Lyon turned to yell instructions to his driver after making that accusation. 'Go and wake up the servants, man. Bring half the number over here. They'll stay with Princess Christina until her aunt returns from the country.'
He'd been forced by circumstances to bellow his orders. His driver wouldn't have heard him otherwise. No, the parade of carriages coming down the street was making too much of a clatter.
He knew he should have felt a shred of shame for what he was deliberately doing. When he spotted the first carriage rounding the corner, the very least he could have done was wave his driver away and shut the door.
'Thompson's party must have just let out,' he remarked in a casual voice to the horrified woman hovering behind his back.
Lyon actually smiled when he heard her gasp, pleased she understood the ramifications well enough. Then he leaned against the door frame and waved at the startled occupants of the first carriage.
'Good eve, Hudson, Lady Margaret,' he shouted, totally unconcerned that his pants were only partially buttoned.
Over his shoulder he told Christina, 'Lady Margaret looks like she's about to fall out of the carriage, love. She's hanging halfway out the window.'
' Lyon, how could you?' Christina asked, clearly appalled by his conduct.
'Destiny, my dear.'
'What?'
He waved to three more carriages before he finally closed the door. 'That ought to do it,' he remarked, more to himself than to the outraged woman looking ready to kill him. 'Now, what were you saying about not marrying me, my sweet?'
'You are a man without shame,' she shouted when she could find her voice.
'No, Christina. I've just sealed your fate, so to speak. You still do believe in destiny, don't you?'
'I'm not going to marry you, no matter what scandal you weave.'
If she hadn't been so infuriated, she might have tried to explain again. But Lyon was grinning at her with such a victorious, arrogant look on his face, she decided to keep the full truth to herself.
He drained the anger right out of her. Lyon suddenly pulled her into his arms and kissed her soundly. When he finally let go of her, she was too weak to protest.
'You will marry me.'
He started back up the stairs in search of his shoes.
Christina held on to the bannister, watching him. 'Do you think ruining my reputation will matter, Lyon?'
'It's a nice start,' Lyon called back. 'Remember, what will be is going to be. Your words, Christina, not mine.'
'I'll tell you what's going to be,' she shouted. 'I won't be in England long enough to care about my reputation. Don't you understand, Lyon? I have to go home.'
She knew he'd heard her. She'd shouted loud enough to rattle the walls. Lyon disappeared around the corner, but Christina patiently waited for him to come back downstairs. She wasn't about to go chasing after him again. No, she knew she'd end up back in bed with him if she went up the stairs. God help her, she'd probably be the one to suggest it. Lyon was simply too appealing, and she was too weak-hearted to fight him.
Besides, she told herself, she hated him. The man had the morals of a rattlesnake.
He was dressed when he came downstairs. He was ignoring her, too. Lyon didn't speak another word until his carriage had returned with two big men and one heavyset maid. Then he spoke to his staff, giving them his orders.
Christina was infuriated with his high-handed manner. When he instructed the men to see to her protection, to let no one enter her home without his permission, she decided to protest.
The look he gave her made her reconsider. She was seeing a different side of Lyon 's character now. He was very like Black Wolf when he was addressing his warriors. Lyon was just as cold, as rigid, as commanding. Christina instinctively knew it would be better not to argue with him now.
She decided to ignore him just as thoroughly as he was ignoring her. That decision was short-lived, however. Christina was staring into the fireplace, trying to pretend the man didn't even exist, when she heard a rather descriptive curse. She turned just in time to see Lyon jump up from the settee.
He'd sat on her knife.
'Serves you justice,' she muttered when he held the blade up and glared at it.
She tried to snatch her weapon away from him, but Lyon wouldn't let her have it. 'It belongs to me,' she announced.
'And you belong to me, you little warrior,' Lyon snapped out. 'Admit it, Christina, now, or I swear to the Great Spirit I'll show you how a real warrior uses a knife.'
Their gazes held a long, ponderous moment. 'You really don't know what you're trying to catch, do you? Very well, Lyon. For now-until you change your mind, that is-I will belong to you. Does that satisfy you?'
Lyon dropped the knife and pulled Christina into his arms. He then proceeded to show her just how immensely satisfied he really was.
Chapter Nine
Edward had left to put dawn a resistance in the West. When the captain of my ship came for me, I made him wait outside my husband's office while I went inside to steal the jewels. I briefly considered leaving a note for Edward, then decided against it.
We set sail immediately, but I didn't begin to feel safe until we were two days out to sea. I stayed below in my cabin most of the time, for 1 was terribly ill. I couldn't hold any food in my stomach, and I believed it was the weather that was the cause.
It wasn't until a week had passed that the truth settled in my mind. I was carrying Edward's child.
God forgive me, Christina, but I prayed for your death.
Monday was a trial of endurance for Christina. Although she protested vehemently, Lyon 's servants had her possessions packed up and transferred to his mother's townhouse by noon.
Christina kept insisting that she wasn't going anywhere, that the Countess would be home Monday next, and that she would take care of herself until that time. No one paid her the least attention. They followed the instructions from their employer, of course, and though they were friendly enough, one and all suggested she mention her distress to the Marquess of Lyonwood.
Although Christina had not seen Lyon since Friday evening, his presence was certainly felt. He hadn't allowed her to attend Creston's ball, or to go anywhere else, for that matter. Christina thought he kept her closeted inside her townhouse so she wouldn't be able to run away.
There was also the possibility that he was trying to protect her feelings, Christina realized. He might not want her to hear any of the whispers circling the ton about her liaison with Lyon. It was a scandal, to be sure, but a scandal Lyon had personally caused.
Perhaps Lyon thought she'd be upset about the slurs against her character. She was unmarried, Lyon had been undressed, and half the ton had witnessed the scene. Oh, there was a scandal floating about; Christina had heard Colette, the lady's maid Lyon had thrust upon her, tell one of the other servants a juicy bit of gossip she'd overheard when she'd gone to do the marketing with the cook.
Christina had a splitting headache by midafternoon. It came upon her all at once when she happened to notice the wedding announcement in the newspapers. Lyon had had the gall to post his intention to marry Princess Christina the following Saturday.
Colette caught her tearing up the paper. 'Oh, my lady, isn't it romantic the way the Marquess flaunts tradition? Why, he's doing everything to his liking and doesn't care what others will say.'
