Light to Valhalla (42 page)

He stalked forward, predatory
.
“I fail to understand your meaning.”

Charley inclined her chin regally
.
“Your heir is presently eating chocolate cake in the kitchen
.
You have no further need of me.”

“My heir?
”
Alex scoffed
.
“Not hardly
.
It’s not that simple and you know it.”

“I fail to see where any of this is complicated
.
You are in want of a son and one rather conveniently appeared this morning
.
Give him your name and you have nothing more to worry about
.
Go back to the army
, Alex
.
You’re
a free man.
”

A b
ark of ironic laughter burs
t forth
.
“A free man.
”
The one thing
he’d craved since inheriting the blasted title
.
“
Christ, I’ve done nothing to deserve this.
”

“Well, you certainly
did
something.
”
Her gaze dropped pointedly to his trousers.

“Doesn’t this all strike you as a bit convenient?
”
He moved in on her, desperate for her to understand and believe him
.
“You’re held for ransom the very day I return home, General Witherspoon returns to town, and another man’s brat is dumped on our stoop
.
Don’t you find that
more than coincidental?
”

“Another man’s brat?
  That boy
,” she jerked a finger toward the door,
“
is the spitting image of you
.
The color of his eyes
…
”
Her chin quivered
and a
fresh rush of tears
ran
onto her face
.
“I believe those letters, Alex
.
I believe
Jack is your
child and I believe you were unfaithful to me.
”
Huge, wet eyes
bored into his face with such raw accusation his chest physically ached.
Wiping her palms across her cheeks
, she sucked in a deep breath and
bolted for the door
.

He
caught her on the way by, grasping her upper arms, locking her into place
.
“Never
.
Not once have I been unfaithful to you
.
Bernadette and I had a longstanding relationship
.
I saw her when I was in London
before
we were married.”

“It couldn’t have been long before
.
Jack’s age corresponds perfectly with when you we
re in London three years ago.”

“I was with Bernadette the night before our wedding, but—”

“
Stop, Alex
.
You’re
only
making it worse.
”
She broke from his hold and swept from the room
.
“I’m through
with your excuses and
deceit
.
Leave me be
.
I don’t trust you and I never want to see you again.
”

The door slammed with such force the painting beside the door rattled
and fell, s
plitting a transverse line across the frame
.
Gutted, Alex
stared
down
at the
ruined piece
.
For whatever reason the landscape in the painting reminded him
of Spain
.
All these
years he’d lingered on the edge of glory, striving for that elusive
moment that would define his life and complete him, but never had he been closer
to such absolution
than in these last few weeks with Charley
.
Part of him wanted to go to
her
, demand she listen, force her to understand, but he was only just beginning to learn
Charley’s level of moxie
,
and her forgiveness would not be given lightly… if ever
.

Misery lit a slow burn in his belly, spreading up into his chest and finally
steeling
around his heart
.
Oh, but he didn’t want this plaguing devastation
.
He wanted to be angry
.
Furious
.
Preferably furious at whoever had pl
aced the range target squarely o
n his back
.

Alex paused
.
Convenient… too convenient…
The words repeated over and again in his mind,
weaving with the argument he’d spoken
to Charley not five minutes ago
.
A theory of conspiracy took
shape and soli
dified
in his mind
.
His hands balled into fists
.
He’d been set up
.
By damn
he’d stake his life on the fact s
omeone was out to get him
.
The grand question was w
ho?

Witherspoon?  The general certainly had motive, but somehow this
calculated web
seemed
entirely too underhanded for the general
.
Witherspoon was the type to call a man out and make no
qualms about the fact
.
What of
Sidney
? 
His behavior of late had been extremely
odd
…

Alex shook his head
.
No
.
Not Sid
.
Never Sid
.
The concept was laughable
.
Sidney would never betray him
.
Alex was projecting the turmoil in his life on
to his cousin
.
His best friend
.
In fact,
Sid was exactly
the one he should seek out for help
.
The two of them never failed to standby one another
.

With his m
ind set on a course of action
,
he exited the room and
set a brisk clip for the front of the manse, ignoring the blatant stares of the servants
.

“Where are you going?”
Regina snapped.

“To fix
this fiasco
.
”
The only way to fight his way back into Charley’s good graces was to set this scandalous debacle to rights, and catch
those
intent upon his ruin.

“And how to you plan to go about it?
  I warn you, Alex, this will not be easily swept into the shadows.”

He ground to a halt, taking painstaking effort to keep   “I realize that mothe
r, and unl
ike you, I am not interested in
hiding beneath a veil of secrecy
.
I intend to find the truth.”

“How noble,” sarcasm dripped from the words
.
“But I know better
.
You’re not noble or chivalrous, you’re
just like your father,” Regin
a jeered
.
“Never could keep it in his
breeches
.
Not even
with
my own sister
or his brother’s wife
.”

“Christ
, mother, please, that is more than I ever needed to know or hear.”

“Oh, but I think it’s time you do know
.
”
S
he slid forward, each step deliberate, calculating
.
A sinking sensation trickled through Alex
.
He knew that wicked look
.
She was about to slam death’s gavel upon him
.
“
Sidney is not your cousin, Alex
.
He is your brother.”

Fourteen

A
ccusations of murder and impropriety
raced
through London
on an ever escalating scale
, successfully kill
ing any lingering magic from Charley and Alex’s
blissful respite
in the country or the coming holiday season
.
A
s predicted
,
a parade of callers streamed through
Coverstone
House
each with
the sole purpose of
dropping snide
remarks and gleaning
bits of
razor sharp
gossip to lavish on London society
.
Numb, Charley perched on the edge of her chair, clenching the teacup saucer
in a white knuckled grip, and doing her damndest to
drum up the courage to face
the next round of visitors with a
face of serenity and good breeding.

“In light of the circumstances I certainly see why you disappeared to the country for two weeks.
”
Lady Carmichael clicked her tongue and looked down at Charley from her sharply angled nose
.
“Don’t you agree, Marisol?”

“Yes, of course,
”
t
he
Countess’s mousy daughter rejoined
haughtily
.
The two made quite a picture in their frocks of excess lace and pink frill, and while the ridiculous garb was ex
pected of Lady Carmichael the cl
othes did little to enhanc
e the bony features,
and sallow coloring of Lady Marisol
.
The young woman quirked a
thin brow
.
“I’d sooner die a spinster than find myself wed to a philandering murderer.
”

That can be arranged
, Charley thought peevishly
.
At three and twenty Marisol was dangerously close to being ‘on the shelf’ whatever haughty air she adopted
.
Biting the inside of her cheek Charley lifted her cup, feigning a sip
.

“
We
had a long conversation
with General Witherspoon today,
” Marisol continued slowly, building suspense for the next cut
.
“Such a wonderful man, though it seems his wife is yet to recover from the death of their son.
”
Gray eyes speared Charley with a superior leer
.
The Carmichaels had little regard for rank
.
“But of course your ladyship
would already know all about that.
”

“
No
.
No
,
I’m afraid
I don’t
,
” Charley bit out
.
The nerve of these women
.
She’d done nothing to deserve such
ill
treatment except be a faithful wife
.
Fat lot of good that had done her
.
Alex should be the one sitting here, defending his honor, but that was impossible seeing as he’d rather conveniently disappeared
.
The hot sting of tears
nipped
the back of her eyes
.
She opened her mout
h to let fly a scathing retort, but
Regina shot her a warning glare and Charley clamped her mouth
shut with such force her teeth hurt
.
To the dowagers credit she’d remained
unwaveringly at Charley’s side for each and every of the thirteen callers in the last seven hours
.
And
that
number had waned considerably over the last week
.
Perhaps by next Wednesday the stream of visitors would peter out…

Dear God
, next Wednesday?  S
he couldn’t take another moment of this madness
much less several days
!

Charley
took a steadying sip of tea, smiled—
or
rather
attempted
to smile—at the peacock pair and said, “I do hate to be rude, but I’m afraid I’ll have to ask you to leave.”

Lady Carmichael’s eyes widened to saucers.

“The hour is past five and I’m afraid we’ve a very busy evening planned.
”
Charley ro
se, gesturing broadly toward the door
.
“Thank you for the visit
.
As always
the company was very…
” She took in the tower of dyed feathers displayed in the countess’s hat
.
“I
nteresting.”

Lady Carmichael’s jaw dropped near
ly
to the floor
.
“
A-are you insulting me?
 
Of all the nerve
.
I—”

“No
more than you have insulted me
.
”
Charley tugged the silver bell cord behind her chair
.
“I’ll have Hastings show you out
.
Good
day.
”

Marisol’s eyes narrowed shre
wish
ly, but the younger woman stood, the cloud of pink silk billowing around her, and bustled to the door without a word
.
Lady Carmichael followed at a
considerably slower pace,
red
faced
as the fires of hell
.

When the women finally exited the room, Charley collapsed back in her chair, wrinkling her nose at the overwhelming stench of their lingering perfume
.
Vanilla
,
and
lilac… a hideous combination
.
Her stomach rolled
.

“
I need a drink,” Regina muttered, stomping to the
sideboard cabinet
situated on the far end of the parlor
.
She flung open the cupboard door and plucked a bottle of whiskey
from
the top shelf
.
Without bothering to find a tumbler she popped the cork and tipped
the nozzle to her lips
, taking a very un-marchioness gulp
.

Wide eyed Charley could do littl
e more than stare as her mother-in-
law shuddered, clutched the bottle to her chest, and
finally
took another swig
.

Regina shook her head and grimaced
.
“Would you care for a nip as well?
”
She held the bottle out to Charley.

“Uh, no.
”
Charley quickly shook her head
, stomach rolling at the mere thought of quaffing such potent liquor
.
She’d once drunk a little brandy
and the burn had scalded her throat for two days.

“What a pair.
”
Regina
shook her head, poured a draught of whiskey into a tumbler and finally replaced the bottle to
it’s
resting place on the uppermost shelf
.
“
As if Prudence has any room to bandy insults about, everyo
ne knows her second son
,
Andrew
,
is not her husband’s.”

Charley blinked dumbly, unsure what she was supposed to do with the information, though in some perverse way it made her feel better
to know she was among many cuckolded members
of the aristocracy
.
Perhaps they could create their own club
.
Gentleman had clubs for everything—drinking, gambling—why couldn’t she create a club for humiliated spouses
.

“You handled them very well,” Regina continued
.
“
You’re handling this entire situation with more poise than I’d ever imagined you capable of.
”

Normally Charley would have grimaced, but after the last
weeks
Regina’s insults paled in comparison to the scandalous remarks of callers
,
not to mention Jack’s
surprise arrival
.
Her entire ch
est
tightened
wit
h the memory of the little boy—
at that very moment he was probably sitting in the nursery dire
ctly above her head
,
playing with the wooden toys passed down by Alex and his brothers
.
Charley did what she could to protect him from the turmoil pervading
each and every corner of
the household, but children were sensitive, and she worried he wouldn’t adjust well
being caught squarely in the middle
.

The cupboard door closed with a gentle click
, yanking Charley from the disparaging trail of her thoughts
.
Regina
turned to her
, moving slowly forward, cradling the drink in a bony grasp
.
“
Believe it or not
,
I know
exactly
what you’re going through
.
I’ve been there myself.
”
A tear winked from the corner of her ice blue eye
,
and for a moment the witch façade faded, leaving the broken, bleeding soul of a human being in
it’s
wake
.
“
Twice
.
Keep your chin up
, Charlotte
.
Hold your head up
and no one can hurt you
.
”
She
stopped before Charley and grasped her chin in claw like fingers, Regina’s eyes remained intent and yet surprisingly soft at the same time
.
“N
ot even your husband.”

A glimpse of Regina Charley had never seen before, glimmered beneath a harsh exterior, and for a moment her heart softened just a bit
.
“
Twice?”

“Yes, twice.
”
Regina sighed, taking a seat beside Charley
.
“Richard is no—
was
not my son.”

Charley’s jaw hit the floor.

Regina chuckled
.
“Best kept secret in London I daresay, but do the math, you’ll see the dates don’t match by three months
.
One week after our wedding a chambermaid came forward, claiming to be carrying Reginald’s child
.
I was horrified, completely devastated, and the worst was that he didn’t even try to deny it
.
I wanted to leave him then and there, but my duty was to my title and my husband, and moreover I was terrified of what would become of me
.
The scandal…  Anyhow, Reginald convinced me it was a single indiscretion before we married and swore it would never happen again.
”
She smiled wistfully, twirling the tumbler in her hands
.
“Lord but I was a fool for that man, so charming and handsome, it was beyond me to deny him anything
.
So Reginald, I, and that damned chambermaid packed up and headed to the country for the better part of a year
.
We devised a grand scheme, living as recluses with only a handful of trusted servants
.
The maid, Elizabeth, gave birth and went to Scotland with a fat living, while Reginald and I took Richard back to London claiming he was our child.”

“My god,” was all Charley managed.

“He became my son, I loved him as any of the others, and for many years we were very happy
.
If Reginald was unfaithful I never knew it.”

Charley leaned forward, divesting every detail
.

“I had only just learned I was carrying Alex when
Reginald’s brother, Leopold, stormed into our house in a drunken rage
.
It was a sight I’ll never forget
.
Apparently his wife was pregnant, which wouldn’t be suspicious except that he’d been out of the country for the last four months
.
Beatrice admitted to an affair with Reginald, and once again my husband didn’t even try to deny the fact
.
To avoid scandal Reginald paid Leopold to give the child his name, but soon I learned my husband had been cuckolding me our entire marriage
.
Women of the ton… servants… my own sister…
”
She fell silent, lost in the past for a long while
.
“Soon our relationship dissolved into miserable fighting
.
He became a drunk.
”
She lifted the tumbler still rested in her hand
.
“I’m not much better
.
In any case, I wanted you to know that you’re not alone in this
.
Men are incapable of fidelity, and we women must hold to our honor and keep our name in good standing.”