The siblings gawked at them, apparently uncertain of what to do but Rose nodded encouragingly.
“This will all be over soon,” she promised Harry. “Captain Balfour will never hurt anyone again.”
“I solemnly vow the same, Harry,” Nicholas confirmed and for the first time, Harry seemed comforted.
“Go,” Rose insisted and this time, they disappeared through the dark corridor, leaving Nicholas and Rose to hobble in the opposite direction.
“I will get you to safety,” Nicholas whispered. “And then we shall have a long, meaningful discussion.”
Worry, shame and reprieve washed through her and she nodded. Nicholas was going to learn the entire truth about how Captain Balfour had come to be at Rosecliff, facts that would be difficult to hear and likely result in Rose’s banishment.
Yet, I am alive.
As he led her down the stairs, through the spiral case into the servant’s hall, she wondered if she would ever feel alive again if she did not have Nicholas.
Chapter 34
“I cannot stay here,” Rose murmured, looking about Nicholas’ apartment in awe. “It is inappropriate.”
“It is the most reasonable place to keep you for the time being,” the duke insisted, guiding her toward his bed. “I will ensure none of the servants enter while you recover but Balfour will not suspect I have found you if I do not give him cause to believe it.”
“He will be looking for me, Your Grace. Nowhere in Rosecliff is safe.”
“This is my manor, my duchy!” Nicholas growled, furious at himself for not having seen what was happening. “I will not permit that man nor any other to take it from me.”
Rose looked away and Nicholas turned to the basin for water, hurrying it toward her. She pressed the cup to her lips, drinking in long sips.
“With ease now,” he warned, gently prying the water from her shaking hands. “You will only lose your accounts if you drink too fast.”
Reluctantly, she bequeathed the cup to him and sat nervously on the edge of the bed. It was highly unusual and she worried that she would be caught at any second.
“Harry told me you were going hunting with the captain,” she finally whispered when she could muster the words. “You must not!”
Nicholas scoffed slightly.
“Twas his idea, yes but I reminded him that I had been quite near death and was not in the mood for such an outing.”
Rose exhaled.
“I must tell you all I know about Captain Balfour,” she told him earnestly. “Tis much worse than you can imagine.”
“I need not know more than I already do,” Nicholas insisted and he meant it. Seeing Rose locked inside the cupboard, her slender figure quivering and terrified was enough.
“Please, Your Grace,” she moaned. “You must listen.”
He turned his emerald eyes upon her, seeing the agony in her face and nodded slowly.
“Of course, you may tell me anything, Rose,” he murmured tenderly. “Up until I saw you in that closet, my mother and Balfour led me to believe you had succumbed to your illness.”
Aghast, Rose’s mouth parted.
“They told you I had died?” she choked but Nicholas shook his head.
“At first, I believed that was what they meant but my mother explained that Balfour had sent you to a hospital for long-term care although he flatly refused to tell me where. He promised when I was free of fever, he would bring me to you. He did not wish to risk my health any further.”
He eyed her.
“You must know I would have come sooner if I had any idea what he had done.”
Rose shook her tangled blonde head and studied her dirty hands, woe in her eyes. There was so much to tell him and yet they did not have time to discuss it all.
I will tell him the main points but then we must find Balfour and stop him.
“We were not ill with fever,” she whispered and he frowned.
“What was it? I daresay, I have never felt so miserable in all my days.”
Rose slid the arms of her white nightgown up to show him a series of markings on her skin.
“I believe you and the children have the same pips upon your arms,” she told him. “See for yourself.”
With a sinking sensation in his gut, Nicholas examined his arms and found that his matched hers.
“He poisoned us?” he gasped. “What fashion of monster – “
“It is worse,” Rose mumbled, unable to meet his eyes. “He is a murderer, I am certain.”
Blood rushed over his face and suddenly he did not wish to hear anymore.
“Rose – “
“Please, allow me to finish,” she rushed on, rubbing her hands over the flimsy material of her nightclothes as if she was consumed with cold. “I should have told you this long ago.”
Nicholas pursed his lips together, knowing that whatever she was about to say was only going to confirm what he had already suspected about the slippery captain.
“Captain Balfour is a bookmaker,” Rose began. “I suspect that my late husband was in debt to him while in the navy. I believe that was what got him murdered.”
Nicholas was stunned as it was not what he had expected to hear. If the situation was not so bizarre, he might have laughed. After all, Balfour was a respected naval captain, not a slum rat, reeking of scotch and parlaying among the lower classes. He did not release a dry chuckle. Instead, he urged her to tell him more.
“Why do you say so?”
Rose paused as if collecting her thoughts.
“Philip had an affinity toward gambling and…” she seemed unable to finish her thoughts, emotion filling her voice as she stared at him with devastated cerulean irises.
“Please, Rose,” Nicholas encouraged tenderly. “You must tell me what you know, what you suspect.”
She visibly swallowed and nodded, lowering her gaze.
“He was killed the same way the late duke died,” she finally confessed. “A fatal blow to the skull.”
Nicholas’ eyes widened in shock, the odd dream flooding back to him.
Did Balfour go back to kill my father afterward? Was that merely a dream or a vision?
He recalled the captain and the house secretary staring at him as he slept the day he had returned from the towns on business. It was difficult to know what was real and what was merely a reverie.
Whatever the case, he could see that Rose was tormented by the tale she spun, her convictions strong. He could not deny that she had been locked away nor that Balfour and his mother had misled him into thinking that she had been taken from Rosecliff.
Could my mother be party to such deviance?
Nicholas would not bear the thought. No matter how rigid the duchess might seem, she had no ill will inside her.
No, Nicholas thought firmly. Whatever was done, was done at Balfour’s hand.
“You will rest now,” he told her, gesturing for her to huddle between the sheets as he moved toward the heavy curtains, sealing off the sunshine trickling in through the glass. “I will ensure that Balfour is dealt with swiftly and severely.”
“You do not understand,” she moaned softly, her face wrought with grief. “I brought this plague to Rosecliff. Balfour has come here for collection of the debt which Philip left behind. I am to be faulted for all that has happened!”
Nicholas’ mouth parted but words did not escape as he studied her face.
“Miss Rose,” he gasped after a long moment of silence. “You cannot believe such a thing!”
“It is true!” she wailed. “If I had not come to Buford, Balfour would never have followed. Tragedy shadows me!”
Nicholas could not believe what he was hearing, his ire mounting with every passing second.
This man has destroyed everything he touches. He ruins lives and divides families. He shall not go unpunished for his crimes.
“You are not responsible for how that man has deceived and bamboozled us! How could you possibly ponder such nonsense?”
> Rose eyed him, her face displaying the naked doubt she felt.
“I cannot help but feel if not for me – “
“Not another word on the matter,” Nicholas interjected. “When I lay my hands on that man, God help me…”
He was finding it difficult to breathe in his anger.
“He is dangerous!” Rose cried, her face growing more waxen. “You dare not approach him alone!”
“Shh, sweet Rose,” he murmured, reaching forward to brush a strand of matted hair from her face. “I am the duke, or have you forgotten?”
“I have not forgotten,” she muttered. “Tis why the captain wishes you to meet the same demise as…”
She stopped speaking abruptly, as if the words were too much and shook her head.
“You must trust in me,” he insisted, his fingers tracing the lines of her face affectionately. “If what you say is true, he must be exposed.”
Their eyes met and Rose pursed her lips together.
“Nicholas,” she breathed. “You cannot find yourself alone with him. I do not believe he works without assistance but I do not know for certain who his allies might be.”
Again, her stare darted away and Nicholas knew she had her suspicions but did not wish to speak ill of his mother. He did not force the matter but he had ideas of his own who might be Balfour’s accomplice.
“Rest now,” he repeated, reluctantly pulling his hand from her pale cheek. “When you see me next, all will be well.”
She did not seem convinced by his assurances.
“The children are not safe,” she sighed. “Balfour knew the Earl Arlington, as told by Harry and appeared to owe him a debt also. Balfour knew that the young lord recognized him and threatened him to keep silent.”
Nicholas gaped at the governess, his heart beginning to pound at the notion.
“He threatened a child over the sins of his father?”
“Harry has been aghast in Balfour’s presence,” Rose continued, her hands fluttering nervously as she spoke. Nicholas peered at her, another thought striking him as if it was lightning.
“Do you believe that Balfour had any cause in the accident which caused Earl and Countess Arlington’s untimely deaths?”
Rose’s head jerked upward in shock and Nicholas could see that it had not occurred to her until that moment.
“If so,” she whispered. “He truly is a monster, one who walks the same corridors as us.”
“One who is courting my mother!” Nicholas choked, jumping from the bedside. “Remain here, Miss Rose. Do not move until I return for you, am I clear in my instructions?”
“Please, Your Grace,” she begged. “Tis not safe to confront him alone!”
Nicholas was beginning to see the picture with much more clarity and he bobbed his head in agreement.
“I concur,” he replied. “Tis not safe and I shall not.”
They stared at one another for a long, uncertain moment as if considering their next moves.
“You have only one matter with which to concern yourself,” Nicholas said at last. “Regain your strength. I will bring the children here in the interim.”
“Is that wise, Your Grace? If Balfour wishes to – “
“I will distract Balfour. He shall not come near you, I swear it!”
“Whatever you believe is best, Your Grace.”
Her tone was not filled with comfort, but Nicholas was formulating a plot of his own as he shuffled toward the door, his mind racing.
“Be well, Your Grace,” Rose cried out, her voice raw with worry and he turned back, his tailcoat fanning as he rushed to her side, dropping to his knees. He gathered her cold hands in his and pulled her near.
“You needn’t fret,” he assured her, gently placing his lips upon hers. Eagerly, she returned his kiss, her palms warming instantly as if his mouth was a hearth in itself.
When they parted, Rose seemed more relieved than she had, as if the touch of their shared skin was all she had required for confidence in his ability to overcome Balfour’s wickedness.
“Stay here and concern yourself only with growing strong again,” he told her comfortingly. “You must watch over the children and become well. Are you able, Rose?”
“Yes,” she replied, rising to walk him toward the door, her fingers reaching out to trace his as they moved. “You must promise me the same. Do not act rashly.”
“I swear to you, I will return to you and we will put this madness in the past where it belongs.”
Yet as Nicholas managed to pull himself longingly away from Rose’s pleading grasp, he saw the fear in her and he hoped that his words were prophetic.
I will make all right and we will return to life as it was before we ever heard Balfour’s name.
Chapter 35
Tensions mounted as Rose and the children waited for word from Nicholas, darkness falling beyond the windows.
“I fear the duchess will come searching for us soon,” Betsey murmured nervously as she peered through the drapes and toward the grounds where people were arriving for the gala. “We should not stay here.”
“It is what His Grace wishes,” Rose told her. “You must not leave the apartment until we are certain it is safe.”
“It will never be safe,” Harry whispered and Rose felt a shiver of apprehension slither against her back.
“That is not so, Harry,” she told him, extending her hand toward him to pull him near in comfort. “The duke will confront Captain Balfour and end this tonight.”
The siblings exchanged a look and quickly parted eyes but Rose caught it.
“What is it?” she demanded. “What concerns you now?”
“The duchess,” Betsey sighed, turning away from the window to look at Rose. “She will not be easy to convince of the captain’s treachery.”
Rose shook her head.
“She must listen,” Rose insisted. “If the man was responsible for the late duke’s passing, she cannot regard Balfour with such adoration when he could be – “
Rose stopped speaking abruptly clenched her teeth together, not wishing to fill the children’s minds with more horrors than they already imagined. They did not yet know what she had learned of Balfour.
They need not know more than necessary, she decided but the combined expressions of their faces told her she had spoken much too hastily.
“He is responsible for our uncle’s death?” Betsey gasped.
“You must not worry yourselves, children. The duke will end this tonight.”
“Miss Rose, it is you who does not understand,” Harry sighed. “Tonight, tis not a gala to surprise Nicholas for his birthday.”
Rose stared at them uncomprehendingly.
“Tis no longer a surprise, I concur. It cannot be while the duke remains inside Rosecliff.”
“No, Miss Rose, the duchess intended it to be an event in celebration of Nicholas’ birthday but the captain has other plans.”
“What plans?” Rose demanded, heat rising to her face. “What else could that man possibly have schemed?”
The children seemed reluctant to disclose more but Rose insisted they say what they knew.
“I have heard the servants whispering,” Harry confessed. “The duchess and captain have maintained a secret engagement for a fortnight. Captain Balfour intends to wed the duchess this evening, before all the nobility in the area.”
“No!” Rose choked. “He cannot!”
“There is not much we can do from the isolation of the duke’s apartment,” Betsey sighed. “But should we escape…”
“We are not prisoners,” Rose told her quickly. “We have merely been secured for our own safety. I will leave. You will stay as the duke wanted.”
There was a groan of protest from Lady Arlington but Rose was in no mood for an argument.
“You will do as you are told for once, Betsey. I must warn His Grace of the captain’s intentions. Balfour must know that the duke will never allow for such a travesty.”
“We can help
you,” Betsey insisted. “Moreover, you cannot prance about the manor in your nightclothes.”
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