Page 6 of Miss Thornfield’s Daring Bargain (The Troublemakers Trilogy #1)

I t had been decided by Elodia and Regina that they would take one room and the happily wedded couple would share the other. A fact they had elected to keep to themselves until Ada tried to go to bed and found her things in his room. Ada knew Basil well enough not to fear him engaging in unseemly behavior. He’d taken one look at her bags in the room and picked up his own travel case, moving it to the adjoining sitting room, leaving the bed to her. No awkward glances, no stilted conversation where she imposed herself even further.

She was grateful for his discretion but at the same time it left her feeling even more alone in that alien space. Even more aware of the liminal nature of her relationship with Basil. In the morning, they would take off on the road back to Cheshire before continuing to London. Two days , she told herself, three at most, and her brother would be back home where he belonged.

Her brother.

She’d forced herself not to think about him too much since she’d found out the truth of his circumstances. Now that the wedding was over, and she had nothing to do but wait until the morning, the thoughts came hard and fast. Debtors’ prison wasn’t something spoken about in polite society, which meant that gently bred ladies like her didn’t know much about it. What little Ada knew, however, was enough to chill her blood. Men wasted away there from disease or despair, forgotten and alone, disgraced and dishonored. A fate worse than simple death.

Her handsome, brave, kind brother was in such a place because of the greed of another man. Greed and prejudice. The mischievous man who made their mother’s longevity noodles for her birthday, congee when she was sick, and mooncakes for the mid-autumn festival, so she’d always remember the taste of their mother’s cooking. The brother who snuck her books deemed unfit for ladies, and taught her the same self-defense techniques their mother had taught him. The brother who spoiled her with trinkets and jewelry and dresses at every opportunity. Would she ever see him again?

She replaced her shoes with her bedroom slippers and then began removing her jewelry. By the time she sat down at the dressing table to take down her hair, her eyes were burning with tears. Every time she caught her reflection in the mirror, she seemed to look more depressed. Her brother was missing. Some evil men had snatched him away from his friends and family for money with no thought to the people he depended on.

She watched in defeat as the tears rolled down her cheeks one after the other. There was no staving off the fearful thoughts and desolation at the idea of being the only one of her family left. The only one left with her strange eyes and pin-straight hair that defied the hottest curling tongs. Would there be no one left to call her by her name? No one to connect her to the home and people she’d never seen? Unable to keep looking, she buried her face in her hands, pressing her fingertips into her forehead.

“Gēgē,” she whispered tearfully. She couldn’t imagine how he must be feeling trapped in that place, betrayed twice over by someone they had all trusted. Someone she had only narrowly escaped herself. A chill raced through her, raising her pores, and sending her arms around her torso. If not for Basil, she could have ended up in Trent’s clutches and at his mercy just as Zhenyi had been. She couldn’t bear to think of how close she had come to danger, and how impossible it would have been for her to save herself let alone her brother.

“Ada?” She heard Basil’s voice and looked up to see him standing in the doorway to the sitting room. His jacket was missing, and he was drying his hands on a small towel.

“I’m sorry,” she muttered turning away from him and checking her face for tears. Not only were her eyes red but her hair was still half in pins. She looked deranged.

“Are you crying?” he asked, entering the room.

“I’m not crying.” She started pulling out pins before she remembered he wasn’t actually her husband. Not really. Should she have her hair down in front of him? Did it even matter at this point? If he was in his shirt sleeves, surely she could have loose hair.

He crouched down on the floor before her and took her hands in his, trapping the hairpins between her palms. “I’m sorry. I’ve not been taking care of you as I should have.”

She shook her head and kept her eyes on her hands, their hands. She already wanted more of him than she had a right to. She didn’t know what she’d do if she met his eyes when he was this close, when his voice was so soft and kind. “You’ve been wonderful, Basil.”

“You’ve been so steady and composed until now. I didn’t think about how you must be feeling. This last fortnight has been very trying for me, but you must be half out of your mind.”

She let out a mirthless laugh and shook her head as she forced back more tears. “My head has been spinning. All I could do was think of a plan, of what to do, how to prepare. Now there’s nothing left to do. I’ve only now had time to come to terms with what’s happened.” She chanced a glance up at him. His clear blue eyes were full of concern as he waited patiently, the firelight glinting off his light brown hair. He was so compassionate and still, so calm as he listened to her speak her mind and her heart. “We trusted Mr. Trent, Basil. My parents, my brother, and I trusted him with everything. And he saw us as something to be looted. Something to take advantage of. If you hadn’t warned me against it, I’d have gone with him to Cheshire, and he could have forced me into anything. I would have had no protection at all.”

He shook his head. “No, I would have found you, Ada. I wouldn’t have stopped until I had you safe.”

She wasn’t proud of the way her pulse jolted at those words, or how her heart ached sweetly in her chest. “That’s not really the point. He would never have done this if my father was alive.”

“You can’t know that.”

“I can!” She pulled her hands away from his and rose to her feet, striding away a distance. “Because my father looked like him—a white Englishman. Trent may have stolen from him, but he would never think to hand Zhen— Richard —over to kidnappers and lie about his whereabouts if my father were here. He would never have been able to do this because my father looked like he could and should be prosperous in this country. My brother and I… Trent can spin any lie about us that he wishes. I can’t help wondering what might happen if we fail.”

“What do you mean?” he asked, rising to his feet.

Like a summer shower the gust of temper was gone leaving her with a building sense of dread in her stomach. “What if we never find him?” She hated how small her voice sounded, how weak. Trent had counted on her to be weak. Weak and foolish. She couldn’t stop it.

“Ada.” Basil walked over to her and took her by the arms.

The weight of those broad, long-fingered hands on her arms unraveled a knot of tension inside her and the tears rolled down her face fast and hot. She buried her face in her hands and fought desperately for composure. Fought the urge to hide against him until everything was over, just like a child would. “I can’t stop thinking of him alone. The things being said to him, the indignities he’s suffering. I can’t stop thinking that they might punish him for having things they think he shouldn’t have. And he doesn’t know if I’m safe. He doesn’t know if anyone will come for him. He must be in agony.”

He pulled her close and wrapped his arms around her in a light but secure embrace. For a moment, she froze in shock, but then the warmth of him sank in. The safety of being enveloped in his arms and held against him took hold of her, and she relaxed, burying her face in his firm chest. He had initiated the embrace. She didn’t have to feel guilty about accepting it. He smelt of cedar and musk, full of assurance and solace. His hands stroked her back and her hair in long firm strokes. Her arms came up to wrap around his trim waist. He felt solid and lean instead of skinny, his body wiry and deliciously firm. Was it normal to feel this sense of familiarity even though two days ago they had never touched? When he spoke again, the rumble of his deep voice seemed to vibrate into her bones.

“I cannot speak for your brother, and I cannot tell you that he is doing well. What I can tell you is that he is a strong, broad-minded, intelligent man. He isn’t a weakling either; he can handle himself. Leo and I will do our utmost to locate him and get him justice. It is all we can do, Ada.”

She lifted her head and met his eyes, her fingers curling absently into the material of his shirt. “Do you really think what we’ve done will make things worse for him? Do you think they’ll hurt him because of this?”

“I shouldn’t have said that,” he said, his thumbs swiping gently at the tears on her cheeks.

“But do you think they’ll take it out on him? I can’t lose him, Basil. He’s all the family I have left.” What if they thrashed him or maimed him because she was trying to be clever? Perhaps she should have gone into hiding as Basil had suggested, but then she wouldn’t be able to stand in his arms like this. She wouldn’t have known the delicious torture of relishing the feel of a man she couldn’t have. She wasn’t sure it was something she’d want to give up.

He tucked her loose hair behind her ears and framed her face between his palms. “You aren’t going to lose anyone. We have a plan, and it’s a bloody good one.”

She looked up at him in surprise. She wasn’t used to men cursing around her on purpose. “You’re not supposed to use language like that in front of a lady.”

“How very uncouth of me. You are absolutely correct. I apologize,” he replied with no remorse in his voice whatsoever.

She couldn’t help but smile. “It is a good plan, isn’t it?”

“The best plan. Trent will never see us coming,” he replied, a small smile softening the lines of his face.

“And, incidentally, it was my plan.”

“Yes, dear,” he replied easily.

A glow filled her at the amused affection warming his voice and lighting his eyes, making her forget that she wasn’t actually his wife. They weren’t meant to be this close or physically familiar. She didn’t want to move. She liked the way he looked at her as if she were a partner in crime or an old friend… or something else. The tenderness in his gaze was turning into something else, and his grip on her waist and shoulders was tightening ever so slightly. His hold shifted as if he was going to bring her close again, and his lips parted on a breath. Her eyes fell to his mouth, her mind running wild at the idea of touching them. She’d never been kissed before. The idea of it being Basil, of giving everything over to this man was thrilling and perfect. This gentleman of a man who wiped her tears and listened to her anxious thoughts without making her feel like a child. Who brought a ring for their wedding so it didn’t feel like the sham it was.

She met his eyes again and wondered if his face was closer or if she was imagining things. She pressed her lips together, wetting them with the tip of her tongue and saw his gaze drop to them. His hands flexed on her back and she knew that he was going to kiss her. And when he did, she was going to kiss him back.

Basil seemed to realize this as well and thought better of it because in another head-spinning moment, he’d released her and taken a step back. “Are you all right now?” he asked, turning from her to face the doorway.

She nodded, locking her knees to keep from sinking to the floor. Her body was tingling everywhere his had made contact with it, still reliving and reacting to the fantasy she’d so nearly experienced. She missed his embrace with an intensity that made no sense. Was this what desire felt like?

“I’ll sleep on the sofa,” he said, walking towards the adjoining door and that delicious thrill in her veins iced over.

“What? Why?” she asked, before she could think about what she was asking.

He paused, his head dropping forward. “Because it would be best.”

“I—” she froze and bit her lip. She didn’t want to sleep by herself in a strange room with her fearful thoughts waiting to reemerge the moment she didn’t have a distraction. She wanted him to come back and hold her to keep her fears at bay. “You don’t have to.”

“I think I do.”

What are you doing? “It would hardly be improper anymore; you are my husband now.”

“Am I?” he asked softly.

Her breath froze in her lungs as the meaning behind that question hung between them.

You could be. The words were on the tip of her tongue but she couldn’t dare speak them.

Two signatures on a piece of paper could give her the protection of his name, but it didn’t change the relationship between them. She’d set the line; it wouldn’t be fair for her to move it now. He didn’t deserve that.

“Never mind,” his voice came again. “I will sleep in here; you take the bed. I’ll see you in the morning.” Then he disappeared through the adjoining door.

It was for the best. He was right. She would find a way to cope on her own. She turned away and reached up to her neck to begin unhooking the front of her gown and froze. This was one of the few that fastened in the back. Damn . She would need to call him back. “Basil,” she called, and the movement in the other room stopped.

“Yes?”

“I need help with my dress. It buttons in the back.” She turned her back to his room and waited with bated breath and burning cheeks until she heard his footsteps and then felt his fingertips graze the skin of her upper back. “I’m sorry, I didn’t think I’d be traveling without a maid.”

His fingers worked against her back as he began silently unfastening the row of small pearl buttons along her spine. His warm breath puffed across her skin as he worked on his task, and her eyes drifted closed as she allowed her mind to wander. In the penny novels she’d read, the knight would gently slide the garment off his lady’s shoulders to catch a glimpse of her before deferring to chivalry and turning away. She wondered what Basil would do. Would he prove more a knight or a warlord? A shiver coursed through her, and he paused.

“Are you feeling well?” he murmured.

“Yes,” she replied, willing her heart to stop racing.

“You’re trembling. You must be freezing.”

She couldn’t respond to that convincingly. It was colder here than London, but she couldn’t pretend the distance from the fireplace was the reason she couldn’t seem to catch her breath. Her dress loosened gradually until she heard him take a step back, felt his hands fall away.

“Do you need help with anything else?” he asked.

She pressed her lips together against a scandalous suggestion and shook her head.

“I’ll be in the other room then,” he said before walking away again.

Ada waited until she heard the door shut firmly before lifting her eyes from the ground. She needed to get control of herself. She removed her gown, her crinoline, and her stays. Moving quickly, she slipped on her cotton nightgown and put out the few candles in the room before crawling into bed. Thankfully, it was comfortable enough with a soft mattress and smooth sheets.

It took her about five minutes to realize the bed was far too large for her to relax. She was plagued with ideas of her brother’s situation. Was he cold? Was he hungry? Had he been beaten? If they didn’t find him, would he die there, hungry and alone? Would they never be able to lay his body to rest? A series of unexplained creaks sounded from the window, the wooden panel walls, the floor by her bedroom door. She froze, her heart hammering in her chest. Footsteps sounded in the hallway, and she began counting in her mind. As a nightmare-prone child, she’d always run to her brother’s room or her parents. In school, she’d shared a dorm with Regina and Elodia.

Now she was alone.

A shiver ran through her, and she squeezed her eyes shut, hoping for some of the images to go away. Trying to remind herself that she was a grown woman and not a child. That her friends were just on the other side of the door. That she wasn’t actually alone. Something tapped on the wall and a gasp stuck in her throat.

That wasn’t going to work either.

Swallowing her fear, she threw back the covers, slid her feet into her slippers, and walked through the connecting door.

He had retired to the sofa in front of the fireplace, which while warm enough, couldn’t have been comfortable. But that wasn’t what was drawing her attention. Basil was only wearing his trousers. The sight of his bare chest nearly sent her scrambling back to her room but the idea of having a nightmare in that big bed, in a strange place, left her frozen.

She hadn’t expected him to be this muscular. The firelight danced over his skin and the dusting of dark hair over his chest, stomach, and lower… If he were her husband, she’d know what that bare skin would feel like against hers. She squeezed her eyes shut and turned away from the sinful image he presented. It didn’t make any sense to dwell on that when everything about them was a favor. A duty.

“Basil,” she whispered and waited for a response. Nothing. “Basil,” she tried a little louder, and then she heard a rustle of movement.

“Ada?” More rustling. Lord, his voice had a new husky edge to it that she hadn’t prepared herself for. “Ada, what are you doing here?”

“I can’t sleep,” she said turning towards him but keeping her eyes firmly fixed on her slippers. “It’s cold and there are noises and I think someone is—”

“—Alright.” She heard him sigh “What time is it?”

“I don’t know.” She squeezed her eyes shut and clenched her hands together. “Will you sleep in here please?”

“What?”

She had never felt more like a child. She was twenty years old and couldn’t muster up enough courage for one night. “I can’t sleep by myself. Will you come in there with me?”

“In the bed?”

“Just to sleep.”

“Ada…”

She couldn’t hear him say ‘no’. “I won’t touch you, I promise. I’m not asking because I’m wicked or sneaky, I just…I keep thinking of Richard and I don’t sleep well alone or in strange places, you can ask anyone. I’m not lying.”

“Right.”

More silence. The mortification she felt at that quiet and stillness nearly had fresh tears springing to her eyes. I shouldn’t have come. “I’m sorry,” she whispered, “I shouldn’t have asked. Goodnight.” She turned and ran back to her room, wondering how it seemed darker and even more foreboding now that she knew she’d have to face it alone. She crawled back into the bed and pulled the covers up over her head. With every passing second, she could hear her heart beating louder and louder. She clenched her fists in the linens and fought to control her breathing as tears soaked into her pillow. All she needed was for Basil to hear her crying. She didn’t want him to feel guilty for protecting himself.

Footsteps sounded across the floor, and her eyes flew open as her breath caught in her throat. There was a brief draft as he pulled back the covers, the bed depressed behind her, and she felt him lay down. The gratitude filling her chest nearly overwhelmed her.

She peeked over the edge of the blankets. In the dim light of the fireplace, she could see him sitting upright with his eyes closed, his arms crossed over his chest. He’d put back on his shirt. “Thank you,” she whispered.

“It’s no problem. I’ll stay until you fall asleep,” he said, and she nodded even though she was almost certain he couldn’t see her. It took her a few minutes to realize her plan was flawed. His proximity had her mind racing and her skin prickling with awareness. Her thoughts veered towards his life. Had he wanted someone else before he decided to attach himself to her? How would his family view this latest turn of events?

“Basil?”

“Yes?” he replied.

“Was there another person, a woman, you wanted to marry?”

He let out a sharp breath. Was that a laugh? “You’re asking me this now?”

She felt a stab of guilt and a sinking in her stomach. She’d been so focused on saving Zhenyi and romanticizing these new feelings that she hadn’t wondered if she was derailing Basil’s life with her plan. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s not your fault. I could have said no. Yes, to answer your question. My father was in negotiations on my behalf with Lord Ashwood. I was meant to marry his daughter.”

Lord Ashwood was a viscount if she recalled correctly. She couldn’t remember what his daughter looked like. “Oh. Did you like her?”

“I didn’t dislike her,” he replied. “I was meant to post the banns this week.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Stop apologizing. This isn’t your fault.”

“The only reason you’re here is because of me.”

“I’m here because an asshole kidnapped one of my oldest friends. I didn’t have to marry you at all.”

He really should mind his language around her, but she was too grateful for his presence to point it out. “I forced you.”

“Ada, I am very tired, and I could be sleeping on the chaise in the other room. I would appreciate it if you would stop implying that I, a grown man, was kidnapped by three young women and forced into wedlock.”

She choked on a sudden snicker at the image his words conjured. When he put it like that, it sounded ridiculous. “I’m sor—” a warning glance from him stopped her from saying it. “Noted. You are a gallant hero.”

“I’m glad you’re aware of the fact.” His tone was even, but that small trademark smile was spreading across his face. She wondered what it would look like if he smiled fully. Would it reach his eyes? Would they sparkle?

“What is your Miss Ashwood like?”

“Nothing out of the ordinary. Sensible, pretty, kind. Amenable to country living.”

“Dowried, no doubt.”

He gave a wry chuckle and nodded. “Yes. She wouldn’t have done otherwise for father. He’s not the sentimental type. The penniless and unconnected need not apply for a place in the family of the Viscount Sterling.”

“Your father is a viscount?” she asked.

“You didn’t know?” he asked.

If she had at some point, she’d forgotten by now. It would have been in Debrett’s. She was certain Zhenyi had mentioned it before. “Will he be very angry with you?”

“He will be apoplectic,” he sighed.

“Because I’m Chinese?”

“Because I’ve made him look a fool who cannot manage his family. There will be a twofold scandal. First, because I asked him to find a wife for me and then abandoned my betrothed before the banns were read, and second, because I eloped with you, an unconnected daughter of the merchant class with mixed blood. The sky will fall.”

Was that what his family was like? Basil was so kind and clearheaded, a man with the most beautiful heart she’d ever met. She couldn’t imagine his family to hold such bigoted views. Basil calling off an engagement, however, was bad form. To make this choice on account of her, to throw over a viscount’s daughter for her sake… yes, he wouldn’t have an easy time coming back from that. Neither of them would. “Your father doesn’t like Richard, does he?”

“He likes him well enough. But there’s a difference between befriending someone and marrying them.”

“Ah,” Lord, what had she dragged them into? “I’m sorry. You said you didn’t want to, and I forced you.”

“Sweet suffering Jesus, Ada, you didn’t force me.”

“Yes, I did.” He’d come to warn her, and she’d derailed his entire life, forcing him to betray his family. In the dark silence, his hand closed around hers, warm and firm. She glanced up at him and her breath caught in her chest at the earnest and somber gaze he’d fixed on her.

“I agreed to this because it was necessary, not because of you, but because of the circumstance. Richard has been like a brother to me. You are the dearest thing he has in this world. No matter what happens to him, and I do believe we will bring him back, he would want you safe. You have no idea how many times he’s had to defend me at school. How many times he’s stepped between me and disaster.”

“Why would you need defending?” she asked.

“Why? Because I was a skinny boy who hated getting dirty and generally preferred books and music to people.”

Ada pressed her lips together against a smile and nodded. He would no doubt imagine she was laughing at him. She remembered him from her childhood, but she would never have described him in such a way.

“The point is, I would never have allowed you to be harmed because it was inconvenient to me. Never.”

“But your family.”

“My family…” he sighed. “I love them, but I learned long ago that I must be able to face myself. No amount of family can make up for a lack of integrity. If I didn’t do everything in my power to protect my friend and his interests, how would I be able to face myself?”

The words were bittersweet. With every moment in his presence she grew more assured that her husband was probably one of the best men she’d ever met. A man worth keeping, a gentleman worthy of the name. It also reminded her that, for him, she was no more than one of her brother’s interests.

She had no right to ask for more from him even if it stung. It was silly. He would never have even thought to marry her in different circumstances and neither would she. In other circumstances she wouldn’t have understood the true beauty of his nature. She would have been left in blessed ignorance of what she had missed in him. But now she knew. It had taken two days for her to understand that if she wasn’t already in love with him, she very soon would be. This wasn’t destiny, this was a means to an end. Even if he was kind, gentle, and forthright with the most beautiful blue eyes. Even if his voice sent tingles scuttling over her nerves and settled something deep inside her all at once in a way no other man had before.

“That is true,” she whispered. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome,” he replied.

“I hope you can explain things to your Miss Ashwood,” she said willing it to be true. She didn’t want him to suffer for his choice. Not that her wishes would make a difference in the end.

“I think that ship has sailed.”

“Perhaps it will serve to illustrate your character to her.”

“Unreliable? Reckless? Undeserving?”

Was that how he saw himself? “Honorable. Compassionate. Loyal.” Beautiful. Wonderful.

He didn’t speak again, just squeezed her hand softly and she smiled in response, her eyes already drifting closed.

Within moments she was asleep.