Tears of joy and pride burned behind his eyes as he tried to imagine a child of their own to love. Visions of home and family tore through his mind, making him weak with longing.
Reverently, he lowered his hand to her breasts, feeling the firmness of skin. “Tender, darling?”
“Some,” she admitted shyly.
His gaze intent, he let his hand slowly move lower until it settled upon her flat belly. “Our babe grows here,” he whispered, awe tingeing his voice. “Unbelievable, is it not?”
“Believe it, Nicholas.”
With all the gentleness he possessed, he bent low and laid his head there where the tiny creature grew. Pressing a kiss there, he felt Eliza’s fingers in his hair. Tears burned in his eyes.
Such a gift. Words failed him.
He’d thought he could never love his wife more, but now he knew how wrong he’d been to make such an assumption.
“In all my life, I will never forget this moment,” he said, rising to face her. “Thank you, love, with all my heart.”
Her eyes were damp with tears, but she smiled suddenly and sat up in the bed. “I have been quite busy this afternoon,” she said. Drawing a robe over her nakedness, she belted it around the waist and turned to him. “Come with me. I have a surprise.”
Feeling more than a little indulgent, he followed her, puzzled when she opened the door adjoining their rooms. When he saw what she’d done, his confusion turned to delight. “My crib.”
“Yes. I had it brought from the attic along with other baby furniture, I hope you don’t mind.”
“Of course not.” He smiled as she rushed about the room pointing out things she’d fetched.
“I love this,” she said, lightly sending a painted, wooden rocking horse into motion. “It is a little chipped, but should offer our son a good ride, do you not think? One day I shall tell him that his father rode upon it.”
“Splendid idea, love.” Emotion, love for her, curled through his heart. “But come now, you must not tire yourself.”
“I am fine, truly.”
He drew her back into their room and eyed her still-slender figure. “How fine is fine? You have not seen a doctor yet, and I hesitate to touch you, sweet. And God knows, I am dying to make love to you again.”
She smiled coyly and dropped the robe from her body. “Then perhaps tonight I shall ride.”
Chapter Twenty-One
Eliza took the cloak a servant held out for her, then turned to An Li. She was so worried about her friend. “Are you sure this is where you wish to be, my dear?”
“I am much happy in Charlotte House,” she answered.
Carolyn moved protectively to An Li’s side and put an arm around her narrow shoulders. “We could not give her up in a million years, Eliza. Since Harriet’s young son has arrived, we need all the help possible, and An Li has been a godsend.”
“Of that I have no doubt.” Eliza smiled at An Li. “Should you have a change of heart, however, our door is always open.”
An Li nodded, and Eliza couldn’t help noting the cloud of grief over the young woman’s eyes.
“Thank you, but with new marriage, new baby coming, you must need have time with Nicholas, yes? And Harriet needs help with her wee Toby.”
“An Li is so wonderful with him,” Carolyn said affectionately.
During her visit, she was warmed by everyone’s easy acceptance of An Li. There was a new confidence in the girl that relieved Eliza greatly. An Li seemed to have a renewed sense of purpose and had found her place in the world.
“Oh, Your Grace, I must show you what I have learned.” Ann rushed in, all youthful exuberance, and held out a small bundle of soft thread. “Mrs. Brown is teaching me to knit. Is it not wonderful? I have begun making a tiny blanket for your baby.”
Eliza eyed the half-knit, pale blue yarn and seeing Ann’s enthusiasm, smiled broadly. “How wonderful!” She touched the beginnings of the baby blanket and a sense of magic overwhelmed her, yet again. A baby.
Swallowing the lump in her throat, she caught Ann to her in a hug. “How very thoughtful. I am delighted that you have thought of me.”
Carolyn reached for Eliza’s hand. “You have given us such wonderful news, dear. We shall pray for you in the coming months.”
“Thank you,” she said, turning to go. “An Li, will you walk with me to the carriage?”
An Li nodded, and together they walked into the afternoon sunshine. Thomas waited discreetly some distance away while Eliza stopped by the curricle. Turning to An Li, she gave her a measuring look. “I have had not one single moment alone with you. Are you certain that you are all right?”
“Yes. I love here. All women nice. Like An Li and respect, too.”
“I had no doubt of it, but something was happening between you and Lord Darlington. I sensed feelings between you and had hopes of a future between you.”
An Li cast down her eyes and shook her head. “It would never work between us. Do you not see? I could never let him be shunned by his world. I do not fit in his life and I never would. He needs a fine lady to give him sons. He should be proud of wife, not feel shame.”
“Who could ever be ashamed of you, An Li? You are a beautiful woman.” Eliza was incensed, but a part of her realized the horrible truth of An Li’s words.
An Li’s sudden smile lit her face. “Ah, but you are my friend. You must say this.” Just as quickly her smile faded. “I love Stephen,” she vowed, placing her hands over her chest. “But to love is to sometimes let go. He must find his place in world, just as I must do.”
Eliza’s heart broke for both of them. “Stephen has left for the Orient. Did you know?”
An Li shook her head.
“Are you certain the two of you could not go somewhere other than England? Perhaps you could join him in China?”
“No. I would never returned to China, not even for the man I love.” She took Eliza’s hands. “There is no place for us. Perhaps in another time, but not now. Even America would not welcome a white man and Chinese girl.”
“I wish things could be different.” Eliza pulled her close.
Thomas hurried forward to help Eliza into the curricle and climbed in beside her. She took up the reins and gave An Li a smile before driving away.
Staring at the winding road ahead, Eliza fought off the sadness of An Li and Stephen’s situation. Now was not the time for worry. They were adults with minds of their own. Yes, An Li fought Stephen’s affections, but once upon a time, she’d done much the same regarding Nicholas.
The trees overhanging the dirt road were huge and imposing, showing the first red and gold leaves of fall. A slight rustling of them in the wind along with the soft clip-clop of shod hooves lulled her into memory. Not far from here she was attacked. Thank God Nicholas had been there to save the day. She remembered the rain, Imogen Brown’s cabin, and the touch of his hands on her body. She remembered firelight on his naked skin.
Sighing deeply, she felt a sense of peace overcome her before a sudden sharp gust of wind buffeted her back into the here and now. A deep, utterly disturbing silence fell around her. For some unknown reason, her fingers twitched and the world fell silent. A shiver took her, so she clicked her tongue and tapped the reins to speed the horses.
She had just rounded the bend when she spotted an oncoming coach. Charlotte House was vastly secluded and a feeling of foreboding knotted her belly. Had some father or husband learned the secret of Charlotte House and come to fetch one of the women?
She had to know. Slowing her curricle just a bit, she tried to discern to whom the carriage belonged. It was a pretty day with only a slight chill, but the driver wore a heavy cloak. The collar of the garment was pulled up around the driver’s ears. That, coupled with the tall hat he wore, completely concealed his features.
A hand suddenly appeared from the carriage window as the conveyance rapidly slowed. “Yoo hoo. Your Grace, please pull over.”
A white handkerchief waved from a feminine han
d. Slowing to a stop, Eliza saw Beatrice’s dark curls peek from beneath a straw bonnet. Now that she knew Beatrice’s secrets, Eliza nodded warily. The woman was untrustworthy. Nevertheless, the past was none of her affair. Determined to be polite, she smiled. “How do you do? What a surprise.”
Beatrice said, “A lovely day for a drive is it not? And what a surprise it is to find you so far from your husband’s side. I understand that congratulations are in order. The whole of London is abuzz over the news of your marriage.”
Eliza caught a hint of malice in the woman’s words and suppressed a shiver. “We are very happy.”
“Oh, and I am sure that you are. Such a handsome man, your Nicholas. I watched him grow up, you know. Even then, he was dashing.”
“I am sure he was.” Nervously, Eliza glanced around, wishing to be anywhere but here, facing this awkward conversation.
Beatrice leaned closer to the window and propped her arms there. She smiled. “So many changes for the both of you. The future is quite a mysterious thing, is it not? Why anything in the world could happen. You could possibly live happily ever after, then again, perhaps tragedy will interfere. ’Twould be a shame.”
Before Eliza could assimilate her cryptic words, a shot rang out.
Jerking in alarm, she screamed and twisted in her seat in time to see a bloom of red color the front of Thomas’ white shirt. The impetus of the pistol shot knocked him backward, and he lay on the dusty road, staring sightlessly upward.
“Thomas!” she cried.
Clambering from the curricle as the horses wildly reared, she stumbled into the road. In the distance, Beatrice giggled madly as her coachman approached. His hat was tossed aside, showing pale blond hair that blew in the wind. Park! It was Park Mansfield who’d shot Thomas. Grinning at her, he tucked the pistol into his coat.
Backing away, heart thundering in her ears, she glanced down as he withdrew a damp white cloth from his breast pocket.
Suddenly, Beatrice flung open the carriage door. “Get her, you fool. Get her now!”
“Shut up,” he growled. Then turning a brilliant white smile upon Eliza, he nearly crooned, “Come to me, my pretty. This will not hurt a bit.”
“What? What do you want? Why have you done this?” Continually moving, she backed farther and farther away until there was no place else to go. Her back was against a tree. She felt it rough and hard through her clothes. Grasping behind her, touching the bark, she tried to edge past, but before she could run, Park grabbed her arms in a steely hold.
Leaning close, he breathed against her lips. “Why, you ask? Why for money, darling. Or didn’t Nicholas tell you about the will? The money, the title are mine, I tell you, mine. If only the inheritance included you, sweet Eliza. What sweet revenge it would be to bed his wife while he lies cold in the ground. But you would never have that, would you? Such a hellcat. Full of fire and spirit.”
“Shut up, you cretin!” Beatrice screeched. “Would you take her in the dirty road while I watch? Stop playing with the chit and do your job.”
“My job? Must you continually think of me as an employee? We both know that is not the case.”
“Do it. I grow impatient.”
“No,” Eliza whimpered. “Nicholas will kill you if you harm me.”
Park looked at her. “My dear, you are quite mistaken. It is I who shall do the killing. It is I who shall do the possessing.”
With that he bent to press his lips to hers. The feel of his tongue encroaching into her mouth sent her temper soaring. Violently, she bit down hard causing him to jerk away. Blood dotted his bottom lip and when he smiled wickedly, she saw red on his teeth as well.
“Vicious bitch,” he whispered just before he backhanded her. “You shall pay for that bit of whimsy.”
The instant her body hit the road, she thought of her babe and groaned at her lapse in provoking him. Nicholas’s child, her child must be protected at all cost. These people were mad. Utterly mad.
When she attempted to stand, Park grabbed her arm and hauled her upright. She began to speak, but was seconds too late. He took the white cloth he held and pressed it to her face. A sweet, slightly pungent scent assailed her nostrils just before the world turned black.
* * * * * * * *
The moon hung in the night sky, round and fat, the color of newly churned butter. Without moving her limbs, Eliza opened her eyes, staring upward through the remnants of a jagged roof that loomed like prehistoric teeth.
Confusion caused her to give her head a toss, but she immediately stilled again, as pain knifed violently across her brain. Her mouth was dry, and her nose wrinkled at the foul chemical taste that coated her tongue.
With the revelation, she came to the sudden awareness of what had happened. On her way home from Charlotte House, she’d been accosted and taken by the worst sort of villains. Memory flooded in.
Poor Thomas!
She closed her eyes in an agony of grief. He had been with her family since she’d been a young girl. Was he now dead? Surely no one could survive such a wound. Even now, the sound of gunfire burned her ears. The memory of the acrid scent rose as she recalled with horror the bloom of red unfurling across his chest.
Her next thought was of her husband and unborn child. When Nicholas learned she’d been kidnapped, he would move heaven and earth to save her, but at what price? His life? The thought was too awful to bear.
Unwilling to alert her captors, she lay still in the muted darkness. A lone candle burned upon a rickety table. Sitting in one of three straight-backed, wooden chairs was Beatrice, whose head drooped against her chest as she lightly snored.
Chancing small movement, Eliza tugged at her arms. They were tied together at the wrist and knotted to a rusty metal headboard. She lay upon a moldy tic mattress that smelled nauseatingly like a wet dog. Wrinkling her nose in distaste, she looked down to see her feet similarly bound. As there wasn’t a footboard on the rickety bed, they simply lay there, completely useless.
The Spartan room had once been an office, she supposed. An old desk occupied a dark corner of the room and yellowed papers littered the bare wood floor. In the distance, a blaring horn sounded, and the scent of the docks slammed through a broken window. Ragged shards of glass gleamed in silver tones against the backdrop of a violet-black night. Would they, in the end, toss her through an opening in the deadly, jagged glass into the Thames?
Not if Nicholas got to her first.
The building was old, probably abandoned long ago, leaving it to vermin. Decay loomed in the air, along with the rustling of night creatures scavenging for whatever might be found. The building creaked and moaned as if haunted. An occasional gust of wind whined through the open window and dilapidated roof above.
“Awake, I see.” Beatrice said, the glow of the candle casting her face into a myriad of shadows. “How do you like your temporary home? Quite a change from what the Duchess is accustomed to, is it not?”
Eliza turned toward the sound, but it made her head ache, so she simply stared through the open roof and cleared her throat. “What are you going to do with me?”
Beatrice walked to the side of the bed. “Why kill you, of course. Along with your husband. You see, Park should inherit what Nicholas claims by right of birth. If he had not married you, my dear, the fortune and title would be Park’s. Unfortunately, things fell apart. I had hoped Edward might manage to kill you, but the stupid man failed at it, just as he failed at everything. I am supremely glad that I killed him.”
Eliza gasped and stared at the woman. “You? But why? I wasn’t aware you even knew him!”
“I didn’t know him personally, but the entire ton knew of your hatred of him. It became necessary to seduce him. Gullible man! But aren’t they all, Eliza, when confronted with the notion of available sex. Edward was easily manipulated and even easier to kill once he’d climaxed beneath me.” Beatrice giggled. “He likes rough play, our Edward. Loves to inflict pain. Most likely, your sister suffered under his lash on a n
umber of occasions. I remember the silly, romantical twit. I doubt she enjoyed his attentions overmuch. But you should have seen him when the poison took effect. The way he jerked and gasped was an utter delight. It was fun, really. The most excitement I have had in a long, long time. I had to woo him, you see. Befriend him. Make him trust me.”
“But why?”
“Why to kill him, of course. He had a purpose as long as he meant to murder you, but since he failed, Edward could better serve our needs if he were dead. Park and I devised a plan to blame you for his murder. Alas, you were not arrested and tossed into Newgate Prison to await hanging.”
“You are despicable.”
Beatrice smiled. “Naturally. But you see, my dear, I am desperate for money. Originally, I’d hoped for a match between you and my son. All that lovely fortune at my disposal positively made my toes curl, but my wretch of a son hardly tried to court you. I am glad he is gone, damn him to hell! What a disappointment he is to me.”
“All that plotting. All the death. And for what, Beatrice? Money? Are there no tender emotions in your heart?”
“None whatsoever. Actually, I quite enjoyed dispatching Edward. You should thank me.”
“’Tis true that I hated him. He was the monster who murdered my sister. But your machinations are appalling. I had reason to kill him, but you, Madame, did not.”
“It hardly matters now. Soon you will be dead, too, along with your doting husband. Can’t have a new heir coming along in the near future. A babe between you and Nicholas would be disastrous to my plan.”
An icy chill raced up Eliza’s spine. So much for begging for the life of her unborn child. If Bea learned she was pregnant, all would be truly lost.
Closing her eyes, Eliza sent a prayer to keep Nicholas safe. Emotions spiraling, a mighty fist clutching her heart, she begged the Almighty for help in this time of peril. As Beatrice went back to her chair, Eliza felt hot tears trail from her eyes to dampen her hair.
She had to stop this insanity somehow. Steeling her mind to a calm belied by the trembling in her limbs, she studied the dimly lit room. There must be some means of escape. There was no time to cry or to grieve. She only had to hope that Nicholas made it in time or, by herself, find a way to save herself and her unborn child.
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