A Pair of Rogues (22 page)

She wanted to drown in his affection, to lose herself in his rising need, to forget all that she had ever been and never would be again.

In him, she sensed a similar wonder. A bright, new beginning which could never be sullied by memories of his past. To her, his past meant nothing except for that moment long ago, when he had held her on his lap and whispered comfort into her ears, when he had taught her the meaning of kindness. And now, she felt herself hurtling back into that memory as if a bird were flying her home, back to a time before her aching restlessness had ever begun.

“Christina.” He breathed her name on an ecstatic moan.

It made her smile, and she stretched like a cat.

“Christina, my love, I have to get you back to London intact, but if you continue to move like that, it will be more difficult than I care to admit.”

“Intact?” With a questioning tilt of her head, she sought his eyes.

“Yes. Undefiled.”

His lopsided grin, and its accompanying rueful look, made her chuckle. With a disappointed sigh, she said, “If you insist.”

He heaved a sigh, too, and she delighted in its unsteadiness. She would never doubt that their embrace had affected him as much as it had her.

Ned left her in the straw while he corked the ale they had barely touched and covered the remaining food. Then, he stood and smothered the light.

In a moment, Christina felt him kneel down beside her and cover her with a quilt. He lay down a few inches away, but she quickly closed them, snuggling into his shoulder. Although he wrapped one arm about her, she felt him tense.

After a while, he cleared his throat and she listened as he said, “You know what Robert will expect of us both now?”

His choice of words brought her up short. With a sense of deflation, she said, “I suppose I do.”

“And you would have no objection?”

His even asking made her wonder what objections had come into his mind. Fear of these, when she had been so certain he, like she, had embraced the notion of marriage with joy, made her respond with her former wariness. “Must we go through with it? I had no intention of forcing you into marriage when I came.”

His pat on the shoulder reassured her that, at least, he did not suspect her of that. “Nevertheless,” he said, “we must pay the piper.”

He cleared his throat again. “I shall try to make a good husband, Christina.”

The strain in his voice nearly broke her heart. What could it mean, but that, in spite of the passion they’d shared, the thought of being bound to her still gave him pause?

“I know you would,” she said, endeavoring to conceal her hurt beneath a practical tone. “But, who knows? If no one but my family ever learns of this mishap, maybe you will not be trapped.”

“I can think of much worse things,” he said, but his sober timbre revealed nothing of his feelings.

“I agree. But shouldn’t we wait to see what happens tomorrow?”

“I suppose so.”

* * * *

As Ned lay there that night, pondering the regrets she must harbor for having put herself in such a hapless situation, he felt her move away from his arm. A blast of cool air filled the spot she had occupied, chilling him to the bone.

Was he not to lie every night with Christina beside him as he’d dared to hope?

All, it seemed, would depend upon Robert and his opinion of Ned.

 Chapter Twelve

Robert discovered Christina’s absence when he and Louisa sat down to a late dinner. He had not complained about the hour, for the cook had been instructed to prepare his favorite roasted capons with a truffle sauce.

“Where is Christina?” he finally asked when, after a polite wait, she did not appear.

“I am not sure,” Louisa said, nervously applying herself to the asparagus soup. “She asked to spend the afternoon with a friend she met at school. I had expected her to be back before now, but Marston says there has been no sign of her.”

Robert hitched his brows. “Have you sent a footman round to collect her?”

“No.” Louisa glanced at him contritely. “I am greatly afraid that I have forgotten the name of the friend she went to see.”

“Good gracious!” He fell back against his chair. “Did you say she went alone?”

“No, of course not! She took her maid.”

“But you must remember the chit’s name!”

“I know I cannot.”

“Well, think. Was it Jane—Marie—Henrietta?” He kept reciting names, growing more worried by the second.

Louisa had hoped to get through dinner before Robert began examining her or grew this agitated. She had hoped the roasted capons would do the trick, but now saw that was not to be.

To put a halt to this torture, she played her next card. “Perhaps Marston will remember where she said she was going.”

Robert’s frown spoke volumes. “I should have thought you would have questioned him before.” In a tone of wearying patience, he added, “Let’s have him in.”

Louisa rang for their major domo. She knew from experience that any conversation with Marston would take up more time than it ought, due to the exaggerated dignity of his speech.

Nevertheless, Robert’s queries to his butler occupied no more than a quarter of an hour, still leaving the whole of the night ahead.

Marston could not remember the name of the young female the Lady Christina had gone to see, however, he could state that her ladyship’s maid had returned just after five of the clock. She had taken a tray upstairs, leading Marston to suppose that his Grace’s sister had made her way back into the house somehow without his knowledge.

“Perhaps she’s in her room, then,” Louisa said smiling.

“And not coming down at the gong? If that is so,” Robert huffed, “then she is being abominably rude not to have sent us word.” He eyed the tempting capons Marston placed before him at Louisa’s request, but he refused to be distracted. “Let’s have this maid of hers down, shall we?”

“Before we finish dinner? It will be quite ruined if we wait.”

“Christina could very well be ruined if she proves to be missing!”

“Robert!” Louisa’s shocked whisper, accompanied by a glance their servant’s way, served to remind him to be discreet.

“Very well, then,” he grumbled, but she could see that nothing would appease him. “It can wait that long, I suppose.”

They ate hurriedly, with Robert declining any port after dinner, before he insisted on calling Christina’s maid down to the drawing room.

Mary met them there, the fright on her young, round face enough to confirm Robert’s worst suspicions. In a trembling voice, she confessed that Lady Christina had undertaken a prank, that she had thought to be back long before dinner, but had never returned.

“What was the nature of this prank?” Robert’s restraint was near to bursting.

Tearily, Mary informed him of Ned’s tiger, the clothes she had procured for her mistress, and the last she had seen of her riding away on the back of Lord Windermere’s curricle.

“Windermere?” Sinking into a chair, Robert clapped both hands over his eyes. “She is ruined! My sister is completely and irretrievably ruined.”

“That will be all, thank you, Mary.” Louisa shooed the girl out with an admonishment to keep the story to herself. Then, with a contriteness, she did not have to fabricate, she hastened to her husband and took up his hand.

“Do not be distressed, my dearest. I am certain everything will turn out right.”

“I told Ned to stay away from Christina, but he must have gone against my wishes. It is clear he persuaded her to run away with him.”

“No, no!” Louisa cried. “I am sure you are wrong. You heard what Mary said. Ned knew nothing of Christina’s intentions.”

“But what could have possessed her to do such a wayward thing?”

“Well, as to that . . . “ Louisa knew it was time to take her portion of the blame. This was the moment she had been dreading. “I am terribly afraid that something I said might have put the notion into her head.”

Robert dropped his hand from his eyes and, with a look of increasing dread, raised them to scrutinize her face. “Louisa, what have you done?”

“Oh, Robert. You mustn’t look at me with such suspicion. If I said anything to lead Christina to ruin, I am most heartily sorry. But I cannot believe it will come to that.”

“It has already come to that.”

“Now, Robert. I honestly think he loves her, and if that is so, surely he will do nothing to harm her.”

“Ned, in love with my sister? Or anyone? He doesn’t know the meaning of the word.”

“I do think he loves her. And she him!”

“Then she must be ruined. Have they gone to Gretna Green? Or is it something worse?”

A look of hope crossed Louisa’s face. “Oh, do you think they might have gone to Gretna? That would account for her being so late! I had not thought of that.”

Robert gave a snort of disgust. “Yes, I suppose we must hope he has taken her to Gretna and not simply ravished her instead. But you have not told me yet what you said to make her go off on such a start.”

Recalled to her own crimes, Louisa inwardly grimaced. “I merely told her that Ned had been here and that I was afraid his disappointment would drive him back into his old ways. Which was true! I have been afraid he might eventually drink himself to death or break his neck in a carriage race if he does not settle down.”

“You must have said more than that.”

“Well, perhaps, she thought I meant he was in immediate danger. Which he might have been, which is probably why she went to save him now.”

“Louisa, surely Ned told you he was taking Levington on a shooting trip.”

Louisa felt the color draining from her face. Her fingers flew to her mouth. “Levington was to go along? Oh, dear! I quite see now why Christina did not come back after speaking to Ned.”

“Do you? Then you have a sharper mind than I.” Robert stood abruptly and started for the door. “I shall have to track them down.”

“But Robert”—Louisa ran after him and attached his arm—”how can you leave when we don’t know where they’ve gone? They could be anywhere between here and Scotland.”

He looked down at her impatiently. “Do you expect me to do nothing?”

“No, but first we must give them a chance to return. They may be on their way back right now. Surely, if Christina’s intention had been to go to Scotland, she would have left us a note.”

Robert raked a hand roughly through his fair hair. He was clearly muddled as to the course he should take. “I could travel up to Ned’s estate. See if they’ve stopped there.”

“I cannot believe they have gone so far, but perhaps Ned did not discover her until they were far outside London. In that case, he might have taken her up into Yorkshire, although I am inclined to think he will bring her back just as soon as he can.”

“That’s what an honorable person would do,” Robert said with doubt.

“Then, we must put our faith in Ned.”

“Faith in Ned! Have you lost your mind completely, Louisa?”

She drew herself up and dropped her hold on his sleeve. Her eyes filled with moisture.

“There, there,” Robert said, patting her shoulder awkwardly. “I did not mean to snap at you so, but all along I have wondered at your trust in those two. They have never merited it, and only see what has happened now.”

Louisa made a great show of drying her eyes with a handkerchief. She was desperate, and tears were her only weapon left.

And weeping came quite naturally, she found. Although she thought she knew both Ned and Christina well enough to guess how they would behave, she could not be absolutely certain that the girl was safe. She might have inspired her sister-in-law’s ruin, just as Robert said.

“I have to believe they will come back just as rapidly as they can. And if you rush out to look for them in the dark, you could pass them on the road.”

“Very well.” Robert’s agreement was reluctantly given. “I shall wait until morning. But if they are not returned by a reasonable hour, I shall have no choice but to set up in pursuit.”

“I shall mention to my dresser that Christina has stayed overnight with her friend. That should scotch any rumors below stairs.”

Louisa left him alone in order to do just that. Then, before she returned to the drawing room, she made a trip up to the nursery to see that Robert Edward was all right.

Christina’s nephew, Ned’s godchild, peacefully slept on his stomach, a little fist clutched tightly to either side of his head. When Louisa looked down at him, she was comforted by the thought that any two people who had discovered their desire for a baby should have the good sense to recognize their perfect mates.

* * * *

The night was both difficult and long, with Robert’s pacing and despairing. His indecisive character made him chafe against the wait she’d imposed, and more than once Louisa had to reason with him again to keep him from rousing all his servants and setting out.

About dawn, he did rouse them, telling them to prepare for a quick journey north. Neither Robert nor Louisa had much appetite for breakfast. How could they eat when every clatter in the street or tradesman’s call made them jump or start?

After a long debate, they agreed that ten o’clock would be a proper time to give up on the miscreants and for Robert to begin his search. Every minute of the morning was like a punishment to Louisa for the risk she had taken with Christina’s welfare.

By half past nine, Robert was dressed in his traveling clothes with cloak and gloves drawn on, pacing the drawing room with, Louisa thought, a quite unnecessary riding crop in his hand. As she waited, sitting anxiously on the couch, he repeatedly struck the whip against his boots with every step. A heavy scowl marred his normally sanguine features.

Another carriage rumbled out in the street. They had jumped at far too many to peer out again, but this one seemed to stop.

Louisa’s eyes met Robert’s as she rose to her feet.

A loud knock at the door, and Louisa reached for Robert’s hand to prevent him from making a scene in the corridor.

They heard Ned’s voice. “The lad is my tiger, Marston. I have need of him in the drawing room. Is your master about?”

“Yes, my lord. I believe his Grace and her Grace are awaiting you.”