In the Arms of the Heiress (A LADIES UNLACED NOVEL) (21 page)

Chapter

27

T
hey were safe, barricaded in, not that Louisa thought Hugh would come bounding up the stairs after Charles. Hugh was probably tattling to his mother right this very minute. She pictured their two gilded heads in the flattering candlelight, complaining and plotting against them.

Louisa had anticipated that things would be unpleasant at Rosemont on her return, but somehow she’d not imagined fisticuffs and attempted murder. Fortunately her letter had been posted to Mrs. Evensong, so it was simply a matter of days before all this would be sorted out. In the meantime, she and Charles could settle into their own little kingdom in her parents’ suite. There was no reason to join the others for meals—she could arrange food to be delivered. Goodness, it would be like old times, when she was confined to her room for weeks after some minor infraction.

This time, she was confining herself.

Charles returned from his washup, his jacket and waistcoat shed. “I could use a nightcap. Do we have anything up here?”

He had spoken of his reliance on alcohol before Mrs. Evensong employed him. Was working for Louisa so stressful he would backslide after two days of moderation?

Yes, it probably was.

Two days. That’s all it had been, with a few extra hours at his boarding house and tea at Mount Street. Louisa couldn’t believe so much had happened in so short a time. They had confided in each other. Been physically intimate. Escaped assault. It was them against the world now, or at least against the residents of Rosemont.

She opened the corner cupboard. It was well stocked with decanters of brandy and whisky and several bottles of Madeira. “We’re in luck. Pick your poison.”

“I don’t suppose there’s gin.”

“People like us aren’t supposed to drink gin.”

“But I’m not people like us, Lulu.”

“Please don’t call me that horrid name.” She grabbed a corkscrew, the wine, and two stemmed glasses. It would be less harmful than the stronger spirits. She had no interest in seeing Charles foxed—if he wanted to protect her as he’d promised, he’d better be clearheaded. Her hands shook a little as she poured. Charles stood before the mullioned window, staring out at the black ocean and blacker sky.

“Here you are. Chin-chin.”

“To us. The real us, not ‘people like us.’” Charles tipped back the glass and drained the wine in one swallow. “I wonder what tomorrow will bring.”

“Nothing, I hope. We can stay right up here all day and be comfortable.” Not that being in Charles Cooper’s presence was exactly relaxing.

He turned to her. “What do you mean?”

“We needn’t go downstairs.” She tried for a cheeky grin. Let him think she was trying to get him back into her bed.

Charles frowned. “You want to hide?”

Louisa, knowing she was a coward, nodded.

“Balderdash. I won’t let you mope about in the suite all day. We’ve got things to do.”

“We do?”

“Yes. Didn’t Reverend Whosit ask you to do the flowers for Sunday’s church service? We can ride over tomorrow—on a proper horse, not place ourselves at the mercy of your taciturn chauffeur. And while we’re in the village, shouldn’t we buy Christmas presents for Grace and Hugh?”

“You can’t be serious.”

“What, are you saying lumps of coal are unavailable locally? I didn’t get to see much of the High Street when Robertson brought us home from the station, but I swear there’s a store or two.”

He was teasing again. When he looked down at her like that, all she wanted to do was kiss him.

That wouldn’t do. They were done with all that.

But oh, she didn’t want to be.

“I don’t think you should do any more fighting. They’ll think you’re uncivilized.”

Charles set his glass down. “And so I am. I can’t stand by and let them hurl such vile insults at you, Louisa. They make me so angry.”

“Thank you.”

“Don’t thank me until I get rid of them. Anyhow, didn’t you say Hugh boxed at university? Maybe I should take him on. The loser leaves Rosemont.”

“No!” Louisa had no interest in seeing Charles’s beautiful face beaten to a bloody pulp. She had no faith in her cousin sticking to sportsmanlike conduct.

“As you wish. But I’m willing to run into shot for you.”

She placed a hand on his arm. “I couldn’t bear it if anything more happened to you. I’m already so guilty about last night’s mischief.”

“I’m hard-headed. Hard in other places, too,” he muttered.

She knew Charles could be very hard indeed. Now that his image was lodged in her mind, he popped up with distressing frequency. Louisa started at the sound of the doorknob rattling. “Kathleen?”

“Yes, Miss Louisa. I can’t seem to open the door.”

“N-no. We—we’ve locked ourselves in. Because of what happened last night. There may be villains afoot.”

There was a conspicuous silence from the hallway. Then her maid said, “Will you be needing anything from me?”

“I think we can shift for ourselves. Thank you.” Louisa waited to hear Kathleen retreat, feeling a little strange talking through the door.

Instead there was a furious little rap. “You have to let me in, Miss Louisa. And then I suppose you’ll want to fire me.”

“I beg your pardon?”

“Open the door, and I’ll explain everything. Oh, Robbie’s going to kill me. I’ve ruined our lives.”

Louisa looked at Charles in confusion. He nodded, then pushed the chair away from the door.

Kathleen entered, her face as white as her starched cap. “You’d both better sit down. Please.” She stood in front of the fire, twisting her hands.

Louisa chose a chair while Charles claimed the gray sofa. Louisa had never seen her maid so nervous, except when she was a passenger in the car.

“I’ve done a wicked thing, Miss Louisa, and I owe the captain an apology. N-no one is out to hurt you anymore. It was me. I mean, it was I.”

Charles’s hand went to the back of his head. “
You
hit me?”

Her freckled chin lifted. “It may not have been my hand, but at my direction. I wanted to protect Miss Louisa, see. I could tell something was happening between you, and I thought if you had a little accident you wouldn’t be interested in any folderol.”

“Folderol?”

“You know what I mean, sir. And anyway, your injury didn’t stop you from”—Kathleen blushed scarlet, then continued—“acting upon your animal impulses. It was just as I feared. I—I came back to see if you were all right and heard you two going at it like a pair of rabbits.”

“Kathleen!” Louisa was stunned at the betrayal. Her trusted confidant had almost murdered Charles and compared her to an animal, no matter how cute! Did rabbits even make noise during sexual congress? Louisa rather thought they only screamed when they were killed. It was supposed to be a terrifying sound, like a baby’s wail. She’d have to ask some gardener or other, but she was quite sure she had made no noises of that nature last night.

Although she’d lost her composure completely in those two short days. Anything seemed to be possible, except to keep track of her wandering mind.

Time to focus. Was she angry at Kathleen? Oh, yes, she was.

Charles, on the other hand, looked amused. “Did you think I was such a gay Lothario? Out to take advantage of your mistress and break her heart and her bank?”

Louisa had seen Kathleen’s self-righteous face many times in the past five years, and here it was again. “You’re a good-looking man, sir, and Miss Louisa is not always sensible. Why, if you knew the things she did this past year, you’d be worried yourself.”

Worse and worse. “Don’t talk about me as if I’m not here!” Louisa cried.

“Sorry, miss. But you know you tend to make a mistake here and there. I was only trying to protect you. They told me how the captain kissed you at dinner—George the footman said he thought you were going to be ravished right on the lace tablecloth in front of all the guests. Wicked, it was. Indecent. I love you like a sister—better, because some of my sisters are spiteful cats and you’ve always been so kind to me. I’ve been a fool to risk the best job I could ever have, but I didn’t want you to get hurt.”

“So you decided to hurt me instead.” Charles spoke in a remarkably calm voice, as if he got hit on the head every night.

“I am sorry, Captain Cooper. Mr. Norwich. Whoever.”

“Who was your partner in crime? Robertson?”

Kathleen’s eyes dropped to the carpet. “I shouldn’t like to tell.”

“But you already did,” Charles countered. “‘Robbie’s going to kill me,’ I believe you said in the hallway. I suppose he stopped polishing the Daimler long enough to put screws in the horse blanket, too.”

“I didn’t tell him to do that! He took it upon his own initiative.”

“An enterprising fellow. He should go far in life. Well, Louisa, what shall we do with this pair of miscreants? I confess I wanted to finger Hugh for the crimes—I’m rather disappointed.”

“How can you take this so well, sir?” Kathleen asked. “It’s rotten what we did. I know that now. You’re not really a bad sort.”

“I appreciate your confidence in me, Kathleen. It’s somewhat a relief to discover I’m not doomed to die at Rosemont. I find I’m really not interested in dying anywhere at the moment. Thank you for putting my mind at rest.”

“I’ll start packing. But please, miss, take pity on Robertson. He really didn’t want to do it.”

“Packing!” Louisa swallowed hard. What would she do without Kathleen? Even if Charles could help her with her buttons, he would be leaving in a few weeks. And angry at her or not, Kathleen was really her only friend.

“Yes, Miss Louisa. I won’t expect a reference. And if you decide to arrest me, I’d understand. But Robbie is almost innocent.”

Charles rolled his eyes. “Kathleen Carmichael, you’re something of a siren, aren’t you? You lure men to their doom.”

“Not men, Captain. Just one man. Robbie and I want to get married. When I go, he may give notice and come after me. I don’t know how we’ll manage—”

“Oh, shut it, Kathleen. You’re not going anywhere. And you think
I’m
half-cracked. Your idea was preposterous! What if Charles had been seriously injured? Captain Cooper is no danger to me.” What a whopper that was. In two days, Charles had penetrated not only her womanly core but her heart. Which was ridiculous. She hardly knew the man.

“I’m so sorry, Miss Louisa. Captain. I’ll make sure nothing happens to you ever again. I already talked to Robbie, and he feels even guiltier than I. He loves me, you see, and will do anything for me, even if it goes against his principles.”

“You’re a lucky woman,” Louisa said tartly.

But then, so was she. Charles Cooper was ready to serve her in any capacity she asked—save one. Plus, he’d asked her to marry him, too. Maybe they should all have a double wedding. A cackle of laughter escaped along with the tension that had been building since last night. Both Charles and Kathleen looked at her with alarm, but once Louisa started laughing, she couldn’t seem to stop.

She was surrounded by people who resorted to violence to protect her, and they thought
she
was the crazy one. There were elements of French farce and Gothic intrigue rolled up together—no wonder she’d been off-kilter since she’d come home. She was in the wrong play.

Kathleen’s slim hand pushed down on her shoulder. “Sit down, Miss Louisa. I’ll fetch you a cold cloth to calm you.”

“That’s all right, Kathleen. I’ll take care of your mistress.”

“And I know just how you’ll try,” Kathleen said with asperity. “Just because I don’t plan on incapacitating you anymore doesn’t mean I approve of you interfering with her.”

Charles was no longer amused. “I’m not going to ‘interfere’ with her! I’ve given her my word not to touch her again, and I can’t believe I have to pledge to you as well.”

“St-still here,” Louisa hiccupped from her chair.

“Perhaps I should mix up some of Dr. Fentress’s elixir in a nice hot cup of tea for her.”

“That’s right. Drug her until she doesn’t know whether she’s coming or going. That should do the trick,” Charles said, his sarcasm obvious. “No wonder she’s so unhappy.”

Louisa wiped the tears from her cheeks. “
Still
here. And I’m not unhappy!”

“You’re hysterical then.”

“I am not! Anyone would find this all too”—what was it, exactly?—“too much. I want both of you to leave me alone. No cold cloths, no elixirs. Certainly no lovemaking. I can take care of myself, as I always have. Go away!”

Neither Kathleen nor the captain moved one inch, each staring at her with concern. What would it take for them to obey her?

“You
are
fired, Kathleen. At least for tonight. And Ch-Charles, I release you from your service. P-please pack up and Robertson can drive you to the train tomorrow morning. I’ll say we quarreled. And then send myself a telegram in a day or two. You’ll meet with an unfortunate accident in London. A robbery on the street gone awry. Maximillian wouldn’t part with his purse easily—it was his father’s, made from the hide of a very rare sort of cow. The Norwich family crest was on it—”

“No.” The word was said in unison from both maid and man, although Charles growled it more than spoke it.