The Earl's Desire (28 page)

Christine’s interest was captured. She realized Emma was talking about Claire’s accident. Could it be that Emma saw the whole thing?

“
Emma, tell me what you saw,” Christine urged.

Emma stared up at Christine with her large, fearful eyes.

“
That witch, she’s evil. She laughs while he kills her,” Emma whispered.

“
Tell me who was there,” Christine said, her voice barely above a whisper.

“
He, that man… red… light in old barn… fat… big…” Emma shrieked brokenly, covering her face with her shaking hands.

“
Tell me, Emma, who else was there?” Christine took hold of Emma’s hand in an effort to calm her down.

“
She… golden… laugh… witch… they… her…” Emma closed her eyes, shaking her head. “Go away… away…”

“
Emma, are you all right? Emma, come on. Emma!” Christine panicked. She had never seen anyone like this before, and it scared the hell out of her. “Emma, stop. What’s wrong?”

But Emma was past listening, as she kept screaming and shaking her head. She kicked the blankets away with her thrashing legs.

A creaking sound from the doorway caused Christine to turn. Mrs. Ross and Dr. Liam rushed in.

“
What’s going on?” Mrs. Ross asked, seeing the distraught girl on the bed.

“
I don’t know, Mrs. Ross. Quick, Doctor, do something,” Christine pleaded.

Dr. Liam came forward, and with Mrs. Ross’s help, they managed to calm Emma down until her breathing became more regular and she lay quietly with her eyes closed.

“
What’s wrong with her, Doctor?” Christine asked in a frightened voice.

“
Just shock, I think,” the doctor replied without looking up.

Mrs. Ross looked at Christine, and then she said, “Master Chris, you should be downstairs; the earl is waiting for you at the stables.”

Christine looked up to Mrs. Ross in confusion, “In the stables?”

“
Aye, in the stables. Now you should go else his lordship will not be happy.”

Christine looked from Mrs. Ross to Emma and then to the doctor. Dr. Liam was still tending to Emma. He wouldn’t be ready to leave her yet. Reluctantly, she walked out the door and down to the stables.

Down at the stables Merrick said, “Come, we have things to do.”

“
Things to do?” Christine asked in confusion.

He was smiling at her with amusement; his eyes twinkled. He walked off, leaving her behind. She caught up with him in a few seconds, then she slowed down to walk beside him. She sensed him looking at her and glanced up at him. He grinned at her. They came to the front gate and saw Jacob there with two handsome horses and a curricle.

“
Are we going somewhere?” she asked.

“
We have things to do,” he said again. They walked to the curricle as Jacob jumped down from the driver’s seat.

“
Afternoon, my lord,” the stable master said, lifting his hat in salute.

“
Jacob.” Merrick nodded, gracefully climbed onto the carriage, and took the reins. Jacob signaled for Christine to climb onto the seat next to Merrick. Without hesitation, Christine climbed on and sat comfortably next to Merrick. He smiled at her and flicked the reins. The horses moved forward. They traveled in quietness.

Then twenty minutes later, Christine blurted out, “Merrick, I went to see Claire this morning.”

Merrick turned from contemplating the lovely scenery to look at her.

“
I was curious,” she explained. “I saw a lady coming out her room when I was going to go in. I heard them talking, too,” she commented and looked up at him to see if she could see any reaction on his face. Nothing. No expression whatsoever. She continued. “I saw that the lady has blond hair, and when I went in to see Claire, she looked ever so scared. I asked her questions, but she said she couldn’t tell, and she wouldn’t.” She turned to Merrick abruptly. “Oh, and I went to see Emma too. She isn’t very well at all, and she was all shaken, and she said some strange things. I think she saw what happened to Claire. The doctor said she was in shock. It was terrible, and she said there was a woman who laughed like a witch, and there was also a man. The man has red hair, and he is fat. Merrick, do you think that Claire’s lover wasn’t actually the one who did that to her? Do you think?” Christine asked, staring up at him, hoping for an answer.

Merrick gazed down at her for a long while, then he said, “Don’t worry about it, love. The magistrate will soon find out.”

“
But Merrick, this is important,” she explained.

“
Now, love.” He smiled at her.

Christine sighed. When she opened her mouth to utter something, he caught her head with both his strong hands and pushed her lips against his. He kissed her roughly. After a moment, he pulled her back, staring at her. He smiled. “Now, love, be quiet. All right?”

Christine looked at him for another long while, and then she nodded. She placed her head against his shoulder. He gave a flick of the reins so that the horses galloped faster.

“
She was very beautiful, wasn’t she?” Christine mused.

“
Who was beautiful?” he said, frowning down at her.

“
Your wife, Lady Angela.” She looked up at him. He stared down at her hard and long. Then he nodded.

“
She was.”

“
You loved her very much then?” she whispered.

Merrick sensed the fear in her voice. He could tell she felt insecure.

“
Yes, I did. She and Frederic were my life. When they were gone, I had nothing left. I was lost and alone. There was nothing but emptiness within me. But something happened.” He stared deep into her eyes.

She waited. When he didn’t continue, she asked, “What happened?”

“
Something happened to change my life,” he said, half smiling down at her, his eyes flaming with blue-green fire.

“
What was that?” she whispered, her heart pumping wildly in her chest, waiting, wanting to know.

His head came to hers. His breathe tingled her face. “You,” he whispered near her ear.

Her heart stopped beating for a full second, then it began pounding again. She slowly looked up then into his face and saw him smiling at her with love.

“
Me?”

“
Aye, you.”

“
Why?”

“
You reminded me of my brother the first time I saw you. I cannot abide cruelty. I couldn’t stand watching Mr. Brad whipping you.” He removed one hand from the reins, and his fingers stroked her cheek. Christine nodded her head.

“
What happened to Frederic?” she asked.

“
He was stolen from me. He was twelve years old when they kidnapped him and sold him on the black market. I searched for him. It took me six months, and then I found him working in a mill. I went to get him. The day I saw him, they whipped him almost to death. He was in the very same state as you when I found you. I couldn’t stand that. I had to save him. I had to save you,” he said, staring down at her. Then he smiled, and his strong white teeth flashed in the sunlight though his eyes were very sad.

“
I took him with me. I knew he had the mill fever. He was so thin. He died there in the forest. Then that night I received a message. It was from Allan, and he said Angela died from a fever. I was deeply in grief. I lost the two most important people to me in the world.” He gritted his teeth for the recollection of the past was painful. But he had to share it with her. He felt a great relief to share his past with her.

She heard the grief in his voice and laid her head against his shoulder, hugging him to her. “I’m sorry.”

“
Don’t be sorry, my love. I found you. You have replaced what I lost. You fulfill the emptiness inside me. You are my whole world now. Remember that,” he said, kissing her forehead.

“
I will, Merrick. I always will,” she whispered again. They rode on in silence.

Twenty minutes later, they arrived in Hammingshire town. The vehicle drew to a stop, Merrick got out, and he helped Christine down. He led her into a store. Once they were inside, a woman came to greet them with a big smile on her face.

“
Ah, good afternoon, my lord. I see that you are here as promised. I am ready to measure you if you would follow me,” Mrs. West said.

Merrick chuckled.

“
Why, my lord, you are not following me?” she asked in surprise.

“
It’s not me you are measuring,” Merrick told her and dragged Christine in front of him to show the woman. Mrs. West stared at Christine for a long while.

“
Well, umm, if you would please follow me then.” She led the way to the back of the store.

Christine looked up at Merrick, her confusion clearly showing in her eyes. He smiled at her and then dragged her to Mrs. West. They entered one of the small rooms.

“
Now, then let’s choose the material and the kind of breeches and shirt you shall have, lad,” the woman said, bringing out dark cotton materials.

“
Not breeches, Mrs. West,” Merrick told her, chuckling.

“
Not breeches, my lord?” Mrs. West asked, her eyes wide in confusion.

“
It’s gowns that we want,” Merrick supplied.

“
Gowns, my lord?” the woman asked, her mouth opened in the form of an O.

“
Aye, gowns, many of them, and one for the ball, a really beautiful one in the latest fashion,” Merrick instructed with a smile still playing around his lips.

“
Gowns, my lord?” Mrs. West’s hand went to her throat. Lord, she had never heard of such a thing and at a ball, too.

“
Aye, Mrs. West, gowns,” Merrick repeated and took off Christine’s hat. The short curls tumbled down to the nape of her neck. Although in her boy clothing, Christine still presented a picture of beauty with her eyes clearly as confused by the situation as Mrs. West was. Her lips were full and red, and her cheeks blushed to a rosy pink.

Mrs. West sucked in her breath when she realized what was going on. Then as she remembered her place, she nodded.

“
Aye, gowns, many gowns and of the latest fashion,” she clapped her hands together, suddenly very optimistic indeed that such a beauty was hers to adorn with the latest in fashion. Aye, she’d do her best for this one, no doubt a most beautiful one. She went out, and minutes later she came back with loads of brightly colored silk and muslin materials in her arms.

“
Now then, let’s choose the materials,” she said as she placed them on the table.

Merrick looked at his pocket watch. He frowned. “I’m sorry, Mrs. West. Would you please look after this young lady for me? I have business for about an hour. Would that be all right?” he asked, putting his pocket watch away.

Christine, who was looking at all the assorted materials lovingly, turned to him.

“
You did not mention anything to me,” she said, truly hurt that he would not be here to help her choose the material.

“
I’m sorry, but I will be back in about an hour.” With that, he turned to leave. In seconds, he was out of the salon off to somewhere she didn’t know.

Mrs. West and Christine chose the materials and then the style of the gowns and then more materials for hats and gloves. There was lots to do, and an hour later, they still had not finished and Merrick still had not returned. When another hour had passed, they had finally finished. Christine said farewell to Mrs. West and went outside to wait for Merrick. She was walking along the pathway when a hand caught her arm. She jumped and turned to see Merrick smiling down at her.

“
Running away from me?” he jested.

She smiled up at him and crooked her head to one side. “Hum, yes, I am.”

“
You won’t get away from me, you know. I’ll hunt you down and then—” He pulled her against him. They were so close their bodies almost fused. “And then,” he said seductively, “I’ll ravish you,” he finished off.

His breath was caressing her ear, sending bolts of sensations down her spine. She giggled and said, “I’d like that.”