Selena was the greatest musician Nora had ever known. She’d composed for her first play last year. Selena had mastery of both piano and harp, but it was the piano that had made the Duchess of Astlen quite sought after. She and her husband had very busy schedules during the Season, more than most, Nora was certain.
Selena smiled at Nora and reached out a hand.
Nora took hold of it.
In the last year, both women had put the past behind them and had begun to forge a new friendship. Nora suspected Selena still wanted answers as to why she’d been pushed away, but Nora felt as though she’d already told her former friend too much.
Selena, likely sensing Nora would share no more, took her hand back and said, “What would you like to hear?”
“Are you going to play a song?” Ebba asked, suddenly appearing at Nora’s side.
Nora jumped. Her gun bumped against the piano rather loudly. When everyone turned, she quickly bent and pretended the sound had come from her knee. She gripped her uninjured limb and winced. When everyone turned back to the magazine, Nora straightened.
“What about something romantic?” Ebba asked Selena. Then she turned to Nora. “What do you say? Are you in the mood for romance?”
“No, not at all.” Nora rounded her eyes at Ebba. She knew what the woman assumed. She thought Nora in love with her cousin, but she wasn’t. Nora would never dream of going after the viscount or any man, for that matter. Was Ebba mocking her? Surely, she realized Nora was far beneath her. She likely outranked her, because of her widowed state. Nora had married a lord, the younger son of an earl, but now she was… What was she? She couldn’t even call herself a servant properly. Lucy’s continuous generosity ruined everything. Either way, Coalwater could do better.
Ebba patted the hand that Nora had on the piano’s top. “Come now. There’s no need to hide the truth.”
“The truth?” Selena asked.
Everyone wanted the truth.
Nora turned to Selena. “Play anything your heart desires.” Her words shook as her own heart raced.
Selena shrugged and began to play.
Nora gasped to find Ebba’s other hand reaching into her pocket with intent.
She was likely looking for the note, but her fingers wrapped around something else.
They both stiffened, and Ebba frowned as she tried to figure out what she was holding. She likely didn’t believe it.
Nora stuck her hand out, trying to fight Ebba away, but Ebba only took greater hold of the pistol.
The action was hidden by the piano. No one could see what they were doing and thankfully, Ebba’s face was away from the crowd.
Nora swallowed and waited for the woman to… To what? It wasn’t necessarily wrong for a lady to carry a weapon.
Still, she hadn’t told Lucy or Kent about it. She’d already been forgiven once that day. She couldn’t afford to make another error so quickly after the first.
It seemed the thing she thought would bring her hope would be her undoing.
The door opened and the Duke of Astlen stuck his head through. He searched the room until he found her. Then he moved his gaze to Selena.
She stopped playing at the sight of her husband.
“My dear, would you come down for a minute?” Marley gave Nora another look.
Nora gasped and then reached past Ebba and grabbed the hand Selena still had on the keys. “Don’t say anything.” Selena knew that Nora was wealthy and that Nora didn’t actually need her job. She’d figured that out a year ago when they’d been reacquainted after so many years.
Selena frowned. “I don’t understand. Don’t say anything about what?”
Marley was suddenly there. “This won’t be long. You can return to the women shortly.” Marley narrowed his gaze at Nora.
Nora jumped back but didn’t get far. Ebba’s hand was still in her pocket.
Selena took her husband’s hand but was still looking at Nora as though she thought her odd. She hadn’t seen her husband’s glare. “Are you all right?”
“I’m fine.” Nora tightened her smile to hide the trembling of her lips.
Marley continued to watch her as the couple took their leave.
“Is it usual for a governess to carry a weapon in her pocket?” Ebba pulled the gun out, and Nora reached for it until the woman said, “Perhaps, I should inquire with Lucy?”
“Please,” Nora whispered. She was staring down at the gun. The piano still kept their actions out of view. “I… need that gun.”
“Why?”
Nora frowned at her. “That is none of your concern.”
“Is it Lord Ganden’s concern?”
Nora waited for her heart to give out. With the great speed with which it pumped, she was certain it was only a matter of time. The trembling in her face thankfully stopped. Instead, numbness spread over her lips and cheeks.
Ebba pressed her into a wall. Her expression was worried. “Nora, breathe.”
“What’s going on?” someone else in the room asked.
Ebba quickly pocketed the gun and started to kneel as Nora slipped to the floor. She saw movement and figures and then nothing.
∫ ∫ ∫
0 9
* * *
Garrick watched as Marley settled Selena against him on the couch that he’d been occupying alone before. Selena was a comely woman with hair that could be almost red in certain lights. It was like toasted wheat, gold with hints of other warm tones. Her eyes were a soft blue. Her expression grew troubled. “What is this about?”
“Selena,” Garrick answered. He sat across from her. He’d turned his chair around and had placed his legs on either side. He arms and head rested on the back of it.
That surprised her. “So, you truly do wish to ask me about her.”
Marley positioned himself to face her. “I thought I saw her warn you against speaking to us.”
“She did.” Selena straightened her shoulders. “And I’ll not betray her trust.”
It was a common trait all wives of Garrick’s friends had. Stubbornness. No threat could break them. Perhaps, that was why the men loved them so much. In a Society where they were either worshiped or feared, it was good to have someone who knew you to be nothing more than human and who was not afraid to meet the beast that rested inside each of them.
Clive sat next to him. “Garrick found Nora in Covent Garden last night behind a brothel.”
“A brothel?” Selena’s eyes widened.
Garrick straightened and glared at Clive. He hadn’t wanted that much detail to get out. Her location was incriminating. He began to sign rapidly. Only Andreas could follow him when he was this angry.
“She was just passing by,” his assistant said.
Selena stared at Andreas as he spoke. The wives were used to Andreas.
Marley bent his dark head and took her hand to regain her attention. “We believe she could be in trouble. Debt maybe. Perhaps you know? Has she shared anything with you?”
“If she had, I wouldn’t say.” But her eyes said she knew something.
“Selena, she could be in danger,” Marley said.
Selena thought about that and then shook her head. “I don’t know anything.”
“What do you know?” Clive asked.
James moved forward. Kent turned his chair to face her.
They all remained quiet.
Selena shrugged. “Nothing. I’m only just getting to know her again. My only truly memories of her were from our childhood.”
“Marley said she ended your friendship,” Andreas interpreted. “Why?”
Selena frowned. “She never told me. Just…” She sighed. “I can’t remember her exact words. I asked her the same question, but I believe she said she had to.” She nodded as she recalled the memory. “She said she loved me and so she had to send me away.” She looked at the others. “I thought she simply didn’t want to tell me the truth, but… do you think she’s in danger?”
Garrick felt great amounts
of energy moving through his blood as his mind began to work. He turned to the desk, which was close to his chair, and wrote.
Kent bent over and read. Then he nodded in agreement. “Those words sound more like you were in danger, not her.”
Selena nodded.
Marley wrapped an arm around his wife and spoke harshly to Kent. “That’s it. If my wife is involved in this, I want answers and I want them now.”
“We can’t force her,” Kent said. “She’s already threatened to leave. We need her to stay here and cooperate.”
Marley looked enraged. “I’ll force the answers from her if need be.”
Garrick stood so quickly that the chair underneath him slammed to the floor. It gathered everyone’s attention. Garrick didn’t even try to speak. He knew his mouth wouldn’t work. He was far too angry and troubled for his tongue to decipher the rambling of his mind.
But he gave Marley a look that he hoped communicated the man’s timely death if he even though to touch Nora, the woman who, in a moment, taught Garrick to accept the man he was and be proud of it. He owed Nora everything.
Marley didn’t even flinch. He met Garrick’s challenge with a look of his own.
Tension spread thickly through the room. Garrick could almost breathe it in. He tightened his fists.
Clive stood and placed a hand on Garrick’s shoulder. “Calm down. No one is going to torture the woman. No harm will come to her.” Clive looked at Marley. “After what Garrick went through at the hands of Mr. Goody, I’m surprised you even threaten something so foolish.”
Shame washed over Marley’s features. They all thought Garrick upset because of what he’d gone through. He’d allow them to continue to think so, because he wasn’t ready to share the truth, to tell them that Nora meant something to him.
Selena pulled in a breath and pressed her hands to her chest, then she began to sign portions of the words that left her lips. Everyone had begun to practice when they could. “You know Marley would never hurt a woman.”
“Yes,” Marley agreed. “I’m sorry I made it appear as though I would. I simply wish to know what she meant is all.”
“It was about eleven years ago,” Selena said. “Whatever Nora is dealing with now can’t be related, can it?”
Lucy rushed into the room. “I’ve rung for a doctor. Nora fainted.”
∫ ∫ ∫
1 0
* * *
Nora opened her eyes and found herself staring at the ceiling in her room. She was lying in bed. The sun was still out, so she didn’t think she’d been asleep for long. She remembered fainting and groaned with embarrassment. She would not be surprised if everyone in the house suddenly thought her mad.
She turned and was startled to find Ebba by her bedside.
Ebba smiled. “I told the others I’d alert them when you woke. I may have put on a little performance and convinced them that you and I had grown to become very, very close and that if anyone were to wait with you, it had to be me.” She wiped at her eyes delicately and then looked at her gloves. “They were startled by how emotional I’d become. It took some work to get Lucy out of the room, but in the end, little Alvin finally got his mama to leave.” She smiled at Nora and then tapped her lap.
Nora looked and saw the gun. She gasped.
“Don’t worry. I’m not going to use it on you.”
“I know that,” Nora whispered in a sleep-ridden voice. She didn’t know how she knew that Ebba wouldn’t kill her, but she knew it.
Ebba smiled. “But you really want this gun, don’t you?”
Nora’s chest constricted. “I need it. Please.”
“And I shall give it to you,” Ebba said. “All you must do is a little favor for me.”
Nora sat up and tried to figure what the daughter of an earl could want from her? She hoped it was legal. If last night had proved anything, it was that Nora would be a terrible criminal. “What must I do?”
“The note,” Ebba said. “The one you slipped into your pocket. I read it along with the other.” She frowned. “You and my cousin write the worst love letters to one another.”
Nora’s mouth gaped at her audacity. “You read my notes?”
Ebba shrugged a shoulder and grinned. Nora began to wonder at her sanity again. Was she safe with this woman?
“Honestly,” Ebba began. “I thought this would be harder than it is, but you’ve made it almost easy for me.”
“What are you talking about?” Nora asked.
Ebba stood and went to the dresser. She put the gun down and then began to pace. “When my father made his impossible request, I knew I didn’t stand a chance, yet here you are.” Ebba held out both hands in Nora’s direction. “You’re like an angel who fell from the heavens.”
Now she was certain Ebba had lost her mind. Nora glanced at the gun but knew she’d never reach it before Ebba did.
She was by no means planning to use it on the woman. She shuddered at the very thought. However, she needed that gun with a desperation that defied reason.
“You are the answer to my prayers,” Ebba said as she stepped in front of the gun, forcing Nora’s eyes to meet hers once again. Ebba did enjoy attention. “I need you.” The words rang with great passion. “Will you help me?”
Help her? “Does it involve me getting my gun back?”
“Of course!”
“Am I to help you out of the kindness of my heart or will my reward be my gun?”
Ebba blushed, though Nora wasn’t certain the coyness was authentic. “Let us say it is a little of both.”
“What must I do?” Nora had already decided she’d do anything for that gun.
“Get Garrick to fall in love with you.”
Nora blinked and then fell back into the bed with despair. And then heat washed over her as she remembered Garrick’s kiss. Her toes curled, and her body shook with need. She wanted him. She could not deny that, but Garrick would never love her. She wasn’t sure he was capable of love. There were simply so many women for him to choose from. She’d have to find a way to get another gun.
“I know that look!” Ebba accused. “But let us never cling to defeat when victory is easily within our grasp.”
Nora lifted a brow. “Ebba, come down from the stage. This is not a play.”
“Life is a play.” Ebba moved close. “It is the greatest production of all.” She sat down next to Nora and took her hand. “You are the heroine.” Her other hand lifted Nora’s chin. “Lady Honora Baxter, a woman of great courage who never cowers in the face of great peril.” Then she stood and began to pace again. “My cousin, naturally, is the hero. Quiet. Reserved. He holds a secret.”
“He does?” Nora asked. Strangely, she was getting wrapped into the drama Ebba was spinning.
“Oh, yes! He is in love with our heroine, of course!”
Nora rolled her eyes. “Your cousin does not love me.” Perhaps, under the influence of brandy, he’d been in lust, but that was all.
“Garrick adores you. Don’t forget I read the notes. He asked for your forgiveness and clearly, there is some element of danger. He wishes to help you.” Ebba narrowed her eyes. “Would you like to tell me the details of this matter?”
“No!” Nora flung back the sheets and stood. “Ebba, your cousin doesn’t love me. I am a...” Again, Nora didn’t know what to say. She wasn’t George’s governess anymore. Lucy rarely let her see the boy unless it was to give him the attention anyone who loved him would.
Ebba waved her words away and then froze, as though she were having a vision. “The dull sword of occupation can never cut through the vibrant threads of love that bind two souls.”
Nora giggled. She was unable to help herself. Then she laughed and held her head in her palm. Her other hand went to her hip. “Ebba, you’re mad.”
Ebba startled Nora as she placed her hands on her shoulders. “Nora, this task I set before you will be the greatest you ever encounter. You will be tested and tried. Your faith will wane. Your heart ma
y very well be broken.”
Nora’s heart began to ache as though Ebba’s words alone had commanded the act.
And she realized then that Ebba and Garrick had the same eyes. How had she not seen it before? They dragged Nora down into their powerful depths and swallowed her soul.
“It will not be easy,” Ebba said. “But the greatest stories in life are never about those who chose the easiest route in life.” She grabbed Nora’s hands hastily. “You must endure until the end, Nora, not only for yourself but for Garrick.”
Nora blinked and whispered, “Garrick?” What did she mean? Was he in trouble? Nora’s heart reacted to the thoughts by stopping and restarting as a swifter speed.
Ebba batted her lashes. “He’s in trouble, Nora.”
“He is?” She was panicking now.
Ebba nodded. “He needs you. To love him. Only you can.”
Was it true?
Nora looked around and realized how this conversation had all gotten started. Ebba had wanted a favor. Nora narrowed her eyes. “You are a very good actress. I almost believed you.”
Ebba smiled, breaking away from whatever character she’d presented Nora with. If the woman ever decided to lead her own religion, Nora feared there would be those who followed. “Make Garrick love you, and I’ll give you back the gun.”
Nora took back her hands. “I can’t do that. I would never make such an exchange.” She was more likely to find her own heart involved long before she could convince him to feel the same. Also, there was the greater chance that Garrick would never fall for her. Everyone knew he didn’t entertain respectable ladies. He liked his women with lighter skirts. “Also, falling in love can take time I don’t have. I need that gun now.”
Ebba backed away toward it. “Very well. How about this? Get Garrick to kiss you, and I’ll return the gun. That shouldn’t be so hard. We both know he enjoys women. Kiss him and the gun is yours.”
A kiss?
Nora brightened. “Very well. I’ve already kissed your cousin. So, I’ll be taking my gun back.”
“You kissed Garrick?”
“Yes.”
Wounds of A Viscount: (The Valiant Love Regency Romance) (A Historical Romance Book) Page 6
