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Lydia fixed her niece with a fiercely hostile stare. “When I lost my dear Harold five years ago, I knew I’d never want to remarry. You are a far younger woman, however, but I can’t believe you would remarry with such shocking haste. A year of mourning is considered the absolute minimum, a fact of which I’m sure you are well aware. Although you’ve already demonstrated little regard for our feelings, you must know your parents would never approve. Now what is this nonsense about marriage?”
Seeing no reason to involve her parents in the discussion, Eden wanted only to convey the truth and leave. “It’s not nonsense, Aunt Lydia. Raven and I were married before we left Briarcliff,” she announced with a pride she had not expected to feel.
With an anguished wail, Stephanie again lunged from her chair, and screaming and clawing, she went for Eden. Raven, however, had anticipated the hostility of her reaction and deftly moved to block her way. He grabbed her around the waist and simply swung her aside, then remained standing to prevent any further attempts to do physical harm to his bride. “I may have escorted you to several parties, Stephanie, but I never gave you any indication my feelings for you were as warm as those Alex held for Eden. You had no claim on me, and you have no cause to insult your cousin. I expect you to apologize to her immediately.”
“Stephanie is not the one who ought to apologize!” Lydia declared harshly. “But first, who knows of this wedding?”
“Everyone at Briarcliff, my crew,” Raven replied without taking his eyes off Stephanie, who was struggling to regain the dignity she had lost when she had again humiliated herself by speaking her feelings for him aloud.
Greatly relieved to hear that, Lydia rushed on with her plans. “No one of any consequence knows of it then. That’s a stroke of luck we shan’t waste. Your crew and the staff at Briarcliff will have to be paid immediately for their silence. Should any of them ever mention a wedding, we can simply deny that it took place. Our word will be believed over that of servants, peasants, or merchant seamen.
“You’ll come here to live this very day, Eden, and live the quiet, contemplative life of a devoted widow until this time next year. You’ll return to Jamaica, Raven, and no one need ever learn of this disgrace. My attorney will have the marriage discreetly annulled. It’s the only way. Now when can you be ready to sail, Raven? The sooner you leave London, the better.” Without waiting for him to reply, Lydia turned to her niece. “I’ll send for my dressmaker in the morning, and”
Raven shot Eden a frantic glance for he knew she was not pleased to be his wife, but he had not thought there would be any way for her to get out of their marriage. Now that her aunt had provided one, he held his breath, dreading what her answer would be.
The look of absolute horror that had flashed across Raven’s face mirrored the burst of pain that filled Eden’s heart. She had told him she was too numb to feel another hurt, but she had been wrong. The prospect of losing him was a surprisingly painful one. “We married because it was what Alex wanted,” she explained, as though that were the only reason. “That Raven has sacrificed whatever dreams he had of finding a wife to care for me is a noble gesture, not a disgraceful one. You’ll not separate us, Aunt.”
As Lydia’s face filled with rage at that bit of defiance, Eden continued as though her comments had been calmly accepted. “Now I’d like to summon our driver and footman to carry my trunks out to our carriage. We’ll be returning to Jamaica in a day or two, and I doubt we’ll ever see each other again. While I appreciate all that you did for me while I was here, I can’t allow you to do anything more.”
Raven grabbed Eden’s hand, and they hurried from the room before Lydia could draw the breath to scream the vile names each was certain had already come to the woman’s mind. They could hear Stephanie sobbing that she had been betrayed, but neither was moved by the spoiled young woman’s complaints.
“I still think I should make her apologize to you,” Raven said. He opened the front door without waiting for the butler to do so, and gestured for the men from the carriage.
“It’s not worth the effort,” Eden assured him, but she was grateful when her aunt slammed shut the sliding doors of the drawing room so that they did not have to listen to Stephanie wail about how her American cousin had stolen the only man she had ever loved.
Her trunks were soon loaded on the carriage, and Eden breathed a sigh of relief as they rode away from her aunt’s townhouse for what would definitely be the last time. “I’ve always thought my parents made a terrible mistake in sending me here, and now I’m sure my aunt and cousin agree.”
“You’d never have met Alex had you stayed in Richmond.” Or me, Raven thought, but he knew better than to include his own name.
“No,” Eden assured him. “Somehow I would have met Alex. It was our destiny to be together.” She just wished it could have been for far longer.
Raven greeted that remark with a puzzled frown, and Eden decided not to pursue it. “You thought I might choose to stay with Lydia, didn’t you?” Her voice was filled with wonder, as though such a belief had been preposterous.
Embarrassed that his thoughts had been so transparent, Raven was again disgusted with himself for not having foreseen just how dangerous a visit to Lydia might have been. “I expected her to either be reserved and withdrawn, or loud and abusive, and not want to have anything further to do with us, but it never occurred to me the bitch would try and annul our marriage. I’d not have allowed that regardless of what your decision had been.”
Eden had thought her refusal of her aunt’s plan would have assured him she meant to remain his wife, but apparently he did not require any such consideration. She felt rather foolish that his feelings meant so much to her, when hers meant nothing to him. She realized then how truly angry he was, and she did not want him to lose his temper completely now that they had left her outraged kin behind.
“When you told me you’d be faithful to me, you were thinking of only one aspect of a good marriage. There’s loyalty too.”
“And honesty,” Raven added with an accusing glance.
“And sense enough to recognize it!” Eden shot right back at him. His dark eyes flashed when he reached out for her and for an instant she did not know if he meant to hug her, or choke the life out of her. Then his mouth covered hers, and it was like coming home.
Raven’s kiss was slow and deep, seeking the passionate response Eden needed little such encouragement to give. She then wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him down with her on the seat. Raven had tossed his hat on the opposite seat when they had entered the carriage. When Eden’s elegant bonnet was knocked askew, she wished she had shown as much foresight.
Sensing her discomfort, Raven rose up slightly and, with a quick yank, untied the satin bow beneath her chin and removed the pretty bonnet before it became crushed. He leaned over to set it with his hat, then again pulled her into his arms. He covered her flushed cheeks with gentle kisses before returning to her mouth with renewed fervor.
Enveloped in his enthusiastic affection, Eden made no protest as he unbuttoned her bodice to her waist. He slipped his hand inside, but caressed her breast sweetly for only a few seconds before pushing her silk chemise aside so he could fondle her bare skin. When he bent his head to tickle her nipples with his tongue, she responded with a throaty giggle that encouraged him to become even more passionate.
A sudden shout from the street brought Eden back to her senses.
They had not pulled down the shades, and anyone passing by who chanced to glance their way would certainly see more than they dared allow. Unaware of her concern, Raven was still nibbling playfully at her breasts, but she grabbed two handfuls of his glossy curls and pushed him away.
“Isn’t your townhouse nearby?” she asked in a breathless rush.
Thinking she wanted him to stop, Raven answered in a defiant snarl, “So what if it is?”
Eden rose up to kiss his lips lightly then replied in a seductive whisper, “I would much rather make love to you there, than here. If we’re seen being as indiscreet as this, I fear both our reputations will suffer irreparable damage.”
