Katie Rose (25 page)

“If that is true, then we all owe you an apology, Mr. Forester. We apparently have misjudged you. I sincerely hope we haven’t caused you too much inconvenience. I wish you good day.”

Jennifer breathed a sigh of relief. Winifred extended the coat to him, but Gabriel barely moved from his perch. He rustled the newspaper in annoyance, as if she had but disturbed his regular ritual, and looked directly at Jennifer.

“No.”

“No?” Winifred looked astonished. No one ever challenged her when she spoke in that particular tone. Until now. She gazed at Gabriel in confusion as he politely explained his position.

“I believe I made myself plain to your sister. You have kidnapped me for the weekend, and I don’t intend to go anywhere. If you have changed your mind, that’s unfortunate. You should have thought of that before you laid down the gauntlet.”

Winifred’s mouth dropped, as if unable to believe her own ears. Jennifer sighed, her last hope dashed, while Penelope gasped in horror. Gabriel calmly folded the paper and gazed up at the three girls like a stern schoolteacher about to deliver a lecture.

“You young ladies are sorely in need of a lesson, and unfortunately, I have been elected to provide it. You invited me into your home last night under friendly pretexts, then while I was enjoying your hospitality, you imprisoned me in the wine cellar like some wild animal. The tables have turned, however, and now you will get a taste of your own medicine. You wanted my presence for the weekend, and by God you’ll have it.”

He turned from one pale face to the next. Although he still planned to leave after dinner, he was enjoying their discomfort. Perhaps they’d think twice before pulling such
an outrageous stunt again, he thought self-righteously. His gaze stopped when he reached Penelope. Jennifer’s sister was inching her way toward the desk when his eyes pinned her as securely as a botanist skewered his insects. “Don’t go looking for your gun, Miss Appleton,” Gabriel said, one brow lifting as she skidded to a stop directly before the desk. “It is upstairs, and unloaded. I have the ammunition. And if any of you try anything else and I am forced to leave, I will not hesitate to go to the authorities. Do I make myself clear?”

Penelope squeaked, while Winifred looked nonplussed. Only Jennifer appeared unsurprised and resigned to her fate. She sent him a pleading glance which he conveniently ignored, then he settled down onto the couch with his paper, utterly content. Feeling Jennifer’s withering stare still on him, he looked up and smirked like a fox in a henhouse, perfectly satisfied with the situation.

“So now, Miss Appleton. When do we eat?”

“We have to get rid of him!” Jennifer insisted as the three girls huddled together in the kitchen. “If anyone should see him, our reputations would be destroyed!”

“No!” Penelope cried. “That can’t happen! We’ve been working so hard to get accepted. We can’t let him ruin everything!”

“Perhaps he was just joking, or trying to teach us a lesson, as he said,” Winifred said pragmatically. “Surely he doesn’t really mean to stay, now that we’ve set him free. Maybe he’s just trying to frighten us.”

The servant’s bell rang behind them. Jennifer, Winifred, and Penelope stared at it in bemusement. The maid was off for the weekend, and there was no one else in the house. It had to be …

Jennifer entered the parlor and saw Gabriel with the bell in hand. He glanced up from his paper, as if annoyed at having to wait. Placing the bell aside, he gestured to the kitchen.

“While you girls are in there, I am hungry. A light snack before dinner would be nice. Maybe a glass of wine and some cheese. I believe you have an excellent vintage in
the basement. I should know.” He stared hard at her. As she gazed in disbelief, he snapped his fingers. “Hop to it! It is against the law to starve prisoners. Even Winifred can attest to that.”

Grumbling under her breath, Jennifer returned to the kitchen and faced her sisters. “His Majesty wants wine and cheese. The nerve of him! As if we’re really going to be his servants for the weekend.”

“I think we’d better placate him,” Winifred said softly. “Lord knows what he’ll do if we cross him now. Until we can figure a way out of this, it is probably best to do his bidding.” She saw Jennifer’s defiant expression and Penelope’s worried one, and she gestured to the parlor. “I’ll take it to him. I’ll try to talk with him again and explain how he could cause us trouble by being here.”

“You can try,” Jennifer said doubtfully. She knew it still nettled Winifred that Gabriel had out-debated her previously, and that she needed to win for her own self-esteem. “But I don’t think you’ll get anywhere.”

Winifred took up a tray and put some cuts of cheese and fruit on it, then descended to the cellar for the wine. She selected a good bottle, blowing off the dust to ascertain the year, then returned to the kitchen and poured some into a goblet. Finally, she nodded to her sisters, squared her shoulders, and proceeded to the living room like a soldier prepared for battle.

Jennifer and Penelope peeped around the door as Winifred placed the tray before Gabriel. The man barely moved his feet from the stool, simply rattling the newspaper in acknowledgment of the offering. Jennifer wanted to smack him.

“Mr. Forester, may I have a word?”

Jennifer had to admire her sister’s cool aplomb, for Winifred addressed him in the tones of a minister who was gravely concerned with the state of affairs. It was a different
voice from the one she’d used earlier, when she’d ordered him out. Jennifer wondered if it would work.

It appeared to have an effect on him, for he laid the paper aside and picked up his wineglass. Jennifer could see his smirk of pleasure as he sipped the heady liquid, stroking his namesake kitten. He eyed Winifred with amusement, as if he were prepared to be entertained.

“Certainly. What can I do for you?”

“Mr. Forester, I want to apologize again for the actions of my sisters and myself last night. I am partly the cause of this misunderstanding, for I really believed you were involved in a scheme to discredit us.”

“You’ve said as much,” Gabriel nodded, appearing as cool as Winifred.

“I now entirely believe in your innocence, and as a gentleman, I am pleading with you to do the honorable thing. You must know that your presence in this house gravely jeopardizes our reputation. If anyone should find out that you spent the weekend here, all of us would be disgraced.”

Gabriel put his wineglass aside and sank back in his seat, touching the tips of his fingers together as if thinking deeply. “Miss Appleton, don’t you think you should have thought of that before you encouraged your sister to kidnap me?”

“Yes, I agree. But as you know, to err is human. I admit we made a costly mistake, and we have all been suitably punished for it. You have made your point, and we shall all take a lesson from this experience.”

She was wonderful, Jennifer admitted to herself in awe. Winifred was surely made for the courtroom, for she argued with the precision of any defense lawyer. For a moment, even Gabriel seemed swayed by her inescapable logic. Jennifer wanted to applaud.

Her excitement died with his next words, for instead of rising and getting his coat, as she expected, he merely
sampled a piece of the cheese, looking like a well-fed king in his own castle. He took another sip of wine, and when he finished, he smiled at Winifred benignly.

“I am glad you see the error of your ways, and I will certainly pay attention this weekend to see that the lesson has lasting meaning. You girls are entirely too willful and impulsive, and hold a strange disregard for other people’s feelings if they are an obstacle to your success. Just as I believe your séances are detrimental to your clients, this kidnapping folly is another example of the same kind of behavior. But I will put your fears at ease. No one will know that I am here. I will tell no one, no one saw me, and I will depart before Eve returns. She of all of you is innocent, and I think she worries enough about you three without my adding to her concerns.” He picked up the paper dismissively, then gave one more parting shot.

“While you are in the kitchen conspiring with your sisters, would you mind refilling my glass? I am truly enjoying this port.”

Jennifer gasped in outrage, then quickly shut the door as he turned toward the noise. Winifred stomped inside a moment later, fuming from her encounter.

“That man! You cannot reason with him! Why, I used my best barrister appeal, and he simply refuses to listen!”

“You did great, Winnie,” Jennifer consoled her. “It isn’t your fault he’s obstinate. I didn’t think he’d listen, no matter what you said.”

“What will we do?” Penelope cried.

She barely got the words out of her mouth when there was a knock on the front door. Penelope, Jennifer, and Winifred looked at each other quizzically, then Penelope put her hand over her mouth in horror.

“The Billings! I forgot I invited them to tea today! Oh, no, we’re ruined!”

Winifred peeked out the side door. There she spied
Elizabeth’s pert bonnet and Jane’s elegant wool coat. She closed it as softly as possible and faced her sisters.

“It’s them. Shall we pretend not to be home?”

“We can’t do that! One cannot invite someone for tea, then conveniently disappear! That would be a slap in the face to them!”

Penelope wailed, while Jennifer squared her shoulders. “I’ll talk to him. Maybe I can convince him to keep out of sight until the Billings leave. He did promise that no one would know he was here, and I don’t think he means to disgrace us.”

“Do you think he’ll do it?” Penelope asked tearfully.

Jennifer glanced out the door to where Gabriel sat by the fire, the picture of contentment. “I don’t know,” she admitted. “But I can try.”

Winifred patted her shoulder, and Jennifer took a deep breath, then walked through the door. Their captive looked up, unsurprised to see her, especially with the knocking that still sounded from the front of the house. He turned to her expectantly, and Jennifer swallowed hard, lowering herself to his eye level and gazing at him pleadingly.

“Gabriel, I beg a favor. I know you’re still angry with us, and you have every reason to be. But Penny needs the parlor, she has guests. The Billings are here. I don’t want to cause her trouble. Please, can you go upstairs? If any of what you said to me is true, please help us.”

It burned to humble herself in such a manner, but she knew she didn’t have any choice. She was in no position to order him around—he’d made that abundantly clear—and she was left with no choice except to throw herself on his mercy.

Gabriel gazed at her for a long moment, and Jennifer fully expected him to refuse. To her astonishment, he rose to his feet, and extended his hand to her, helping her back
up. He then collected his paper and snack tray, and bowed slightly before her.

“I am at your service, miss. I told you before that I have no desire to cause any of you harm, especially you.” His eyes burned into her meaningfully, and one brow lifted mockingly. “Where shall we go? Your room?”

His smirk didn’t diminished the wave of relief that swept over her. “Come quickly,” she whispered, then waved to Penelope, whose head was peeking out the door. Whisking him upstairs, she lead him into the guest room, the largest and most comfortable of the bedrooms.

“If you’ll wait here quietly, I will be so grateful! Uncle left some books here, and the light is good. Can I get you anything else?”

She really was grateful and didn’t hesitate to show it. Gabriel had them right where he wanted them, and no one was more cognizant of that than Jennifer. Silently she admitted they deserved it, and his cooperation meant more to her than she could express.

He lifted her chin, gazing into her eyes with an expression she didn’t understand. Jennifer wanted to pull away, yet she was spellbound. His thumb idly caressed her full lower lip, and for a stunning moment, she thought he meant to kiss her again. Instead he smiled and spoke softly.

“You really love them, don’t you? I wonder what would happen if you ever loved a man that way.”

Jennifer’s eyes closed and she waited for the feel of his mouth on hers. To her surprise, he released her, then stepped back as if to examine the room. Nodding, he turned back to her, the tyrant come home.

“This will do for now. I suggest you tell the Billings that their call can last only an hour or so, for I am starving. I can almost taste that roast. I do like my meat prepared medium rare.” He dropped into a chair and grinned at her indignant glare.

“You—” Jennifer sputtered, mortified that she had been prepared to kiss him back, and that he had ordered her around like a servant. “You are the most vile, low-down skunk I’ve ever seen!”

“Now, now.” He shook a finger at her. “I’ll have a bath while I’m waiting, Miss Appleton. And I like my water hot. Since you don’t care for the Billings, and won’t have to sit in on the visit, I believe you’re free.” He lifted one brow, as if daring her to object.

Jennifer turned on her heel, hearing his laughter ringing behind her. Furious, she vowed that if she ever got out of this one, she would pay him back.