The Belligerent Miss Boynton AND The Lurid Lady Lockport (Two Companion Full-Length Regency Novels) (7 page)

Jared got up and paced the small room, looking as if his head would brush the low rafters at any moment. "Well, now I'm insulted. Once again, after I offer my aid in all sincerity, you question my motives." He swiveled about to face her, grinning like the proverbial cat caught out with canary feathers between his teeth "But, alas, in this instance you're quite correct. I do have a condition you must agree to before I offer your friends a home."

Amanda was too exhausted to argue. "State it," she said, leaning back in her chair and looking up into his face. His handsome, smiling, all too intelligent face.

"You will allow me to accompany you to your nurse."

So, he wanted to continue playing the dashing rescuer, did he? "Agreed. We'll leave at first light, as I'd like to be shed of you as soon as possible—before your shining armor begins to tarnish."

"Don't agree too hastily, Miss Boynton. I'm not quite finished. You will allow me to accompany you to your former nurse's home—eventually. But first, my dear, you'll journey with me, to be my guest at my estate, Storm Haven. Let me see, how can I put this delicately? Oh yes. I might say that I fancy your
company
for a few weeks in the country."

Amanda sprang up in a high temper, the chair crashing unheeded to the floor. "How dare you!" she exclaimed, and reached across the table to deal him a resounding slap across the face.

Jared raised his hand to ease his stinging cheek as he looked at her levelly. "That was unfortunate, Amanda. I had thought you above such things."

"And I thought you above nothing! You have to be foxed if you think Harrow will let you take me off to your estate willy-nilly."

"How very true. However, Harrow will
not
know, for you wouldn't jeopardize his future secure life at Storm Haven by telling him. If, however, you are so foolish as to confide in him, I'll simply have to rescind my generous offer and still carry you off—biting, screaming, or kicking. You see, I've made up my mind to tame you, my little tiger-cat, and tame you I will. You still owe me satisfaction for that incident at the inn."

Amanda backed slowly toward the door, her face a study in anguish. "You—you
monster
!" she cried, then turned and fled into the night, almost colliding with Harrow, who shook his head sadly as she flew past him.

"You were a mite hard on the child, my lord, if I may say so. I was a–standin' outside and could not help but ta hear you," he said as he entered the room and sat down in front of the fireplace.

"Was I? The girl needs a lesson, thinking she can ramble all over England unescorted. Besides, I'll never get her to travel with me to Storm Haven any other way. I showed you the special license, Harrow, and I mean what I say when I tell you I will marry your Miss Mandy. But do you really think she'd believe me if I attempted to tell her as much—and if she did, that she would consent?"

Harrow shook his head sadly. "No, my lord, not my Missy. But she'll come about when she sees you mean ta keep her safe from her stepfather."

Jared took a long drink of ale from the mug by his side. "I hope you're right, Harrow, although I have to say I'm rather looking forward to her anger for a while. Where has she gone?"

"If I know Miss Mandy she's up ta her room by now, rainin' down curses on your head. I spoke pretty plain in front of her all these years, my lord, and she picked up some unladylike sayings, I fear. Later, she'll sleep well enough, she be that tired, and we'll all be able ta set out in the morning. I can take the young fella up with me on the horse Miss Mandy was riding. My few belongings will take little room. I don't like leavin', but stayin', and watchin', has been too sad for a long time."

Jared rose and walked toward the door. "Good enough, my friend, but I'll sleep near Tempest just to be sure our enterprising Miss Boynton doesn't decide on another moonlight flit. It won't be the first time I've bedded down in a stable." He gave Harrow a jaunty salute, bent his head so that he wouldn't bang his forehead on the low lintel, and left the room.

Out in the stable yard he lit a cheroot and raised his gaze to the large stone house sitting on a higher patch of land. He could see candles burning in one of the bedrooms. He waited until they were extinguished, then ground out his cheroot and returned to the stable where he made himself a bed out of fragrant straw and the blanket Harrow had put out for him, and laid down in his clothes. He chuckled to himself, thinking that if Simmons, his valet, could see him now the affronted man would surely hand in his notice, and then almost immediately fell into a deep sleep.

#

Jared awoke to the sound of Tom singing a bawdy ditty in a voice that threatened to break on every high note, and there were several in the song. "Stop that curst caterwauling, you young scamp," he called out grumpily as he rubbed at his aching back—perhaps he was getting past the age of sleeping on stable floors. "I warn you, I'm not above ducking your head in the trough."

The boy turned and, seemingly undaunted by Jared's threat, ran to his new master's side, a wide grin splitting his still dirty face. "Yer be up then, Guv'nor. The old one is cookin' fer me afore we lope off, but yer to take yerself up ta the house."

"Very good, Tom," Jared said, ruffling the boy's unruly thatch of hair. "Fetch my belongings from over there on the back of my saddle, will you now, and I'll be loping off myself."

Jared let himself into the house and walked through the nearly empty rooms, ignoring the bits of shabby furniture and the lighter patches on the wallpaper where large paintings had once hung. Hadn't Amanda said something about Denton having sold everything, even her parents' portraits? It was a wonder he hadn't sold Tempest long ago—but perhaps he had kept the stallion as his last bargaining chip in order to keep Amanda under his domination.

Muttering a short string of curses, Jared walked purposefully to the kitchens, to find a slovenly looking female—Denton's village whore, Harrow had told him—bending over the greasy kitchen table.

"Look lively there, woman." he bit out, his mood still darker than he'd like. "I require hot water and fresh towels upstairs in the master's room in ten minutes. In thirty minutes I want to see a good breakfast for two set up in the morning room." When the woman made no attempt to move he took a threatening step toward her, which resulted in the woman dipping into a hasty curtsy while whining her agreement.

Jared passed Amanda on the stairs, and the dark cloud that had been hanging over him ever since he had first seen Fox Chase yesterday evening began to lift. She looked fresher this morning for her rest, even if the worn habit she wore was obviously too small for her, and even more beautiful than he remembered.

"Good morning, my dear," he said genially, smiling.

Amanda raised her chin and gave out with a dignified sniff. "Go to the devil," she announced coolly, and then passed him without looking back.

God, but she was splendid! Jared laughed and proceeded up the steps to seek out Denton's room. As he had suspected, it was by far the most comfortable chamber in the house, and he wondered why Amanda hadn't commandeered it for herself last night. But he didn't wonder long—knowing that Amanda would probably rather die than touch anything that belonged to Peregrine Denton.

And he couldn't blame her. Jared quickly laid out his razor and the clean shirt he had brought with him, then stripped to the waist and headed back to the top of the staircase to bellow for the woman he'd ordered to bring him hot water. The sooner he was washed, and fed, and out of this place, the happier he would be.

A short time later, his hair still more wet than damp, he faced Amanda again, this time over the breakfast table. They ate the tasteless meal in silence, until finally Amanda spoke, obviously unable to stand the tense silence any longer.

"What do you want of me, my lord? Why are you doing this? she asked, and Jared looked up in time to see her wince at the pleading tone of her own voice.

"Please, don't spoil it all and whine at me now, Amanda. It's woefully out of your usually pert, yet undeniably interesting air of incivility. In point of fact, it would be far more in keeping with your disposition if you hurled that plate of kippers at me."

She went to pick up her dish—he exasperated her so!—but at the sound of his delighted laughter, she caught herself, curling her fingers into impotent fists and jamming them against the edge of the table. "You think you have me bested, don't you? You dangle Harrow and Tom over my head and think I shall fall into your arms like a ripe plum. Well, let me tell you something, Jared Delaney—I'll see you in hell first!"

Jared leaned back in his chair and briefly applauded her belligerence. "Ah, that's more like it! For a moment there I thought you were beaten. I confess I like you better this way, my dear. It's much more....
stimulating
."

He watched as her eyes flashed molten gold fire. "I am happy to be able to entertain you, my lord, but perhaps you would do better to hire a jester. I assure you, I promise to be a curst poor companion."

"I prefer to trust my instincts, Amanda. And at the moment they're telling me that it will be a long time before you could possibly bore me."

Her cheeks flushed as his words, his intent, registered with her. "Are you dead to all sense of shame? Do you really think you can keep a lady of gentle birth as your mistress without a public outcry?"

"I'd as lief you let me worry about my reputation. It's yours, or the sad lack of it, frankly, that would worry me if I were you. Do you really think anything that you may do, including living with me at Storm Haven, would surprise the delicate ladies whom you so distressed just two nights ago at Almacks?"

Amanda shut her eyes and pressed her lips together, her breath exhaling sharply through her nose while her chin threatened to collide with her chest. He was right, curse him. After making such a cake of herself at the Assembly with him, no one would so much as lift an eyebrow if she became Lord Storm's mistress. "Very well, my lord. You obviously hold all the cards. When do we leave?"

Jared pulled out his watch and consulted it. "Harrow and young Tom have probably been on the road this hour and more. We'll be ready to depart whenever you decide."

Amanda's clenched fist came down hard on the tabletop, rattling the crockery. "Why did you send them on ahead? I do not choose to ride alone with you."

"And I do not
choose
to travel across country with an ancient groom and an urchin in tow. We'll pass your friends on the road, so you can be assured I am keeping to my side of the bargain. But we travel alone, Amanda. As you've already stated so well, I hold all the cards. Now, do you think you could bring yourself to hurry? By my reckoning, if we start out immediately we'll arrive at Storm Haven sometime early tomorrow evening. I gave Harrow funds to stay at an inn for the two nights it will take them to reach Storm Haven on that mare they're riding."

He rose from the table and stretched his still stiff limbs. "Do you have any further questions, or shall we be on our way? Your stepfather's whore is pressed up against the door and has heard every word I've said. With Denton not too far behind us, and in hot pursuit, I'm sure, and with her to tell him our general direction, I think a little haste on our part would seem prudent."

Amanda was feeling decidedly mulish. "Perhaps there's no reason for haste? After all, I may wish to remain and greet my stepfather." But she pushed away from the table and stood up, knowing there was nothing to be gained by denying the inevitable. "Oh, very well. Let's get on with it, shall we?"

"Such a splendid little martyr," Jared cooed, earning himself a scathing look from Amanda. He moved toward the door and opened it for her to pass through in front of him. With a shrug of her shoulders she did so, sticking out her tongue at him as she passed—a childish gesture, but one she probably couldn't resist. He answered with a playful pat on her lower regions—equally irresistible—which set her off at a run for the stables.

As the two horses reached the rise from which Jared had first caught sight of Fox Chase, he reined in so that Amanda could have a last look at her family home.

She leaned over and stroked Tempest's neck. "We'll be back someday, my beauty, I promise you," she said, her voice breaking. "Somehow, some way, we'll set it all to rights."

She was crying. Not for herself, Jared knew, but for Fox Chase, for her memories of her parents, for what had been and was no more. He didn't like the way he felt at being forced to witness Amanda's grief, the hard anger mixed with a strange sensation of fierce protectiveness that unexpectedly swept over him.

No, he didn't like these feelings at all. They were much too human reactions for such the dedicatedly uncaring bounder and rakehell he had always considered himself to be...

An early spring had come to the countryside that year. Flowering trees and shrubs dotted the roadside as Jared and Amanda rode along, although Amanda was unaware of either the view or the fine weather. She rode slightly behind Jared, declining speech and seemingly content to bore a hole in his back with her belligerent glare.

They had passed by Harrow and the boy some three hours earlier, and her old friend had appeared maddeningly unconcerned that his mistress was in the clutches of the terrible Lord Storm. No, Harrow had waved merrily as they passed, and wished them a pleasant journey.

Amanda had never felt so alone in her life. Even when her mother died she'd had Nanny and Harrow to comfort her. Now everyone was gone and she was deep in the power of a man bent on violating her. She still was not quite clear on exactly what men and women did together in bed, but she remembered her parents kissing and holding each other, and had once discovered one of the kitchen maids in a rather heated embrace with one of the grooms behind the stables—her skirts hiked high and the groom's hand on her bare leg. Her heart pounded wildly in her chest at the thought of Jared's hands on her own body.