Always True to Her (Emerson Book 2) (12 page)

He’d hated the idea of Clayton kissing her. If he
had to be honest, he hated the idea of anyone kissing her. But what had
started out as a rather immature attempt to prove himself the better kisser
turned into a quest to show her something greater.

This wasn’t just a kiss. It was what home truly
was. It was the one soul made for you, whom you’d found at last.

And the truth of that was a shock to his system.

He pulled back. It wasn’t an abrupt movement. In
fact, his body was ignoring the commands the rational part of his brain was
giving his limbs. He inched back, slowly but surely, until they broke the
kiss. Then they broke all contact, save for his knees pressed against her
thighs and her hands in his.

He looked at Irene, then wished he hadn’t. She was
dazed, lost to passion. He could only imagine how she’d look when he made her
climax.

Which would never happen, of course. Because he was
going to America and she was The Honorable Miss Irene Wallace.

He relinquished her hands, then sat back and watched
her though heavy lidded eyes. He could tell the moment she came fully back to
her senses.

“Yes, well,” she said. “That was, that was…”

“Better than Clayton?”

“I should say so!” The satisfaction on his face
must have shown, for she quickly added. “Though I do not think the bar was set
all that high to begin with. But, yes, when presented with the evidence, I
would say that was the best kiss I have ever received out of the two I have
experienced. Now I think it would be best if we never spoke of this again.
And, like Anna, I believe I will get some sleep.”

“If you can,” said James.

“I am quite certain of it,” she said as she put on
her bonnet and tied it, only to realize it was on backwards. She removed it.
“I do not believe I will need this.”

“I do not believe you have the wits to tie it right
now.”

“I am ignoring you, Lord James.”

“You can try.” Then he chuckled at her grunt of
disgust.

“Are you going to return to your side of the
carriage?”

“Why should it matter if you ignore me?”

She narrowed her eyes at him, then turned away and
rested her head against the side of the carriage.

He thought it best if he did not laugh out loud at
her discomposure. Especially since his body was strumming with passion that
would sadly go unquenched. With Anna asleep and Irene pretending to be so, he
settled in to see if he could get some rest.

But that would require him to stop thinking of that
life-altering kiss. And he knew that would never happen.

Thoughts of that incredible kiss had kept Irene
awake, though she spent the hour until they stopped for luncheon pretending to
sleep. James, rather insultingly, had been able to sleep quite soundly. Anna
had slept the entire time and even now that the carriage had stopped, it was
difficult to awaken her.

“Anna,” said Irene, as she gently shook the girl.
“It’s time to eat.”

The little girl was finding it hard to open her
eyes. She tried to sit up, but lay back down again. “Can I sleep here while
you and Papa eat?”

“I’m sorry, love,” said her father. “But you would
grow too cold out here. Please come in and eat something for us.” He studied
her for a moment. “Do you feel well?”

“Yes,” said Anna, as she rubbed her eyes.

Irene buttoned Anna’s coat and wrapped a scarf
around her. “Are you sure you’re feeling well, poppet?”

Anna smiled and nodded, doing the best she could to
awaken.

James stepped out of the carriage and reached for
Irene’s hand. She hesitated giving it to him, thinking it might be preferable
to risk falling flat on her bottom, rather than touch his hand. Perhaps sensing
her cowardice, he raised an eyebrow and gestured for her to come out of the
carriage.

Irene sniffed and held out her hand to him. When he
grasped her fingers, she actually had to stifle a gasp. The feeling that arced
between them was all the more intense after their kiss. Once she was safely on
the ground, she tried to take her hand back. But he held onto her.

“Is there a problem, Miss Wallace?” he asked rather
smugly.

“Have you kidnapped my hand, my lord?”

“If you have to ask, the answer is no. I promise
you would know if I had designs on your hand, or any other part of you.” With
that, he reached in to get Anna. But instead of putting her down, he placed
her on his left hip, then held out his right arm to Irene. She hesitated, but took
it, then accompanied him into the small inn’s dining area.

The inn was relatively clean, though Irene had
learned through the years that too close of an examination of even the tidiest
establishment could put you off your food for a good day or so. And she was
quite hungry, so she was glad to see no noticeable signs of filth. Instead,
she turned her mind to other matters.

Like Anna. The barman had shown them to a quiet
table in the corner of the tap. James had begun the long process of unwrapping
scarves, untying her bonnet and taking off her coat. He put his hand on her
forehead and frowned just the slightest.

“Are you certain you feel well, sweetheart?”

“Yes, Papa.” The little girl looked almost nervous
in her response, as if she didn’t want to displease him with her answer.

“Irene, does she feel warm to you?”

Irene put the back of her hand against Anna’s
forehead. “She feels a little warm, but she has been wearing a multitude of
scarves.” She smiled at Anna, who smiled back at her. “Can you eat something
for your papa?”

Anna nodded.

“Excellent,” said Irene, who squeezed her hand.

The barman took their order, then Irene sat next to
Anna.

James watched his daughter for a moment before
turning to Irene. “How are you enjoying your life as a meek and biddable
servant? I daresay it is quite an unfamiliar feeling.”

“I can say that I very much enjoy my charge. She is
a delightful girl and a pleasure to be around.”

“And your master?”

“Dreadful man. I cannot see how I abide him.”

“Perhaps you stay for the kisses,” he muttered under
his breath.

“That is quite enough of that, my lord!” Irene said,
darting a look at Anna. But she was paying them little mind. Perhaps she was simply
unwell from the motion of the carriage and would feel better when she’d eaten.
“What kind of a man is this Mr. Adams?” Irene asked James. “Besides someone
who gets thrown in gaol within days of ending a sea voyage of several weeks.”

“I didn’t know him well, but he was a local notary.
He witnessed my agreement with Cedric.”

“So you did not trust my brother,” said Irene. “It
is a wonder, then, that you would leave your land in his care.”

“It is not that I didn’t trust Cedric. It was that
I wanted the agreement witnessed so others knew he was acting on my behalf.
The frontier tends to change on a daily basis. I only planned to be gone for a
few weeks, but I did not know what could come up in my absence. If he did need
to act on my behalf, I wanted him to have clear authority to do so.”

“Perhaps he was doing just that when he went into
business with the mining company.”

James shook his head. “He knew very well that I
planned to farm the land. I would never have sold it to anyone, especially a
mining company.” After a moment he added, “I was surprised that Cedric would
want to go into business with them, as well. I had the impression that he saw
his time in America as more of an extended holiday than as actually a means of
earning a living.”

Irene had to admit that would have been her
assumption, as well. Her brother did tend to drift from one scheme to
another. He saw life as a lark, content in his station and never being
motivated to make anything of himself. He’d often told her he was simply
biding his time until he inherited the title.

The title. She thought again of how ill her father
had become in such a short time. She had to find a solution to this
situation. “Mayhap the mining company threatened Cedric. Perhaps they forced
him to sign.”

James looked at her with a great deal of skepticism.
“Perhaps.”

“But you do not believe it.”

“It is certainly not beyond the pale that such a
thing could happen. But Cedric did not appear to be coerced when I spoke to
him and demanded to know what he’d done.”

“Perhaps you should not have demanded,” said Irene.

“Yes. I am certain that passively handing over the
land that was Anna’s birthright would have been the correct course of action.
Forgive me for being so obtuse, Miss Wallace. In fact…”

Irene stopped listening to James because she was
studying Anna, who was sitting back with her head against the wall and her eyes
closed. Her color seemed to be heightened. Irene wondered whether the girl
was catching a cold. She felt Anna’s forehead again. Now she definitely
seemed warm.

“What is it?” asked James.

“Perhaps nothing. I thought at first she had a
touch of motion sickness.”

“She did have a rough time of it on the ship.”

“I believe we should take a room for an hour. Let
her get some sleep on solid ground. Perhaps when she awakens she’ll feel
better.” She felt Anna’s forehead again. This time James came to Anna’s side
and felt it, too.

The result made him frown. “Let’s get the room,”
said James, as he motioned to a woman who appeared to be one of the innkeepers.

Irene watched Anna, worriedly. She hadn’t known
Anna long, but she was already familiar with the sweet girl’s patterns. While
she was often quiet, she was never listless as she was now. She was usually observant
of everything about her.

The innkeeper reached them. She was a tall, thin
woman with steel grey hair and a frown that seemed permanently engraved on her
face.

“We would like a room for my daughter,” said James.
“Just for an hour or so, Mrs….?”

“Simmons,” said the woman, who was frowning at them
in earnest now. She was staring at Anna. “She’s foreign! I didn’t see that at
first, with all the scarves about her. I can see why you wanted to keep her covered.”

Irene gasped at the rude comment and glanced at
Anna. Thankfully, it didn’t appear like she’d heard. James, however, had
taken in every syllable. She could feel his tension. Irene knew the only
reason Mrs. Simmons hadn’t just been given a set-down that would blow the cap
off her head was because James very much wanted the room.

“I don’t know if we even have one available,” said
Mrs. Simmons, who was no doubt trying to discern how much money James had to
spend on one. She kept looking between James’s rough clothes and Irene’s elegant
gown, growing more confused by the moment.

Irene realized that perhaps she hadn’t done as good
of a job dressing as a servant as she’d thought. “Anything you could do would
be most appreciated,” she said.

As Mrs. Simmons went to check the register – and
figure out a price – Irene turned to James as she rubbed Anna’s back. “I am as
appalled by her attitude as you and suspect we have not yet seen or heard the
worst. But I ask you to ignore the wretched woman for Anna’s sake. She needs
the rest.”

“I know,” he growled. “But I wish for all the world
we were not here. Yet, I doubt we shall find another inn for another two
hours. And I fear she does need proper rest.” Anna had fallen asleep at the
table and was now leaning against Irene.

Irene paused, not knowing how to broach the next
topic. “Mrs. Simmons will likely charge an exorbitant rate for the room.”

He winced. “I realize that. But even if I spend
the rest of my coins, we must stay.”

Irene took a deep breath for she knew he wasn’t
going to like her suggestion. “I would like to pay for the room,” she said.

“Out of the question.”

“Hear me out, sir. It is just as much in my best
interest as in yours to learn the truth of what transpired in America. There
is no reason why I should not be paying my own way.”

“This is for my daughter.”

“Yes. And it is an expense that could not have been
predicted. If, as you say, my brother has wronged you, has….stolen from you,
then it is only right that I should pay.”

“It is your brother I have a problem with, not you.”

“Please, James. My purse is well able to afford
this and I have a feeling Mrs. Simmons will come back with an outrageous rent.”

“A gentleman does not allow a lady to pay.”

“Then stop being a gentleman,” she said, before
quickly adding, “I only mean that in this limited sense. I would prefer that
you continue to be a gentleman in all other ways for the rest of the journey.
Think of this as a loan, if you must. You can pay me back later with interest
at an amount that would make a Seven Dials money lender blush. But right now
the only thing we need to concern ourselves with is getting Anna to bed.”

Mrs. Simmons returned, with her husband in tow. He
was as round as his wife was reed thin. Mr. Simmons studied them. “You two
don’t look foreign,” he said. “What’s wrong with the child? She’s not sick,
is she? Don’t want no foreign diseases here. We keep a clean inn, the missus
and me.”

“She is simply tired from the journey,” said Irene.
She could feel the heat emanating from Anna and Irene was beginning to fear
there was something more going on than simple motion sickness.

“And just who are you, anyway?” asked Mrs. Simmons.

“She is my wife,” rumbled a deep voice that had
finally had enough. “I am Lord James Emerson, brother to the Earl of
Ridgeway. And this is my wife, Lady Irene. And you will see us to our room
now, unless you want to feel the wrath of one of the most fearsome peers in
England.”

*

James wasn’t sure whose reaction he was enjoying
more. The Simmons’, who were as cowed by his statement as he’d intended, or
Irene’s, whose mouth was agape with, well, he wasn’t sure what emotion was
racing through her head. But he had a feeling it was not good cheer or
approval. He had no doubt she wanted to tell him exactly what she thought of
his presumption. But he’d had no choice.

If they both entered the bedchamber together – and
he wanted to see for himself if Anna was merely tired – Irene would be ruined.
It would not matter if it were only for an hour and in the company of his
daughter. If the innkeeper and his wife chose to gossip about their odd guests
and their “foreign” child, word could get back to London. So, it was best to
give them the illusion that Irene was his wife and Anna their daughter.

He was reasonably certain Irene would have no qualms
about being seen as Anna’s mother. She was obviously quite fond of his
daughter. However, he suspected she might take exception to the other portion
of the equation.

Well, there was nothing for it now but to continue.

Mrs. Simmons was clearly torn. She wasn’t sure
whether to believe his connection to Ridgeway, but didn’t want to risk an
earl’s wrath, either. In the end, she chose to believe his story, probably
because she suspected there would be more coin in the end if James was telling
the truth. She grudgingly said, “I suppose we can allow a foreign child in
here the once. Why is it you have her, anyway?”

Irene turned a glacial stare on the woman. It was
as cutting as any James had ever seen and would do her grandmother proud,
though the old harridan would likely side with the innkeepers in this case. Irene
pulled Anna even closer to her as she replied. “She is God’s gift and loved
very much. Now take us to the room. We would like to rest.”