The Reluctant Suitor (82 page)

“ ‘Twill do you no good to shake your fists at God, Roger,” she quipped with a full measure of sarcasm.

“Perhaps you’d better aim your fury in the opposite direction, for I’d be willing to guess that in the not-too-distant future you’ll be in the netherworld, screaming in agony as the devil’s welcoming heat singes your hide.”

“What devil?” Roger scoffed in rampant derision as he turned a sneer upon her. “You don’t believe in those old wives’ tales, do you?”

She smiled complacently. “When I look into your eyes, Roger, I see vivid proof that the devil exists, because right this very moment I can see how successful he has been at bedeviling you.”

The miller stalked toward her threateningly, but again, she stood her ground. He lifted an arm to backhand her, but she raised her chin with all the pride she could muster, hoping he couldn’t discern how violently she trembled.

“You seem to enjoy abusing women, Roger,” she dared to taunt, despite the intense glower flaming in those green eyes. “Why is that? Didn’t you love your mother? From the little you’ve told me about your past, I can only believe you did, so why this hatred of women?”

“You don’t know what I’ve had to suffer beneath their cruel devices,” he sneered, lowering his arm as if the idea of beating her senseless right then and there was inconvenient for him. “Had you that knowledge, you’d be pitying me instead of heaping your sympathy on those whom you claim I’ve abused.”

“Then tell me, and perhaps I’d be able to feel more compassion for you.”

“Who wants your compassion?” he jeered. “I wanted your love, and you refused to give it. I have no need of your pity.”

“Everyone needs a little pity now and then, Roger,” she reasoned. “If we were all infallible, we wouldn’t need anything or anybody. We’d be towers of perfection and piety unto ourselves, and we all know that isn’t possible.”

“I could’ve used more of someone’s benevolence in the orphanage, but there was none to be had. I was starved, beaten, hung by my wrists until I was sure my arms were being torn from their sockets, but did I get mercy when I pleaded and sobbed for it? Ha! Miss Tittle beat me with a rod until blood oozed from my lacerated back. That day I swore to wreak vengeance upon that bitch and her minions, and I had it, too. If there
is
a hell, then I’m sure they’re writhing in it now.”

Shivering at his cold-bloodedness, Adriana had serious cause to wonder after listening to his ranting if there was any end to the wickedness he had committed. “You killed the women at the orphanage?”

Flicking his brows upward above a lazy smile, he slowly waggled his head. “Not all at once, you understand, but that’s where I learned the benefits of poison . . . rat poison, to be exact . . . arsenic, if

you will. I made everyone there think there was an epidemic going around, except, oddly enough, it was only happening in the home where I had been imprisoned. There were five altogether I killed there, and no one
ever
became mindful of what had been done to them. No one ever thought to look at the supplies of rat poison. We had lots of those foul critters running around, and many’s a time the orphans had to eat their droppings right along with whatever was cooked for them from the stores of vittles those vermin had been chewing on.”

Adriana clasped a hand over her mouth as her gorge came threateningly close to erupting. Her whitish pallor drew a smirk from the apprentice.

“If you think I exaggerate, my dear, then you should visit some of the orphanages in London sometime. I’

m sure you’ll see much the same thing.”

The sound of a carriage arriving in the drive in front of the entrance steps down below brought Roger spinning around in sudden alarm. Adriana seized her chance, fearing what would happen if she didn’t warn the arriving party of the dangers that awaited them.

The miller may have been fast, but, even as a child, Adriana had played enough games of tag with Samantha and other children to know how to skirt around an extended hand, which was precisely how Roger sought to catch hold of her. He missed on his first attempt, and when he lunged toward her again, she whirled quickly about, causing him to lurch off balance as he found nothing in his arms but thin air. He teetered on one leg, trying to regain his equilibrium as she scurried toward the front entrance, all the while screaming at the top of her lungs in an effort to warn the ones who were about to enter.

Colton hadn’t been able to wait until the landau came to rest. He had flung open the carriage door and lit at a run toward the stone steps, bolted up them three at a time, and arrived at the front door in a frantic attempt to abate the nagging dread that had haunted him all the way from London. Throwing open the door, he charged inward to find Adriana racing toward the entrance with the miller stumbling and sliding on the marble floor behind her. Colton raced toward his wife and, wrapping his arms about her, swung her around out of harm’s way, just as Roger launched himself off the floor in an effort to tackle her and take her down. The best the miller caught was her slipper, which readily slid off her foot as he fell to earth.

Colton pushed Adriana toward the entrance, bidding her to leave, and turned to lunge at the man. Alas, Roger snatched forth a loaded pistol from his coat, the sights of which he quickly directed toward the face of the retired colonel.

“Twitch your lip and I’ll put another hole in your head right above the one you call a mouth,” the younger man warned with a snide smile.

Colton had no choice but to spread his arms. Even so, he stepped this way and that to keep his wife safely behind him though she sought in desperation to move around in front of him. “Stay where you are, Adriana,” he bade sharply. “If you don’t, I’ll have to attack him!”

Rising cautiously from the floor, Roger smirked at them. “So quaint the way you two are trying to save each other, but ‘twill do neither of you any good. Before I leave here, you’ll both be dead, and this time I

’ll be the one who’ll be laughing in triumph.”

“Why must you kill Adriana?” Colton demanded. “She has never done you any harm.”

Roger shrugged, as if somewhat amused by the man’s question. “I’m afraid your wife must pay for making the wrong choice. You see, she chose you over me, and I won’t take any of your leavings, especially since she has your brat growing inside her. You’ll both die, and the babe right along with you.

Actually, you could say that I’ve had my revenge upon this household in many different ways. First Lord Sedgwick”—he chortled as Colton’s eyes narrowed ominously—“then the dogs . . .”—he watched the man glance in surprise at his wife, who nodded sadly—“and, of course, ‘twill give me the greatest pleasure to do away with you, milord. That will truly be an achievement I can revel in for many a year to come. A decorated hero who fought under Wellington. Forsooth, dealt a death blow by a simple miller.

How sad, they’ll lament. Then, finally, my beautiful Adriana, whom I will truly regret losing, but there’s no help for it, you see. If left to live, she’ll manage to tell someone of my deeds eventually, and I can’t allow that to happen. I must protect myself.”

A sound thoroughly familiar to both Colton and Adriana made them peer curiously beyond the miller. A smile tracing across the manly lips caused Roger’s hackles to rise, and then he heard it, too, the sound of toenails clicking against the marble floor.

Startled, he twisted half around to look behind him, and immediately his breath was snatched sharply inward as he saw the lone figure standing at the arched entrance separating the great hall from the vestibule. There stood Leo, the largest of the wolfhounds, with his hackles erect, his head lowered at a menacing depth, and his fangs bared in a sinister grin. The low growl that issued forth from the canine’s throat caused Roger to scramble frenetically about as he sought to find a place of safety. He saw the door of the drawing room ahead of him, but in his haste, his metal-clad soles seemed inclined to slip on the marble floor. He just couldn’t seem to get enough traction to move, much less advance. Even so, when Colton sought to charge him, Roger swung his pistol around as he shakily aimed it somewhere in the area of his lordship’s chest. When his feet finally ceased their frenzied shuffling, he was able to sidle around toward the entrance of the drawing room.

Leo moved forward, slowly stalking his prey, placing one paw on the floor in front of him before bringing forth the other, causing Roger to whimper in terror as he saw a very real possibility of his impending doom. This time, to be sure, no commands to “sit” or “stay” were forthcoming from either Colton or Adriana.

“Call off that animal!” Roger shrieked in panic. He swung his pistol about, turning it on Adriana. “Or, by heavens, I’ll blow her beautiful head off her shoulders!”

The sudden flash of pain that in that instant seemed to fill Roger’s head was enough to drive him to his knees. His jaw descended ever so slowly as the outer corners of his eyelids drooped heavily over a dazed stare. Another blow was delivered against the side of his head, and a third slammed into it from the opposite side. Tongue lolling loosely from his mouth, Roger collapsed facedown on the marble floor.

With quiet dignity, Harrison withdrew a handkerchief from the inner pocket of his coat and proceeded to wipe away the blood and hair that encrusted the end of the poker as Adriana raced toward him with arms held wide and tears filling her eyes.

“Oh, Harrison! Dear, dear Harrison, you saved our lives!” she cried jubilantly, hugging and kissing the servant, who tried not to smile. Still, he was inclined to turn his cheek to get the most from her kisses.

“My pleasure to be of service, madam. I couldn’t let that brute get the better of us, now could I?”

Colton chuckled as he joined his wife in conveying his heartfelt gratitude. The three of them soon turned to extend their enthusiastic gratitude upon Leo, who yawned as if extremely tired.

“Roger said he poisoned the dogs,” Adriana informed the two men, “but he also admitted he may have picked up the wrong vial by mistake. ‘Twould now seem he did and gave the dogs a sleeping potion rather than the arsenic.”

“Then where is Aris?” Colton asked, glancing around.

“He’s in the gallery,” she replied, leaning against her husband’s long frame as he slipped an arm about her. “I’m sure since Leo is alive, Aris must be, too.”

“And the servants, where are they?”

“In the vegetable cold bin, outside.”

“I shall let them out immediately,” Harrison informed the couple and gingerly felt the large lump on his head before drawing away his hand and rubbing his fingers, which were now stained red. “Mayhap I can get Cook to wrap a bandage around my head. I fear it’s still bleeding.”

“I’ll be pleased to do that for you right now, Harrison,” Adriana offered. “His lordship can let the servants out and send someone to fetch the sheriff, and then we’ll have a look at Aris.”

Not too many moments later, the household was pretty much back to normal. Roger had been tied up and dragged behind the tea table where no one would stumble over him and where he’d be easily accessible to the sheriff. He still hadn’t regained consciousness, and it seemed doubtful that he would before the authorities arrived.

It was soon officially determined that the two wolfhounds had merely been given a dose of laudanum rather than poison, for Aris awoke yawning as if from a long nap. The dogs enjoyed the attention Adriana bestowed upon them in the drawing room as she knelt beside them and taught Genie how to stroke their long coats. Colton opened a fresh bottle of brandy just in case Roger had been tampering again with any of the brews in the decanters, and he proceeded to pour Harrison a glass and one for himself. Watching as the pair of dogs eagerly bestowed their affection upon Adriana and Genie, the two men chortled in hearty amusement as the pair made faces evidencing their disgust after being licked across their mouths and cheeks by the hounds. Nevertheless, Adriana sputtered in happy protest, not only thankful that the animals were alive, but that they themselves were, too.

Moments later, Philana swept in, waving her arms excitedly as she fairly scurried to the door of the drawing room. “Finally, at long last, I’m a grandmother! I rushed here to be the one to deliver the news to everyone. I now have a grandson.”

“ ‘Tis wonderful news, Mama Philana!” Adriana cried with a joyous laugh and accepted Colton’s smiling assistance as she scrambled to her feet. Running to her mother-in-law, she embraced her affectionately before leaning back to ask, “Is Samantha all right?”

“Of course, dear child. She’s happy as a lark,” Philana declared lightheartedly. “But I must confess, I’m feeling a little spent after all the pacing Percy and I were doing outside their bedchamber while Dr.

Carroll was with Samantha. I can definitely assure you that no one in this house has had such a traumatic day as I. Very happy I am that it’s over, and I can finally relax.”

The hearty laughter made the woman stop and stare at family members and servants in some bemusement.

“Well, I am!”