Taming The Viscountess Read online

  “No one will know about your group, and no one is going to care.”

  Maybe. Maybe not. Either way, it would be much better than being in this one. However, Celia had to pretend she was confident that her group would be a success, so she said, “We will see about that.” Then she headed for the door.

  Behind her, Lady Eloise said something about how sad it was that Celia seemed to believe she could ever be influential in London. Not paying her any mind, Celia continued out of the room and left the townhouse. She’d done what she came to do. She’d stood up for Loretta and warned the other ladies that what happened to Loretta might happen to them. Whatever happened from this moment forward was out of her control.

  ***

  While Celia was at Lady Eloise’s social engagement, Ethan and Christopher came to visit Sebastian. They sat across from him, and Sebastian, opting to be comfortable, had his peg leg resting on the ottoman in front of him, which meant they weren’t sitting that close together. If someone were to come right into the drawing room, they would see Sebastian first, and if they kept their gaze straight on Sebastian, they wouldn’t even notice his guests.

  The guests, however, had a motive for coming over, and it didn’t take long before they let him know what it was.

  “You should join White’s,” Ethan told Sebastian after sipping some brandy.

  “You should,” Christopher added. “You would be a welcome addition to the club.”

  “I don’t want to sit in a boring gentlemen’s club all day,” Sebastian said. “I’m going back out to sea. I’ll purchase it with the money I have left from my wife’s dowry, but after that, I will replenish my funds with the money I’ll win from the wager.”

  Christopher smirked. “So that’s your plan. Instead of making your wife return to her brother’s townhouse, you’ll find solace at sea. I have to say that I never anticipated that possibility.”

  “No, I won’t be going out to sea to avoid my wife,” Sebastian replied. “I’ll be taking her with me.”

  As Sebastian took a sip of his brandy, Christopher gasped. “You’re going to throw her off the ship!”

  Sebastian almost spit out his brandy but managed to swallow it just in time. “No. I would never do anything like that. I know you two will find this hard to believe, but I enjoy having her around.”

  “You’re right,” Ethan said. “We don’t believe it. We heard what happened in the market that day she came in here with that long list of items she purchased. She can’t be happy with you after you made her return those things.”

  “She’s fine,” Sebastian replied. “Everything worked out.”

  Ethan and Christopher glanced at each other as if they didn’t believe him.

  “I’m still alive and well, aren’t I?” Sebastian asked.

  “There’s no doubt you’re alive,” Christopher granted, “but as to whether you’re well in the mind or not, we can’t be sure. You are talking about taking her out to sea because you want to spend more time with her. From what we’ve seen, she barges into rooms even though you have guests, and she tries to spend all of your money in one afternoon. If it was me, I would have sent her back to her brother by now.”

  “He’s doing all of this for the money,” Ethan told Christopher. “Regardless of how unhappy he is, he stands to gain a lot from keeping her around. He’ll be set for life if he wins the wager. That is,” Ethan glanced at Sebastian, “if you manage to stop her from her outrageous shopping ventures.”

  Sebastian should probably keep quiet. It was to his advantage if he continued to let them believe she was as awful as they thought—or if he let them believe he was going insane. But he liked these two gentlemen. They were nothing like the stuffy ones he often came across. These two, while a bit soft from all of their time doing social things in London, had the sense to realize the rules of the Ton made life dull. They didn’t take themselves, or life, too seriously. And that was a refreshing change.

  “I’m going to be honest because I like you both,” Sebastian told them. “My wife is a wonderful person. She has a lot of passion and enthusiasm for life. We are very happy together. Winning the wager at White’s is going to be the easiest money I’ll ever make. If you want to save yourself from losing all of the three pounds you each put in, I advise you to either remove yourself from the wager or change your bet that I will win.”

  Christopher furrowed his eyebrows and studied him. “You seem serious about that.”

  “I am. Though if you tell the others at White’s and they come to me, I will deny I ever said it,” Sebastian said.

  “You should join White’s,” Ethan encouraged. “Even if you don’t come often, it would be nice having someone there who is interesting to talk to. We think we can get a few of the others to vouch for you, too.”

  Sebastian finished his drink. “I’ll make a deal with you. If after I win this wager and all the gentlemen at White’s aren’t ready to kill me for taking all of their money, I’ll consider joining.”

  Christopher drummed his fingers on the arm of his chair. “Maybe we should pull our money out of the bet,” he told Ethan. “He honestly believes he’s going to win. I’d rather lose half of three pounds from the penalty than lose everything.”

  Ethan shook his head. “I never lost a bet in my life.”

  “That doesn’t mean your luck will last forever,” Christopher replied. “What if he ends up winning? If your wife finds out, you’ll get in trouble with your father-in-law, especially since you promised him you weren’t going to do any more gambling.”

  Ethan shot his friend a pointed look. “I haven’t lost a single farthing since my marriage, and I have made a couple of bets…albeit quietly.”

  “I think I’m going to take my money out.” Christopher glanced at Sebastian. “We can’t just swap sides. Once you choose a side, you can’t change your mind. All you can do is pay the fee for withdrawing. Since five months into marriage hasn’t passed yet, I still have time to do it.”

  “I’m going to stay in. My instincts are never wrong.”

  “There’s a first time for everything.”

  Christopher shook his head but didn’t argue with his friend.

  “You won’t regret your decision,” Sebastian assured him.

  A loud cheer came from outside the drawing room, and in the next moment, Celia ran into the room, her focus solely on Sebastian so she didn’t see either Christopher or Ethan.

  “I did it!” she exclaimed as she ran straight for Sebastian. “I looked Lady Eloise right in the eye and let her know what a horrible person she is. I probably upset everyone in the group, but I don’t care. I’m tired of trying to be nice to the snobby members of the Ton. I’m going to do whatever I want, and I don’t care what the Ton thinks of it. I’ve never felt freer in my entire life.”

  Sebastian gestured to Christopher and Ethan, and she turned around.

  She jerked. “Oh! I didn’t see you two. I’m sorry for interrupting.”

  “You’re not interrupting,” Ethan said. “We were just leaving.”

  “Again?” Celia asked. “You hurried on out of here the last time I saw you. Am I doing something to upset you?”

  “No,” Ethan hurried to say as he stood up. “I just…I have something I need to do…somewhere.”

  Celia frowned, and Sebastian figured she saw straight through Ethan’s lie.

  “It’s all right,” Sebastian told her. “We were done speaking.”

  The two gentlemen hurried to bow a good-bye to her before they headed out of the room, their paces in such a hurry that one would swear someone had threatened to set fire to the room. Sebastian would never understand their irrational fear of Celia.

  She waited until they were gone to turn her attention back to Sebastian. “I shouldn’t have run in here the way I did. I should have taken time to see if you were alone before I barged in here.”

  Sebastian waved her comments aside. “You were fine. It wasn’t like you were on a screaming rampage or fl
inging harpoons around. You were excited and wanted to share your good news with me.”

  “Well, yes, I did. I just should have shown more restraint.” After a moment, she asked, “Did I do something to them or their wives to make them angry with me? There have been so many people I’ve upset over the years, I can’t remember them all.”

  He set his glass on the table nearby then stood up. He grabbed his cane and walked over to her. “You did nothing to them or their wives.” He cupped the side of her face with his hand and kissed her. “You are a very lovely lady. In fact, I think I was a little hard on you the other day. Do you remember that gown you wanted to buy that you said you loved more than all the others? It was the one that was at Mr. Hamil’s shop.”

  “Yes, I remember it.”

  “I was thinking about it, and you should get it. But,” he hurried to add, “I’m not getting you anything else. I do still want to watch how much I spend.”

  As he hoped, she forgot all about Ethan and Christopher because her eyes lit up in excitement. The poor lady had apologized to a good segment of London and had been on her best behavior ever since. She hadn’t tried to purchase anything, either. He figured the least he could do was allow her something she wanted.

  “You really mean it?” she asked. “I can have that beautiful gown?”

  He nodded. “Let’s pay Mr. Hamil a visit at his shop, and I’ll tell him that I changed my mind.”

  She wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him. “Oh, thank you!”

  He chuckled. “You’re welcome.” He gave her a kiss. Then, taking her arm, he led her out of the room.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Celia pushed aside the nervous flutter in her stomach. She’d been experiencing it for the past two days, and she had no doubt that it had to do with tonight’s dinner party with her brother and Damara. Damara wasn’t the problem. The problem was Anthony. Ever since the night Celia had set up the scandal, things had been tense between them.

  In the past, she’d done and said things he hadn’t been happy with, but he’d never disowned her before. Since then, he’d made it clear that he didn’t want to have anything to do with her. If it hadn’t been for her love for Sebastian and the fact that she liked Damara, she would never put herself through tonight.

  She opted to wear the new gown Sebastian had bought for her, thinking it would offer some comfort. The last couple of weeks had been hard enough to go through, what with becoming aware of how unlikable she was and trying to make things right with as many people as possible.

  She didn’t know how to begin to make things right with Anthony. He probably didn’t want to see her tonight. He was doing it for Damara. He would go into a burning townhouse if Damara asked him to do it.

  Well, Celia couldn’t do anything about that. She didn’t have the power to change his opinion of her. If she’d learned nothing else over the past couple of weeks, she learned that she had no ability to make someone like her. She could manipulate things to make them act like they did, but she couldn’t make the feeling genuine. And she was done manipulating people…at least knowingly. It was hard to tell if old habits would slip in unawares.

  After she was done fixing her hair so that it rested in gentle waves on her shoulders, she left her bedchamber. She had told Sebastian that she wanted a little more time to get ready for the dinner because, without her lady’s maid’s help, it was taking her longer to fix her hair and assemble the right jewelry. So by the time she got down to the drawing room, Anthony and Damara were already talking to Sebastian.

  As soon as she entered the room, Anthony glanced her way and said, “Making everyone wait for you as usual, hmm?”

  “If you must know,” Celia began as she went over to Sebastian, “my lady’s maid’s father recently died. She is comforting her mother. She’ll be back in two days.”

  “And you didn’t insist she stay to tend to her duties or else you would find someone else?” Anthony asked, not hiding his surprise.

  Celia frowned. She would have done just that in the past. She hadn’t thought of it until now, but she must have seemed heartless to the servants. And this explained why Kay had been surprised that she had let her take some time off from her job.

  “I want this to be a pleasant evening,” Sebastian said as he walked over to her, his steps still slow and purposeful as he used the cane to help him. “Celia was thoughtful in the way she handled things with her lady’s maid.”

  “I think that was a lovely gesture, Celia,” Damara spoke up. “I’m sure your lady’s maid appreciates it.”

  Celia glanced at her brother who obviously didn’t believe she had changed for the better, and Celia didn’t know what to do about it. Nor was she all that inclined to take measures to convince him of it. If he was going to think the worst of her like Lady Eloise and the other members of Ladies of Grace did, then what could she possibly say or do to change his mind?

  “Dinner won’t be ready for another ten minutes,” Sebastian told her. “Why don’t you sit next to me?”

  With a nod, she followed Sebastian to two chairs and sat in the one beside him.

  Celia took a deep breath. Her stomach was so tense that she wasn’t sure she could go through with this. She’d never felt this awkward with her brother in her entire life. But then, he’d never been this upset with her before. And the fact that she was struggling not to say anything to further upset him was proving to be difficult.

  For an entire minute, not a single person said anything. They weren’t even looking at each other. She took another deep breath and slowly released it. It didn’t help. She only felt worse.

  Finally, Sebastian cleared his throat and turned his attention to Anthony and Damara. “I thought you might like to know that Celia encouraged me to get the peg leg. It—”

  “So she’s controlling your life, too?” Anthony interrupted.

  “I’m doing no such thing,” Celia blurted out. How dare he suggest such a thing! “I only wanted for him to walk around easier. The crutch was a hindrance.”

  “You don’t have to explain anything to him,” Sebastian intervened. Looking at Anthony, he added, “I don’t let anyone control anything I do. Celia made the suggestion, and I thought it was a good one. Your sister is very easy to live with. I haven’t had any problems with her.”

  Her brother shook his head as if he didn’t believe it.

  “It’s true,” Sebastian replied. “I can’t help whether or not you believe me.” He glanced at Celia and whispered, “Don’t let him trouble you. It doesn’t matter what he thinks. We both know the truth.”

  Anthony rolled his eyes and shook his head.

  This entire evening was going to be a waste of time. She should have told Sebastian to cancel the dinner party when she had the chance.

  “Is it difficult to walk with a peg leg?” Damara asked, breaking the silence.

  “No, surprisingly, it’s not,” Sebastian replied. “The biggest hurdle is finding the right balance. The cane is meant to be temporary. Once I get comfortable with the peg leg, I shouldn’t have to use it.”

  “Then it seems like it’s a good thing for you to have,” Damara said.

  “It is. I’m very happy with it.”

  From there, the group went quiet again, and Celia felt the queasy feeling in her stomach intensify. She had no idea her brother could make her feel sick. In the past when they’d had their arguments, she never once felt like she might vomit because of it. She took a deep breath and released it, hoping that by doing so, it would help her stomach settle down. It didn’t. If anything, it only felt worse.

  Just how much longer was it going to be before they could finally eat? How long would it take before she could be alone with Damara? At least with Damara, things weren’t awkward. Once she was alone with Damara, her stomach should settle back down.

  The butler came into the room and announced that dinner was ready. Relieved, Celia hurried to her feet. The sooner they started eating, the sooner they would be d
one. Then she could get away from her brother.

  Once they were sitting at the table, her stomachache hadn’t gotten better, as she’d hoped. She scanned the assortment of food in front of her. It was even more elaborate than what Sebastian had served at the wedding breakfast. She didn’t know if she could manage to eat most of it…if she could eat anything.

  She glanced at Sebastian. Ever since they married, he had insisted she eat everything on her plate. If she didn’t take a lot, he was all right with it as long as she ate it all. Keeping that in mind, she only took a small portion of the fish and a couple slices of peaches. Even that small bit seemed like it was too much, but she was sure she could manage it.

  Anthony let out a heavy sigh.

  She looked over at him as he sipped the soup. Since they were at a dinner party, the rules dictated that everyone start with soup, but there was no way she could have the soup. It was much too creamy. She glanced over at Sebastian again, but he didn’t seem to mind that she hadn’t taken any of the soup.

  Celia turned her gaze at her brother and almost snapped at him that he was the reason she couldn’t stomach the soup, but she bit her tongue. She wouldn’t say it. It was best that she keep quiet for Sebastian’s and Damara’s sakes.

  During the meal, Sebastian and Damara made up the bulk of the conversation. From time to time, they would ask Anthony or Celia something, to which Anthony and Celia would give a quick answer. The topic mainly stayed on the child Damara was going to have in January. Of specific interest were the names Damara and Anthony were thinking of using. When that topic was exhausted, Damara asked Sebastian about his time at sea.

  Celia found it hard to concentrate on anything but her stomach. She managed to nibble at half the fish before her stomach threatened to revolt against her. Thinking it might help, she turned her attention to the peaches and nibbled on one of the slices. But it didn’t do any good. If anything, each bite only made her feel worse.