Silver Sea (22 page)

"Y-yes. Thank you."

Nathan watched the smoke curl up from his cheroot, brows arched, while under the surface he felt like a crazed beast. He wanted to charge the chaise, pluck Hunty away from Adrienne by his pretty shirtpoints, and send him hurtling face first through the leaded glass window. The thought of Harms screaming as he plunged three stories to the stone terrace was enough to bring a faintly wicked smile to Nathan's mouth.

"I beg your pardon, Essex," Huntsford exclaimed, "but I should like to know how you can possibly smile at a time when Adrienne is undergoing the greatest trauma of her life!"

Their eyes locked in a silent duel. "My expression had nothing whatsoever to do with Adrienne's ordeal."

"Then I suggest that you make an effort to turn your thoughts and attention to her, and away from other amusements." Before Nathan could say something to redeem himself, Huntsford hurried on. "We're all tired. Let me get on with my story, and then we can attempt to sleep a bit more before dawn brings the authorities with more questions."

"Yes, Hunty, by all means tell us!" Lady Thomasina's eyelids were drooping. "Poor darling Angus could waken at any moment in my bed, find me missing, and begin to cry!"

Her son choked back a rude remark about the dog and patted Adrienne's hand. "Really, Mummy, there are far more serious concerns tonight. You see, that dead man lying on the floor—"

"Walter Frakes-Hogg," Nathan supplied.

"Oh—was that his name? I had no idea. How did
you
know the villain, Essex?"

"He was the person who had been threatening Miss Beauvisage. Her father hired me to protect her from him."

"Indeed? What a shame that you failed at that task. It is fortunate, however, that I was able to do what you were not. You see, as I was passing in the corridor, I overheard a man's voice from Adrienne's room." Huntsford began to flush as he spoke, for it was difficult to remember all the details and to get them just right. If Nathan caught him in one mistake, all could be lost. "I had an uneasy feeling about the situation, so I gently pushed the door open. I saw that beast sitting on top of poor, dear Adrienne, who was bound, gagged, and blindfolded in her bed."

Nathan tried to catch Adrienne's eye. "Did Frakes-Hogg break into your room while you were sleeping? Did you hear anything that might give us a clue to how he got in, or how he found your bedchamber?"

Her chin began to shake. "No. I don't remember anything. I was dreaming of home, and my parents, and then I came awake because someone was covering my eyes...." Tears closed her throat, and she curled closer against Harms's shoulder.

"See here, man, must you put her through hell all over again?" Her protector stroked her hair, even as he glared defiantly at Nathan. "As I was saying, I stole into the room, thinking that I would have to try to knock the fellow over the head with a basin or a chair, when I chanced upon a dagger lying on the floor. I picked it up, threw myself at him, and stabbed him to death."

"Oh, Hunty!" his mother shrieked. "I never knew you could be so recklessly courageous! It's the most terrifying yet
romantic
story I've ever heard!"

Nathan's simmering rage reached the boiling point, but he hid it expertly. "A dagger, you say? Miss Beauvisage, do you remember a dagger?"

"Someone held it to my throat at the beginning, when he was tying me up," she whispered.

"Someone?"
Nathan seized on that word. "You mean someone other than Frakes-Hogg?"

"Why... it did seem so, but everything is a blur, looking back. Please, I am so tired. Can't this wait until tomorrow?"

"That's right, Essex! Have you no sympathy at all for this woman?" Huntsford's heart was pounding with sheer panic. "In any event, Adrienne is clearly confused by her ordeal, and your questions will only confuse her more. I can assure you that I was not blindfolded, and there was only one man in that room—Walter Frakes-Hogg!"

"You have an amazing memory, Harms," Nathan remarked laconically. He leaned back in his chair, legs outstretched, and watched the other man.

"Well, of course I do—but what do you mean?"

Nathan grinned and crushed his cheroot in a saucer. "Just that I am impressed that you would remember so unusual a name as Walter Frakes-Hogg, when you had never heard it before tonight, and I only said it once. It's quite remarkable. I also cannot help wondering what you were doing strolling down the corridor outside Miss Beauvisage's room, when your own apartments are in another wing of the house. What time was it? One o'clock or later?"

"What of it? It is my house, and I can walk anywhere I want, at any hour!" Huntsford swallowed. "Perhaps I was checking on my dear mother!"

"I don't think that's an answer, Harms."

"And I don't think I like your attitude! How dare you raise questions, when I am the person who came to Adrienne's rescue at the moment she needed me most. If I remembered Frakes-Hogg's name, it is only because I was paying close attention. I believe that you are jealous, Essex!" He couldn't resist the urge to stand up and point at Nathan, his voice rising dramatically. "Why not be a man and simply accept responsibility for your failure? Take it on the chin, old chap!"

"Has anyone ever told you that you are barking mad, Harms?" Nathan inquired in measured tones.

"I won't stand for this. I am taking Adrienne back to her room—"

"No," she cried. "I don't want to stay there alone. I never want to sleep in that room again!" The mere thought of Walter's blood pooled on the floor by her bed made Adrienne pale with revulsion.

"Perfectly understandable," Lady Thomasina agreed. "Miss Beau will sleep on the sofa in my bedchamber, with Angus and me for company. I'll give her a drop of laudanum to relax her." She heaved herself to her feet. "Now then, let us all attempt to sleep for a few more hours. Dawn will be here soon enough."

Only Nathan didn't rise. Instead, he pulled a footstool over for his feet and stretched out. "I will stay here. I do not intend to put any more distance between myself and Miss Beauvisage until we know for certain that there isn't anyone else involved. If Frakes-Hogg had an accomplice, that person may be loose in the castle, and I won't take another chance with Miss Beauvisage's safety."

Huntsford Harms opened his mouth to argue, but the expression on Adrienne's face told him that would be a mistake; she only wanted peace. So he pretended that Nathan didn't exist. Savoring the night's victories, Huntsford bade the fair damsel good night and took his leave.

* * *

At dawn, Nathan Raveneau stood in the tall windows of Lady Thomasina's sitting room and breathed the soft air of a new day. Sunrise was a pretty sight from any vantage point, but lately he'd been craving the sugar-pink morning skies of Barbados. The candied hues had a way of melting into the ruffled turquoise ocean, and the breezes were clean and full of promise.

Now Nathan remembered why he never had been able to stay long during his visits to London. There was something about the English people that, in time, drove him over the edge. He certainly felt that way now, trapped in this moth-eaten castle with the crackbrained Harmses and their equally peculiar guests and servants. Every time Huntsford Harms opened his mouth, Nathan's patience frayed a little more.

To make matters worse, even Adrienne seemed to be giving way to the madness. How could it be that she no longer shared knowing looks with Nathan, but sympathized with that Town Beau instead? If it was only Nathan's own male ego at risk, he could have borne it, but all his instincts warned that there was more to Huntsford Harms than met the eye.

A rustling sound made him turn just in time to see Adrienne padding across the other side of the room. Clad in her nightgown and a fringed silk shawl, she looked even more vulnerable because she was barefoot and her hair tumbled loose down her back. When she felt Nathan's gaze, she stopped and turned her face toward the light.

"Good God," he muttered, closing the distance between them, "you look terrible."

"And you grow more charming by the moment," she replied in a tone edged with weariness. "That's why I don't want to see you. My nerves can't bear it."

He'd only meant to remark on the way that her shadowed eyes stood out against the dead white of her face; to let her know that he was worried, that he cared. "Dearest chit," he murmured tenderly, "I am concerned for you. Perhaps I should have said that no romantic heroine has ever looked more beautiful in her moment of tragedy."

Adrienne shook her head. "You don't understand what I've been through. There's simply no room for levity, however well meaning. And now you'll have to step aside. I must find Hortie, so that she can help me find another bedroom nearby." Her expression was haunted. "Perhaps she'll be good enough to move my things for me. I just don't think I can go back in there yet."

"Why don't you ask me for help? What do you think I'm doing here?"

She looked at him in mild surprise.

"You sit down, and I'll take care of everything." He gently took her arms and guided her into Lady Thomasina's favorite chair, which reeked of her powder. "Just rest. Close your eyes, and when you open them, I'll have your new quarters arranged and a bath ordered."

"Oh—that would be... lovely." Adrienne's face clouded then. "Has the constable arrived?"

"No. I only sent a messenger within the last hour, so it will be later in the morning before he arrives. Do you remember who it will doubtless be? Frakes-Hogg's friend, the beefy fellow who intervened on his behalf in Winchester."

"Oh, well, I suppose there's nothing we can do. At least Walter is dead now, so there's no more danger. All the constable can do is record the facts, and they couldn't be more straightforward, could they? Then he'll go away and leave us alone. I just want to sleep, on clean sheets, for days...."

"A fine idea. Meanwhile, rest, and I'll return in a few minutes."

There was so much he wanted to say to her, but clearly there were other matters that must be arranged before Adrienne could listen. As Nathan chose a new room for her, next to his own, and moved her belongings, he mulled over all the events surrounding Walter Frakes-Hogg's death. It just didn't fit together properly. Returning to her tiny bedchamber to be certain he hadn't left anything behind, he found himself staring at the horrible stain that was still visible on the floor, despite all the maids' efforts, and then he looked at Adrienne's bedclothes. Her pillow was wedged between the bed and the wall, and the sheets were torn away from the mattress. The linen strips that had been used to bind and silence Adrienne were scattered about. Dear God, how much did that monster put her through before Harms interrupted?

It galled Nathan to think that a supercilious dandy like Huntsford Harms could have been a hero, while he had slept in ignorance across the corridor, but it was easier to swallow when he realized how desperately Adrienne had needed rescuing. The realization that Frakes-Hogg might have raped and even murdered her if he'd been allowed to finish sent a sickening chill down Nathan's spine.

He ought to rise to the occasion and thank Harms, but he knew that he simply couldn't get the words out. His gut insisted that there were secrets yet to be told. He just hoped that he could uncover them before anything else happened....

"I thought you might be napping," he said to Adrienne upon reentering Lady Thomasina's suite. She stood in the same window where he had watched the sun rise a short while ago. "Are your feet cold? Come, I'll take you to your new room. I think you'll like it better." He was the picture of kindness as he guided her toward the door. "It's on the other side of the corridor, where the sun is better, and you're just far enough now from her ladyship that you'll have a good excuse for not coming when she rings!"

Adrienne smiled automatically at this sally, but her eyes were distant. "I'm very fond of Lady Thomasina, you know. I feel rather guilty for the laughter we've shared at her expense."

"You're beginning to sound too good for this world, chit. Soon you'll decide to join a convent, and your father will think I've driven you to it." Behind his humorous tone was concern. What would it take to restore Adrienne to her old, headstrong, infuriating self? Had Walter Frakes-Hogg's assault beaten down all her feelings? "Dear Adrienne, do not forget that I am your friend. And remember, too, that all days will not be as dark as this one. You must struggle to find your way back to the light."

After they passed into the corridor, Lady Thomasina opened the door between her bedroom and sitting room and peeked out. "Did you hear that, Angus? He is trying to come between Miss Beau and Hunty!" She glanced down as the terrier trotted over with a food-stained glove finger. "I am quite determined in the matter, you know. Nothing else will do except a marriage between Hunty and Miss Beau. It will be wonderful for me, of course. I've decided that I'll call her Addie when she is my daughter. We'll read together all day long, and she'll give me exquisite grandbabies, and Hunty won't dare to put me out in the dower house as long as Addie is his wife." Smiling dreamily, Lady Thomasina waddled over to her dressing table and found the little cache of old chicken bones she kept for Angus. "Here you go, darling. I do hope you aren't sick again! Now then, I must listen for Hortie, when she carries the hipbath to Miss Beau's room. She's been very cross with me for ignoring her lately, but I'll find a way to win back her trust, beginning this very morning. There's no one else who could take my secret warning message to Hunty, and there's no time to lose!"

Angus wasn't listening. As her ladyship opened her inkwell, dipped in a worn nib, and began scrawling madly on a sheet of foolscap, the terrier curled up on her skirts and gnawed at the spoiled chicken bone.

* * *

Adrienne looked around her new bedroom with a wan smile. "I do like it. I think it will be more cheerful, though it needs a good cleaning. Thank you for your help, Nathan." She opened the door further, waiting for him to leave.

It would have been easy to leave this conversation for a time when she was stronger, but the future was too unpredictable. "I know how tired you are, but I really think we should talk. Will you sit with me for a few minutes? I'll leave when Hortie comes with your bath."