Underground Captive (66 page)

get...well."

             
"Ye will, my darling.  Ye will.  Ye carry our child.  Ye must live for his

sake," Jared murmured. 
And for mine,
he thought miserably.

    
             
"P-please...br-bring me home, Jared.  I w...want to s-see my father a-again."

    
             
Her tears spilled on his shoulders and his heart shattered into tiny little pieces.  "I'll take ye home, Nicki," he croaked, clutching her tightly against him.  "I'll take ye home."

 
             
"Th-thank you," she whispered.  "I...I... l-love you, J-Jared."

    
             
"Hush, my angel and sleep.  Sleep, sweet Nicki." 

             
The pain and pleasure of hearing her finally tell him she loved him tore at his soul.  There was an actual possibility that she wouldn't survive.

             
Jared held Nicki in his arms while she slept, not closing his eyes for a

second on that woeful night.

             
Acceptance of that which we cannot change brings healing victory to personal defeat.

             
             
             
             
             
             
PART THREE

46

   
             
With morning finally upon them, Jared stalked into the kitchen in a quiet, deadly rage.  He found Elizabeth bent over the stove.

             
"G-g'mornin', Master Jared," she said timidly.

             
"Where's Mary?" he asked tersely, ignoring her greeting.

    
             
"She went oot tae the cooler tae ge' some butter and eggs, master," Elizabeth answered, just as Mary Douglas came through the kitchen door.

    
             
"I want ye, Elizabeth, and Angus to accompany me to Crescent Wood," Jared said in even tones to Mary.  "Yer mistress is very ill and has asked to be brought back home."

             
"Nay, milord!  Please dinna go there wi' the lassie," Mary Douglas

wailed.  "They willa 'ang us fer sure."

    
             
Jared fixed her with an icy stare.  "If they don't, I might.  If ye two witless hags hadn't let Nicki lie abed for a fortnight without telling me, things wouldn't have come to such a pass.  Ye're to take what ye think ye'll need for the next few days.  We'll be going in the Duplantier carriage.  Angus will bring us.  Ye will ride inside with me.  We will leave within the hour." Without another word, he turned on his heels.

    
             
Jared wanted King George hitched to the back of the carriage so that he would have one of his own horses to get around on if it became necessary.

    
             
He sat inside the carriage holding Nicollette, who had noth
ing on but the beautiful, white, silk nightrail she wore on their wedding night.  But she was insulated against the cold, wrapped in a woolen blanket. 

    
             
Nicki opened her eyes halfway and fixed her gaze on him.  "Please don't hate me,
mon amour
," she whispered weakly.  "I-I am so homesick.  Please say you forgive me.  I love you, Jared."

             
"I could never hate ye, sweet Nicki.  I love ye, my darling," Jared told her, his voice breaking.  "Get well, Nicki.  Ye must get well for me as well as for our babe."

    
             
Nicollette made a semblance of a smile and rested her head on his chest.  "I'm going to give birth to an earl."  She sighed listlessly, then drifted to sleep.

    
             
Jared smiled to himself.  'Twas the most Nicki had said since her plea, last night, to be brought back to Crescent Wood.  Be
cause of it, the fear and concern that gripped him for Nicollette's safety lessened its hold.

   
             
"Ooooohhh, forgive me, mum.  Forgive me and Elizabeth.  We dinna ken 'ow sick ye were," Mary Douglas cried out suddenly from the opposite seat.

    
             
"'Ush, Mary Douglas!" Elizabeth chided, catching the glower on Jared's face.

             
"Aye, Mary Douglas, do hush," Jared said coldly.

   
             
He looked out the window of the carriage.  'Twas three days before Christmas.  He'd been in such a dark mood, Highland Acres hadn't even been decorated for the season.  As a matter of a fact, no one mentioned it.

    
             
That should have cued him that something was wrong with Nicki.  He knew how she loved Christmastide.  Although they argued, that wouldn't have stopped her from bedecking the house, planning the menu, and ordering gifts.  But there was a strong possibility her captivity would've prevented her from enjoying Christmas.

    
             
The air was crisp and cold.  The sun shone brightly in the sky.  He could smell the pine in the air.  'Twas a special smell that came in the air during Christmastide.  Jared smiled again.  Maybe, 'twas only he who felt that way.

    
             
Nicollette jerked in his arms.  The retching began.  Revealing more of her pale, thin face, Jared saw that she slept.  But she seemed unable to stop retching.  Mary Douglas and Elizabeth said nothing.  They sat quietly but anxiety showed on their faces.  Fear shattered Jared's soul and took a solid grip on him.  He opened the small window and called out to Angus.

    
             
"Angus, push the horses to their limits.  Nicki needs to get to Crescent Wood as soon as possible."

             
"Aye, master," Angus called back.

             
Jared closed the window and took the cloth that Elizabeth handed to him.

    
             
Nicollette hadn't been eating so there really wasn't anything for her to bring up, but she continued gagging.  She felt warm.  Maybe fresh air would help.  Jared reopened the small window.  She jerked again in his arms and choked.  He rocked her tenderly.

    
             
Nicollette's choking and retching finally lessened, but his stark fear and near paralyzing anguish didn't.  With every bump the carriage hit, Nicollette moaned.

    
             
"Nicki, bairn, 'tis all right.  Ye're all right," Jared soothed, speaking the words as much for Nicki as for him
self.  He felt hollow, drained, and physically exhausted.  He would do anything, give anything, for Nicki to be healthy.  As much as Jared wanted and cherished his unborn child, 'twas not half as much as he cherished Nicki.  Nicollette was his love and his life.  Her wellbeing and happiness came before everything and everyone.  He held Nicki close to his breast, settling back and letting out a tormented sigh. 

    
             
At mid-morning, Angus reined in the spent horses in front of Crescent Wood Manor.  Upon hearing the carriage approach, Zeke opened the front door.  Angus jumped off the carriage, went to the side, and opened the door for Jared.

             
Jared handed Nicollette over to him long enough to get out.  Holding an

awakened Nicki in his arms, he bounded up the wide steps with Mary Douglas and

Elizabeth close behind.  “Step aside, Zeke," he ordered, brushing past the surprised

slave, hurrying to the parlor.

    
             
Charles sat in the dining salon with Antoinette, Blanche, and Michel Foucher.  At the sound of the racket, they rushed to the foyer just in time to see Jared carry Nicollette to the parlor.

    
             
"W-why it's Nicollette!  It's...it's my girl! You've found her!
Merci
, my friend!" Charles said, tears of joy spill
ing down his cheeks.  He rushed to the recamier, where Jared laid Nicki down.

    
             
Oblivious to the blanket wrapped around her, Charles took her in his arms, his tears flowing freely.  "Almost a year, Nicki.  Almost a year you've been away from us."  He clutched her tightly against his breast.  "What happened?" 

    
             
Nicollette wiped away her own tears and leaned her head against the back of the recamier.  The long ride worked to weaken her even more.  "Pa Pa, Sam is dead.  The Black Rider ran over him and killed him."  Biting her lip, she hesitated only a moment for the lie she would tell.  "I-I-I pulled off the B-Black R-Rider's mask.  And....and he...he was going to...to...I don't know.

    
             
"L-luckily, Jared...Jared was in the area.  J-Jared saved me.  He...he hid me from that...that
bete noir
.  When he...he s-saw Jared coming, he rode away."  Nicollette took a deep breath.  "I'm so tired," she said in a low, soft drawl.

    
             
Charles stood.  "You've had my daughter almost a year and didn't tell me anything?  Why, Jared?"

    
             
Before Jared could answer, Nicollette began retching again, casting the blankets aside.

    
             
Jared attempted to rush to her side, with the intention of picking her up and bringing her to
her
bedchamber.

    
             
Charles's face registered shock as he got a glimpse of the swell of Nicki's abdomen.  He prevented Jared access to Nicki.  "Wha...?" he gasped.  "Nicki?"

    
             
Nicki pressed a hand to her rounded belly after the retching ceased.  Tired and drained, her mind and body needed a rest.

    
             
"
Ma cherie
, you...you're with child?"  Charles stood motionless, his brows arched.  An unpleasant twist settled on his lips and he frowned.

    
             
Laying her head back on the recamier, Nicollette closed her eyes.  Because she knew how honorable Charles considered Jared, she wrongly assumed her father would realize she and Jared were married.  "
Oui
, Pa Pa.  I carry Jared's child," she murmured, feeling as dispirited as she sounded.

    
             
"I
see
why you didn't let me know you held my daughter!" he shouted.

    
             
Jared looked at Charles with raised eyebrows.  "Charles, Nicki and I

are--"

    
             
Charles interrupted Jared, not wanting to hear any explana
tion.  "Can you explain that,
monsieur
?" he yelled and pointed to Nicki's belly.  "You've sullied my daughter's honor.  I demand satisfaction!"

    
             
Nicollette's eyes flew opened.  "Pa Pa, please!  You've misunderstood!" She reached for her father's hand, but he jerked away.

    
             
Still not allowing Jared access to Nicki, Charles rushed up to him and slapped Jared four times in quick succession.  Twice on either side of his face.

    
             
When Nicollette looked up at her husband and saw the blazing rage in his eyes, she cringed.

    
             
"My
wife's
honor has
not
been sullied."  Jared folded his huge hands into fists, and, hitting Charles so hard on the jaw, sent him sailing across the room.  Charles landed clear on the other side of the teacart in the center of the room.  "If that isn't satisfaction enough, Charles, we'll do it yer way at a later date," he growled.  "Right now my wife needs attention!"

    
             
Hearing all the noise, Ricard hurried downstairs from his bedchamber.  He stopped in the doorway of the parlor and, seeing his father crumpled on the floor, rushed to his side.

    
             
Jared, with Nicollette already in his arms, started toward the door.

    
             
"
Monsieur
Fleming!  You've struck my father.  I demand satisfaction," Ricard shouted, helping his dazed father to his feet.

    
             
"Tread carefully, Ricard," Jared said quietly, his voice edged with ice, his eyes glowing with anger and con
tempt.  "The only one getting satisfied here, today, will be me.  Are ye and yer father so addled that ye can't see how sick Nicki is?  Ye'd best pray that she and the wee bairn she carries survive.  Because if Nicki doesn't, ye'll
both
certainly get yer chance for satisfaction.  And 'twill be the last chance ye'll have at anything again!