The Earl’s Dangerous Passion (Historical Regency Romance)

by Ella Edon

  That did catch Amy off-guard. When they had been speaking a few hours before, Merseyside had said nothing about leaving, or that his mother was ill. As far as she was aware, no letters had arrived that morning.

  “Maybe his mother is…” She began, but Sarah cut her off sharply.

  “The Dowager Marquess is as strong as a horse. I don’t think she’s actually been ill in her whole life. She just likes wielding control over her son when he starts showing some independence. And she doesn’t like me, so that makes her double down her efforts.”

  “I never realized.”

  “Kenneth keeps it separate from everything. His mother is clever in not making a scene in front of everyone. She didn’t bother coming to the wedding to say, in her words, that she disapproved. If that woman had had her way, she would have come on the honeymoon.”

  Amy had wondered about that, but very briefly. The Dowager Marquess of Merseyside was a snide little lady, and she had made unkind comments about Amy the only time they had crossed paths. Amy had spent the rest of the evening hiding from her.

  The thought of a mother-in-law coming on a newlywed’s honeymoon made Amy shudder.

  Chapter Seventeen

  “Where’s your husband now?”

  “He’s in our room, packing.”

  “Are you going with him?”

  Sarah shook her head.

  “No, I’m not dealing with that woman. If Kenneth wants to mess around with her, then he can do it without me.” She squeezed Amy’s hand. “Besides, I promised my brother I wouldn’t leave you when you needed me. You need someone on your side.”

  “Thank you.” Amy looked out the window. The sun was high in the sky, and the color in the garden was sharp. It was a beautiful sight. “Maybe a break from your husband might help.”

  “How do you mean?”

  “Well, the two of you have been together every day for several weeks. Perhaps the constant interaction was getting too much.”

  Sarah blinked.

  “You think so?”

  “It can happen. A little time apart from each other might help the two of you. Absence makes the heart grow fonder, doesn’t it?”

  Sarah stared at her. Then she slumped and nodded.

  “Perhaps you’re right.” She rubbed at her eyes. “Forgive me for my complaining, Amy. It’s probably my mind going mad right now. Everything seems to be getting on my nerves.”

  Amy laughed.

  “That’s called pregnancy, Sarah. It happens. Once your child comes along, things will get better. Merseyside loves you. He’s not going to abandon you so quickly.”

  Sarah grunted, a half-smile tugging at her mouth.

  “Never mind me being here to give you confidence. I need you around right now.”

  “Of course.”

  Amy wasn’t about to walk away from a friend. That was not in her nature.

  She was startled by the library door opening. Looking around, Amy saw Rebecca waltzing into the room. With her hair curled up on her head and wearing a pale green dress, she did look every bit a lady. Before, Amy would have been intimidated next to the younger woman, but now she just felt pity for the girl. She was chasing something she knew she couldn’t have, but Rebecca was too stubborn to walk away.

  Rebecca did an exaggerated double-take when she saw them. It looked far too rehearsed.

  “What are you two doing in here?”

  Sarah sighed.

  “We were having some quiet time away from the other guests, Miss Colburn. That included you.”

  “It’s all right. I’m not going to stay,” Rebecca smirked, her eyes on Amy. “I was wondering if you knew where Lord Derby was. He said he was going to take me for a walk around his estate. Maybe go for a picnic and show me a few intimate places that he’s proud of.”

  She was trying far too hard. Sarah shuddered.

  “I think I’m going to be sick.”

  Amy felt something in her mind shift, and instead of feeling horrified at Rebecca’s blatant swagger, she just felt angry. Rebecca’s harassment of Derby and her boasting was getting too much, and with everything going on lately, Amy was not interested in being made to feel two inches tall.

  She rose, facing Rebecca down.

  “Lord Derby was attacked a short while ago, Miss Colburn,” she said with an icy tone. “He is not in any fit state to be showing you or anyone else around.”

  Sarah gasped. Rebecca’s smirk faltered.

  “What...Daniel was hurt?”

  “You don’t get to address the Earl of Derby like that,” Amy pointed out. “I found him unconscious. He’s come back to his senses, but he is certainly in no state to see anyone. I would advise you to leave him alone.”

  Rebecca blinked. Then she recovered quickly.

  “I’m sure he won’t mind me.” She winked. “After all, we are…”

  “No, you are not, and he would mind.”

  Folding her hands in front of her, Amy approached Rebecca. It was very tempting to reach out and slap her, but that wasn’t going to get her anywhere except momentary satisfaction. Amy was surprised at how even her voice was as she spoke.

  “Leave the Earl alone, Miss Colburn, and stop bothering him to declare something that is not happening. You are making yourself look like a complete, simple fool, and it’s embarrassing to watch. Go back to your aunt and ask her how to act like a lady. I think you missed a few lessons.”

  From her expression, Rebecca looked like Amy had actually slapped her. Her mouth fell open as she stared at Amy.

  “I didn’t realize you had some bite,” she commented.

  “I’ll have more bite if I hear you’ve been bothering Lord Derby when he’s trying to recuperate.” Amy turned her back to Rebecca, effectively dismissing her as she walked back to Sarah. “Now, if you’ll excuse us, Miss Colburn, Lady Merseyside, and I were having a private conversation, and we do not want to be disturbed.”

  There was a stunned silence, but Amy refused to turn around. She would not back down. Finally, there was a very unladylike huff and the stomping of feet. Moments later, the door slammed. Amy tried not to flinch. Sarah was staring at her like she had never seen her friend before.

  “Whoa, Amy! I never thought I’d see you snap.”

  Amy sighed and flopped onto the window seat. Those few moments had drained her.

  “I’d like to do a lot more to her, but I’m sure I’ll either get overpowered or find myself apologizing as soon as I’ve hit her.”

  “Well, if you ever want to throw propriety out the window regarding that chit, let me know. I’ll get in line.” Sarah sat forward. “Now, talk to me. What’s happened to my brother? You said he was attacked?”

  * * *

  Derby’s head was pounding. Whoever had hit him had a strong arm. He was still seeing stars, and he could still feel Amy in his arms. He wanted her back.

  His self-control around her was starting to wear thin. Especially after Amy had him touching her breasts. The sudden confidence in her was more arousing than Derby expected. He liked it. And he wanted more.

  It wouldn’t take much for her to have him lose control completely.

  But he had more important things to deal with. Like Merseyside. Now that he had lain on the couch trying to get his head to stop spinning, Derby had time to think. Perhaps he had been a little too hasty in telling his friend to leave. The moment he heard someone declaring feelings for Amy, Derby had felt his hackles rising. But it had been too much. Merseyside was married, and he knew that taking a mistress when he was married to Derby’s sister was asking for trouble. And Amy would refuse any sort of title that was less than wife.

  In spite of admitting how he felt, Merseyside wouldn’t act on it. His younger days had been wild, but they were behind him. Derby would make sure of it. The two of them were close, and neither would betray the other.

  They would need to have a long talk, and Derby would be apologizing for his attitude. Merseyside hadn’t needed that right now. And the thought of
his friend leaving didn’t sit well with Derby now. He wanted his friend at his side.

  That would mean swallowing his pride and apologizing, but Derby was prepared to do it.

  Unsteady on his feet, Derby headed into the hall and towards the stairs. Things were a little unstable, and Derby had to press his hand onto the wall. But it got worse as he began to climb the stairs. Derby groaned and fell to his knees. Then someone was at his side.

  “Whoa! What’s going on with you?”

  Derby looked up to see Doctor Day kneeling before him. He allowed the doctor to help him to his feet.

  “My head hurts.” Derby pressed his hand to his head, only to realize he had been holding onto the balustrade and wobbled. Day grabbed him before he fell, and Derby clutched onto the balustrade again. “Getting clobbered will do that to you, I’m told.”

  “You what?” Day stared. “When were you attacked?”

  “Shortly after we stopped our shooting outside.” Derby was feeling sick, but he pushed it aside. “I’m fine, Doctor.”

  “You’re clearly not. You need to sit down so I can inspect the damage.”

  “You can do that later.” Easing away, Derby headed up the stairs. “Right now, I need to speak to Merseyside before he leaves.”

  Day fell into step beside him, holding onto Derby’s arm.

  “I thought you said all you needed to earlier.”

  “I thought I had.” Derby grimaced. Now he was feeling like a fool saying it all out loud. “I want to tell him that he can stay. I spoke too harshly earlier, and too much from the heart. I know Merseyside is a loyal man deep down, and he wouldn’t do anything to my sister.”

  Day was silent. Derby glanced at him, only to find the man staring at him.

  “What?”

  “That knock on the head did something to you.”

  “You could say that,” Derby grunted. They reached the landing, and Derby turned to walk into the east wing. “But he must keep his distance from Amy, and he must tell Sarah about it. Sarah won’t be happy, but he needs to. No secrets in a marriage. If he won’t, then he leaves, and I tell Sarah.”

  “You’re willing to break up your sister’s marriage and your friendship?”

  “I don’t want to, but I can’t keep this from Sarah.”

  Sarah was not going to be happy at all. Chances were she would be angry at Amy, but their friendship was strong; they could get through it. And Amy was a very loyal girl. She wouldn’t do anything to betray his sister.

  Or him.

  They reached Merseyside’s suite of rooms. Derby rapped on the door, but there was no sound of movement from inside. Chances were he was in his separate bedchamber. Derby entered the room and looked around. There was a trunk by the couch with the lid up, half-full of belongings, and there were some folded clothes on the couch.

  “Where’s Merseyside’s valet?” Day asked as he came in behind Derby. “Shouldn’t his valet be doing this?”

  “His valet was taken sick just before traveling, so Merseyside came here without a servant.” Derby frowned at the trunk. “He refused to allow anyone to help him, saying he would ask Sarah if needs be.”

  This didn’t look right. Merseyside could take care of himself, but he was never this tidy. Nothing was ever folded when he was involved. Sarah was the same. They were capable of doing things without servants being there to help them dress — Derby didn’t want to think about the two of them dressing or undressing each other — but they weren’t capable of keeping things neatly arranged.

  Derby’s gut said there was something wrong.

  He went over to Merseyside’s door and opened it, expecting to see his friend throwing his clothes onto the bed as he emptied the closet. Instead, he saw Merseyside on the floor at the foot of the bed.

  “Dear God! Kenneth!”

  Derby ran to him, falling to his knees. Merseyside was lying in a fetal position, and every part of his body looked like it had tightened up. His hands were curled almost into fists, and his flushed face was contorted into shock and pain. His eyes were wide open, sightlessly staring at Derby.

  “Oh, my God!”

  Day knelt beside him and pressed his fingers to Merseyside’s neck. Then he took out a small mirror and put it under Merseyside’s mouth. Nothing came up. The mirror was still as crystal clear as before.

  “He’s dead.” Day said grimly as he put the mirror away. “Has been for a while. I can’t say for sure.”

  “Dead?”

  Derby was shaking. He couldn’t believe it. He had only spoken to Merseyside a few hours before, and now he was curled up into a tight ball looking like he had had a massive shock.

  “What...who could have done something like this?”

  “It’s poison.” Day said, leaning over as he looked into Merseyside’s eyes. “I recognize the signs. Someone’s poisoned him.”

  The world began to tilt over. Derby swayed, and then he landed on the floor, still staring at Merseyside. He couldn’t look away. Things began to get out of focus, and Derby found himself falling onto his back.

  “Derby!”

  * * *

  “I hope your mother’s feeling better,” Sarah said as they climbed the stairs. “It’s scary to see her so ill.”

  “I know. But James is very good at looking after her.” Amy took her friend’s arm as Sarah slowed, helping her walk. “He won’t let anything happen to her.”

  “Why can’t he be your father?”

  Amy grunted.

  “I’ve wished that far too many times over the years.” Then Amy saw Beatrice appear at the top of the stairs. She groaned. “Oh, great. What now?”

  She had been successful in avoiding Beatrice since she had been rudely awakened. Clearly, her luck was not to last. Her stepmother hurried down the stairs towards them. It was then Amy saw how white the woman’s face was, the wildness in her eyes. Something had scared her, and it was enough to have her in a panic.

  “There you are, child! I was beginning to wonder where you were.” Beatrice grabbed Amy’s arm and shook her. “You must never wander off like that!”

  Amy pulled her arm away.

  “I’m with Lady Merseyside, Beatrice, and I’m not doing anything untoward, so you can stop with the lecture.”

  “Well, we can deal with that later.” Beatrice grabbed at her arm again. “We’re leaving. Now.”

  She started to drag Amy up the stairs, and in her surprise, Amy almost let her. She managed to grab onto the balustrade and stopped her stepmother’s stride.

  “What are you talking about? Why are we leaving?”

  “Miss Hartley is welcome to stay, Lady Hartley.” Sarah pointed out.

  “Not anymore.” Beatrice snapped. “Not with what’s just happened. Oh, lord, I can’t believe a scandal like this could happen. I know Lord Derby was trouble, but you wouldn’t listen to me. He’ll kill you, too.”

  “What are you talking about?” Amy demanded. “What do you mean, he’ll kill me?”

  Beatrice blinked at her.

  “You really don’t know? It must be all over the house by now. There’s been a murder here. And your precious earl found the body.”

  Amy stared. She thought she must have misheard. Derby had found a dead body?

  “I...a murder?” she squeaked. “Who? And how?”

  “From what the servants are saying, it was poison.” Beatrice started pulling Amy up the stairs again. “And if we don’t leave now, we’re all going to end up dead like the Marquis.”

  Amy heard a gasp and saw Sarah stood dead still. Her face went white as she stared at Beatrice.

  “My husband?” she murmured. “He...he’s dead?”

  “Dead as a doornail, I’m told.”

  Sarah began to shake. Then she broke into sobs. She sagged onto the stairs and started to wail, wrapping her arms around her waist. Amy glared at her stepmother.

  “How could you?”

  “What?”

  “She didn’t know her husband was dead! You cou
ld have been a bit more diplomatic!”

  “Never mind that. We need to leave before we end up dead as well.” Beatrice’s hand tightened on Amy’s arm. “Your father has got the servants packing our things, and we’ll be leaving within the hour.”