Frank nodded.
Allen turned back to the earl and his face became that of a predator. “There is a woman who claims you forced yourself upon her. Is this true?”
Lydia gasped.
Dahl came to his feet. “How dare you make such an ungodly claim in my own home? Get out!”
Allen didn’t retreat. Instead, he stepped closer but kept the desk between them. “Are you angry because of the claim, or because you’ve been caught?”
“The woman is lying!” the Earl shouted.
“Stewart?” Lydia’s lips trembled before she burst into tears.
“He’s lying.” The earl moved to his wife and took her in his arms. Then he ushered her to a chair, consoling her to silence. Then he glared at the trio. “I told you I can’t remember what happened. Besides, it would be my word against the strumpet and no one would believe her.”
“They would if you’d not tried to kill her,” Allen said. “Your wife already admitted that there was blood on your person. Tell us what happened last night, Lord Dahl, and perhaps the courts will have mercy on you.”
“Kill?” Lydia seemed dazed.
Dahl had gone white at the mention of murder and his eyes glanced to his desk before returning to Allen. “If you’ll not leave on your own, I’ll throw you out.” He moved to his bell pull and rang for servants. His gaze kept going to the desk. “It would be best if you all left now and saved yourselves further embarrassment.”
“Where is the weapon you used?” Allen eyes.
There was the eye movement again and Frank moved to the desk.
“No!” Dahl leaped across the room, but Anthony proved his virility by keeping the man back. The chap may have dressed like a dandy and played the role of the perfect gentleman, but Frank recalled that he and Allen had enjoyed rowing to see who could beat the other, building muscle along the way.
Frank opened the drawers one at a time… until he found the one he’d been looking for.
“It’s not mine.”
Grabbing his handkerchief, Frank reached into the drawer and pulled out a knife. It was still covered in blood.
Lydia screamed as footmen rushed into the room.
“Grab that man!” Allen told the men. “He tried to murder a woman!”
“No! I didn’t… I… couldn’t have.” Dahl looked around and then tears rimmed his eyes. “I didn’t mean to. I mean… I can’t remember. I can’t remember anything.”
The footmen seemed confused.
Anthony spoke again with force. “Don’t just stand there. There’s a knife covered in blood! Someone call the authorities.”
Some of the footman left to do a task that only took one man. Two footmen grimaced and moved to take Lord Dahl and forced him into a chair.
The earl covered his face and wept. “I don’t remember anything.”
Frank handed the cloth and knife over to Allen and then searched the rest of the drawer… finding letters that had been addressed to the deceased Lord Charles, written in the same hand as the poems. And then there were more poems as well, matching the ones that had been sent to the other victims along with locks of hair.
He recognized Diana’s instantly and had to reel in his anger for fear he might kill Dahl in the presence of so many.
They’d caught the murderer.
By the time the runners came and took Dahl away, hours had passed. Bancroft’s street men had also come to take accounts back to their employer. It had taken two magistrates to get Dahl taken to Newgate and night had fallen by the time Frank had showered, packed, and returned to Miss Lévêque’s home.
“Where have you been?” Diana asked once he walked into the house.
He told her everything and watched the relief wash over her before she burst into tears. He gathered her in his arms and said, “It’s over.”
She held him close. “I’m so relieved.” She backed away. “I must tell Lulu. She decided to take a nap until it was time to go. She’ll be so happy to hear the news.” She kissed him and then fled to her friend.
They were on the road an hour later. Hit rode with the driver. Diana sat beside Lulu during the journey, holding her when the woman allowed it, or just taking her hand until they came to an inn.
During the next morning’s journey, Frank contented himself with reading, and with the fact that Diana was coming with him to see his family’s home. He wanted her to see Greenmoor and fall in love with it, so that she’d never think to leave him.
He was glad the matter of Lord Dahl was put to rest, but there was still so much standing between them. His own fears. Her secrets. His. There was much to discuss, but he thought they’d have plenty of time to do so while they were away.
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CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
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Frank announced the moment they’d entered Greenmoor land.
Diana had thought Bancroft’s hidden paradise breathtaking, but Greenmoor was so grand and rich with color that she was slightly overwhelmed by it all. Its hills and grand lakes with their glittering water seemed straight from a fairy tale, which made sense, since it was a handsome prince who was showing it all to her.
The country air was warm and pleasant. There was the singing of birds as they flew from one group of trees to another, and the buzzing of insects that waved their way through the high grass by the road.
In the distance, sheep dotted the green hills and a young boy waved at them.
Diana waved in return.
She saw ruins from what looked to have been an old castle, and then, moments later, a stately mansion came into view. The bricks were a brilliant buff with white window lining and grand columns.
“Que c’est beau,” Lulu whispered at her side. “I’ve never seen such beauty outside of my own homelands.”
Diana turned to her. “What was it like in France?”
Lulu’s smile reached her gray eyes. “My family was wealthy and had land much like this, but war forced us out of the country. We’d been very good to the people who worked for us and lived near. We fed those without homes. We helped the sick with their bills, but the commoners turned on us as though we were King Louis himself.” Diana knew all about Napoleon’s war and how the French people had thought to do away with the upper class. Was this the reason Lulu had never cared for her? Because she’d been scared by what the people in her own lands had done?
“I’m sorry,” Diana said.
Lulu shrugged. “England, I never cared for… until now.” Her expression became peaceful as she gazed out the window. They’d turned toward a grand bridge and she heard the moment the horses began to trot on stone as opposed to dirt. The carriage tilted up as they climbed.
She was caught by seeing the water again, and she laughed when she found herself able to make out small fish. It seemed Greenmoor had much to offer.
Diana grinned and then turned to Frank and caught his eyes.
He looked good enough to eat. He leaned in the corner, his legs stretched before him, his arms crossed with a nearly arrogant look in his hazel eyes. “You like it.” It was without question.
Diana laughed and decided to tease him. “Oh, I don’t know. Does it have bluebells?”
He lifted a brow. “No… not yet.”
She laughed again.
“A common flower,” Lulu murmured to herself.
That earned her a look from Diana, but she turned to find Lulu sporting a small smile.
“A very beautiful common flower.”
She settled back inside herself and suspected their week in Greenmoor would go well.
The carriage moved to the front of the house and Frank hopped out before helping the women down.
The door opened, and Diana was surprised to see Calvin standing there. When Frank looked up, he seemed surprised as well.
“Calvin? Whatever are you doing here
?”
Calvin came down the wide steps and placed his hands in his pockets. “I believe someone forced me into overseeing half the land here.” He lifted a brow and kept a steady accusing gaze on his brother before turning to Diana. “It’s good to see you again, Miss Banns.”
“Mr. Lockwood.” She took his hand and then introduced Lulu.
Lulu nodded vaguely in his direction but didn’t offer her hand. “I’m ill, my lord.”
“Yes,” Diana cut in. “We’ve come so Lulu could find a quiet place to heal.”
Calvin didn’t seem offended at all. “Greenmoor is a great place for quiet if that is what you wish. Come inside, my father will be happy to have more company.”
“Father is here?” Frank asked as he took Diana’s available arm. “He never leaves London before the season is done.”
Calvin shrugged. “Alice and Hannah are here and he wished to be with the girl.”
Hannah was Alice and Calvin’s year-old daughter, Diana recalled.
They were shown into the house and Diana took in another breath. Plenty of light was let in through the open windows along with the scent of lavender from the bushes that lined the front of the house. The sun’s rays bounced off the white and gray marble floors and drew the eyes everywhere.
The grand entrance was wider than most she’d seen, with two sets of stairs set against the far wall. There were three stories from what she could see. The handrails on the stairs were dark, the balusters done in a swirling design all the way to the tops of the newels.
Calvin shouted as he went down the hall. “Father! Frank is here, and he’s brought women.”
At Frank’s grimace, Diana suppressed a smile and looked over at Lulu.
She found the dancer to have ventured a short distance and couldn’t help but notice how her footsteps were slightly dragging, her toe gliding across the marble, as though testing it. Her hands were intertwined behind her back. The even floor, the open space, the brightness. It was all a dancer’s dream and Lulu was clearly having a hard time holding it all in.
Diana was glad that her friend seemed to be healing from her event far quicker than Diana had.
More footsteps came in their direction and Diana smiled at seeing Alice holding little Hannah.
Alice was a beautiful woman with dark hair and green eyes and her daughter was just as adorable, though she’d gained none of her mother’s coloring. Hannah was blond with her father’s hazel golden gaze.
Behind Alice and Calvin was a man who could no one but Frank’s father.
Diana was forced to look between the men to make sure Frank was still standing next to her. When she’d been informed that Frank’s father was in residence, she’d expected someone far older, but from the looks of him, he couldn’t have been much older than Frank himself.
It was common to marry young and even moreover for the wealthy. Bloodlines and money had to be secured for future generations.
When Mr. Lockwood came closer, Diana could see the differences. Lines marked Mr. Lockwood’s face and there was some graying, but not much.
“Father, this is Miss Banns and Miss Lévêque. They are dancers of Monsieur Groux’s Ballet Company and visiting for a short holiday. I hope you don’t mind.”
Mr. Lockwood grinned. “Not at all. I’m glad you’ve finally brought friends who were not part of your Brotherhood.” He gave Frank a meaningful look.
Calvin laughed openly, which caused Frank to narrow his gaze.
Alice bit her lip.
Diana was surprised. Had Frank never brought a woman to Greenmoor before?
Mr. Lockwood, who seemed to have no qualms about cutting to the point, turned to Lulu and Diana. He lifted a heavy brow. “And which one of you ladies has caught my son’s attention?”
Lulu looked at Diana for explanation and Diana blushed so deeply her cheeks burned. She did not meet Mr. Lockwood’s eyes at all.
“The women need to rest, Father. I’ll show them to their rooms.” He took Diana’s arm again and Lulu trailed behind.
“See you both at dinner,” Mr. Lockwood called.
Frank showed Lulu to her room first and then Diana to her own.
The room was just as beautiful as the rest of the house, done in calming blue colors, with a large bed She loved blue. Her brother knew this. She wondered if Frank had somehow learned as well.
Her trunks, she noticed, had already been delivered. His staff worked quickly.
She heard the door close behind her and turned just in time for Frank to cover her mouth with his own. She was moaning with need within seconds. They’d not made love in days. All right, it had only been two, but it felt as though it had been months.
Hunger consumed them, directing their hands in a frenzy. She loved when she could cause her doctor to lose control, especially since she barely had any of her own. She’d wanted him during the entire journey to Greenmoor, and had known that if Lulu hadn’t been present, all she’d have had to do was bend over and lift her skirts. He’d have found her slit moist and ready for him and would have likely taken her for a very different ride. One that would have had her trembling and screaming his name across the countryside, never caring who heard.
Thinking about doing that very thing had set her body on fire, and made her so wet that she’d tried to avoid looking at him for most of the trip.
“My father will expect me downstairs soon. We don’t have much time.” Frank picked her up and placed her on the bed.
“I want you inside me. Right now.”
He groaned and helped her gather up her skirts.
His hands went to the buttons of his trousers and in seconds he positioned his hard cock at her entrance. He moistened his swollen head against her lower lips and then began to push in. She felt delirious as the head popped into her body and then gasped as he surged in. He took her hard with long drives that had her biting her lip for fear of alerting everyone to their activities.
He panted like a wild beast above her and then took her mouth as he continued to thrust inside of her.
She arched her back to meet him, rubbing herself against him whenever they met, drawing circles while he was buried deep.
He growled, driving his tongue between her lips, stroking her mouth with the same rhythm as his shaft.
Sweat broke over her body. Her pores opened, as if needing take him in in every way possible.
His brow glistened, and he pulled away and watched her as he grabbed her hips and began to whip his cock into her at breathtaking speed, repeatedly, beating her into submission.
She obeyed and came.
He took her mouth again, and with a final stroke emptied his seed within her and then continued to pump inside her, pushing his essences deeper. Was he trying to get her with child? The thought didn’t worry her in the least. In fact, carrying his child was more arousing than she knew it should be.
He eventually pulled out and kissed away the tears that trailed down her cheeks. “Did I hurt you?”
She shook her head. “I’m just… I love you. That’s all.”
He rested his head against hers as he caught his breath. Then he sighed. “You can see to Lulu while I speak to my father. Find out if she’ll be willing to speak to me.” He backed up and fixed his clothes. “I’ll see you as soon as I can.” Then with a parting kiss, he left.
Diana tried to ignore the hurt that he’d not made comment about her claim to love him, though she wondered how much time it would take him to believe it. She’d have to find a way to prove it, though she didn’t know what she could do. Still, she’d not leave him. He loved her and he believed in his own feelings.
Would that be enough? It was very confusing situation to be in. It was one thing if she didn’t love him, but another to actually love someone and they not believe it. It did hurt, but not as much as the thought of leaving him did, putting aside his love to find a less complicated situation.
If she truly loved him, she’d stay, wouldn’t she?
Deciding that no
thing would come from worrying over it, she quickly cleaned herself up and went to see Lulu.
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35
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CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
Diana Sensational Spinster's Society (The Spinster’s Society) (A Regency Romance Book) Page 22
