Harold inclined his head. “Thank you, at least for that.” He turned to Sebastian. “How do you intend to draw them out?”
“About now my man’s in the servants’ hall, arranging a hamper since I am to drive Lady Abigail for a clandestine luncheon in the folly. Hodges will grumble about how things won’t be the same for him anymore. Far from pursuing Lady Abigail with my usual disreputable intentions, he will pretend I am driving her to the folly to propose marriage. He will even hint I’m thinking of persuading her to forego her season and elope with me straightaway.”
Lord Bevan took up the story. “We already know the perpetrators are becoming desperate. If Abbey’s fortune is indeed their goal they cannot risk her entering into a hasty marriage. That will compel them to act immediately to prevent it from happening. What better opportunity than if they suppose Abbey and Denver to be alone in the folly? They have seen for themselves how much she appears to admire him and won’t doubt his ability to talk her into the elopement. Any sort of accident might be contrived in that far region of the estate, conveniently resulting in the demise of them both.”
“But, of course, we will not be alone,” Sebastian said. “My man and your father’s will be armed and concealed outside the folly.”
“And you will be there too, if you wish it, Harold. We will hide ourselves inside the folly. That way we can bear witness to events and intercede to protect Abbey should Denver be overcome.”
“Of course I wish to be there,” Harold said hotly.
“I knew you would say that.” Lord Bevan offered up a taut smile. “It is also why I contrived to get rid of the rest of the party this morning. Evans is on the verge of doing something ridiculous to deter Abbey from spending so much time with Denver. I cannot risk his jealous possessiveness impinging upon our plan.”
A knock at the door preceded Hodges’s entering the room.
“It is all set in motion, m’lord,” he said, his expression grim. “Lord Wilsden’s man and Mr Charles Wilsden’s were together and I spoke in front of them both. Other ears were flapping at such a juicy scrap of gossip and it will spread above stairs like wildfire as soon as the riding party returns, you just mark my words.”
“Right, Hodges. Do you have your pistol to hand?”
“Yes, m’lord, loaded and ready to be used in your defence, just like always.”
“Indeed, I’m depending upon it. But now, gentlemen, it’s time to collect Lady Abigail and head for the folly. Is her curricle at the side door, Hodges?”
“Yes, m’lord, and the hamper is in the trunk along with your sidearm.”
“God speed, Denver.” Harold rose to shake his hand. “I know you are putting your life at risk for Abbey’s sake and I can only commend your courage. I bear you no ill-will for suspecting my wife. Having recovered from my surprise, I can see that to an impartial observer the evidence must point to her involvement. I am only grateful that, if your plan works, by this evening she will be absolved from all blame.”
“That is my wish also,” Sebastian assured him.
***
Entering Abbey’s chamber, Sebastian found her warmly clothed and Sally in the process of wrapping a heavy velvet cloak around her shoulders.
“Good morning, ladies. Here, allow me.” He took the garment from Sally’s fingers and fastened it securely in place. “Now do you have everything you require?”
“I think so, yes.”
“Then you are ready to leave?”
“As ready as I ever will be.”
“Oh, my lord, do take good care of her.” Sally let out a little sob. “I fear for her something awful.”
“She will be perfectly safe in my care, Sally. If you wish to be of assistance to your mistress you must play your part convincingly. If any of the ladies call wishing to see Lady Abigail you must tell them she’s sleeping and turn them away. Keep the door locked at all times in case they try to enter without first knocking.”
“You may depend upon me, my lord.”
“I shall see you very soon, Sally,” Abbey said.
“Oh, I do hope so. My heart’s all a’flutter with nerves.”
Sebastian didn’t want Abbey to be inflicted with Sally’s nerves and carried her from the room before the conversation could develop. He took her down the back stairs and lifted her into her curricle without, as far as he could ascertain, being observed by anyone.
“So far, so good,” he said, sending her a reassuring smile as he encouraged the horse forward.
“Do you really think this will work?” she asked.
“I haven’t the slightest idea, but it’s a pleasant day for an al fresco luncheon, if nothing else.”
“Sebastian, it’s freezing!”
He laughed. “Where’s your sense of adventure? You were tired of being constantly dutiful, if I recall.”
She screwed up her nose. “Perhaps I didn’t know when I was well off.”
He drove at a brisk trot, chatting to her about nothing in particular, doing what he could to keep her spirits up because he could sense she was nervous. Her teeth chattered but not, Sebastian thought, because she was cold. Perhaps this wasn’t such a good idea. He was asking too much of her, but it was too late to turn back now. He would just have to do whatever it took to keep her safe, even if that entailed sacrificing his own life.
When they reached the folly, he halted the curricle, lifted her down and carried her into the draughty building.
“Wait here while I attend to the horse.”
Sebastian returned to the curricle and led the horse into the lee of nearby trees. Unloading the hamper he returned to find Abbey just where he had left her, sitting upon an old bench and shivering in spite of her heavy layers of clothing.
“Courage, sweetheart.” He took her gloved hand and rubbed it briskly between both of his own. “It will soon be played out.”
“Yes,” she replied sadly. “But things will never be the same again.”
He turned her hand over and kissed the bare skin on the inside of her wrist. “No, there will be casualties. There’s no help for that, I’m afraid, but it is not your fault.”
“I should not have involved you.” Sebastian’s heart jolted when he realised her fear wasn’t for herself but for him. “You could be hurt, or even killed, and what would that achieve?”
Sebastian was tempted to inform her more than one disgruntled husband would be delighted if that happened. Her sombre expression suggested such an admission would not do much to reassure her and so he remained silent on the point.
“I am not an easy person to do away with,” he told her with a somnolent smile. “It has been attempted before but I’m still very much of this world.”
“No doubt you did something to place yourself in peril and only had yourself to blame,” she said, with a flash of spirit. “This is different.”
Sebastian considered those affronted husbands again and couldn’t prevent his lips from quirking. “You’re right about that.”
“This is not funny.”
“Excuse me, was I laughing?”
“Oh, you know you were. Why do men enjoy combative situations so much?”
“We like to prove ourselves and look heroic in the eyes of you ladies.”
She slapped at the hand still holding hers. “Be serious!”
“I was.”
“So am I. I can see now it was not fitting to ask someone who has no connection with me or my affairs to take such risks.”
He brushed her furrowed brow with his lips. “I would not have missed it for the world. Besides, it is I who should be grateful to you. Gentlemen of leisure thrive upon a little danger to relieve the tedium.”
“Stop it!” The words came out as a strangled cry. “Stop making so light of it. I appreciate your concerns are for my feelings but I’m well able to handle the unpleasant realities of this situation. In fact I would feel better knowing the whole truth, which you appear intent upon withholding from me. I don’t need to be treated as though
I were made of porcelain, you know.”
“If I didn’t know better,” he said, his tone as smooth as velvet, “I might doubt your faith in my abilities to act as your protector.”
“There you go again, deliberately avoiding my question.”
Sebastian cocked a brow. “Oh, excuse me, did you ask me something?”
She huffed. “You know very well I did.”
“You’re charming when roused,” he said, twisting a curl that had escaped her bonnet around his forefinger. “Did you know that?”
She inverted her chin and snatched her hair out of his grasp. “I know you’re impossibly arrogant.”
Sebastian laughed. “I paid you a compliment. You are supposed to thank me.”
“Not a chance!”
“I’m glad to see your courage hasn’t deserted you. And talking of courage, I have something that might help.” He delved into the hamper and produced a bottle of champagne, popped the cork without spilling a drop and filled two glasses. He handed her a glass and touched his against it.
“To success,” he said.
“Very well, I will drink to that.”
Sebastian spread out the food.
“Come,” he said softly. “You must eat.”
“I couldn’t possibly I am far too nervous.”
You either feed yourself or I will do it for you. Which would you prefer?”
“Of for goodness sake!”
She grabbed a chicken leg and ate it with her fingers. Sebastian watched her, mesmerised. Her lips were shiny with grease and he longed to lick it away. Perdition, he would finish up in Bedlam if this went on for much longer. Fortunately Hodges entered the room before he could transfer his thoughts into deeds.
“The riding party has returned to the house, m’lord, and no one attempted to go off alone. Bridges and I are now in place outside.”
“All right, Hodges, show Lord Bevan and his son in as soon as they appear.”
“Right-ho.”
As soon as Hodges had gone, Sebastian pulled a pale-faced, shivering Abbey into his arms. “We have some time to wait before we can expect company and you’re obviously cold. Let’s see if I can do something about that.”
His kiss was not the gentle, reassuring affair she might have been expecting, but bold, firm and demanding. A less than subtle yet seemingly effective means of diverting her fears. He deemed himself successful when he eventually broke the kiss and, with a grunt of protest, she tangled her fingers in his hair and jerked his head downwards again.
“Warmer now?” he asked when he broke this second kiss, smiled into eyes that were hazy with passion.
“A little. How much longer must we wait?”
“By now your uncle will have informed your guests you are fatigued and taking luncheon in your chamber. They will also have learned the official reason for my absence, which is that Hodges has driven me over to visit my friend Lord Falmington in Brigdon. No one will believe it because the rumours about you and me lunching here alone will also be common knowledge. No one, not even Evans, will dare to voice their disapproval in front of your uncle.” He flashed a challenging smile and held her gaze for a protracted period before speaking again. “And so, we have some time to kill. How would you suggest that we pass it?”
“Did you bring a pack of cards?” she enquired sweetly.
Sebastian roared with laughter. “Do you really want to play games of chance with me?” he asked.
“Of all the arrogant, ungentlemanly, self-opinionated scapegraces it has ever been my misfortune to … arghhh!”
Sebastian cut off her harangue by placing his hands on her waist, easily lifting her from her seat and settling her on his lap. Grinning at her scandalised expression, he lowered his head towards hers.
“I’m devastated by your opinion of me,” he said, whispering the words against her lips. “I thought we were friends.”
“You confuse me. Half the time you seem to—”
Sebastian didn’t want to get into a conversation about his behaviour, mainly because he didn’t understand why he was acting so out of character himself. She was in urgent need of a distraction from her current situation and he…well, he deserved a reward for saving her from those who would see her dead. He would leave here tomorrow, and wouldn’t allow himself to be alone with her again once they left the folly. He brushed the curls away from her face with a featherlike touch that caused her to gasp. Her lips parted in a wordless invitation but Sebastian didn’t take immediate advantage of it. He intended to savour the moment, the last occasion upon which he would ever permit himself to excite her passions. And so he continued to observe the gamut of emotions filtering across her lovely face and refused to be rushed.
His kiss, when it eventually came, was searingly passionate, igniting his body until he was on fire with need. Judging by the strangled protest which escaped Abbey’s lips when he broke it prematurely, it was too short for her liking.
“Sebastian, please!”
She touched his face with the tips of her fingers and her sweet breath peppered his face as she expelled an elongated sigh. The sound of his name, whispered with such deep intensity, had the opposite effect to the one which she presumably intended. For once he was unsure if he could keep his own passions under guard. He wasn’t used to doing so since he didn’t make a habit of dallying with virgins. Now definitely was not the time to test his self-control. He released her, causing her eyes to fly open as she fixed him with an accusatory glare.
“You’re doing it again,” she complained.
“This isn’t a game, Abbey.”
“Then why did you start it? Or do you intend to lay the blame at my door again?” she asked scathingly. “You say one thing in an attempt to claim the moral high ground and then behave very differently. I don’t understand you.”
Sebastian didn’t understand himself or what was happening to him. What she was doing to him. “I never should have—”
“No, you should not, but since you did it won’t end here.”
“It must.”
“I wish to know more.”
He shook his head. “That is impossible.’
“You’re being unfair, playing games and then changing the rules to suit your own purpose.”
Sebastian couldn’t recall ever experiencing such a deep feeling of exquisite agony before. Not once in all his years of playing sensual games with willing females. Damn it, she was destroying him! Fire lanced through his veins and his cock solidified. Knowing when he was beaten, he pulled her back into his arms and covered her lips with his own. She was right, he owed her at least that much. She responded with an enthusiasm that drove his needs to unparalleled heights. Realising it, he released her and lifted her from his lap.
‘”More,” she said with a sultry smile, her face flushed, her breathing ragged.
It was a dangerously bad idea, but when she looked at him with such incandescent desire shining in her eyes he was beyond denying her anything.
Hodges coughed loudly to give Sebastian advance notice of his close proximity. Not a moment too soon. God alone knew what he would have done, had he been left alone with Abbey any longer. Sebastian removed her from his lap and ensured she was seated demurely beside him mere seconds before Lord Bevan and Harold appeared alongside Hodges. They greeted Sebastian and Abbey with grim smiles.
“Thank you, Hodges,” Sebastian said. “Get back to your post.”
Hodges nodded and disappeared.
“There is not much time to spare,” Lord Bevan said. “There’s a shortcut across the grounds and anyone coming here will most likely use it. We came that way on foot, so as not to be seen, but Charlie will likely use a curricle.”
“You can conceal yourselves in the small chamber just behind us,” Sebastian said, standing to point them in the right direction. “You won’t be seen there.”
“Very well.” Bevan glanced anxiously at Abbey. “Are you all right, my dear?”
“Yes, uncle. Just take care of y
ourself. Lord Denver will care for me.”
“He had better,” Harold said, touching her face.
“What are you doing here, Harold?” she asked, looking bewildered as Harold followed his father from the room.
‘I’ll explain later,” Sebastian said. “There is no time now.”
The sound of a conveyance being driven at speed reached their ears. A stark birdcall, made by Hodges, confirmed they had company. Looking towards the door Sebastian was grieved, but not surprised, when Mary Bevan entered. He was astonished when not Charlie, but his father, Lord Wilsden, followed close on her heels.
In a blinding flash it all started to make sense. It was so ridiculously obvious he should have made the connection before now.
“Ah, hello there,” Sebastian said with a sardonic smile. “You’re here at last. We had almost given up on you.”
Chapter Seventeen
Abbey gasped. Mary was the last person she would ever have suspected.
“You!” Presumably Sebastian had guessed at her involvement and deemed it wise to warn Harold.
Mary’s eyes rolled back in her head, darted nervously from face to face and came to rest on Lord Wilsden.
“I told you this was a trap,” she snarled. “You should have listened to me.”
Her partner appeared perfectly unconcerned about their anticipated arrival. With a placatory wave in Mary’s direction, Wilsden strode into the centre of the room. He looked down at Sebastian and Abbey and offered them a polite smile that wouldn’t have been out of place in a fashionable salon.
“Calm yourself, Mrs. Bevan. They think they have outwitted us but haven’t stopped to consider they are here alone and completely at our mercy.”
“Why?” Abbey asked in a tone of wounded bewilderment as her eyes swivelled between the two of them. “What have I ever done to either of you to make you bear me such murderous ill will?”
“Oh, don’t take offence, my dear, it’s nothing personal,” Wilsden replied affably. “It is just that you are in the unfortunate position of standing between me and something that I have long looked upon as mine.”
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