A Scandalous Deception (30 page)

“Odd,” Heaton agreed. “The English I’ve met
so far have seemed much friendlier than that. Do you think that
fellow from last night lied to you? He said he was going to return
to London but he could have started for here instead.”

That was one thing Aaron was certain hadn’t
happened. The scholar from last night had been quite dead when
Aaron deposited him in that cupboard. The fellow he’d been talking
to, however, was another matter. Aaron had been foolish not to
realize that the night before. “Perhaps,” he replied instead of
discussing the possibilities with Heaton any further. “But it’s of
little consequence. If my wife is truly holed up in there, a few
men with rifles aren’t going to stop me.”

His business partner sighed. “We could try
the diplomatic approach. Drive up to the house and simply ask to
see the lady.”

Was Heaton really that naïve? If there were
armed men at the manor’s entrances, they’d most likely shoot Aaron
on sight. Still, the suggestion might get the man out of Aaron’s
hair. “Why don’t you wait for me back at the inn, and I’ll try
that.”

The inn where they’d acquired rooms this
afternoon was certainly within walking distance of Prestwick
Chase.

“You’d rather see her alone.” Heaton
frowned.

“Well, she is
my
wife.” Even if the
man had been sweet on Felicity in those early days.

After a moment, his old friend agreed with a
nod of his head. “All right, then. I’ll wait for you back at the
inn.” Then he pushed back to his feet, dusted his hands on his
trousers, and left Aaron alone in his hiding place.

Lissy felt like a specimen in a traveling
circus. Sir Nigel and his sons kept glancing at her across the
dinner table as though she was an unnatural curiosity that hadn’t
yet been explained. They could look all they wanted to. They could
think her the worst sort of liar, if they liked. They could never
understand what she’d endured and she didn’t owe any of them an
explanation for her choices.

“You’re certain Staveley said Captain Pierce
was headed to Prestwick Chase?” Juliet asked Fin, lifting her
turtle soup to her lips.

“More than certain,” Fin replied. “He said
Caroline sent him to warn us.”

“Where the devil
is
Staveley, I’d like
to know,” Luke complained, leaning back in his chair and shaking
his head. “I would have thought the man should have been here hours
ago.”

“Perhaps he encountered trouble on the road
like Fin and I did,” Lissy suggested.

“Or got a late start,” Fin added in. “Though
he did seem anxious to arrive when I saw him last night.”

Luke scrubbed a hand across his jaw. “So odd
she would send
him
. Doesn’t make any sense at all.”

Truly, Lissy was surprised at that too. Lord
Staveley was such a nice man, with a generous heart; but he spent
more time in his library than he did out of it. He hardly seemed
the sort who would race through the countryside on a mission.

Juliet sighed a bit. “I do hope he’s all
right.”

“I’m sure he’s fine,” Luke replied. “I just
wish he’d hurry along.”

“Well—” Sir Nigel cleared his throat “— my
boys and I can stay through the night, but we can’t stay forever,
Beckford.”

“We can re-evaluate the situation in the
morning.” Luke nodded toward the magistrate. “But for now, we
appreciate you being here with us.”

“Yes,” Juliet added. “I’m certain my father
would appreciate everything you’re doing, sir.”

“I appreciate it too, Sir Nigel,” Lissy said
softly. And she did. Even though the magistrate and his sons didn’t
seem to understand how Lissy had ended up in this particular
situation, and even though they seemed uncomfortable about lending
their support, they were still lending it just the same.

“You know,” the magistrate began, a wistful
smile on his face, “I still remember that little blonded-headed imp
who ran around this place with more energy than sense.” He laughed
at some memory floating about his mind. “You didn’t have a care in
the world. You even made your father laugh more often than not in
those days.” He heaved a slight sigh. “I wish you still didn’t have
a care in the world, my lady. We’ll do what we can to help in that
regard.”

Lissy’s heart lifted, and she brushed a tear
from her cheek. How kind Sir Nigel was.

The Peak District was blanketed in darkness,
and though Fin had slept many hours that afternoon, he was grateful
when the second footman relieved him of his post at The Chase’s
front door. He’d sleep a few more hours at Lissy’s side, then
relieve the servant, just as Luke, the magistrate, his sons and the
rest of the male staff would be doing at their respective posts to
ensure that a fresh pair of eyes would keep watch on every
entrance.

He navigated the darkened corridors of the
manor and descended the steps that led to the family wing. He
didn’t bother knocking, for fear that he’d wake her. But as he
stepped into her chambers he stopped in his tracks when he
heard…

“One more step, cockchafer,” Lissy growled,
“and I’ll shoot you right between your eyes.”

“Felicty!” Fin’s mouth fell open. He’d never
heard her utter something so vulgar in all of his days.

“Oh, Fin!” She dropped something heavy onto
her bed and then rushed across the floor to him, throwing her arms
around his middle. “I thought you were him.”

He held her trembling body against his and
kissed the top of her head. “Where the devil did you learn such a
vile word?”

She looked up at him in the darkness and said
very meekly, “Luke. But I think I’m supposed to have forgotten that
he taught it to me.”

“I should say so.” Fin shook his head, then
focused on the next part of the threat she’d issued. “Do you have a
pistol in here?”

“Just in case,” she admitted, dropping her
eyes to his chest.

“Sweetheart, Pierce won’t make it this far.
There are armed men at each entrance.”

She nodded in agreement. “I know. I just
needed that bit of security, being alone in here.”

“Well, I’m here, now.” Fin kissed her brow.
“I won’t let anything happen to you.” Then he directed her back
toward the bed and retrieved a dueling pistol from the top of her
counterpane. Damn it all, he was lucky he hadn’t shot him or
herself, for that matter. “We are
not
sleeping with this,
Lissy.”

“But, Fin,” she started to protest.

“I won’t have one of us wake up without a
head in the morning.” That sounded perfectly ridiculous. He hadn’t
gotten a ton of sleep however. “I mean, I won’t have one of us
never wake up again.” So he put the pistol on a nearby table, then
climbed into bed bedside her.

“You’re going to sleep in your clothes?” she
asked around a yawn, rolling over in the bed to snuggle against
him.

“I have to be up in a few hours to relieve
Martin at the front door.”

Her delicate hands slid around his back,
holding him against her. “I love you, Fin,” she said against his
cravat.

His arms tightened around her. “I love you
too, Lissy.”

Aaron waited until well after all the candles
in the manor had gone dark and well after there’d been a changing
of the guards before he started towards the door that led to the
gardens. As he approached the garden gate, he glanced up at the
window, the third from the left, where he’d spotted his errant wife
that evening. It was one thing to hear she was alive, one thing to
realize that he had been duped for quite a while, and another to
actually see her with his own eyes. His blood was still boiling
over that deception. No one made a fool of Aaron Pierce. No
one.

He crept through the garden gate, careful to
stay in the shadows so the man at the door couldn’t catch a glimpse
of him. He edged his way closer to the entrance but stopped when he
brushed against a hedge, which made a rustling sound.

The guard stepped slightly away from the
door, peering into the darkness. It was a blessing that only a
sliver of the moon was out that night or Aaron might have been
spotted. He crouched down and retrieved the knife from his
scabbard. No one was going to keep his wife from him.

“Papa?” Ben’s tired, little voice in the
distance hit Lissy’s ears, jarring her slightly from sleep.
“Milk.”

She twisted a bit in Fin’s arms and must have
made a sound because he whispered, “What is it, sweetheart?”

“Ben,” she mumbled back. “It sounds like he’s
awa—”

Something wrenched her from the bed before
she could finish her sentence. She fell onto the floor thud and
bumped her head on the nearby table.

She screamed, or at least she thought she
did, as she saw a large figure looming over Fin in the darkness.
Someone was holding him down on the bed.

“Fin!” she screamed for certain that
time.

“Shut up, you whore,” a vicious voice growled
back. “I’ll deal with you next.”

Aaron
.

Lissy’s heart plummeted as every fear she’d
ever had was right there in her chambers. And he had Fin by the
throat. She caught a tiny bit of moonlight reflecting off
a…knife.

“Fin!” she yelled again, pushing up to her
knees. “Fin!”

Oh dear God! The pistol. Where had Fin put
the pistol?

Aaron’s knife thrust downward and Fin cried
out, but then he reared upwards. The two of them struggled on the
bed and Lissy could barely see anything other than two darkened
beings thrashing against each other.

The table. Fin put the dueling pistol on the
table. The table Lissy had bumped into.

She scrambled to her shaky feet, retrieved
the heavy weapon from the table and pointed it at her bed. Heavens,
she could barely make out one man from the other as they wrestled
for dominance.

“Shoot him, Lissy!” Fin cried out.

His words halted the attack on Fin, and Lissy
could make out Aaron’s face as he turned his attention on to her.
Memories of every horrible thing he’d once done to her flashed in
her mind and she pulled the trigger.