Once he had cleared the castle doors, he rushed for the stables. A groom was already running to meet him.
“Your Grace, it’s Lady Vivian.” He spoke in a hushed voice, but there was a hint of fear in his tone.
“Where is she? Is she hurt? Take me to her.”
The servant fell in step with Luke to return to the stables. “Mr. Collier rode away with her in the phaeton. I tried to stop him.”
“Which way?”
The groom pointed north toward the village. “The gentleman is reckless. I pray for her ladyship’s safe return.”
“Saddle my horse,” Luke snapped as they passed into the stables.
Richard came up beside Luke. “Make that two horses.”
His mother and a tearful Johanna were several strides behind his brother.
Luke held his fist stiffly at his side for fear of throttling Johanna. “Mr. Collier has taken Vivian. What does he plan to do with her?”
Her jaw fell open. “But that wasn’t supposed to happen. He was to summon the groom.”
“Dammit!” Luke slammed his fist against the stall. She jumped and fresh tears flowed down her cheeks. “I told you the blackguard couldn’t be trusted. You will be held accountable, Miss Truax. And don’t think you will come out of this lightly.”
He stalked past her to where Thor was housed.
“He said he loves her,” Johanna called after him. “He was going to offer for her hand once you were freed from the betrothal.”
“Hush,” his mother scolded.
Luke took the reins from the groom to lead Thor from the stables. “I never wanted to be freed from Vivian. I just didn’t know until I met her.”
Richard joined him outside with his horse in tow. They mounted and set off for the gate.
“I’ll kill him if he has touched her.”
“Understood,” Richard said as they cleared the gate.
Luke urged his horse into a gallop and Thor obliged, tearing up the ground in a matter of seconds. From the corner of Luke’s eye, he spotted his brother’s mount keeping pace. Perhaps even Richard believed there were times when risking one’s neck was appropriate.
When they topped the hill, a figure in the distance caught Luke’s eye. It appeared to be a child, perhaps a village girl who had wandered too far from home. As they drew closer, he could see he had misjudged her height. It was a woman hobbling down the lane. A well-dressed lady with her bonnet askew and hair partially tumbling around her shoulders.
Vivian. He pulled back on the reins to slow Thor. Richard followed suit with his steed.
“Is that her?” his brother asked. “Good God! Is she armed?”
A flash of sunlight glinted off the barrel of a pistol in her hand. Luke tamped down the urge to laugh hysterically, because that’s exactly what it would be. A hysterical response. Never in his life had he been frightened out of his wits.
He had explored the crags around Northumberland, hunted wild boar in the Black Forest, dove from the highest cliffs he could find, and stared down the barrels of pistols on several occasions when an opponent was unhappy with how the cards had played out. None of those things had ever scared him. Yet, the tiniest hint of danger to his little spitfire and he turned into a petrified nursemaid.
“Luke!” The tremor in her voice tore at him. He dismounted the moment he reached her, barely waiting for Thor to come to a halt.
Her hair was a mess, her gown was soiled at the hem, and she had lost a shoe.
“Have you been injured?” he asked.
“I’m fine.”
He ran his hands over her head in search of bumps. There were no visible bruises or cuts.
She pulled free of his grasp with a harassed scowl. “I swear to you, I haven’t been hurt.”
He held his hand out for the firearm and she passed it to him. He set the flint so it wouldn’t fire, and then lost control. “What the hell did you think you were doing?”
She blinked. “I—I didn’t want to go—”
“God’s blood, Vivian! Whatever possessed you to leave the castle without an escort? Do you have a damned death wish, because it would be easier to ask for my help?” He shoved a hand through his hair, trying to rein in his emotions. “If you ever do anything this harebrained again, I may just wring your neck.”
Vivian’s bottom lip trembled, but she held her ground. “Could we please discuss this at a later time, Your Grace? I have ruined my favorite slippers, torn my stockings, and soiled my gown. Besides, I’m at a decided disadvantage should you decide to strangle me here and now since you have taken my gun.” She finished with a sniffle.
“Hell’s teeth, Viv. You know I wouldn’t harm a hair on your head. But I’ll rip Collier limb from limb. Where is he?”
She pointed in the opposite direction. “He took off like the devil was after him.”
Richard came up beside Luke and held his hand out for the pistol. “Allow me to give chase. He won’t get far in the phaeton.”
Luke surrendered the gun then swept Vivian against him. She squirmed in his hold, but he refused to let her go. She worked her arms free, wrapped them around his waist, and snuggled her cheek against his chest. His heartbeat refused to slow. If he had lost her… “You are fortunate I don’t take you over my knee,” he murmured before kissing the top of her head.
God help him. All he had were empty threats, because he would rather be on the receiving end of a whip than see her harmed in the slightest manner.
“Perhaps you should take Lady Vivian to Shafer Hall,” Richard said. “Phoebe will have something she can wear, and no one must know about this morning’s excursion.”
Luke released her. “Come on. You’ll ride in front of me.”
He tried to cover his weakness with gruff manners, but when she lowered her head and sniffled again, he only wanted to reassure her all was well. At this rate, he would likely exhaust himself rescuing her from scrapes. Of course, she had done a bang-up job of saving herself today.
He mounted Thor then signaled for his brother to offer her a leg up. Vivian climbed into the saddle and sat astride, half on him and half on the horse. He wrapped his arm around her waist to hold her in place. Now that he had her safely within his reach, he couldn’t let her go. He tapped Thor’s sides and they set off for Shafer Hall, cutting through the meadow.
After a bit, she wriggled to adjust her seat and nestled into his crotch. His body warmed with her snugly against him, fitting him so perfectly in every way. Perhaps she was too much like him. This was the origin of his fear. Nothing had ever held him back, and Vivian was just as reckless.
“What am I to do with you, water sprite?”
She gave her head a small shake and a hot tear fell on his hand.
Brushing her hair aside, he placed a kiss at her temple. “No more tears. I have you now.”
***
Vivi fought back her tears for the remainder of their ride, trying to honor Luke’s wishes, but she was filled with sorrow. What was he to do with her? Well, there was really only one answer, wasn’t there? She didn’t believe he had thought of sending her on to Scotland, though. Not yet, anyway.
When they rode up the circular drive of Shafer Hall, a footman came out to greet them.
“Welcome, Your Grace.” He showed no indication that he found the Duke of Foxhaven’s arrival unexpected nor did he seem surprised Luke had arrived with a lady riding astride before him. The young man even had the good manners to pretend he couldn’t see her ankles and half her calves from her skirts bunching up.
Luke swung down from Thor then assisted her with dismounting as the butler and an older woman bustled out of the house.
“Your Grace, we were not expecting you,” the woman said and patted her mobcap as if to reassure herself it was on properly.
“We won’t be staying, Mrs. Aylmer. Will you please show Lady Vivian to a chamber to set herself back to rights? My brother assures me Lady Phoebe is happy to supply a new gown to the lady as well.”
&nbs
p; Vivi heated through at what the servants must think of her state of dishabille and what had caused it.
The woman curtsied. “It would be my pleasure, Your Grace.”
Luke regarded Vivi with a frown. “I must attend to an urgent matter, but I will send a carriage for you.”
Her heart leapt into her throat. This would be his life. Cleaning up her messes and growing more disgruntled with her.
She grasped his arm without thinking. “Please stay. Can’t we talk through this first?”
Luke shot a look toward the servants, silently communicating for them to leave them alone.
The staff returned to the house.
His glance fell to her fingers digging into his forearm. She released him. “I’m sorry. I wasn’t thinking.”
He lifted an imperious eyebrow. “That seems to be a common occurrence, Vivian. You are correct about the need to talk, but now is not the time. Richard may require assistance, and I won’t leave my brother to face Collier alone.”
“No, of course not. You should help your brother. I wasn’t—” She bit off the last word. Reminding him yet again of her tendency not to think things through carefully wouldn’t help her cause. “Will you come back for me instead of sending a coach?”
“It may take some time. Are you sure you wish to wait here?”
She nodded. The last thing she wanted was to spend the afternoon with Luke’s kin pretending she hadn’t spoiled everything between them.
Luke escorted her to the double doors, left her in the servant’s care, and returned to his horse. If Mrs. Aylmer hadn’t hustled her inside, Vivi would have stood on the stoop to watch him ride away from her.
“Come along, milady. Ann will have you back to rights in no time, and I will have Cook prepare luncheon for you.”
“Please don’t go to any trouble.”
“It is no trouble.”
The keys at Mrs. Aylmer’s waist jingled as they climbed the stairs and walked the corridor. She stopped at a door, turned a key in the lock, and entered a bedchamber. She crossed the room to fling the curtains wide, flooding the quaint space with sunlight. It was a tidy and welcoming room. “This chamber hasn’t had visitors in a while, but I see to it the chambermaids keep it tidy.”
“It’s lovely,” Vivi said. “May I take my meal in here?”
Mrs. Aylmer offered another kind smile. “If that is your preference, milady. Now, you rest. It appears you’ve had quite a time of it today. Lady Phoebe’s maid will be in to assist you in a moment.”
Vivi stood in the middle of the room after the housekeeper left. The furniture was too fine to spoil with her dirty gown. A young woman entered several moments later, carrying a few dresses.
“Mrs. Aylmer said I am to set you back to rights, milady.”
Lady Phoebe’s maid turned out to be a soft-spoken girl who blushed every time Vivi met her gaze in the looking glass. Once Vivi had approved her handiwork, the maid bolted for the door as quick as a fox with hounds nipping at her hindquarters.
Another maid entered minutes later with a footman and a tea cart. “Mrs. Aylmer thought you might like to read while you await the duke’s return,” the young woman said and placed two leather-bound books on a side table. “There is a library below stairs if you prefer something different.”
“Thank you. I’m sure these will be more than satisfactory.”
The maid beamed, leaving Vivi with the impression she had selected the books. When the servants left her alone again, she admired the lovely array of cold meats, cheeses, and fruit, but she had no appetite. She forced down a few bites to be polite, but her stomach rolled and bobbed until she feared she might toss up her accounts.
Standing, she began pacing the chamber until her feet ached. She plopped down on the bed. It was softer than it had appeared. She wiggled then stretched out on it to further test it for comfort.
Too bad she wasn’t tired or else she could escape her racing thoughts for a while. She had no doubts Luke cared for her; perhaps he even loved her. He had been willing to give up his dream of exploration to please her. He had even embraced an existence that caused him great discomfort. She never should have allowed him to make those sacrifices.
She refused to bring shame upon his family too, any more than she already had. She wouldn’t be a stain upon the pristine reputation the Forests enjoyed. It was unfair to take his sisters with her in her fall from grace, and there was no question she would fall out of favor with the regal women who had welcomed her so warmly last night.
Once word spread of her reckless ride with Mr. Collier, everyone would think her scandalous. A lady of poor Quality. Unfit for polite society. All the things her sister-in-law had predicted.
Luke deserved better than she was able to give him, and if he couldn’t see it, she would have to be the voice of reason for him.
She curled up on her side and closed her eyes to shut out the shame threatening to overwhelm her. Quietly, she lay there until her thoughts began to slow, some evaporating like morning mist before she could comprehend them. Wisps of ideas unrealized until there was blessed nothingness at last.
Something grabbed her from behind. Vivi screamed, flung her elbow in a wide arc, and connected with flesh.
“Devil take it!”
Her heart was pounding loudly in her ears, but she recognized that voice. She flipped over to face her would-be attacker.
Twenty-seven
Luke pressed his palm against his throbbing eye; the hammering shot straight through to the back of his head. “I called your name,” he said lest she think he had intended to frighten her.
“Oh, sweet strawberry jam!” Vivian bolted upright and scooted to the edge of the bed to tug his hand away so she could peer at his eye. “It’s turning purple already. You can’t arrive to dinner with a blackened eye.”
He chuckled. “It wouldn’t be the first time.”
“This isn’t funny. I have injured a peer of the realm. Is there nothing I can do right?”
“You plant a facer pretty well.”
“Oh, don’t be flippant, Luke.” She touched the injured area around his eye.
It was unlike her not to see the humor in the situation. The encounter with Collier must have shaken her even more than he had suspected. He threaded his fingers with hers and pulled her hand away from probing his injury.
“Everything is fine. Just don’t touch it.” He placed a kiss on her hand to take away any sting his words might have.
She blinked up at him; her hair was mussed again from sleep. “I’m sorry. Did I break anything?”
“You have broken me from ever sneaking up on you again, but that’s all.”
She pulled her hand free of his and sighed, her shoulders sinking until she looked so dejected he thought his heart may rip in half.
“Did you find Mr. Collier?” she asked.
“You have nothing to fear from him now. He’s being held at the castle.”
He sat on the bed and wrapped his arm around her. She laid her head on his shoulder with another heavy sigh.
“I wasn’t afraid of the blackguard. At least not once I had commandeered his firearm.”
Vivian was brave beyond words, foolishly so. Just as he had been his entire life. Now he better understood his father’s chiding. Luke wanted to take her to task for it, too, but his disapproval wouldn’t change what she was inside. She lived life at a full-out gallop. It was exciting and marvelous to be in her presence. But her recklessness scared him to death. He had lost his father not long ago. Losing her would be too much.
He licked his lips, unhappy everything had come to this. “Vivian, I can’t live this way. I cannot watch you every minute, and I refuse to treat you like a prisoner. I was concerned about you making small missteps when we arrived, but this is so much more. Do you understand?”
She nodded, her hair making a shushing noise against his jacket.
“Do you truly?” He captured her chin and urged her to meet his eyes. “This cannot contin
ue.”
Her silver-blue gaze lowered and her lashes fanned across her pale skin. “I understand. Would you allow me to write my brother?”
He paused, uncertain he followed her logic. “If you must, but what does Ashden have to do with our affairs?”
“I would prefer to leave straight from here, if he is agreeable. It’s such a long ride from Brighthurst House.”
Luke grasped her shoulders and held her where he could see her face. She bit down on her trembling lip. “What in God’s name are you talking about? Where do you think you are going?”
“To Scotland. I’ve decided to take vows.”
He couldn’t be hearing her correctly. She wanted to leave? Had she gone willingly with Collier after all and then changed her mind? He regarded her closely, searching for clues to explain her state of mind. “I didn’t think you wanted to take the veil.”
Her eyes were large circles. “I don’t, but what gentleman in his right mind would have me now? And I cannot go back to Brighthurst House.”
He almost shouted that he would have her. Again and again and again. But he bit his tongue. He would be speaking out of anger, suggesting that she was nothing more to him than a good shag, and she was more. So much more that it hurt to be apart from her, even for a short time.
“That makes no sense,” was all he could manage.
She rose from the bed and stood before him. “Luke, I cannot ask you to spend every day of your life in pain, and that will be your future if you marry me. Either the headaches will plague you or my mistakes will haunt you. Can you not see you would be better off without me? I make a mess of things everywhere I go, and today is a perfect example. Word of my excursion with Mr. Collier will have already spread. I’ll be given the cut direct just like in Dunstable, only this time more people will be hurt. Do you want your mother and sisters to suffer my same fate?”
Luke laughed. He hadn’t known her speech was going to end on a humorous note.
She glared, obviously misinterpreting his amusement. When she tried to stalk away, he caught her hand.
“Is that what you think will happen? No one would dare give Mother the cut direct unless the lady or gentleman in question wanted to become a pariah. And God help anyone who mistreats her chicks. She is a fierce mother hen.”
Samantha Grace - [Beau Monde Bachelor 04] Page 24
