A Murderous Masquerade (6 page)

He lifted her chin and gulped as her glistening eyes stared into his.

“Charlotte, whatever happens from this moment on, know that I will never desert you or cast you aside. You are my only and dearest cousin. You will live with Anne and myself as long as you desire and as soon as it is possible, I will set you up with a home and an income of your own. You will never be dependent on anyone else ever again.”

She sparkled up at him.

“And you will always be able to rely on me. If there is anything that I can ever do for you, never hesitate to ask.”

Giles brushed his hand across her hair then leaned down and kissed the top of her golden head.

“Go and put your things away before we eat. Try them on in the morning. I’ll send for the seamstress if they need alteration. I’ll be interviewing possible gamekeepers and woodmen tomorrow and there are also several young women coming for the position of housemaid. I was hoping that you and Cook would interview them and choose the most suitable. We will be leaving for Ormond the following morning and I hope to be able to fill the position of steward on my return. It’s going to be a busy few weeks, Charlotte, but I’m sure that we’ll manage somehow.”

She dried the last of her tears on the back of her hand and nodded firmly.

“Of course we will, but your marriage is the first thing on the agenda. Were you planning a tour with your new wife?”

Giles shook his head.

“No. I could never have afforded it. We will go back to White Briars for a week. If you don’t fancy staying with us two love birds you could remain with Alexander and Lily. You will find them both charming and good fun. Lily is expecting their first child soon. They will be delighted to have you and after that we shall see what it to be done. Don’t worry, sweeting. Everything will turn out perfectly. You just mark my words. Caithwell will live up to its name once again.”

Chapter Four

Lily Currugh bounded down the steps of Ormond, dark curls bouncing as her rounded stomach preceded her. She waved her arms at Giles’ carriage and brayed like a donkey. Alexander came down the steps right behind her, his shirt flapping as he bellowed his head off and tried to catch hold of his over excited wife.

He trapped her in his arms at last and turned her towards him.

“Are you daft, woman? You can’t go leaping around like that in your condition. I only allowed you to have this blasted ball because of Anne coming out of mourning. You promised that you would behave yourself. My son will be jiggled about and ill what with the way you treat him.”

Lily pressed her finger to her husband’s mouth.

“Your daugh’er will fine. Don’ fuss o’er me!” She turned back to the carriage and waved as Giles stood at the bottom of the steps and handed a nervous Charlotte down.

Geoffrey, Alexander’s stableman and friend, stood in the courtyard with Pegasus and Lightning. They had obviously just arrived. He kept hold of the reins, and after staring at Charlotte for several seconds, he guided Callum and the carriage around to the stables. Giles watched Charlotte blink at the tall man’s back for a few seconds before turning back to the castle.

Lily didn’t wait for introductions. She ran forwards and swept the girl into her arms for a quick hug before standing back again.

“I am so gla’ tha’ you are here. Giles sen’ wort yes’erday. Come an’ meet Alassander an’ then I will show you to your room.”

Charlotte looked slightly confused at her words, but Alexander strode forwards and took her hand. He bowed over it graciously as she curtseyed.

“My dear young lady. Giles has only just appraised us of his new found title and of your unhappy circumstances. Please accept our deepest condolences. Our home is yours. Please use it as you wish.”

Charlotte stared wide-eyed up at the huge castle.

“I’m nearly speechless. Giles never told me that you lived anywhere quite so grand. Thank you for your welcome and impromptu invite to the ball. It is uncommon rude of me to be added to your guest list so unexpectedly.”

Alexander had walked over to Giles and had taken him in a backslapping embrace.

“Nonsense!” he said over his shoulder. “Giles and his cousin are always welcome at Ormond. It wouldn’t be mine today if Giles hadn’t stood by my side and helped me fight for it.” He looked at his friend and smiled widely. “And now you are a Lord yourself. As I offer you my condolences on your loss, Lady Charlotte, I cannot disguise my delight for my friend. It couldn’t have gone to a more deserving man. He will do Caithwell proud.” He looked at his friend and lowered his voice. “We haven’t announced anything to our other guests yet. They have been arriving all morning. I thought that you would like to do the honours tonight when you make your other announcement.”

Giles grinned.

“Perfect. I am hoping the surprise will shock the outrage from my future in-laws.” He glanced hopefully towards the entrance of Ormond. “Has Anne already arrived? I’d like her to meet Charlotte. I’m afraid I haven’t been able to produce the girl an evening gown and I was hoping that Anne had something suitable that she could borrow.”

Alexander laughed as he watched the two women link arms and proceed into the castle.

“I don’t think Lily is going to let her go for a while yet. I’m sure that they will find something suitable for your cousin to wear, between them. Grady will take up your trunks and Geoff will take care of your carriage and horses. The ladies took a turn in the gardens soon after luncheon and Anne has since retired to her rooms. She said that she was going to have a rest before the festivities tonight, but really I think that she was escaping her father and brother. I cannot fathom how someone so lovely comes from such an obnoxious family. Edward is particularly vile. He’s out riding with Rookwood and Latham at the moment. I think that they were going down to Oakley to sample the brandy and other delights of the Bear and Dragon.” He raised his eyebrows suggestively. Though neither of the men had ever sampled anything more than the liquor, both of them knew exactly what other treats could be procured at the inn. Alexander had often wondered about the way Mary liked to crack her serving cloths in the air when she thought that customers were shilly-shallying at closing time. Privately, he thought that the buxom, but no nonsense woman might be just the type to put the odious Edward right in his place.

Giles snorted.

“My God! They don’t waste any time.” He laughed suddenly. “I’m going to be watching Edward closely tonight. If he can’t sit without flinching we’ll have our suspicions confirmed and know exactly what Mary can do with those strips of cloth she’s so adept at cracking. Might be more than that actually. I saw her riding home from Oakley market once. Let’s just say that she didn’t spare the horse. She cracked the whip just as effectively as her cloths.”

Alexander bellowed with laugher as he threw his arm over his friend’s shoulder.

“Come and have a quick brandy with me to celebrate your newly found position and then I’m sending you to your rooms to rest. Tonight is going to be a long one what with everything Lily has planned. This is the first big event that we have hosted what with Anne being in mourning all this time. She’s expecting you to make your announcements at midnight and has strict instructions for a champagne breakfast to be served immediately after, so don’t go and muck it all up for her.”

They headed into Alexander’s snug and toasted the evening ahead before Giles made his way along to his rooms in the west wing. He was slightly disconcerted to discover that Lily had placed Anne in the east wing along with Charlotte and most of the other ladies. He’d been hoping to be able to visit her, but it appeared that it wasn’t to be.

He glanced about his suite as he removed his coat and cravat. It wasn’t one he normally stayed in when residing at the castle, but it was more than adequate for his needs. The bed was huge, a waste he thought, if Anne was more than a hundred yards distant, and the two chairs either side of the fireplace seemed more than was needed. There was a table set with a Tantalus and several glasses and he decided to have one more drink before summoning his bath.

As he took a bottle from the Tantalus a note bearing his name slipped from behind it. It was scented with familiar roses and vanilla. He opened the fold and read the three words.

‘Follow your heart’

Anne’s scent and handwriting. He turned the note over. There was nothing else to see apart from his name on the other side. He re-read the three words. ‘Follow your heart’. Both he and Anne knew exactly where his heart lay so the message clearly meant something more. He glanced about the room. It was just a room, but then he noticed a small posy of rose buds in a vase upon the mantle. An odd thing to put in a gentleman’s bedroom? He took a step towards it and was about to pick it up when he noticed the carving on the oak mantelpiece.

A heart appeared between two cherubs flying over a vine laden with grapes. He stared at it for a moment before placing his glass on the mantle and reaching out to touch the motif. Nothing happened and he bent to study the heart and cherubs. The heart appeared to be made from a different type of wood. The grain was tighter and the wood more rose coloured.

He reached out, caught the edge of the heart and turned it. There was a resounding click and the whole panel beside the fireplace opened outwards an inch. Giles didn’t hesitate. He took hold of the edge and pulled the secret door open. There was a lit lantern in an alcove just inside the stone passage that was built inside the very wall of the castle. He picked it up, made sure that the panel was closed behind him and followed the narrow passage. The ground was slightly uneven beneath his feet and one or two of the ancient floorboards creaked gently as he walked on them but there were no other doors leading from the cool stone walls.

He’d been walking for several minutes before the passage suddenly stopped at a wooden door bearing the same carved hearts and cherubs along its panelling. Another lamp glittered in a similar alcove to the one at his end of the tunnel. It shone onto a metal lever. He listened at the door for several seconds, hearing nothing before he reached out and pushed the lever downwards. Unlike the latch at his end of the passage, there was only a faint click before the secret panel opened.

The scent of roses and vanilla filled the small, circular room. A draft coming through the slit of a window wafted the material around a curtained bed which filled most of the room’s space, but a small area had been screened off at one side. The noise of splashing water came from behind this screen and Giles took long strides around the end of the bed to peer behind it.

His mouth fell open at the sight that greeted his eyes.

Lady Anne lay naked in a pool of frothing white bubbles. Her luscious chestnut hair was piled upon her head with only whispering tendrils escaping to curl at her neck. Her porcelain shoulders were damp with water and the rise of her breasts peeped out of the bubbles. With closed eyes she scooped handfuls of the steaming water from the bath and dripped it along her arms. She lifted a sponge and squeezed it, the rivulets of water trickling down her throat and all at once her rosy nipples were exposed as the bubbles slid down from her dewy skin and back into the bath.

Giles couldn’t hold back the strangled cry that left his lips as almost every drop of his blood raced into his throbbing groin.

Anne’s eyes flew open and her hand travelled upwards as she covered her breasts, but then her eyelids drooped again. She dropped her arm and lifted her chin as she stood up in the sudsy water. Soap suds cascaded downwards and Giles’ eyes travelled with them. Water dripped from her full breasts and slid down to pool in her navel before running towards the apex of her thighs. He felt his knees weaken as he noticed that her skin was as smooth and alabaster pale there as everywhere else and he let out a breath that he didn’t even know that he was holding.

He looked back up to her face and he suddenly realized that he had stared for too long. He saw the momentary doubt creep over her features. Her eyes darted to the drying cloth draped over the chair beside the bath, but Giles was having none of that. The note was from her and the flowers had shown him the way. She had arranged this haven of privacy for them and, with his emotions raging wildly out of control, it was far too late for her to turn back now.

He stepped forwards and placed his hands on her dripping shoulders. She looked up at him as he lowered his head and took her lips in a crushing kiss that left her in no doubt as to his intensions. A few minutes, or it could have been hours later, he lifted her from the water and carried her towards the bed.

He tore back the sheets and lowered her into the bed before standing back and ripping his shirt from his shoulders. His eyes never left her as he sat and pulled his boots from his feet and then he stood again to unbutton his breeches.

Her eyes widened as he lowered them slowly. There was no hiding the fact that he wanted her with everything he had. He stood silently as her astonished gaze took in all of him and her lips parted as he heard her give a tiny, strained whimper. She glanced down, her passion filled perusal feasting on his straining manhood and it throbbed visibly as the tip of her tongue swept over her lips. At last he moved forwards again and slid between the cool sheets. He wanted to touch her everywhere but he held back as his lips pressed against her ear.

“We will be married before God before the week is out, but know this, Anne. You are my wife from this moment onwards. I will love and cherish you for all of our days and all of our nights. I will never leave you, abandon you or ever look at another woman again. You are my light and my life and I pledge myself to you forever.”

She turned her head and stared at him with glowing emerald eyes.

“And I will only ever take you for my husband from this moment onwards. I love and want you, only you and I cannot wait a moment longer to have you for my own.”

There was no way that Giles was going to deprive her of her wish. Whatever notions he had had for keeping her reputation intact had long since passed. He had gone way past any hope of restraint as soon as he had smelled her unique perfume and heard the bath water sloshing. He dipped his head to the still damp skin of her shoulders and pressed his lips to her flushed flesh before moving lower and capturing a tightened nipple in his mouth.

Her intake of breath at the sudden sensation made him smile over the tightening bud. He knew that she had seen some arousing books that Alexander’s father had once owned. Lily’s fascination with them had driven her to show her friend in anticipation of this moment. Now he wanted to put every single one of those erotic images into action, taking the woman beneath him to sensory heights that she could have never imagined before. His tongue lashed her nipple as his questing hands slipped down her body, skimming over the swell of her breasts, across her flat stomach and around over her flaring hips. The soft, yielding skin of her inner thighs drew a groan of anticipation from his lips and he slid his knee between hers.

Her woman’s scent and heat nearly had him spilling himself with the need that engulfed him. He pressed his forehead to hers and drew in a long breath, stilling his movements as he regained his self-control. He slipped to one side, desperate to slow things down while he ran his finger along the seam of her naked, hairless flesh. She cried out as he touched the point of her ultimate ecstasy. She was wet with need but Giles knew that this would be her first time and, even though he wanted her with every fibre of his being, he also realized that the moment would be painful if he didn’t take the utmost care.