Louise Allen - Silk And Seduction Bundle 2

‘Rick,’ she said, the other occupants of the room fading into insignificance.

He had been deep in conversation with Major Carlow, but at the sound of his name on her lips he raised his head and came striding towards her, his face creased with concern.

‘I am sorry, Midge,’ he said, taking both her hands in his. ‘The fellow disappeared completely. Crawled back under whatever stone he had been hiding under, I expect.’

‘Rick! How can you be so unkind? If that man is Stephen…’

‘Ah, yes, if ,’ he said sharply. ‘Look, Midge, don’t you think it more likely that somebody just wanted to spoil your wedding day? And paid some passing stranger to pose as…well…Stephen Hebden? You snatching Monty out from under them all will have put quite a few noses out of joint, I daresay…’

Midge’s mind flew back to the malicious smiles upon the faces of the Veryan girls. And the way they had always managed to make her look ridiculous. And she wondered if Rick could be right.

‘I thought…’ She shook her head. ‘He knew so many things…I couldn’t see how he could have known them if he wasn’t…’

But Major Carlow, who had sauntered over, was looking at her with an expression it was hard to fathom.

‘Did I hear a’right? It was Stephen Hebden trying to gain entry to the church just now?’

‘Yes,’ said Midge, at exactly the same moment Rick said, ‘No! Fellow claiming to be Stephen Hebden. But Stephen died years ago—’

‘Only wish to God he had!’ rapped Major Carlow. Then, pulling himself up short, ‘Beg pardon, my lady, but I have had some experience of his tactics, and I think it only fair to warn you…’ He petered out, just a second before she became aware Monty had joined them in the doorway.

‘Having to beg my lady’s pardon already, Hal? And you not five minutes in the house, you unmitigated scoundrel!’

Major Carlow smiled, but not with the same insouciance she had seen in him earlier.

The three men then indulged in a few moments of jovially insulting one another, the way her three stepbrothers had used to do. As she listened, she felt Monty’s arm slide round her waist. She knew she ought to have made some protest, but she couldn’t summon the will power to pretend she was not downright glad of his physical support. She had never felt so plain and gauche as she did standing there in the first gown to come out of her trunk, in the shadow of two officers in dress uniform and the most handsome man in the world.

She wondered, with a little pang of hurt, if this was why Viscount Mildenhall had dressed so plainly today. Because he did not want to outshine his fubsy little bride.

It was kind of him, if so. For she was sure he would much rather be wearing something that showed off his physique, like the major’s snugly fitting uniform.

As though Monty had sensed she was feeling left out, he squeezed her waist a little more firmly, before saying, ‘Come, then. Let us put on our Society faces, and go and greet our other guests properly.’

‘Before we do,’ she said, ‘may I ask, that is,’ she could feel her cheeks going red as she looked up into Major Carlow’s face. ‘I notice that Viscount Stanegate and his wife have not arrived. I do hope…’

‘Nell’s not feeling quite the thing, so Marcus took her home, thank God,’ he said. ‘Hate to think how upset she would have been had she heard that Gypsy troublemaker was hanging about the church.’

Midge blinked up at him in surprise, but before she could ask exactly what he had meant by that cryptic statement, Monty was dragging her away.

‘No more of that now, please,’ he murmured into her ear as he steered her towards the first knot of wedding guests. ‘I will find out what he meant, discreetly, and we can discuss it later. For now, we have a job to do.’

He startled her by dropping a swift kiss on her cheek. ‘Pretending to be respectable pillars of Society.’

She felt both the words and the deed like a blow, an unnecessary reminder that he thought her very far from respectable!

Later, she vowed, when he discussed all the items on his agenda, she was going to bring up the matter of his erroneous opinion of her!

He seemed unaware of her simmering resentment as he guided her through the room, charming one group of guests after another. He kept his arm round her waist, holding her close to his side as though he could not bear to be parted from her by so much as an inch!

But by the time they sat down to dine, the whole atmosphere had lightened considerably. The banquet her aunt had arranged was truly magnificent, the waiting staff smoothly efficient, and conversation around the table was soon flowing as freely as the copious quantities of champagne her uncle had supplied.

It could not have gone off better.

Even Midge managed not to knock anything over or spill anything down her gown.

When it was time to leave, her aunt, who was looking much less fraught after the amount of champagne she had imbibed, came to bid her farewell.

‘Well, I must say, you have married a man with great presence of mind. The way he handled our guests, as though he saw nothing untoward in that Disgraceful Scene outside the church…’

She reached out and patted Midge on the cheek. ‘And, after all, you will be a countess one day. Then—’ she drew herself up to her full height ‘—they will all have to keep their tongues between their teeth!’

Midge gathered that her aunt must have spent a great portion of the afternoon fielding spiteful comments about her conduct, but rather than looking harassed, Lady Callandar was positively vibrating with triumph.

‘Next time you make an exhibition of yourself,’ she said, with an almost mischievous twinkle in her eye, ‘and knowing you as I do, I am certain there will be a next time, you would do well to follow your husband’s lead and brazen it out. Act as though you have nothing to be ashamed of. Never apologize.’

And then, to Midge’s complete astonishment, her aunt leaned forward and kissed her on the cheek. In spite of the fact that anybody might have seen her!

‘I shall look forward to calling upon you when you return to town,’ she finished, with a warm smile.

Imogen raised her hand to her face, stunned by her aunt’s public demonstration of affection and approval. If only she could have unbent towards her sooner! The months living in Mount Street would not have been anything like as difficult.

Monty had been standing a few feet away, in what looked like deep conversation with Rick and Major Carlow. But the moment her aunt left her, he excused himself and came straight over.

‘Is anything amiss?’

He could tell that Lady Callandar had said something that had rocked Midge to the core. Without caring about the impropriety of it, he put his arms round her and hugged her hard.

He could scarcely credit how fiercely protective he had grown towards her, in such a short space of time. When he had seen her hovering in the doorway earlier, her eyes wide with apprehension, he had wanted to simply whisk her away to somewhere where nobody would ever hurt her again. It had hurt when those misty grey eyes had swept straight past him, to come to rest on the form of her beloved stepbrother. But it made no difference to his resolve to protect her. Show them all that he did not disapprove of what she had done or the way she was. So he had crossed the room. Gone to stand beside her. Faced down the starchy matrons who had looked down their noses at her, and the girls who had sniggered at her. She had not objected to him putting his arm round her waist, so he had kept it there. At one point, she so far forgot herself as to lean her head on his shoulder for a few seconds. Yes, he was really pleased with the progress he had made with his reluctant bride.