Tempting The Rival (Scandals and Spies Book 3)

by Leighann Dobbs

  As he rounded the front of the wagon, Felicia yanked on the reins, stopping the vehicle short. The mule rolled his eyes and stamped the ground. Giddy laid his hand on the beast’s rump and nearly got himself bit for his troubles. He stepped closer to Felicia, out of range.

  Her expression turned stony. Lud, he wanted to kiss that look off her face. He shivered as the wind bit through his tailcoat and shirtsleeves. The sweat brought on by the sprint cooled instantly. He fought the urge to cross his arms.

  “May I speak with you privately, please?”

  Raising her eyebrows, she glanced at the utterly deserted trees and lawn to either side. He had caught the wagon midway down the drive. Perhaps he ought to return to the days when he challenged his brothers to footraces, because it was a pathetic showing considering that her mule didn’t much care to be in action.

  “In the privacy of your wagon,” he amended. “Where it’s warmer.”

  Although she was wrapped in a fur-lined pelisse, she acceded. “Very well.” She wrapped the reins around a notch next to the driver’s seat and stepped down. Apparently, she trusted her mule not to wander, for she didn’t give a backwards glance as she led the way to the door to her wagon. She unlocked it and preceded him inside.

  The moment he shut the door behind him, hunching his shoulders so he didn’t hit his head on the ceiling, Chubs jumped on him. The mastiff licked his chin, his tail wagging vigorously. Giddy patted him on the chin as he battled him down.

  Fortunately, Felicia helped. She wrapped her hands around the dog’s collar and hauled him down. Snapping her fingers, she ordered Chubs to return to his bed in the corner. Pinning his ears back against his skull, the mastiff obeyed, his steps slow and heavy.

  Giddy took another step into the wagon, closer to Felicia. His chest was burgeoned with emotion, for a moment stealing his voice. He wanted to say too many things, but would she listen?

  “St—”

  The wagon lurched into motion before he could ask her to stay at Tenwick Abbey and marry him. He stumbled forward, catching his weight on the far wall with an outstretched arm before he crushed her. Her body pressed against his, igniting memories of the night before.

  He shoved those memories aside in favor of voicing his irritation. “What in the blazes…?”

  Felicia squirmed until she wriggled under his arm. “Rudolph must have tugged the reins free somehow. It hurts his mouth to walk while they’re anchored.” Without looking at Giddy, she flung out her arms to steady herself against the rocking of the wagon as she approached the door.

  When she tried to tug it open, it stuck fast. “What?” She tried again, throwing her shoulder into it.

  Giddy had a sinking feeling. The wagon veered. Giddy spread his legs for balance and waddled toward the small window over Felicia’s bed. When he unlatched the shutters, the wind blew the rectangular, foot-long and half-foot-wide window open. The passing trees weren’t nestled in front of the familiar white steeple. They were headed away from Locksley village, and any help they might hope to find there.

  Felicia smacked the palm of her hand against the door in frustration. “Rudolph!”

  Was that the crack of the reins? Gideon made his way back to Felicia, hoping to urge her away from the door. “I don’t think he’s doing this on his own.”

  As if to punctuate his words, the wagon veered off the road and onto a very bumpy game trail. Giddy and Felicia fell against the door. He struggled to keep the brunt of his weight off her. Chubs whined as he skidded across the floor. The wagon rocked as the vehicle continued down the path.

  The light emanating from the open window grew dimmer as the shadow of a tree passed in front of it. The wagon jolted to a stop. Giddy’s heart pounded hard against his rib cage. He and Felicia exchanged a wary glance. What now?

  The crackle of footsteps over the brush hailed someone’s approach. Giddy and Felicia flew apart, searching for weapons. She found the heavy glass bottle of whiskey they’d imbibed from last night in celebration. He found the jar of sodium in oil and readied himself to unscrew the lid if need be.

  The door opened, revealing Miss Merewether. Giddy’s hands slackened around the bottle. Her? But she’d been friends with the family for years. She still visited his mother and sister weekly.

  The daylight glinted off the barrel of a pistol as Miss Merewether mounted the steps. Giddy positioned himself between the angry woman and the woman he loved.

  “It looks like I might owe Keeling an apology,” he muttered under his breath.

  29

  Miss Merewether never aimed the business end of her gun away from Gideon, nor did she turn her back or Felicia would have clipped her with the whiskey bottle she held. When Chubs growled and launched himself at her, she dodged him with a panicked kind of grace. He soared out of the wagon and she thrust the door shut, barring him there as he snapped and snarled. Although Giddy stepped forward to take advantage of her preoccupation, Miss Merewether regained her faculties in time to aim the gun at him again.

  Even now, after Miss Merewether had divested them of their makeshift weapons, forced Giddy to sit on the crate, and directed Felicia to tie his hands behind him and his ankles together, Chubs continued to try desperately to dig his way into the wagon. Miss Merewether winced at the cacophony.

  “Silence that dog or I’ll silence him for you.”

  Felicia glared at the villainous woman as she straightened. “Go ahead, waste your shot. I dare you.”

  She hoped the young woman wasn’t quite out of her right mind enough to comply. Felicia loved Chubs with all her heart.

  Her shoulders as stiff as rock, Miss Merewether slipped to stand behind Gideon. She pressed the mouth of the gun to his temple. His shoulders flexed beneath his jacket. His green eyes glittered with intent.

  Felicia caught his gaze and held it. Don’t do anything rash. One wrong move and Miss Merewether might pull the trigger by accident. They were smarter than her. They could find a way out, so long as they didn’t give in to the panic of the situation.

  Giddy’s jaw worked. “What do you want?” His voice and posture were surly.

  The spinster didn’t so much as glance at him. Although he had asked the question, she directed the answer to Felicia. “The love perfume you sold me didn’t work. Certainly, it caught a few small fish, but not the one I want. I need something stronger. You will make me a love potion.”

  She was dicked in the nob. Love potions didn’t exist! Lust potions, yes. But not love potions. Only the heart could make someone fall in love. But even if they did exist and even if Felicia was capable of creating one, she wouldn’t.

  She had to make Miss Merewether think that she would, if only to buy some time. Slowly, Felicia said, “It won’t work the same way as the perfume. You’ll have to ingest it.”

  Anger flashed across the young woman’s face. “That makes no sense.”

  “It makes perfect sense, if you’ll allow me a moment to explain.”

  When Miss Merewether didn’t interrupt her, Felicia assumed that she would be granted that moment. Now she had to concoct a plausible lie. She prayed that Miss Merewether didn’t have an extensive knowledge chemistry or biology. If she had, it seemed more likely that she would try to create such a potion herself. It was a risk Felicia would have to take.

  In a carefully even voice, Felicia explained, “There are certain chemicals in the human body that a person generates when in love. But they need to be associated with a certain person or they will be useless to you. So this potion will essentially do what the perfume did, but on a much more significant scale. To men in the vicinity, you will be the most attractive woman they have ever laid eyes upon.”

  Miss Merewether nodded. “Make it.”

  Make it. As if it could possibly be so easy. Felicia moved slowly, explaining to their captor what equipment she would be using and what she would be doing with it before reaching inside the cabinets. She didn’t want to startle Miss Merewether into action. The slow progress allo
wed Felicia time to gauge Miss Merewether’s state of mind. She was deranged, beyond a doubt, but would she pull the trigger of the gun if Felicia rushed her? She didn’t want to take the chance until she’d decided the answer beyond the shadow of a doubt.

  As Felicia listed the ingredients and pulled the necessary boxes and vials from her cabinet, Giddy’s hostile stance lessened. He shot her a questioning look, which Miss Merewether thankfully couldn’t see. Felicia couldn’t answer, even silently, without risking that their attacker would notice, so she turned away.

  Silently, she told him, The serum is the only thing I can think to make. I have all the ingredients on hand. Hopefully he would puzzle out her plan and not interfere. Judging by the way the serum had rendered Keeling unable to do much more than babble and stumble around, they would soon be able to disarm Miss Merewether.

  Although he didn’t point out the truth behind Felicia’s potion, he did engage Miss Merewether in conversation. “I don’t understand. I thought you were a friend of the family.”

  Unlike Felicia, he didn’t bother to make his tone light or welcoming. His voice held all of the animosity and bitterness she felt.

  “I am,” Miss Merewether said, her voice syrupy-sweet. “You might say I’m like a daughter to your mother. Much closer than that Frederica or, what’s her name, Phyllis?”

  She reached out to finger-comb Gideon’s hair with her free hand. He jerked away. Anger pinched her expression again and she balled her hand.

  You could pretend to play along. Felicia bit her tongue. She continued to work with the serum.

  When Gideon showed no inclination to continue the conversation, Felicia took up the reins. “You have known the family for much longer, I imagine.”

  “Indeed.” Miss Merewether’s voice was clipped, but after that sharp answer and a breath, she warmed to the topic. “Much longer than you, too. Why, I was there to console Evelyn after her husband died. I was there to support Morgan as he bumbled his way through being a duke. I was there to help Lucy shine during her come-out, and if not for that blasted house party, I might have been there when Tristan married.”

  Felicia exchanged a puzzled look with Gideon. Had Miss Merewether hoped to marry Giddy’s brother? She spoke of the family with familiarity. How close were they? Due to her work with Giddy, Felicia hadn’t had the chance to acquaint herself with Miss Merewether at all during her visits. Perhaps if she had, she would have noticed something untoward and prevented this.

  Felicia hadn’t had that opportunity, but she pretended as if they were out to tea now as she worked with the serum. Now that she’d perfected the method of brewing it, it took less time than during experimentation. She filled that time with banal chitchat as she tried to get a measure on Miss Merewether. Unfortunately, her instincts insisted that the spinster was willing to pull the trigger on the gun she held, if pressed. Felicia had best not give her a reason. Although Miss Merewether seemed on the edge, unreachable by reason, her hand was steady as she held the gun to Giddy’s head.

  For his part, he did no more than shift throughout the interim. If Felicia had to guess, she suspected that he attempted to loosen the ropes around his wrists. They were twine, the same she used to bundle her herbs after she dried them, and she’d only wrapped them around his wrists twice. If he tried, he could probably snap them. She hoped he wouldn’t try with Miss Merewether’s gun fixed to his head.

  As she removed the beaker from the brazier, she held her breath. Would the ingredients separate again? She would feed it to Miss Merewether either way, but it would be satisfying to know that she could replicate the serum at will.

  “Is it finished?”

  Felicia fought not to make a face at the spinster’s sharp words. “It is, but it’s hot. Give it a moment to cool.”

  It was the longest moment of Felicia’s life. Once she counted to one hundred and the serum did not separate, she smiled to herself and found a vial. She used a cloth to handle the still-warm beaker as she poured the liquid into the vial. Not all of the liquid fit and she was left with a thin film on the bottom of the beaker. She set it aside, hoping Miss Merewether wouldn’t take offense.

  Turning, she offered the vial to her captor. “Here you go. Once you drink it, you’ll have to wait a minute or two for it to take effect.”

  The young woman narrowed her eyes. “You drink it first. I want to ensure it isn’t poisoned.”

  Drat. The serum would fog her mind. How would Felicia think of a way out of this situation without her full faculties? She met Gideon’s gaze. Given his tense expression, she feared that he would do something ill-thought out in order to save them both.

  Wait until the potion takes effect, she begged with her gaze. Hopefully he understood.

  “Very well.” She tipped the vial and took a small sip.

  Miss Merewether waited. When Felicia didn’t immediately double over, clutching her neck, she reached out for the vial. She truly didn’t understand anything about science, after all. Felicia held the serum out.

  At the first sip, the woman made a face at the bitter taste. She choked down the rest of the vial nonetheless. A far higher dose than intended, perhaps even more than Mr. Keeling had ingested. In a few moments, they would be able to overpower her with ease.

  Tension hung in the air as the villain waited for the serum to take effect. The silence was broken only by her dog’s incessant attempts to break down the door. It seemed the door was sturdier than Felicia would have thought. She started to feel lightheaded and bit the inside of her cheek.

  “I’m feeling a bit woozy.” Miss Merewether blinked rapidly, as if unable to focus.

  “That’s how you know it’s taking effect.”

  With a smug smile, the young woman prodded Giddy in the shoulder with the gun. “What do you say, Gideon? Am I the most attractive woman you’ve ever seen?”

  She probably tried for a flirtatious purr, but the slurring in her voice and the unsteady way she shifted on her feet negated the effect.

  Alarm flashed across Giddy’s face. “You’re asking me?”

  She walked her fingers across his shoulders. When he flinched, her hand tightened around the gun. A knot formed in Felicia’s throat. Play along, for Heaven’s sake!

  “Of course I am.” Miss Merewether straightened, an imperious look on her face. “You are a man, are you not? I can’t very well ask her.” She glared at Felicia.

  As she surreptitiously slid her hand along the counter in search of a weapon should she need one, Felicia pressed her lips together. Do not laugh. But Miss Merewether’s attack of Giddy’s masculinity was amusing to her, even if not to him, judging by the look on his face.

  “Felicia also drank the potion. Perhaps I find her the most attractive woman I’ve ever seen.” His gaze lingered on Felicia as he spoke.

  What are you doing? For a genius, he was a remarkable idiot. As if to prove it, Miss Merewether swung her pistol toward Felicia. Felicia flung her hands up in surrender.

  “Impossible,” she said, starting to babble. Oh, no, would she start to spill her secrets like Mr. Keeling had? She swallowed, trying to tamp down the words but they spilled out anyway. “You had a much higher dose. In comparison, what I drank would hardly have any effect.” Felicia clamped her lips shut against the torrent of words bubbling in her throat. Enough!

  “You could never be in love with someone who is a common gypsy.” Miss Merrewether glared at Felicia who struggled to hold her tongue.

  “Oh, I assure you Miss Albright is anything but common,” Gideon said.

  “Still, a lord such as yourself deserves a fine lady. Like me. That’s why I tried to save you from making a mistake with her.” Miss Merewether’s gaze darted to Felicia again. “I thought she would have the sense to leave after I changed the labels and ruined your little project.”

  “You changed them?” Felicia shot a look at Gideon. Of course, Miss Merewether had been at Tenwick Abbey for tea that day.

  “Naturally. When I saw you with Lord
Gideon at church I knew I had to act fast.”

  “The fire. You set my room on fire,” Felicia said.

  Miss Merewether scowled. “Well, it seemed like you weren't going to leave so I thought to roust you out. Was quite a trick tossing the lit rags up through your window. And I will have to address the fact that you have servants running about outside at night. I had to do a good bit of ducking and hiding. That just won’t do when I’m living there.”

  Giddy frowned at her. “You will not be living there.”

  “Oh, now, don’t be silly.” The effects of the serum must have been in full force. Miss Merewether babbled on. “Why, I’ve gone to so much trouble to save you. I am sorry about your orangery though. The windows wouldn’t have had to be broken if you’d just waited for the vapor to dissipate and then you could have retrieved her body.”

  “And mine,” Gideon said.

  Miss Merewether frowned. “Yours? I would never hurt you. I made sure you had left before barring the door and setting up the vapor so she would be asphyxiated.”

  Cat had borrowed Giddy’s coat when they’d spilled the solution on his. The coat with the Tenwick colors. Miss Merewether must have thought it was Giddy that left. For some reason the thought of Miss Merewether finding out that she’d killed Gideon by mistake made Felicia want to laugh. An odd effect of the serum, she supposed.

  Fortunately, Miss Merewether didn’t seem to notice Felicia’s inner struggle. She turned to Gideon. “And when you were dancing with this common trollop at the Golden Goose… well a nicely placed brick still didn’t even get rid of her. Now. Why haven’t you fallen in love with me yet? Are you a sodomite?”

  Felicia lost the battle. Laughter spilled from her throat as she slouched against the counter. She was helpless to stop it. At least it wasn’t words. Tears leaked from her eyes.

  Glaring at her, Giddy said in a clipped tone, “You’re wasting your time. I’m in love with someone else.”

  A stitch bloomed in Felicia’s side. She still couldn’t stop laughing. “You… idiot… ” The words were lost in the torrent of giggles. How was she supposed to get the upper hand if she couldn’t stop laughing? She needed to get control of herself.