To Win the Lady (23 page)

‘Why?’ He had
moved very close and she backed away against a solid oak table which had stood
in its place for half a century at least. ‘What do you want?’

‘Why, my dear
Miss Paget, I want to marry you. I thought you knew that. Your uncle, the
Colonel, has obligingly given his permission for me to ask you. I did not think
you were averse to the idea.’

‘No? Then you
must have a singularly thick skin. I should have thought the fact that I came
away without seeing you would have been enough to tell you I did not want you
to speak of it.’

‘Nerves, my
dear, simply shyness and a little apprehension over the honour I confer upon
you.’

‘Honour! You
bumptious, stiff-necked, rag-mannered clunch!’

‘Dear, dear,
such language!’ He hooted with laughter, taking her glass from her fingers and
putting it down on the table behind her. ‘You are no great shakes either, but
you’ve got plenty of ginger, I’ll give you that.’

‘I will give
you a taste of it, too, if you do not leave my house,’ she said, though the
threat was an empty one. ‘Mrs Thorogood will be back directly.’

‘It will take
her some time to find the cottage I described to her. In my haste I did not
take proper note of its direction.’

‘You fiend! Get
out! Get out at once.’

‘Not until I
have my answer.’

She gave a
cracked laugh. ‘That’s easy. It is no, no, a thousand times no.’

‘Pity,’ he said
equably. ‘I had hoped we could deal together in accord and I would not find it
necessary to point out the bumblebath you are in.’

‘I don’t know
what you mean. I am in no trouble.’

`Do you think
we could sit down and discuss this?’ he said. ‘It would be so much more
comfortable. I am sure that sitting on the edge of a table cannot be conducive
to pleasant discourse.’

‘I do not want
to discourse with you at all,’ she retorted, though when he moved back she took
the opportunity to slip on to a chair, and glad she was of its support, for her
knees were buckling. ‘You should not be here. I am alone.’

‘Precisely, my
dear Miss Paget. May I be seated?’ Without waiting for her reply, he flung up
the tails of his coat and sat himself in a chair opposite her, leaning forward
to look closely into her face. He meant to intimidate her and he succeeded.
There was something about his manner which was frightening. He was more than
the fat reprobate she had called him; he was evil. It exuded from his pores
along with the perspiration which glistened on his forehead. ‘You and I are
alone in the house. That in itself is enough to condemn you...’

‘Though not
you, I suppose.’

‘Well, it will
not be considered good conduct on my part but I am consumed by passion, as
everyone knows, and will be forgiven for it. And I am persuaded you too are a
passionate being and not so particular about gossip.’

‘My passion is
one of anger. And so I shall tell the world.’

‘Do you think
they will believe you? I think not, especially after we have spent the whole
night together.’

‘The night?’ If
she had not been frightened before, she was terrified now. And yet in the core
of it was the thought of Richard. Would he believe she was innocent? And
leading from that was the certain knowledge that if there was a scandal
Felicity would suffer.

‘Why, yes, my
dear. I have it in mind to cuckold the parson, just to be on the safe side and
ensure your compliance.’ His oily smile never wavered as he watched the
changing expressions chase each other across her face.

‘But why? If I
say I do not wish to marry you, why do you persist?’

‘Because I think
we shall deal very well together. I do not ask for much. I already have my
heir, so I am not particular as to that, though with such a body as you have I
cannot promise to refrain altogether.’

‘You are
disgusting.’

‘Oh, do you say
so? Then you have not seen a really depraved person, I assure you. An’ I
thought you a woman of the world.’

She must keep
calm, she told herself. ‘I would have thought you had better things to do than
torment me, my lord. Have you not a race to win? Are all your arrangements
complete?’

‘They will be
after tonight. It is of those I wish to speak.’

She gave a
hollow laugh. ‘And I thought you came a-courting.’

‘So I did, but
you force me to be less than the sensitive supplicant I would otherwise wish to
be. You imagine yourself a businesswoman, though even you must realise that is
nothing more than a silly chit’s daydream. But if it is business you want, then
we will deal in business terms.’

She attempted
to laugh again but it stuck in her throat. When she tried to rise, he pushed
her down again and held fast to her hand. ‘You will hear me out, because my
proposition is not so distasteful, as you shall see.’

He paused, but
she could not bring herself to make any reply and he went on.

‘Breeding is
what I’m on about.’ And as he heard her little gasp of shock his smile
broadened. ‘Not our breeding, though I ain’t saying I’d be averse to that. No,
I meant the horses. I’m being dunned left and right and what with this ride to
York and all the expense of that I’m in a fair way to being dished up if I lose
it, which I don’t aim to do, by the way. So with your horses and mine we could
win that little wager and let me tell you there is a great deal of money riding
on it besides the wager itself. And afterwards the combined stables of Barbour
and Paget could become a byword to rival Tattersall’s.’

‘They don’t
breed horses,’ she felt constrained to point out, though why she should she did
not know. She would never entertain him as a husband.

‘All the
better. Everyone will come to me for their cattle: young bloods, country
squires, the army. Sir Henry had a contract for the army, did he not?’

‘Yes, and I
shall carry on where he left off. I do not need you and I certainly have no
intention of allowing you to ruin my horses on that madcap wager.’

‘You will have
no choice after tonight, my dear. I have come here to ensure it.’

‘If you think I
will allow myself to be intimidated...’ she began, but she did not finish
because he rose to his feet and pulled her roughly into his arms. His mouth
came down to hers and his brandy-laden breath filled her nostrils so that she
felt sick.

‘Come, my
dear,’ he said, grimacing because she was struggling and it was all he could do
to hold her. ‘Don’t fight it, accept it. A great many marriages are based on
less and are none the worse for it.’

‘I am not
interested in marriage to you or anyone. And if you touch me I shall scream.’

‘We are quite
alone; there is no one to hear you.’

‘The men...’

‘Too far away.
Now, wench, we have talked long enough.’ He started to drag her across the
room. ‘Come over to the sofa; it is a deal more comfortable.’

‘No! No!’ she
shrieked, hoping Fanny would hear her, though if she was in her own room at the
top of the house she probably would not. And, in any case, if her maid tried to
intervene, she would probably be knocked down; the man was in no mood to allow
an elderly retainer to stand in his way.

‘Now,’ he said,
pulling her down on the sofa beside him and pulling open her jacket to kiss her
throat. ‘A few minutes of pleasure, just to make sure you do not change your
mind, followed by the announcement all the world is expecting to hear, and then
I will trouble you no more. At least, not until after the wedding.’ He laughed
suddenly. ‘Just to show you how generous I can be, we will give Victor as part
of your sister’s dowry when she marries that scapegrace Baverstock. It will
diminish him to have to accept it from me. What do you say to that?’

She had gone
very quiet and he relaxed his hold slightly, believing she was becoming
compliant, but her brain was working and the mention of the horse was the last
straw. Never, never would she give in. He would have to kill her first. She
forced herself out of his grasp and made for the door.

Moving
surprisingly swiftly, he darted to cut off her escape and dragged her back into
the room, so infuriated that he could not contain himself. He ripped her jacket
from her, tore at her blouse and chemise, exposing her breasts. The sight of
them inflamed him further and he bent down to kiss them, fumbling behind her
for the ties of her skirt. She bit the lobe of his ear as hard as she could.

‘Bitch!’ he
screeched, slapping her face with the back of his hand and making her head
rock.

She opened her
mouth and screamed as loudly as she could. He put a hand over her mouth and
dragged her back to the sofa. ‘You want a fight, miss, then you shall have it.’
He tossed her on to the sofa and threw himself on top of her, struggling to
lift her skirts. He was heavy, too heavy. She squirmed beneath him, crying and
begging. All pride had gone now; there was nothing left but to appeal to his
mercy. But he had none. His mouth was roaming all over her neck and breasts,
his hands were kneading her thighs, forcing them apart. There was nothing she
could do. She managed to free one hand and thrust it upwards, but there was
nothing to get hold of; she grasped the empty air. It was the end for her and
she wished sincerely that she might die.

Chapter Eight

Richard had driven the curricle round the house to the
stables in order to talk to Dawson about the arrangements for the race and was
pleased to see the groom’s craggy features break into a broad smile at the
prospect of being involved. It was a capital rig and he assured the Major that
he knew Miss Georgie very well and though she might grumble she was not really
a crosspatch and when the time came would enter into the spirit of the thing
and be as keen as anyone on it. He’d lay odds she’d come round about Warrior
too and the Major would be able to count on having the stallion. ‘She knows it
won’t do her stables a ha’porth of harm to put up the horses for the winner,’
he said. ‘And you will win, won’t you, sir?’

Richard smiled.
‘Naturally I will. There are two horses coming from Newmarket the day after tomorrow.
Miss Paget has agreed to bring them up to scratch. You’ll watch out for them?’

‘Yes, sir.’

They spoke for
several minutes about the training of the horses and the positioning of the men
and as Richard turned to leave Dawson asked, ‘What did you think of Bright
Star, Major? Do you think she’s a goer?’

‘Undoubtedly.
We’ve entered her for a race at Newmarket next week with Manfred up. She should
get through the first heats, at least.’ He climbed into the curricle and picked
up the reins. ‘I must be going if I am to get home before it is too dark to
see. Goodnight to you, Mr Dawson.’ He flicked the reins to turn the vehicle in
the yard.

‘Did it to a
whisker,’ Tom said, watching in admiration.

The curricle
was just about to leave the yard when Fanny came running from the house in
great distress. ‘Help her!’ she cried. ‘Help her! Miss Georgie, she’s in
trouble...’

Richard had
scrambled down at the first sight of the distraught maid and without waiting
for explanations rushed into the house and through the kitchen. He paused in
the hall, wondering which way to go, and then he heard the pitiful cries. In a
second he had crossed the floor and thrown open the drawing-room door. It
crashed back against the wall, startling the man who lay sprawled on the sofa.
In two strides Richard was upon him. With one hand he pulled him upright by the
collar of his coat and with the other crashed a fist into his face. The man
sank to his knees on the floor, bleeding from the nose, just as Dawson arrived.

‘Throw him
out,’ Richard commanded, and turned his attention to Georgie, sitting down
beside her on the sofa and taking her in his arms. ‘Hush, my love,’ he said,
stroking the hair gently from her face as she sobbed in his arms. ‘Hush now. He
won’t trouble you again.’ Gently he pulled her torn blouse across to try and
cover her and held her close to him, shielding her nakedness from the two men.

Dawson strode
across the room, so incensed that he would have attacked Lord Barbour, peer of
the realm or not, if Richard had not looked over Georgie’s head and seen his
fury in his eyes. ‘I said, throw him out, man, no more.’

‘Not until he
gets what he deserves.’ The stable-master raised a fist but surprisingly Lord
Barbour stood his ground, watching Richard and Georgie.

‘What a pretty picture,’
he sneered, taking a handkerchief from his sleeve and wiping blood from his
nose. ‘I see it now. That is why she was so stiff-rumped with me; the wench had
other irons in the fire. Does your sister know about it, my dear Georgiana?’

Richard started
up, intending he knew not what, but Georgie pulled on his sleeve. ‘No, Richard,
he is not worth it. Let him go. He can’t harm us.’

‘Can’t I?
Zounds! We shall see about that.’ Dawson was tugging on his arm, but he was
resisting strenuously. `All London shall know of your duplicity. I came here,
with the permission of your uncle, to propose to you, and find you not alone in
the house, chaperoned by servants, as everyone supposed you to be, but in the
arms of a lover. Everyone says what a prodigious good sister you are, always
putting Felicity before yourself; what will they say when they learn that, far
from that, you have been deceiving her, entertaining this. . this
thatch-gallows? No one will want to know either of you, least of all your
families. Not only you but your sister, Miss Paget, will be ruined by the
scandal.’