Bradford removed himself from the carriage and then lifted Caroline into his arms. She didn't resist him but her face mirrored her discomfort. 'You're going to be stiff tomorrow,' Bradford commented.
Caroline considered telling him that she might have been pushed but immediately canceled that notion. She was beginning to believe that she had only imagined the noise behind her. She was exhausted from the long day, and she didn't want to spar with Bradford over the grim possibility that someone actually wanted to harm her.
Deighton opened the door to Bradford's mutterings. For the man's advanced age, he proved to be light on his feet. He removed himself from the entrance just as Bradford rushed in with Caroline holding on for dear life.
'I believe you should be fitted for spectacles as soon as possible,' Bradford remarked as he followed Deighton up the stairs, holding Caroline in a grip that she thought was almost as painful as her fall. 'You need a keeper, Caroline.'
'Lower your voice,' Caroline demanded. 'And I don't need a keeper.'
'Yes you do. You need someone to protect you from yourself.'
'Are you offering for the position?' Caroline asked. Bradford continued to frown and Caroline rushed on, 'I would rather be in the clutches of a pack of wolves than under your protection. I would have a better chance of surviving,' she added with gusto.
'The clutches of wolves?' Bradford's eyes showed a trace of amusement.
'You know my meaning,' Caroline muttered. 'If the carriage ride home was a sample of your protection-'
'Caroline, you're yelling,' Bradford remarked with a nod toward Deighton.
Caroline looked alarmed and then lowered her voice. 'Listen to me well, Bradford. We are finished with each other. Benjamin will see to my protection.'
Deighton opened the door to her bedroom and stood aside, Mary Margaret was sitting in a rocking chair next to the window but jumped up and rushed forward when she saw her mistress.
'Out.' The single demand literally propelled Mary Margaret through the doorway. She didn't hesitate at all and that infuriated Caroline.
'Don't order my maid about,' Caroline demanded as she watched Mary Margaret shut the door behind her. 'If I call out, Benjamin would be here in a blink of your cynical eyes and he would tear you apart before asking a single question.'
'Then call him!' The challenge was more than clear and Caroline immediately backed down. Bradford walked over to the bed and placed Caroline on the quilt. He tried to be gentle but she still bounced twice before settling. 'I said call him!'
'I will not call him,' Caroline stated with great emphasis. She pulled Bradford's jacket from beneath her, uncaring that her torn gown displayed far more than was considered decent. She threw the garment toward the man towering over her and said, 'Remove yourself from my presence. I hope I never see you again.'
Bradford ignored the jacket and leaned down. He effectively trapped Caroline between his arms. When his face was just inches from hers, he said, 'Now you listen well, my little adversary. What's between us isn't finished yet. I will have you, one way or the other. If it means marriage, then we will marry. But we play by my rules, Caroline Richmond, not yours. Do you understand me?'
'When hell becomes heaven, milord,' Caroline replied with gusto. 'When the Colonies annex England, when King George abdicates, and most especially when ill-bred scoundrels become gentlemen, when the odious Duke of Bradford becomes considerate. In other words, Jered Marcus Benton, never will I be yours. Do you understand me?'
She closed her eyes and waited for his explosion, his furious retaliation. The rumble confused her. She opened her eyes to see that Bradford was having grave difficulty keeping a straight face.
'Someone really ought to take you aside and explain to you when you are being insulted, milord. Perhaps Milford could tutor you. He certainly seems to be your opposite,' Caroline went on. 'Though how he can consider you a friend is bewildering. You are such an obnoxious, unbending man.'
'Unbending? I have just broken a vow I made years ago and all because of a violet-eyed wild woman who is driving me to distraction. In the space of two weeks you have turned my world upside down.'
Caroline frowned over his statement, wondering what he meant by a vow made such a long time ago. How did it affect her? She wasn't given an opportunity to ask. Bradford's mouth was suddenly claiming hers in a kiss that required her full attention.
Caroline tried to keep her mouth closed and pushed against his shoulders with all her might but it was no use.
It wasn't possible to ignore what he was doing to her. She was trapped between his arms, her mouth held captive by his. Just one last kiss, Caroline told herself as she wrapped her arms around Bradford's neck, just one farewell kiss. She would savor it, remember it for the rest of her life. She gave herself over to Bradford's demands, letting his tongue stroke the inside of her mouth, then copying his ritual, and heard him sigh. She answered him with a sigh of her own, when he reluctantly pulled away from her and stood up. 'That was a good-bye kiss, Bradford,' Caroline whispered. Her lips felt bruised and swollen and her eyes filled with tears. She was exhausted from the events of the long day, she told herself as she watched him walk toward the door. She certainly wasn't crying because he was walking out of her life.
'Yes, love,' Bradford called over his shoulder. He had picked up his jacket and had it slung over one broad shoulder. 'Good-bye,' he said as he opened the door. 'Until tomorrow.'
Lord but he was a stubborn man! Hadn't they agreed that they wouldn't continue with the relationship? That there was no future for them together? Caroline went over the conversation in her mind, remembering precisely that she had stated with great emphasis that she could never marry a man she didn't trust. Or had she said that she couldn't marry a man who didn't trust her? She frowned, no longer sure of what she had said, and immediately placed the blame on Bradford. He had made her so angry that she could barely speak let alone argue with any effectiveness. But she did remember Bradford's comment about marriage. He had made it perfectly clear that he was not interested in marrying her, hadn't he?
'The man is driving me out of my mind,' Caroline muttered. She stood up and quickly stripped out of her gown. Mary Margaret had thoughtfully placed her blue robe on the bottom of her bed and she put it on, wondering where the little redheaded maid had gone. Probably off trembling somewhere in a corner, she thought, and all because Bradford had barked at her. She sighed with frustration, picked up the gown she had just discarded and placed it on the chair, and then went to stand before the window and stare out into the dark night.
Caroline stood there for the longest time, trying to find answers that eluded her. Her defenses slowly abandoned her and she finally admitted the truth. She had always considered herself an honest person and knew that right now she wasn't being completely honest with herself. She pretended outrage yet felt like smiling inside. As soon as she admitted that horrid fact, she started to laugh. Oh, Lord, the truth of it fairly buckled her to her knees. She was falling in love with the arrogant Englishman!
What a contradiction she had become since arriving in England! Even now, as she continued to laugh, tears of melancholy coursed down her cheeks.
He was a rascal and a rake and totally unsuitable, she admitted. And she had gone round the bend for allowing herself to be attracted to him. The man had boasted that he would have her but never once mentioned the word love, and had casually stated that trust did not have a place in a relationship between a man and a woman.
She hadn't realized that loving could cause such distress, such misery. And if loving Jered Marcus Benton proved to be miserable, then she promised that he would also share in that same misery.
It would take supreme effort on her part but it was a challenge she couldn't resist. The reward would be too great.
Just as he had declared that he wasn't giving up on her, she now vowed that she wasn't going to give up on him. Of course, he only meant to have her, but she wanted much more.
The poor man! She almost felt sympathy for him. Almost! But she couldn't show any mercy, not if she was to succeed. Not if she was going to reform Bradford and make him suitable. Perhaps, she thought with a laugh that echoed throughout the bedroom, with God's help she just might pull it off.
He was a rascal and a rake but she had just accepted that he was her rascal and her rake. She would have him, but on her terms, not his. Yes, she did love the arrogant man, and if it was required to move heaven and earth, she would find a way to make him love her. Oh, but he was misguided! He spoke of games and playing by his rules!
