The Desires of a Countess (11 page)

“
Thank you, I appreciate
your offer.” She smiled, but stood to pace a few feet away.
Suddenly he felt too close. “Was there some specific reason you
came here today, Robert? Besides your misguided desire to protect
me from Henry’s cousin?”

Robert’s frown lengthened as he, too,
stood up. “Actually, my lady, part of my visit is in my official
capacity.”

Though the color drained from her
face, Ginny somehow maintained a serene expression. “Really?
Whatever could you want from me as magistrate?” She forced a false,
brittle laugh. “Am I under arrest?”

“
No, of course not.” He
chuckled but then his laughter faded. “But it is an unhappy subject
I’m loathe to breach with you.”

It took force to keep breathing. No
matter how much she wanted to bolt, Ginny had to hear Robert out.
To protect her son.

“
What is it?”

“
Sit down.” He motioned to
the settee beside him, but this time she took a chair a few feet
away. “I’ve heard some troubling rumblings in the
village.”

“
Have you?”

She took her tea. It sloshed around
her cup thanks to her trembling hands, but she managed to take a
sip without dumping the contents on her lap.

“
Yes, about Henry’s death.”
He leaned in closer. “Some people are wondering why he was riding
during such a terrible storm. And how such an accomplished horseman
would come to fall from his mount and crush his skull, even under
the worst of conditions.”

As it always did when she remembered
Henry’s death, a wave of nausea cascaded over Ginny. “W-we all
wonder those things, Robert.” She clutched the chair arm with her
fist. “Who knows the answers?”

“
Well that’s the trouble.”
His eyes looked pained. “It’s my job to find the answers. Already
people have implied that since I’m such a close family friend, I
cannot properly fulfill my duties to the shire. To maintain the
respect for my position, I must prove them wrong.”

Ginny nodded automatically, but she
barely heard him anymore. The words “formal investigation” and
“troubling inconsistencies” floated through her mind like a
turbulent river. They were combined with images of Henry swinging
his fist. That dull thud when he connected with her skin. Jack
screaming. And then…

She turned her head to make the ugly
scenes go away.

Robert cocked his head. “Virginia? You
look ill.”

“
I’m sorry.” She released
the section of fabric she clutched in her grip. “It is difficult
for me to think about my husband’s death.”

“
Of course.” He nodded. “And
I’ll try to make this investigation as quick and painless for you
and your family as it can be. Once this matter is resolved, you can
go on with your life. Perhaps you can-” He broke his sentence off
with a sigh. “Well, it doesn’t matter.”

She nodded. No, nothing else mattered
as long as Jack was safe.

“
I’ve overstayed my welcome
and I’ve upset you.” Robert rose to his feet with a frown. “My
apologies, my lady.”

Ginny shook her head. “Oh no, Robert.
This is simply a difficult subject for me. But it certainly isn’t
your fault. You’re only trying to do the job this shire has
entrusted you to do. I’ll do my best to cooperate.”

“
Thank you, Virginia.” With
a broad smile, he kissed her hand and then disappeared into the
hallway to leave.

Ginny closed the sitting room door and
leaned her head against it with a shiver. All this time, she’d been
trying to protect herself from a frontal attack from the devil she
didn’t know. When all along, a friendly enemy had been sneaking
around behind to ambush her.

If Robert Dennison found out the truth
about the night Henry died, it wouldn’t matter if she’d gotten rid
of Simon or not. All would be lost and nothing and no one could
change what would happen then.

“
I’m so glad you’re here.”
Ginny grasped Harriet’s wrist and dragged her to the parlor before
her friend could even remove her hat. As she shut the door, she
faced Harriet with wide eyes.

“
What in the world
happened?” Her friend smiled coyly. “Something more between you and
the devastating Mr. Devilish?”

“
Will you stop calling him
that? I’m sorry I ever said he was the devil behind those eyes.”
Ginny rolled her own eyes as she paced the room. “I have no time to
talk about this nonsense anyway. I am about to be found
out.”

Harriet laughed. “What do you
mean?”

“
Robert Dennison is opening
an investigation into Henry’s death.”

Her friend’s laughter faded.
“Why?”

“
Apparently there has
been talk in the village.” Ginny covered her eyes and held back a
sob. She would
not
cry, not
now.

Harriet shook her head. “You may not
go into the village any longer, but I am a frequent visitor. There
have been no rumors that I’ve heard. Most of the people who live in
Westdale couldn’t have cared less that Henry died. He wasn’t
well-loved by his tenants.”

“
They know you’re my dearest
friend. Perhaps they don’t talk when you’re around.” Ginny bit her
lip. “It doesn’t really matter anyway! All that matters is that
someone has put it in Robert’s head to investigate further. If he
does and he finds out-”

She shivered, unable to contemplate
the consequences.

“
I think you put too much
trust in Robert.” Harriet paced over to her to touch her shoulder.
“There may be something else beyond some villager’s interference
behind his reasons to investigate.”

She shrugged her shoulders. “He and
Henry were close. Perhaps he has his own curiosity, but what does
that matter if-”

“
No, I mean you.” Harriet
cocked her head. “Surely you know that the man cares for you. He’s
lusted after you since you married Henry. Only his closeness with
the man kept him from a pursuit of you. Now that your husband is
dead, his reasons to stay away are gone.”

Ginny shut her eyes. This was too much
to think about. “I know Robert has some feelings for me, but
why
would he investigate if he cared
so much?”

Harriet frowned. “Perhaps to play your savior. Or,
if he’s guessed you have a secret to hide, to blackmail you into
coming to his side. Or his bed.”

Ginny reeled at her friend’s harsh
accusation. “I-I can’t believe he’d go so far. But it doesn’t
matter. The only thing that matters is to keep him from finding out
the truth. And to keep Simon from finding out the truth.” Her head
was spinning. Lies always seemed to beget more lies and she was
shoulder deep in them as it was. “I need to get rid of Simon, then
put Robert on another trail.”

“
You should trust in Simon
before you trust Dennison.” Harriet shrugged.

“
Yes, I’m well-aware of your
feelings on the matter.” Ginny sighed as she rubbed her eyes.
“Today when we play Pall Mall, I want you to be Simon’s partner. He
wants to play with me as his teammate, but I can’t risk that. While
you play, try to convince him to leave me alone.”

Her friend let out a long, exasperated
sigh. “Ginny!”

“
It’s what’s best for me,
even if you don’t believe it.”

Harriet arched an eyebrow. “You want
me to do what’s best for you?”

“
Please.” Ginny
nodded.

“
That
I can do.” She gave a smile Ginny didn’t
know if she could trust completely. “Shall we
play?”

***

Simon rocked back on his heels to
watch Ginny swing her mallet. Her shot was off and the ball
careened toward her hoop, then curled off to the left. She let out
a quiet curse before giving Adam an apologetic shrug.

Simon frowned. He’d wanted to play
pairs with her as his teammate, but she’d insisted he team with
Harriet. As a result, both were playing terribly. Simon could see
Ginny was as distracted as he, but he wondered at the cause. She’d
been acting strangely for two days. In fact, her behavior had
shifted after she shared tea with Robert Dennison.

Could she have some kind of
relationship with the man? His sources said no, that her story
about the other man’s closeness to her husband was true. Still, any
affair could have been something the pair hid from the public eye.
Dennison was young and handsome and from his protective attitude
toward Ginny, he felt something more for her than simple
friendship.

Simon tightened his grip on his
mallet. The next play he made, he would pretend the ball was
Dennison’s smirking head. He’d be sure to pound it well.

“
I didn’t realize Pall Mall
was such a violent game, Mr. Webber.”

Simon looked up to see Harriet Percy
approaching him with an amused smile. Though they were partners,
the blonde woman had spoken very little to him, only watched him
all afternoon.

“
I don’t know what you
mean,” he said with a shake of his head as he attempted a smile in
return. He was in no mood to talk to anyone but he didn’t want to
take his upset out on her.

“
You appear angry enough to
spit.” She tilted her head in friendly curiosity, but he saw a look
in her eye. A message. “Between you and Ginny, I’m surprised the
game hasn’t dissolved into fisticuffs or tears.”

He frowned as he turned to look at
Ginny again. On closer inspection she did look upset as much as
distracted. His first instinct was to comfort her, but his
questions and doubts about Dennison troubled him and he hardened
himself to both her charms and her pain.

“
Lady Westdale has made it
abundantly clear that she doesn’t want me involved in either her
life or her emotions,” he said as he nodded to Adam and took the
field to line up his own shot.

As he swung the mallet, he thought
about all the times Ginny had pushed him away. She wanted him, but
she didn’t trust him. She wanted him gone, but she liked his
attentions. She was a damn riddle and one Simon wasn’t sure he
wanted to solve any longer.

Perhaps Ginny was right. He should
just return to London and his ship and forget all about her and her
son and his trusteeship. Now that he knew she wasn’t daft, he
believed she would raise the boy properly. His Aunt Cordelia and
her daughters would grouse, but nothing had ever been good enough
to please them anyway.

His shot went as wide as Ginny’s had,
and he had to hold back the nasty curse he wanted to say. His
frustration had little to do with a friendly game.

He returned to Harriet’s side with a
shrug. After she took her own shot, she smiled at him. “You
shouldn’t be so certain about Ginny’s feelings, even if she tells
you otherwise.”

Simon winced. He had hoped the game
would distract Harriet enough that she would drop the subject. His
complicated relationship with Ginny wasn’t something he could talk
about to his best friend, let alone to a stranger, no matter how
kind she seemed.

“
If I can’t believe her
words, then how am I to know anything about her?” he asked as he
clutched his mallet in both fists. “I hardly know the woman, I’m
not qualified to decide which statements she means and which she
doesn’t.”

Harriet arched an eyebrow as she took
a look across the lawn at Ginny. She let out a soft sigh before she
turned back to Simon. “You only need to know one thing about her to
understand all her motives. She is quick to mistrust. It’s a lesson
she learned by your cousin’s hand.”

Simon froze. From the hatred in
Harriet’s eyes he saw she was implying his cousin had done more
than take Ginny’s money or be unfaithful to her. “What do you mean
by that?”

She arched an eyebrow. “Things weren’t
always well between Ginny and Henry.”

“
Because of another
man?”

Again his thoughts turned to Robert
Dennison. While his cousin obviously gallivanted around with other
women, he doubted Henry would appreciate Ginny looking for comfort
outside their marriage. Men like that never did.

Harriet’s green eyes darkened with
immediate anger. “Virginia never would have betrayed her vows like
that. No, sir, your cousin was the cause of any strife in their
union. Whether it be by the women he bedded or with his
cruelty.”

Simon wrinkled his brow. More and more
he was coming to understand the hell Ginny had lived in. If Henry
had been unkind to her, as well as unfaithful, she certainly had
cause for hatred. It explained why she felt such an animosity
toward his family and even toward him.

“
Don’t hurt her, Mr.
Webber,” Harriet said as she lifted her mallet from the ground to
take her turn. “She’s had enough.”

Simon watched as his partner crossed
the lawn. As she passed by Ginny, she touched her friend’s hand.
The troubled look cleared from Ginny’s face for a brief moment, and
she gave Harriet a genuine smile. The warmth of the expression gave
Simon a jolt of pleasure. What he would give if she’d turn that
smile on him.