Tempting Miss Allender (Regency Rakes 3) (28 page)

He plucked the ring from its case and lifted her left hand. “She has been holding this for me, waiting until I found the right woman to give it to.” He slipped it onto her finger, then lifted her hand and kissed the ring. “Holding it for you, my sweet.”

“Oh, Mathew.”

“So it takes jewelry to bring you to your knees. I must remember that in future.”

“I have never been given anything so beautiful before, and I fear it has made me weepy, but I assure you it will pass.”

“Of that I have no doubt. Now heed me, woman. This ring will never leave your finger. Only when our son weds will you remove it.”

Patience nodded. “I will heed you in this.”

Mathew laughed. Clearly he understood that she would not heed him in many other ways.

“And now I need to tell you something, which I’m afraid is not pleasant.”

His body stiffened, as did the hands at her waist. “What has happened?”

She told him quickly about Mr. Whitty’s revelations, leaving nothing out. “I have yet to tell Charlie and Lucy, but have told the Toots family to be on their guard.”

“You’ll move back in with me tomorrow.”

“No, Mathew, we will not do that until we know if the threat is genuine. I am not unsettling my family again if it is not.”

“But you believe it is. Don’t lie to me, because I will know.”

“I don’t know…maybe.” She wrapped her arms around his neck again, needing his strength as she leaned in to him. “I only know I want it to go away. For a brief moment the lump of dread inside me eased, and my siblings have been truly happy for the first time in so long.”

He held her close, stroking her hair. “We will get to the bottom of it, love, I promise. But now we must return before we are missed.”

They dressed slowly, he doing up her buttons and she straightening his necktie, taking pleasure in the simple gestures, savoring their time alone together.

“Did Claire put you up to having that dress made? When I saw it and the amount of bosom you were displaying, I nearly took off my jacket and covered you with it. Especially as that idiot Dundrill was tripping over himself ogling you.”

“Of course she did. And I have to say I quite like it, especially considering your reaction.” Patience batted her lashes at him, which merely made him sigh.

“You are beautiful no matter what you wear…or don’t wear, which is my personal favorite. However, in that dress you would inflame the most staid gentleman’s passions.”

Patience refrained from further comment, but was quite happy with his response to her clothing. Soon they were once again the elegantly attired Marquis of Belmont and his betrothed. Mathew unlocked the door, then held out his arm to her, and together they strolled back across the lawn to the steps that would return them to the ballroom.

“Promise me you will show caution now, Patience.”

“I have shown caution for years, Mathew. I am not likely to change that now.”

“I need you to stay safe.”

“I will. And I must tell you that I accepted Mr. Stanhope when he called to ask for Lucy’s hand. Do you think I did the right thing?”

He lowered her fingers from his arm and slipped them through his, swinging their hands as they walked. It was such a sweet, intimate gesture that it warmed her.

“I have heard nothing bad about the man. He has a good reputation and is fair, and I believe he will make Lucy an excellent husband. I have engaged him in conversation several times recently and liked what I heard. So yes, I believe you did the right thing.”

She thought about that for a moment as around them the cool night air ruffled leaves and swayed flowers. “I wanted to have Mr. Whitty investigate him, but if Lucy had found out, it would not have been pleasant.”

“Now, why does that not surprise me?”

“You may laugh, but I am sure you were no different with Claire.”

He was silent for a moment, then said, “I made many mistakes with her, and would not have you repeat them with Lucy.”

“I’m sorry for reminding you.”

“Don’t be.” He swung her hand. “It was a lesson I needed to learn, and now we are the best of friends.”

Patience let him lead her back up the steps and into the ballroom, then into his arms for the next dance. As they twirled around the floor, she realized that he was now part of her, because she had willingly told him what Mr. Whitty had uncovered, and had then asked his advice regarding Mr. Stanhope.

It seemed she was no longer the person she had once been, and she had the smiling devil holding her to thank for that.

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

Mathew took her driving through the park the day following the ball. It was warm, and the rains had long since dispersed into blue, cloudless skies and golden sunshine. Lifting her face, Patience let the sun warm her cheeks.

“Mr. Whitty sent me word this morning that he has nothing to report, but will keep searching.”

“Relax today, love. Your family are safe, so enjoy a drive in the sunshine with the man you have loved forever.” He released the reins briefly to pat her hand.

“I wish I hadn’t told you that.” She glared at him. Dressed in a deep green jacket, white necktie and shirt, he was every inch the handsome nobleman.

“Yet you did, and I thank you for it.”

The look in his eyes made her catch her breath.

“Besides,” she said as she brushed a nonexistent speck from the skirts of her dress, “I have explained it is a flaw.”

“You can’t take it back, Patience, so stop trying.”

She huffed a bit but said nothing further.

“I want us to marry at Cloverlea.”

She had loved his estate, and held many dear memories of it in her heart. “I would like that very much, and I’m sure our families will also.”

“Excellent. How about the end of next week? Shall we say Saturday?”

“So soon?” Patience lifted a hand to acknowledge Lord and Lady Sutton as they entered the park.

“How long did you want to wait?” His voice was polite as he nodded to passing carriages.

“It’s not that I want to wait, Mathew. I just am not good with things that happen suddenly.”

“You’ve loved me forever, so surely it is not sudden. And didn’t you tell me you never wanted us to be apart again?”

She snapped her teeth together and then ground them, which made him laugh.

“I got it wrong. I no longer love you, and in fact it’s fair to say I now dislike you intensely.”

“Lying Lilly was known to all for her long-winded tales that bore no truth,” Mathew drawled.

“However, Silly Billy was the real problem as he taunted and teased, which made Lilly feel unease, forcing her to stretch the truth.”

“Are we getting better, do you think? I’m sure some of that actually rhymed.”

“I am getting better. You, however, are still terrible.”

“Would it be wrong if I drove my curricle under those trees, then slowly unbuttoned your dress and ravished you?”

“Mathew!” Patience looked about to see if anyone was within hearing distance. Beside her Mathew looked composed and calm, but inside she was filled with desire.

“I especially like that little sound you make when I run my tongue down the slope of your breast.”

“Stop it at once!” Patience placed her hand on his arm and pinched him hard.

“Ouch,” he said dutifully, then he pulled the carriage to one side. “Come. We shall walk. You obviously need the exercise to lighten your mood.”

She let him lift her down, then took his arm, and they were soon strolling.

“We will leave London in five days for Cloverlea. Mother is there already. She chose to stay and visit friends and make plans for the wedding.”

“I so look forward to seeing it again, as I am sure Charlie and Lucy will.”

“And being my wife?”

“Well, yes, there is that, but with you comes Cloverlea and I have to say that is a great incentive,” Patience said, keeping her face expressionless. She loved verbally sparring with him. Loved that he gave her as good as she gave him. He showed no sign of treating her gently, and she wanted nothing less.

“You would marry me were I living in a mud hut with only a few pennies to my name,” he said. “Simply because you can’t live without me, my sweet Miss Allender.”

“Percy Price had an ego the size of a melon. It was said by his uncle Ned that if the boy did not learn humility, there dawned a life that was long and lonely.”

“That didn’t rhyme.”

“I had to think fast,” Patience said. “And said and Ned rhymed.”

It happened so quickly, she had no time to brace herself. One minute they were strolling down a path laughing, and the next, she was pressed against a tree with a tall, handsome nobleman kissing her. She didn’t resist; instead, she wrapped her arms around his neck and held on.

“You, Patience Allender, are a mouthy wench,” Mathew said after he’d thoroughly kissed her.

“Me?” Patience batted her lashes. “It is you who continually teases me into retaliation.”

They both heard the sound behind him, but it was Mathew who turned.

“Down!”

Seconds after his roar, she was face down on the ground with a mouthful of leaves and her fiancé’s heavy body pressed down on her.

“Don’t move. Someone just fired an arrow at us.”

“Get behind that tree and stay there,” Mathew hissed as he regained his feel. He started running through the trees, away from the path they had just left.

His heart was thumping, his head filled with a red mist of anger as he moved. Someone had tried to kill them—the arrow had lodged just inches above his head. Patience could have been hurt, and he would not allow that, could not allow it.

Seconds later he burst out of the trees and looked around. This was one of the paths that was not as frequently populated as some of the others. He walked left, scanning the area, then right, doing the same, but saw nothing suspicious. What was he looking for? Was it Winton’s half-brother who had fired that arrow, or had it been an accident? But how could it be an accident when they had been hidden in the trees? No, someone had fired at him deliberately, and he felt frustrated that he had no idea what the man who had been trying to kill them looked like.

“Did you see anyone?”

He turned to see Patience standing at the edge of the trees. His chest hurt as he looked at her. Her green dress was dirtied, her hair had come free from the bonnet, and the need inside him to protect her was so strong it nearly choked him.

“I told you to stay behind that tree.”

“Yes, but I’ve never been very good at following orders.”

There was absolutely no reason why he should laugh, yet he did, a great bark of laughter that he could not halt.

“Perhaps in situations such as this, you could try to in the future,” he said after it had passed.

She titled her head to one side, then the other. “I am not promising anything.”

He went to her then and held her close. Her arms wrapped around his back and held him tight, and he could feel the fear she was fighting to hide.

“Do you think it could be Brantley’s half-brother who fired that arrow at us?”

“I should imagine that is as good a guess as any. But it is hard to say. Could it have been an accident? Unlikely,” Mathew said. “We were out of sight, so whoever fired that arrow had to have followed us.”

She was quiet for a while, then said, “I don’t want to be scared anymore, Mathew.”

“I know, love, and I don’t want to be scared for you anymore.”

“But that arrow would have hit you, not me. And if it was him, my other cousin, why is he bothering to go after you and I, when surely it is Charlie he wants?”

He had known she would leap to that conclusion sooner rather than later. “Because with you out of the way, your brother has only Lucy protecting him.”

“They would murder that many people to get to Charlie?”

“Murdering one person or two—I doubt it matters to him. We need to get back to the carriage, but before we do I want to retrieve that arrow.”

She held his hand tight, and he hated the fear that he felt in her grip.

The arrow was lodged in the bark; he pulled it free, then they silently made their way back to the carriage, where he lifted her into the seat and then joined her. He then directed the horses out of the park.

“Will you move back in with me now?”

“No, because we are going in a few days to your estate, and I don’t want to move my family twice. Perhaps we can have the three men back to watch over us until then?”

“They’ve been watching you since the Lindhurst ball, Patience.”

“I hadn’t realized. Thank you.”

It was testament to her fear that she didn’t take him to task for putting his men there without her knowledge.

He pulled up outside her house minutes later, and after handing the reins to a servant he jumped down and went to her side. When he raised his arms, she lowered herself into them.