A Lady Betrayed (23 page)

She laughed aloud.

Then he turned his head, and she heard it, too: the slight creak of her father's wheeled chair in the hallway, and then Felicity, bless her, speaking rather loudly.

“Of course, the Greeks were much more accomplished architects, don't you think?”

She would be trying to give them warning.

Maddie hastily grabbed some hairpins from the chessboard and twisted her thick mane of hair back and up into a hasty knot once more, untidy though it might be.

She was so concerned with that—thank goodness nothing had been unbuttoned, she thought—that only when her father and Felicity were actually inside the room did she remember that she and Adrian were supposed to be playing chess. They had never moved a game piece.

She looked down at the board, expecting it to give them away. She saw instead that several pieces were arranged across the squares, and Adrian sat with his hand on a bishop as if he had been seriously contemplating a move. Trust her fiancé to remember the details, she thought with relief.

“Who is winning?” her father asked jovially from across the room.

“Not me, I assure you,” she said. “I fear that my skill at chess remains the same as it was the last time I tried to learn.” And that was the literal truth!

The viscount smiled at her. “You are too harsh on yourself,” he said. “I think you have many skills.”

“Thank you, my lord,” she said, trying to keep her tone demure and not blush. “You're too kind.” And when her father turned his chair and his attention away, she favored her mischievous fiancé with a playful kick under the table.

He grinned back at her.

They were soon drawn into a general conversation about the history the other two had been discussing. Madeline found once again that the viscount was as informed on as many subjects as her father, and conversant on all her favorite topics.

Suddenly it seemed the day had flown, and they were sitting down to dinner. As she looked out into the gathering dusk, her heart seemed to contract. Time had defeated her again. She had wanted to stop it, gather it together, hold it back—and always it ran before her. Soon it would take Adrian away.

After dinner, they were about to bring out the cards when there was a knock at the front door. Bess went to answer, and Maddie heard the sound of men's voices. She moved to the doorway of the sitting room and looked out to see what was happening. The viscount had already brushed past her; he seemed to be listening to a couple of villagers who stood with hats in hand and eager expressions. Eyes bright with anticipation, they talked quickly.

What was this about? Maddie watched as Adrian took coins from his pocket and handed over an unseen amount to each man, to their obvious satisfaction. Then he spoke to them again briefly and shut the door behind them when they turned on their heels and hurried out.

Wearing a thoughtful expression, he turned, too, though he seemed headed for the stairwell instead of back to the sitting room. When he saw her waiting in the doorway, his brow cleared.

“Good,” Adrian said, “you are here. Please excuse me to your father and Mrs. Barlow. I have some news I have to check out.”

“What is it?” she asked, alarmed.

“While not as extensive as your idea of rallying the neighborhood, I did try to do what I could to find our mysterious intruder, my love. I have hired a dozen villagers to watch at selected points around the area ever since we have had reason to suspect that my cousin was here. I hoped they might note an unknown person lurking, one preparing to execute a surprise attack.”

“Oh, wonderful,” Madeline cried, “and they have located him?”

“They think they have found traces of an outsider, a man whose appearance matches the description given by Mrs. Barlow,” Adrian told her.

“Oh?” Maddie paused, puzzled. “But I don't see the connection between your mad cousin and Mrs. Barlow's gypsy.”

“Nor do I, frankly, but right now, we can't wait until we figure it out,” the viscount pointed out. “I have to go; I will be back as soon as I can.”

“Oh, take care,” she said, wanting so badly to reach out and hold him back that she had to curl her hands into fists to keep herself from grabbing him.

He leaned forward and gave her a quick kiss, turned and opened the front door, and stepped into the darkness.

And he was gone.

She went back to the sitting room and told her father and Felicity, and then, unable to sit still, went to the kitchen and helped Bess make tea. She felt numb inside. If the viscount could find his cousin and, with the help of the men he had hired, bring him to the local magistrate and see him arrested, they might at last be free of his long-standing threat, the cousin's enormous, unbalanced hatred. Then she and Adrian would be free to live together as man and wife and enjoy their love for each other—at least until the pieces of the bullet in his body migrated to his heart and killed him.

The idea of a silent killer biding its time within his own body made her want to weep. Even if they found the traitorous cousin, now there was a second and more deadly enemy. How could they defeat the unbeatable foe he carried within him?

Deal with one enemy at a time, she told herself. She couldn't think about more than that, not now.

She paced up and down the threadbare rug in the sitting room. Her father and Felicity watched with pity in their eyes. But she could no longer attempt to cloak the anxiety that filled her mind and overflowed her body until she thought she might pound her fists against the wall and scream until in far-off London, the poor mad king himself—deaf or no—could hear her.

“Would you like more tea?” Felicity asked, her voice anxious and her forehead creased. She looked ready to wring her hands, too.

“No, thank you.” Feeling guilty about inflicting such distress on her friend and family, Maddie tried to sit down and not try her friend's composure as well as her own, but she found it impossible. In a moment, she popped up again, unable to sit quietly when she had no idea what was happening to the viscount. Was he safe? She could picture Adrian gliding up to surprise his cousin and being waylaid himself instead. Shots ringing out, blood flowing, Adrian in distress, his lifeblood slipping away. She put her hands to her head trying to prevent these horrible images from flooding through her mind.

“Perhaps a sip or two of brandy?” her father suggested. He also sounded concerned as he watched her wander up and down.

When she shook her head, he added, “I'm sure the viscount is proceeding with courageous and intelligent caution, Madeline.”

She smiled, knowing that her father was trying to soothe her. But she could not be still, and she continued to pace, looking out the windows into the dark night, going now and then into the hall to stare at the front door and listen for the sound of the knocker, which remained adamantly still.

When the eleventh hour struck on the clock in the sitting room, her father said, “I think we should all at least prepare for bed. You still have a wedding scheduled for tomorrow, my dear.”

“To have a successful wedding, one needs both a bride and a groom,” Maddie pointed out, trying to smile at her feeble attempt at a jest, but finding herself unable to lift her lips—they felt as if they were frozen, numb.

“Lord Weller will no doubt return soon,” her father said, his tone firm. “But in the meantime, you should attempt to get some sleep.”

Sure that she would never be able to shut her eyes, Maddie went reluctantly upstairs with Felicity. They separated on the landing and she went to her own room, where Bess had brought up warm water. She washed and changed into her nightgown. She had had hopes of one more night of lovely, if illicit, lovemaking with Adrian, and instead, here she was, alone and consumed with worry. At least tomorrow night—oh, please let tomorrow night be a wonderful wedding night of love and joy, she prayed as she braided her hair before bed.

Just let him be safe, she prayed. God keep him safe!

When she was ready for bed, she opened her bedroom door again so that she could more easily hear any sound from downstairs, nor could she bear to quench the candle on her bedside table.

She climbed into bed and sat there, her back against the pillows and a book on her knees, but she could not focus on the lines of print. Instead she listened hard to every small sound that resonated through the quiet house.

It seemed as if hours—no, days—had passed when at last, she heard the thud of the door knocker. Throwing a wrapper over her nightgown, Maddie ran to the staircase. As she hurried down the steps, she heard other doors open. Everyone had been listening for the knocker, too, it seemed. But she beat them all to the front door.

When she pulled back the bolt, she trembled with nervous anticipation until she saw that it was the viscount who stood in the doorway.

With a wordless cry of joy, she threw herself into his arms. He was icy cold and smelled of outdoors and sweat and horsehair, and she did not care at all.

“Here, here,” he murmured. “I am cold and muddy, my love; you will be drenched through and through.”

She could indeed feel the icy wetness of his clothes penetrating her nightgown and chilling her body, but she didn't mind. Just the fact that he was alive and apparently unhurt left her nearly delirious with happiness.

“I was so worried!” she told him, her voice trembling. “I was so afraid for you.”

“I know.” He stroked her hair. “Here now, you've bundled up that lovely hair again,” he said into her ear.

She gave a shaky giggle.

Behind her, she heard her father's chair as he maneuvered it out of his bedchamber. Felicity had come to the head of the stairs, a shawl wrapped around her nightdress, and even Bess stood peering around the end of the hallway.

“Did you have any luck, my lord?” John Applegate asked.

“Sadly, no,” Adrian said. “We thought once we had trapped him in a farmer's barn, but he slipped away before we could close all the entrances. The devil rode for dear life, and we lost him in the darkness. When our horses could run no further, we had to give up and return.”

She looked up at him and saw how defeat creased his forehead. She could hear the bitter disappointment in his voice.

“It can't be helped.” Her father sounded disheartened, too. “Best get some sleep. It will be dawn soon.”

The viscount nodded.

There would be no private time for the two of them tonight, Maddie knew, sharing a glance with her fiancé. And tomorrow—or today, really—today was her wedding day!

Now that she was assured of the viscount's safety, she thought she might sleep at last. She went back to her bedchamber and shut the door, climbing into bed and pulling the covers up, trying to get warm again.

At least she had had none of her sick headaches to interfere with her wedding day, Maddie thought idly. Suddenly she sat straight up in bed and counted on her fingers.

Oh, good lord, surely not. She counted again.

It couldn't be. Could it? Perhaps it was indeed a good thing she would be properly married today!

Now she found it truly impossible to shut her eyes. She lay in the dark for an interminable time until at last her lids closed. She felt as if she had just dropped off to sleep when Bess came bustling into her room with a cup of tea and a plate of toast.

“Mustn't be late for yer own wedding!” the maidservant said, her tone cheerful as she set down the tray. “Ah, I just wish yer sweet mum had lived to see today!”

Maddie blinked. “Yes, so do I, Bess, so do I.” She sat up in bed and took a sip of the hot tea. Her wedding day…

What was the viscount thinking? And where was his mad cousin—was he still lurking about? Had Adrian set guards against him? Surely he would think of precautions to keep the man from disrupting their wedding. She must talk to Adrian, about that, and—and other things.

“I must talk to the viscount,” she said, thinking aloud.

Bess looked scandalized. “Oh, no, miss, not on yer wedding morning! That's bad luck to see the groom before the ceremony.”

“I'll have to chance it,” Maddie said. But when she rose and put a wrapper on over her nightgown so she could walk down the hall to the other bedroom, she found that the viscount had already gone downstairs.

Hesitating to go down before she dressed, she sent Bess to fetch the viscount. The servant came back with word that the groom had already breakfasted and left for the church.

Frowning, Maddie told herself that should mean he was going early to check out the building and its surroundings. Meanwhile Bess had gone to great trouble to set up a hip bath that Maddie wanted to enjoy before the water cooled. So she had her bath, washed her long hair and brushed it before the fire to dry, then Felicity helped her curl it and pin it up. Finally Maddie prepared to don her new wedding dress, so carefully sewn by the dressmaker in Ripon, and the matching cape and bonnet.

Felicity was there to help, and Bess popped in and out.

“Such a shame yer sisters are not 'ere,” the longtime Applegate servant said.