that Cass is making a love match. Lord knows that there are few enough of them nowadays. And you must admit, Becky, that she has shown nothing but indifference to all the young pups who have gathered about her like bees to a honeypot. All she would find in London, I daresay, is more of the same. I have given my approval and they want to marry in two months.”
“Two months. Oh no, surely not.”
Eliott set about soothing her. “It’s not as if you’re going to lose her to some gallant who lives God knows where. Delford Manor is but two miles away and I fancy that all of us will continue much as we always have.”
Miss Petersham drew a deep breath to calm herself. “I suppose what’s done is done. I only wish that I had known sooner.”
Eliott patted her plump shoulder, not without affection. “You know when Cass gets the bit between her teeth there’s no stopping her. I daresay with your genius for preparations, we shall be able to pull off the wedding as if we had had six months to plan it.” Eliott beamed at her, thankful that the weight of all responsibility was to be on Miss Petersham’s capable shoulders.
Miss Petersham gave him a thin smile. How many times she had thought that Eliott should have been the girl and Cassie the boy. While Cassie was strong, quick-witted, and an expert in getting what she wanted, Eliott was guileless and malleable, clay in his sister’s hands.
“Spare the rod and spoil the child,” she said obliquely. She tugged at her lacy cap and left the drawing room, her black skirts swishing with each brisk step.
Eliott drew a sigh of relief and looked up to see his sister peep her head around the door.
“Is it done? You have told her, Eliott?”
“Yes, minx, and I can tell you that she is none too happy about it.”
“I know. I heard her rustling skirts and hid myself behind the urn until she flounced upstairs.” Cassie walked to her brother and gave him a quick hug. “Thank you, my love, for bearding the lion. You do not really believe that she wanted me to marry some paunchy old German duke, do you?”
“Lord knows. Perhaps she wanted the London Season for herself.” He looked down at his shapely white hands. “Unfortunately, I let slip that you and Edward have been corresponding for the past three years.”
Cassie tugged at the long, thick curl that fell habitually over her shoulder. “Well, I shall just have to let her batter at me for a while. Then we shall send in Edward and let him charm her out of her sullens.”
“She’s convinced that Edward dazzled you with all of his military exploits.”
“I shall have to tell her that rather than dazzle me, Edward refuses to tell me much of anything about his experiences. It is too bad of him.”
Eliott thought of some of the more gruesome tales Edward had recounted, and held his tongue. He looked up to see Cassie chewing on her lower lip, a habit from childhood.
“I suppose,” she said, “that I will have sufficient years to convince him that our sons belong in the Royal Navy and not in the army. It would seem to me to be a far more exciting career. Can you imagine anyone preferring the land to the sea?”
Eliott laughed and gave her a light buffet on her shoulder. “Take care, Cass, for Edward is a man of strong principles and even stronger notions of what is
proper for young English ladies. He might well beach your sailboat and clip your mermaid’s tail.”
Cassie tossed her head. “That is nonsense, Eliott. Edward knows my love for the sea, and I cannot imagine that once we are married he will try to give me orders.”
Eliott imagined that Edward would not only give her orders, he would also expect them to be obeyed, but, for now, he merely smiled and said, more to himself than to his sister, “I suppose that Becky will live with you at Delford Manor.”
“If you would not miss her too much, Eliott. She has been much like a mother to both of us. I, for one, cannot imagine her not sitting across the breakfast table from me, tutoring me in darning sheets and ensuring that the pantry has enough haunches of ham.”
Eliott gave her a rather sad, resigned smile. “I will lose both you and Becky. Hemphill Hall will hardly seem the same.”
“I shall feel its loss sadly, my love, but do not think that just because I shall reside at Delford Manor, I shall never darken your door again.” She gave him a quick hug. “Oh, Eliott, I am so happy. And not just because of Edward. We shall all be together—even our children will grow up together.”
“Viscount Delford, my lord.”
Brother and sister turned at Menkle’s announcement.
Edward Lyndhurst stepped into the drawing room and stood for a moment, staring at Cassie. It was not her face and figure that held him, but the joyful expression that lit her eyes as she looked at him. She took a quick step toward him, as if impatient of any distance between them.
Eliott cleared his throat. “Lord, Edward, you’ll have all your life to stare at her.”
“Wretch. Don’t mind Eliott—he has so little in his head that he must needs forever tease me.”
“Do come in, Edward. Cass and I were just discussing the advantages of the Royal Navy over the army. I suppose the two of you want to be alone, so I’ll take my leave.”
“To see Miss Pennworthy, Eliott?”
“I don’t know why the devil not. With you and Edward staring at each other with sheep’s eyes, I have a fancy to try it myself.”