Chapter Five
“Where is Mill?” Stephen asked Elizabeth as they stood outside the supper room. “The bell rang ten minutes ago.”
His wife frowned. “You don’t think one of her suitors took her into the gardens, do you? She is so naive.”
Stephen’s jaw went taut. “They wouldn’t dare try something like that at the duke’s home. Not with all of us here.”
Elizabeth took his arm. “I admit I am worried about her. But we have to accept that she is no longer a child, dear. She has to make her own decisions.”
Stephen looked over the sea of people and scowled. “I don’t have to like it. I’m responsible for her. There were too many men closing in on her tonight.” He gritted his teeth. “But perhaps she went to bed. She is staying the night here, after all.”
“Or maybe she is checking on Cleo. The poor thing hasn’t been well lately. If you do recall, Milli refused to leave her cat at home.”
Stephen nodded. “That has to be it. The way she carried on in the carriage over here, you would think that deuced cat was a person.”
Marcus came up beside them. “Has Milli returned?”
Elizabeth let out a relieved smile. “Oh, Marcus, did you see her leave? I thought she might be taking care of her sick cat. We were so worried about her. You know how Milli can be about her animals.”
Marcus frowned. He knew exactly how that young female could be about everything, and that was exactly why he was looking for her. The thought of Milli still in the gardens with Knightengale sent his blood boiling. Marcus guessed Knightengale wouldn’t try anything amorous with Milli, but now he had to wonder. “Did you see her go upstairs?”
Elizabeth’s expression stilled. “Is there something I should know?”
Marcus saw the worry on the lady’s face and grinned. “Only that she is one mischievous female.”
Elizabeth laughed. “Oh, Marcus. Milli hasn’t done anything outrageous in ages.”
Marcus glanced back at the ballroom. Outrageous? That was debatable. Milli was an impulsive female who could land herself in trouble in less than a minute.
Stephen’s eyes took on a dangerous glint. He turned to his wife, hiding the hardness in his gaze. “Why don’t you see how Jane is doing? That old dowager has been talking her ear off all night. We will find Milli. Who knows, if not with her cat, she’s probably still in the ballroom, talking to the musicians.”
Marcus forced a chuckle. “Or in the library where I found her earlier. She was looking for works by Shakespeare no less.”
Elizabeth sighed in relief. “Oh, yes, why did I not think of that? She’s probably in the library again. Marcus, would you mind looking for me, please?” She gazed across the supper room. “And poor Jane. When Lady Ducklebee finds a listening ear, the woman cannot stop talking.”
Stephen pushed his wife toward the duchess. “Go on, sweetheart. Have no worries. The Clearbrook brothers will find your lost puppy.”
Elizabeth’s face lit with amusement. “Bring Milli to supper, won’t you, Marcus? That is, if she is not resting.”
Marcus’s heart hammered with unease. Where the devil was Knightengale? “Not to worry. If she finds herself tired, I will report right back to you and leave her to her rest.”
Elizabeth nodded, oblivious to the two men glaring at each other in discomfort.
“Well,” Stephen exclaimed. “Where the devil is she? Is she with someone? I’ll kill him!”
Saying nothing, Marcus clenched his teeth and spun on his heels. Stephen grasped his shoulder, stopping him. “In the library then?”
Marcus turned his head, his gaze hard. “Since you are the lady’s guardian, I should tell you I found her in there earlier . . . with Hughmont.”
Stephen’s eyes glittered with rage. “What the devil were they doing?”
“Looking for works of Shakespeare, I believe.”
Stephen’s shoulders sagged in relief. “He’s harmless. Handsome, but harmless.”
Marcus’s lips thinned. “Zeus! He’s a man, is he not? Saw him ogling Milli’s ankles while she climbed that confounded ladder.”
Stephen clenched his hands. “Knew he was a cad.”
Marcus wondered how much to tell his brother. Time was of the essence here. “I saw Hughmont in the supper room. But Knightengale seems to be missing.”
Stephen’s body tensed. “Knightengale. He wouldn’t dare touch her.”
Marcus grimaced. “You think? They left through the French doors a half hour ago. I thought they would be back. In fact, I presumed they were back. Perhaps Milli is in the library with him now. Knightengale isn’t hard to miss.”
“Why the devil did you let them go?”
“If you do recall, I am not her guardian. And that female does not take no for an answer.”
“You don’t have to lecture me. I finally realized just how her father felt when he forced me into an engagement with Elizabeth. Hell’s teeth! Unattached females can do as much damage as Napoleon at Waterloo. Let’s go.”
Marcus left the supper room, his face grim. “Don’t do anything drastic. This is Jane’s ball. We don’t want gossip for her or Milli. You search the library. I’ll take a look in the gardens. But if you ask me, that female needs to learn more than one lesson tonight.”
Stephen started down the hall, his heels clapping hard. “Yes, well, tell that to Elizabeth. Her heart is as soft as pudding in regards to her sister. Perhaps, you can act like the mean uncle.”
Marcus muttered to himself as he strode through the French doors. “Mean uncle indeed.”
“Miss Millicent, your eyes are like two pools of black silver...”
Milli sat beside Lord Knightengale on the stone bench in the Elbourne gardens. She was looking up at the moon, wishing Marcus were sitting beside her. The glow from the night sky touched the branches on the trees, giving off almost a mystical feeling. A small bird flitted about the dark, catching her eye. Her stomach growled when the smell of the supper meats reached her nose. “Hmmmm, what was that?”
Lord Knightengale smothered a laugh. “Do you daydream much?”
Milli sighed and leaned against the gnarled oak behind her, crossing her arms over her chest. There was a slight chill in the air, and she wished she had brought her shawl. “Daydream? Oh, yes. I like to think of myself as a character in one of the plays I am reading. When I was younger, imagining I was somewhere else, or someone else, always helped pass the time, especially when Papa was off to some country, and Elizabeth was, well, I don’t know where she was, at her school for young ladies, I suppose. I was with one governess or another until Papa sent me to school too.”
She let out a light chuckle. “Of course, I had to attend a few schools. Papa wasn’t pleased when one headmistress after another told him I wasn’t following the rules.” She frowned as she thought about her papa. Oh, how she missed him. “Life was rather boring until Elizabeth married Stephen, I can tell you that.”
“Do you miss your father?”
A hot ache grew in her throat. “I miss him terribly.” She turned to him, her eyes tearing up. “You are so kind to ask. Papa has been gone for two whole years now.”
“Two years?”
“Yes, and I am out of mourning now and can do just about anything I please. I am eighteen, don’t you know?”
He let out a low whistle. “An old lady for sure.”
She laughed. “Why, Lord Knightengale you do have a sense of humor after all. When I first met you, I thought you as stuffy as Marcus.”
“Marcus isn’t stuffy, he’s refined, my dear. Like a good wine. There is a difference.”
She shrugged, thinking about Marcus’s kiss and his confounded lessons. “Boring is more like it.” She shivered.
“Are you cold?”
“Just a little.”
He peeled off his jacket and hung it about her shoulders. The man was a giant. The jacket covered most of her, including her legs. Frankly, it was quite warm indeed.
She looked up at him. “You don’t think I’m a child, do you?” She picked at his jacket. “I mean, I am small for my age.”
His amused glance seemed to appreciate her finer features. “Not at all. You are quite a worthy specimen of womanhood.”
She couldn’t help but let her eyes smile back at him. “I like you.”
He leaned closer. “And I like you.” His voice was soft and inviting.
She bit her lip and stood up. Perhaps she had been too friendly. “Um, did you know there are millions of stars in the sky?”
“Are there?” He rose from his seat and moved beside her, brushing against her.
The warmth of his body made her swallow hard. Goodness, he was huge. His towering shadow blocked out the moon.
She clasped her hands together, eyeing the gravel walkway back to the ballroom. She couldn’t quite see the doors. And when had the music stopped? All she could hear was the rustling of leaves above her and the chirp of that tiny bird.
Drat. Why had she walked so far with the man? Because she had wanted to get away from Marcus, that’s why. Because she had wanted to show Marcus she was no mere child. Because she had wanted Marcus to know she could do without him taking her to the supper.
But with Knightengale hovering over her, she was thinking perhaps she should have gone straight to her bedchambers and curled up with Cleo who had been feeling under the weather.
She pulled the large jacket tighter about her body. “Well, I, uh, haven’t counted them exactly, the stars, I mean. But I’ve heard many things about the constellations. Did you ever study Galileo?”
“You know about Galileo?” He sounded surprised.
“Of course. My Papa saw to it that I was educated just as much as any man.”
“Good for him.”
He shocked her again. She lifted her gaze, her eyes wide with curiosity. “You think it good for a woman to be educated? I mean, more than they are today? With more science and math and worldly things?”
He smiled down at her. “Why not?”
The tenseness she felt evaporated. “Finally, a man who sees things my way. I am hoping the duke sees the sense in it too.”
“You do?”
“Well, yes. You see, I plan to buy a place in Bath and turn it into a wonderful school for young women where ladies can learn the best things in the world. Just like gentlemen learn at Eton and other places where Society sends their sons.”
He paused for a minute, looking up at the sky. “I daresay, that will take a good sum of money.”
“Oh, it’s not as if I am going to ask Roderick for a vast sum. I will be using my own money for that. Papa was quite wealthy in his own right.”
“Was he?”
Her eye sparkled with delight. Finally, a man who didn’t want her for her money. How refreshing. “Indeed, and he left half of his estate to me.” She shrugged. “But I have no need of all that money. There are better things to do with it anyway. Besides, Stephen is so afraid someone will marry me for my inheritance that I believe he would like to lock me up in a tower. My sister worries about me too, and that is the last thing I want for her. She is quite concerned about certain type of gentlemen suitors.”
Knightengale’s brows dipped. “Fortune hunters you mean. I suppose I would feel the same way if I were your guardian.”
She touched his arm. “I see we understand each other. But this way, I can kill two birds with one stone.”
He look a bit confused, but he raised his large hands to adjust the jacket sitting on her shoulders.
She looked up at him, her eyes crinkling with delight. “For one thing, I will rid myself of my money by the end of the year. That way, no fortune hunter will ever come near me. And second, my dream of a great school will be born.”
He frowned, letting a hand trail along her arm. “And does your family agree to your plans?”
She watched him, wondering if he was cold and wanted his jacket back. “Oh no. Stephen is a dear, but he would not agree to my plans. Did you know he is my guardian until I turn twenty-one? So, whoever wants to marry me has to go through him.”
“That is quite a plan, Miss Millicent. I hope you succeed.”
Happiness filled her. Finally, a man who listened to her. “Do you?”
His dark eyes gleamed like tiny flames in the moonlight, making her think he was quite a sympathetic man. “I understand the female mind a bit better than some of my fellow lords,” he said gently.
She grinned as she slid the coat off her shoulders. “You are so very kind. But before we return, I should give this back to you. Thank you for your gallantry.”
He took the jacket. “Thank you, Milli. You don’t mind me calling you by that name, do you?”
She avoided his steadfast gaze and shifted her gaze toward the sky. “Well...”
Lizzie had told her that since she was older now, in no uncertain terms should she let any gentleman who was not family call her Milli unless he was her fiancé. However, the kindness of Lord Knightengale touched her. Yet, the man was not her fiancé or anywhere near that.
“I am sorry, but I think not,” she said apologetically. “It is my name. The shortened version, of course.” She threw her palms in the air. “But people might think . . . things.”
He leaned toward her, taking her face in his huge hands. “What things, my dear?”
She pulled back, feeling a bit panicky. The feel of his cool skin shocked her. Lizzie had warned her that moonlight did funny things to gentlemen. “Uh, perhaps we should be heading back to the supper room?”
He stroked her cheek. “You’re a beautiful woman. Don’t you want me to kiss you?”
“Kiss me?” she squeaked. “I think n—”
But he didn’t let her finish. With one hand, he swept her onto the nearby bench, hauled her against him and pressed his mouth to hers.
Stunned, she grabbed his shoulders for support. She should have slapped him away, but at first, she was too stunned to react. Besides, a slap to a man this size would probably make him laugh. And then he might try kissing her again.
When her brain finally snapped to attention, she pressed her hands against his massive chest, trying to push away. But it was like trying to move a boulder.
His beefy hand wrapped around her waist, steadying her, and he wasn’t letting her go!
She was finally able to jerk her lips from his, seething.
In the dim recesses of her mind, she realized his kiss wasn’t anything like Marcus’s. There was no tingling in the pit of her stomach. No floating on air. No heat. No passion. Nothing special. In fact—
“What the devil do you think you’re doing?”
The angry words made Milli jump. She would have fallen off the bench had Knightengale not caught her. She peered around the man’s broad shoulders to see two smoldering gray eyes glaring at her. “Marcus!”
The blood drained from her face, and she actually felt herself gulp.
“It was my fault entirely,” Knightengale said as he swung Milli back to the ground as if she were as light as a feather.
“You filthy dog!” Marcus was beside them in a second, grabbing Knightengale by the collar.
Milli yelped. Knightengale had thirty pounds on him if not more. “Marcus! Stop!”
Knightengale socked Marcus’s hand away. His dark eyes glittered with fury. “A brawl at the ball is not to my liking, but if you insist.”
Marcus shot Milli a blazing glare that made her blush. “Get yourself back to the ballroom at once and wait for me. We are going into that supper hall together.”
“Wait for you?” she repeated, shifting her gaze between the two angry men. Her stomach turned when she saw Knightengale’s fist curl beside him. It was a huge fist, she thought worriedly. Very huge.
“I won’t go,” Milli bit out, lifting her chin in defiance. “I won’t let him hurt you, Marcus. No matter what you say!”
Knightengale loosened his hand by his side and smirked.
Milli’s eyes narrowed on the man. She didn’t care for that smug expression. “I didn’t like your kiss anyway.”
It was Marcus’s turn to snicker at her remark, but his eyes had turned black with rage. “Milli, I want you to do what I say. Leave us.”
Milli chewed her bottom lip as fearful images of Marcus’s bloody body flitted through her brain. Knightengale would squash him to a pulp.
She turned her back to Marcus and pressed her small hands against Knightengale’s broad chest, looking up at him with pleading eyes. “Please, don’t hurt him,” she whispered.
“I heard that,” Marcus replied in a harsh tone. “And if you think I am going to let some gentleman take advantage of you—”
She spun around. “I kissed him! Is that what you want to hear?”
Marcus’s silver eyes turned deadly. In one swift motion, he picked her up and moved her aside. “Return to the ballroom, or I shall carry you there and return here to finish my business.”
Knightengale let out a dark laugh as he started down the graveled path toward the ballroom. “For the love of King George, Marcus. I cannot in good faith hit you. One, you are my friend. And two, I would smash your handsome face so bad, women would hate me forever.”
Milli sighed in relief as she watched the huge man turn the bend and disappear. She had her back to Marcus, ready to stop him if he decided to run around her in order to apprehend Knightengale.
“Well,” she sighed, staring toward the empty path, “at least one of you had the good sense to stop.”
A host of emotions were swirling in her head. She didn’t like being scooped up like some ball and thrown place to place by either of the men. She didn’t like Knightengale’s kiss. And she didn’t like Marcus being so angry with her.
Marcus said nothing. Tension filled the space between them. She could feel his glare burning into her back. She swallowed, thinking it was better having him angry with her rather than lying on the ground, bleeding to death.
She waited a few seconds, wondering if she should turn around and face him. No, that didn’t seem like a good idea. She heard a low growl followed by a string of curses. Goodness, this was not a time to have a discussion with a bear!
She put one foot in front of the other and started down the trail back to the ballroom. She made it about three steps before an ironclad hand clapped onto her shoulder, stopping her.
“Wait just a minute!”
She spun on her slippers, giving Marcus her best glower. “What is it?”
The fire in his eyes almost singed her hair. She faltered, wondering if she could make a run for it.
He squeezed her shoulders, making her feel about five years old. “If I ever find you out here with another gentleman who is not your fiancé—”
Anger got the best of her. How dare he treat her like a child! He didn’t own her! He didn’t love her! And he was the one who let her leave with Knightengale in the first place!
“Oh, you poor little lord. Are you mad because he kissed better than you?”
In one swift move, he dragged her toward him. “I thought you said you didn’t like his kiss?”
Drat. The nearness of him was doing funny things to her. She was remembering his warm lips on hers. She could barely think as she stared at his mouth. “I didn’t like it. But . . . it was much better than yours . . . that is . . . if I have to rate it.”
He dropped his hands from her as if she were as cold as ice. “I should lock you in your room.”
Her heart wouldn’t stop racing. “J—just try.”
“You were literally throwing yourself at him! Do you want the rest of the ton to think you a . . . a flirt? Do you want to taint Elizabeth and Stephen, let alone Jane who has done so much for you?”
She swallowed. She had never thought about that.
“When I think of all the stupid things you’ve pulled in the years I’ve known you, this one is the worst.”
She dropped her gaze, not willing to look at him. He despised her.
“That idiotic jump in the library was nothing compared to this! You are a spoiled brat, and it’s time someone took you in hand.”
She bit her lip as anguish tore at her heart. She was unable to move.
“Your sister would be mortified if she knew what you were doing out here. Your Papa, God Bless his soul, gave you everything, never telling you no,” he continued, his silver eyes sweeping over her in contempt. “And it’s time someone told you something besides yes!”
A trembling fury began to build inside her. She would think about her broken heart later. Right now, she was taking all she could from this man.
She stomped her foot against the gravel beneath her. “Shut up. Just shut up.”
He blinked in shock. “What did you say?”
Her chest heaved. “I hate you!”
His black brows puckered. He seemed to realize what he had been saying, but it was too late. He had severed the small thread that had held them together, and she wanted him to know it.
“I hate you,” she whispered, no longer able to contain her anger, she was shaking so badly.
He frowned, taking a hesitant step toward her. “Perhaps I—”
She glared at him, not caring about the tears flowing down her cheeks. “Do not say another word to me. I think you have made your point quite clear.”
She turned and ran along the path back to the ballroom, wiping the wetness from her face, hoping no one would see her. All she wanted to do was hurry home. But she could not. The duchess had asked her to stay the night.
The ache in her chest grew. She had thought the ball would be wonderful. But the past few hours had been a nightmare.