Dealing With Discipline (18 page)

"And if I inform you that he is?"
she asked, making a little moue with her mouth and trying to look
mournful and attention-needy.

The grin that Wesley gave her would probably
send another woman to her knees, but sadly had no effect on her.
 Now if her husband looked at her that way then her heart
would have started pounding because that kind of look was always an
indication that she was about to be dragged off to somewhere
private - preferably, although not necessarily, with a reasonably
comfortable flat surface.  Leaning in, Wesley whispered in her
ear.  "Then I'll steal you away and make all your dreams come
true."

Eleanor laughed delightedly, drawing Edwin's
attention and he looked up to see her and Wesley exchange a
conspiratorial look.  

"Good evening Wesley, have you met Lord
Casper?"

"Sometime back, good evening Casper.
 Pleasure to see you again."

"Spencer."  Although he was polite, Lord
Casper had a slightly disapproving look on his face as if he had
just sucked a lemon. 

Ignoring the other man, Wesley plucked
Eleanor's hand from Edwin's arm.  "I'm just going to take Nell
for a turn around the dance floor," he said as she rolled her eyes
at him. 

"Aren't you supposed to ask me first?" she
complained as he whisked her away.

"Don't tell me you were enjoying sitting there
and listening to that old bore," Wesley said with a wink as he
pulled her into his arms just as the first strains of a waltz
started.  "We're too young for that, dear Nell."

"Edwin isn't?"

"Edwin's a good old soul.  Much more
responsible than me."  He winked at her again, whirling her
around a slower moving couple.  Eleanor laughed, enjoying the
sensation as Wesley directed her around the floor with ease,
despite the large number of people congregated on it.
 

"Why did Lord Casper look at you like
that?"

"Like what?"

"Like he tasted something unpleasant when he
had to greet you."

This time it was Wesley who laughed.
 "Nell, you are a treat.  Don't ever change."

"Aren't you going to tell me why?" she
demanded, pinching his arm.

"Ouch!  Stop that you hoyden.  Of
course I'm not, it's not fit for your ears."

Eleanor gasped as she nearly
stumbled over her feet, only saved by Wesley's strong arms around
her.  "You slept with his wife?!"

"What?!  Good god Nell, you aren't
supposed to talk about things like that.  And no.  You
must not have met the lady in question or you'd know that she
wasn't my type."

"Is there a woman alive who isn't?" she
teased.  "Alright then, if not his wife... his daughter?
 His niece?  His mother?"  Shaking his head after
each question, Wesley chortled at that last one.  Eleanor
narrowed her eyes at him.  "His ladybird?"

"You aren't supposed to know about
such things, much less discuss them in public," he retorted, after
nearly stumbling himself.  

"I'm a wife, not an unmarried miss," she said,
frowning at him.  "Of course I know about mistresses.  I
have to."  That last was said a little darkly and Wesley
frowned.  

"Nell... Edwin doesn't... he wouldn't..."
 Wesley searched for the right words.  The little flash
of vulnerability that he'd seen in Eleanor's crystal gaze had
unnerved him.  

"You don't think so?" she asked, shooting a
little glance over to where Edwin was standing, still talking to
Lord Casper although they'd also been joined by Lord Brooke.
 But her tone wasn't harsh or disbelieving, if anything it was
almost wistful, as if asking for confirmation.  

"Of course not," Wesley said stoutly, for once
his rakish winks and teasing humor had deserted him.  "Nell,
he'd never do that to you."

He could tell from her expression that she
wanted to believe him but that she wasn't entirely convinced.
 Unfortunately the song was ending and once they stopped
moving it would be all too easy for others to overhear their
conversation and to make the worst possible interpretations upon
it.   

While Wesley might not be very
serious about a lot of things, that sad little wistful tone of
Eleanor's wasn't something he could ignore.  He'd never heard
her talk like that before and he didn't like it.

******

Watching his wife waltz in his friend's arms
was surprisingly distracting.  Edwin knew that he had to
remain on Lord Casper's good side, he was trying to recruit the
man's vote after all, but Eleanor was looking stunningly gorgeous
tonight.  He much preferred having her on his arm than
anywhere else, even if it was only Wesley.  When she was
dancing, Eleanor practically glowed, assisted by the gleaming
yellow satin of the gown she was wearing.  It made her look
like candlelight, like an angel floating across the floor; she was
so fresh and bright it almost hurt to look at her, but he couldn't
look away.  If she was dancing with anyone other than Wesley
he wouldn't have been able to contain himself and would have ended
the conversation with Casper to cut in, vote or
not. 

So when the other Lord began to
make biting insinuations about Wesley's character and his probable
pursuit of Eleanor, it was all Edwin could do to stay polite.
 Fortunately Alex joined them right at about that time, giving
Edwin the opportunity to get his temper back in line.  He knew
full well where Lord Casper's bile was coming from - he'd been
having a tempestuous affair with Lady St. Aubren and the lady had
used Wesley to make the other lord jealous.  Apparently it had
worked. 

But Edwin trusted Wesley implicitly and he
knew that there were no feelings like that between Wesley and
Eleanor.  

Still, when they returned he
rather firmly pulled Eleanor into his side again, this time holding
her there with an arm around her waist, hand splayed possessively
over her hip.  She looked up at him with an almost bemused
expression and he desperately wished it wouldn't be completely out
of bounds for him to kiss her right there and then.  Propriety
had to be maintained, however, especially in front of a
conservative moralist like Casper. 

Fortunately Wesley's presence had
the Lord taking his leave as soon as he'd bowed over Eleanor's
hand, practically stalking away after giving Wesley the cut.
 Not that it bothered Wesley at all, of course, it would only
enhance the reputation that he was garnering for himself. 
Edwin knew that Wesley worked quite a bit more than he claimed, but
he seemed to want to hide his responsible activities behind his
reputation for being anything but. Perhaps a habit from when his
father was alive.

Actually, Edwin wasn’t quite sure where Wesley
got his energy from. He was out all night, tending to his duties
during the day, fairly active in Parliament… but then again he
didn’t have a wife to keep track of and occasionally chase
after.

"Lady Hyde, how are you this evening?" Alex
asked politely by way of greeting.

For a long moment Eleanor studied
him, a slightly contemptuous frown on her face and Edwin frowned
down at her, squeezing her side before she finally responded.
 "Very well thank you."

Wesley raised an eyebrow as Edwin's expression
darkened.  Eleanor could feel him beside her like a dark
cloud.  There was no excuse for being rude, especially to one
of his friends, whether or not the man was unhappily married to her
friend.  

"Are you enjoying the ball?" Alex didn't look
at all perturbed by her cold manner and her lack of reciprocated
questioning. 

"I was."

"Nell," Edwin growled.  Rather than
looking up at him she looked away, towards the dancers, fan
fluttering furiously in front of her face as she studiously avoided
Edwin's glare, Wesley's amusement and Lord Brooke's neutral
expression.  She knew she was being rude... but really!
 The man was married to her best friend and she knew that
their marriage was desperately unhappy, not only that but he was
constantly seen with various cooing women on his arm!
 

Normally he was at least courteous
enough about it to avoid Grace so that she wasn't humiliated, but
from having visited her friend the day before she knew that Lord
Brooke had practically been stalking his wife through the ton's
events. He was the reason Grace had stayed home tonight.  When
Eleanor had visited her friend had been pacing the floor, nervous
and overwrought. 

"I can't eat... I can't
sleep... He's just there, he's always
there
," Grace had said, wringing her
hands.  The dark circles beneath her eyes had been testament
to her restless nights and Eleanor had been helpless to do anything
but sit there and listen.  "He just stands there, watching me,
always with another woman on his arm... he doesn't care.  Why
should he?  I've just barely managed to stay on the right side
of the
ton
, only
the high sticklers won't receive me, but I can go anywhere else...
and he's going to ruin it for me, I know it.  I can always
feel everyone watching us, just waiting for one of us to do
something. I swear they’re all sending us both invitations, hoping
that we’ll cause some kind of scandal at
their
party... I can't take it
anymore Eleanor.  I swore I wouldn't let that man effect my
life but I just can't stay here in London any longer if he's here
too, I
can't.
"

Remembering Grace's distress, Eleanor had
absolutely no compunction about her rude behavior to Lord Brooke.
 If it wasn't for him, Grace would be here right now, keeping
her company, laughing, dancing and happy.  Instead she was at
home, a ball of misery, and soon she might not even be in London.
 

"Yes?" she asked, keeping her
voice distant and light, as if her heart wasn't pounding inside of
her chest.  Whatever punishment Edwin came up for her blatant
rudeness, it would be worth it to show Lord Brooke that not every
woman thought he was divine.  She'd seen them flocking around
him, teasing and flirting. The coldness of his gaze and the hard,
unsmiling face (handsome or not) didn’t seem to deter them at all.
At this point everyone was used to Lord Brooke’s somber expression
and rarely thought anything of it.   

The growl that came from deep in
Edwin's chest sent a shudder through her, but she wasn't going to
bend to his will on this, she thought fiercely.  As her
husband, he shouldn't ask it of her! 

"My apologies for my wife's behavior," he said
in a deep, angry voice to Lord Brooke.  Eleanor's head whipped
around, her eyes wide with indignation.  How dare he speak for
her!  "I assure you she will be thoroughly... disciplined for
her rudeness."

The little break in his
speech made Eleanor gape at him, especially when Wesley chuckled.
 Did Wesley and Lord Brooke know?  Did they understand...
had Edwin been
telling
them
 that he spanked
her?

Humiliation swamped her, red heat rising in
her face and now she couldn't look in the men's eyes for an
entirely different reason.  

"Don't be too hard on her," said Lord Brooke,
his voice almost gentle.  She peeked at him through her
lashes, surprised.  Even more so when she saw the expression
on his face.  Somehow he didn't look as hard and craggy, he
looked almost... approving.  "I know she's Grace's friend and
I appreciate loyalty."

The dryness of his tone had
her frowning.  He appreciated loyalty?  Then how did he
explain his faithlessness to his marriage vows?  He didn't
want Edwin to be too hard on her - so he
did
 know that she'd earned
herself a spanking.  Or was he just speaking in general? 
Eleanor stared at him in confusion, opening her mouth and then
closing it again, unsure of what she wanted to say.
 

For a very brief moment a
smile flashed across Lord Brooke's face, making him look much
younger and much more handsome.  Then it was gone.  She
stared at him in some shock at the glimpse of a man the
ton
never
saw.

"I'll keep your perspective in mind," Edwin
said, although his voice was still too tightly controlled to be
anything other than angry.  "I think it's best we go now, Nell
seems to be rather tired."

She wasn't, but she knew that Edwin wasn't
going to give her any more chance to misbehave.  That was part
of the punishment of course, taking her away from a ball that he
assumed she wanted to be at.  If only he knew that she'd much
rather be at home with him.

Of course, she'd have preferred to
be at home with him with her bottom unpunished, but she had a
feeling that was no longer in the cards tonight.

Chapter 9

For once Edwin couldn’t contain his anger
until they’d gotten home.  He managed to be civil enough to
their hosts as they departed the ball, but as soon as they got into
the carriage and the noise of travel made it impossible for the
groom to hear him, he let vent his frustration with his
wife.

"What happened in there?" he demanded, his
voice low and harsh.  "Why were you so rude to Lord
Brooke?"