The Earl's Desire (36 page)

The door crashed opened. Anne felt her body being pulled away by large, strong hands. She tightened her grip on Christine’s neck and arms.

“
You whore!” she screamed as she scratched the sensitive skin.

Max forcefully pulled Anne away from Christine and thrust the struggling woman to one side.

“
Anne, that is enough!” he shouted.

Anne did not listen. When he loosened his grip on her arms, she rushed forward again and pulled at Christine’s hair. She was consumed with hatred for this girl, the girl who had stolen her man.

“
How dare he ask you to marry him in secret. How dare he?” she screamed in agony.
Oh, God, the pain, it was unbearable. He didn’t love her. He had asked this girl to marry him. Oh God!

“
Anne, that is enough!” Max shoved her away from Christine again.

Anne thrust herself forward, grabbing and hitting at Christine.

Lord Queensbury and the servants rushed through the door when they heard the screams.

“
Anne!” Lord Queensbury shouted. Max managed to pull Anne away from Christine. Still she fought her way from his captivity and rushed at the other girl, wanting to kill her. Max was stronger, and he managed to hold on to her.

“
Are you all right?” Mrs. Ross asked, soothing Christine’s arm.

“
I should have stayed with you,” Betty cried as tears streamed down her face after seeing the black and blue on Christine’s face and body.

“
Betty, we need to get her to bed right away,” Jane said.

Christine was dizzy. She looked about her, seeing the sturdy faces of her friends.

“
Jacob, do come and carry Miss Smith to bed right now,” Mrs. Ross said.

Jacob was holding on to Anne, who was still struggling now and again, trying to get away. Max walked toward Christine and picked her up in his arms.

“
Are you all right?” he asked with concern.

“
No, Your Grace, I must go to Merrick. He is in danger. Please take me to him,” Christine cried.

“
But you have just been beaten. You are very weak. You can’t go anywhere,” Mrs. Ross protested.

“
No, I must go to him. Your Grace, please take me. I saw him ride out. Please, I know he is in danger,” she said, wriggling herself from Max’s arms.

“
There is nothing wrong with the earl. Please, you must stay. You are tired,” Betty sniffed as she tried to control her tears, which seemed to keep pouring out.

“
No, you all don’t understand. He is in danger.” She hit Max on the shoulder to let her down. But he was persistent, and instead he started to walk toward the bed.

“
No. Do you hear me, Your Grace? You must listen to me,” she screamed at them in frustration.

“
Wait, you must let Christine down!” Tyson shouted from the door. He ran into the room, panting and breathless. “You… must… let… her go,” he managed to say between taking huge gulps of air.

Everyone stared at the little boy whose face was flushed and eyes were bright. Max released Christine then, and she rushed toward her brother.

“
Tyson, what is it?” she asked when she saw the alarm on his face.

“
Christine, what happened to you?” He stared at the black and blue of her face.

“
It’s nothing. Tell me what has happened. Why are you not in bed?” she asked.

“
Well, I was. I was asleep, but then I usually get up. You know that.” Tyson stared down at the floor, thinking of the nightmares that still haunted him at night. Christine hugged him hard. She knew what he was talking about. He was still having those nightmares about his boss beating him. She was sorry she hadn’t been there to comfort him.

“
Yes, I know, dear,” she said.

“
Well, when I got up, I went down to see if everyone was still around, and then, Christine, I saw Merrick and this other man. They rode out.”

“
You saw them ride out. Why were they going out?” Christine was panicking now.

“
I don’t know. I heard them say something about saving a lady. Christine…” Tyson started to cry, hiccupping.

“
Hush now, love. It’s going to be all right.” She soothed him, patting his shoulder.

Peter, who was sitting near Lady Anne on the settee, stared at his servant friends pampering the girl who was dressed in boys’ garments. Then he heard the little blond boy say something about the earl going to save a lady. His eyes lit up as the realization hit him hard. He rushed over to the boy.

“
Lad, tell me where the earl was going and with whom,” he commanded.

Tyson turned from Christine to the dark-haired man who he had never seen before. He blinked twice.

“
Peter, what are you on about?” Jacob asked.

“
Lad, tell. ’Tis very important,” Peter said, ignoring his friend’s question.

Tyson’s lips quivered, tears rolled down his pale face. He turned back to Christine, ignoring the man.

“
It’s all right, Tyson.” Christine hugged the boy to her, frowning at the newcomer.

“
No, it’s not all right. I saw them killing Merrick, Christine. He is dying. I saw blood, too, Christine.” He was shaking all over now. Christine’s heart sank. She was feeling very dizzy and nauseous now.

“
Are you sure?” she said weakly.

Peter gritted his teeth. Jacob frowned. Max’s eyes glinted coldly.

“
Christine, I’m scared.”

“
Hush now, love. Are you sure you saw somebody hurting the earl?” Mrs. Ross asked, taking the boy into her arms.

“
Yes, I’m sure of it. I followed them on foot. I didn’t get far though. This man came along, and we followed them together. He is still there now. He told me to come back and tell everyone,” Tyson cried as he clung to Mrs. Ross.

“
Tell us, where are they now?” Max asked the boy.

“
At the barn. I don’t think it’s far,” Tyson sniffed.

“
Tyson, who is this man who told you to come and tell us?” Max asked.

“
Hmm, he said to say he is Mr. Sam. He said to hurry up ’cause they’ll kill Merrick. Christine, you have to help him,” Tyson cried.

“
Don’t you worry, love, I will save him,” she promised.

TWENTY-FOUR

The pain in his head was hammering away. His neck felt stiff and sore. He struggled to get his breath. Merrick slowly opened his eyes even though he regretted it because it hurt so much. Everything was a blur. He saw light from a single candle flickering in the shadowy room. He opened his eyes wider and tried to focus. He blinked twice more; then his vision started to clear. He looked around the room. It was filthy, and the smell was awful. He smelt death in this room. He shifted his position and found that he couldn’t move his hands. Then he realized that they were bound up tightly behind him. He could feel sweat running down the side of his face. He was very hot.

Merrick shifted his eyes about the room again. His gaze came to focus on the back of a woman. She was looking out the window into the darkness. She was wearing a black gown. Her blond hair was dressed fashionably. She turned to look at him then, smiling at him. Her eyes were a misty blue.

“
I see that you have awakened, my lord,” she said, her voice hard and unemotional.

Merrick peered into the face of the woman now only a few inches from him.

“
Indeed, Lady Queensbury. So you are behind all this?” he asked, shifting his position, trying to get comfortable. Somehow, he must try to stall for time. He needed to get away and fast.

“
No, it wasn’t all my idea. I refused even to think about it until this evening.” She took hold of his jaw with her gloved hand. “Until I saw you paying too much attention to that—that girl,” she sneered. “It’s always her. I thought I’d killed her a long time ago, but there she is, here and now, stealing what should be my daughter’s.”

“
Enough talk!” a hard, masculine voice said from behind her. She stiffened and withdrew from Merrick. She walked toward the man and stared up at him.

“
We should get this done quickly,” she said, caressing his cheek with her breath as she gazed up at him. Then she moved to kiss him softly on the lips.

Merrick stared at the scene before him. He was disgusted. He would never have thought that it could be like this.

“
So it was you all along, cousin?” Merrick snorted, staring at Allan.

“
Ah, Merrick? Aye, it was I all along,” Allan said and came to sit in front of his cousin. “I must admit, Merrick, you are very hard to kill. Tell me, have you nine lives like a cat then? I must admit, killing your father wasn’t that hard.” He laughed.

“
I should have known,” Merrick snorted again, shaking his head. At that moment, the door flew open.

“
Sorry I’m late, my lady, gentlemen.” The redheaded man strode in, swinging his cane about him.

“
McLean, I see you are in this group also,” Merrick commented with raised eyebrows.

“
Indeed, my lord. ’Tis nice to see you again.” He bowed.

“
What’s in it for you, I wonder?” Merrick asked, while his eyes searched for an exit.

“
Well, for one thing, I’ll get those factories running with your money, of course.” He laughed, his fat face turning red.

“
And you, Lady Queensbury. What’s in it for you?” Merrick wanted to know. He was working his hands, trying to loosen the rope on his wrists.

She laughed. “My lord—but then you will be my lord no more. You do realize that, don’t you? My lord, my daughter should have married you. She would be a great countess. Then I would have stopped Allan from killing you. I hate him, did you know that? Though I used him for my own reason, but of course I hate him. Do you know why?” She sneered down at him.

Merrick stared hard at the woman before him.

“
No? I shall tell you then. Because he was going to kill you, and I wouldn’t allow it. You made it so clear that you would ask for Anne’s hand. But as of last night, my lord, last night all that has changed. I see that we must get rid of you after all.” She smiled at him and walked off.

“
This is all about my being an earl, isn’t it? You all wanted my money.” Merrick shook his head in disgust. “Allan, tell me, cousin. The things I have given you aren’t enough for you? You need more? Is that why you want to get rid of me?” Merrick probed.

Allan took a deep breath and laughed. “That’s right, cousin. You know I wanted everything you had since the day I was old enough to understand. Money, Merrick. I love money and the power it has, but of course you know that.” He came toward him. “And you know what else? Now that I’m going to kill you, you at least, my dear cousin, should know a few home truths.” Allan moved his head toward Merrick, his eyes glazed. “I killed your wife,” he said quietly. Then he threw his head back and barked with laughter.

Merrick gritted his teeth. He rushed at Allan. The action was so fast that Allan backed away. The rope they had tethered him with was short, and Merrick was pulled backward. Allan laughed even louder.

“
Now calm down, cousin. No need to get too excited about this. Besides, I think I rather did you a favor anyway. See, cousin, Lady Angela was… what should I say?” Allan stared into Merrick’s eyes.

Merrick gritted his teeth, wanting to kill his cousin.

“
Oh yes, she was a
whore
, you see. She did not love you, Merrick. She loved your money and what you could offer her and her father. But you, my cousin, were so in love with her that you were blind to everything else.”

“
You lie!” Merrick shouted. Allan raised his brows questioningly and laughed again.