Silver Storm (The Raveneau Novels #1) (43 page)

Since Jane's death, however, Walter had begun
to make remarks that gave her chills, all the while staring into
her eyes and smiling. He hinted that she could be well taken care
of if she considered his needs as well as those of the little
girls, but his threats were always so subtly veiled that Adrienne
doubted her own instincts.

Once, when she had been climbing a tree with
Ellie and Beth, Walter had offered to help them down from the
lowest branch. He caught the girls, then insisted that Adrienne
fall into his arms—and when she did, he slid his hand under her
skirts while pressing her breasts to his ribs. His scent, a mixture
of sandalwood and strong spirits, caused Adrienne's stomach to
lurch.

Finally, there had been the night she awoke
from a deep sleep to the sound of her doorknob rattling. If she
hadn't taken the precaution of bolting her door, who knew what
might have happened? Yet, in the daylight, Adrienne wondered if it
had been a nightmare.

Many an hour she daydreamed about
surrendering to convention and either going home to the safety of
Chateau du Soleil and the love of her family, or joining London
society with her friends from Mrs. Harrington's Seminary for the
Daughters of Gentlemen. Anything would be preferable to this gloomy
place. Adrienne might be unconventional, but she wasn't a recluse.
If only there were a solution for Ellie and Beth...

Her bedchamber, though spacious, was dark,
cold, and lonely. Adrienne used her candle to light oil lamps on
the bureau, then turned toward the bed and nearly screamed
aloud.

"Good evening, my dear." Walter Frakes-Hogg
was sitting in a hard chair next to her bed, his coat lying near
her pillow. The lamplight played eerily over his long face and
tall, spare frame. Though only middle aged, he had prematurely
white hair, and drink had reddened the ends of his ears and
nose.

Her heart was hammering, but she strove for
composure. It wouldn't do to let him sense her terror. "I must ask
you not to enter my rooms uninvited, sir. If you like, I will speak
to you in the sitting room...."

"No. I like it here, and I make the rules.
Had you forgotten?" He drank from a glass on the nightstand and
loosened his cravat.

She hated the way he could smile and be evil
at the same time. "Why have you come home from Mrs. Halper's,
sir?"

"My sister-in-law means to move into the
house with us, to take care of the girls."

"But that's wonderful news! I think highly of
Mrs. Halper, and she will be able to give them so much that was
lost when their mother died."

"I don't want her here. I'd rather have just
you." His dark eyes glittered. "But she hasn't any money, no place
else to go. I came home early to think of a way to foil her
plan."

Adrienne felt dizzy with fear as she noticed
that Walter's speech was impaired by drink. Should she run from the
room? "Sir, you really must consider the needs of the children.
You're away a great deal, and they need the love of their
aunt."

"We'd rather have
your
love." He got
to his feet and advanced toward her. "I'm certain we can discuss
arrangements... hmm?" Bleary-eyed, Walter looked her up and down.
He began to unfasten his shirt, muttering, "Wouldn't you like
that?"

Before she could run for the door, he had
captured her wrist and was drawing her into his arms. Adrienne
realized that there was only one way to ensure her escape. She
returned his feral smile. "You are so commanding, sir."

"Ah, charming, charming." Boldly, he put a
hand on her breast. "We must get rid of these missish gowns you
favor, find something more revealing. You certainly have the shape
for it."

Bile rose in Adrienne's throat. "No man has
ever made me feel attractive until now."

"I can teach you things you never
imagined."

"Oh, sir, I—I feel faint." She backed away
from his looming mouth. "Can we sit down on the bed?"

"By all means, my dear girl! That's passion,
going to your head. Come to think of it, I feel a bit lightheaded
myself. Perhaps we ought to rest together...."

Adrienne watched him lie back. When his shirt
fell open, she saw a strawberry birthmark in the middle of his bony
white chest. There was a bulge in his trousers, and he was
breathing hard. "Sir?"

"Yes, my beauty?"

She sat down beside him. "I feel so shy. Will
you close your eyes and let me practice kissing you the first
time?"

Overcome by lust, Walter squeezed his groin
with one hand and put the other back on her breast. "Christ, you're
so young and firm. I can't stand it—"

"Close your eyes, sir," she whispered
coquettishly. When he obeyed, Adrienne reached under her pillow for
the dagger that she had placed there the night he'd tried to come
into her room. Now, trembling inside, she pushed it against his
flabby throat. "I despise you! You have tried to use power to have
your way with me, and I hate you for it. Now get up."

Disbelief and rage clashed in his eyes.
"Little strumpet! Give me that thing before I turn it back on
you."

"If you try, I'll kill you. I would have no
regrets."

"Don't be stupid. If you do this, I'll make
you pay!"

"There are ways I could make
you
pay
if you threaten me. Couldn't I ruin your reputation if I chose? Now
get up. Put your hands in the air. Higher!" Adrienne moved the
knifepoint to the middle of his back and poked it in far enough to
draw blood. "You know, I wish I could kill you. Your daughters
would be happier without you."

Something in her tone gave Walter Frakes-Hogg
pause. She meant it. He let her force him into the tiny dressing
room, then listened as she locked the door.

"You are going to be exceedingly sorry!" he
yelled.

"Save your breath. You'll never see me
again!" As she spoke, Adrienne dragged a satchel out from under her
bed. It had been packed and ready, just in case, since the day
she'd hidden the dagger under her pillow. Thank God for her darkest
suspicions! Now she stepped out of the room, locked the door, and
fled down the shadowy corridor. She would take the girls with her
in a hackney, drop them at Mrs. Halper's, and trust her to look
after them.

For her own part, Adrienne knew that she must
conceal her whereabouts from Walter Frakes-Hogg. He was capable of
all manner of revenge, for she had humiliated him in the worst way
a woman could humiliate a man.

As she got little Ellie and Beth out of their
beds and prayed that Walter wouldn't break free and kill them all,
Adrienne realized that she'd give anything to have her papa come to
her rescue.

* * *

"Won't you have a whiskey, Papa?" Adrienne
paused hopefully beside the celleret in the corner of her father's
sitting room. Nicholai Beauvisage was occupying an elegant suite in
the St. James Royal Hotel, but after a fortnight away from his
French chateau and Lisette, his beautiful wife of twenty-five
years, he was unappreciative of his surroundings. He wanted to
leave London—and take his daughter with him.

"I don't want a whiskey. I'll tell you what I
do
want—"

"You are frightfully edgy!" she interrupted
quickly. "Perhaps a drink would settle your nerves."

"I don't need whiskey to settle my nerves,"
Nicholai replied with a dark stare. "What I need is obedience and
respect from my wayward offspring!"

She blinked. "I detest the word 'obedience.'
While I was at school, Mrs. Harrington insisted that I must have
been
born
with a rebellious streak, since I could not
respond to her efforts to subdue my spirit."

"I suppose you mean to turn your behavior
back on
me
somehow!" He watched his daughter laugh and tried
not to betray the softening of his heart. Gad, but Adrienne was
magical—an effervescent mixture of beauty, keen wits, blind
courage, and sheer charm. Who could resist the sight of her, with
her chestnut curls caught up in a soft Grecian knot, her
thick-lashed green eyes sparkling with mischief, and her dimples
setting off a flawless, creamy complexion? If she could cultivate
manners to match her appearance, eligible men would clamor for her
hand in marriage, and then someone else could worry about her
safety.

"I recognize that wistful expression, Papa,"
Adrienne said more gently. Joining him on the Sheraton settee, she
patted his hand. "I know that you still hope to convince me to
return to France with you—"

"My dear, when you wrote to us last month,
you didn't seem to need convincing. If you're in danger here in
London, why have you changed your mind?"

"It was just a passing mood, Papa. I'm
feeling much braver now, and I know that a quiet existence at
Chateau du Soleil wouldn't make me happy. Nor am I suited to
marriage, so you may as well cease gazing off into space and
dreaming that I will be transformed into a proper member of London
society." Adrienne leaned her head on his shoulder, as she had as a
little girl. "We've had this same conversation every day since you
came to London to take me home. Just because I am finished with
school does not mean that I must either marry or live with you and
Maman in France!"

"You are aging me decades each day," Nicholai
lamented.

"Why can't you trust me to manage my own
life?"

"Perhaps because you have gotten into one
scrape after another ever since you were old enough to walk!"

"If you are referring again to that silly
adventure I had when I ran away from Miss Harrington's school,
please do not." Adrienne's cheeks were pink as the past returned,
unbidden. It was embarrassing to think that she and her friend
Venetia Hedgecoe could have foolishly fallen in with a woman like
Mrs. Sykes, who took them in and promised to introduce them to
London society. However, the lavish parties she'd taken them to had
been filled with conniving, debauched men who had plotted to steal
the girls' innocence. Mrs. Sykes had been searching for "suitors"
for Adrienne who would pay for her lascivious brand of
matchmaking.

"By the look on your face, my dear, I surmise
that I still do not know the true extent of your imbroglio." Even
four years later, Nicholai's torment was fresh.

"I escaped unscathed and I've grown up
tremendously since then, Papa. I would never do anything so foolish
now, but I did learn some important lessons, especially about men.
They can be charming, attentive, and cultured, but in the end they
try to use their male dominance to achieve their selfish ends. I
would rather take care of myself than trust a man."

Frustrated, Nicholai nearly poured himself a
whiskey. "I would not judge all men against the standard of
Frakes-Hogg or those you met through Mrs. Sykes! When I hear you
talk this way, I only worry more."

"I am nearly twenty-one, Papa: a grown
woman." Stubbornly Adrienne continued, "I have supported myself
since school as a governess, and although that situation ended
badly I do not intend to surrender and retreat from a life of
self-sufficiency. You insisted that I receive a proper education,
and I am grateful. I can make my own way in the world."

Nicholai's face grew stormy as he thought of
the villainous Walter Frakes-Hogg. Adrienne's letter had only
hinted that he had made unwanted advances toward her and that she
had made him angry when she fled, taking his daughters to the home
of his sister-in-law. What
hadn't
she told him?

"But what of Frakes-Hogg?" Nicholai said in
low tones. "Has he not threatened you?"

She shrugged, eyes flashing. "I was a
little
afraid when I wrote to you, but I have since realized
that Walter is a coward. I am not afraid of him, but he is afraid
of
me
—and the damage I could do his reputation!"

"For God's sake, Adrienne!"

"Never mind." Her pretty chin set in a hard
line. "I have decided to accept another post. I will be able to
leave London and Walter will have no idea where I've gone. There's
no need to worry from this moment forward."

"What's this all about?"

"I have been offered a wonderful position as
a companion to Lady Thomasina Harms, the ancient widowed mother of
that exceedingly handsome dandy, Huntsford Harms." She gave
Nicholai a grin. "Perhaps he will fall madly in love with me at
first sight, propose, and take me off your hands, Papa!" Noting
that he was not amused by this sally, Adrienne hastened to add,
"I'm only teasing. Lady Harms has informed me that, should I accept
her offer of employment, we will depart immediately for her grand
estate in Hampshire, where we shall languish for weeks—"

"I thought you'd be dead bored by such a
routine," he put in.

"This is different. I will be
paid
for
my boredom, thus maintaining my independence. And Harms Castle has
one of the most extensive libraries in all of England! I shall
immerse myself in the role of scholar."

It all sounded utterly mad to Nicholai. "What
about this fellow Huntsford Harms? If he is there, and his mother
is a decrepit widow, you'll find yourself in a compromising
position again, my dear."

"I was only teasing, Papa. Huntsford Harms
will doubtless be ensconced for the entire Season in her ladyship's
house in Cavendish Square, thrilled to death to have his mother out
of the way so that he can indulge himself in peace. You know how
self-absorbed the nobility are." Adrienne waved a hand airily.

He blinked, waiting.

"In any event, I can take care of myself.
Haven't I proven that yet?" She jumped up and stood before the pier
glass, smoothing her blue spencer and white muslin skirts. "Now I
must go, Papa. I have an appointment with Lady Harms to deliver my
decision to become her companion after all. She'll be
delighted!"

He put a large sum of money into her
reticule. "Indulge me, won't you? Buy yourself some new gowns."