Beauty in Breeches(32)

‘For two weeks, Beatrice. You did that for two weeks, before you went haring off to Larkhill.’

‘And why not?’ she persisted. ‘I miss the freedom of the country—my horse. London is horrid in the summer. Most people take themselves off to the country.’

‘The Merricks don’t. They reside in London all the year round.’

‘Only because Lady Merrick likes London and likes being around people. Besides, they don’t have a country residence to retire to.’

Julius stared down at the tempestuous young woman, her face both delicate and vivid with her stormy eyes and soft lips, and he suddenly saw her as she’d looked in the garden at Standish House, her enchanting face turned up to the night sky. As they’d discussed the stars there had been a softness about her, an elusive gentleness that was as fragile and vulnerable as the delicate flowers that surrounded her. She was still that same young woman, completely female, sensual and she was his wife. He had made love to her, but he did not possess her, for the sweet, wild essence of her still belonged to her.

She was not a conventional woman. She was young, naïve and vulnerable and could not be blamed for rebelling against the restrictions which held her. She was not submissive or pliant and was unwilling to be moulded to the whims of others. The fury within him lessened and, as he looked down into her glorious eyes, his stomach clenched at the thought of hurting her.

‘For the time I have been away you have had more freedom than most, Beatrice, and now I have returned I would like to see your defiant heart more involved with household affairs.’

She accepted his words coldly, her head high, her cheeks flushed. ‘Anyone would think you married me for my domestic accomplishments, when we both know different. It may have escaped your notice, but I haven’t had a great deal of experience with being a wife. So if you have finished reprimanding me, my lord, I have a matter of my own to raise with you.’

‘I know.’ Satisfied that she was adequately chastened, Julius perched his hip on the edge of the desk and folded his arms across his chest.

‘You cannot mean to sell Larkhill,’ she said, unable to keep the desperation from her voice. ‘Julius, you can’t.’

‘I don’t need Larkhill. It means nothing to me.’

‘But it does to me,’ she flared with a sudden impassioned flourish, her eyes blurred with tears. ‘It means everything to me. You know that. Why do you have to change things? Why are you doing this? Why do you have to hurt me? Is it to punish me for manipulating you into marriage? If so, then would you please find some other way of doing it instead of selling Larkhill.’

‘I have already decided,’ he said firmly. ‘The matter is settled. As soon as I have a copy of Mr Sinclair’s valuation, the Larkhill estate will be put on the market. I am hoping for a quick sale.’

For a moment Beatrice’s mind could not adjust itself to the fact that he really was going to go through with it. How could he do that? How could she live and never see Larkhill again? At least at Standish House she had still been able to see the fields, the tall trees, the low, wet meadows, the quiet places only she knew about. Resentment of Julius burned in her heart.

When she spoke her voice was low and trembling with contempt. ‘What a cold, unfeeling blackguard you are, Julius Chadwick. This is nothing short of tyranny. You are enjoying every minute of what I am going through. Because of what I did, you will naturally want to torment me as much as possible to pay me back. Little did I think when I named the forfeit after beating you in that race that you would do this to me.’

‘Then you should have had more sense. You should have foreseen that I might call your bluff.’

‘Well, I didn’t. Why didn’t you tell me at the start you might do this? Why let it go so far? Don’t you see it was a way out for you? When you asked me to back down I would have done so at once and disappeared out of your life for ever.’

‘Perhaps I didn’t want you to disappear, Beatrice. You intrigued me. I had just returned to England after a long absence and I realised that to continue the line I must have heirs, and to have heirs I needed a wife. I was considering searching for some high-bred débutante. I hadn’t started looking and then you came along with your outrageous challenge. The moment I laid eyes on you I knew you were different. I am not just referring to your beauty—I’ve known beautiful women before and quite frankly they bored me to tears. I had no intention of selling Larkhill when I met you. It is a valuable property. The land yields well. I would have been a fool to get rid of it then.’

‘It still is. I may have made it difficult for you to refuse to honour the forfeit, but I did not believe you would be so petty or mean spirited as to retaliate and sell a property that is still viable merely to punish me.’

‘And if I had told you I meant to sell it, would you really have backed down?’

‘Of course I would. Without Larkhill there was no point in any of it.’

Relinquishing his perch Julius stood up and moved closer, a cynical twist curling his lips. ‘You never fail to amaze me, Beatrice. You are the only woman who has not been drawn to me by my title or my gold. All you care about is that damned house. Well, all your scheming has come to nothing. No matter how much money it brings in every year from the rents and the land, the sooner it’s out of our lives the better. The mistake is yours. Accept it. There is no going back so you will have to learn to live with the consequences of your actions—however painful that will be.’

Beatrice looked at him for a long time and then she nodded slightly. ‘Yes—yes, you’re right, Julius. The mistake is mine.’ Without another word she turned from him and went to the door.

‘Where are you going?’

‘To have a bath and a change of clothes.’

Julius’s strong mouth began to smile. It turned into an audacious grin, his temper replaced by something else. ‘That’s the first sensible thing you’ve said since coming home. It will be my pleasure to get you out of those clothes.’





Chapter Eight


Beatrice spun round, shocked by the implication of his words and that he expected her to tumble into bed with him after all the hurtful things he had said to her. ‘Shame on you, Julius,’ she retorted, her cheeks aflame. ‘I have not been in the house two minutes and already you are thinking of…’

His black brows crept upwards and with a defiant look he sauntered towards her with the predatory grace of a panther. When he spoke his voice was silky smooth. ‘What, Beatrice? Of what am I thinking?’

‘Of—of bedding me after all you have just said… Can you not think of anything else?’ Her heart was pounding with wild confusion and she was flustered now he was so close.

She was determined to deny him, but inside her that treacherous spark ignited. Trying to deny her attraction to him was useless. There was a churning sensation in her stomach, like the fluttering wings of a captive butterfly, and a mounting heat swept through her and her body began to stir.

Julius chuckled softly, wondering why, from the very first, she’d had the power to attract him—wondering why he felt this consuming, unquenchable need now to possess and gentle her without breaking her spirit.

Placing a finger beneath her chin, he tilted her face to his. ‘I’m afraid not, my love. But then after an absence of four months and relatively a new bridegroom, it is not unusual.’

She swallowed and quivered when his finger ran over the curve of her cheek, knowing that in no time at all she would lose her ability to resist him. ‘Please allow me to leave, Julius.’

‘I will,’ he breathed, his whisper fraught with wicked seduction, ‘in a moment.’ He bent his head to kiss the place where his finger had been before, teasing her senses into a wild awakening for him. Beatrice closed her eyes, unable to move. ‘I know you want me.’ Taking her arms, he drew her against the solid wall of his chest. ‘I intend to see if I can still make you respond to me as you did before I left your bed on our wedding night.’

‘Please don’t,’ she gasped, turning her head aside, drowning in humiliation at the brutal reminder of how wantonly she had behaved then.

By the time his lips caressed her earlobe, she was overcome with the need for his kiss. Unable to stop herself, with a low moan she turned her face to his and offered him her mouth. He claimed it immediately and she revelled in his embrace, despite her earlier determination not to let this happen. Ending the kiss, he held her fevered stare before lowering his head to her breast. She watched in hazy silence as he gathered her waist in his hands and gently kissed her breast through her gown, his warm breath permeating the fabric. Her heart slammed into her ribs and she could not have uttered a word of protest if she had wanted to when his lips moved on to the V-shaped neckline and he pressed fervent kisses on the exposed flesh.

She rested her hands on his wide shoulders as his mouth travelled upwards, brushing along the sensitive column of her throat, her ear and the curve of her cheek. She made no effort whatsoever to stop him when he pushed his fingers through her hair and held her head firm, taking her lips once more. All thoughts beyond this moment and this man fled. His lips moved over hers with a flowing, demanding passion, an insistence that she kiss him back that was almost beyond denial.