Bile threatened to rise in Gabriel’s throat. Had the blood been hers or Lockley’s?
“That’s not the first time you’ve called my sister in law by her given name,” Crawford commented, observing him from his leisurely position.
Gabriel strode to the mantle and stared into the fire.
What was he doing? He loved her! He loved Olivia Redfield and yet she would suffer for lack of protection, nonetheless.
“I care about her,” he admitted as he stared at the bottom of his glass through the amber liquid. “She and I are friends.” He nearly choked on the last word.
“So, you’ve ordered Lockley off. And what of when you meet him face to face in London? What of when he reserves a dance with your future wife?”
Victoria. She was nearly as vulnerable as Olivia. Gabriel closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose.
“You only ordered him away from Lady Priscilla and Miss Redfield,” Crawford reminded him.
“I’d think he’d be wise enough to stay away from anything that’s mine.” With these words, he could not meet his friend’s eyes. “I’ll make certain he labors under no delusion.”
“I don’t envy you, Kings.” It was Crawford’s turn to stare into his glass as the fire crackled. “I loved the lady chosen for me to marry. Love. I love her. Damn near couldn’t stand the thought of her being away from me for the duration of your mother’s damn house party.”
“It’s not that I don’t love Miss Shipley. I esteem her most highly. She’s a delightful lady and will make an excellent countess.” The sentiment sounded empty the instant it left his lips.
“You don’t wake up with a countess. You don’t make love to a countess. You do all of those things with a woman.”
Gabriel met Crawford’s stare but didn’t say a word.
“Is there nothing you can do?” his friend asked.
Oh, hell. He could not pretend with Crawford. Gabriel answered with a shake of his head. But the question set him to thinking.
Was there, in truth, nothing he could do?
Chapter 29
The Chase
“Did you sleep at all, Olivia?” Concern laced Louella’s voice as she patted Olivia’s thigh below the long breakfast table. Louella seemed more attentive than normal this morning, making Olivia wonder if Gabriel had not told Crawford about the attack and if Crawford had then relayed it to Louella.
The duke, Mr. Fellowes, and Lady Kingsley sat opposite, and Gabriel had taken his usual spot at the head of the table. Miss Shipley’s aunt and a few other guests, whose names Olivia had difficulty remembering, were filling their plates at the sideboard. A handful had departed already and the rest, likely, were sleeping in.
“Not much.” The tea stung the inside of her lower lip. Lockley’s teeth had cut her mouth as well. The blood she’d tasted hadn’t been exclusively his. “Headache,” she added.
Olivia raised the cup of hot tea to her lips and blew. She didn’t really care if it was hot, or what it tasted like for that matter. When she closed her eyes, the memory of Lockley’s groping hands plagued her.
And she couldn’t allow herself to look down the table at Gabriel. It was possible she’d burst into tears if she saw sympathy, or worse, pity, in his eyes.
Olivia didn’t want anyone else to know what had happened. It was all too embarrassing! Mortifying, even! She knew it wasn’t her fault but couldn’t help but feel she’d been in the wrong somehow. Mary had insisted upon dining with the kitchen staff but only after she finished packing. Thank heavens they would depart shortly. Olivia wanted to put it all behind her. Even if that meant putting Gabriel Fellowes behind her as well.
Conversation was sparse after that, the only sound that of Mr. Gilbert Fellowes turning the page of his newspaper.
“Has anyone seen Lady Priscilla?” Miss Shipley asked almost before she had entered the room. “I stopped by her chamber this morning. We always come down together. And her maid says she did not return to her room last night.”
Gabriel’s head shot up. His eyes swung toward Crawford, and they seemed to communicate something of import. “Parker,” he addressed one of the footmen standing at the buffet. “Enlist every manservant. I want the manor searched from top to bottom without delay.”
The servant bowed efficiently and disappeared from the room.
Panic hadn’t quite entered Gabriel’s voice, but he appeared deeply concerned.
“Lockley?” Olivia said the man’s name without thinking. Blessedly, he was not present this morning. But if Gabriel had ordered the man to leave, was it possible he would have taken Lady Priscilla with him?
Gabriel met her gaze without answering. But of course. A scandal would most assuredly ensue if word were to get out that the young lady had traveled alone with the baron. Olivia clamped her mouth shut.
Only she wasn’t alone in her suspicions.
“Would she do such a thing?” Lady Kingsley addressed her oldest son.
Gabriel pushed back his chair and burst to his feet in one startling motion. “I can’t wait to see if they find her. He’s taken her with him. He and I had an… altercation last night and I ordered him off. I wouldn’t put it past him to use Prissy to get back at me.”
And Lady Priscilla would be all too willing.
“I’ll go with you.” Crawford rose and adjusted his coat. He turned to Louella. “Remain here until I return. I’ll feel better knowing my wife is not on the road alone.”
Louella nodded. “Of course. But do be careful.” And then she added, “Both of you.”
Gabriel met Olivia’s eyes, and for the first time while in the company of others, did not act distantly polite toward her. He showed a vulnerability in his gaze and did nothing to hide it. “I’d appreciate, Miss Redfield, if you would remain with your sister.”
He turned to Miss Shipley’s aunt. “I’d ask the same of you and Miss Shipley.”
The older woman looked on in disapproval but nodded, nonetheless.
“Don’t do anything foolish,” Miss Shipley implored.
The two men, unwilling to waste any more precious time, excused themselves and disappeared. Conversation resumed amongst those present almost immediately.
But Louella was unusually quiet, studying Olivia curiously. Ten minutes later, the muffled sounds of horses racing off the property sounded in the room.
“As long as they’re headed to London, we shouldn’t have any difficulties catching up with them,” Crawford commented. They’d taken off initially at a gallop, but unwilling to exhaust the horses, slowed to a trot. It would do them no good if they overtired the horses before catching up with Lockley’s carriage.
“I’m going to kill him regardless. But if he’s hurt her in any way, I’ll make sure it’s a slow and painful death.”
Crawford rode silently for the next few minutes. Both of them carried revolvers and Gabriel knew he could not have a more capable person at his side. Crawford had spent nearly a decade in the British navy and was no stranger to confrontation.
“I’ll follow your lead then.” Crawford, too, had sisters. And if Lockley had dared to touch the duchess, he’d be dead already.
The road turned and a suspiciously familiar vehicle looked to be broken down about two hundred feet ahead. Gabriel and Crawford glanced at one another.
Lockley’s carriage.
Crawford drew his revolver in one subtle move. After closing two-thirds of the distance, Gabriel dismounted, tied his horse to a nearby tree, and with all senses alert, approached on foot with cover.
The coach had indeed broken a wheel. Priscilla glanced up at him. Yes, her hands were indeed tied. Despite the icy cold anger running through his veins, Gabriel sent his sister a reassuring glance and raised a finger to his lips to silence her.
The bounder had kidnapped his sister. Gabriel should have killed him last night.
Lockley was preoccupied with the driver and the wheel, so Gabriel took a moment to free Priscilla quietly. It took him less than ten
seconds to untie the amateur knot. When Priscilla scampered up and behind him, Lockley finally turned around.
Crawford approached from his position farther back, the revolver steadily pointed at the baron from atop his horse.
“Not a smart move, Lockley,” Gabriel commented as though for all the world he was merely making an observation about the weather. “You should have heeded my warning.”
The baron’s chin was swollen from the hit he’d taken in the garden, and yet a reckless gleam of daring lurked in his cold gaze. “I fancied Miss Redfield, sweet little blonde that she is. Unfortunately, she isn’t the sort gentlemen fight over. Whereas,” he glanced over Gabriel’s shoulder at Priscilla, “Lady Priscilla is a lady. I presumed you’d be more devastated at the loss of your sister. Even if she has a tendency toward… rather unladylike behavior.”
With the hand that still bore the bruise from the evening before, Gabriel swung and connected with the exact spot he’d hit last night. And with his other, he landed a solid hit to the man’s soft middle.
In his anger, however, he’d misjudged the baron’s strengths.
Because a booming sound echoed in his ears at the same time pain exploded in his left hip. A moment later, a second shot fired, and the baron slumped against him.
Struggling to stand up, Gabriel could barely make out Crawford’s expression while his sister’s screams pierced the quiet countryside.
“He shot me,” Gabriel said in wonder. “Goddamnit, Crawford. I can’t seem to do anything right.” Allowing Lockley to fall boneless to the dirt, Gabriel stepped back and looked down at the top of his leg. His tan breeches, already stained with blood, swam before his eyes.
“Hang in there, Kings.” Crawford led him to the carriage and then shouted back toward Lockley’s driver. “Is that wheel close to being fixed?”
Gabriel sat in the opening of the carriage, wondering if this was how it would all end. He hadn’t had a chance to tell Olivia that he loved her. Crawford would provide better protection for her, wouldn’t he?
Mrs. Beasley would have conniptions. This time, the wedding would not merely be postponed but canceled altogether.
He’d intended to find a way to cancel it anyway.
What would Victoria have said? Would she have gone along with his plan?
“Tell Olivia.” He barely managed to utter the words, his chest feeling as though it was crushing his lungs.
“What?” Crawford pressed a cloth against the wound in Gabriel’s side. “What should I tell Olivia?”
“She’s the one.” He fell backward and lay on the floor. A distant part of him wondered if the last thing he’d ever see would be the interior roof of a coach.
“You’ll have to tell her yourself.” Crawford had moved him all the way into the carriage and placed a jacket or something under his head. And then Prissy was sitting beside him, crying but pressing something against his side.
And then they were moving. Turning around, it felt like, and then hitting every damn bump in the road between this Godforsaken place and Sky Manor.
“I’m so sorry, Gabriel,” Priscilla sobbed. “I never realized. I should have listened to you.”
It wasn’t Priscilla’s fault. She’d been fooled, likely the same as many other, older and more sophisticated ladies. That being said, she was his little sister, after all.
“I told you so,” he managed somehow.
And then the world turned blessedly black.
Chapter 30
A Dire Situation
After sitting for what felt like ages with Lady Kingsley and Miss Shipley, Louella and Olivia excused themselves to return to their chambers. Louella did not enter her own chamber, however, but instead followed Olivia into hers. As soon as the door closed behind them, she crossed her arms and demanded, “What was that all about?”
“What do you mean?” Olivia opened a drawer only to realize all her clothing had been packed. “I’ll need to find Mary and let her know of our change in plans.”
“Oh, no, you don’t. Why did Kingsley look at you like that? And why did it matter to him that you did not leave?”
Olivia bit her lip. She’d only ever lied to Louella when it had been absolutely necessary. And she hadn’t lied, really. She’d merely omitted facts.
But Louella was asking outright.
She spun around and grimaced. “I, um. We sort of formed a… friendship?” She answered almost as though it was a question. Would she refer to what she and Gabriel had had as an attachment? It certainly had seemed like more than a friendship.
On her part anyhow.
“What kind of a friendship?” Louella’s eyes widened in shock. “He’s betrothed, Olivia!”
Olivia scrubbed a hand down her face. “I know. I know. And it’s only a friendship! Nothing will ever come of it, of course! Don’t you think I know?” Olivia hated the thought of disappointing her younger sister. If Louella were to realize how Olivia had carried on with Gabriel last spring... Well, that would qualify as disappointing behavior, to be certain.
Louella had looked up to her for so long.
“I’m sorry. It’s just… he gave you… a look.”
Olivia was shaking her head. “You’ve nothing to worry about. He’s happily engaged to Miss Shipley. As I’ve already told you. We’re nothing more than friends.”
“Still… That look...” Louella appeared more than a little skeptical. “Did you…? Did he…?”
Oh, God. She didn’t want to lie. And a part of her wanted to tell Louella everything! She’d kept it to herself for so long. The memories. The pain.
“Of course not.” Olivia could not meet her sister’s gaze. “The night of the cave-in… He came to me.” And she’d never forget that night. But it was over. It could never happen again. “But nothing happened.”
And then she dropped onto the chair at her vanity and pretended to be fixing her hair.
Louella was across the room in a flash. Kneeling down, she took Olivia’s hands in hers. “Because if he did, Crawford will bring him up to scratch. He’s known Kingsley forever, but he’ll not allow even his oldest friend to get away with treating you poorly. ”
Which was precisely why Olivia could never tell Louella the truth.
“No, Louella. It wasn’t like that. We are only friends.”
Friends who have kissed.
Friends who have made love to one another.
And, unfortunately, Olivia sighed at the hopelessness of her thoughts. She had fallen in love with this ‘friend.’ “You know as well as I, that I can never be an adequate wife to any gentleman.”
No gentleman of any worth will make a respectable offer to a cockeyed gel. Cursed, by God. An abomination. Her father’s words might just as well have been branded onto her soul.
“Because of your eye?” Louella demanded. “I don’t even notice it anymore.” Of course, her sister would say this. But it wasn’t only her eye…
“Others do. And it might show up in my children. But, Louella. I cannot help wondering… What about the curse?” Before Louella could stop her, Olivia added, “I know it ought to be utter nonsense. But what if it isn’t? What if something about me brings tragedy to the people around me? It would hardly be fair for me to force my bad luck on another person, and for the rest of our lives.” Olivia knew this made no sense but some part deep inside of her was beginning to believe it.
“I could kill Papa!” Louella burst to her feet. “Of course, it’s utter nonsense! There is absolutely nothing about–”
And then the door burst open. It was Miss Shipley, her eyes wide with fear. “They’re back.” Standing in the doorway, her hands clutched beneath her chin, the normally placid young woman looked as though she might burst into tears. “But Kingsley’s been shot. Crawford says he’s lost a lot of blood. He’s being carried to his chamber now and Gilbert… Mr. Fellowes has been sent to locate the physician.”
No!
Olivia blinked and she shook her head. Gabriel shot? No–no–no–n
o–no!
Olivia’s heart might as well have stopped beating. This couldn’t be happening again. Oh, God, she never should have come. This was all her fault. If Lockley hadn’t followed her the night before, then Gabriel wouldn’t have sent him away. And if Lockley hadn’t been sent away, he wouldn’t have taken Lady Priscilla.
“He is alive though?” Louella asked.
“Crawford said if the physician doesn’t come soon, he’ll remove the bullet himself.”
A bullet. The memory of his perfectly smooth skin stretched over muscles with smatterings of dark hair, pierced by a deadly piece of metal, tortured her imagination.
Olivia burst from her chair. “Take me to him!” She could not stay away. She needed to be with him. She needed to touch him. To tell him…
Louella was on her feet as well.
Victoria seemed surprised but after sending Olivia a hard look, Louella added, “His Grace will. er, require our assistance.”
Miss Shipley glanced from one of them to the other and then nodded. “Yes. Of course. Follow me.”
And as they made their way through the seemingly endless corridors, images of Gabriel flashed through Olivia’s mind. When they arrived in one particular hallway, she remembered it was where she’d run into him less than two weeks before.
She hadn’t seen him in months and then he’d been right there in front of her. She was unable to deny the bursts of happiness she’d felt despite trying to convince herself she shouldn’t allow him into her heart again. She’d felt that something special she’d been missing since he’d left.
Joy.
And now he was… No, she mustn’t think it. Crawford was with him. Crawford would know what to do.
Miss Shipley stopped at a rather impressive-looking door just as a maid slipped out.
But Olivia could not wait.
Without knocking, she pushed the heavy door open and stepped determinedly inside. Crawford and two other men looked up at her curiously, but Olivia had eyes only for the motionless man upon the bed.
The Perfect Spinster: A Regency Romance (The Not So Saintly Sisters Book 2) Page 22
