How to Wed an Earl (13 page)

“What? That is not true! Mad Sally’s world revolves around her cats,” Mari pointed out. “Everyone likes you, and you have not been entirely without suitors. Remember Ethan Banks?”

She gave her friend a disgusted look. “Everyone likes me because I’m useful to them. I make sure their cattle are healthy, and I take in any unwanted ones.” Her mouth quirked in a humorless smile. “And Ethan Banks told me he wanted to save my bloodlines from the clutches of Raving Ravenstone, then quickly moved on to courting you after he found out I have no dowry to speak of.”

“He did? I don’t remember him courting me.”

She rolled her eyes as she got up to open the window. The room had become unbearably stuffy. “He sent you a couple bouquets of flowers, but you didn’t notice them because that was the week of Mr. Farlam’s daughter’s ball, and the whole inn was filled with flowers from her beaux.”

Mari had the grace to look chagrined. “All I remember from that ball is how your cousin told me that my sort had no business being friendly with a baron’s daughter.”

“Well, I don’t understand what David’s
problem was. Your father owns half of Bouth. And doesn’t David know your aunt is married to a knight?” She wisely refrained from mentioning Mari’s father had also been disinherited by a duke for marrying a barmaid.

Mari waved a dismissing hand. “In case you didn’t realize, Polly, your cousin’s middle name should be Haughty, not Henry. I hope someone teaches him a lesson in humility one day.” She cocked her head to the side. “But we were talking about you and your dangerous plan to ruin yourself. Let me warn you, your cousin would not approve either.”

“I do not particularly care what David thinks. He was nice to me when we were children, but apparently being raised by Uncle Hugh has made him as big a snob as his father.” She turned back as the breeze from the window cooled her nape. “I do not intend to grow old without knowing what passion is, and Lucas is the only man I’ve ever wanted to experience it with.”

“Then why not marry him?” Mari burst out. “You’re engaged to him, and he said himself he came here to marry you.”

She gave her friend a sad smile. “I don’t want to trap him into a marriage based only on a misplaced sense of duty.”

“Misplaced?” Mari stood up with such force that the stool nearly turned over. She threw the diced potatoes into the simmering stew with a flourish. “The man is beholden to you. He owes you a marriage!”

“Precisely my point,” she stated calmly. “He’s living his life trying to make up for all the things his father failed to do, such as secure the family fortune and make sure Lady Olivia was raised properly.” She bit her lip to stop it from trembling. “He deserves a wife who is more than just another item on his list of duties.”

A look of sad comprehension swept over Mari’s lovely features. “You’re in love with him, aren’t you?”

Her eyes widened in affront. Of course she wasn’t in love with him! She didn’t have to be in love to want to indulge in a passionate adventure before she became too old to do anything but annoy people by pretending to be deaf. Luckily, she was saved from having to answer when Nelson’s incessant barking at the inn’s courtyard drifted through the open window and caught Mari’s attention. “What on earth?”

She was out of the room before Mari could finish the sentence, grateful for the breeze that came with opening the door. Nelson rarely barked. Something had clearly distressed him.

She burst out of the inn to find Nelson harassing a burly carter who held a cane. A quick look at the donkey next to him confirmed that he had used it on the poor animal. If Penelope had time to think, she probably would have used a more polite tone and words. As it was, however, she let fly with the first words that came to mind.

“You bastard! How dare you?” she demanded.

The man pivoted with an irritated expression. “Listen, missy, I have no time to deal with yer meddlin’. I’ve to get to Ulverston today, and this stupid beast won’t go.”

Nelson barked again and the man yelled at him, too. “Shut up, or I’ll make ye!”

When the man raised his cane to hit Nelson, she saw red. She flew toward the man and grabbed the stick with both hands.

“Look here, wench — ”

Penelope yanked hard. “Do not use your cane!” She didn’t even manage to loosen it from the man’s grip.

The man wrested the cane out of Penelope’s grip. “Ye fat, meddlin’ wench!” he yelled. “Ye stay out of me business, or I’ll use this on ye and make ye squeal like a little piglet!”

“Can’t you see your animal is tired?” Penelope put herself between the carter and his donkey. “You won’t make him go any farther by beating him up.”

“I can do whatever I want with me own, and that there beast is me own — now get out of the way!” He waved the cane in her direction.

Fear raced down her spine. If the man had no qualms about beating animals, then he’d feel no remorse in beating her. Nevertheless, she couldn’t let this go on.

Like most beasts of burden, this donkey had probably served his master with all his strength and ability. And as was the case with many beasts, no one cared when those they served betrayed the creatures’ trust and loyalty. Unlike the donkey, however, Penelope could do something about it.

“That’s true, you can do whatever you want with your own,” she conceded, then hit the man’s hard head with her palm when he tried to force her out of the way. “But so can I,” she pointed out. “This hand is
my own
, and if you don’t step back, I’ll hit you again with it.”

Nelson barked again, taking the man’s attention away from her. The carter took Nelson by the scruff and shook him.

She could only watch helplessly as the man continued to shake Nelson. “Release him, sir!”

“Your dog or my donkey, wench?”

She barely heard Lucas’s calm voice over Nelson’s cries, but his meaning was clear. “How about your apology or your life?”

The man whirled to see who had spoken, and at the sight of Lucas’s dangerously imposing figure, the carter dropped Nelson without further argument.

“Good decision,” Lucas drawled, stepping forward. He looked down at the smaller man. “Now, apologize to my fiancée. I do not tolerate insults to her.”

The man swallowed loudly. “I humbly apologize, miss, for any insult.” The man did not even look at her while apologizing. His eyes never left Lucas’s face.

Lucas returned the man’s gaze steadily. “Are you well, Penelope?”

“Yes,” the word was barely a whisper. She cleared her throat and tried again. “Yes, I’m quite all right.”

“Then suppose you tell me what in the
living hell
you think you were doing!”

The words were so unexpected that for several seconds she merely stared at him. “What
I
was doing?” she flared, walking toward Lucas. “I was trying to protect my dog and that man’s donkey.” She frowned at the carter. “You are not going to Ulverston with that donkey today. You will kill him if you do.”

“But I have to be in Ulverston for the shipment.”

Penelope dismissed the man’s protests with a wave of her hand. “The inn will provide you with alternative transport.” She felt Lucas’s dagger gaze on her. “But I must have your word that you won’t hurt any horse the inn provides. I’m responsible for their health, you know.”

“Yes, miss.”

“Go on then. Tell the inn staff Lord Ravenstone will foot the bill. I’ll make sure your donkey is in top health when you return from Ulverston.”

The blood left the man’s face. “Lord
Ravenstone?
”

“Yes, the very same.”
Why do people always listen to
him
and not her?
She gave an impatient sigh as she glared at the carter. “Now kindly do as I have bid. And, sir?”

The man looked questioningly at her. She gave him a small smile before issuing a warning. “If you keep abusing your donkey that way, you won’t have him for very much longer. He is quite old. I assume you can’t afford to buy another?”

The carter blustered but shook his head.

She nodded. “I gathered as much. He’s still got a few good years of service left, but he won’t see 1825 if you keep treating him the way you did just now.” She crossed her arms over her chest. “And, despite what you think, there is a law against the cruel treatment of animals. If I see you abusing him again, I will take you to court over it.”

The man looked dazed. For that matter, so did Lucas. Penelope ignored both of them as she called one of the stable lads to take the donkey to the stables. They discussed the type of food the poor creature was to have, then she promised to send a salve that would help the donkey get over his fatigue. She was asking the boy how his family was doing when she felt a viselike grip on her arm.

“We need to talk,” Lucas muttered.

She turned and smiled at him.

He scowled back.

She sighed before relenting. Nelson seemed fine, and it was time to pay the piper. “By all means, my lord. I believe the inn’s private dining parlor is free.”

• • •

As she watched Lucas pace the flagstone floor, Penelope remembered their first meeting. Had it really only been days ago? It seemed like another lifetime when he’d kissed her for the first time in this room and declared his intention to marry her. Today, she was debating how to convince him to stay long enough for an affair.

Marriage, in her opinion, was meant to be a union of two people who loved each other with liberty — content and satisfied with their spouse’s character — as they grew old together. If she could believe Lucas was truly as persuaded of her merit as she was of his, she wouldn’t hesitate to marry him. As it was, though, she had to content herself with a brief glimpse of life with Lucas. She wasn’t ambitious enough to covet an advantageous marriage founded on nothing more than duty and obligation. She waited for Lucas to give her an opening to discuss their situation.

“Why did you come here alone, Penelope?” he asked, his voice firm and forceful. “I thought I told you not to go anywhere without an escort.”

That was hardly the opening she’d hoped for. “I was visiting Mari. And I did have Nelson with me.”

He waved a hand to dismiss her words. “I have told you before that Nelson isn’t an appropriate escort.” He raked his hand through his hair in a distracted manner. “Christ, if the innkeeper had not summoned me, you could have been hurt. Or worse.”

She frowned. “I’m quite all right, as you can see. I can take care of myself.”

He whirled and fixed his glittering eyes on her. “What possessed you to challenge that man?”

“He was abusing his donkey.”

He cursed under his breath. “That was none of your business.”

Her chin lifted an inch. “I wasn’t going to just stand there and ignore what was happening. This is exactly the reason Martin’s Act was passed two years ago. Colonel Martin saw this kind of behavior toward animals must stop.”

“Colonel Richard Martin is an eccentric who is a laughing stock in London Town,” he said through gritted teeth. “He once fought a duel over a dog. And he brought in an ass to be a witness in a court hearing.”

“Good for him!” she huffed. “If I were male, I could have challenged that man for hurting Nelson.”

Lucas rubbed the bridge of his nose. “You are not challenging anyone, Penelope, and that is the end of it.” He sighed wearily and considered her for a few minutes. “Why do you care so much about these animals?”

The question struck her to the heart. “If I don’t, who will?” She got up and moved to the window to stare at the courtyard. “I know how it feels to work for a place in the world, to be forsaken by those you trusted to take care of you.” Penelope turned back to him. “I can’t change my situation, but I can do something about theirs.”

“Do you really think those beasts are smart enough to process all those emotions?”

She gave a small, pain-filled smile. “You don’t have to be smart to know when something hurts.”

Lucas walked over to her. “Penelope — ”

Whatever he was about to say was interrupted by Mari’s voice from the other side of the door just before she burst into the room, giving first Penelope, and then Lucas the once over.

She scowled at Mari. “His lordship and I are in the middle of a conversation.”

Mari gave her a speaking look. “I need to talk to his lordship now, before it is too late.” She paused. “In private.”

“Butter the crumpets!” Penelope stomped her foot. “Whatever you are going to say to Lucas, you can say in front of me.”

Mari gave her a bright smile. “I would love to, but your mother has sent for you. She and Sarah need help at the apothecary.”

Hah! A likely story.
“I suppose Mama sent a note with this message?”

“No,” Mari said, shaking her head. “But she has sent Gertie to accompany you and Nelson back to Highfield Manor. She likes to talk; you wouldn’t want to keep her waiting.”

Penelope had been outmaneuvered. She had no choice but to leave, immediately.

“Fine, I’m going.” She gave Mari a warning look. “But don’t tell him anything I wouldn’t.”

• • •

Lucas waited for the door to close behind Penelope before giving her friend his full attention. “You are making a habit of interrupting when I’m in the middle of a conversation with my fiancée, Miss Smythe.”

The woman had the grace to blush at his blatant rebuke. “I apologize, my lord. But I couldn’t risk having Polly act on something I think is ill conceived before I had a chance to stop it.”

Lucas gestured to the sofa Penelope had vacated. “Have a seat, Miss Smythe.” He waited for her to get comfortable before he went on, “Now, what is my betrothed about to do?”

“She wants to have an affair with you.”

Of all the things Miss Smythe could have said, this was the least he had expected. She could have claimed the sky was falling or she had the power to fly into the heavens and Lucas would not have been more shocked.

Penelope wants to have an affair with me.

After he’d regained control, Lucas realized he should have expected his nymph to try something like this. Penelope wanted him, but she wouldn’t marry him.

The thought angered him.