Caversham’s Bride

Chapter Ten-1

Chapter Ten

Lia awoke to the sound of two maids entering with a bathing tub, and two more carrying buckets of hot water. Clearing the sleep from her tired and sore eyes, she watched as the inn keeper’s wife entered bearing a tray with her morning meal. A short woman with gray hair and a pinched face, she looked as though she spent her days sucking lemons.

“I didn’t order a bath or food,” Lia said when the maids were gone.

“His lordship ordered them for you.” The woman’s tone told Lia she obviously disapproved of her presence in her husband’s establishment.

“I’m not hungry. You can take the tray back.” She plopped back onto the bed and covered her aching head with the pillow.

“I can only bring what the man ordered,” the woman said stiffly. “What you do with it is your business.” She gave a harrumph, then turned and left the room as the maids returned with more water.

She rose and went to the window to avoid looking at the women entering or the guard at her door. Instead, she stared out onto the tiled roofs of the buildings of the city. Lia had given the situation a great deal of thought over the long night. The Englishman had lived up to his end of the bargain, and admittedly, she was indebted to him for rescuing her brother. She’d always thought herself an honorable person, one who kept her word. Last night was the first time she’d ever tried to run away from a promise she made. For that she was ashamed.

But she had heard this Englishman talk of things that changed their agreement. Things he felt free to discuss with others, but not with her, the woman he would take as his wife.

This betrayal of her trust stung. Though what hurt most, was his admitting that once she gave him his heirs, he would set her aside, separating her from her children. That wasn’t a man who intended to live up to the marriage vows, made before God, that were part of their agreement. Any marriage with him under these circumstances would be doomed from the beginning.

She swiped at a stray tear, refusing to let it fall. She would not feel sorry for herself. It didn’t matter now that she’d dreamed of marrying for love. The reality of her situation was now different. She was thankful to him for saving her brother, and she would keep her end of the bargain. Because, in the end, a loveless union was easily worth her brother’s life. But before Lia married the Englishman, he would have to promise never to separate her from her children.

Feeling grimy and hungry, she looked to the tray on the table. The food was probably cold by now, as was her bath. She dipped her fingers in, testing the water. It was barely warm, and it would get uncomfortable fast if she didn’t hurry. The chicken stew was also getting cold. Grease congealed around the edge of the tureen, and a thin layer formed across the top. She reached for the bread. Even though hard and chewy, it was still more palatable than the contents of the bowl.

Lia stripped out of the dirty boys clothing she still wore, slid into the tepid bath, and began scrubbing. There was no telling how soon Ren would come for her, and she wanted to be presentable when he arrived. Besides, she could think more clearly when she was clean.

Ren stood in front of the small mirror on the shaving stand and wiped blood from his chin, wondering how he managed to cut himself on dry land when he hadn’t done so on his ship in years. He tossed the razor into the bowl of soapy water and dried his face. He had to hurry if he were to make it out and back in time. In his haste to get a priest and a license yesterday, he had forgotten one thing. A damned ring.

Surely there must be a goldsmith or jeweler nearby from whom he could purchase a plain gold band. Once they arrived in England, he would give her something more suitable, but for now a simple band would have to do.

He tucked his shirt into his breeches and pulled his boots on. On his way out, he checked with Flynn to make sure Lia was behaving herself.

“Hadn’t heard a peep from her since the inn keep’s wife left,” Flynn reported.

“Good.” Ren nodded in approval. “The seamstress should be arriving soon with Lia’s clothing. Have the woman help my bride dress. I’ll be back shortly.”

As he passed the public room, he spotted the innkeeper. Perhaps he might know of a place where he could purchase a modest ring.

“I have a cousin whose son-in-law is a fine jeweler. His shop is just around the corner,” the old man said pointing, “and down about a hundred yards. His name is Guiseppe Casale. It’s written on the door.”

“Mille grazie, Signore,” Ren said, thanking the man as he left the inn. He’d made it as far as the bottom step when a young woman’s voice stopped him.

“Your Grace?”

He turned and looked at the lady before him, barely more than a child, and wondered what she wanted. She clutched the cloak tight, its hood pulled low, almost covering her eyes.

“Yes?” he replied.

“If I could but have a moment of your time. It is a matter of great urgency.” She stepped up into the inn’s public room before pushing back the hood to reveal sparkling sapphire blue eyes and golden blond hair piled high and artfully arranged on top of her head. “I am Julianna Gualtiero, Angelia’s cousin. I wish to speak to her if I may.”

So this was the daughter of the aunt who had attempted murder twice, and quite possibly succeeded with the boy’s nurse. Nothing more than a child, she appeared as a glorious golden angel, frightened and in need of help. Every instinct in him cautioned him to proceed with care. He didn’t trust Lia. She might have sent for her cousin in another foolish attempt to escape him.

It only took a moment to arrive at his decision.

“I will allow you to see her, on one condition. I will be witness to your conversation.”

“Yes, Your Grace,” she replied, demurely lowering her eyes.

Something about her behavior gave him cause for concern. The girl held her black cloak about her with a grip that turned her knuckles white. Her eyes compelled him. At first he’d mistaken it for fear, but that wasn’t it. She was hiding something beneath her cloak. Then he knew.

That scheming wench he was about to take to bride was luring this innocent to help her in her escape.

Ren led the girl through the establishment, past the innkeeper, and up the stairs to his room. Flynn gave him a curious glance as Ren opened the door and showed the young woman in. In his room, with the door still open so he could keep an eye on her, he gave Flynn directions to the jeweler’s shop and instructed him to get a band for Lia.

He then knocked on Lia’s door and called out for her. The sound of water sloshing in the tub told him what she was doing.

“Don’t come in!” she shouted. “Please! Give me a moment to collect myself.”

“Come across to my room as soon as possible,” he instructed, unlocking her door.

He entered his room, leaving the door open so he could guard the entrance to Lia’s room. “It seems your cousin is occupied,” he told the girl in Italian. “She will be here momentarily. Is there something I could help you with?”

“I have come seeking a way out of my mother’s home,” she said slowly. “I was hoping that Lia would—that you would—take me with her.”

He shook his head. “That is not possible.”

At his negative response, she immediately began to cry, giant pear-shaped tears that instantly fell in torrents down her cheeks. Instinctively he moved toward her, wanting to calm her, when she dropped the cloak she held so tightly only moments before, and began screaming as though she were being murdered.

Ren took in her disheveled and torn gown which revealed a generous amount of cleavage. The chemise underneath was torn as well and her full breasts were near to spilling out of her corset. She screamed and screamed until his bloody ears rang with the shrill sound of her high pitched voice.

The innkeeper and his wife appeared to see what the commotion was and the girl ran into the old woman’s arms and began to cry.

“I came here to see my cousin,” she said through her tears, “to wish her well on her journey. And that monster tried to force himself on me. When I refused him, he became enraged and tried to rip my gown from my body.”

“The lying chit!” Ren exclaimed. The tone of his voice threw the girl into further hysterics. He watched as the innkeeper’s wife wrapped her arms around the scheming female and soothingly stroked her back.

The girl looked to the innkeeper. “I beg you, please, get my mother. I want my mother.” She turned her face into the older woman’s shoulder and continued to cry, this time including loud wailing sounds for theatrical effect.

“I did no such thing and you know it,” Ren bellowed. “You lying little b***h! I don’t know what game you play, but it will get you nowhere. Do you hear me? Nowhere!”

Ren paced circles in the tiny corner of the small room. He was furious with himself for falling for the tale of another devious, conniving female. And he’d thought this one an innocent!

Women. They were all the same.

“Get out of my room!” When she made no move to leave, but began to scream more, he pushed past her and saw Lia standing at the door, her hair wrapped in a towel and her dress plastered to her still damp skin. He gave a vile curse about all women and strode into Lia’s room, calling out the window for Angus to come up and bring more men.

He re-entered the fracas when Angus arrived, and began to explain what had happened when the nightmare only got worse. The aunt, the woman he had hoped never to see again, and mother of the girl that was accusing him of attempted r**e, appeared. Behind her was her housekeeper, and a footman.

Lia, her cousin, the aunt, the housekeeper, the innkeeper and his wife were all shouting at each other at the top of their lungs. Their hands were flying about and they were speaking so quickly he was lost, but what he could make out sounded as though Lia was defending him.

How could she have possibly known what transpired? He didn’t know how much she’d witnessed, but it couldn’t have been the entire scenario, for he’d seen no one standing in the doorway as he walked toward the girl to comfort her.

“Chiama la guardia,” the aunt screamed. “Chiama la guardia!”

He turned to Lia, “What the hell is she saying?”

“Right now she is screaming for someone to call the constable. She says you compromised her daughter, who is a lady gently reared.” Lia rolled her eyes at this, “and is insisting you marry her now because no true gentleman will believe that she is still a maid after what has taken place here today.”

Ren’s anger boiled over. “What?” Now it was his turn to scream. “I never touched the lying chit. The door was wide open the entire time. I have nothing to explain!”

He began to pace in circles, hissing, “I knew it. I just knew it. How could I have fallen for this? I picked up that something was wrong downstairs, but I thought, ‘Noooo, not this one. She’s too angelic-looking.’ When am I ever going to learn?”

Angus came up to him and pointed his finger right in Ren’s face. “I don’t ken why ye always feel like ye need to be rescuing the fairer s*x. They’re more treacherous than a north wind. And I’ve learned the older I get, that the prettier they are, the more wicked they be.”

Ren had had enough. Placing two fingers between his lips, he whistled. The sound pierced the din, silencing everyone. Once all eyes turned to him, he began pointing at people. “You, out!” he shouted to two of his men. “You too,” he scowled at Lia’s cousin, the innkeeper, his wife, the aunt’s housekeeper, and the footman. “Angus, watch the little b***h and the housekeeper out in the hallway.”

With only Claudina and Lia in the room, he spoke in a barely controlled rage. “I know what you want. You’re just like all the rest. And you will get nothing from me. Nothing. Do you understand me?”