Page 60 of Taming of the Rake
As she fell into conversation with the two women, Regina reminded herself to pull Powell aside later to thank him … and to inform him that he’d been right after all.
David glancedup from the pair of tiny feet and slender ankles draped across his lap to find Powell hovering in the open doorway of the drawing room connected to what had once been Regina’s bedchamber. As of this morning, she was now Mrs. David Graham, and would take up residence with him the moment their time of isolation from the rest of the world had ended.
They had agreed to wed as soon as humanly possible, with Regina having no care for the scandal it would cause for her to marry a mere few months after her first husband’s death. She no longer wanted the world to think their child had been sired by Randolph, and was willing to let people gossip about the beginnings of her and David’s relationship to keep their child from being presumed a Hurst.
They had spoken their vows in a small ceremony with only his mother, the twins, Powell, and the courtesans and their wives in attendance. Even Benedict had made the journey from London, though he remained sullen and silent after the ceremony and during the wedding breakfast. The tension between him and Nick was thicker than ever, and the two barely exchanged a word.
David had spoken to him briefly the night before, with Benedict offering an apology for his behavior at Boodles, but still giving no explanation. David hadn’t pressed him for any.
He and Regina would spend a few weeks here alone before having her things moved to his residence—wanting their privacy but realizing that an actual wedding trip was going to have to wait. There were matters here that needed his attention, and it seemed he would be faced with one of them on his bloody wedding night.
“Begging your pardon, Mr. Graham. Forgive the interruption, but it can’t be helped.”
“What is it, Powell?” Regina asked, annoyance creating tiny lines between her eyebrows.
She had just kicked off her slippers, confessing to being exhausted after a long day of entertaining their small wedding party. David had been in the process of making her pliant so he could debauch her and consummate their marriage.
“That visitor we anticipated is here. Now.”
David perked up at that. “Is he, now?”
Regina frowned and tried to sit up, but David pressed his thumb to the arch of her foot, making her relax against the cushion at her back. “Who’s here?”
“Your cousin-in-law,” David replied, never breaking Powell’s gaze. “He knows about the wedding?”
“It would seem so, sir.”
“Good. Bring him here and tell him Regina’shusbandwill receive him.”
Regina gaped at him as Powell left to do his bidding. “What on earth is going on? Surely you don’t intend to speak with Tobias on our wedding night!”
He went on rubbing her foot, his gaze returning to the half-open door. “Oh, but I do. Today marks our new beginning, my dear. I’ll not have him intruding upon our lives going forward. I am your husband now, and that means your problems are mine to solve … or grind into dust if it comes to it.”
She groaned when he found a particularly tender spot near the ball of her foot, then sighed as he circled and pressed to ease the tension. “You keep that up, I’ll let you do whatever you like.”
He spared her a glance and a sly smile. “Oh, I intend to the moment this matter has been handled to my satisfaction.”
David and Powell had shared a few drinks a week before the wedding, and the man had filled him in on the persistence of one, Tobias Hurst. Apparently, the man had been harassing Regina for funds, and had even laid his hands on her during his last visit. David had anticipated the man’s visit and instructed Powell to inform him the moment Tobias turned up their doorstep, no matter when.
Thus, the presence of her spineless cousin-in-law in this private drawing room. Regina moved to sit up and pull her feet off his lap, but David rested a hand on her ankle to keep her from going. He would be damned if Tobias Hurst disturbed her more than he already had.
“Mr. Hurst, I presume?” David said, looking the man over from head to toe and allowing his face to show the results of his assessment. He was unimpressive and obviously as much a coward as his cousin had been. “I take it you have come to congratulate Regina on her marriage. You are a bit late, but we can forgive such a lapse in manners, can we not, my dear?”
“Perhaps,” Regina said, remaining cool and composed.
Tobias sneered at her before turning his attention to David. “So, you’re the pretty fop who earned himself my cousin’s fortune today.”
David frowned, feigning confusion. “Your cousin … forgive me, but I was under the impression that Randolph is dead. Is he not dead some months past, my dear?”
“Quite,” Regina offered.
“I did not come here to play your games, Graham,” Tobias spat. “I’m sure you cannot know what a conniving strumpet you’ve married, but I have come to tell you—”
“Powell.”
The single word from David was enough to spur the footman into action. He moved so swiftly Tobias never saw or heard him coming. One arm was wrenched behind his back at an unnatural angle, and a sweep of Powell’s foot drove him to his knees. Tobias was forced to bend at the waist, howling and squirming, but Powell merely twisted his wrist and pulled, pushing the other man’s face into the carpet and rendering him motionless.
“Much better,” David said, as casually as if they discussed the weather. “Now, you will listen and keep your mouth closed unless instructed to speak. Powell will break your arm if you fail to follow my direction. There, you see? It would seem youdidcome to play my game. You have threatened and disturbed my wife, and now interrupt my wedding night. Surely you can imagine how vexing such an inconvenience is, so I will make this brief. Randolph Hurst’s money and estate became Regina’s upon his death per the terms of his will. Out of the kindness of her heart, she offered you a generous stipend to live on, knowing that the late Mr. Hurst had been responsible for your upkeep. Perhaps she did it out of obligation rather than kindness, but the point is … the money was hers to do with as she pleased, and for reasons I cannot understand she chose to give a bit of it to you. However, all that money, all that land, everything your cousin owned … why, I do believe it belongs to me now. It’s mine to do with asIsee fit.”
