How to Seduce a Bride

Chapter Fourteen

Daisy didn’t sleep well. Or rather, she thought bitterly when she woke, she slept too well in imaginary arms. She wondered how something that could feel so good in her dreams could make her shiver with fright when she woke and remembered it.

Pest of a man! she thought as she dressed. To intrude in her dreams the way he did in her life. What was he, after all? Take away that seductive voice, and all you’d have would be a tall, thin man with too many airs. No, she admitted, you’d also have those compelling blue eyes, that warm mouth, and that crooked smile. And that sudden wit, and slow drawl that made you think he’d never say anything important, until you found yourself helplessly laughing at the funny side of the truth he’d just shown you.

He also seemed to know things she’d rather not know about herself. And worst of all, just when everything was going right for a change, he’d come along and put a kink in her plans.

“You’re not seeing the earl today?” Helena asked in surprise, when Daisy told her the plans for the day.

“No,” Daisy said.

She turned her head to see how the short plumes on the side of her new hat curled against her cheek. “Isn’t this dashing? Red feathers! I hope it doesn’t rain. The hat cost a fortune. I could have had three whole peacocks for that price, and yet these look like dyed chicken feathers to me. Oh well, whatever they are, they look darling, especially with this new gown, don’t they?”

She didn’t mention that she’d decided to dress all in red the moment she saw the dashing woman the viscount had pointed out to her at the party in his mother’s town house. She’d make him stare at her, this time, Daisy thought smugly. Her gown was crimson. It had long sleeves and a proper skirt; the neckline was no more low cut than was fashionable, but the color alone made her feel outrageous. She didn’t want to be pawed. But she was woman enough to want to feel as though a man might long to touch her.

She turned from the looking glass. “I thought I’d just spend the day shopping, getting things I need, maybe look at some of the town houses that are to let.”

Helena stood staring at her.

Daisy shrugged. “I don’t have to see Geoff every day, you know,” she said. “Anyway, I think things have been moving at too fast a pace since I set foot in London. I came here, landed myself on poor Geoff, and haven’t given him room to breathe since.”

“I thought you wanted that,” Helena said softly.

“I did. But now I need time to think things over, make decisions, and such. I think better when I’m doing something. I’ve no dinner to make or chores to do, so I hope walking and shopping will do it for me now.”

Helena grew still. “Decisions to make? Has the earl asked for your hand?”

“No,” Daisy said with a scowl. “He hasn’t.”

“Then why look at houses to let? Surely…” Helena took a deep breath. “Surely you know he will propose, or so it seems to me. So why look at houses to let unless you want to make a new home with him? But why? His town house is beautiful. Anyone would be happy there.” She ducked her head. “I’m sorry, that’s really not my business. Please excuse me for asking.”

“No need to apologize,” Daisy said, as she drew on her gloves. “My intentions weren’t a secret. The truth is, I don’t know what I thought I knew, and I’m not sure of what I should say or do one way or the other. I’m at a standstill, Helena, and that’s new to me. That’s what comes from never having to decide anything important for so long. First my father did the thinking for me and then Tanner did. I think deciding’s a thing you have to practice in order to be good at.”

“I’d think it was simple,” Helena persisted. “You obviously care for the earl. He obviously cares for you. Daisy. I know I presume, but I must. The earl’s a wonderful man; anyone would be lucky to be the center of his attention. What’s happened to change your mind?”

Leland Grant, Daisy wanted to say. Things he said. Things he made me feel. The things he makes me feel even when I’m alone in my bed in the night. Things that used to frighten me, but now make me curious. Promises of pleasure in his eyes and at his hands and mouth that make me begin to feel things I thought were numbed forever, heart, soul, and body, of course body. He’s wakened this suddenly bothersome body of mine. The way what he said is right, at least in that I’d have to be more than available, I’d have to be happy in Geoff’s bed. It would only be fair. And I don’t know I could be. I love Geoff, just not the thought of touching him and having him touch me.

But she couldn’t even say that aloud.

Daisy frowned and said instead, “It’s a big step. I need time to think about it. So… Bother!” she exclaimed. She wrinkled her nose and blew a breath from the side of her mouth to set the red feathers by her cheek trembling. “It tickles. I don’t need to fly; why do I need feathers? Oh well, it’s on, and too much trouble to take off. Now, shall we go to buy a new hat that doesn’t make me want to sneeze? Or should we buy some ribbons, or lace, slippers, hair pomade, violets, or melons?” She laughed. “See? There’s too much choice in everything for me these days!”

“Is there anything you’d like to talk over?” Helena asked seriously. “I’m just a paid companion, and when you wed I’ll be on my way to a new position. But I might be able to clear up a few matters for you. I was married, and happily, for ten years. I have two children I adore. I’ve been alone, unhappily for the most part, for five years. So I have experience in making choices. I’d be glad to listen to anything, help with anything you want to share with me.”

“I know,” Daisy said. “Thank you, but this is something I have to ask myself. Now. The Pantheon Bazaar for fripperies? The flower market for fun? Or do we go to a rental agent, so I can see what I could get for my money if I decide to go it alone? That might be interesting.”

“Wherever you wish,” Helena said stiffly.

“Oh, don’t get formal with me!” Daisy cried in exasperation. “Listen. It makes sense. I hated being married. I do like Geoff. But I just don’t know if I want a husband anymore. I mean, I always dreamed of having a decent man for a husband, a gentleman, someone who’d advise me and protect me and keep me safe, the way my father never did. That’s what I thought when I stood on the shingle in Botany Bay all those years, staring out to sea, dreaming of the day I might be free. Now I am. And I have money. I have freedom to do whatever I choose. I never thought of that. So maybe I’d be best off if I just stayed Geoff’s friend, and lived for myself. Yes, go ahead and stare. I know that’s shocking. But that’s what I’m thinking right now.”

Helena shook her head. “I can’t think of anything better than being married to a good, kind man who loves you.”

“Well, I can!” Daisy snapped. “And that’s trouble, isn’t it? Or maybe it’s just that I’ve got cold feet, here at the last. It’s one thing to dream something, another when it actually starts going your way. I never made a choice for myself, not in all my life, not until my husband died. Now I can make decisions, and I don’t want to make mistakes, because I’ll have only myself to blame this time. It’s easy to heap blame on someone else for your unhappiness. I know, I’ve done it most of my life, and rightly so. Now I have to bear that burden myself. I just don’t know what to do. Time is what I need, and time I have. Come along, we can talk as we walk. I’m itching to be out, doing something.”

She opened the door to see the hotel manager, hand uplifted, poised to knock on it. It was hard to say which of them was more surprised. The manager was clearly more embarrassed. There was a stocky man in sober clothes, with a bright red vest, standing next to him; he stared at Daisy.

“Ah, Mrs. Tanner,” the manager said, bowing. “Good morning. I was just coming to summon you. This is Mr. Robert Burrows, from Bow Street. He said he has business with you, and though I told him to wait below stairs,” he continued with a sniff, “he insisted on coming with me.”

“They hear the words ‘Bow Street’ and they flit,” the man explained. “So it’s best to collar them in their dens.”

Daisy sniffed, too, and raised her nose in the air. “A Runner. I could smell him a mile away. Well, cully, what do you want with me?”

“Mrs. Daisy Tanner?” the Runner asked, his eyes narrowing as he looked at her. “I got a warrant for your arrest here,” he said, tapping his vest pocket.

Daisy went totally still. “For what?”

“For the suspected murder of your husband, James Tanner,” he said. “At His Majesty’s penal colony at Botany Bay, in Port Jackson, that’s what.”

Daisy’s face went ashen. Her legs grew weak; she put out a hand to lean against the door. Then she drew herself up.

“It isn’t true,” she said. “I didn’t do it; it was an accident. I’m not going anywhere. Helena, send for Geoff. And the Viscount Haye; send for him, too. And, oh yes, my solicitor, the one I saw when I came to London. Ronald Arbus is his name; it’s there in those papers on my desk. I’m not going anywhere,” she snarled at the Runner. “I have money, and so I guess I have enemies, but they’re not getting it or me. I’m staying right here.”

“You don’t have to go to Bow Street,” the earl said as he paced. “I’ve friends in high places. I gave my word as your bond. You will stay in London, won’t you?” he asked, looking up at Daisy.

She nodded. They were in his town house. She sat in his study and felt as though she were already in a witness chair. Her hands were clenched to fists in her lap. Geoff was pacing; Leland stood by a window and watched her, unblinking. Helena sat nearby, looking as though she might break into tears at any moment.

“I won’t run,” Daisy said. “Because I didn’t do anything.”

“Oh well, that,” the earl said. “Of course.”

“I know everyone says that they’re not guilty,” Daisy said angrily. “But I mean it. Tanner went riding, well, racing is what he was doing, to win a wager with a mate of his. He came back dead as the door they carried him in on. His horse shied and bucked. Everyone said so. I was home, making dinner for him, where he expected me to be every day. So who says I did it? Or anything?”

“A complaint has been laid against you,” the earl said. “An accusation. They say it was an accident, but claim that you were complicit in it.”

“What?” Daisy exclaimed. “They think I ran to where he was, stood by the side of the road, and waved my hands at his horse?”

“No,” Leland finally said. “They claim you put a burr under the saddle.”

“Well, it took them long enough to say it!” Daisy said. “Now, when there’s no way anyone can look to see. Why would I do that? A burr under the saddle? That’s rich, that is. If I wanted to be rid of Tanner-and I did-I’d have done it where I could watch to make sure it was done right. I thought about it, many times. Lord! Setting a burr under his saddle? What good would it do if he fell off his horse and only broke something? He’d give me the devil of a time when he so much as got a bellyache; if he had a broken leg, it would pain me more than him. He’d break my head if he even thought I’d done such a thing. It’s a lie. And they can’t prove it.”

“Possibly not,” Geoff said. “But they can pay someone to swear to it, and that’s what worries me. Well, you know the type of people we lived among in Port Jackson, Daisy.”

“I do,” she said. “And I know they weren’t all bad. No one wants to get the name of a rat, neither, Geoff. You know that!”

“Possibly,” he said. “But there’s more. Everyone knew you hated Tanner; you never made a secret of it. That gets them a foot in the door.”

“Possibly?” Daisy echoed, seizing on the first thing he’d said. “Oh, Geoff. I didn’t break Tanner’s neck for him, but you saying that? You fair break my heart, you do.”

He came to her and took her hand. “I don’t think you did anything, Daisy. I’m just saying the road ahead may be rocky.”

She slowly withdrew her hand and raised her head. She glanced over at Leland, and caught her breath on a stifled sob. “My life’s been rocky. I’m used to that. I didn’t do Tanner in, though I’ll never deny I wished I could. So does that mean they can put me in prison again? Or send me back to Botany Bay?”

She sat straight in her chair, clearly afraid, looking desperate but proud, like a queen on her way to the tumbrels. Or so Leland thought. Her flaming hair and outrageously red gown accentuated the fact that her complexion was too white, and her eyes too bright. She was crestfallen at the moment, but there was something unquenchable about her fire. She was all spirit and rage, and he thought, yes, she could kill a man if she had to, but not by such a craven scheme as putting a burr under his saddle. She would, he thought, warn the fellow first and then, if she had to, yes, she might well put a bullet through him or cut out his heart. But only if she or someone she loved was in danger, and she had no other way to stop it.

“So who is my accuser?” Daisy asked.

“Bow Street will not divulge the name,” Leland said. “Yes, I know, I asked, and so did the earl, but that they’re adamant about.”

“Because they’re afraid I’d kill the fellow!” Daisy said with a sniff. “Well, I wouldn’t, you know. Him, I’d try to maim.”

Leland laughed.

“I would,” she said, looking at him. “Of all the low tricks! No one, not anyone in all of Port Jackson, ever said a thing like that. And I had those who didn’t like me. Well, no one’s perfect, and I’m certainly not. I didn’t like Morrison, our butcher, for example. I hated him because he charged too much, and put his hands on rumps and breasts that were no part of his business or his merchandise, and so I told him, and everyone, you can be sure.

“And there was Mrs. Coleman,” she said. “Now, there was a criminal! She poisoned two husbands and never denied it. Not because they were cruel, though they might have been, but for their money. She only got free because she married a guard. I wouldn’t ever take tea with that one, and so I said.”

She stopped and looked down. “I said things too freely, I suppose. Not about those two, believe me! But about others, yes, I might have done. I was unhappy, and unhappy people try to make others feel the same way. I should have been more charitable. That doesn’t make me a murderess!” she said, looking up at their faces.

They looked at each other, and they didn’t smile.

She swallowed hard. “I know more about the law than most females, from being exposed to it so young and so often. But doesn’t my accuser have to face me in court?”

“So he would,” the earl said. “But we don’t believe it will ever come to that.”

“Why not?” Daisy asked. She frowned as the men exchanged looks again. Leland, looking more tense and sober than she’d ever seen him; Geoff, growing a little red around the ears.

“I’ll tell you later,” the earl said evasively. “If it even comes to that.”

“For now,” Leland said abruptly, “we need you to relax, settle down, and make a list of anyone you think might mean you harm. Anyone,” he said. “First, from the days before your father was arrested. Someone had to inform on him. We’ll search the old records, but we’d like to know who you think that might have been. Include anyone you may have met in Newgate prison who might bear a grudge, and anyone similarly bent that you can remember from the ship that brought you to Botany Bay. We’d also like a list of those you knew from then on, of course. That will give us something to work with.”

“We need to know who did this to you,” the earl said.

Daisy’s eyes widened. “Will they be able to put me in Newgate again?” she asked again. She frowned to hear her voice shake.

“No,” Leland said. “Not while I live.”

“Nor I,” the earl agreed.

She nodded, relieved. Then she raised her head. “You know, actually, I don’t think my accuser is anyone we know from those bad days, Geoff. Because, say I was put in jail: Even if I were transported again, who’d profit? What good would it do them? They couldn’t get my money. So why bother? Convicts don’t like courts, do they, Geoff?” she asked, like a child in the night wanting to be told there was nothing in her darkened wardrobe but imagination. “Don’t you remember?”

“Yes,” he said. “But they could easily pay someone else to broach the suit for them.”

“I see,” she said, thinking hard. “It could even be someone who never did anything bad, someone who just didn’t want me getting too close to you, Geoff. Or you, my lord,” she said, looking straight at Leland.

The earl stared at her. Leland put his head to side as he considered her.

“Well, you two foisted me off on Society,” she said. “There are high sticklers who could be mighty mad that you introduced a common convict to the cream of the ton. They mightn’t like having to rub elbows with such as me, whether I was guilty or not. Accusing me of a murder is just the kind of sneaking, rotten, rancid thing a person like that would do.”

“So it would be,” the earl said, exchanging a look with Leland.

“So it might be,” Leland said sharply. He seemed, for the first time since she’d known him, agitated, all his customary lazy good humor vanished. “It’s all conjecture. I must get some real investigation started. So I have to leave now. There are people to speak to, and more to be threatened. Mrs. Masters?” he said through tightened lips. “If I might see you outside for a moment?”

Helena looked surprised.

“Not to worry,” Leland assured her, more gently. “No one suspects you of anything. I just need to speak with you, alone.”

Helena’s expression cleared. “Of course, my lord,” she said quietly. “I’ll be just outside, Daisy,” she said, and went to the door.

Leland followed.

Daisy found herself alone, with Geoff. Then, and only then, did she suddenly understand the unspoken conversation he’d had with the viscount, as clearly as if she had heard it.

“Oh, by all that’s holy,” she muttered, putting her hand to her forehead. “Now I’ve done it. I’ve gone and forced your hand, haven’t I?”

“No, Daisy,” the earl said, as he came to stand before her. “You’ve gone and made me realize that I should ask for your hand, and not dillydally anymore.”

“That’s what I meant,” she said miserably.