She turned to face him, completely naked, and he gulped at the sight of her maiden beauty – the rounded perfect breasts, the soft white skin, the fair curls between her legs.
Unable to control himself any longer, the Duke filled his hands with her breasts and pressed his mouth to her swanlike neck. She moaned with desire as she felt his large stiff member under the fabric of his clothes. She reached down and tugged at the waistband of his trousers, and he removed them at once, revealing the extent of his desire.
She had always known he was handsome, and she remembered seeing a woman leave his bedchamber once. She had caught a glimpse of him standing there half-dressed, and she had felt herself blush then, but now, as he stood before her in the nude, so close that she could stick out her tongue and taste him – it was a thrill she had never imagined.
She reached out and pressed her palms flat against his strong, broad chest. He smiled at her, and she smiled back, her mind going back to the woman she had seen leaving his chambers. She had been tall and slender and beautiful in an older, more experienced manner. She wondered what wiles and charms those women learned before keeping noblemen company in their beds, and she suddenly feared that she had no knowledge with which to please him.
She looked fearfully at him for a second, unsure of what she was to do. In all her time working with the housekeepers, she had heard them talking scandalously about sexual relations, but Abigail herself had so far been untouched by a man, and she was afraid of making a fool of herself.
“Your Grace, I have never before – she trailed off, embarrassed.
“Fear not, sweet Abigail. I will be gentle.”
“What if I don’t please you?”
“That is impossible – if you could only see yourself the way I do.”
He kissed her, pressing himself against her and slowly leading her to the bed. He pushed down gently on the bed until she lay before him, and then he pushed her legs open, gazing down upon her womanhood, as he felt himself pulsating with urgency.
He lowered himself onto her, kissing her lips as he pushed into her, joining himself in physical union with her. She cried out first in pain and then in pleasure, locking her eyes onto his as she opened her mouth and moaned. The Duke felt the nubile young body under his, and for the first time in ages felt as though he was truly making love and not just going through the motions.
Abigail received him shyly at first but soon showed enthusiasm as she took him deep into her and threw her arms around his neck. The Duke took immense satisfaction in pleasuring her, and when Abigail closed her eyes and threw her head back, he knew she was close to climaxing.
Abigail arched her back in ecstasy and let out a deep moan, and the Duke pushed himself further into her, letting his tongue trail across her neck and down to her perfect breasts. He left kisses on her navel and down her arms and then gripped in the raw agony of the moment, emptied himself into her as he too reached climax.
He fell off her and collapsed onto his bed next to her, the sweat on their skins cooling in the chilly night air. She looked at him with an expression of insecurity, and he propped himself on one elbow as he looked at her.
“Did I hurt you?”
She shook her head at once.
“No, Your Grace. I … I have never felt so alive before.”
The Duke felt a wide smile spreading on his face, and he kissed her hard, pressing his mouth to hers. After they parted, the Duke pulled her close to him, her back and bottom pressed to his front, and throwing an arm around her small, fragile body, he slept more peacefully than he had in a long time.
Abigail lay there in the dark, feeling the Duke’s warm chest rising and falling gently as he slept, and she thought again about how she had felt when he had pierced his way into her, She had not bled as much as she thought she would have, and it had been nearly painless. After listening to the Duke’s breath in her ear for a few minutes, she closed her eyes and snuggled up against him, letting sleep carry her off into the world of dreams.
The night grew darker, and all was quiet in the mansion. Dawn came gradually, its light filtering through the curtains shone gently on the sleeping lovers’ faces. She awoke first, and her gaze drifted slowly and lovingly over his face. She quietly slipped out of his arms and dressing hastily left the room. A few moments later, she was on her way home as the sun rose above the snow-clad trees and made them shine.
Chapter 14
The Earl paced up and down in the grounds outside his mansion. He cracked his knuckles nervously and muttered under his breath. A while later the steward approached him.
“Breakfast is served, My Lord,” he said.
“Is the lady ready?” he asked.
“Yes, My Lord,” was the reply.
The Earl rapidly entered the dining hall and stood there an instant studying Abigail as she sat calmly at the table.
“It is exceedingly kind of you to join me for breakfast!” he said sarcastically.
She looked at him unmoved. “Do sit down and begin, or it will grow cold,” she replied.
He sat down and let the servant fill his plate but failed to touch anything, watching Abigail instead as she ate. “You appear to have worked up a healthy appetite overnight,” he remarked.
“Yes, well, I had not eaten anything since lunch yesterday. I was too disturbed by the events that took place on my way home in the evening,” she replied.
“Yet you chose to stay at the Duke’s mansion instead of hurrying home and seeking comfort in the company of your cousin,” he said.
Abigail looked up and saw plainly the jealousy smouldering in his eyes. She sighed and said,
“It was late, and I was nervous about going home in the dark with a masked assassin hiding in the trees. In any case, I am home now, and I intend to spend this day here talking with you, cousin.”
“My dear, it is not as simple as that. Have you no idea the censure you have exposed yourself to by spending the night at the Duke’s mansion? How could you have let him keep you there?”
“Who shall censure me, cousin? No one knows who I am. You haven’t really thrown a ball to announce the arrival of your cousin, the daughter of the Marquis, in your household. Perhaps the servants know, but I am sure you do not care about that.”
“Foolish girl! I know, and I cannot bear it! Heavens that you should thus fall into the bed of the man I despise most in this world! That too after dodging me who has more right than him …”
He stopped as he saw Abigail stand up abruptly, her cheeks flushing, and her eyes flaming with rage.
“No man has any right over me, and I am your manager. You shall not dictate my behaviour.” She spoke evenly without raising her voice.
The Earl jumped up too and picking up a goblet hurled it to the ground so that it smashed into thousands of pieces.
“You are mine! I took you in! I gave you a place in my business, and I trusted you with the job of managing my workers and making sure the Duke did not regain the power that he had lost! You have plotted with him against me, and now he is slowly compensating his losses. I could have put up with that, but now you want to share his bed! What is it that he has and I have not?”
He approached her with his arms out. “Just once let me take you in my arms and taste your lips …”
Abigail picked up a knife and pointed it at him. “Do not forget, dear cousin, that the only reason I did not leave the last time you thus accosted me was because you begged not to be left alone. I have no need for your job or the shelter you provide. I would be quite content living alone in a hut as a miner’s daughter would.”
The Earl stopped, and his arms dropped to his sides. He fell to his knees and grimaced as if in pain.
“You are cruel cousin; perhaps it is my fate to be hated by those I love. My father would beat and abuse me daily. My mother was indifferent to me. I used to admire the Duke when we were children together. I thought he was my friend, but he mocked my fear of hunting. He grew into a fine, tall, straight lad, and my f
ather was consumed with jealousy whenever he saw him. Had he shown the least bit of compassion, I would not have grown to despise him. All those years ago, he turned my own father against me, and now he will take you away too!”
Abigail sat down and placed the knife by her plate.
“No one shall take me away. I told you before I would remain here as your manager and a friend but nothing more. I think I have much improved your business returns, regardless of my methods. If you are not satisfied, you can let me go.”
“I cannot let you go, and well you know it! Take care that you keep your vow to me else the Duke of Northumberland may live to rue the day he laid eyes on you!”
Having delivered this threat, the Earl walked out of the room leaving Abigail in a thoughtful mood. She had at first been about to retort that his threats would have no power over her, but it occurred to her that she ought to hold her tongue. She did not after all know the extent of her cousin’s outreach, and it was obvious that an attempt had already been made on the Duke’s life. For all she knew, it might have been the Earl who was responsible.
The Earl shut himself up in his study and brooded over his wrongs. He could not understand what hold the Duke had over Abigail. Neither could he explain what it was about Abigail that turned him into a shivering, whining wreck. Had anyone else been in her place, he would already have turned that person out of his house for failing to uphold the terms of their agreement. Yet whenever he saw Abigail, all he could think about was how he desired to possess her. He rang the bell and summoning his steward called for Samuel Cooper.
“The attempt you made on the Duke’s life has failed as you must know. I am giving you just one more chance. He must die, and I must take control of Abigail!”
Samuel Cooper assured the Earl of his cooperation. Outside the study door, Abigail turned away to return to her room, her face unusually pale.
Chapter 15
The Duke awoke and stretched out his arm to touch Abigail. He quickly realised that Abigail was not there. Getting out of bed, he cursed himself for sleeping so soundly and for so long that he had not been aware of her leaving.
He knew now that he was loved in return just as much as he loved Abigail. He longed to see her again and wondered how he would accomplish that. Getting dressed hastily, he called for Tobias.
As the day passed and the Duke went about his business, he felt as if the time would never come. At last, he was seated in his library ready to write to Abigail. In front of him lay a ring that had belonged to his grandmother. The large ruby set with emeralds gleamed in the candlelight as he lifted the pen and began the letter.
Dearest Abigail,
Words cannot describe the desolation I felt when I awoke this morning and found you gone. Why did not you wait for me? If you were in a hurry, one word would have woken me. Whatever the reason may be, it is clear that I cannot spend much more time in this world in this manner. I must have you by my side permanently, secure in the knowledge that you will not disappear at a moment’s notice. I imagine it would be convenient for you too, to know that your home is with me and nowhere else.
With the desire to make you irrevocably mine, I send you this ring that belonged to my grandmother and ask for your hand in marriage. Please send an answer back by the messenger and let me know whether I can start the preparations for our wedding feast immediately or whether I need to wait a little longer. There is no doubt in my mind that you are my wife and, therefore, I will not entertain the possibility of your refusal. I remain ever yours
Augustus Eldridge,
Duke of Northumberland
He folded the letter and sealed it, then gave it to Tobias who set off immediately to deliver it. The Duke waited impatiently for the return of his messenger.
Meanwhile, Abigail paced up and down her room, wondering what to do. She knew that the Duke’s life was in danger and that the Earl was responsible. It seemed the only way to be rid of the threat was to speak with the Earl and vow to forsake the Duke forever more. Perhaps then he could be persuaded to leave the Duke alone. However, she also knew that it would be difficult to persuade the Duke that she had no intention of ever uniting with him. How could she lie to him about her feelings when her eyes betrayed her? In his presence, she lost all control of herself.
So it was that when the letter arrived for her, sent up by Tobias through a housemaid, she was almost grateful. She knew it would be far easier to refuse the Duke’s offer in a letter than in person. She slipped the ring on her finger for the first and the last time.
I wish I could accept this ring, she thought. Resolutely, she took it off and put it back with the letter. Then she slipped outside to where Tobias stood waiting.
“Tell him no; I cannot accept this ring,” she said.
Tobias looked at her and replied, “The Duke said to ask you to wear the ring around your neck if not on your finger, for he will not accept no as an answer.”
Abigail sighed and said, “Tell him, to keep it for my sake and to never come looking for me again. My loyalties lie with the Earl who needs me to maintain his sanity.”
Tobias bowed and left to go back to the Duke while Abigail returned to her room. She sat there thinking a while before she decided to go and speak with the Earl. As she approached his study, she heard him speaking in a low voice.
“The Duke must die. It doesn’t matter whether Abigail pledges to remain always with me or not. I cannot bear to know that he lives and breathes in this world. How will you go about it, Samuel?”
“Do not worry, My Lord; one way or another it will be done. No matter how long it takes, I will succeed. At present, my idea is to make an attempt on Christmas Eve, two days from now. The Duke intends to invite the miners to his residence. One of them shall poison his drink.”
“What about Abigail? How can I compel her to satisfy my desire?”
“With this powder, My Lord. You must mix it in her drink at night and then she shall fall asleep allowing you the opportunity to do with her as you will …”
Abigail could hear no more. She felt faint and sick. Slowly she turned around and walked away.
“How could I have been so foolish as not to recognise the evil that lies in the Earl? He is not just a difficult, childish and slightly insane man. He is a criminal capable of any atrocity.”
She went to bed early that night and tossed and turned for a long while before she had decided what to do. Then at last, she fell asleep as the first rays of the morning sun entered her room.
Chapter 16
Christmas Eve arrived, and the Duke’s mansion glittered in the night like a huge glass ball. Lamps had been lined up along every pathway leading to the house, and the main hall had been decorated with wreaths and mistletoe. A long, low table in the centre of the room was laden with food and delicacies such as sweetmeats, mince pies, and roast fowl. A huge Christmas tree hung with glass baubles, candy cane, and gingerbread men stood in the corner.
The Duke stood at the door greeting everyone who arrived. The miners and their families came with scrubbed faces gleaming in the light from the lamps, dressed in their Sunday best. They talked and laughed as they ate and then joined in the dancing afterwards. Several miners, who could play various instruments such as the flute and the fiddle, sat in a corner playing.
In the midst of all the noise and merriment, the Duke talked and laughed loudly as if he had not a care in the world. There were few there who saw through the forced cheerfulness and knew that the Duke was not happy. One of these was the butler, Alfred, and another was a young woman who wore a simple grey dress and a hood over her hair. She sat alone in a corner with her head bowed so that hardly anyone could see her face. Several young men asked her to dance, but she refused. The butler noticed that she appeared to be watching all the guests as they arrived and greeted the Duke.
It grew late, and the guests started taking their leave. A young man approached the Duke bowing and expressing his gratitude.
“Will you take a drink with me,
Your Grace?” he asked.
“I have already drunk so much I am ready to burst,” exclaimed the Duke. Still the young man insisted, and so the Duke agreed, taking a glass of punch from his hand. He raised it and held it to his lips, but before he could drink, the young woman in the grey dress who had been watching rushed forwards. She rapidly reached out and dashed the glass from the Duke’s hand. The Duke caught her hand and stood staring at her as the young man set his own glass down and rushed out with Tobias hot on his heels.
“Abigail! I knew you could not stay away from me!” exclaimed the Duke.
“Hush, I only came because I knew the Earl had plotted to poison you!”
At that moment, Tobias and Alfred came back with the man between them.
Regency Romance Collection Page 6
