Married In Haste Read online

  “You have to marry her. After what happened, her reputation is going to be destroyed. If you don’t marry her, she’ll end up being a spinster or she’ll have to marry an unsavory gentleman.”

  “I’m not going to shirk my responsibilities. Even though this is all Stephen’s fault, we will get married. She’s not going to suffer for something he did.”

  She relaxed and smiled. “I’m glad to hear that. I’ve always liked you more than Stephen. I would hate for that to change.”

  “Well, he’s not getting an allowance anymore. He’s going to pay for what he did.”

  Her daughter, Rosamond, started to fuss, so she rocked her back and forth in the chair. At once, her baby settled down. “Why did Stephen do this? Is he that eager to see you get married?”

  “No. He did it out of spite. He saw what happened between Miss Baynes and me at the ball the other night. She tripped, and she took me with her right in the middle of the dance floor.”

  “That doesn’t sound so bad.”

  “It was horrible. Everyone saw us. People were laughing and snickering about it.”

  She chuckled. “It was a simple fall. That could have happened to anyone.”

  “It would’ve been better if it hadn’t happened to me. I was so humiliated that I had to leave for the rest of the evening. I hid in my bedchamber until everyone left. That’s why Stephen chose her. He knew it would embarrass me.”

  “Why would he want to embarrass you?”

  “Because I refused to give him money for his mistress.”

  Loretta grimaced. “I shouldn’t be surprised he’s taken a mistress. He’s always been into whatever gives him the greatest amount of pleasure with the least amount of effort.”

  “I don’t think there’s any redeeming him. He’s going to spend his entire life being selfish, but he’s not going to do that with my money. He’s going to start working for it.”

  “I applaud you for that. I think that’s the best thing you can do, given the situation. But I hope you won’t give poor Miss Baynes a difficult time when you marry her. She is innocent of this whole thing, and being a lady myself, I know she’s more horrified by what is in the Tittletattle than you are. A gentleman can engage in all sorts of illicit behaviors, and the Ton will ignore it. They aren’t as forgiving with ladies.”

  “I’m not planning to be difficult with her.”

  “Then how do you plan to handle things? It doesn’t sound like you are all that happy about marrying her.”

  He shrugged. “I don’t know yet. I’m still in shock over what Stephen did.”

  “Then please heed my advice. A lady who is nervous can very well trip and fall. Don’t assume she’s always like that.”

  Brad picked up his cup and drank some tea, thinking over her words as he did so. She could very well be right. Perhaps Miss Baynes had simply been nervous at the ball. She had bumped into someone, and as a result, she had tripped, taking him down with her. He had no reason to think she had done that on purpose. After all, why would a lady do something like that when she knew it would very well embarrass her, along with him? He felt much better. Maybe she wasn’t as clumsy as he feared.

  “I’m glad you came by today,” he told his sister. “You did well to put things in perspective. I’m sure I overreacted.”

  Now, at least, he didn’t feel quite so bad about the upcoming marriage. It just might work out. Miss Baynes had been very pleasant to talk to. He had been considering a second dance with her before she tripped. He couldn’t recall any other lady he had wanted to have a second dance with. Maybe, just maybe, this was fate. Granted, it wasn’t fate in the way he would’ve preferred it. He would never have asked to get caught in a scandal, especially one that Stephen set up for him. But good could come from even the worst of things. He just needed to take a different perspective on all of this.

  “I think I’ll change clothes then pay Miss Baynes a visit,” he said as he set his cup down.

  “I’m sure that will put her mind at ease.”

  On impulse, he gave his sister a hug, being careful not to upset his niece. Then he went to get ready to visit Miss Baynes.

  ***

  Ava didn’t hear about the article in the Tittletattle right away. Most of London was already gossiping about the scandal and the lies Stephen had added to it by the time Ava arrived at Opal’s townhouse. She was blissfully unaware of just how tarnished her reputation had become when the footman led her into Opal’s drawing room.

  Warren and Opal were sitting on the settee, and Warren was holding a copy of the Tittletattle. “I can’t do it,” Warren Beaufort, the Earl of Steinbeck, was telling Opal. “I make it a point to never do business, or anything else, with gentlemen who would act the way Lord Youngtown did.” He threw the Tittletattle on Opal’s lap. “He’s a cad. I won’t have anything to do with him.”

  Opal looked down at the paper. “I know Ava, and she wouldn’t do this.”

  “Well, maybe he forced himself on her.”

  Ava glanced at the footman, who cleared his throat to let Warren and Opal know they were standing in the room.

  Warren stiffened, and Opal went pale.

  Ava could see it in her friend’s eyes. There was bad news in the Tittletattle. Very bad news.

  Warren jumped up from the settee. “I’m not going to have anything to do with this. Lord Youngtown is just going to have to do the right thing. If he doesn’t, no reputable gentleman will do business with him ever again.”

  Then, without another word, he left the room.

  In the two years Ava had known Opal, she had never seen Opal’s brother this upset. She waited until the footman left before asking Opal, “What happened?”

  “You and Lord Youngtown are featured in the Tittletattle.”

  Dread washed over Ava. “How is that possible? I haven’t said anything to anyone but you about the incident.”

  “Maybe Lord Youngtown told others about it. Some gentlemen like to brag about their conquests. Maybe he told some of his friends that more happened in his bedchamber than you said.”

  Ava sat beside her friend and glanced over her shoulder so she could see the Tittletattle. “No, Lord Youngtown is not that kind of person. He was horrified when he fell on the ballroom floor. If he can’t handle that, then he surely wouldn’t tell anyone that I caught him taking a bath.”

  “I didn’t say he told others you caught him taking a bath. But maybe he told others more happened.”

  Afraid of what her friend was talking about, Ava slowly lowered her gaze to the article in the Tittletattle. And right there, in black and white, the article said she and Lord Youngtown had been found sharing an afternoon tryst in his bed.

  She gasped. “It wasn’t like that. It wasn’t like that at all!” She grabbed the paper and read through the entire article, going slowly in case she had misunderstood something. To her horror, she hadn’t. “That isn’t what happened. Opal, you must believe me. I was never in his bed. I’m still a virgin.”

  “I believe you, Ava. But my brother thinks it happened. He doesn’t think you’re at fault. He thinks Lord Youngtown forced himself on you. “

  “Maybe I can assure him that he didn’t.” Ava rose to her feet. “We can go over to his townhouse, and I can assure him that this article isn’t telling the truth.”

  “It’ll do no good. He believes everything he reads in the Tittletattle.”

  “But surely he must know that the Tittletattle is a place to spread gossip. There’s no truth in it.”

  “My husband and I were alone in the den when we shouldn’t have been, and that was reported accurately in the Tittletattle. Sometimes they do get the story right.” Opal paused. “Are you sure Lord Youngtown wouldn’t make up something like this? Maybe he was trying to impress some gentlemen. Not everyone is like my brother. Some gentlemen actually desire conquests of this kind.”

  “No, that’s not who he is. He is a decent and honorable gentleman. I know it as much as I know my own heart.”<
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  Opal paused, a concerned expression on her face. “Sometimes you overlook people’s flaws. You don’t always see them for who they really are.”

  “I know I can be naïve,” Ava allowed. “But that isn’t the case with him. If he was the kind of person who would go around bragging about taking a lady to bed, he wouldn’t have been so embarrassed when I saw him without his clothes on.”

  Opal bit her lower lip as she considered her friend’s words. “I suppose that’s true. But it doesn’t explain why the article says you were in bed with him.”

  “Maybe his brother told someone at the Tittletattle these lies. His brother was willing to dress up as a maid, and he did lie to me in order to get me up to the bedchamber. Then he shoved me behind the dressing screen so that I stumbled on Lord Youngtown while he was taking a bath.” Ava straightened up. “It had to have been his brother.”

  But the question was, why? Why would Lord Youngtown’s brother do all of that? She couldn’t recall doing or saying anything that had upset him. Up until yesterday, she hadn’t even met him.

  “I don’t know what’s going on,” Opal said. “I just hope you’re right about Lord Youngtown. People aren’t always what they seem.”

  “I know that, but I’m convinced Lord Youngtown had nothing to do with this article. It was his brother.”

  Opal hesitated then asked, “What are you going to do now?”

  Having Warren talk to Lord Youngstown was out of the question. Ava no longer had that option available to her. And it would do no good for Opal to go with her so she could explain to Lord Youngtown that she had never intended to walk in on him while he was bathing. Given the contents of the article in the Tittletattle, there was no way Lord Youngtown was going to get out of marrying her. Not if he wanted to show his face in London again. The Ton would never forgive him if he didn’t do the right thing at this point. Though, he had done nothing wrong in the first place.

  Maybe she should write him a missive. Maybe she could ask him if he would be willing to talk to her. With a chaperone, of course. She’d made the mistake of not taking one before, and look at how everything turned out.

  As much as she hated it, she was going to have to tell her aunt everything. Her aunt was going to be devastated, but she couldn’t get out of telling her about it now.

  “I’ll just have to talk to him,” Ava told Opal. “I only hope he doesn’t think I’m the one who told this story to someone at the Tittletattle.”

  “You should be more worried about him being the culprit,” Opal replied.

  Ava was about to remind her friend that she didn’t believe Lord Youngtown was to blame for any of this, but what was the point? She couldn’t convince Opal of his innocence without any proof. And simply knowing something in her heart wasn’t good enough. Deciding to settle for a smile, Ava said, “Thank you for trying to get Warren to talk to him. You’re a good friend. I want you to know that I appreciate everything you do for me.”

  As Ava hugged her friend, Opal replied, “I hope I’m wrong about Lord Youngtown.”

  “I know. And you are.” To show her friend that she had no hard feelings for her, Ava gave her another hug and then left the townhouse so she could explain everything to her aunt.

  Chapter Six

  When Ava got back to her aunt’s townhouse, she saw an unfamiliar carriage in front of it. No one with that particular family crest etched into the side of their carriage had ever been there to visit her family before. In fact, no one with such a fancy carriage had ever paid a visit, with the exception of Opal.

  Her steps slowed. What if it was someone from the Ton? What if a prominent member of the elite class had read the Tittletattle and was here to condemn her?

  Without thinking, her grip tightened on a copy of the Tittletattle that she had tucked under her arm. She had every intention of showing her aunt the article after she warned her about it. She would rather her aunt find out from her than find out from someone else. As unpleasant as the news would be, it would be more manageable if her aunt could hear it from her.

  She took a deep breath and proceeded on to the townhouse. She only hoped it wasn’t someone like Lady Cadwalader paying her family a visit. She’d heard about Lady Cadwalader. The lady was infamous for ruining reputations. Not that Ava had much of a reputation at this point, but having to deal with that particular lady would be even worse than what she was dealing with right now.

  She reached the door before the butler could let her in. Just as the butler was coming to the entryway, she beckoned for him to come over to her before the visitor or one of her family members could see her.

  “Who is here?” she whispered to the butler.

  The butler, in a low voice, replied, “Lord Youngtown is here.”

  Lord Youngtown? Why would he be here? Her gaze went to the paper neatly folded under her arm. Was he here to talk about the article? Did he think she had reported the story?

  “Your aunt and Lord Youngtown are in the drawing room having some tea,” the butler whispered. “Would you like to join them?”

  No. No, she wouldn’t. But did she have a choice?

  Despite the unease welling up in her stomach, she nodded and followed him to the room. She hesitated as soon as her feet hit the threshold. Her aunt happened to look over at her from where she was sitting in a chair next to Lord Youngtown.

  “Well there’s Ava,” her aunt said.

  At once, Lord Youngtown turned those amazing brown eyes in her direction. Lord Youngtown was more handsome today than he had been at the ball. Every time she saw him she experienced the sensation of butterflies swirling around in her stomach.

  Lord Youngtown rose from his chair and bowed. “Forgive me for coming without notice. I don’t usually show up unannounced at someone’s residence, but certain things have prompted me to act in haste.”

  He knew! He had seen the article. Ava rushed over to him. “Please believe me, my lord. I had nothing to do with it. I didn’t tell anyone about yesterday. The last thing I would ever do is embarrass you.”

  Her aunt shot her a puzzled look. “Do you mean that you have no intention of accepting his proposal?”

  Proposal? That wasn’t exactly what she had been expecting Lord Youngtown to discuss with her aunt. She was sure he was there to express his disappointment in her. Ava shook her head. “I don’t know anything about a proposal.”

  Her aunt looked over at the spot the butler had been. Recalling him, Ava turned around, relieved to see that he was no longer there. In fact, he had shut the doors to give them their privacy.

  “Your aunt is right,” Lord Youngtown told Ava. “I came to ask you to marry me.”

  “I didn’t think you wanted to see me after,” she glanced at her aunt, “what happened.” She really didn’t want to go into specifics with her aunt right there. She still intended to explain everything to her aunt. Otherwise, she wouldn’t understand why Ava had suddenly become an outcast in London.

  “Actually,” Lord Youngtown began, “I didn’t think you’d want to see me. I am at a loss on how to properly handle the situation, except to apologize on my brother’s behalf.”

  It occurred to Ava at that point that he wasn’t putting the blame on her for the article. “Your brother?”

  Lord Youngtown gestured for her and her aunt to sit, and after she sat close to her aunt, he returned to his seat. “Your aunt is right. I came to ask you to marry me. Words can’t express how ashamed I am of what my brother’s done. I want you to know that I had nothing to do with that article in the Tittletattle. That was Stephen’s doing.”

  All at once, relief flooded over her. He didn’t blame her for the article. But then, in the next instant, she realized his proposal wasn’t romantic at all. He wasn’t marrying her because he wanted to. He was marrying her because he had to.

  But what else was he supposed to do? His brother had been the one to enact the scandal and then his brother elaborated on it to someone who worked at the Tittletattle. His hands were
tied. Either he was going to ignore it, thereby leaving her to deal with her ruined reputation, or he was going to save her from further disgrace by marrying her. He had no other options. She should be grateful he was willing to help her out. Who knew if any other gentleman would do the same thing?

  “I would be happy to marry you,” she told him.

  Her aunt clasped her hands together in delight. “I’m so glad this whole thing has been resolved in such a wonderful way. I can tell you’re a good gentleman,” she told Lord Youngtown. “Ava’s parents had wished her to marry well. I think you two will make an excellent match.”

  Ava wasn’t sure if he agreed with her aunt on that sentiment, but she supposed it didn’t matter. Their future was set. They would be spending the rest of their lives together. She could only hope he didn’t spend every day of their marriage wishing his brother had dragged someone else up to his bedchamber instead of her.

  Lord Youngtown cleared his throat and straightened in his chair. “Since we are to be married, it’s only right that we address each other informally. Your aunt told me your name is Ava. My name is Brad.”

  Not knowing what else to say, Ava replied, “That’s a fine name.” Any name he had would have seemed like a fine one to her, but then, she was very much aware of her attraction to him.

  “I also think,” Brad began, “that we should have our families meet before we marry. I won’t make you wait for the reading of the banns before marrying you. In light of the Tittletattle, it is prudent that we marry sooner, but I would still like our families to know each other before the wedding.”

  “Oh, I think that is a splendid idea,” her aunt said. “I think it’ll make Ava more comfortable that way.”

  Ava was about to ask if his brother would also be there at the dinner. She didn’t think the evening would be all that pleasant if his brother was there, but this was going to be Brad’s dinner party. He had a right to invite anyone he wished to it.

  After a moment, Brad said, “I think I can get a special license in a week. Would a dinner party in four days work for you?”