The Earl's Passionate Plot (2 page)

The man was a beast
—a huge, terrifying, beautiful beast. Not that she would ever be attracted to his brand of dangerous magnetism. Let him leer at her as he did; let him rake over her person with those dark, archangel eyes. Other women might be tempted by his aura of power and the dangerous passion that virtually oozed from him. She was not.

Nor would she be intimidated, even if she felt a bit like a mouse staring into the gaping maw of a ravenous lion. This was her home, her family's home. The law of the land might be on his side, but the fact was that she was here and it would take more than some dark-eyed posturing on his part to remove her. At the very least, it would take more than three days.

No matter what he insinuated he might plan on doing for those three days, the randy letch.

"Sorry to inconvenience you, my lord, but there is absolutely nothing you could say
—or do—that would give me any satisfaction at all in just three day's time," she said, making sure by her tone that he knew she understood him full well and was not amused. "I'm afraid three days is hardly time to make arrangements for my family to be removed elsewhere. I advise you to return to wherever it is you came from and we will see that you are notified when our plans have been settled."

If she had been hoping to set him off guard by her
defiance—a thing she was certain he was unused to seeing—she was left disappointed. The fire in his eyes merely burned hotter and the corner of his elegant lips twisted into an interested half smile. Apparently all she'd achieved was to lay down a challenge before him. Drat. That was the last thing she needed.

"You would be amazed what might be accomplished in three days time, Miss Langley.
I can be most... persuasive."

"Some things cannot be persuaded, sir. Furniture, for instance. I doubt even you could persuade all of our things to get up and make their way to some new abode
—even if we had some new abode to send them to. I'm sorry, sir, but the process will take considerable time."

"Three days, Miss Langley. That is all the time you have."

"Oh? And what will happen at the end of those three days? The house will vanish in a puff of pixie dust? Barbarians will arrive at the door to begin pillaging and plundering?"

Clearly he was equally unamused by her tone. "No. Not pixies or barbarians, I'm afraid. It's much worse."

"Worse? What could possibly be worse than barbarians?"

"Americans
."

"Americans?"

"Yes. Americans with money—the worst kind."

"You are serious?"

"I am," he said as if pronouncing sentence on all of them. "I am negotiating to let this house. In three days time the Vandenhoffs of New York will be arriving here to stay for a week to decide whether or not they wish to make residence here for the duration of summer."

"You have leased our house already?"
She could barely stammer the words out for all the choking anger she felt. "While we are still living here?"

"No, by the time they arrive you will no longer be living here. The house will be vacant."

"It most certainly will not be!"

"It had better be, Miss Langley. You cannot very well expect me to offer them a house that is already full, can you?"

"But three days, sir... impossible. It simply cannot be done."

"Of course it is possible, Miss Langley. This is my house and I am giving you three full days to vacate it. Perhaps you'd best stop whining now and get on with your preparations."

Her body wanted to crumble into a weepy, broken pile on the floor but she willed herself to stand firm. Lord Dovington was frightful in his demands, moving toward her as he spoke so that now he loomed large. He glared at her, the air around him sizzling as if something dreadful would happen if she so much as thought of disobeying his command.

But what choice did she have? There was no way they could have a whole lifetime removed from this house
in just three days, even if she wanted to. The man was being completely unrealistic and cruel. She hated cruelty even more than she feared the burning menace smoldering in Dovington's dark eyes.

"No."

"What was that?"

"I said no, my lord."

"I thought that's what you said. What on earth does it mean?"

She could well understand the man had not often heard the word, but she doubted he truly did not know it's meaning. She'd be happy to remind him of it, though. Often.

"It means you cannot come barging in here demanding your way, sir. It means I have no intention of making any preparations whatsoever. It means this is our home, and my family and I are not leaving any time soon." She could see the fury building behind his hard expression, yet she hesitated only a little before delivering her final blow. "Certainly not before, as you say, you have satisfied me."

That clearly caught his attention just as much as her "no" had. The
arrogant bounder.

"Now you're talking sense," he said with
a half-smile every bit as blistering as it was cold. "And just what sort of satisfaction have you in mind, Miss Langley?"

"I'm talking about payment of what you owe us for the twenty-years
my family managed your property," she replied, keeping her voice icy and tight. "I'm sure Mr. Milson will be happy to help me figure out what these numbers must be and then draw up the papers. Once you have paid that debt, sir, I will be satisfied. My family and I will gladly leave Renford Hall."

He steamed at her. "It's
The Grove
, damn it. This house has been called
The Grove
since my great-grandfather started building it in 1690."

"Well it was renamed
Renford Hall
when your derelict father fraudulently sold it to William Renford a hundred-and-some years later and I'll thank you to watch your tongue, please."

She could see him struggle to regain his temper, but he did so. His fists tightened and he took a deep breath or two, but eventually he calmed and inclined his head toward her.

"Forgive me. I concede this situation must be as uncomfortable for you as it is for me but let us agree on one thing: the Americans are coming and a solution must be reached before they arrive. I have no way to contact them as they travel, and I can hardly slam the door in their faces when they arrive. Mr. Vandenhoff is highly regarded in his native land. Would you have him haul his wife and daughter off to some lowly inn for a week while you and I argue over details?"

She hardly felt twenty years of investment into this home and the notion of her family out on the street were details, but one thing in his lordship's words did catch her ear.

"They have a daughter?"

"Yes. Miss Mable
Vandenhoff on her first voyage abroad."

"
So she is not a child, I take it."

"Nineteen, I believe."

Ah, now things were becoming clear.

"And she is an heiress, I presume?"

"Her father is quite wealthy and she is his only child so yes, it is safe to call her an heiress."

She'd heard rumors of these sorts of Americans. Men who through their own sweat and their cunning amassed great fortunes from shipping or finance or God-only-knew what. Perhaps they had even found a way to profit from the recent wars between their two nations. But now that the wars were over and the world had fallen, more or less, into peace, it was not uncommon for ambitious Americans to seek to better themselves through attachment with their former enemies. Specifically,
they invaded England hoping to marry their daughters off to penniless peers in exchange for some pretense of nobility.

And Lord Dovington fit that description most perfectly.

So this was the reason he was so eager to play host to these Vandenhoff's. He must realize the only way to save his estate would be to marry well, and soon. On one hand, this obviously meant Mariah's hopes were thin for getting the man to pay them what he owed for all the investment she'd put into Renford Hall: he was obviously as desperate as she feared. On the other hand, though, it meant that if she helped the odious man marry that heiress, he'd have ample funds to pay her.

And more, if he married their daughter, Mr. and Mrs.
Vandenhoff would probably wish to make their English home elsewhere—most likely they'd want to be nearer their daughter and her husband at the main Dovington estate all the way up in Surrey. They would not wish to lease this home, certainly. If the man were happily wed and his pockets newly filled, Mariah might even be able to negotiate another lease on the Hall. She and her family could stay. It would be the answer to their prayers!

All she had to do was make sure this visit from the
Vandenhoff's went well and ended productively.

"I believe I know the solution, sir," she said giving him a sweet smile. "My mother, as lady of this house, would love to play hostess to your American friends. We would be honored to have them as guests here."

He did not seem to know what to make of her words and clearly did not trust her.

"The goal, Miss Langley, is that at the end of the week they will determine they wish to make this house their residence. They are not looking to be indefinite houseguests."

"Of course not. But as I told you quite plainly, there is simply no way my family and I can be out of here in three days time. If we acted as hosts, however, that would not put the Vandenhoffs in any sort of awkward position while they peruse the house, and my family and I will have time to see about making other arrangements."

He was hesitant to acknowledge the obvious brilliance of her suggestion.

"You will not use that opportunity to set the Vandenhoffs against letting the house?"

"I am not petty, sir," she replied, miffed. "I will not leave the house within three days, but I am no
fool. I know the law leaves me little recourse. You own this house and my family does not. You say we must leave and I have no way to argue. I believe, however, that taking these extra days to play hostess to the Vandenhoffs will give my family the time we need to actually comply with your wishes. As for
my
wishes, these extra days will allow you and me to come to terms on that matter of repayment."

"I see."

"You will be staying here along with the Americans, I presume?"

He frowned. "Yes, I suppose I must. Very well, Miss Langley. I concede your plan holds some merit. It seems this will be the best solution
—however temporary—for all of us."

"Thank you, sir. It is good to see that you can be reasonable
—however temporary."

Now there was only heat, no ice, in the grin he gave her.

"Funny, Miss Langley, but I was just thinking the same thing about you."

Lord Dovington paused in the doorway of the elegantly decorated bedroom the servant had led him too. Miss Langley had still been fuming when she politely invited his lordship to leave the office and make himself more comfortable upstairs. She'd called for the housekeeper and not given Dovington time to decline. He was dismissed from her presence after she'd made him agree to her terms.

Lord, but what a head-strong, insolent woman.
When he'd first surprised her by walking in unannounced he'd mistaken her wide, dewy eyes as harboring fear; he'd seen her pretty sprigged gown as just frills on a decorative bauble; he'd thought her feminine form as just something pleasing for his eyes as he managed this situation. How wrong he'd been, though!

Miss Langley was far from the simpering, pampered miss he'd expected. She was a formidable force and he'd not take that for granted again. She'd played her hand well and won in this round. While Dovington had to admit to himself he'd enjoyed every minute of it, he could not let her keep
pressing him into a corner. He couldn't worry what would come of her, either.

The servant had lead him up the grand staircase, but at the top of the landing they had turned to the left while instinct had tried to
send him the other way. To the right had been the wing of the house reserved for family. To the left were the rooms used by guests. This was where he should be right now, despite how odd it might feel.

Oh, certainly this room before him now was well-aired and as
comfortable as he could hope for, but it was a guest room. Very likely he'd never been in this room before, and certainly he'd never slept in it. It felt as foreign to him as if... well, as if he truly were a stranger here.

Which
he was, after all. Despite the fact that his own ancestors had built the house, he was nothing more than an unwanted guest now, even though he owned the place and had played in these halls as a carefree young lad. Well, perhaps not as carefree as lads ought to be, but he did still hold some pleasant memories of this house.

As did Miss Langley, he reminded himself. She couldn't have been much more than
an infant herself when she came to live here. He'd best remember that and tread lightly as he proceeded. The woman clearly viewed this as her home.

Which
would work to his advantage, he realized. No doubt she resented him completely, yet the Vandenhoff family would be arriving soon and he doubted she'd wish to be seen as anything less than an excellent hostess. She took her role here quite seriously and she would surely put some effort into making the American's feel welcome. That was exactly what Dovington wanted.

If
Tobias Vandenhoff liked what he found here at The Grove—or Renford Hall, as he supposed Miss Langley would stubbornly refer to it—he and his family would stay. If they stayed, then Dovington's plan stood a ghost of a chance. That American fortune would find its way into Dovington's coffers and the whole estate—as well as his name—might yet be saved.

Miss Mable
Vandenhoff was eager to find herself an aristocratic husband, or so her father assured him. What better place for her to find such a candidate than at a gracious country estate during a pleasant house party? Miss Langley would be the unwitting matchmaker that would save the Dovington line. Pity that she'd have to give up her home in the process, but he refused to let himself be sentimental. He had his duty to perform and no silly emotion or petty concern could get in the way of that.

"He's not throwing us out, Mamma," Mariah carefully explained for the hundredth time. "But
unfortunately, it is his house and he has every legal right to do so."

"Dear William bought the house! He bought it for me, when we married," Mamma moaned, shaking her head and dabbing her eyes with a crumpled handkerchief.

"I know, Mamma. Step-Papa did everything just right and gave us a lovely home. It was not his fault the old earl cheated him this way."

Clearly the shock of it all was
taking a heavy toll on Mamma. Drat that infernal earl for showing up this way and making things far more difficult than they needed to be. Mamma simply couldn't take this sort of strain on her delicate sensibilities. It was as if she were losing her dear husband all over again. Three years he'd been gone and still Mamma was not out of mourning. She'd lost so much of her spark that Mariah worried she'd never get it back. And now this... How was the poor woman to endure?

"But where will we go?"
Her younger sister paused for a moment from her anxious pacing to perch nervously on the edge of the sofa, batting huge blue eyes and waiting for an answer that might give her some kind of reassurance that all would be well.

"We will stay here. At least for now," Mariah confirmed. "I have managed a bargain with the earl."

Mamma was clearly dubious of that. "A
bargain
? We've all heard what sort of man the Earl of Dovington is. What sort of bargain could you possibly reach with him?"

"
Nothing to worry about. He needs a hostess, Mamma," Mariah went on quickly and hoped she sounded at least a little bit positive about their situation. She would need Mamma and Ella's cooperation through this if she had any dream of it working. "I told him you would be happy to play that role."

"What? You told him that
I
...? Good heavens, Mariah. What can you possibly mean?"

"I mean the earl is expecting guests. Here, at Renford Hall. We are either to vacate the house, or stay and make his guests welcome."

She hadn't intended on being quite so blunt with Mamma, but there simply was not time to treat the matter softly and gently. She needed Mamma to understand the importance of this and she needed her help.

"Please, Mamma. I know it is an insult to require this of you here in your own home, to be gracious to strangers and dance to this man's bidding, but I believe it is the best thing for us."

"How can you say that, Mariah? Your father is in his grave and we are being evicted from our home. This earl demands that I play hostess to some of his degenerate friends and you tell me it is for the best? No, I cannot see how."

"But it is, Mamma. These friends of the earl's, they are American. More
over, they are wealthy and have a marriageable daughter."

"What is that to me? I have two marriageable daughters and I daresay it will do neither of your reputations any good at all to be seen hosting friends of that rogue."

"The earl intends to marry the American daughter."

"All the more reason we should have nothing to do with her."

"But Mamma, don't you see? The earl has little to recommend him to this heiress. Renford Hall is the jewel in his crown, that has to be why he intends to court her
here
. But surely he has no wish to make this his seat. After all, everyone knows the estate he holds in Surrey is much grander—or could be if the man had any money for it—and much nearer to London. He simply needs to attach the heiress, then they will no doubt remove themselves to Dovington Downs to restore it to glory. They will then be content to let us remain here as tenants. We can go on just as we have been."

"As tenants? In our own home? It's unthinkable."

"You would have us leave, then?"

"I would have this new earl go to the
—"

"Mamma, please. We must keep a cool head over this
."

"
How can I? This is the best bargain you could make with the man?"

"
I'm afraid so, Mamma. He is a hard man, but you must believe that if we manage ourselves, this will work in our favor."

"I cannot see how
."

"Trust me.
If we can somehow make the earl seem appealing, the heiress will have no reason to question his suitability."

"And they will fall in love and go off to be married!" Ella chimed in as a dreamy schoolgirl might be expected to chime.

"That is the goal," Mariah said, although for the life of her she could not imagine the earl falling in love with anyone but himself.

Still, stranger things had happened, she supposed. And besides, it was hardly a requisite that the couple fall in love. All they needed was for the heiress not to despise the earl long enough to realize she wanted his title. Surely the concerted efforts of Mariah's very determined household could produce that simple effect.

"So he will marry her and then go off and leave us alone?" Mamma questioned.

"Of course
," Mariah assured her. "Why would he not? It's not Renford Hall that he cares about, it's the American's and their money. We must simply facilitate his connection with that."

"And all will be as it was?"

"I believe so, Mamma. The earl will have what he wants, the Americans will gain their entrance to society, and everyone will leave us in peace."

"I will have my proper coming-out, just as Papa promised?" Ella asked after digesting it all.

"Yes, just as he promised," Mariah said.

The clock on the mantle ticked off the seconds as Mamma contemplated their dilemma. What she was contemplating, Mariah wasn't quite sure. Clearly they had but one option and she'd just laid it out plainly. There could be nothing more to decide. Still, she was silent and let her mother come to terms with things.

"Very well," Mamma said at last. "I will allow these Americans into my home. I will play hostess."

"Excellent, Mamma. I'm sure they are lovely people, and how interesting it will be to meet them. I've not met anyone from the colonies
, have you?"

"No, I daresay I haven't."

"And this heiress," Ella asked. "Do you suppose she is very nearly my age?"

"
Two years older. The earl said she is nineteen," Mariah replied. "Perhaps you will make a fast friend."

"I think I might enjoy that. She could tell me of her life in the wilderness. I've read they have bears and other fierce creatures roaming everywhere in America!"

"I doubt Miss Vandenhoff has seen many of them, Ella. She's from New York, and it is quite a large city, I've heard."

"Well, I'm sure there are other fascinating things she can tell me. Yes, Mamma, perhaps this is a good thing, after all. It might be fun to have houseguests here at the Hall."

Mamma was still unconvinced. "And the earl? I suppose he'll be staying here, as well?"

"It would be very difficult for him to court the American if he did not," Mariah said. "But don't worry. I'm sure he w
ill be on his best behavior."

"For him, that might very well not be good enough. I cannot say I am happy to be in this situation, Mariah."

"Nor I, believe me. But unless you would rather pack our things and be out on the street within three days time..."

"Three days
!"

"Yes, Mamma. That
's when the Americans will arrive."

"Why, we hardly have time to prepare for guests
in just three days!"

"We'll be fine Mamma. You will be as charming as ever, our servants
are always respectful and attentive, and the house is in perfect order to host a small party. You'll see. Before long, Miss Vandenhoff will be swooning at Lord Dovington's feet."

"
In that case, let us hope the brute doesn't trip over her."