Married by Morning (8 page)

‘How delightful.” She sputtered.  He grabbed her by the hair and smothered her neck with nibbles and bites just a little too hard. “Oh my stars, this is heaven.”

“Yes, my Athena, you are right this is heaven.”  “I think I would…what was that?  Did you hear a scream?”  “Who cares?”  He said as he laved lower.

No, that was a scream.  I think we should investigate.”  “No, I will have you now or die.”  Lady Darby reached for her cane and clobbered him on the head. Lord Thornton crumpled to the floor in a heap.  Lady Darby heard the scream again and jumped from the bead grabbing her gown as she went.  With spry fingers she buttoned the dress into decency and hurried from the room toward the frightening screams.  “Had Mable started without her?”  She hobbled with her cane as fast as she could and met Stella and her maid in the hall.  They continued down the black hallway with one single taper glowing and into Lord Darby’s room.  They found him unconscious on  the floor.  Their gasps at such a horrible sight left them all breathless.  If something happened to Sebastian, they would all be on the streets.  “Oh my God, what has happened my poor son?”

     Lady Darby screamed for the butler.  “Jarvis, Jarvis, come quickly.  Sebastian is hurt.  Call the watch!  Call the doctor!  Grab the smelling salts!”  Then she keeled over herself and fainted dead away.

Chapter Seven

     Dr. Goldberg paced the floor in front of Sebastian’s bed.  He shook his head from side to side and tried to quiet Lady Darby’s shrieks of anguish.  “He is going to be alright Lady Darby please calm yourself.  I promise I will do all that is humanly possible fir him.  Now you all should just pray that he regains consciousness.  That is the main thing.  He should have awakened by now especially with all this noise.”  “I am just so horrified that Sy could be attacked by that harlot Lady Constance.”  “Now Lady Darby, you said you heard a scream before you found your son.  Have you searched for Lady Constance?”  Constable Spencer blustered into the conversation.  He was a burly redhead with a terrible temper and Lady Darby did not want to get him stirred up.”  “I am afraid I have not thought of that woman with my son at death’s door.”  “Please Lady Darby do stay calm.  I cannot bear another of your wailing fits.”  Dr. Goldberg huffed and sat down hard in a chair beside the sick bed.

    “Where are your servants?  Send them with my men to search the castle for this Lady Constance at once.”  “Jarvis, send down to the mews and to the kitchens and tell everyone to search for Lady Constance immediately.”  “Yes, Your Grace.”  “Lady Stella where are the other guests?  We must assemble them and have this search.  She might be with one of them or have been seen by them.” “Yes Constable Spencer.  I’ll see to it at once.”  Stella rushed away to go see to her paramour who was still tied to her bedpost.  She giggled to herself.  Things were working splendidly.  The woman was gone and they still had Sy alive.  It was a good night and she giggled again when she saw her lover’s enraged eyes.  “Are you comfortable, my love?”  Avery snorted at her and shook his head.  She laughed a deep rich laugh and found the key to the manacles.  She unfastened them. Then she took off his blindfold and the scarf tied about his mouth.  He looked up at her through very thick eyelashes and smirked.  “You are something else Miss Darby.  I think I should spank you for this.  You have been a very naughty girl.”  “Call me Stella.”  “Not Madam Stella?”  “No, not right now, we seem to have an issue at hand.  Lady Constance is missing and my brother Lord Darby is hurt. We have a doctor and a constable at the house.”  “Well, I will have recompense from you, my dear.  It might have to wait but this is not over.”  “Alright I will let you tie me up later.  Right now we must round up all the other guests for the Constable to talk to.  You go to the top floors and I will go below.”  “Sure give me the stairs after you have ruined my legs.”  “How did I ruin your legs?” She looked him up and down and his naked self looked delightfully good to her.  She winked at him and he shouted back at her. “Since you left me, I have been in that position for two hours, love.” Stella giggled and wiggled her arse.  “Didn’t you have any fun?”  “Not yet.”  “Well, we will see about this later and I assure you that you will have fun.”  She winked at him again and swanned out of the room.

     Constable Spencer located Lady Mable St. John, Lady Diane Stewart,  Lady Rachael Stewart, Lord Thornton, Lord Rathbone, but no Horace Stewart, Lord Fenster, Cousin Devlin Snead, Cousin Alfred,  Cousin Driscoll, Missie Stewart, or of course Lady Constance.  He was worried that more than one person was missing.  Constable Spencer shook his head and ran his fingers through his red hair.  His cold blue eyes assessed the damage here.  Something was just not right with this family.  They just buried the Fifth Earl of Darby and now all this happening.  He was sure that most of these women could commit murder if needed as there was a cold set about their eyes.  They all seemed to have it in for this poor Lady Constance too.  That did not sound right to him especially since the Earl was to marry her this morning.  He was hoping the Earl would awake and tell him what this was all about but the man was still unconscious.

     Lady Darby let out another of her horrible shrieks and the constable gritted his teeth.  The woman was so ugly with her large bony nose and pointy head. Did she have to shriek like that too?  Her friend Lord Thornton had taken up the task of soothing her and that was a blessing to everyone else in the house.  God bless the man that could put up with that woman.

     Stella and Avery took up the vigil with Lord Darby.  Someone had to sit beside his bed and watch him.  Lady Darby was just too upset to stay in the room.  Stella took a cloth and wet it with the water beside the bed and wiped her stepbrother’s brow with it.  He looked so vulnerable like that.  She had rather have him screaming at her.  She never realized that she did care for him after all.  Avery took her hand and stared into her beautiful green passionate eyes.  He was hooked whether she cared for him or not.  He couldn’t keep his hands off her.  “I really want to continue our interlude Lady Stella.” “I do too Avery, but we can’t do anything right now.  Surely you see that.”  How about you marry me and we continue this for the rest of our lives?”  “Your Grace, are you asking me to marry you?”  “I am.”  “Then I accept, but you must ask Lord Darby’s permission.”  “He has it.” Sebastian nodded his head in agreement. “Sebastian, oh Sebastian, I am so glad you are awake.  I was so worried about you.  What happened?  Where is Lady Constance?  Did she hit you?”  Stella’s eyes narrowed.  Her red curls jiggling in the ferocity of her fervor.  “I will hunt her down and…”

     Sebastian shook his head and rose up. “ No, Connie didn’t hit me.  Are you insane?  She was taken away.  Someone hit me from behind. You haven’t found her yet?  Oh, bloody hell, help me up.” “Dr. Goldberg, Sebastian is awake.”

“Well, it’s about bloody time.  What the hell happened to you Lord Darby?”

Jarvis came crashing through the door at the same time the doctor tried to enter and they were too wide to enter together so neither could gain entrance. Finally, Jarvis stepped back and let the doctor get to his patient.  Doctor Goldberg took Sebastian’s wrist and felt his pulse then looked into his eyes and had him follow his finger.  “You seem right as rain.  How does your head feel?” “It bloody well hurts.  How do you think it feels?”  “I don’t know that’s why I was asking you.”  Jarvis and Avery laughed at the exchange.  Sebastian narrowed his eyes.  “Just who the bloody hell are you to laugh at me?”

     “I’m so sorry my Lord.  Avery bowed and offered his apologies too. Your mother called for Constable Spencer when she found you unconscious in Lady Constance’s room.  She believes you were assaulted by Lady Constance and she ran away because she didn’t want to marry you.”

     “That is the most absurd bit of deduction.  Of course she would say that she doesn’t want me to marry Lady Constance and she probably has done something to my betrothed.” Avery shook his head and asked, “Why would your mother do that?”  “She doesn’t want to give up her place in my house.  She is a greedy nasty woman.” “Well, that we can agree on, for sure.”  Avery smirked.  Sy turned to Jarvis.  “Have you searched for Lady Constance?”  “Yes, we all searched the entire house and grounds.”  “You must look yourself.  Do not trust the servants or my sisters or family.  Get the constable and his men to do it again. Do you understand?”  “Yes, but did you see anyone?”  “Yes, I saw a figure in the mirror and then I was hit.  Someone else was in the room with us.  I want my betrothed.  Please search for her now.”

  “Yes, I will see to it.  Calm yourself.  I will go do it now.” Jarvis left and then Sy gritted his teeth.  He should have known not to trust this household.  Now if the Lady was dead, He would have to run them all off.  Jarvis was worried he exited the room at a run.  Lady Darby called to him but he kept right on running.  Lady Darby, Abigail hobbled into the sick room and feinted again when she saw Sebastian sitting up in bed.  Avery said, “Lord Darby your mother is the most easily swooned woman I have ever seen.”  “Well, most of the time it is a play act to her. It’s alright mother I am fine.”  “Oh, thank God.” She flopped into a chair and Sy turned to her and shouted, “Now be so kind as to tell me what you have done with my Lady Constance or I shall ring your scrawny neck.”  He glared at her with wild eyes and a very sinister expression. “Me, done something to Lady Constance?  I am sure I do not know what you mean.” Sebastian growled, “You did not want her to marry me.  You plotted with my sisters.  You told her last night that you would never let us marry.  Now, what have you done with Connie?” Lady Darby backed away from her angry son. “I am sure I don’t know what you are talking about.”  Sebastian jumped up out of the bed and grabbed her by her scrawny neck.  She croaked like a chicken and turned red.  Stella screamed, “No, brother don’t kill her.  I don’t think she did it this time.  She was in a liaison with Lord Thornton.  I think he likes her and she him.”

      “Really?” Sebastian let his mother fall and fell himself back into his bed.  His head was spinning and hurt terribly.  “I don’t know Stella, if anything happens to Connie? I don’t know what I will do to all of you.”

     Stella shook her head. “Brother you can’t blame all of us.”  “You damn right I can and I will.”  He dug his fingers through his hair and noticed Avery.  “I am so glad I invited you to this mad house.”  He croaked a laugh and lay back onto the pillow.  Avery smiled at Stella and said, “I am glad too.”  Sy sighed and sat up.

       “Well, glad to see someone has his ladylove.  Where is that Constable?” Lady Darby stared at Sebastian and had her hands still on her throat.  She coughed and said, “Sy I don’t know why you want to hurt me.  I haven’t done anything. “ She looked old for the first time he could remember and he waved his hand at her. “It’s alright mother.” Stella explained. “ It will be fine.  They will find her soon.” She paced to the window and peered out at the sun peeking over the horizon chasing the dark away.

     “I surely hope so or I will commit murder on all of you.  You better start looking for her.  Mother, Stella, go get the rest of this menagerie looking for my love or I swear I will do something you will all regret.”  Stella turned to Avery and grabbed her mother’s arm.  They exited and ran down the hall to the library.

     As Stella paced the library, she turned to Avery.  “I think he means it this time.  We have to find Lady Constance and soon.”  “I agree, he is out of his mind with worry.  Did you have anything to do with this Stella?  Lady Darby?”  “No, I mean, we were going to try and get rid of her but we actually had no time.  We got distracted by our gentlemen guests.”  She winked at Avery and turned to her mother.  “You didn’t tell someone else to do something that I know nothing about did you?”  “Heavens no!  For the first time in my life, I have someone who wants me.  I was very preoccupied with him.”  She fanned herself and sat down.

     “What about Horace? Where is he?  He disappeared after supper and I haven’t seen him at all since.” Stella twirled one of her curls around her finger.
  “I don’t know, Stella.  I was seriously distracted.”  She smiled to herself and settled lower on the chair by the fire.  Avery paced over to Stella and took her hand. He pursed his lips and wrinkled his brow, trying to come up with the right words.  The heat between them was palpable but he tried to ignore it this time.

“You know something you are not telling me.  I can sense it.”  “Well, we have a very peculiar family.”  He ran his knuckles down her cheek. “I can see that but I like what I see.”  Stella smiled into his eyes and turned back to her mother.

    “Not that, darling.  Mother have you seen Devlin or Alfred?”  “No, I haven’t.” Lady Darby shook her head and slumped down further into the chair.

   “You don’t suppose they took her do you?”  Stella searched her mother’s face.  Lady Darby’s eyes brightened.  “She’s gone then and my situation is solved.  I could not have asked for better.” Stella stood and shook her head again.

     “Mother, did you not hear what Sebastian said.  He will get rid of us all.”  “Oh, my we better go search the dungeons then.” Lady Darby stood and wrapped herself in her shawl.

     Avery smiled, “You have dungeons.  Oh, smashing, I love dungeons.”  Stella smiled a wicked smile into his eyes.  “I just bet you do.”  He chuckled.  Lady Darby led the way to the lower parts of the castle.

          “Oh, Jarvis, tell Lord Darby we have gone to the dungeons in search of Lady Constance.”  Jarvis shifted his feet and bowed.  “Yes my lady.” 

    Jarvis went straight to Lord Darby’s room.  Lord Darby was buttoning his shirt.  “My lord, Lady Darby, your sister Stella and Lord Avery have gone to the dungeons in search of Lady Constance.”  Sy turned around with his mouth open.