Page 10 of Just Think of the Scandal (The Fairplace Family Novellas #2)

T heo rubbed his eyes, grateful the game was wrapping up. As he waited for his turn, knowing he would lose—he was rubbish at billiards—his mind drifted back to Eliska.

Lord William drank brandy straight from a crystal decanter, his necktie and waistcoat long gone. “Cheers to the stag caught in the parson’s trap.”

Theo ignored them, hoping they’d all retire to bed and he could have a night of uninterrupted sleep before his mother arrived and the wedding occurred.

Wedding. With Eliska.

She was so beautiful. He felt drunk as an owl. Theo took stock of himself, glancing at the bar to remember. No, he hadn’t had a drop tonight. He wasn’t going to be suffering an alcohol headache on his wedding day, and he didn’t want any more disasters. He wasn’t drunk on alcohol, he realized, but that kiss.

She’d tasted like…like sunshine on violets. Like strawberries and chocolate. Like…he squinted at the balls on the green felt, trying to think of another simile.

Damn. Maybe he was drunk.

But those eyes…he could go swimming in those blue, blue eyes and never come up for air. He’d drown quite happily if he died holding her in his arms, her curves pressed against him.

Thank goodness she had a sense of humor. He hadn’t seen much of it yet, but he loved that both of them wanted a dog. Maybe they’d want the same breed. Or maybe they’d bicker over it, neither giving way, until all the frustration turned to lust and they made up by making love.

No, he’d just get her the breed she wanted, he realized.

When he’d written the character sketch for the silly game, he scribbled line after line, hardly stopping to think about it. Apparently, he’d picked up a lot of details about her over the past week without noticing. They all flooded to the forefront now that she would be his wife.

After the wedding he’d take her away immediately. He didn’t want her exposed to any more ridicule from the house guests. They’d travel to London, to his family’s townhouse. Ever since Violet, his sister, had married and his mother moved to Nottingham to be near her grandchildren, he’d had the run of the place. Now that he thought about it, the house desperately needed a woman’s touch.

In a couple of months, they could honeymoon in Prague. He had enough money for an extended holiday, and he’d set up meetings with her solicitors and find out how to get her the inheritance she was owed.

And then, if all were going well, perhaps they could—

“Are you going to shoot?” Evelyn asked.

Theo started, rubbing the back of his neck. “Uh, sure. Didn’t realize it was my turn.”

The game ended a few shots later, thankfully. Theo gratefully set his cue stick away and urged the men onward, up the stairs and toward the bedrooms.

“Can’t believe you’ll be a married man tomorrow,” Evelyn said as they reached the first landing.

Theo nodded. “I like her, though.”

The men chortled, as if he’d told a joke.

“Oh, he likes her jolly well,” one told the others. “When we found him in the drawing room, he still had Miss Czerninová with him.” He waggled his eyebrows for effect.

The men laughed or clapped him on the back.

Theo’s shoulders stiffened at their touch and hastened his pace. He was so sick of this group. Evelyn needed better friends.

“Shame it’s happening so fast,” Evelyn said. “Or I would’ve made a stag party and brought in some entertainment. There’s this serving wench at the local tavern.” He belched.

“Oh, is she the one with the tits the size of melons?” one man inquired. “I stopped for some cider on the way in, and she’s quite the looker.”

Theo glanced at him with disgust. He’d talk about the attractive women he saw when foxed too, but not…not like that. “I don’t want a stag party like that.”

They traveled down the corridor like a herd of wildebeest. Theo’s door was the closest, thank goodness. He eyed the shadows that covered his recessed door.

“Married!” Evelyn was still going on about it.

Theo ignored him, feeling rather like a rankled dog. Yes, married. Yes, it was ridiculous. Yes, he couldn’t believe it either. Yes, it was fast.

Yes, she was beautiful. Yes, she fit against his body just perfectly. Yes, her ears pinkened after his kisses. Yes, her faint accent was adorable. Yes, she was possibly smarter than him. Yes, he was lucky, oh so desperately lucky, that it was her he’d compromised and not one of the other girls.

The men reached the end of the corridor where all the gas lamps were off. Theo could scarcely see the hand before his face, and he groped for the doorknob before catching the cool metal.

“We can always go to a courtesan’s palace next time I’m in London,” Evelyn offered. “Since I can’t celebrate your wedding beforehand.”

Theo glanced back at his cousin in surprise. Theo hadn’t expected Evelyn to be a paragon of marital virtue—fidelity in marriage was so middle class—but he couldn’t believe Evelyn was offering to help him find a courtesan, encouraging adultery, and all on the eve of his wedding. And with Evelyn’s own cousin! Men were supposed to protect the lone women in their care.

With a curl of his lip, Theo didn’t even bother to reply. He opened his door and silently shut it behind the men, still joking and stomping around in the corridor.

“Do you think her maidenhair matches her head?” Lord William asked rather loudly, if Theo could hear it through the door.

“Maybe he’ll tell us after the wedding night,” one suggested.

More muffled laughter and whispers came.

Theo’s whole body clenched in anger. How could they treat his bride that way? How could they talk about any young woman that way? Fists clenched, he opened his door to punch some sense into them.

But they had already disappeared into their rooms.

He stood fuming in the doorway. He was taking Eliska away tomorrow as soon as the ceremony was over. No breakfast, no celebration. She deserved better than this lot. Their marriage was real and deserved respect. He’d honor it by not treating it as a jest for the other men.

He went back to his room and shut the door silently, clenching the knob so hard it bit into his palm. And then he went to bed, looking forward to his plans for tomorrow.

∞∞∞

Eliska stood in the corridor, sheltered by a plant and the shadows of the alcove. Her body went hot, then cold. Her fingers tingled as her mind tried to comprehend what she’d just heard.

Her face burned with humiliation and outrage. She had half a mind to stalk into those men’s rooms and drag them to their mothers by their ears.

She shivered in shock. Her nightrail swirled around her bare legs and her feet were frozen, yet again, to the carpeting. She’d just wanted to surprise Theo. Just wait until he was at his door and then dart out and surprise him with a goodnight kiss.

She was already ruined, so she might as well enjoy it. On her last night of maidenhood.

And then those men. Her mouth tasted bitter, as if she’d swallowed bile. Those horrible men. Never had she felt so objectified and dissected in her life. Men could be monsters.

But the worst part. The worst part was Theo.

He hadn’t said a word.

She’d squinted through the darkness, but had only been able to see the clump of young bucks, those loud and obnoxious creatures, chuckling in the hall. Theo had been one of them.

He’d promised.

That was the only thing her mind could alight on. He’d promised.

He’d promised to respect her, to honor their marriage. She’d written he was kind and possessed great honor in the sketch!

Eliska sucked in a ragged breath. I can’t marry a man like that. Her chest hurt. She sagged against the wall, one hand over her mouth and the other over her heart. Her mind raced. Trying to come up with an answer. Trying to justify what Theo had done. Trying to find an escape.

I can’t marry him. She shuddered at the thought of him going back to their cousin and friends, describing her body in graphic detail for their amusement. Her stomach roiled and she thought she might be sick.

She couldn’t do it. She’d go back to the Lands of the Bohemian Crown and find work as a teacher at a girl’s finishing school before subjecting herself to this casual disdain. Even her father, who cared deeply about their social standing, would support that under the circumstances. Maybe the magistrate would take pity on her. She had to try.

Her vision blurred. She wiped her tears away, angry she was crying over a man not worth them. Eliska took a deep, shaky breath and tiptoed back to her room.