‘I’m sure. I want to make love with you, to discover what it means to be a woman.’
He expertly unlatched the door with his knee and carried her in. There room was dark but she could see the faint outline of the massive tester bed in the moonlight shining through the unshuttered windows.
Jack needed no candles to guide him to his destination. He covered the distance in two long strides and once beside the bed allowed her to slither down his body, deliberately letting her feel the extent of his arousal. Her knees buckled with anticipation and she clutched his evening coat for support.
‘Sit here, darling.’ Tenderly he placed on the bed. ‘Do you wish me to light some candles?’
‘No, I can see well enough without.’ She would much prefer to disrobe in the dark. He understood her fears and didn’t insist. She could see his silhouette as he began to remove his garments, throwing his clothes haphazardly across the room in his eagerness. The sight of his naked chest made her want to reach out and touch. He was broad, even in the almost darkness she could see his muscles rippling.
She ought to close her eyes as he kicked off his slippers and undid the front of his pantaloons. But she was fascinated, couldn’t look away. Unexpectedly he paused, raising his head, seeming to sense her avid gaze. His smile liquefied her limbs.
‘It’s your turn now, my love.’ He moved closer and she almost swooned with desire as his bare arms brushed along her own.
She stood up her smile was as knowing as a courtesan. ‘Help me, please. I am not used to undressing myself.’
His breath hissed between his teeth. ‘How precious is this gown?’
‘It is my best. It was expensive.’ She was finding it difficult to speak, his proximity was making coherent thought impossible.
‘Pity - I must remove it in one piece.’ He reached down and grasped the hem of her dress and slowly began to raise it.
‘No, you must untie the sash first and undo the buttons at the back of the bodice.’
He appeared to growl then reluctantly dropped her skirt and did as she bid. By the time the emerald silk puddled around her feet his hands were shaking. He didn’t stop to enquire as to the value of her undergarments. His fingers gripped either side of the central seam and then he tore her chemise and petticoats in half, leaving her naked in front of him. She shivered as the cold air licked along her overheated limbs and raised her hands to cover herself.
‘No, let me look, you are incredibly beautiful.’
He ran his thumbs across her nipples and they hardened under his touch. Gently he pushed her and she toppled willingly on to the bed. And in seconds he had removed his unmentionables and was beside her, his arms gathering her close.
An hour or so later Jack propped himself on one elbow and gazed down lovingly. ‘I am sorry for hurting you the first time, darling, I did try to be as gentle as I could.’
She could feel a slight throbbing between her legs but there had been only the one flash of real pain as he made her his. ‘You didn’t hurt me, not really, and it was worth the small pain for the bliss of afterwards.’ Lazily she stroked his chest, revelling in the sensation of rough hair and soft skin beneath her questing fingers. ‘I didn’t know how things worked between a man and a woman until tonight.’ She giggled. ‘In fact, if my mother had told me I should not have believed her.’
His freehand smoothed back her unbound hair lying like russet cloud on the pillow. He smiled. ‘Did you never see animals mating?’
‘I did, but I always averted my eyes and never thought too deeply about the … err… ins and outs of it all.’
He chuckled, delighted by her answer. ‘And do you fully understand how things work or would you like another demonstration?’
‘I believe I haven’t quite mastered it, so further practice would be most helpful, my lord.’
The house was silent, the partygoers long departed when Jack, spent, lay back, cradling her close. ‘It must be after midnight. I’ll have to go, sweetheart. I must ride to Ravenscroft; Captain Forsythe will wonder what’s keeping me.’
She laughed. ‘I hope you don’t tell him the truth.’
He sat up. ‘It’s a full moon tonight. I’ll not need a candle to dress. Remain here, my darling, I hope to be back before you rise. I’ll have to rouse Meltham to lock up after me, but it cannot be helped.’
She ran her hand down his spine and felt his reaction. ‘I’m still a pupil in this matter, and shall require a deal more instruction before I have the mastered the art.’
‘You are insatiable, darling; let me be - I promise I’ll return as speedily as I can.’
He walked proudly naked across to his closet and emerged a few minutes later in his riding clothes. Her eyes widened as she saw he had his sabre in one hand, his boots in the other. He came to sit beside her to put them on. As instructed she didn’t touch him again, knowing his mind was elsewhere focusing on the battle to come.
‘Jack, take care. I…’ She almost spoke the words, but swallowed them back in time. She would not embarrass him with her love, he didn’t need it. He had what he wanted and she’d enjoyed the experience as much as he. ‘Godspeed - and come back soon.’
He stood up. ‘Tonight shall see an end to this. One way or another it will be over.’ He stepped away then unexpectedly turned to lean over the bed. He kissed her one last time, imprinting his possession on her lips. Then his sword and scabbard in his hand he vanished into the corridor, leaving her bereft.
She lay wakeful for some time before finally deciding it would be better to return to her own chamber. She didn’t relish being found in Jack’s bed by his valet and there were the children to think of also.
She gathered up her scattered garments, including the ruined chemise and petticoats, and wrapped in the comforter she crept like a thief from the room. She tiptoed down the corridor and was about to unlatch her door when she thought she heard something downstairs in the hall. Who could be around at this time? Had the butler decided to wait up?
Hastily she slipped into her room and dropped her clothes on the floor. She found her nightgown and snatched it over her head then added her wrapper. She discovered her slippers and hastily pushed her feet in. Now she was ready to investigate.
Whatever she thought she had heard a few moments earlier there was no noise now. Emboldened, she hurried to the gallery, the light from the hall making her passage easy. Light? There should be no lights unless Jack or Meltham were around. She inched her way forward keeping to the edge of the gallery in the deep shadow. Cautiously she peered over. Yes, there was a flicker of light from the corridor leading to the study.
For some reason Jack was still here, it had to be him, for who else could wish to visit the study at this time of night? She was about to run down to ask him when she heard voices. She froze - her hand on the banister, her foot on the top stair. This was not a voice she recognized. It was of rough, untutored voice, not that of a gentleman. Not Jack’s, not the butler’s.
Terrified she backed away and had reached the welcome darkness of the gallery when two men emerged into the hall. They were strangers and carrying rifles. She clutched the balustrade for support. These were the men Jack had just gone out to capture. How could they be inside the house? The shadowy figures halted at the foot of the stairs. Could they see her? She felt her bowels loosening and feared she might disgrace herself.
‘What was that bastard doing up and about at this time of night?’ The nearest figure said in a harsh whisper.
‘Buggered if I know. Reckon he thought he would join that idiot and his toy soldiers at Ravenscroft.’
Charlotte strained to catch the rest of their whispered conversation. They were talking about Jack, they had to be.
‘Well, his grace won’t bother us again. That’s one done for. Now for the bitch and
the brats.’
She couldn’t digest this information. Jack was dead. They had killed him and now they were coming to do the same to her and the children. From somewhere s
he found the strength to rally, to push away the knowledge that she had lost her lover and force her limbs to obey.
Beth and Harry, she had to save them. It was her duty; there was no one else to do it for her. Almost blinded by tears she backed down the passage and into Beth’s chamber. ‘Beth, get up, now, don’t speak, come with me, your life depends on it.’
The child sat up and half asleep tumbled from her bed. Charlotte handed her a robe, but there was no time to search for slippers. ‘Beth, the bad men are in the house. They are coming upstairs, we have to get Harry and hide before it is too late.’
The door between the rooms creaked loudly and both of them froze, expecting angry armed men to burst in brandishing guns at any moment. Nothing happened. Charlotte ran across to Harry.
‘Beth, get his robe. I’ll carry him, with luck he’ll stay asleep.’ Her brother was a heavy sleeper. She prayed it would be the same tonight.
She reached out and grabbed him, pulling him towards her. He didn’t stir and as she lifted him he snuggled into her and threaded his arm around her neck. ‘We’ll go out through the servants’ door, there’s no time to light a candle, hold on to my belt. If we go slowly we’ll manage in the dark.’
Reaching the dressing room was easy for there was enough filtered moonlight to guide them. Once inside it was different. There were no windows in here. ‘The door’s between the closets, Beth, you find it for us, darling. Close your eyes and use your hands. Don’t try and see; it will confuse you.’
‘Over here, Lottie. I’ve found it and I have a lamp and tinderbox. I can use them when we’re through the door.’
She followed Beth’s voice and they slipped silently and the narrow, dark passageway. She sank back against the wall to steady her breathing, icy perspiration trickled down her spine and Harry was becoming heavier by the minute.
Her sister kneelt on the boards and there was the tinkle of the glass mantle being removed from the lamp. ‘Hurry up, I’m not sure how far behind as they are.’
‘I’m having to do this by touch, Lottie. Wait, I have the tinderbox. I’ll try and strike it now.’
Charlotte saw a flicker then somehow Beth managed to transfer the spark to the wick of the lamp. A welcome yellow glow filled the space. ‘Oh, Beth, you’re amazing. Well done. It will be so much quicker with a light.’
‘Shall I go first, Lottie, lead the way?’ Beth stood up, the lamp in her hand. She stared up and down the passageway. ‘Which way sure we go - downstairs or up?’
Charlotte’s instincts were telling her to flee outside but her sister’s words made her reconsider. There might be were more than two men. Jack, her darling Jack. She swallowed convulsively, determined not to think about him for the moment. He had told her there was at least one other villain. They could be downstairs waiting, so it would be foolish to go that way.
‘Upstairs, Beth, to the servants’ rooms, we can rouse the men and they can protect us.’ Even as she said it she knew three footmen and a valet were no match for the evil men who sought to dispose of them. They had already managed to kill Jack. She gulped. She wouldn’t give way, not now, not when the children were still in danger. She had to get them to Annie, she could hide them somewhere then she would send for Captain Forsythe. All they had to do was stay hidden until then. In such an old house that shouldn’t be too difficult.
They crept along the corridor and up the steep flight of stairs. Charlotte had never visited these rooms but Beth seemed confident she was taking them in the correct direction. She stopped outside door.
‘This is the one, Lottie. Shall I knock?’
‘No, go in, quickly. We can explain when we’re safe.’
Inside the room were two single beds, an armchair, a few pegs to hang garments form, a screen and little else. Annie, who occupied the bed nearest to the door, woke up instantly.
‘Good grief, Miss Carstairs, what’s amiss?’
The nursemaid was out of bed and took the sleeping Harry from Charlotte’s arms just in time. ‘He can go in here, miss, into my bed.’ Annie pulled the covers over the sleeping child. Betty was now awake and had taken charge of the shivering, barefoot Beth.
‘Hop in here, lovey. There, pull over the covers, and get warm.’
Charlotte drew Annie to one side; she could hardly speak through her chattering teeth. ‘The duke is dead, Annie, they’ve killed him. Now they’re looking to do the same to us.’
‘Sit down for a minute, miss, before you fall.’ The nursemaid guided her to the bentwood chair and pushed her down. She asked no questions, she was too wise for that. She waited until her mistress was able to continue.
‘Lord Thurston went down an hour ago intending to join Captain Forsythe. Somehow these men got inside and ambushed him. He told me we were safe inside this house for the doors all lock on the inside and the windows are too stout to break open. I cannot understand how they got in.’ Charlotte clenched her fists, her nails biting into her palms. The pain steadied her a little and helped her to concentrate. ‘This place is like a rabbit warren, thank God, it will take them hours to find us. With God’s help, Robert, or one of the other men, can ride and fetch Captain Forsythe before that time is up.’
Betty, night-cap fluttering, voluminous flannel nightdress ballooning around her, began to pull cloaks and mufflers from the closet. Beth had snuggled down and fallen into a fitful doze. Annie checked she was asleep before speaking.
‘There’s a far easier way for them to murder you, Miss Carstairs.’
Charlotte started shaking, hardly unable to whisper her response. ‘What? Annie, tell me, what could they do?’
‘They could burn this blooming building to the ground. It’s that full of old dry timber it would go up in a flash. Then none of us would get out alive.’
Chapter Twenty-one
‘Fire? Are you suggesting they’ll set fire to the Hall and burn us out?’
‘I am, Miss Carstairs, it’s what I’d do in their shoes.’
Charlotte’s stomach revolted and she placed a hand over her mouth, looking around desperately for a suitable receptacle. Annie held out a china bowl and Charlotte cast up her accounts. The noise of her retching woke both children.
Harry sat up. ‘Lottie’s being sick, Beth,’ he announced, then seconds later. ‘I’m sick too.’ And he was. Annie had no time to offer him a bowl, her bed was covered with the noxious mess.
‘Never mind, my love. Here, come out of that. Stand there, like a good boy, and I’ll clean you up.’ The smell of vomit in the room was almost too much for Beth and she too began to gag.
Charlotte, her stomach empty, felt better and took command. ‘You’re not sick, Beth, it’s the smell. Harry’s the one who throws up in sympathy, not you.’ She put the bowl under her chair and picked up the little oil lamp. ‘Beth, darling, do you know where all the girls sleep, or just Annie and Betty?’
‘Everyone – Mary’s two doors away, she shares with Jenny…’
‘I don’t need to know who is where. I need you to go and wake them, tell them to put on their cloaks and shoes over their night clothes and start to make their way downstairs. Don’t tell them why, just tell them it’s urgent.’
‘I’ll go with her, miss, it’s no job for a child.’ Betty said.
Charlotte took off her own slippers. ‘Put these on, Beth, now off you go, with Betty. Don’t come back here either of you, go with Mary, I’ll meet you in the servants’ hall.’
Betty pushed open the door and, holding Beth’s hand, she vanished. Annie had completed her task and Harry was now clean. ‘I have some garments of his here, miss, that I was mending, thank God for that.’
Harry didn’t understand what was happening but was happy to join in the excitement. Even being sick was something of an event in his life.
‘Do you have any spare slippers, Annie? I’ve given mine to Beth.’
‘Wear my clogs, miss, they’re in the wardrobe.’
Two minutes later they were ready to go. Charlotte didn’t re
ally believe Annie’s preposterous prediction but could not take the chance she might be right. She could hear the small sounds of others shuffling along the passageways towards the back stairs. Good, Beth had done her job well.
‘Annie, can you take Harry, I must check everyone’s awake.’
‘Mary will have gone, she’s courting young Robert and she’ll not want him to be left behind.’
Charlotte headed the silent group of women as they crept downstairs. She still thought they were in more danger going down than staying put. Then the unmistakable smell of smoke wafted around the corner. She stiffened and stopped.
‘I can smell smoke, Miss Carstairs. Is the house on fire? Is that why we’re going out?’ Jenny asked from behind Charlotte’s shoulder.
‘It’s worse than that, Jenny. There are at least two armed men loose inside and it’s they that have set the fire. I hope someone will have woken Meltham and Mrs Blake.’
‘Mary was going to tell Mrs Blake on her way to wake Robert and he’ll rouse Mr Meltham and the other men. They’ll be on their way down the other stairs by now, don’t you fret,’ Jenny told her.
‘We have to be very quiet. I don’t know where the intruders might be.’
Annie spoke from behind Jenny. ‘I reckon they’ll have set the fires and got out whichever way they got in, miss; from the smell the blaze is well alight and they will be long gone.’
Charlotte coughed; the smoke was denser here on the first floor where she and the children had slept. She could hear the sound of crackling of flames taking hold on the other side of the wall. She was glad the house had thick panels which gave the fire something to burn through before it could reach them.
It was becoming much hotter and they must not linger. ‘Quickly, downstairs, don’t touch the walls they are far too hot. With luck the fire was set on the ground floor and will be burning up the stairwells and corridors and the servants’ hall will not yet be aflame.’
The Duke's Challenge Page 24
