“Watch your tone!” The duke straightened up, brows lifting. “Do you not think I am owed an accounting? Until I am satisfied with your conduct, you are ordered to remain at Newberry Park to answer an inquiry into your command.”
Felix jutted out his jaw, furious that his career could hang in the balance because of the duke’s whim. But then had it not always depended on someone else? He was also now suspicious that Admiral Templeton was not the driving force behind his presence at Newberry Park. Was he here only because the Duke of Rutherford wished to see him squirm and to torture him with Sally’s outstanding match? “Am I accused of misuse of your support and funds?”
“Of a sort.” The duke smiled in a way that did not comfort. “We will meet at precisely eleven o’clock to discuss the situation. Rodmell will come for you. I expect the process to take several days to complete. Perhaps even weeks.”
More than a week and he might be here to witness Sally marry. He could not be present for that. Surely Rutherford would not be so cruel.
The duke’s brow rose, challenging him to argue over the length of his stay.
Yes, Rutherford could be that cruel. Declining to accept the breach-of-promise payment when Sally had broken with him had not excused him in the duke’s eyes. It had only made Felix less of a fortune hunter in his own mind. A distinction the duke clearly did not share. He should have taken the money and been done with the lot of them. “As you wish,” he ground out.
“Splendid. I will see you soon then.” Satisfied, the old man shuffled away to the window, leaving Felix seething. The Duke of Rutherford truly was a menace, and there was not a damn thing to do about it. He had to stay and clear his name of whatever slur had been cast upon his reputation. He had to keep his ship and his command.
If he did not, he had nothing else to live for.
Not even the hope of Sally.
Chapter Ten
Sally paced past Ellicott and surveyed the bare chamber full of hope for the future. It was still early in the day, and on impulse she had stolen Ellicott away to Torre Cottage to put forward her proposal that they spend half a year at his estate and half a year in Essex visiting her family. She wanted him to think about her ideas while he was away on his business trip. When he returned, they could negotiate terms in earnest and he would discover for himself that she was not quite as meek and mild as she had let him believe. “This was my grandmother’s favorite room in the whole house.”
“Yes, charming,” Ellicott drawled, clearly unimpressed by a room that had no furnishings of any kind.
Time and a loving hand would bring this house back to life. If only Ellicott could see the possibilities and imagine it as a summer home by the sea for them.
She glanced out the window, and her breath caught at the spectacular view of the estate and choppy waters beyond. “We could live here a few months to half a year and be very comfortable.”
“Why on earth would I want to live in a little cottage on your grandfather’s estate when he has ample guest rooms?”
Sally bit her lip, trying not to show her frustration at Ellicott’s lack of understanding of her dream. Of what great boon her grandfather offered them by giving her this place if she wanted it. To have a place that was just for them, few servants but close enough to her family that seeing them was no great obstacle. “From here you can see the mansion and the arrival of any visitors who come. My grandmother used to say she could never be surprised when she lived here.”
Ellicott’s arm slipped around her waist, and he pulled her against him. “It is a very pretty view. But I thought we were to spend the morning getting better acquainted rather than discussing dilapidated houses and long-dead relatives of yours.”
They were without a chaperone for the moment, and it felt strange to be in his arms. Louisa had come with them but had claimed to be entranced by the garden’s wild beauty. Her sly smile hinted she would stay there for a while too, so they had some privacy to discuss her plans for them.
Ellicott dropped a kiss to her brow and slowly kissed down the side of her face. For a moment the sensation stirred her emotions, but it was a remembrance of someone else who had done exactly the same thing once upon a time.
“I wanted to talk about our living arrangements before we marry, but since time is short I must be blunt,” she whispered as Captain Hastings’s handsome face at breakfast this morning taunted her. She could not imagine why he dared to show his face. Her father rarely invited officers under his command to stay, and then only in London. He had promised Felix would never darken her door again.
By the light of day, Felix had been exactly as she remembered him. A little sterner perhaps in his expression, a little more aged and his skin tanned. His nose had been broken she suspected, and there was a small cut on his jaw which was new.
Simpleton! She should not be thinking of Felix. Not now. Not anymore. Not when her future husband’s arms were tightening about her body.
Ellicott laughed against her throat. “What is there to discuss? Summers are the busiest time at home, and now we are to marry we have no need to bend to society’s expectations. We can do whatever the hell we want and please ourselves first.”
“I want to see my family.” Her breath caught as Ellicott moved his hands up her torso so they rested just beneath her bust. “Louisa is to return to London for a second season soon, and my cousins too are of an age when they will need me. I cannot let the sole responsibility of bringing them out and chaperoning them in their first season fall on my aunt’s shoulders. My mother was very little help to me.”
“My dear, your devotion to your family is unnecessary now. They ask too much of you. You must learn to live your own life.” He frowned and his hands slid down to encircle her waist. He tightened his grip slowly until his fingers met around her middle. “If the situation is warranted, of course you can go to London any time you like. I do not intend to be a tyrant but I will need you more than they do.”
He moved his hands lower. Sally told herself that Ellicott’s possessive tone was no more serious than a fear of being separated. He cupped her bottom and squeezed each globe.
Sally tried to relax. “And I should not like to be parted from you so soon after we marry. But I am sure there will be times when you will have no time for me.”
“True, and you will be busy with your own concerns.” He groped her flesh with growing enthusiasm. “There will be our children to bring into the world and raise.”
“Yes, I hope so,” she choked out around her shock.
He spun her around and met her gaze seriously. “If that is not enough excitement, you can always take a discreet lover once I have an heir and a spare to succeed me.”