With His Ring (Brides of Bath Book 2) (28 page)

A glow came over Diana's face. "Indeed we
are."

"You, my sisters, are the best
recommendation I know of for love matches," Glee said. "I used to
think that after the first blush of love wore off that husbands and
wives were at daggers drawn with one another. But, if anything, I
believe you seem to love your husbands--and they you--more each
passing month."

"I've been blessed twice," Felicity said.
"Both of my marriages were love matches. After Michael was killed,
I thought I'd ever love again. It puts me to the blush to say I
love Thomas more fiercely than I ever loved Michael. I declare, I'm
the most fortunate woman on the face of the earth."

"No, I am," Glee and Diana said at exactly
the same time.

All three women broke into laughter.

Glee's laughter was short lived. She lifted
her smiling face to see William Jefferson, standing alone near the
door, watching her with smoldering eyes. A scowl settled on her
face. It would give her no end of pleasure to cut him direct.
Especially in front of Blanks. It had been twenty-four hours since
she had written him to get her jewels back, and she had heard
nothing.

What if, she thought happily, he had brought
her earrings today? No, that wouldn't do at all. She could not be
seen with the man. Blanks was angry enough to call him out. And she
would never do anything that might jeopardize the safety of her
beloved husband.

They walked past Jefferson—who, thankfully,
made no effort to engage them in conversation—and rejoined their
husbands, whose circle now included the twins.

"Where's Timothy?" Glee asked Melvin.

"He's been every minute with his brother
since Lord Appleton arrived," Elvin said.

An amused grin slid across Blanks's face.
"My dear, have we not decided that your calling my friends by their
Christian names might give some people the wrong idea?" He tossed a
martyred glance at Glee's brother.

"You see what a stickler my husband's become
since he married me?" Glee said to George with mock
indignation.

George smiled. "If I find any fault with
Blanks, it's that he's not heavy handed enough with you, pet."

"But your sister's right, Sedgewick," Elvin
said. "Blanks has become a different man since his marriage. In
fact, Pixie's much more fun to be around than he is."

"Who's Pixie?" George asked, a puzzled look
on his face.

"That's what we call Gl.., er, your youngest
sister."

George roared in laughter, then attempted to
stifle it as he turned to Blanks. "I see what you mean, old
fellow." Then George directed his attention upon his sister.
"Really, pet, a married woman—or a single woman for that
matter—does not carry on in so familiar a manner with men. Why, I'd
take Diana over my knee and spank her if she behaved in such a
ragtag fashion."

To this, Felicity and Glee broke out
laughing.

"What's so funny?" George demanded.

"First," Felicity said, "I cannot in my
wildest imagination picture Diana ever acting without the greatest
amount of propriety."

"And, secondly," Glee said, "You could never
be so angry with my dear sister that you would ever turn your
elegant wife over you knee."

Glee glanced at Diana, expecting her to
share in their mirth, but Diana's face had gone white. "What's the
matter, Diana?" Glee asked with concern.

"I don't feel altogether well."

George collapsed on his wife, voice and
brows lowered in concern.

"Oh, dear," Glee said. "Allow me to fetch
you some water. The water here's said to be quite a restorative."
Then Glee dashed off to the fountain.

As she strode there, from the corner of her
eye she saw that Jefferson shared her destination. She vowed to
completely ignore him. She couldn't be the cause of Blanks getting
killed in a duel. The very thought sent her stomach plummeting.

"A cup of water, please," Glee said to the
attendant as Jefferson came to stand at her left. She acted as if
she did not see him.

To his credit, he also ignored her. Until
she was a about to step away.

"I believe you dropped this, madam," he
said, holding out a folded-up piece of paper for her.

Her cheeks hot, she set down Diana's water,
and tucked the note into her reticule to read later. Then she took
up the water and started back to Diana when she fleetingly met
Blanks's heated gaze. She glanced away quickly so she would appear
not to have seen him. She could not be angered that he distrusted
her so greatly when she was near Jefferson. Blanks had
justification. She only hoped he had not seen her accept the piece
of paper.

As she drew closer to Diana, Glee realized
her sister-in-law was quite ill. Not only had the color drained
from her face, but she also began to tremble as if she had been
broadsided with a blast of frigid air. "Here, dearest," Glee said,
handing her the water and laying her arm around Diana's shoulder.
"I declare," Glee said with worry, "you're burning with fever."

George's brows dropped as he lowered his
worried face to Diana's. "Come, my love," he said gently, "we must
get you home to bed. I'll have a doctor come."

"I was fine an hour ago," Diana said
feebly.

"But you're quite sick now," Glee
insisted.

Thomas stepped forward and offered his
carriage to take them immediately back to Winston Hall.

Glee watched after them as they left the
Pump Room. She worried about her upset brother as much as she
worried about his stricken wife. "I hope Diana's affliction passes
soon," she said, tucking her arm into Blanks's. "Come, dearest,"
she said somberly, "we had best go home, too."

She was anxious to get to the privacy of her
chambers so she could read the note from the odious William
Jefferson.

Chapter
24

Gregory directed a stern glance across the
breakfast table at his wife. "Oblige me by not even asking about us
smuggling you into the cock fight. I daresay if you found pugilism
offensive to your feminine sensibilities, a cock fight—with its
fatalistic outcome—is tenfold more bloody."

Glee looked suitably repentant. "I am cured,
dearest heart of mine. I have neither the desire to dress as a boy
nor the urge to see man or beast beaten to death. Who do you go
with today?"

"Since the twins will be riding with
Appleton and his brother, I shall take my carriage over to Winston
Hall to collect Thomas and George."

"I don't believe Thomas shares your interest
in cock fighting."

Gregory shrugged. "You're most likely
correct. It's my understanding that as a younger man he was single
mindedly frugal. Were you not the one who told me he worked as a
groom and saved every farthing he earned in order to seek his
fortune in India?"

She nodded. "Therefore, my dear
brother-in-law's youthful education in the pursuit of fun and sport
has been sadly neglected. A pity he only has one of the largest
fortunes in England to show for his wasted youth!"

"Why do I feel as if you malign me because
my fortune is only inherited?"

"But, my dear husband, you have earned your
wealth by having to put up with me for a wife!"

He could tell by her mischievous smile she
spoke with levity. "Keeping you out of the briars is rather a
full-time occupation, to be sure." He rose and scooted his chair
back up to the table. "What will you do today?"

"I have. . .errands throughout the city that
will require my attention."

He moved to her and brushed his lips against
her cheek. "I'm depending on you to behave yourself, my sweet." He
swept from the room and through the house to his waiting
carriage.

At Stanton Hall he disembarked from the
carriage, and a footman let him into the great house, where a
butler announced him to Thomas.

From his library, Thomas dashed into the
marbled foyer to greet him. "If you'll have me, I'll join you, but
I'm afraid Sedgewick won't be able to make it."

"So he's caught whatever it was that caused
Lady Sedgewick to become ill at the Pump Room yesterday?

"Not exactly," Thomas said, his brows
plunging. "My sister is no better today, and George is terribly
worried about her. He sat by her bed all night."

Just then George descended the sweeping
staircase. "There you are, Blanks. Sorry, old boy, that I won't be
able to come to the cock fights today."

Gregory walked to the foot of the stairs to
meet him. "Lady Sedgewick's not any better?"

George shook his head grimly. "I'm
devilishly worried about her. It's not like her to be so sick."

Gregory was at a loss to understand why
having a sick wife would keep a fellow from one of his favorite
pursuits. It was not as if he were having to travel for days to see
the cockfight. For God's sake, he'd be back in two hour's time. But
it was not Gregory's lot to question George's motivation. "You've
had the doctor?"

"Yes. He bled her and feels certain she'll
be back to normal in a few days—after the fever has run its course.
But the long and short of it is I can't possibly leave her. I
shouldn't enjoy the fights for worrying about her."

Gregory turned to Thomas. "Are you as upset
about your sister as her husband is?"

"No one's as upset as her husband is,"
Thomas said with a chuckle. "Never let it be said he married my
sister for her dowry. No man could cherish a wife more than he
does."

George clapped a hand on Gregory's back.
"I'd better hurry back to Diana. I don't like to leave her
alone."

Once he had mounted the stairs and was no
longer within hearing distance, Gregory asked, "Is Lady Sedgewick
really that gravely ill, or is George merely overreacting?"

Thomas shrugged. "She
is
awfully
sick."

"Then perhaps you'll want to stay here as
well?"

Concern etched on his face, Thomas
nodded.

* * *

During the short drive to the cock fight,
Gregory pondered the vast change that had come over George since he
married Diana. It was as if a different being had taken possession
of him. Why, George loved cock fights better than almost anything.
He had once ridden a hundred miles to see one. Before today,
Gregory would have had no compunction about wagering on the
unlikelihood of George missing a cock fight because of his wife's
fleeting illness.

But when it had come to sitting useless at
the bedside of his cherished wife or to seeing a cock fight, Diana
had won. Hands down.

Gregory lifted the curtain of his coach and
looked out at the countryside. The sun was high in the blue sky and
daffodils spread their yellow glory indiscriminately along the
roadside. It was a beautiful day to be alive. Then why, Gregory
asked himself, did he feel so wretchedly lonely? It wasn't just
that George and Moreland had stayed behind. It was so much more.
George's love for Diana had enriched his life. Filled it. That's
what marriage was about.

They were there for each other in the good
times as well as the bad. He sighed. Glee's sister was adored by
Thomas Moreland. Her brother cherished Diana. By God, that's what
Glee deserved, too.

Yet she had given it all up to help him
secure his fortune.

* * *

Glee had been furious when she had read Mr.
Jefferson's letter. Instead of having her diamonds delivered to her
at Blankenship House, he apprised her of the fact they would be
waiting for her at the Paragon Building—in his chambers—when she
cared to call for them.

If she was not so afraid that Blanks would
catch her trying to send another letter to Mr. Jefferson, she would
have immediately written back to him demanding they be sent to
her.

After sleeping on it for a night, Glee
decided she would fetch the diamonds, after all. Only this day, she
would dress extremely prim. It was one thing to dress the vixen for
her beloved Blanks, but quite another to have the beastly Mr.
Jefferson gawking hungrily at her!

She had Patty bring out a black woolen gown
she had worn for her father's mourning, and she dressed in it for
the trip to the Paragon Building.

Another problem was that any number of
respectable people she was acquainted with also lived in the
Paragon Building, and it wouldn't do at all for any of them to see
her entering a bachelor's chambers. Perhaps she could merely wait
at the door while a servant fetched her earrings. But that would
not do, either. The longer she stood in front of Mr. Jefferson's
lodgings, the more likely her chances of being discovered
there.

After careful consideration, she decided to
take Patty with her. What could look more respectable? Surely a
woman with an assignation with a lover would not bring along her
maid.

Glee did not care a fig what people thought
of her or her reputation, but she cared dreadfully for Blanks's.
First, she could not jeopardize his inheritance by flaunting their
unconventional marriage. But, more than anything, she could not
allow Blanks to think she loved another. Even if he did not love
her, she could not bruise his pride in such a manner.

Though he had never admitted it, she knew
Blanks's sensitive emotions had suffered a lifetime of battering
from the despicable Aurora. And Glee would spend the rest of her
life making up to him for it.

With Patty in tow, Glee set off by foot for
the Paragon Building. She had tied her black cap to her head with
yards of black lace she hoped would conceal her face from
onlookers. A pity the red locks could not be completely
concealed.

They walked the several blocks to the
Paragon Building and, seeing no one she knew loitering about, she
mounted the steps to the building. Just inside the double front
doors, she found a directory that told her Mr. Jefferson's quarters
were in Number Eight.