Price of Desire (31 page)

Rose stood and walked to the door opening it without glancing back.

“We’ve another guest, my lady.” Marston’s clipped tones disturbed the ghostly quiet of the room
.

Rose stepped into the hallway and slid the door closed behind her
.
She’d entered the library ready to send Wulf packing, infuriated that he should care so little for what mattered so much to her
.
And i
nstead . . .

She didn’t know what had transpired, how it had transpired
.
They had surged against each other, meeting as two great waves upon the sea, and both been drained
.

“My lady, the Marquess of Wimberl
e
y has arrived
.
I did not believe we were expecting him.”

Marston’s words shook her from her thoughts.

“Tristan St. Johns
?
Here
?
He made his refusal clear, if eloquent
.
Are you sure?”

Marston stared at her
.
With almost no change of expression he made clear both his certainty and his dismay at her question
.
He was her butler, of course he was sure.

“Where have you put him?”

“He’s in the South Parlor
.
I should add that he came on horseback,
with no luggage.
”

“Yes, I’ll attend to him immediately.
”

“Ummm, my lady.
”
For the first time Marston looked flustered.

“Yes, Marston.”

“Ummm, you might, that is, well, your buttons.”

Feeling an undesired blush stain her cheeks, Rose glanced down
.
She fumbled at her buttons and set them to rights
.
Then, w
ith a practiced hand she smoothed her hair back
and followed Marston down the hall and entered the parlor.

Tristan St.James, Marquess of Wimberly, stood by the open window, his back to her
.
She had met him once before and been greatly surprised by his appearance of youth
.
He must have been several years older than
she
, but something in his open appearance suggested the innocence of a school boy
.

“Lord Wimberly, I was not aware we were going to be graced with your presence
.
Did I misunderstand your refusal?
”
Oh, dear, that sounded a great deal ruder than she had intended
.
She was just so thrown by the encounter with Wulf that she didn’t know what she was saying.

“Lady Burberry, I am sorry to arrive so unexpectedly
.
I do understand your confusion.
”
He turned towards her, the palest
of
eyes rising to meet her own
.
“I am seeking M
ajor
Huntington
.
I understand from his stepfather, Lord William, that he may be here
.
Is he in residence?”

The very solemnity of his tone cancelled the first perception of a young man fresh to the country
.
He was not here for a social call.

“Yes, he is
.
Would you like me to have him sent for?”

Wimberly pondered this for a moment
.
She saw his clear eyes cloud for a moment and then
settle
, restoring his even countenance.

“I need to speak with him privately, I have important news to impart
.
Is that best done here
?”

“He’s in the library at present. It is as good a place as any to talk
.
Should I show you to him then?”

“If you don’t mind.”

Wulf raised his head as, with the softest of knocks the door opened
.
Rose entered, her face still and emotionless.

“You have a visitor, M
ajor
Huntington.”

He looked beyond Rose and saw a familiar form enter the room
.
He’d have known that white blond hair anywhere.

“Tris, what brings you here
?
It’s been well over a year since you bothered to search me out.”

“I’d some business in the vicinity and, well, I’ve news, and not the gladdest tidings though some may see them differently.
”
Tris turned to Rose
.
“If you’ll excuse us, Lady Burberry.”

“Of course.
”
Rose answered quietly, betraying no hint of curiosity
.

Wulf gestured Tris to the seat across, his mind still caught up with Rose’s carefully schooled features and what she sought to hide.

“Falmouth is taken with smallpox and not expected to survive.”

It took a moment for Tris’s words to burrow through his thoughts
.

“I don’t know why you joke
.
My uncle’s been dead over a year
.
I am sure his corpse is well beyond catching a disease of any variety
.
Surely you didn’t hunt me out for that.”

“Not your uncle, his heir.”

The earth stopped spinning
.
His mind could not grasp the words that Tris spoke
.

“He can’t be
.
He’s what, eight years old.”

“It’s true, apparently disease ripped through from the village
.
There have been several deaths
.
I am not sure why his mother didn’t have him innoculated
.
But, no matter what the story, it seems likely you will be Falmouth by the end of the week, if not before.

Wulf looked up into his friend’s dull eyes
.
Tris was perhaps the only other person in the world who understood the import of those words
.
In a long ago drunken stupor he’d revealed all the secrets of his heart to his boyhood friend.

Tris sank into the chair across from him, his usual jovial façade faded
.
“I am so sorry
.
I know what this must mean to you.”

Wulf fought back the emotions that threatened to overwhelm him
.

“Why should it mean anything to me
?
I never met the boy, never even saw him.”

“That probably only makes it worse.”

Wulf stumbled to his feet
.
He couldn’t even think beyond the need to get out of
t
here, to escape this airless room
.
He paced across the carpet.

“God, you
'
r
e
right
,
Tris
.
I must leave
.
Maybe, I can make it in time
.
There must be something I can do.
”

“Sit down and steady yourself
.
Can I call for a brandy
?
It is early in the day, but such tidings call for desperate measures.” Tris spoke quietly, but forcefully
.
Wulf could see the inner strength Tris hid behind his boyish looks.

“No, I just need to be on my way.
”
He headed for the door.

“Where to?”

“Why
Whytehill,
of course
.
I must see to the boy.”

“Sit, please, just for a moment and listen.
”

Wulf forced his feet to still, moved and sat, no sank, into the chair
.
He turned his face to Tris and tried to listen as his mind raced for the door, out the hall and to the stable.

“Wulf, I know this is hard for you, but you must accept both that it is none of your doing and that there is nothing you can do
.
I stopped and saw
Westlake
on my way.”

Did he know
,
too
?
Wulf had thought it was his secret, shared only with Tris.

“No, I see your questi
on from the look on your face
.
Westlake
knows nothing beyond that your
cousin
is gravely ill
.
I was seeking his advice on another matter entirely
.
When I mentioned my visit here, however, he said he’d had a strange conversation with you a year ago
.
That you
had
been trying to visit your
cousin
and been denied by his mother
,
by
Clarissa
.
Do you really need to batter yourself against that door again?”

Wulf let his head fall to his hands
.
For a moment he had forgotten Clarissa and her manipulations.

“No.
”
He breathed the word and brushed his stinging eyes
.
“She will not welcome me, but surely there is a way.”

“The boy may not even live for you to make the journey
.
Stay here and wait
.
I’ve instructed my people to send word a
s
soon as anything is known
.
I’ll talk to Lady Burberry
.
It would already be late by the time you could leave
.
Think about it, at least for tonight
.
You can leave in the morning if you are still driven.”

“No, I must go – if there is even a chance.”

“I did not want to put it so bluntly, but you are now a man of responsibility
.
I remember from our boyhood days who
m
follows you in the line of succession
.
Have your views on the unsuitability of your distant cousin changed
?
I see the answer in your face
.
Then all I can ask is if you yourself have been inoculated
?
What risks are you prepared to take?”

“No, I haven’t.
”
Wulf would have given anything to answer differently.

“Then stay
.
It is not only yourself that hangs in the balance
.
You must think of others.”

Wulf clenched his eyes tight
.
He knew his fri
end talked of the estate and it
s tenants, but his mind filled with Anna – and Rose
.
He would not desert one child for the sake of another, but still his heart cried out to speed away
.
“You’re sure I’ll be informed with all haste
?
Clarissa will not want this news spread
.
She will hold it back as long as possible.”

Tris smiled a bitter smile. “I have my ways
.
Yes, you will be informed with all haste
.
Are you sure about that brandy?”

“I will be fine.
”
He did not believe the words himself.

“All the same, I’ll speak to Lady Burberry about
my
spending the night and your possible departure.”

“I can’t think of that now.
”
Wulf pushed himself out of the chair. “Just let me out, I need air.”

“I’ll walk with you.”

“No
.
I don’t mean to be rude
.
But, just let me be.”

Wulf could feel Tris’s practiced eye move over him, feel his mind working
.
God, all he wanted was to be outside, to escape, to pretend none of this was real.

“I’ll talk to Lady Burberry, then.”

“Do whatever you
feel is
suitable.”

Wulf nodded to Tris and rushed from the room
.
He felt so numb he could not put together coherent thought
.
All he wanted was to be alone.

Rose looked about the nursery, the bright walls and shelves of toys
.
She rubbed the coverlet across her own narrow bed
.
With the house already full the only space left to put the Marquess had been her own bed
.
It was probably the only room suitable for him anyway, unless she wanted to move Wulf, and given the news Wimberly had passed on
,
that seemed most inappropriate.