Flave puffed up his cheeks and then let out a long breath. In spite of being a grown man, he resembled a petulant child. “But what about Daphne? I made a vow to her that she was my one true love. I told her nothing would change between us after the transfer of Cecily’s dowry.”
Shaking his head, Stephen dashed Flavion’s hopes. “Tell her your life depends upon it, by God. Surely, if she loves you, she won’t wish to see you laid out in the parlor. It’s imperative that you do what is necessary to repair your marriage, Flave. A man who dowers his daughter with a hundred-thousand pounds expects the groom to make an honest effort. Give it a few years, then you can have as manyDaphneson the side as you wish.” For some reason, Stephen could not see Flavion holding his wife’s interest for much longer than that. Flave was entirely too one dimensional for her. Once she discovered Flave was all flash and no substance, as charming as he could be, she’d tire of him. The thought was oddly satisfying.
“Daphne is the one, Stephen,” Flave said, looking far too dreamy. “You’ll understand someday.”
Stephen dismissed an intrusive memory of Flavion speaking these exact same words to him years ago — in regards to Stephen’s own betrothed.
Not willing to let Flave ramble along on a lovesick tangent, Stephen interrupted him. “But you must set Daphne aside, Flave. You are my closest living relative, and I’m not inclined to carry on the Nottingham name alone. Do you understand?” Stephen held his cousin’s eyes unwaveringly. “You must do whatever is necessary to repair relations with Lady Kensington.”
After holding Stephen’s eyes for a moment, Flave looked down at the floor in defeat. “You really think her old man would come after me? You’re not just being paranoid, are you?”
“I wish I were.” And then walking around to the other side of the desk himself, Stephen sat down in the chair Flavion had vacated. Ignoring the headache that had begun to settle in, he absently began sorting through various receipts and bills in front of him. Ah, here’s what he was looking for. “Now, let’s assess these contracts to see what stipulations the old bastard has put on all that money. Best to know what we’re dealing with.” Flavion flung himself down in the sofa on the other side of the room and, with one leg hooked over the cushioned arm, looked petulantly bored as he waited.
Like old times.
It took Stephen less than ten minutes to realize that Thomas Findlay had most definitelynotrelinquished his daughter and her dowry as handily as Flavion had assumed. Flavion was already nearly in default. He’d been given one month to put together a plan in which the first third of the dowry was to be put in trust for Lady Kensington and any children, a third could be used to buttress the properties under the earldom, and the remaining third was to be invested so that the proceeds could then be used to provide his daughter and new son-in-law a small allowance.
A cold chill ran down his spine as he began adding up bills and receipts the couple had accumulated over the past few weeks since their wedding. Holy hell, between the two of them, they’d managed to spend nearly twenty-thousand pounds! And that was just what he could see from the haphazard pile of receipts in front of him. When he looked up to address Flavion with the bad news, he wasn’t surprised to see that Flave had nodded off.
It seemed that his cousin was going to need some financial assistance, after all. Stephen poured himself a few fingers of scotch and then sat down again to process and absorb the situation before him. A part of him was of a mind to walk away and leave Flave to face the music alone for once in his life. In the past, on more occasions than Stephen could remember, either he or Uncle Leo had dug Flavion out of holes he’d gotten himself into. Unfortunately, in this instance, the repercussions were too dire for Stephen to abandon his cousin. As much of a wastrel as Flave could be, Stephen did not wish to see him dead.
Flogged, perhaps, but not dead.
So.
First things first. Hopefully, Flave would heed Stephen’s advice and patch things up with Lady Kensington. A remote possibility existed that the lady might be willing to make another go at the marriage. Perhaps it was true that love and hate were opposite sides of the same coin, for Flavion’s sake anyhow. Because last night it had seemed as though Lady Kensington hated her new husband. Passionately. And yet she wanted to learn how to seduce him.
Tomorrow, Stephen decided, he would spend a bit of timetellingCecily Nottingham what she could do to entice her husband. Under no circumstances, he’d decided firmly, would heshowher anything. Perhaps he could find a book… Although…
Leaning back, with closed eyes, he inadvertently remembered the feel of her, soft and warm, in his arms as they’d danced. Without being petite, she was delicate nonetheless. She had an enticing coloring, what with hair the color of a sunset and eyes that flashed her every emotion. Made a man wonder…
If it werehistask to unlock her carnal sensuality, he’d not find it an unpleasant one. She was a tantalizing minx, nearly bursting with simmering passions. For the thousandth time that evening, the words, “Flave’s a fool,” danced through his mind.
But this type of thinking was all to no avail. After a few moments of searching, he found several steward reports and unopened bills in the top drawer. He spent much of the night addressing estate problems and making notes about where Flave needed to begin buttressing the earldom. A good deal of the money from the dowry was going to be required to pay off old bills.Hells bells. Flavion was going to need every penny of that dowry.He’d damn well better begin earning it.
When Cecily awokethe next morning, she groaned and then buried her face back under the covers. Her head hurt, her mouth felt like cotton, and her stomach was queasy. The gloom that had settled on her every morning since her wedding, though, wasn’t quite as heavy as it had been before. No, it was now replaced with an onslaught of embarrassment and shame for the way she’d spoken to Flavion’s cousin. Last night’s decision to seduce him, seemed laughable this morning. She hoped he would ignore her request, and that neither of them would ever have to discuss the subject again.
Except that her enthusiastic friends would not let her get away with any such thing.
Argh! What had her life come to? She needed to pull herself together.
After sitting up, she reached for the tea that would have been brought in earlier. It must have been over an hour ago, as it was not even slightly warm.
She drank the liquid anyway and then climbed out of bed. Ignoring her dressing gown, she reached for the bell pull to summon her maid. She wanted to look her best before facing Mr. Stephen Nottingham again. Flavion had always spoken of his cousin with a sort of hero worship. Apparently, the man held considerable sway with her husband. She was curious what he planned to do with it.
All thoughts fled from her mind at that moment, however, when a loud shout and a thumping and crashing sound broke the peaceful quiet of the morning. Startled into action, she flew out the door of her room in her nightdress and came to stand at the top of the long stairway looking down.
Flavion lay on the polished marble floor at the bottom with a large gash on his forehead, drops of splattered blood staining the lace at his wrists.
He was not moving.
The shrill ofa female scream awoke Stephen from the brief slumber he’d eventually given in to near dawn. Rather than wake up his valet, he had decided to sleep, instead, on the leather couch in the study. Instantly alert, he leapt up and followed the alarming sound. As he arrived in the foyer, he was met with the sight of his cousin, unmoving at the bottom of the stairs and his cousin’s blushing bride peering down from the balustrade above, looking terrified — and perhaps a little guilty.
Had she pushed Flavion down the stairs? Had he been wrong in advising Flave to ignore Daphne’s warning? Stephen rushed forward, bent down, and touched his hand to the side of Flavion’s neck.
With relief, he found a pulse rather quickly. At the same time, Flave began stirring.
“Is he all right?” Lady Kensington called anxiously from above. Her voice echoed in the large foyer. She sounded more curious than concerned, as inWas I successful?He glanced up to assess her demeanor visually.
