The Wedding Runaway (5 page)

The lease worried her
,
but if she had to leave her lodgings
,
Mr. Hall would disappear into the ether and Miss Hamilton would reappear and return to America. Jenny wasn
'
t happy
,
so Lydia thrust a five-pound note into her hand and told her to go buy a pretty for herself.

A heavy melancholy overshadowed her satisfaction that Lord Wedmont would not be able to locate her on the morrow for his self-appointed duty of retooling her wardrobe. She told herself her tearfulness was brought on by a lack of sleep. Pretending to be someone else
,
meant she could not let anyone get close
,
no matter what. Besides
,
if she bought new clothes
,
she wanted lace and ribbons. She wanted dresses.

Lydia struggled to remove her jacket
,
waistcoat and shirt
,
then unwrap the bindings that squished down her chest. She had been dressed as a man for over twenty hours
,
and her bound breasts ached. The freedom of movement trousers allowed came with a price.

She collapsed on her bed and must have dozed for a bit. A tap on the door brought her upright. Fiddlesticks
,
she didn
'
t even have on a shirt.

The tapping rapped louder.

Lordy
,
what if it was the landlord? He had a key. Lydia scrabbled off the side of the bed for her shirt. She calmed as she drew the material over her head. It was probably Jenny.

Lydia slid to the door in her stockinged feet.
"
I told you to take the key
,"
she said as she swung open the door.

A man stood there.

She slammed the door.

The tapping politely resumed.
"
Mr. Hall?
"

"
Fiddlesticks!
"
muttered Lydia. Had he seen that she had breasts? She ran across the room
,
grabbed her waistcoat and jacket and stuffed her arms into them. She put her hand to her throat. Her neck was too feminine looking to be seen bare.
"
Just a minute
,"
she called.

She lacked the time to tie a cravat. She grabbed a handkerchief and sloppily looped it around her neck. For God
'
s sake
,
she
'
d never sleep without her shirt on again.

"
Mr. Hall
,
I didn
'
t mean to startle you. I am here at my lord
'
s request. My name is Millars. I
'
m Lord Wedmont
'
s valet.
"

She yanked open the door and folded her arms across her chest.
"
What?
"

The man gave her an odd look
,
and Lydia prayed her lack of binding wasn
'
t obvious. Oh my goodness
,
she
'
d forgotten the pads she wore around her waist to disguise the inward curves of her female form.

He bowed. Lydia froze. Was she supposed to bow in return? These English rules were so bizarre. She decided to be a rude American. She wasn
'
t that sure of all the rules for proper male behavior in the United States. The last thing she needed to do was draw attention to her figure
,
so she held herself as stiff as a board. Boards did not bend easily
,
and she might splinter if she tried to do so.

"
The Earl of Wedmont requests your presence at dinner tonight. He will send his carriage for you at half past seven.
"

How had he found out where she lived so fast? Shocked
,
she stared at the man.

"
Dinner will be served at eight.
"

"
I can
'
t
,"
Lydia finally managed and realized her mouth hung open. She snapped her jaw shut.

"
I had the liberty of passing through the kitchen earlier
,
retrieving my lord
'
s laundry
,
you see. I assure you
,
the smells quite made one delirious with pleasure. Cook is preparing a beef ragout with sherry sauce
,
also stuffed partridges with apricot fritters. There shall be apple tarts and plum pudding. Surely you will not eat so well here.
"

All right
,
her mouth watered.
"
I really cannot. Do tell his lordship that I am most grateful for his offer.
"

"
He will not be happy if I return with a refusal.
"

Lydia blinked.
"
I have other plans.
"

"
They cannot be delayed until after you dine...sir?
"

The servant pursed his lips to the side and gave her a long look.

Lydia could not bear his scrutiny any longer. That Victor wouldn
'
t leave her alone was bad enough. What would he do if he knew she was female?
"
Very well. I
'
ll attend.
"

She shut the door before the man finished his bow. She felt awful and exhausted.

"
Half past seven...sir.
"

"
Yes
,
I heard you
,"
she returned through the door. Good heavens
,
the door was thin.

"
Very good...sir.
"

The long pauses before the
sirs
bothered her. Did he suspect? She raced over and opened the small shaving stand. The looking glass was only a four-inch circle and try as she might
,
she couldn
'
t tell if her gender was obvious.

Either way, she didn
'
t know whether to be exhilarated or alarmed. She suspected she was both. And for heaven
'
s sake
,
how did Victor discover her new address within a day?

~*~

Victor woke in the early afternoon feeling rather peevish. He
'
d had a dream in which Leonard figured most prominently. A bizarre dream
,
but then one couldn
'
t control dreams. Perhaps his unconscious mind had chosen to focus on Leonard rather than face the demons of his life.

His valet entered his room on tiptoe
,
whispered
,
"
My lord?
"
and stood waiting expectantly.

"
What is it
,
Millars?
"

"
It appears you are about to have guests. The butler would like to know if you are at home?
"

Victor
'
s first inclination was to say no
,
but company had to be preferable to ruminating on the dream he
'
d had. He rolled out of bed and moved to the window overlooking the square. As he looked down and saw blond curls
,
his first thought was of Leonard. Although
,
Leonard wouldn
'
t be wearing a dress or holding a squirming toddler.

At least Victor didn
'
t think so. His dream had been rather muddled on that point.

No, the curls were in a froth of haute couture
,
pinned on top of the woman
'
s head.

"
I believe it is the Davies and their children.
"

Ah
,
it was Sophie
,
his best friend and worst enemy
'
s wife. But they only had one child.

"
You could have told me before...
"
but he stopped breathing as Keene stood beside the carriage step. A small girl took Keene
'
s extended right hand and stepped down
,
both her feet daintily stopping on each of the two steps.

Victor
'
s heart pounded as he watched the tiny girl
,
her white pinafore neat and smudge-free
,
her ruffled pantaloons brushing the tops of her black patent-leather shoes. Long dark sausage curls flowed down her back
,
held away from her face with a large blue ribbon. She looked up at his window
,
her dark eyes wide and wary
,
and Victor thought her the most beautiful child in the world. Yet
,
she clung to Keene
'
s hand as if frightened.

"
Yes
,
tell them I
'
m at home and shall be with them shortly. Have cook prepare a nuncheon.
"

Could she see him standing in the window?

Victor raced through his ablutions and dressed in record time. He lost no time matching his morning coat to his unmentionables
;
everything he wore was black right now. His valet returned in time to help him into his coat.

As he dragged a comb through his hair
,
he realized he needed to see the barber as much as Leonard did.

"
Victor!
"
Sophie squealed and raced across his drawing room.

She hugged him tight
,
while Victor looked across to see if Keene cast dark looks in his direction. But Keene was focused on holding his squirming son.

Victor allowed himself the pleasure of Sophie
'
s hug for a moment before he gently disengaged
,
but she was having none of it.

She put her hands on either side of his face and looked deeply into his eyes. Keene would have his hide.

"
How are you?
"
she asked, the seriousness of her tone not allowing anything less than an honest answer.

"
Well enough. I am alive
,
after all.
"

"
Oh no
,
you have a scar.
"
Her cool fingertips brushed near his hairline.

"
Yes
,
I guess all the men you know must sooner or later wear the sign of the beast on their foreheads.
"

Keene stood and crossed the room. Victor hoped it wasn
'
t to shoot him. Again. Instead Keene shoved back his hair with one hand and gave a mocking look. He adjusted his thrashing son
,
Richard
,
in his arm.

Victor felt mixed relief at Keene
'
s disregard of his wife
'
s manhandling. A few years back, an interested look in animated Sophie
'
s direction earned Victor a threat to be boiled in oil. But having a son had perhaps cooled Keene
'
s blood.

Instead
,
Keene looked him over. His dark gaze
,
so similar to Victor
'
s
,
landed on the scar.
"
What happened?
"

"
Got brained by a falling beam when I went in after her.
"

Sophie
'
s blue eyes filled with moisture.
"
We are so very sorry.
"

"
Yes
,
well, it is done. The estate was nothing but an albatross anyway. There were too many days when I wished for its destruction.
"

Sophie had been a good friend of his wife
'
s
,
although distance and madness made them grow apart. Yet
,
her welling tears dismayed him. Uncomfortable
,
he cast a pleading glance in Keene
'
s direction and stepped back.

The little girl sat primly on one of his sofas. Her shoes hung suspended above the floor
,
but she didn
'
t swing her dangling feet. She sat very sedately
,
just as her mother would. She would have to be watched closely
,
when she became a young lady.

Keene leaned close to his wife, offering the unspoken comfort of long familiarity.

Sophie followed the direction of Victor
'
s gaze.
"
We brought Reggie. We thought she might cheer you a little.
"

Cheer him? Remind him that his bloodline would go on
,
even though he no longer had a wife to produce a legitimate child? Regina was his daughter
,
but he could never claim her. To society, she was the daughter of his former friend George Keeting and his wife Amelia
,
and Victor had to leave it so. Was that supposed to be comfort?

Victor would have probably done the world a favor by never reproducing.

Although Keene had no such qualms about continuing their father
'
s black pedigree. But he
,
too
,
had once thought to end the bloodline with his death.

The toddler let out a frustrated howl and squirmed devilishly in his father
'
s arms. He
,
too
,
was just like
his
mother.

Suddenly
,
Keene pulled Sophie back and Richard was thrust unceremoniously into Victor
'
s arms
,
"
Take your godson
,"
said Keene, equally as unceremoniously.

Victor took the youngster
,
who promptly threw his head back and kicked. He wanted to lift up the girl
,
but now she scowled in response to his nephew
'
s distrust. With everything that had happened
,
a few months had passed since he had last seen her
,
but she should know she had no reason to fear him.