Chapter 21

Chapter Twenty-One

Burial Ground, Shoemakers Row

Three days later

Eleanor stood at her mother's graveside, staring at the small headstone and reading the simple epitaph. It said nothing about the complex nature of the woman who'd left her child and sought a new life. It gave no context. Was Ivy troubled or selfish? Was her heart made of glass or stone?

Despite Eleanor's thoughts, the atmosphere was not sombre but peaceful. The sun's rays broke through the trees, the early autumn leaves a painter's palette of oranges and golds. A gentle wind caressed her face, like a purifying breath from the heavens.

Life was good.

She was happy.

The past belonged in this place of quiet reflection. A place where one could close the wrought-iron gate and leave the bad memories behind .

The pad of footsteps on the narrow path signalled Emily's arrival. Eleanor did not turn around but waited for her sister to join her. If she looked at Emily, her resolve might crumble.

"Coming here doesn't help ease the grief," Emily said, gazing upon the moss-covered stone. She crouched and placed a posy of dried wildflowers on the grave. "There must be questions you want to ask. Things you want to know."

"Can one ever truly understand a person's motives?"

People told stories from their own perspective. They were flawed, altered to cast the teller in a good light. Eleanor doubted her father would admit to being cold and unloving or that his presence cast a morbid shadow over the house. With his proud bearing, he'd have claimed to be a man of principles who always did his best.

"Mother loved you," Emily said.

Eleanor felt an odd flutter of hope in her chest but knew to ignore it. "Love is conveyed in actions, not words."

Love was a fresh flower in the vase by her bed. It was a soft kiss on the forehead as she drifted to sleep. It was a sprint across town on a cold rainy night, so they might share the same bed.

"It's why I know this is the last time we will ever speak," she said, her heart breaking because she had witnessed how deeply Theo loved his siblings and had longed to feel the same about Emily. "You hurt me. You destroyed any trust I had."

Emily gripped Eleanor's arm, forcing her to turn from the grave. "You know I had no choice but to do Uncle Jack's bidding. He's a monster."

"Is he a monster or a drunken fool who doesn't care how you make money?" Jack Rogers was the obvious scapegoat. " I took an inventory of my stock. Shall I list the missing items? The stolen yards of ribbon? The gloves and stockings you've pilfered since you began working for me?"

She had been too trusting.

A fool to think she and Emily were anything alike.

"You think I stole those things?" Emily released Eleanor like she had the plague. "Yes, I took the silk, but only because Jack made me."

Eleanor sighed. "I met your Aunt Daisy at St Clement's. She said you have our mother's wild streak. That you believe you're owed something in life but refuse to work. That's why Uncle Jack threatened to throw you out."

Emily jerked. "And you believe that evil hag? You believe a stranger over your own flesh and blood?"

"You trashed the shop as an excuse to steal more stock. You came back to see what else you could steal, but we surprised you. You pushed me down the stairs, Emily. Anna said you told her about my fall, though I had not told a soul."

Emily hadn't mentioned their mother out of concern for Eleanor. She had not wanted to ruin her little enterprise by receiving a negative reaction.

Knowing she was cornered, Emily used tears to incite pity. "It's all right for you," she sobbed, though her cheeks remained dry. "You've had a comfortable life. Your father left you money to rent the shop and buy stock. What about me? My father left me beholden to my uncle."

Why was that? Eleanor wondered.

Perhaps Emily was too much like their mother. Indeed, Eleanor was grateful her father had invented a fictitious role model.

"You're not my responsibility," Eleanor said.

Emily sniffed back absent tears. "But we're kin. "

She thought of how much Theo loved his sister Delphine, yet they shared no blood ties. Blood ties were a crutch selfish siblings used to assert their will.

"We're different people. I would have worked hard to forge a bond, not deliberately set out to hurt you. What if I'd died from my injuries? Would you have wept or been the first to hire a solicitor to claim the contents of my shop?"

"I know it looks bad, but I can change."

"I would have to see proof before I could ever trust you again." Eleanor took one last look at her mother's grave. Daisy had confirmed Eleanor's unfortunate ancestry. "You're lucky I've not given your name to the officers at Bow Street. I suggest you find work. Strive to do better and pray for forgiveness. Goodbye, Emily."

With a heavy heart, Eleanor left her sister and navigated the path back to Shoemakers Row. Thoughts of Theo slipped into her mind, reviving her broken spirit. She was counting the hours until she saw him again, until passion overwhelmed them and they lost themselves in each other's bodies.

When she arrived at her shop, she was greeted by the alluring smell of Theo's cologne, and noticed her sewing box on the counter next to a fresh plum tart.

"Theo!"

Her heart fluttered, the urge to kiss him, to touch him, drumming a potent beat in her blood. They'd agreed to dine together tonight, but she'd returned home yesterday to find him naked in her bed.

She searched every room, sad he wasn't there.

Surely he'd bought the tart because plums were an aphrodisiac .

The urge to cut a slice proved tempting. That's when she saw the note.

Something to devour later.

Why had he moved her sewing box? At one time, she'd considered hurling it into the fire. Yet the box had united them, and had swiftly become her most cherished possession.

She lifted the lid but found the box empty.

Perhaps he'd left her a secret note.

A quick fiddle with wooden appliqués and the drawer popped open.

There were two notes hidden inside. One that sent her temperature soaring because he said not to worry about plates and cutlery. He would eat his pie off her belly. One inviting her to join him at the Olympic tonight in the family box. She was to come in the same pink gown she'd worn the night he'd kissed her.

How odd. The Olympic was closed on a Monday.

A smile touched her lips. What was he up to?

She knew one thing for certain.

Whatever he had planned would exceed her expectations.

The Olympic Theatre

Wych Street, Drury Lan e

Theo had sent Godby to collect Eleanor from the modiste shop and to give her a note. Mr Sawston, the manager, was waiting to greet her at the theatre door. Then he'd agreed to leave them alone and spend the next two hours supping ale at the White Hart tavern.

All was quiet. There wasn't another soul in the building. The gaslights were lit but dimmed. Supper awaited them on a table in the box. He knew Eleanor disliked champagne so had taken a bottle of Aaron's best claret and poured it into a crystal decanter. More importantly, the ring he'd purchased from Woodcroft jewellers was tucked safely in his coat pocket.

His heart thundered in his chest when he heard footsteps in the corridor. Would she play her part as requested? Could she remember all the things she had said to him that night?

He took his seat and waited for her to enter.

"Good evening, Mr Chance." Her voice held the soft, teasing quality of a woman eager to make love. "You're a hard man to find."

He glanced at her while struggling to contain a surge of emotion. Swathed in a pink satin cloak, she looked confident and beautiful even though she'd had a difficult day.

"Missing me already, Miss Darrow?" He'd not stopped thinking about her since he'd left her bed this morning. "I should think you've seen enough of me to last a lifetime."

"Not nearly enough. I'm sure you know why I'm here."

He stood. The need to touch her had him veering off script. Closing the gap between them, he lowered the hood of her cloak to reveal her lustrous red hair. "You held me spellbound that night. You've held me spellbound every night since. I can barely catch my breath now."

"I thought you despised me. "

He captured a curl and let it slip through his fingers. "I was hard for you then. I'm hard for you now. I've always wanted you, Eleanor."

She stepped closer, brazenly cupping his cock in his trousers. "Is this not where you claim I'm infatuated and desperate for your attention?"

He inhaled sharply as her palm slid over his erection. "Aren't you?"

"Undoubtedly. You're like a drug."

She released him and pushed him into a velvet seat. He'd hoped to surprise her tonight, yet she was always one step ahead.

"I don't recall asking you to sit," he said, watching her hike up her satin skirts and straddle him. He gripped her thighs, drawing her over the solid bulge in his trousers.

"As you said, I am suffering from an addiction I cannot control." Her voice dropped to a sensual whisper. "I mean to hound you night and day until you give me what I want. And I'm not talking about the sewing box."

"I know what you want," he uttered, reaching between them to unfasten his trousers. "But I'll make a trade."

"A trade?" Having undone the button, her cloak slipped off her shoulders, revealing the gown that showed her figure to perfection.

"I see you've come armed to the teeth tonight," he said, admiring the rapid rise and fall of her breasts. "Did you hope your pretty countenance would leave me defenceless?"

"By whatever means, you're at my mercy." She moistened her lips. "You'll give me one thing I crave—your love." When his hands settled on her bare buttocks, she said, "I want it now, Theo. "

He entered her, their moans echoing through the auditorium.

"You were made for me, love, but I hadn't planned on reaching this part so soon." His heartbeat thumped in his throat as she took him slow and deep. "Wait!" He'd hoped to propose before sating their desires. "I need to say something." All the things he'd omitted to say that night.

"Say what?" Her lips parted as she sat on his lap, taking him to the hilt. "Is something wrong?"

Everything was perfect.

"No. There's nothing wrong." He gazed into her eyes, eyes as striking as the emeralds in the ring he'd bought her. "I never told you how incredible you were the night you charged into this box. As incredible as you are now."

She blinked because she struggled with compliments. "I so desperately wanted to hate you, but then you kissed me and sent my world spinning."

He cupped her nape and brushed his lips over hers, recalling the instant spark that had rocked his world, too. "Something magical happens when our mouths meet."

"Something magical happens when you enter the room. I cannot explain it, but every cell in my body thrums with excitement."

He studied her, drinking in the gorgeous sight. "Marry me. Let me take care of you. Let me love you for all eternity."

Tears filled her eyes. "I belong to you, Theo. I felt it the first time you accompanied Delphine to her fitting. I called her back a week early, hoping to see you again."

"Aramis offered to escort her, but I paid to take his place."

Her eyes brightened. "You did? "

"I might have made my intentions clear, but Delphine spoke of your blossoming friendship, and I couldn't take that away from her."

"Your love for your sister only enhanced your appeal." To show how attracted she was to him, she came up on her knees and sank slowly back down. "I love you. I feel like I've always loved you."

He reached into his pocket and gave her the velvet ring box. "I hope you like it. It should fit. I measured your finger with string while you were sleeping."

She chuckled. "What else do you do while I'm sleeping?"

"Watch you." And count himself amongst the luckiest of men.

She opened the box, joy evident in her eyes. "Theo, it's beautiful. It's exactly what I would have picked for myself."

"You're beautiful." He drew the ring from the box and placed it on her finger. "You're the love of my life, Eleanor."

She examined the ring before pouring everything of herself into a kiss that curled his toes and had his cock swelling inside her.

As always, their passion overwhelmed them, and they took their lovemaking to the floor.

"We'll revisit this position later, when we're less encumbered." He held her hands above her head, interlacing their fingers, and drove deep. "Though you're wearing my ring, you've still not said you'll marry me."

A mix of a giggle and a pleasurable moan escaped her. "I love you. Of course I'll marry you. How can I not? You've aroused me to the point of madness, and there's not a plum pie in sight."

Fortune's Den

Aldgate Street

Four weeks later

"Did I not say you'd be married by the autumn?" Aramis grinned and thrust his outstretched hand at Theo. "You owe me a hundred pounds, but consider it a wedding gift." He glanced at Eleanor, busy talking to Delphine and Miss Lovelace in the drawing room—when she wasn't looking Theo's way. "Your bride looks at you like you're a hog on a roasting spit, and she's waiting to devour you whole."

Theo laughed. He couldn't stop staring at her, either.

The last month had been glorious. They'd been married for two hours, yet it was the happiest two hours of his life. As they'd not spent a night apart since his proposal at the theatre, he would lay odds Eleanor was already with child.

Delphine noticed them looking and joined them. "Remind me not to leave town for the next three months. I believe my husband placed a bet on Aaron being married before Twelfth Night."

Aaron had retired to his study to talk privately with Lucius Daventry and so they did not need to speak in whispers.

"I fear your husband must put his hand in his pocket," Christian said. "We all knew of Theo's attraction to Eleanor. With Aaron, it's much more complicated."

"I'm not so sure." Delphine checked over her shoulder, then stepped closer. "Miss Lovelace called him a prized ape last week and could have sworn she saw him smile. Have you ever known Aaron smile at a woman?"

"I've never known him smile at anyone," Theo said.

Aramis offered another snippet of gossip. "Sigmund said Aaron has been training in the basement every night for the last month. There's to be a fight soon. Brutes coming from as far afield as Manchester."

"He's hoping they'll thrash Miss Lovelace from his mind." Theo feared his brother was on a downward spiral. His fists had got them out of a predicament when they were children. Perhaps Aaron prayed the same would be true now.

"He's doing it to make her hate him," Delphine offered. "Wait until he hears of her new plan." She paused for dramatic effect. "Miss Lovelace is to open the club to gentlemen every Thursday. He'll be furious."

Theo was glad he would miss the family meeting tomorrow. "She'll never manage a club full of men. Not on her own."

Delphine raised her hands, signalling the next words to leave her mouth would be shocking. "She's opening the club to men and women and has planned a host of themed evenings."

"The lady is courting trouble," Aramis said. "She'll attract nothing but scoundrels out to rid her wallflowers of more than their pin money."

"I believe that's the plan. She's keen to play matchmaker."

"Good grief. Has she lost her mind?" Christian countered.

"Has who lost their mind?" Aaron said, joining them. The man moved with a panther's silent grace .

"Eleanor," Theo was quick to say. He'd explain all to his wife later. "She was considering hiring Anna Franklin when she settles into new premises." It was not a lie.

Not wanting to work in New Bridge Street, she had given notice. The upstairs apartments were too small for a married couple, and so Theo had purchased a house on The Strand.

"Personally, I wouldn't trust a woman who had stolen from me," Aaron said. "But Eleanor's heart is as huge as yours. I suspect she'll give Miss Franklin an opportunity to prove her worth."

"Without Miss Franklin, we wouldn't have known about Wrotham's treachery," Theo reminded him.

"Wrotham is dead," Aaron blurted. "He succumbed to his injuries last night. They'll not transport Franklin for forgery but hang him for murder."

They all fell silent. While they lived to punish their estranged family, they were not heartless men. Mrs Dunwoody had received the lesser sentence of seven years transportation and loss of her assets.

"Forgive me," Aaron said, his gaze sliding to Eleanor and Miss Lovelace. "It's your wedding day. It's a time to celebrate the future, not dwell on the past."

"Good." Aramis gripped Aaron's shoulder. "You may as well know, Naomi is with child. You'll be an uncle in the spring."

The muscle in Aaron's cheek twitched. "Someone fetch me a brandy? On second thoughts, bring the decanter."

Everyone laughed but Aaron.

Keen to join the revelry, Eleanor approached with Miss Lovelace. "What's so amusing?"

Theo reached for her hand. "We were discussing how quickly our family has grown." He turned to Miss Lovelace, who was dressed in a fetching turquoise ensemble. "Do you think you'll ever marry?"

"Me?" The lady pressed her hand to her chest and chuckled. The girlish laugh sparked a light in Aaron's dark eyes. "Heavens no. I have enough to deal with managing the club."

Aaron couldn't wait to offer his opinion. "If you married well, your husband would provide for you."

"You mean if I marry for money."

"What other reason is there?"

The lady scanned Aaron's broad shoulders and impeccable attire. "I wouldn't expect you to understand. I wouldn't settle for anything less than a man who'd wait hours in the rain just to spend a minute in my company."

Aaron snorted. "I doubt such a man exists."

Theo begged to differ but remained silent.

"Which is why I'm happy to remain a spinster."

"I thought you were a wallflower."

Miss Lovelace shrugged. "Some women are hard to define."

The air thrummed with palpable tension. Aaron would probably beat his sparring partner to a pulp tonight.

Theo caught Eleanor's covert jerk of the head, meaning she wanted to speak to him alone upstairs.

He cleared his throat. "Would you excuse us for a moment?" He turned to the alluring lady who he prayed had the means to overthrow his brother. "Did you know Aaron has an interest in medieval history?" He wanted her to know his brother had brains and brawn.

"Early, High or Late Middle Ages?" Miss Lovelace asked as Theo took Eleanor's hand and made a quick retreat .

They raced upstairs, keen to spend a private moment together.

"I'm glad we're staying in a suite at Mivart's Hotel tonight," he said, cupping her cheeks and kissing her wildly. "Aaron will be like a bear with a thorn in his paw once he learns of Miss Lovelace's plans."

"Theo, we must help them." Eleanor was so excited she could barely stand still, and it had nothing to do with his fervent kisses. "Miss Lovelace admitted she likes riling his temper, and you know what that means."

"What does it mean?"

"That she wants his attention." Eleanor hugged herself and laughed. "If she didn't care, she would ignore him. She would refuse his assistance, refuse to enter this house."

No man wanted to dash his bride's hopes on their wedding day, but they'd vowed to be honest. "Aaron will do everything in his power to push her away. She's not strong enough to withstand his harsh temperament."

He could not imagine Aaron holding a woman tenderly, kissing her, and making love to her like she was life's most precious gift. All was lost. Unless Daventry had something special in his box of tricks.

"Never underestimate a woman on a mission," his wife reminded him. "Admit I caught you off guard when I stormed into your theatre box."

He smiled at the cherished memory. "You knocked me sideways. Kissing you was a means of bolstering my defences, though it left me wanting. I left the theatre determined to have you."

She straightened and braced her hands on her hips. "You sound rather sure of yourself. Perhaps my desire came from desperation. "

He laughed, capturing her chin. "I'm the King of Hearts. No other man could make you ache like I do. No other man knows the secret door to your heart. I'm a scoundrel who's in love with one woman. A scoundrel who'll love you until your dying day."

She smiled as she kissed him, giving everything of herself. "You're my kind of scoundrel." She ran her hands over his chest. "What say we leave our guests waiting and put those questionable morals to the test?"