Chapter 8
Theo woke to the sun streaming through her window. No! She lunged from the bed and tripped over the fabric that slid from her waist to her ankles as she raced toward the window. Despite kicking free of the nightgown, her limbs seized up with muscles that ached as though she’d tumbled down the stairs sometime in the night.
She stood in limbo between the bed and the window, naked. She stared out at the glorious sunny day and let flashes of her night visit wash over her. Her husband looming over her. Arms trapped by her nightgown. His refusal to free her. And then the pressure as he surged into her, filled her with such passion. The way he plundered her body and her soul with an utter ruthlessness that melted both her heart and limbs.
The memory of begging him for more and how he’d delivered all she had requested, yet had no words to name. The roughness of his loving matched the ferocity of the turmoil that had surged deep in her soul. Her heart. And then at the end, as he planted his seed deep inside her, left a bit of himself for her to cherish and possibly create a child, he’d bellowed loud enough to bring the rafters down. Mine! He had yelled as though he’d claimed her, marked her as his in the most elemental way.
It gave her shivers to hear that cry again, even in memory. Shivers of pleasure followed by a deep, burning need to stake her own claim on him. When he returned from London, she would greet him wearing naught but those sapphires and show him the truth of what was in her heart.
Confident in her decision, she called for Mary. Her maid appeared from the little room off her own. “I need a bath. A nice hot bath with some salts to soothe my aching muscles. Then I shall dress and set about getting this house in hand with Mrs. Hedley.”
“Very good, my lady.” Mary helped her with her dressing gown and disappeared to see about the water. Theo picked up Wuthering Heights and read while she waited. Soon, she would have both her husband and his country house set to rights.
Stone looked up at the rare spot of sunshine and hoped it might be symbolic of coming good fortune. After all, with negotiations between management and their rail workers stagnating for the seventh day in a row, he could certainly use a spot of luck. For the moment, he’d settle for a simple reply from his new wife. He feared with yet another missive explaining his failure to return, she might do something rash. Well-meaning, but rash nonetheless.
Setting aside his personal worries, and with the hope that a brisk walk might clear his head, he focused on finding a way to establish common ground between the two parties. Despite the fact he was part owner—though newly so—the workers seemed to feel he might be able to strike an agreement, and management shared that notion.
A woman’s scream sliced through his thoughts, and he turned to his right to see two people struggling down a shadowed alley. Again she screamed out, “Help me!”
A soldier at his core, he dashed into the narrow, darkened passage and found a woman being hit by a man. Anger sliced through Stone like a sharp blade, and he grabbed the assailant. “Stop that this instant!” he said as he jerked the woman’s attacker off her person and slammed him against the wall.
The man, an ancient bag of bones, really, slid down the wall into a heap. Stone turned to check on the victim but found himself alone in a dark alley with two men. A glance back the way he’d come showed the light of the thoroughfare too far away for him to make a dash for it.
The first thug, who had a droopy eye, came at him with nothing more than his fists. Stone almost chuckled as he considered how ill-prepared the chap was for what would come next. The brute swung, and Stone ducked past him. He popped up and surprised thug number two, who seemed a bit gimpy, with a right hook as he spun around to address Droopy Eye. Face-to-face, they circled each other for a moment as Gimpy lay on the ground moaning about his nose. Stone stepped in and caught Droopy Eye on the nose with a quick jab, but the man grinned and came at him. As Droopy Eye lunged forward, Stone straightened up, stepped to the side, and jerked his arm straight out perpendicular from his body. He caught the thug at throat height, and he went down like a sack of bricks. The man wheezed as he held his throat, but Stone decided there was little point in remaining where he was. Survival was far more important than trying to bring his attackers to justice.
Besides, he was more than a little embarrassed at being taken in by the helpless-female-victim routine. It was enough that the thieves had not grabbed his wallet, though, come to think of it, they’d never made a grab for it or demanded his money. They’d simply come in swinging as though they were out for blood. He loped back down the alley and into the sunshine, where he melted into the crowd.
Of late, his life had turned into a series of high adventures. When he wasn’t dealing with his new wife, he was dodging wagons, and now thieves. If he were a more suspicious man, he might wonder at the coincidences. Perhaps he needed to be more mindful of his surroundings, since it seemed civilian life had made him soft.
The two weeks of their honeymoon had come and gone with little more than a few hasty notes from Stone. The last noncommittal bit of correspondence was the outside of enough. Theo marshaled the staff, and by midafternoon had set off to Southampton to catch a train to London.
She arrived home shortly after midnight to learn that her husband was still out. Furious with her recalcitrant spouse, she entered his study with the intent to search out some clue as to what might be so important in London. They had never agreed to fidelity within the union, but she didn’t want to believe her husband might be a philanderer. That would be too much to bear.
As she searched his desk, which consisted mostly of locked drawers, she could no longer contain her fears. Throughout her journey home, the voices grew louder and louder until the doubts about her marriage and her performance of her wifely duties loomed large. Had she done something to offend him? He had said he did not wish her to lie still, but could she have moved too much? Been too participatory? Heat simmered in her cheeks as she thought about all they had done together, and yet she could not deny something remained amiss.
Perhaps he saw her as little more than a broodmare? A perfunctory wife, despite their agreement to try to be amiable. Her belly twisted and turned beneath her stays, and she wanted to be sick to her stomach. But then she considered the sapphires he’d gifted her. Thought of the way she had found him staring at her in the dark of her chamber at Stonemere Abbey. As she made her way up the town house stairs, exhaustion pulled at her, aggravating her worry.
Fortunately, once in her chamber, she found Mary had again borne up under challenging circumstances. Despite her listing mobcap and the slight gleam of perspiration on her pale brow, the room was neat as a pin with nary a gown or trunk in sight. Unlike many of her peers, Theo felt a surge of gratitude at her maid’s efficiency. “Please, Mary, simply help me disrobe and I shall take care of the rest tonight. You’ve earned your bed, plus a late-morning sleep. I shouldn’t need you until midmorning.”
“Thank you, my lady.” Mary’s tired response confirmed what Theo knew. The woman was dead on her feet. After her nighttime ablutions, Theo slipped into her bed and willed herself to sleep. Tomorrow would be the first foray into battle either for or with her husband. She couldn’t be sure which yet, but whatever might come, she was prepared to go down with the ship.
Exhausted from another night of late meetings as the railway board restructured the business, Stone let himself into the foyer of his home. Parsons, his butler in town, stumbled into the hall bearing a lamp.
“I thought I told you not to wait up for me tonight,” Stone said as he shed his coat and hat.
“You did, my lord. However, there was a change in circumstance that I felt you needed to be aware of upon your return.”
“And that is?”
“Lady Stonemere’s arrival earlier this evening, or rather last night, as it is now near dawn, my lord.”
Stone groaned. He should have known she was not content when she had not replied to his last two notes. Her first reply to his initial word of extension was gracious and caring. She’d wished him well and a speedy return. Then he’d sent another one two days later and heard nothing from her. The last one had been sent two days before, so with a day for travel, she’d likely got it yesterday morning, which meant her arrival was her response. There was little doubt in his mind that he was in dun territory with his wife. “Very good. I appreciate the warning, Parsons.”
He dismissed the man and climbed the stairs to find his bed. Angry wife or not, there was little he could do about it without some sleep to refresh his brain. Surely, with that accomplished, he’d figure out how to address Theo.
Morning came far too early. Stone rose from a fitful, nightmare-plagued sleep and called for Evers. In the fortnight away from his wife, his nightmares had grown worse. It seemed when he slept with her, his nights were calmer and more restful. His ever-vigilant valet, with his prematurely gray hair and perceptive dark eyes that seemed to take in everything while bearing witness to nothing, had him turned out in a trice. He plunged into the breakfast room expecting to find an irate wife waiting for him.
Instead, he found a sedate Theo calmly sipping tea as she nibbled a brioche. “Good morning, husband.”
Her greeting, while not warm, was not cold. It was staid. Indifferent, even. His short hairs rose in warning that all was not as it seemed. “Good morning, wife.” He pecked her cheek and took a seat next to her.
“I am glad to see you are up and about. I assumed you would sleep the day away after being out all night.” Her hand trembled ever so slightly as she set the teacup back on the saucer.
She was unquestionably not as calm as she appeared. “Yes, well, my business ran into the early hours of the morning. I’ve only snatched a few hours of sleep so I can return from whence I came.”
“I see. And is this the business that has kept you in London for the duration of our honeymoon?” She sipped her tea again. However, Stone noted the obvious strain around her lips and eyes. Not to mention that if she gripped the china any more tightly, the handle might snap clean off.
“It is.” He slugged a cup of coffee in one bitter swallow and stood with a roll in hand. “I must be off. I’ll be at the London and Southwestern Railway office all day, I’m afraid.”
“Will I see you for dinner?”
His stomach sank. “I highly doubt it. We are in the process of restructuring things in an attempt to avoid a railroad workers’ strike. I’m afraid until the matter is resolved, I shall be spending a great many hours away from home.”
“Very well. I shall take pains to entertain myself.” Theo nodded regally to him and continued sipping her tea.
Then she looked away from him in—of all things—dismissal. Angry, confused, and bristling to show her just who was in control, but out of time, Stone stomped out of the house and headed off to the office. He needed to end this madness immediately, and then he needed to deal with his petulant little wife. His only hope was that she wouldn’t get into too much trouble alone in London.