Eleanor gave up her questioning and responded instead to the pain she heard in his voice.“You would rather he stayed at home, my lord, would you not?”
The earl sighed.“Indeed I would.For one thing, it would be safer here.He leads a charmed life, but he is also like a lodestone for trouble.One day his luck will fail.When he tells me stories of his exploits I cannot see the glory, the adventure, but only the risks.It is painful.We are, after all, twins, and there is a bond.”
“Does he not feel this bond also?”
“It would appear not,” he said bitterly, and the conversation lapsed.
Eleanor looked out of the window.There were signs of spring all around—lambs in the fields and new growth on the trees—but spring was late after the exceptionally harsh winter, and the air was chill.She was grateful for the woolen rug wrapped so tenderly around her legs by Lord Stainbridge and wondered if such consideration would be a part of her new life.
What a creature of contrasts her husband-to-be was!An adventurer with beautiful handwriting; a wanderer loved by his family and friends; a clever man who could become a debauched ravisher.
She suddenly thought of Fox, the brilliant politician and thinker who had gambled himself into destitution and had rarely let a day go by without becoming insensible through drink.Men were strange creatures indeed.
After a journey of five hours they pulled into Newhaven as the sun was setting.The carriage, its lights shielded, was drawn up away from the inn a little, behind a nearby cottage.Lord Stainbridge assured Eleanor this was by his brother’s instructions.
“You must not be seen before the boat docks, you see.Nicky will have thought of everything.”
Eleanor found this fond belief in his brother’s omniscience rather irritating, but before she could comment the earl disappeared to see whether the boat was close to shore.
He returned a moment later.“The packet is in sight, my dear.Perhaps ten minutes, little more.Will you be all right here by yourself?The coachman and groom will stay with you, but I should be visible, as I am supposed to be meeting Nicholas and his wife.”
She assured him he could leave her and then sat in the gloom, bolstering her sagging courage.She even wished for a moment she was back in her dreary room in Derby Square.Despite the discipline she applied to her mind a slight tremble began, and it was not from the cold.She bit her lip and pressed her hands hard together.She would not start this marriage in weakness.
She tried to imagine their first meeting.What did one say to a man in such a situation?How could she pretend to be a wife of some weeks with a perfect stranger?
Not quite a stranger, she reminded herself.
Suddenly the door swung open and Lord Stainbridge extended a hand to her.“Come along, Mrs.Delaney.”
Only as she stood beside him on the cobbles did she realize it was not Lord Stainbridge but his brother.
There was no time to think.Arm around her waist, he hurried her over to the inn and swept her into the stream of passengers pushing into its warmth.A moment later she was being introduced to Lord Stainbridge.She was amazed to find no restraint between the brothers, only a playful affection.She resented it and frowned at the man beside her.
She realized then that it was Nicholas Delaney who was setting the tone, who was orchestrating this performance.For all that nobody seemed to be interested in their affairs, he was acting his role perfectly, and his brother, uneasily, was following his lead.
Her “husband” looked down and caught her disapproving gaze.He smiled and gave her a little squeeze.“Come, my dear.Surely you at least can tell us apart?”
Like a puppet, she found herself doing her best to join in the charade.She greeted her “brother-in-law” and complained about the voyage, she who had never been on a boat in her life.In a moment the focus shifted back to Lord Stainbridge and Eleanor was able to lapse into silence again.She immediately resented the way she had been manipulated.She needed to keep her wits sharp with Nicholas Delaney.
Unobtrusively she studied the brothers.
Yes, anyone would be able to tell them apart.Presumably nature had given them both the same pale skin and brown-blond hair.On Lord Stainbridge they remained so, but on his brother strong sun and winds from heaven knows where had transformed them into a startling and uniform gold.This distinctive coloring had not been apparent in the dim light of her bedroom.In this gilded frame Nicholas Delaney’s brown eyes seemed bright and rather wicked, whereas his brother’s were gentle and thoughtful.
A woman’s voice suddenly interrupted the conversation and Eleanor’s thoughts.A mellow voice, which spoke perfect English with a delicious French accent.“Nicky!You were never on that dreadful packet too, were you?How could I not have seen you?”
They all turned to see a slender, beautifully dressed woman, not young but not yet old, with an aura of confidence in the power of her attractions.And she had reason.Her heart-shaped face contained soft, red lips and dark blue eyes full of humor and erotic promise.Even beneath her heavy cloak the movements of her body were suggestive of delights.
Nicholas’s smile was warm and relaxed, but Eleanor felt the arm around her tighten.“Therese?Were you on it?If only I had known … But even so, I had to attend to my poor wife, who suffers from mal-de-mer.”
Resignedly recognizing her cue, Eleanor adopted a drooping stance and leaned slightly against him.Was his tension simply due to the little deception they were practicing?Or was this woman, whom he had significantly neglected to introduce to her, an intimate acquaintance?One of his many ex-mistresses, perhaps?She waited with malicious enjoyment to see how he would handle his predicament.
He did so quite simply by cutting across a further comment the woman was making and saying, “I’m sorry, Therese, but my wife must lie down.Come, my dear.”
He was the picture of uxorious concern as he guided her up the stairs to their room, and in a low voice he congratulated her on the way she had handled herself in the scene below.
“Do not congratulate me too soon, sir,” she said sharply.“I do not engage in this sort of deception every day of the week.My nerves are in shreds.”
She regretted her overloud outburst as soon as it was out, but her “husband” said nothing until they were safely inside her room and the door was shut.
