The Six-Month Marriage Read online

  ‘Oo, no, sir,’ said Jenny, agog with all she had just witnessed.

  ‘Then that is settled. I have some business to attend to,’ he said to Madeline, ‘but we will speak again after lunch. There is still much we have to discuss.’

  ‘Only think, miss,’ said Jenny as she dressed Madeline’s hair some half an hour later. She had followed Madeline up to her bedroom and helped her to dress properly, lacing her corsets for her, before repairing the ravages done to her hair. ‘Now you’re the Countess of Pemberton I’ll have to start calling you “my lady” instead of ”miss”.

  ‘No, Jenny.’ Madeline watched her maid’s deft fingers arrange her hair, ‘I am not the Countess of Pemberton.’

  ‘But the Earl said . . . ’

  ‘I know what the Earl said, but he only did it so that Gareth would leave me alone. I am not the Countess of Pemberton, although . . . ’

  ‘Yes, miss?’ asked Jenny.

  ‘Although the Earl has asked me to be his wife. He needs to arrange a temporary marriage in order to claim his inheritance,’ she explained, ‘and he has asked me to be his temporary wife.’

  ‘Oh, I see,’ said Jenny. ‘So,’ she went on, ‘when is the wedding to be?’

  ‘There is no wedding,’ said Madeline.

  ‘But you just said . . . ’

  ‘I said he asked me,’ said Madeline. ‘But I have refused.’

  ‘Refused!’ Jenny’s busy fingers fell idle in amazement.

  ‘Of course I have refused,’ said Madeline.

  ‘But the Earl isn’t like your uncle, miss,’ said Jenny, shaking her head as she continued with her work. ‘He’s a different sort of man is the Earl. They all say so, all his servants, and servants always know. I’ve been friendly with Hinch, the parlour maid, for a long while now. We met by accident on our afternoon off some months ago, and struck up a friendship, and that’s how I got in, miss; as soon as I heard where you were I came at once, and Hinch, she let me in at the back. She’s always spoken well of her master. Treats his servants well, he does, and –’

  ‘Servants are one thing,’ interrupted Madeline, not wishing to talk about it. ‘Even my uncle treated his servants well for the most part. But –’

  ‘Not just his servants,’ said Jenny resolutely, arranging Madeline’s hair into a chignon and pushing in pins to hold it in place. ‘His friends . . . and his women friends, too,’ she added boldly. ‘Treats them courteous, like, and friendly, not showing them up and humiliating them, like your uncle. And not just his friends and his women friends. He treats his sister well, by all accounts.’

  Madeline was interested, despite herself. It was not a small thing for a man to be loved by his servants. Servants were always in a position to know what a man was really like. But marriage . . . that was too great a risk.

  ‘No, Jenny, I cannot do it. If I marry him, he will have too much power over me. I have asked him to provide me with a reference and I intend to find a position as a governess instead.’

  Jenny said nothing, but her silence spoke volumes.

  ‘As a governess I will be respectable,’ said Madeline. ‘I will be able to earn my keep. And I will be safe from my uncle.’ As she spoke she realised that she was trying to convince herself, rather than Jenny. ‘And perhaps, in time, I may be able to open a small school of my own.’

  ‘Just as you say, miss.’ Jenny’s tone showed that she didn’t like the idea. She had been with Madeline since Madeline’s childhood, and was very protective of her mistress.

  ‘You don’t approve?’

  ‘It’s not for me to say, miss,’ said Jenny woodenly.

  ‘I can’t accept the Earl’s offer,’ said Madeline. She stood up and began to walk round the room. ‘I have no guarantee he will honour his side of the bargain. He says he will provide me with a house and an annuity when the marriage is annulled, but I have only his word for it. Once I am in Yorkshire I will be alone, with no one to turn to – trapped again.’

  ‘And once you’re a governess?’ asked Jenny obstinately.

  Madeline sighed. ‘I know. It is fraught with problems too. The master of the house may be another man such as my uncle. And the Earl is at least honourable.’

  ‘And you spent last night under his roof without coming to any harm,’ Jenny reminded her.

  Madeline nodded. She had been half afraid to go to sleep the night before, being under the same roof as a strange gentleman and knowing how so-called gentlemen could behave, but she had passed the night in safety and comfort.

  ‘And he would have a good reason for treating you right,’ said Jenny. ‘If he didn’t, you could run away and he wouldn’t get his fortune. He needs to present himself, with his wife, to the lawyers at the end of the six months, I think you said?’

  ‘He does.’

  ‘So it stands to reason he’d treat you well,’ said Jenny.

  Madeline crossed the room again, more slowly this time. Her brow was furrowed in concentration. If the Earl did as he said then her problems were over. If not . . .

  She sighed. Marriage to the Earl was risky, but it was also her best option. He was unlikely to treat her badly because he needed her. Even if he did not, as he had promised, provide her with a house and purchase her an annuity, then at the end of the six months she would be no worse off than she was now. And it was not true that she would be alone. She would have Jenny with her, which she would not have if she took a position as a governess. But still, could she do it? Could she take such a chance?

  Her mother’s warning came back to her. Marriage is a trap, her mother had said. But this marriage would not be a trap. This marriage had its end built into its beginning.

  Resolutely Madeline made her decision. She would accept the Earl’s offer. However risky that offer may turn out to be.

  Madeline went downstairs. Having made her decision she acted on it straight away, and found Lord Pemberton in his study. He was writing at his desk as she entered, but as soon as he looked up and saw her he threw down his quill and stood up.

  She straightened her shoulders and smoothed her skirt, then she said, ‘Lord Pemberton. I have come to ask you if I can change my mind.’

  ‘About?’ he asked.

  ‘About becoming your wife.’

  ‘Does this mean that you accept my proposal?’ he asked.

  ‘I – yes. It does.’

  He smiled, then sat on the edge of his desk and folded his arms across his chest. He looked younger; friendlier. He stretched his long, firm legs out in front of him. ‘May I ask what made you change your mind?’

  ‘It was Jenny.’

  ‘Jenny?’ he asked in surprise.

  ‘Yes. She told me . . . she has friends among your servants . . . and they all speak well of you, she says.’

  He gave a shout of laughter.

  ‘What’s so funny?’ she asked.

  ‘This,’ he said. ‘This situation. When you came in I was writing you a reference so that you could take up a post as a governess, but at the same time Jenny was giving a reference for me!’

  Madeline’s face broke into a smile. ‘A commoner must seek a reference from an earl, but an earl, being already at the top of the tree, must go full circle and get one from his servants!’ she giggled. The absurdity of the situation overcame her, and she collapsed into laughter. It felt good to laugh!

  But she quickly recovered herself. She knew very little about the man in front of her, after all, and although she had agreed to enter into a sham of a marriage with him she knew she must not let down her defences.

  He, too, had sobered. ‘We will marry as soon as you are twenty-one,’ he said, becoming business-like. ‘I don’t think your uncle is likely to make any further difficulties, but as your birthday is only a week away I suggest we wait until you are of age. It will make it far more difficult for him to cause trouble if he changes his mind.’

  Madeline nodded in agreement. What the Earl said made sense.

  But there were other things she needed t
o know. ‘What will happen afterwards? When the marriage is annulled?’

  ‘Why, I will claim my fortune and go on to marry Letitia. And then —’

  ‘Is the fortune really so important to you?’ she asked. Despite the fact that she had agreed to the six-month marriage she thought it strange that Philip, in love with Letitia – for why else should he marry her? - would arrange a sham marriage, even to claim his fortune. And stranger still that Letitia, being in love with Philip, did not object.

  ‘Yes. It is. My estate is badly run down. My father loved it, but as he got older he neglected it, particularly after my mother died. And as I was away fighting Napoleon I could not take a hand. Without the fortune I can’t maintain the estate, let alone improve it. I can’t repair the tenants’ housing, and I can’t introduce new measures on the home farm to make it more successful. In fact, I can’t do any of the things I need and want to do. And once I have claimed the fortune,’ he said, ‘I will provide you with a handsome annuity, and a choice of houses to live in. I own many properties in and around York, and you can choose which one you please. Or, if you prefer, I will buy you a respectable house in the country.’

  ‘And you are sure that you will be granted an annulment?’ she asked.

  ‘I am. As long as the marriage is not consummated, there will be no difficulty in having it annulled. The only problem you may not have thought of is that if you want to marry again your bridegroom may wonder why your first marriage was annulled.’

  ‘That won’t be a problem,’ said Madeline definitely. ‘I have no intention of marrying again.’

  ‘You are very young to be so sure,’ he said, looking at her curiously.

  ‘Nevertheless I am sure.’

  ‘Is it because of your uncle’s behaviour?’ he asked.

  ‘That and . . . other things.’

  He looked at her searchingly for a minute but then, to her relief, he allowed the subject to drop.

  ‘As soon as we are married we will set out for Yorkshire,’ he said. ‘The journey is a long one, but we will take our time. You have been out of London before, of course?’

  ‘When I was a child I lived in Hampshire,’ she said. ‘But I have never been to the north.’

  ‘Then you should prepare yourself for a surprise. The landscape is harder, but grander too. I think you will like it. But now to more important matters. By the time we arrive in Yorkshire you will need some suitable clothes.’

  He scrutinised her closely, and Madeline realised how little she must look like a countess.

  ‘My sister’s clothes are all very well for here,’ he said, ‘and will have to do for the journey, but as soon as you arrive at Stonecrop you will need something more suitable to wear. My sister uses a very skilled modiste here in London, a Madame Rouen, who can take your measurements and help you choose some fabrics. Madame Rouen will then send the details to her cousin, Miss Silverstone, who is a York modiste,’ he explained. ‘That way, by the time we reach Yorkshire, Miss Silverstone will have made up a number of dresses for you.’

  ‘You seem to have thought of everything,’ said Madeline.

  There was a tension in her voice, and she felt a sudden spurt of fear as she wondered whether the Earl meant to control her life.

  She felt a moment of panic and she almost told him she had changed her mind.

  But then he said, ‘Not everything. You will be free to organise your own time in Yorkshire, I promise you. I will be busy with the estate, and it will be up to you to do as much or as little as you wish. You don’t need to be apprehensive about the coming months, Madeline. You have nothing to fear.’

  Except the way I feel every time you touch me, thought Madeline with a strange shiver.

  But she kept that thought to herself.

  Chapter Four

  The day of the wedding was cold and wet. The summer sunshine had given way to a spell of unsettled weather. It matched Madeline’s unsettled feelings. She felt relief at having escaped from her uncle on the one hand, but wary of the coming six months on the other. Because despite Jenny’s arguments in his favour, and despite the things she herself had seen, she still knew very little about the Earl and she was determined to be on her guard.

  As she walked down the aisle on Jason Fellows’ arm she saw Philip waiting at the altar for her. He was looking imposing in a blue tailcoat, pale blue waistcoat and cream breeches. His dark hair was brushed à la Brutus, and his amber eyes were glowing brightly in the red and gold light that fell through the stained glass windows.

  There were few other people at the ceremony. Young Mr Murgo was there at the front of the church, standing beside Philip, together with a clergyman.

  Sitting in the pews at the left-hand side of the church were a well-dressed gentleman, an extremely elegant young lady and an elderly woman of mousy appearance who was evidently her companion.

  The young woman - young still, though she was a good five or six years older than Madeline - was expensively dressed and had an air of consequence about her, as though she knew her own place in the world, and as though that place was an exalted one. Her hair was a rich chestnut colour, and she was very beautiful. She gave an arch smile as Madeline walked past her, but Madeline had no time to wonder who she might be as another few steps took her to the altar, where Philip was waiting for her.

  The ceremony began. It was a brief, formal affair. There were no hymns or readings, just an agreement by Madeline and Philip to take each other as husband and wife; a joining of hands; and a pronouncement by the clergyman that they were man and wife.

  And then it was over. For good or ill, Madeline was no longer a spinster. She was Philip’s wife.

  A brief picture of her mother flashed before her eyes, but fortunately she had no time to think about her mother’s unhappy fate as the elegant young woman immediately rose in a cloud of expensive scent and went over to Philip, taking his arm with a proprietorial air. ‘Philip.’ She turned her face up to his in the most charming manner. ‘I am so glad you are married,’ she purred.

  ‘Madeline, may I present Miss Bligh?’ asked Philip, turning to Madeline.

  Of course! That was who the elegant young woman was. Miss Bligh, Philip’s intended bride.

  She was undeniably beautiful, and extremely elegant. She carried herself like a countess already, her tall, willowy figure showing off her expensive and fashionable clothes to great advantage. Even so, Madeline could not help being surprised at Philip’s choice. For all her beauty and elegance, there was a hardness in Letitia’s eyes that spoke of a selfish nature, and a curl of her mouth that suggested disdain. However, Philip’s choice of a bride was not her concern, and so she reminded herself.

  ‘What a clever idea to hold the wedding here,’ said Letitia, looking round the small church with a patronising air. ‘It would have been dreadful to hold it in town, with a horde of people gawping at you. It is so cosy here. So . . . obscure.’

  She gave a smug smile, as though contrasting the small church with the splendid church in which she herself intended to be married.

  ‘But Philip, do tell me when you are leaving for Yorkshire,’ she went on, turning her back on Madeline and effectively cutting her out of the conversation.

  Leaving Letitia and Philip to their discussion, Madeline began walking towards the door of the church, meaning to see if the rain had stopped. But before she had gone half way the gentleman who had been sitting with Letitia accosted her and swept her a low bow.

  ‘Lord Hadley, Countess,’ he said, turning mocking eyes towards her. ‘But let us not stand on ceremony. You must call me Robert. I’m Letitia’s cousin.’

  ‘Lord Hadley,’ said Madeline with a slight inclination of her head.

  ‘Ah! Madeline! You cut me to the quick! Will you not call me Robert? But I see that you won’t. A pity, as we are . . .connected . . . you might say. You are Philip’s first wife, and my cousin is his second! Although we must not speak of that here,’ he said in an exaggerated whisper. ‘One never kno
ws who might be listening.’ He made a pantomime of looking round.

  There was something jeering in his manner and Madeline did not respond to his sally.

  He gave her an arch look. ‘You don’t find it a subject for mirth, Countess? But I do. I find it delicious. A sham marriage to claim an inheritance. What a stroke of genius. Philip is a lucky man. He not only gets Letitia, he gets the fortune as well.’ He looked at Madeline thoughtfully, and a gleam of malice entered his eye. ‘But what, my dear Madeline, is in it for you?’

  ‘That is between the Earl and myself,’ said Madeline shortly. She had no intention of telling Lord Hadley about her private affairs, nor indeed of continuing the conversation.

  But Lord Hadley was not to be so easily put off. ‘It’s very good of you to go through with it,’ he said, refusing to let the subject drop. ‘Very noble and disinterested. On the surface, at least. But what, I wonder, lies underneath?’

  Madeline had had enough of such an unpleasant conversation and decided to put an end to it. ‘Good day, Lord Hadley,’ she said coldly, then turned on her heel.

  ‘A word of warning,’ he said, moving to block her path. There was a note of menace in his voice. ‘If you’re thinking of double-crossing Letitia, then you’d better think again.’

  ‘Let me pass,’ said Madeline.

  But Lord Hadley did not move, and when Madeline took a step to go round him he countered her move. ‘Why would a sensible woman - and I’m sure you’re a sensible woman, my dear Madeline - why would a sensible woman marry an Earl and then let him go, I ask myself? The answer is, she wouldn’t. She would marry him, yes, but give him up? Give up all that power? Give up all that wealth? No, a sensible woman would hang on to him. And how would she do that? The answer is obvious. By tempting him to consummate the marriage.’ His eyes became hard. ‘It’s a good plan, Madeline, but one I suggest you abandon.’ There was a threat in his voice now. ‘Letitia doesn’t like to be crossed, and believe me, she isn’t someone you want as an enemy.’ And then he smiled once again. ‘Remember that, won’t you? It is good advice.’