Once Upon an Earl_Heirs of High Society_A Regency Romance Book

by Eleanor Meyers

  "Oh, my goodness, Clarine, I was so frightened. Mason suddenly said that he couldn't find you and then I realized I hadn't seen you for a little while."

  "Sarah, I'm fine, I really am, it's just thanks to Lucas that I'm..."

  To her shock, Mason stalked off his horse and crossed over to the man she had clubbed, who was only now regaining consciousness. Mason dragged the man up, growling deep and terrible things to him, and from where she stood, she could see the man's bloodied lips move.

  Clarine couldn't keep on looking at the man. The blow she had dealt him had bled dreadfully, covering half his face with blood, and even thinking about it made her want to throw up. She turned away, staggering a few paces off while Sarah followed her.

  "Do you want to get back to the house? We can call the constables..."

  Mason abruptly stood up from the man she had clubbed, the one who had held her captive. The man had fallen back into a faint, and Mason shook his head.

  "He's dead."

  Clarine's hand came up to cover her mouth, and she might have fallen if Sarah hadn't been there.

  "Oh, my god..."

  "Blows to the head, they can be dangerous things, but I am sure no one will blame you. We can give out that he fell, perhaps in a struggle with your groom."

  Lucas's face was stone, but he nodded. Clarine felt an urge to go to him overpowering her, and she wondered if it would have been so bad. Mason and Sarah were her family. They would surely understand, but she held herself apart.

  Mason turned to Lucas. "Escort my sister and our cousin home. I shall stay behind to speak to the earl and the constables. You ladies should have to see no more of this wretch."

  Mason hesitated for a moment, and then he stepped forward. He reached forward tentatively, brushing a lock of hair out of Clarine's eyes. If she hadn't flinched back from him instinctively, she wondered what else he might have done.

  "Clarine, I am so sorry that this happened to you. Please, take care of yourself at Hartford Hall until I return."

  She wished she could summon up something tart to say to him. As kind as he was being, there was also something condescending about the way he spoke as well. Instead, she only nodded and allowed Lucas to guide her and Sarah back to the horses.

  God, I wish I knew what happened now.

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  14

  CHAPTER

  FOURTEEN

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  It seemed to take Lucas hours to calm down after he delivered Clarine and Sarah home to Hartford Hall. The entire time he was seeing to the horses and directing the two frankly useless stable boys about their duties, there was a gnawing panic at the back of his mind.

  He didn't think Clarine was safe yet, not by a long shot. At this point, he didn't know what to think about her attackers, and he wasn't sure he was willing to discount any of her family out of it yet. Mason and Sarah had appeared awfully quickly, and was Quentin really sick in bed? Of course, any of them could have hired a cat's paw to do their work and never have to leave their routine at all.

  When he was done, it was past dark, and instead of going back to his room, Lucas made his way into the house instead.

  It is really far too easy to get in. I shall have to tell Clarine to bulk up her security again.

  The hallways were empty and dark as he made his way to the family rooms. Untrustworthy shadows fluttered in the corners of his eye, full of attackers and men who wanted nothing more than to harm the woman he had come to care for so very much.

  His feelings for Clarine were tangled up with danger and desire, but underneath it, he was beginning to see the real shape of things. He cared for her as he had cared for no other woman in his life, and Lucas knew that the only word for that emotion was love.

  I can't tell her until this is over. What kind of man would I be to hope that fear would drive her into my arms?

  Lucas knew he was far less of a good man than he pretended to be in some ways. A small part of him thought it did not matter how she came into his arms as long as she was there, and he pushed the emotions aside. Right now, his only task was to protect Clarine. That was the only thing that mattered.

  He rapped gently on her door, and she opened it immediately. Her slender hand shot out, grabbed him by the jacket, and pulled him in, closing the door behind him with a decisive snap.

  "Clarine?"

  Instead of responding, she simply buried her face in his chest, her arms wrapped around him terribly tightly. Her shoulders trembled, and after his initial moment of shock, Lucas wrapped his arms around her as well.

  "Come on, sweetness, don't cry..."

  Her tiny sob rent his heart, and without thinking of what he was doing, he scooped her into his arms. It was a matter of seconds to carry her to the bed, and when she would not let him go so that he could lay her down on the sheets, he sighed and lay down with her.

  "You know, this is hardly proper. I've heard stories about rapacious ladies who drag innocent lads to their bed. I won't be fooled."

  He was rewarded with a sad soggy sort of giggle, but she still wouldn't lift her head from his chest. With a soft sigh, Lucas glanced up to make sure that the latch was set and simply let her rest in the curve of his arm. Some things needed to run their course, and he waited patiently as she cried herself out.

  "It was so terrible."

  Lucas tensed. He had thought he had gotten to her quickly enough, but if the man had hurt her, he would see to it with all of his ability that the bastard was denied any kind of Christian burial, and he would do worse if he could.

  "Did he touch you?"

  "No, Lucas, please, it is fine. He struck me a few times, but that was all. Mostly what I remember now is how afraid he was."

  Lucas shifted a little, and Clarine's small hand resting on his chest stroked him soothingly.

  "I know you don't intend to have any sympathy for him. Neither do I. But he was afraid... and then I killed him."

  "Don't think like that. You were acting to save me and yourself."

  Clarine was still. Her breathing evened out and for a moment, Lucas wondered if she was asleep. If she was, it was all the better for her. He had seen the dark shadows under her eyes and the haunted way she looked.

  "I don't think I could have done it if it were just for me."

  "Clarine?"

  "If he was just threatening me... I am not sure I could have hit him the way that I did. But for you, there was no hesitation. I don't think there ever will be."

  She tensed up, but he still shifted so he could look her in the face. Her eyes were wet and swollen from crying, and her nose was red. She looked as if at any moment, she might still break into tears. With her hair rumpled and dressed in an old gown that she surely must have put on for comfort alone, Lucas thought she had never looked more beautiful.

  Gently, giving her plenty of time to back away if she wished to do so, he leaned in to kiss her. Her mouth tasted of salt from all the tears she had shed, but she still tasted so good. So perfect.

  I need to tell her the truth.

  The thought occurred to him with a clarion call, and just as he opened his mouth, she spoke.

  "Lucas, I have something to tell you."

  "What is it?"

  Before she could say whatever it was she wanted to say, however, there was a heavy knock at the door. Both of them stiffened, knowing that it was no servant's deferential tap.

  "Under the bed!"

  Obeying her hissed order, Lucas rolled off the bed and underneath it. There was just enough space under the bed for him to fit, and the ruffle along the edge would hide him from view even if someone happened to glance down. It was dusty enough that he put his hand over his face, however, and he reminded himself to breathe lightly.

  "Who is it?"

  "Clarine, it's Mason. Please, I need to speak to you."

  Lucas heard Clarine shuffle from the bed to the door, and
when she opened it, she gasped.

  "Why Mason, you look terrible."

  "I feel terrible. I know it is hardly appropriate, but may I come in?"

  Lucas wanted to bare his teeth at that. What kind of man intruded on a young lady's room like that, no matter how closely they were related? He reminded himself that Clarine would likely have said no if she were actually on her own and resolved to stay still.

  From the sounds beyond the bed, Lucas could hear Clarine escorting Mason to the chair in the corner.

  "What is this all about? I figured after the events that happened today, you would be happy to be in bed already."

  "I wish to God I were in bed. Clarine... I have something terrible to tell you."

  "Mason, what—?"

  She yelped a little, and Lucas chanced flipping up the ruffle just a little, so he could see what was going on. Clarine stood next to Mason, who was seated in the chair and holding on to her hand. He looked up at her with a tormented gaze, and Lucas felt a chill come across him.

  "God forgive me, Clarine, but the constables are coming."

  "What? Are they coming here? For me?"

  Lucas felt a tide of rage come over him. If anyone in the world thought that they were taking Clarine away from him, they were dead wrong. He would declare himself in front of the whole damn parish if he had to, and while they were still gaping, he would steal Clarine away from all this madness.

  "No, no, cousin, not for you. For Sarah and for Quentin."

  "What? What are you talking about?"

  "The man in the ravine. Before he died, he told me who hired him. He described Quentin, and he also said that there was a woman with him, Sarah."

  "No, it can't be..."

  "I didn't want to believe it myself, Clarine, but it is the truth. He told me that, and then he died. And all day, I have been fighting with the truth of it all, and now I know what happened."

  "Do you?"

  "Yes. Sarah tried to poison you and me. She messed up somehow, and ended up poisoning Quentin and me, if Quentin was even poisoned at all. Quentin hired the man in the ravine, and he might have done other things as well."

  "Mason..."

  "Do you not remember how Sarah pulled you away from the man as he lay dying? She wanted to make sure that he did not give you any last-minute confessions."

  Lucas remembered, and he wondered whether Sarah and Quentin would hang or whether they would merely be transported. Hanging was too good for the two of them, he decided, but transportation would give them a chance to someday return.

  "Mason, this is all so..."

  "God forgive me, I have given over my siblings to justice."

  Clarine yelped again and when Lucas chanced another look, Mason had wrapped his arms around her hips, dragging her close enough to bury his face in her belly. He looked utterly wretched, and even though Lucas was hardly predisposed to like the man, he felt a pang of sympathy.

  Clarine pulled away from Mason after a moment, stepping out of his reach.

  "Are the constables coming now?"

  "Yes. They should be here in a few minutes, I should think."

  "Very well. I shall go to meet them."

  Mason sounded startled. "Surely it is not appropriate for..."

  "They were living in my house. If they truly wanted to kill me, I want to look them in the eye."

  There was an iron resolve in her voice.

  Eventually, Mason sighed.

  "All right. I had hoped to spare you this."

  "I would rather it had not happened at all, but here we are. Come on, Mason."

  Lucas waited until the door had closed, and then he counted to two hundred before he cautiously rolled out from under the bed.

  Well, now what?

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  15

  CHAPTER

  FIFTEEN

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  It was more terrible than Clarine had ever imagined it might be. In the long watches of the night, she had thought about what it might look like when she was finally free of the specter of murder. She had thought about how she might sleep more peacefully or how she might finally be able to move more freely. She had not thought of what it might look like when the would-be murderers were actually apprehended.

  Sarah had started to cry in confusion, and Quentin... Quentin had simply been confused to the point of shock. For some reason, that stuck with her. They had come to pull him out of the makeshift study he had set up in the library, and when Mason accused him of trying to kill her, he had only looked puzzled.

  The constables were probably only at Hartford Hall for half an hour, and after they were gone, a silence pervaded the place, made it feel as if it were hung about with heavy shrouds. Clarine felt empty, and in some ways, she could barely believe that this might be completely over now.

  Mason stood staring off into space, and it struck her that he had had his own relatives arrested. He looked lost as they stood together in the library, and tentatively, she reached over to touch his hand.

  "Mason? Are you going to be all right?"

  To her shock, he fell to his knees, covering his face with his hands. As Clarine watched, he shook, clenching his teeth tightly to stifle a wail.

  "I always said I would look after them. I swore to my mother on her deathbed that I would never let anything happen to them..."

  Clarine's heart squeezed with pity for this man. "Oh, Mason, I am so sorry."

  To her shock, he responded by turning toward her and wrapping his arms around her hips. She felt a sudden surge of panic for having him so close, but then tentatively, she settled her hands on his shoulders.

  "Mason, please, get up. Get up, this isn't—"

  "I did it for you."

  "What?"

  "I didn't want to give them over to the constables, but I did it for you. Don't you see? That's how much I care about you. I couldn't let those fiends hurt you."

  He turned imploring eyes up to her, and Clarine had to stifle a shudder. There was a raw and burning need in his gaze, something that made her feel incredibly uneasy. She owed this man so much, but she had never asked for it, had she? She had never told him to do all of this at all.

  "Clarine, you must... you must stay with me, won't you? After what I have done?"

  Somehow, she managed to pry herself free from him. Clarine took several steps back, and she watched him closely to make sure that he did not reach for her again.

  "Mason, you are overwrought. I think you should go to bed. Please. We will speak about this again in the morning, all right? There is nothing we can say to each other right now."

  "Clarine, I need you..."

  She must have said something. She didn't think that she had simply fled the room, even if that was what she felt like doing. She remembered stammering out something that made Mason look even grimmer, and then she took to her heels.

  Oh, god, I think I am going mad. This place is driving me mad.

  In the middle of all of this, all she could think about was Lucas. She needed to go find Lucas. He was the one sane thing in all of this. He would help her. She knew he would.

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  She found Lucas in the stables instead of in his rooms. He was in the stall with Lady, stroking her nose and brushing her gently.

  "Don't you think she looks lovely enough already?"

  "She could always look lovelier." Lucas set aside the brush and came out of the stall. He took her in his arms without hesitation, and for a long moment, she simply relaxed into his embrace.

  This is all I need to keep me going. This is all I need to keep me sane.

  She wondered for a moment if that made her no better than Mason, who had collapsed at her feet in the library, but she put the thought of him aside. Right now, all that mattered was being with Lucas.

  He pulled her over to the corner of the stable where there was a bale of hay covered with two or three horse blankets.
It was a prickly seat, but with the small lantern to keep back the darkness, it was more comfortable than anything in the house to her right that moment.