A Comfortable Wife

“Oh, I’m thinking about it. But I’m not about to do it—all right?”

Philip’s jaw ached, as did the rest of him; experience was not enough to hide his frustration. He concentrated on keeping still—he had no intention of moving until the dangerous moment had passed, until the compulsion driving them both had faded.

Antonia had no breath with which to answer. Her heart was still thudding in her ears. Had he noticed how unrestrained her ardor had been—how wantonly she had kissed him? Was the aching need still there in her eyes?

“We’ve got to go back.” Philip forced himself to let her go.

“Back?” Antonia’s mind was awhirl. “But—”

“Antonia—do you want to be ravished here and now?”

Dear Reader,

In writing An Unwilling Conquest, the third book in the Lester trilogy, one character, Philip, Lord Ruthven, positively begged to be made a victim of love. His attitude as displayed in An Unwilling Conquest could not go unanswered—and that’s how A Comfortable Wife came about. Miss Antonia Mannering was the young lady who had Philip most determinedly in her sights. As a husband. The possibility of love never entered her head—she was far too levelheaded, and she knew Philip too well. She was looking for a husband, and by now he should be looking for a wife—to her, their aims were compatible. All should have been terribly comfortable, except…

What happens when love gets stirred into their equation is told in A Comfortable Wife. I hope you enjoy seeing Philip succumb to a passion that becomes more precious than anything else in his life.

A Comfortable Wife

Stephanie Laurens

The first romances Stephanie Laurens ever read were those of Georgette Heyer, and romances set in Regency England continue to be her favorites. After escaping from the dry world of professional science, Stephanie took up writing such romances for her own pleasure. A Comfortable Wife was her eighth historical romance set in the British Regency era. Now residing in a leafy suburb of Melbourne, Australia, Stephanie divides her free time between her husband, two teenage daughters and two cats—Shakespeare and Marlowe. The cats, needless to say, are the most demanding. Stephanie’s Web site can be found at www.stephanielaurens.com, or you can e-mail Stephanie directly at slaurens@vicnet.net.au.

Contents

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter One

“Thirty-Four, my dear Hugo, is a decidedly sobering age.”

“Heh?” Startled from somnolence, Hugo Satterly opened one cautious eye and studied the long-limbed figure gracefully lounging on the opposite carriage seat. “Why’s that?”

Philip Augustus Marlowe, seventh Baron Ruthven, did not deign to answer—not directly. Instead, his gaze on the summer scenery slipping past the carriage window, he remarked, “I would never have thought to see Jack and Harry Lester competing over who would provide the first of the next generation of Lesters.”

Hugo straightened. “Tricky prediction, that. Jack suggested laying odds but Lucinda heard of it.” Hugo grimaced. “That was the end of it, of course. Said she wasn’t about to have us all watching her and Sophie, counting the days. Pity.”

A fleeting smile touched Philip’s lips. “An uncommonly sensible woman, Lucinda.” After a moment he added, more to himself than to his friend, “And Jack was lucky with his Sophie, too.”

They were returning from a week’s house party at Lester Hall; the festivities had been presided over by Sophie, Mrs Jack Lester, ably seconded by Lucinda, now Harry Lester’s bride. Both recent additions to the Lester family tree were discreetly but definitely enceinte, and radiant with it. The unabashed happiness that had filled the rambling old house had infected everyone.

But the week had drawn to its inevitable close; Philip was conscious that, despite the calm and orderly ambiance of his ancestral home, there would be no such warmth, no promise for the future, awaiting him there. The idea that he had invited Hugo, a friend of many years, confirmed bachelor and infrequent rake, to join him solely as a distraction, to turn his thoughts from the depressing path he saw opening before him, floated through his mind. He tried to ignore it.

He shifted in his seat, listening to the regular pounding of his carriage horses’ hooves, firmly fixing his attention on the ripening fields—only to have Hugo ruthlessly haul his problem into the light.

“Well—I suppose you’ll be next.” Hugo settled his shoulders against the squabs and gazed at the fields with unruffled calm. “Dare say that’s what’s making you glum.”

Narrowing his eyes, Philip fixed them on Hugo’s innocent visage. “Surrendering to the bonds of matrimony, walking knowingly into parson’s mousetrap, is hardly a pleasant thought.”

“Don’t think of it at all myself.”

Philip’s expression turned decidedly sour. A gentleman of independent means and nought but distant family, Hugo had no need to wed. Philip’s case was very different.

“Don’t see why you need make such a mountain of it, though.” Hugo glanced across the carriage. “Imagine your stepmother’ll be only too happy to line up the young ladies—all you need do is look ’em over and make your selection.”

“Being no less female than the rest of them, I’m certain Henrietta would be only too glad to assist. However,” Philip continued, his tone tending steely, “should she be mistaken in one of her candidates, ’tis I, not she, who will pay the price. For life. No, I thank you. If mistakes capable of wrecking my life are to be made, I’d rather make them myself.”

Hugo shrugged. “If that’s the case, you’ll have to make your own list. Go through the debs, check their backgrounds, make sure they can actually speak and not just giggle and that they won’t simper over the breakfast cups.” He wrinkled his nose. “Dull work.”

“Depressing work.” Philip shifted his gaze once more to the scenery.

“Pity there aren’t more like Sophie or Lucinda about.”

“Indeed.” Philip delivered the word tersely; to his relief, Hugo took the hint and shut up, settling back to doze.

The carriage rattled on.

Reluctantly, Philip allowed his likely future to take shape in his mind, envisioning his life with one of society’s belles by his side. His visions were unappealing. Disgusted, he banished them and determinedly set his mind to formulating a list of all the qualities he would insist on in his wife.

Loyalty, reasonable wit, beauty to an acceptable degree—all these were easy to define. But there was a nebulous something he knew Jack and Harry Lester had found which he could find no words to describe.

That vital ingredient was yet proving elusive when the carriage turned through tall gateposts and rumbled down the drive to Ruthven Manor. Tucked neatly into a dip of the Sussex Downs, the manor was an elegant Georgian residence built on the remains of earlier halls. The sun, still high, sent gilded fingers to caress the pale stone; stray sunbeams, striking through the surrounding trees, glinted on long, plain windows and highlighted the creepers softening the austere lines.

His home. The thought resonated in Philip’s head as he descended from the carriage, the gravel of the forecourt crunching beneath his boots. With a glance behind to confirm that Hugo had awoken and was, in fact, alighting, he led the way up the steps.

As he approached, the front doors were set wide; Fenton, butler at the Manor since Philip had been in short-coats, waited, straight as a poker but smiling, beside them.

“Welcome home, my lord.” Deftly, Fenton relieved his master of his hat and gloves.

“Thank you, Fenton.” Philip gestured as Hugo strolled in. “Mr Satterly will be staying for a few days.” Unencumbered by ancestral acres, Hugo was a frequent visitor to the Manor.

Fenton bowed, then reached for Hugo’s hat. “I’ll have your usual room made ready, sir.”

Hugo smiled in easy acquiescence.

Completing a brief scan of his hall, Philip turned back to Fenton. “And how is her ladyship?”

On the floor above, poised at the top of the grand staircase, her head cocked to listen, Antonia Mannering decided that his voice was deeper than she remembered it. His question, however, was quite obviously her cue.

Drawing in a deep breath, she closed her eyes in fleeting supplication, then opened them and started down. In a hurry. Not so precipitously as to be labelled hoydenish but rapidly enough to appear unconscious of the arrivals presently in the hall. She cleared the landing and started down the last flight, her eyes on the treads, one hand lightly skimming the balustrade. “Fenton, her ladyship wishes Trant to be sent up as soon as may be.” Only then did she allow herself to glance up.

“Oh!” Her exclamation was perfectly gauged, containing just the right combination of surprise and fluster; she had practised for hours. Antonia slowed, then halted, her gaze transfixed. As it transpired, she needed no guile to make her eyes widen, her lips part in surprise.

The scene before her was not as she had pictured it—not exactly. Philip was there, of course, turning from Fenton to view her, his strongly arched brows lifting, his eyes, grey, as she knew, reflecting nothing more than polite surprise.

Swiftly, she scanned his features: the wide brow, heavy-lidded eyes and strongly patrician nose, the finely drawn lips above a firm and resolute chin. There was nothing in his expression, mildly distant, to cause her heart to beat wildly. Nevertheless, her pulse started to gallop; her breathing slowly seized. Panic of a wholly unprecedented nature fluttered to life within her.

His gaze dropped from her face; snatching in a breath, Antonia grabbed a dizzying moment to take in his broad-shouldered frame. Freed by a smooth shrug, a many-caped greatcoat slid into Fenton’s waiting arms; the coat thus revealed was an unremarkable grey but so distinguished by line and form that not even she could doubt its origins. Brown hair waved in elegant disorder; his cravat was a collage of precise folds secured by a winking gold pin. Buckskin breeches clung to his long legs, outlining the powerful muscles of his thighs before disappearing into highly polished Hessians.

Dragging in a second breath, Antonia hauled her gaze back to his face. In the same instant, his eyes lifted and met hers.

He held her gaze, a frown in his eyes. His gaze shifted, focused on her hair, then dropped to her face. His frown dissolved into undisguised amazement.

“Antonia?”

Philip heard astonishment echo in his voice. Mentally cursing, he struggled to recapture his habitually indolent air, a task not aided by the fleeting smile Antonia Mannering cast him before gathering her skirts and descending the last stairs.

He stood anchored to the tiles as she glided towards him. His mind reeled, juggling memories, trying to reconcile them with the slender goddess crossing his hall, calm serenity in her heart-shaped face, a gown of sprig muslin cloaking a figure he unhesitatingly classed as exemplary.

The last time he had seen her she’d been only sixteen, thin and coltish but even then graceful. Now she moved like a sylph, as if her feet barely touched solid earth. He remembered her as a breath of fresh air, bringing ready laughter, open smiles and an unquenchable if imperious friendliness every summer she had visited. Her lips now bore an easy smile, yet the expression in her eyes, as she neared, was guarded.

As he watched, the curve of her lips deepened and she held out her hand.

“Indeed, my lord. It is some years since last we met. Pray excuse me.” With an airy wave, Antonia indicated her descent from above. “I hadn’t realized you’d arrived.” Smiling serenely, she met his eyes. “Welcome home.”

Feeling as if Harry Lester had scored a direct hit to his jaw, Philip reached out and took her fingers in his. They quivered; instinctively, he tightened his grip. His gaze dropped to her lips, drawn irresistibly to the delectable curves; he forced his eyes upward, only to become lost in a haze of gold and green. Dragging himself free, he lifted his gaze to her lustrous golden curls.

“You’ve cut your hair.” His tone reflected his dazed state as clearly as it did his disappointment.

Antonia blinked. One hand still trapped in his, she hesitantly put the other to the curls bouncing above one ear. “No. It’s all still there…just…twisted up.”

Philip’s lips formed a silent “Oh”.

The odd look Antonia threw him, and Hugo’s urgent cough, hauled him back to earth with a thump. Thrusting aside the impulse to pull a few pins and reassure himself that her golden mane was indeed as he recalled, he drew in a definite breath and released her. “Allow me to present Mr Satterly, a close friend. Hugo—Miss Mannering. My stepmother’s niece.”

Hugo’s suave greeting and Antonia’s unaffected reply gave Philip time to repair his defences. When Antonia turned back, he smiled urbanely. “I take it you finally succumbed to Henrietta’s pleas?”

Her expression open, Antonia met his gaze. “Our year of mourning was behind us. The time seemed ripe to visit.”

Resisting an unexpected urge to grin delightedly, Philip contented himself with, “My humble house is honoured—it’s a pleasure to see you within its walls again. I hope you’ve planned an extended stay—having you by will greatly ease Henrietta’s mind.”

A subtle smile curved Antonia’s lips. “Indeed? But there are many factors which might influence how long we remain.” She held Philip’s gaze for an instant longer, then turned to smile at Hugo. “But I’m keeping you standing. My aunt is presently resting.” Antonia glanced at Philip. “Do you wish to take tea in the drawing-room?”

Beyond her, Philip glimpsed Hugo’s appalled expression. “Ah…perhaps not.” He smiled lazily down at Antonia. “I fear Hugo is in need of more robust refreshment.”

Brows rising, Antonia met his gaze. Then her lips curved; an irrepressible dimple appeared at the corner of her mouth. “Ale in the library?”

Philip’s lips twitched. His eyes on hers, he inclined his head. “Your wits, dear Antonia, have obviously not dulled with age.”

One delicate brow arched but her eyes continued to smile. “I fear not, my lord.” She nodded to Fenton. “Ale in the library for his lordship and Mr Satterly, Fenton.”

“Yes, miss.” Fenton bowed and moved away.

Returning her gaze to Philip’s face, Antonia smiled calmly. “I’ll let Aunt Henrietta know you’ve arrived. She’s just woken from her nap—I’m sure she’ll be delighted to receive you in half an hour or so. And now, if you’ll excuse me…?”

Philip inclined his head.

Hugo bowed elegantly. “Look forward to seeing you at dinner, Miss Mannering.”

Philip shot him a sharp glance; Hugo was too busy returning Antonia’s smile to notice.

Forsaking Hugo, Philip fleetingly met Antonia’s eyes before she turned away. He watched her cross the hall, then climb the stairs, her hips gently swaying.

Hugo cleared his throat. “What happened to that ale?”

Philip started. With a quick frown, he gestured towards the library.

By the time she reached her bedchamber door, Antonia had succeeded in regaining her breath. She had not imagined her little charade would require such an effort. Her stomach was still tied in knots; her heart had yet to find its customary rhythm. Nervousness was not a reaction to which she was normally susceptible.

A frown knitting her brows, she opened the door. The windows were set wide; the curtains billowed in a gentle breeze. The scents of summer filled the airy chamber—green grass and roses with a hint of lavender from the borders in the Italian garden. Shutting the door, Antonia crossed the room. Placing both palms on the window sill, she leaned forward, breathing deeply.

“Well, I declare! That’s your best new muslin.”

Whirling, Antonia discovered her maid, Nell, standing before the open wardrobe. Thin and angular, her grey hair pulled tight in an unbecoming bun, Nell was busy replacing chemises and petticoats in their appointed places. Task complete, she turned, hands going to her hips as she surveyed Antonia. “I thought you was keeping that for a special occasion?”

A secretive smile tugged at Antonia’s lips; shrugging, she turned back to the view. “I decided to wear it today.”

“Indeed?” Nell’s eyes narrowed. She picked up a pile of kerchiefs and started to sort them. “Was that the master who arrived just now?”

“Yes. Ruthven.” Antonia leaned against the window frame. “He’s brought a friend—a Mr Satterly.”

“Just the one?”

Nell’s tone had turned suspicious. Antonia smiled. “Yes. They’ll be at dinner. I’ll have to decide what to wear.”

Nell snorted. “Shouldn’t take you long. If you’re to sit down with gentlemen from London, it’s either the pink taffeta or the jonquil silk.”

“The jonquil silk, then. And I’ll want you to do my hair.”

“Naturally.” Nell closed the wardrobe doors. “I’d best give a hand downstairs but I’ll be back to pretty you up.”

“Hmm.” Antonia leaned her head against the window-frame.

Nell swallowed her snort and headed for the door. Hand on the knob, she paused, eyeing the slim figure by the window with open affection. Antonia did not move; Nell’s eyes narrowed, then her features relaxed. “Should I warn Master Geoffrey to come to the table prepared to be civil?”

The question jerked Antonia from her reverie. “Heavens, yes! I forgot about Geoffrey.”

“That’s a first,” Nell muttered.

Frowning at the bedpost, Antonia didn’t hear. “Be sure to warn him not to come to table with his nose in a book.”

“Aye. I’ll make the matter plain.” With a grim nod, Nell departed.

As the door clicked shut, Antonia turned back to the garden, letting her senses slide into the sylvan beauty. She loved Ruthven Manor. Coming back had felt like coming home; at some instinctive level she had always belonged, not at Mannering Park, but here—amid the gentle rolls of the Downs, surrounded by trees so old they stood like massive sentinels all around the house. Those feelings and her affection for Henrietta had both influenced her decision.

Given Geoffrey was soon to enter the world, it was time for her to do the same. At twenty-four, her prospects were few; prosaic consideration had brought her here.

Philip, Lord Ruthven, had yet to take a wife.

Antonia grimaced, her unprecedented nervousness very fresh in her mind. But there was no place in her scheme for faintheartedness; this afternoon, she’d taken the first step. Playing out her part was now inevitable—aside from anything else, she would never forgive herself if she didn’t at least try. If Philip didn’t see her in that light, so be it.

Recalling her promise to warn her aunt of his arrival, she shook herself. Glancing in the mirror, she fluffed her curls, her fingers stilling as she recalled Philip’s fixation. Her lips quirked. Almost as if he’d been bowled over—in the circumstances, a definitely heartening thought.

Holding tight to that prop to her confidence, she headed for her aunt’s rooms.

Downstairs in the library, duly fortified by a tankard of superlative ale, Hugo turned his thoughts to satisfying his curiosity. “Mannering, Mannering,” he mused, then cocked a brow at Philip. “Can’t quite place the family.”

Jerked from contemplation of the most beguiling lips he’d ever seen, Philip set aside his empty tankard. “Yorkshire.”

“Ah—that explains it.” Hugo nodded sagely. “The wilds to the north.”

“It’s not as bad as that.” Philip settled back. “Mannering Park, so I understand, is an estate of some significance.”

“So what’s the darling of it doing here?”

“She’s Henrietta’s niece—her father was Henrietta’s only brother. He and Lady Mannering used to visit every summer.” Philip felt the years roll back, saw again a young girl with long thick plaits astride his father’s favourite hunter. “They’d leave Antonia here while they went the rounds through summer. She was always about.” Laughing, chattering but, somehow, never irritating. He was ten years her senior, but that had never stopped her—he’d never been able to retreat behind any superior social façade, not with Antonia. He’d watched her change from a delightfully precocious brat to an engagingly quick-witted young girl; he had yet to come to terms with her most recent transformation.

“Their visits stopped when her father died.” Philip paused, calculating. “Eight years ago now. I understand Lady Mannering declared she was too weary to face the social round thereafter. Henrietta was—is—very fond of Antonia. She issued a standing invitation but apparently Lady Mannering could never spare her daughter.”

Hugo raised his brows. “So at long last Miss Mannering’s escaped the maternal clutches?”

Philip shook his head. “Lady Mannering died about a year ago. Henrietta renewed her entreaties with a vengeance but, if I recall Henrietta’s ramblings aright, Antonia was adamant on remaining at Mannering Park to care for her brother—he’s much younger than she.” Philip frowned. “I can’t remember how old he’d be now—I can’t even remember his name.”

“Whatever, it looks like she’s changed her mind.”

“Knowing Antonia, that’s unlikely. Not unless she’s altered dramatically.” After a moment, Philip added, “Perhaps her brother’s gone up to Oxford?”

Studying his friend’s distant expression, Hugo sighed. “I hate to be obvious but there’s a mystery here, in case you haven’t noticed.”

Philip glanced at him. “Mystery?”

“You’ve seen the lady!” Hugo sat up, gesticulating freely. “There she is—beautiful as be damned. Not a giddy girl, nor yet too long in the tooth but the sort to stop a charge of chasseurs in their tracks. And, to all appearances, she’s unwed.” Sinking back in his chair, Hugo shook his head. “Doesn’t make sense. If she’s as well-born and well-connected as you say, she’d have been snapped up years ago.” As an afterthought, he asked, “They do have gentlemen up north, don’t they?”

Philip’s brows slowly rose. “I’m sure they do—and they can’t all be blind.” A long moment passed while they both considered a situation that, in their experience, constituted a conundrum. “A mystery indeed,” Philip eventually mused. “Given the facts you’ve so eloquently expounded, I can only conclude that you and I, dear Hugo, might be the first to catch sight of Miss Mannering in many a long year.”

Hugo’s eyes slowly widened. “You’re not suggesting her mama kept her locked up?”

“Not locked up, but possibly very close. Mannering Park is isolated and, I gather, Lady Mannering became something of a recluse.” Uncrossing his legs, Philip stood, his expression unreadable. Settling his sleeves, he glanced at Hugo. “I rather think I should pay my anticipated visit to Henrietta. As to Miss Mannering’s state, I strongly suspect we’ll discover that to be a direct consequence of her mother’s malaise.”

Henrietta, Lady Ruthven, put it rather more forcefully.

“A damned shame, if you ask me. No!” She held up one hand, pink chins quivering with indignation. “I know one is not supposed to speak ill of the dead but Araminta Mannering’s neglect of poor Antonia was nothing short of wicked!”