Sandra Heath
Page 23
All these goings-on, both heavenly and hellish, remained unknown to Marcus, who saw only Henrietta’s unshed tears. He put a gentle arm around her shoulders. “What has happened?”
“Jane and Kit have gone to heaven at last. I’ve seen them for the last time.” Mastering her mixed emotions, she explained what Jane had told her.
“You mean, it’s been down to us all along?”
Henrietta managed a smile. “Not all along, for it’s been going on for a hundred years! Just since New Year’s Day, when it began to snow.” She glanced toward the Kentish coast, where the land was still white.
Rowley whined and pawed at her hem. Marcus gave a start. “Don’t tell me we still have the dog!”
“I fear so. He didn’t want to go with them.” Henrietta gathered the spaniel into her arms again.
Rowley snuggled contentedly. Now that he had discovered he could still eat sugared almonds, he had no desire whatsoever to go to heaven, where he was sure such things would not exist. He glanced slyly at Marcus, just as he had once looked at Kit. Certain rules would have to be established, not the least being that a lady’s pet dog, ghostly or not, came before her gentleman. Now, if that gentleman were to provide a constant supply of sugared almonds, no doubt a satisfactory compromise could be reached.
* * * *
Marcus was proved correct in his prediction that everyone on board the Légère would be rescued. As the tide fell and the Goodwins were exposed, to a man—and woman—they scrambled onto the sands. One of the patrol frigates then took them safely off. After that, when the water was its lowest, the Légère broke up on the bar and the good men of Kent plundered her most thoroughly. The privateer’s crew and captain were flung ignominiously into Deal jail, and as soon as the thaw was sufficient to make the roads passable, Amabel was taken to London. There she too was imprisoned while the authorities considered what to do with her.
Henrietta’s reputation remained intact when she and Marcus let it be known that a maid had indeed been with her during the voyage, but had left immediately on landing. A new maid was taken on without delay, and no one in society ever realized anything had been amiss. When George, Lord Sutherton, was confronted with his unfaithfulness with Amabel and his lies about Marcus, he could think of nothing to say in his own defense. He was so alarmed about Amabel’s espionage, fearing he might in some way become implicated, that it was some time before he realized the extent to which his financial dilemma had worsened. He’d been spending lavishly on the promise of the Courtenay fortune, and now his need for an heiress was greater than ever. Like the conscienceless rat he was, he set about lying his way into another poor creature’s life, but he came sadly unstuck when on his wedding night he discovered that his bride was a schemer like himself, and had married him in the hope of solving her own financial problems! They unrichly deserved each other, which was perhaps as it should be.
Another wedding, that of the Marquess of Rothwell and Miss Henrietta Courtenay, was one of the social highlights of spring 1814. The beau monde flocked to the ceremony at St. George’s, Hanover Square, and at long last the bride and groom’s respective families deigned to be agreeable toward each other. In fact, the feud was all but set aside, except in the case of a few stalwarts like Uncle Thomas, who to the end of his hidebound days would find it hard to forgive his niece for marrying a Fitzpaine!
But then, very little in this world mattered to Uncle Thomas, except perhaps when the next Tattersall’s sale would be held.
Henrietta and Marcus spent their wedding night at Bramnells. When the April sun set at the end of the most wonderful day of her life, she stood at the tall window of the principal bedroom. All she was wearing was a flimsy pink muslin robe that frothed with lace at the throat and cuffs, and her dark hair was brushed loose about her shoulders. She gazed out toward the distant Goodwins, exposed now, and pale and mysterious beneath the crimson of the dying sun. Of the Légère there was no sign, for the sands had long since claimed every trace of her, sucking her down into their mysterious depths as if she had never been.
As Henrietta watched, the tide began to turn. The sea came in at a fearsome rate, and in only minutes, the miles of sand had become a maelstrom of crashing surf. She glanced up at the sky, wondering about Jane and Kit, and then turned back into the room, where Marcus lay watching her.
He was dressed in a blue brocade dressing gown, which was open to reveal the unexpectedly dark hairs on his chest. He wasn’t alone on the bed, for Rowley sat determinedly at the bottom. The ghostly spaniel’s gaze was fixed upon the man with whom he was competing for Henrietta’s attentions. Marcus couldn’t see the dog, but he knew he was there. Indeed, Rowley was always there these days!
Henrietta knelt on the bed beside her new husband and put warm fingertips on his chest. “We are alone together at last, my lord,” she said softly.
“So we are, my lady,” he replied, his gaze moving over her. The delicate muslin did not conceal her figure, and his blood was already stirring with his overwhelming desire for her. He put a hand up to touch her breast.
Rowley growled. They ignored him as Marcus caught her hand to pull her down into his arms, but Rowley growled again, louder this time. The spaniel was past master at this game; he’d done it enough times to Kit to know exactly how to put a damper on proceedings. But Marcus wasn’t Kit. After drawing Henrietta’s hand to his lips, he got up from the bed.
Henrietta looked at him in surprise. “What are you doing?”
“I’m going to deal with Master Rowley.”
Henrietta’s eyes widened. “Deal with him? Oh, Marcus, I’m sure he’s only looking after my honor.”
“Is he indeed? We’ll soon see. He is about to be faced with a dilemma, and I’m pretty certain your honor won’t figure in his decision.” Going to a drawer, Marcus took out a large dish of sugared almonds, which he placed on the floor. Then he returned to the bed and lay down once more.
Rowley gazed at the sugared almonds, then at the bed, then back at the sugared almonds. His mouth watered and with a sigh he jumped down. As the almonds began to rattle, Marcus gave a sleek smile. “So much for your honor, my love,” he said softly, pulling her down into his arms.
“But my lord, I was going to surrender my honor anyway.”
“Oh, you were, my lady, you were,” he breathed, and drew her lips to his.
The sweetest of ecstasies consumed her as he made her his at last. Never had any woman enjoyed a sweeter initiation, or known more pleasure. She sighed when he drew one of her nipples into his mouth, and she cried out when he entered her. She had not dreamed it could be like this, and she knew she would never spurn him again, or misunderstand him, never doubt or question him, never turn from his kisses. He was part of her now, and they would never part again.
Afterward, when they lay in each other’s arms, their love consummated at last, the only sound in the room was the crunching of ghostly canine teeth upon another sugared almond.
Copyright © 1998 by Sandra Heath
Originally published by Signet (0451186508)
Electronically published in 2012 by Belgrave House/Regency Reads
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
No portion of this book may be reprinted in whole or in part,
by printing, faxing, E-mail, copying electronically or by any
other means without permission of the publisher. For more
information, contact Belgrave House, 190 Belgrave Avenue, San
Francisco, CA 94117-4228
http://www.RegencyReads.com
Electronic sales: ebooks@regencyreads.com
This is a work of fiction. All names in this publication are
fictitious and any resemblance to any person living or dead is
coincidental.
Table of Contents
THE HAUNTING OF HENRIETTA
Sandra Heath
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Cha
pter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-one
Chapter Twenty-two
Chapter Twenty-three
Chapter Twenty-four
Chapter Twenty-five
Chapter Twenty-six
Chapter Twenty-seven
Chapter Twenty-eight
Chapter Twenty-nine
Chapter Thirty