Loving the Marquess (17 page)

She took a deep breath and entered the room.

“My lady,” she said, dropping a brief curtsey before turning
to the younger woman. “Miss Manning. What a pleasant surprise.”

Elizabeth Manning pinned her with a gaze that was far from
cordial. Mary’s expression, however, was impossible to read. Elizabeth stood as
Louisa moved into the room.

“My daughter and I are here to wish you well on your new
marriage. Had we known the ball my mother-in-law recently hosted was in honor
of my dear nephew’s marriage, we would have declined the invitation that took
us away from home.”

Louisa could tell the woman’s words were insincere but
thanked her nonetheless.

“We do have a request to make of you,” Elizabeth continued.
“In the past, Lady Overlea has allowed us to take cuttings from some of her
plants. Since you are now in charge of the household, I thought I should apply
to you first before taking any more samples. I fear some of the more exotic
plants just don’t do very well without the extra sun you get here in your
conservatory, but Mary does love the plants so we keep trying.”

“Oh, of course,” Louisa said, rushing to reassure her. “But
there is no need to be so formal. We are, after all, now family.”

“I am glad you think so,” Elizabeth Manning replied with a
smile that was not at all genuine. She turned to her daughter. “Please be a
dear, Mary, and get the plants. If you see your grandmother, perhaps you could
coax her to join us for a visit.”

“Yes, Mama,” Mary said, her eyes lowered as she hurried from
the room.

Elizabeth waited for her daughter to leave before dropping
her mask of civility. Louisa searched for something to say to relieve the tense
atmosphere. “The weather has been surprisingly warm for this time of year. I
wonder if we will have a late winter.”

The expression on Elizabeth’s face was one of contempt. “I
should congratulate you on managing to ensnare my nephew.”

Louisa was shocked at the other woman’s open hostility.
She’d known that Nicholas’s aunt would resent the fact that he had chosen to
marry her, but she hadn’t expected to be insulted so openly.

“I did not ensnare Nicholas,” she said, doing her best to
keep her tone even. “In fact, no one was more surprised than I when he asked me
to marry him.”

“I find that difficult to believe.” When Louisa didn’t
reply, she continued. “When is the baby due?”

The audacity of the question stunned her. Abandoning her
attempt to pacify the older woman, she straightened and replied with more force
than she’d thought herself capable of.

“That is none of your concern.”

A gleam entered Elizabeth’s eye. “I see I am correct.”

Her gaze traveled to Louisa’s stomach, but the loose style
of her dress would easily hide an early pregnancy. Louisa chafed under the
other woman’s scrutiny, resenting the implication she was a conniving woman who
had trapped Nicholas into marrying her.

“If you must know, I am not with child.”

The very last thing Louisa wanted to think about was the
question of the future heir to the marquisate. If Nicholas persisted in his
desire not to have a true marriage, it was inevitable that she would never have
a child. That thought brought with it a pang of grief.

Louisa hadn’t heard Nicholas’s grandmother enter the drawing
room until Elizabeth’s gaze strayed to the doorway.

“It is good to see you again, Elizabeth,” Lady Overlea said
as she crossed the room to greet her daughter-in-law. She turned to Louisa
then. “Are you still feeling unwell, my dear? I hope that headache isn’t still
plaguing you.”

It took her a moment to realize Lady Overlea was speaking to
her. She must have overheard part of her conversation with Elizabeth and was
giving her an excuse to leave. She could have hugged her. Instead, she raised a
hand to her temple.

“I’m afraid so,” she said.

“Well, I’m sure Elizabeth will understand if you go and
rest. We’ll entertain each other in your absence.”

Louisa pressed a kiss to Lady Overlea’s cheek and said her
goodbyes to Nicholas’s aunt before leaving the drawing room. Before seeking
refuge in her bedroom, she headed for the library. A good book was just the
distraction she needed at the moment.

She stopped abruptly on the threshold when she found Lord
Kerrick in the room. He was seated in an armchair, reading. Apparently he’d had
the same idea. He glanced up at her arrival and smiled.

“Lady Overlea,” he said, closing the book and placing it on
the table beside him. “I was hoping for an opportunity to speak with you.”

She was tempted to use her excuse of a headache and leave,
but there was something in his expression that made her stay.

He rose but didn’t approach her. She left the door open
before moving farther into the room.

“Nicholas spoke to you?”

It would appear there was nowhere she could go to hide from
this painful subject.

“Last night,” she said.

He sighed. “From your expression I take it the discussion
didn’t go well.”

Louisa found it impossible to gauge the intent behind Lord
Kerrick’s words. “How would you have expected such a conversation to go?”

“Well, I imagine you’d have thrown something at him. Or
perhaps kicked him.”

Louisa couldn’t help but smile at his words.

“I’m afraid not.”

“Are you considering his suggestion?”

Her stomach dropped at the question. “I’m sorry to
disappoint you. The only man with whom I will…” Her voice faltered as heat
flooded her cheeks. “I intend to remain faithful to my wedding vows.”

Was that relief on Lord Kerrick’s face?

“Good for you!”

She was well and truly confused. “I thought you wanted to…”
She floundered for words.

A look of horror crossed his face. “Good God, no. Despite
what Nicholas told you, and despite what he may want to believe, I think he
would kill me if we followed through with this scheme of his. And, I must add,
I am relieved he has chosen so well for his wife.”

Much as she wanted to, she wasn’t sure she could believe
him. “You are wrong. My husband seems very eager for me to conceive a child
with someone else. With you.”

She couldn’t believe she was standing there, discussing such
an intimate thing with a stranger. The entire situation in which she found
herself was ridiculous. Rushed into a marriage with someone she barely knew,
someone she very much wanted to get to know better, but who apparently didn’t
want her. She’d been surprised by the intensity of the emotions that
overwhelmed her when Nicholas kissed her. It had come as a blow to her to
realize he didn’t feel even a little of what she did. If he did, he wouldn’t
have been able to suggest she become intimate with someone else.

“I can’t believe we are having this conversation,” she said,
covering her hot cheeks with her hands.

The smile on Lord Kerrick’s face was a kind one. “I felt the
same way when he first told me. And now that I’ve met you…” He shook his head.
“Nicholas is a bigger fool than I’d thought possible.”

Louisa turned away from him before continuing.

“It is obvious he feels nothing for me.”

Lord Kerrick came up behind her, placed his hands on her
shoulders, and turned her gently to face him. When he spoke, his voice was soft
but firm.

“I don’t think that’s true.”

“It must be. He must have chosen me to be his wife because
he knew he would have no difficultly allowing me to do this thing.”

She hated that she was discussing this with Lord Kerrick.
Given the difficult position Nicholas had put them both in, however, she had no
choice.

“I’ve seen the way your husband looks at you. I believe he
may care for you more than he’d like to admit.”

“No,” she said, shaking her head.

“Yes,” he said, more firmly. “There is a way to find out for
sure.”

Louisa wasn’t sure she liked the gleam in his eyes, but the
promise in his words was too much for her to resist.

“How?” she asked, unable to keep the hint of hope, however
foolish, from her voice.

She watched as Lord Kerrick walked to the doorway. He
glanced quickly into the hall before closing the door firmly and turning to
answer her question.

“We give him what he thinks he wants.”

She didn’t know what she’d expected, but it hadn’t been
those words. She shook her head. “No. Absolutely not.”

“Of course not,” he said with an exaggerated shudder. “I
have grown rather fond of my hide. And even if Nicholas allowed me to keep it
afterward, I am certain I would no longer be welcome here.”

“Then what exactly do you propose?”

“It’s quite simple. We will both act the part he wants us to
play.” When he saw her negative reaction to that suggestion, he hastened to
add, “Not to the end he has chosen. No, I won’t do that to him. Only enough to
make him think we are going along with his plan. If he asks me again for my
decision, I will tell them that I am willing to proceed if you also agree to
it. Since we both know that will never happen, it wouldn’t be a lie.”

“And I?”

“You can tell him what you choose. Either that you cannot
decide until you get to know me better, or you can choose not to discuss the
subject at all.”

She was still unsure. “What would such a pretense gain us?”

“When your stubborn husband sees us growing closer, when he
believes you and I will fall in line with his plans, I think his true feelings
for you will come out. Nicholas may be playing it cool at the moment, but he
won’t be able to keep his jealousy at bay. I have no doubt that his true
feelings will come to the surface. I just hope he doesn’t come to hate me too
much when they do.”

For the first time since Nicholas had rebuffed her on their
wedding night, Louisa felt a real spark of hope. Was Lord Kerrick correct? He
did know her husband better than she. Was it possible that he was not as
indifferent to her as he would have her believe? She remembered again the
kisses they’d shared. How close they’d come to consummating their marriage the
morning after their wedding night. If there was even the slightest chance Lord
Kerrick’s plan would lead to her husband realizing he wanted what she did, a
real marriage, she knew she had to go along with it.

She was about to tell him as much when she heard a noise at
the library door. She started to turn to see who was about to enter when Lord
Kerrick took a step closer to her and grasped her hands in his.

When the door opened, he dropped her hand and took a step
back. Worried one of the servants had seen Lord Kerrick holding her hands,
Louisa turned to the door and was horrified to see her husband standing there.

His face was an emotionless mask. He bowed briefly,
apologized for interrupting, and left, closing the door behind him.

She spun back to face Lord Kerrick. “You did that
intentionally.”

“I did,” he said. “If we are to force Nicholas to reveal his
true feelings, we’re going to have to waken his jealousy.”

She considered her husband’s lack of reaction and the hope
she’d experienced just moments before dimmed. “He didn’t appear to mind.”

“Oh, he was definitely surprised and not at all happy to see
us together. I caught a flicker of it before he hid it.”

“He was surprised because I told him I wouldn’t even
consider this. And now he has seen the two of us together.”

“Have faith. Nicholas is stubborn. He is hiding his feelings
even from himself. I fear this may take a little time.”

Louisa straightened her shoulders and nodded, resolved to
follow Lord Kerrick’s plan.

“Can I ask you for your permission to call you by your
Christian name?”

She was surprised by the request.

“We don’t know each other that well—”

“Yes, but I think it will annoy your husband.”

She considered for a moment. “Are you sure?”

“You have a choice, Lady Overlea. Sleep with me now and have
done with it, send me away, or draw out the pretense. If you choose the first,
I think we will both cement ourselves in your husband’s disfavor forever. With
the second, Nicholas will continue to avoid you and you’ll never have a real
marriage. Choose the third, however, and you may uncover the depth of his
feelings for you. And with some luck, Nicholas will still be on speaking terms
with me after it is done.”

He was right. Of the three options open to her, there was
only really one choice she could make. “When do we start?”

“We already have. You should go now. Given your reaction
when he approached you yesterday, Nicholas will expect you to feel guilty after
being caught alone with me. It wouldn’t feel right if you remained here with
me.”

 “I hope we are doing the right thing,” she said before
turning to leave.

“As do I,” Lord Kerrick replied.

* * * * *

Louisa was careful to keep her distance from Lord Kerrick
for the rest of the day. In turn, Nicholas continued to avoid her. Of course,
he’d been avoiding her for some time, so she had no way of knowing if his
current behavior was due to the scene he’d witnessed in the library.

Dinner was an awkward affair. Louisa hadn’t wanted to worry
her sister with the truth about her and Nicholas’s relationship, but it was
clear she sensed something was wrong. Catherine had always been intuitive,
picking up on the mood of others very easily. She chattered on in a cheerful
manner, though, no doubt in an attempt to raise the spirits of everyone else.

Louisa said very little. Her gaze drifted to her husband,
where he sat silently at the head of the table, for what felt like the
hundredth time. She tried to guess his mood, but it was impossible. Contrary to
what Lord Kerrick had suggested, he didn’t show any signs of being jealous. He
appeared calm and collected.

Lord Kerrick bantered back and forth with Catherine. Louisa
could see the infatuation in her sister’s expression when she looked at him.
Kerrick seemed to be enjoying himself, but he could very well be putting on a
show for her husband. She glanced at Nicholas again and caught him looking at
his friend, a frown on his face. His gaze turned to meet hers then and his
expression returned to its impassive mask. The telltale sign of emotion had
been so brief she wondered if she’d imagined it.