EPISODE ONE HUNDRED AND SEVEN A ROMEO FOR THE MODERN DAY

EPISODE ONE HUNDRED AND SEVEN

A ROMEO FOR THE MODERN DAY

T he wedding breakfast was a triumph. Champagne flowed like water, while Lady Wharton flitted about the room spreading tales about Miles s supposedly intense emotions. He managed to bite back the sarcastic remarks that popped into his head every time a lady patted his arm, calling him a Romeo for the modern day.

Hopefully, by the time he returned to London, people would have forgotten that he was supposedly riddled with love to the point of threatening to injure himself-like a damn fool.

Daisy s infatuation did give the event an air of veracity. Every single time he put a hand on her back, rosy color crept into her cheeks. He found it fairly easy to play the role of a lovesick husband-Daisy was so pretty and charming that he kept having to intervene with men trying to flirt with his new bride-but anyone could tell that her emotion was genuine. Not something he ever envisioned in a wife, but it was rather pleasant nonetheless.

Finally Lady Wharton nodded, the signal that he and his wife were allowed to depart. He caught Daisy s hand and then froze, struck by the glow in her eyes as she smiled at him.

His wife was in love with him.

Amazing.

Time to leave, he said.

Daisy curtsied before Viscount Peregrine. If you ll excuse me, my lord.

Peregrine was a somber fellow, one who-thankfully-had never come before Miles in a criminal capacity. In fact, Miles had the distinct idea that the viscount was ethical to the bone, not a quality he saw often.

Say no more, Peregrine said, a faint smile in his eyes. My wife and I are still newlyweds ourselves. The viscountess was extremely pretty, especially as she smiled up at her husband.

Miles had that now. A woman who smiled at him like that.

Suddenly inspired, he swept Daisy up in his arms. Her gown didn t rip, though panels of white satin fell over his arms.

Miles! she hissed. What on earth are you doing?

Playing the part of Romeo. He looked around the people in the room, collecting gazes. Lady Devin and I are leaving, with gratitude for your attendance at our wedding. I apologize for the short notice. He dropped a kiss on her nose. Daisy turned me down a few months ago, and when she finally said yes, I was terrified that she would change her mind.

Daisy began giggling, one arm around his neck. Goodbye! she called.

Miles walked out of the room to the sound of applause.

Once they left Regina s house, Daisy said, You can put me down now, Miles.

They might be watching from the windows, he said, tramping over the lawn that separated his house from the Duke of Lennox s.

Daisy was caught by the strange feeling that she was not living her life but watching it. From the duke s windows, a groom carrying his bride must seem wildly romantic. In reality? She felt like a hefty bundle of laundry being hauled to the washhouse.

Your arms must be aching.

Not at all. He cocked his ear. I don t hear any screaming coming from the nursery, do you? Perhaps the tooth cut through.

That sounds violent, Daisy said, realizing how much she had to learn about raising children.

Miles shrugged. Once a tooth can be seen, there ll be no more wailing. I might as well tell you that when Belle was still screaming at dawn, I decided that we might as well head directly for my county seat after the ceremony.

Of course, we should leave immediately, Daisy agreed.

He headed for the front steps. I ve changed my mind. Based on our behavior in the chapel, I have the distinct impression that you and I alone in a carriage would result in connubial relations while jolting up and down on the toll road.

Daisy felt herself turning pink. She cleared her throat but couldn t think what to say. She d never imagined people making love in carriages.

Her husband gave her a wicked grin. All the movement should be mine, don t you think?

Why did she feel like arguing with him? She had absolutely no experience-no matter what Miles thought-but City of Eros talked about a woman bouncing on top of a man. Why should all the movement be his?

Miles cleared his throat. I m going to have to get used to this. His voice was ripe with devilish amusement.

What?

You don t agree with me, do you? We re lucky.

Because?

Bedding is the glue that holds couples together. That and honesty.

Daisy managed a tremulous smile. But inside? Her heart was beating painfully fast. Yes, they had lust, but not love. They didn t have honesty, either, since she had lied to him. Not to mention the fact that he was so thrilled about the erotic experience she didn t have.

We should discuss Belle, she said, taking a deep breath. It was time to come clean.

No, we shouldn t, Miles said decisively. Where is Hobbs? Is it too much to ask that he keep an eye on the front door? He gave it a kick, leaving a scuff on the white paint.

I could have knocked, or you could have put me down, Daisy pointed out.

I m carrying you over the threshold, he said gruffly. Then he blinked. I apologize. Lack of sleep makes me irritable. The truth is that I don t want to talk about Belle s father. She is an orphan, soon to be my ward. I grew fond of her last night-irrationally, since she spent most of it howling. Her parentage is irrelevant because she s mine. And yours, obviously.

Hobbs opened the door, stepped back, and bowed.

Finally, Miles said, carrying Daisy into a spacious marble entry. Your new mistress, Hobbs. Lady Devin. He set Daisy down with a thump.

Her sympathy with sacks of laundry was increasing by the moment.

My lady, Hobbs said, bowing. I bid you welcome to Devin House. Behind him, two maids came running down the stairs, and several footmen emerged from the baize door that led downstairs, clustering behind Hobbs.

Have you been in Lord Devin s employ for a long time? Daisy asked, thinking of Miles s threat to fire him. The butler looked too elderly to find another post.

Years, Hobbs said with pride. His lordship keeps trying to pension me off, but I knew him as a nipper, and I shan t resign until I want to.

You re a pain in my arse, Miles said.

His lordship doesn t take well to lack of sleep, Hobbs said with a confidential twitch of his eyebrow. The young lass, Miss Belle, had a tooth paining her, and Lord Devin walked the floor like the old days. Miss Clementine never liked to cut a tooth.

Miles growled something under his breath, but Hobbs ignored him. May I introduce the household, my lady? This is Mrs. Bretton, our housekeeper

When Hobbs introduced her to the maid Daisy had last seen holding the baby, the poor girl looked exhausted.

I m so sorry that Belle kept you awake, Daisy said.

The maid curtsied. She s taken a dislike to me, my lady. No one but Lord Devin could persuade her to stop crying. Thankfully, that tooth finally came through an hour ago.

Thank God, Miles said.

Miss Belle has had some warm milk and is fast sleep, Mrs. Bretton put in.

No one in the household was wary of Miles, and unless she was mistaken, they truly liked him. Marvelous, Daisy said warmly. I hope that my personal maid, Ada, has been introduced to everyone?

An Irish lass is always welcome here, Hobbs proclaimed. She is in your bedchamber, arranging your bits and bobs, my lady.

I shall escort you upstairs, Miles declared. Once they climbed the stairs, he pushed open a door to reveal a large bedchamber at the rear of the house with recessed windows facing a lawn studded by gracious oak trees.

Most of the room was taken up by an extremely large bed, so high that a short flight of stairs awaited its occupants.

Daisy quickly looked away from the mounds of snowy pillows. A place to read! she exclaimed, darting across the room to the comfortable window seat surrounded by bookshelves.

Ada popped out of a side door, but Miles left before Daisy could introduce her. In fact, Daisy wheeled about just in time to see the door shut behind him.

The marriage won t be consummated until evening, she blurted out, with a distinct sense of relief. It wasn t the bedding that worried her; it was all the confessions she had to make first.

Ada let out a giggle. It s kind of his lordship to give you time to prepare.

Perhaps, Daisy said. She was so rattled that her next thought spilled out. A besotted man wouldn t run away. I expect Livie s husband carried her over the threshold to their bedchamber and didn t leave until morning.

Yes, but Lord Devin is a perfect gentleman. Always considerate, that s what they say below stairs.

Daisy didn t think she d experienced Miles s considerate side. Being informed that only parts of her were lovable had definitely cast a shadow over the morning.

Did you warn them that I am not a perfect lady?

You ll be a breath of fresh air, Ada said tactfully. I ve run a bath in the water closet. Mr. Hobbs sent your trunks straight to the country, but I ve kept back a traveling gown and that blue gown you like for tonight. Unlike so many dresses ordered under the aegis of her mother, this one was cut to a fashionable length.

Daisy nodded and wandered into the water closet, a spacious room with a dressing table, its own fireplace, and a ceramic bathtub that filled with water heated by the kitchen chimney. Ten minutes later she was up to her chin in a warm bath.

I love the fragrance of this soap, she said, trying to relax. Nothing would happen before evening. She could bathe, go downstairs, and calmly inform Miles that she had fibbed about a few things. Unimportant things. Relatively unimportant things.

Wild cherry, Ada replied, carefully arranging Daisy s toiletries. I heard all about it this morning. Lord Devin s mother had a great love for country matters. She enjoyed experimenting with soaps and lotions and tending honeybees. Are you likely to follow in her footsteps, my lady?

No. I haven t the faintest idea how to make soap, and I dislike being stung by bees. She stretched one leg out of the water, wishing that she had Regina s slender limbs rather than thick thighs. You know what I m like, Ada. I like to read novels. I m frivolous by nature and inclination, and I do not intend to allow marriage to change me.

That s all right, Ada said. The late Lady Devin passed away years ago, and the housekeeper has used the lady s recipe to make soap ever since. Mrs. Bretton seems rigid but fair. I expect she ll welcome a mistress who doesn t care to alter her routine.

I shan t interfere. Daisy had never given much thought to her mother s propensity to live in London rather than the country estate, though now she understood that Lady Wharton had been avoiding her husband. The upshot was that Daisy had no idea how landed gentry behaved outside the city, though surely they didn t make soap all day.

Did they tell you anything else about the late Lady Devin?

She had a swanlike beauty, Ada said promptly That s the word Mr. Hobbs used, swanlike.

Daisy sighed. I could achieve a chicken-one with a crest of feathers-but never a swan.

Mr. Hobbs remarked on your beautiful hair.

Daisy peered at her from under a huge crown of soap bubbles. It s a nuisance. Look how many hairpins I ve lost over the years. Several tinkled on the chapel floor as I was walking the aisle.

Ada laughed. I told the housekeeper that we need to buy them in bulk.

A few minutes later, Daisy sat down before the fire, wringing water from the rope of hair that hung over her shoulder. Ada began combing in scented oil to keep her curls from frizzing as they dried.

Daisy?

Miles s voice came from the bedchamber. Her heart skipped a beat.

My lady, Ada hissed. It s him!

Daisy got to her feet, winding the toweling more tightly around her breasts. She had a feeling of raw panic. Time to face the music.

Own up to mistakes.

Consummate the marriage?