The Duke's Bride (26 page)

A knot of dread began growing inside her as questions
bombarded her brain. Had Roderick been with Lady Trayton? Had the lady poisoned
him too? Had he discovered that she was indeed Lord Garette’s killer? Had the
lady truly tried to make it seem as if Jane had killed Lord Garette?

Jane’s heart felt as if it were going to jump out of
her chest. What should she do? Agatha had retired to her room with an upset
stomach. Captain Argyle was nowhere to be found. Emily and Jared had not been
seen all evening. And where was Lord Vexfield? She needed to speak with the man!

Knowing that time was of the essence, she was just
about to look for their host when Lady Trayton starting walking her way. The
lady’s gown swirled about her figure like a fierce wind. But it was the vicious
expression on the lady’s face that sent alarm bells ringing in Jane’s brain.

“He knows,” Lady Trayton said, coming up to her, smiling.
“He knows all about you, the captain, and the baby.”

Jane’s stomach clenched. She hated the thought of
Roderick knowing about the baby before she could tell him. “Anything else?” she
asked, calmly.

Lady Trayton snickered. “La, do not try to trick me,
Duchess. You are devastated that your husband has knowledge of your murky past.
The king told me about the baby, if you want to know. Of course, I had no
evidence Captain Argyle was the father until I happened to see your dear
husband and the captain fighting with one another in the back gardens.”

The color drained from Jane’s cheeks. “That’s…that’s the
silliest thing I have ever heard. Roderick would never believe such story.”

“Oh, Duchess, you act so innocent, it makes me laugh.”
The lady chuckled, pulling out a silk fan and fluttering it over her heart.

Jane felt the bile rising in her throat. “I do not
believe you.”

“Perhaps you will believe me when you see their faces.
The captain has a split lip and the duke has a bruised jaw. And their jackets
are a little worse for wear, not to mention their breeches. You do not believe
me? Check the buttons on your husband’s jacket.”

Jane bit down on her teeth, fighting back a wave of
pain. “I think you should leave,” she replied, narrowing her eyes.

The lady seemed quite amused. “Do you now? I think you
should be a little more careful about your associations. I admit the captain is
a handsome man. But you could have been a little more discreet. Society knows
the man rented a place near Hemmingly Hall these past few months. And with the
duke gone, well, people do talk, my dear. Your baby does not have a drop of
Clearbrook blood in him.”

Jane could barely control herself. “You are a
despicable, self-absorbed woman who can do nothing to me.”

The lady looked stunned. “I forgot. You do have claws.
Well, my dear, your poor husband was not happy about the baby, I can tell you
that.”

“Don’t you dare talk about my baby,” Jane hissed. “Don’t
you dare insinuate anything! Do you hear me?” She pointed her finger into the
lady’s chest. “If you think I will melt into a puddle of tears, you are fooling
yourself.”

“My, my, the lady does protest too much.”

Jane arched an imperious brow. “I vow, if you continue
this little charade, I will make certain you are the one who will fall. Society
will never open their doors to you again. You will be a pariah. No one will even
offer you a cup of tea.”

The lady glared at her. “You dare threaten me? A
Countess?”

Jane did not think she could do such a terrible thing
to this woman, but she would not have her baby hurt by this lady’s words. “As a
mother yourself, Lady Trayton, I would think you would want to do the best for
your own son. Spreading lies does not help him.”

When the lady’s’ lips began to tremble, Jane almost
backed down. But no! The lady had most likely killed Lord Garette. Moreover, she
had made threats against her baby. And that is where she drew the line.

Before the lady could get in another word, Jane’s face
hardened. “Do I make myself perfectly clear?”

Lady Trayton turned white. “Perfectly, Duchess.” Her
face took on a vengeful twist. “But remember your words. Because some day, they
may come back to haunt you.” And with a swirl of skirts, the lady strode from
the room.

A few minutes later, Jane made her way to her bedchambers
and closed the door. Her knees were shaking so much, she could barely stand.

She turned to stare at the fire dancing in the hearth.
One of Lord Vexfield’s maids must have set it while they had been touring the new
wing. The red and orange flames barely warmed the chilling sensation that
coursed through her. How could Roderick ever think the baby was not his?

She dropped her head in her hands, fighting back
tears. She wanted to go home. She wanted to be with her son. The viciousness of
Lady Trayton’s verbal attacks haunted her. What else was the lady capable of?

The door whipped open, jerking her head around.

Her eyes widened in shock as Roderick marched into the
room. His jacket was torn. His breeches were filthy. His jaw looked bruised,
and his face was hard with anger.

“When were you going to tell me about the child?” he
replied in a menacing tone.

Jane walked toward the bed for support, trying not to
lose control. How dare he act so high and mighty when he was the one who
believed she had been unfaithful! Fury engulfed her as she stared back at him.
“I fail to see why you would be angry with me.”

 “Angry?” he growled. “Angry? You have my child,
my son, while I am in France, and you never told me! Yet you calmly stand
before me and say such a thing.”

He clenched his fists and started to pace about the
room. “I would never have gone away if I had known. I only—”

“I! I! I!” she screamed. “Is that all you think about?
What about the baby? We have a son, Roderick. A beautiful little boy. Why are
you not asking about him? What color hair does he have? What color eyes, blue
or grey? Does he look more like you or me? Or both?” She swallowed past the
pain choking her. “I should be the one who is angry.”

He spun on his heels. “I am the father. I should have
known. Confound it, Jane. You had plenty of time to tell me.”

She shot him a haughty look. “Did I? Did I indeed? Do
you remember how many times I tried to talk about the baby? Our baby? But you
continued to cut me off. You left for the club. You went to the races. You
avoided sleeping in the same bedchambers with me so you could avoid the topic.
And avoid me!”

His face twisted. “I considered the situation…and
thought it best!”

“You thought it best?” she said between a laugh and a
cry. “My, how honored I should have been for you to run my entire life. I must
have seemed such a child to you!”

“That is not what I meant and you know it.”

“Oh? And what does Lady Trayton have to say about it?”

He actually flushed. He was obviously hiding something.
And she knew exactly what he was hiding.

She advanced on him, putting her hands to her hips. “Did
you discover any more information about Lord Garette? That was the point of
your discussion with her, was it not?”

“The lady did give me a few leads.”

“Ha, you found nothing, is that it?”

He took off his jacket and hung it on a nearby peg. “We
need to search her room for poison and anything else that could tie her to the
man’s death.” He spun around, scowling. “But do not go changing the subject on
me, madam. You had my baby and never told me!”

She bristled at his arrogance. “You are not listening
to anything I have to say. You are a conceited peer of the realm! You believe
the world revolves around you. I do not care if you are the duke or the king! I
will not take your highhandedness anymore.”

His silver eyes flashed with impatience. “You will
hear what I have to say, madam. Having my baby in the country while Captain
Argyle was within sleeping distance has set the tongues wagging.”

Jane wanted to scream. How could he not know how the
captain had helped her? The man was all that a friend should be.

Her heart sped wildly as she clenched the bedpost for
support. “At first, you believed Lady Trayton, did you not?” Her tone had
softened, but it was still accusing.

She watched the guilty look on his face and forged on.
“I see. You do not deny it. Well, how comforting that you can listen to a lady
who has been with so many men, but you cannot, or should I say, will not,
listen to your very own wife!”

She turned her back on him to wipe her eyes.

“Jane,” he said, his voice cracking. “Perhaps...Devil
take it. Perhaps, I have been too hasty.”

She swallowed a sob. “You have been a terrible bore,
and if you do not mind, I would like you to leave.”

“Leave?”

She spun around. “Yes, leave. You will not be sleeping
in this room tonight.”

His brows lifted as he strode toward her. “I think you
have it wrong. I will be sleeping here tonight.”

“Ha! Well, then!” She marched around him. “You will be
sleeping alone. I had my own bedchambers when I came here. I shall return to
it!”

Without another word, she left the room with Roderick
staring at her back.

T
he next thing Roderick knew, Jane’s maid knocked
on the door, and started packing his wife’s things.

Roderick watched in shock as his wife’s clothing was
moved to another chamber.

“Did the duchess need anything else?” he asked the
maid, not able to believe Jane was carrying through with this. They had not
been with each other for months!

The maid looked up and smiled. She seemed surprised that
the Duke of Elbourne had honored her with a conversation. “Her Grace is quite
particular about the air in her bedchambers, Your Grace. She mentioned that
things were quite stuffy in here. I cannot blame her. My sleeping quarters are
quite stuffy as well. But her first chambers were exceptionally nice. Pink
curtains and lace.”

Roderick’s lips fell into a thin line of disgust. “Pink
curtains and lace, indeed.”

The maid grabbed the last of the clothing. “If you
don’t mind me saying so, Your Grace, the baby looks like you. Dark hair. Gray
eyes. Handsome little thing.”

A lump grew in Roderick’s throat. After the maid departed
with the last of the hat boxes, he walked into the hall, hoping to run into
Jane.

The sound of footsteps met his ears and he glanced
over his shoulders.

Lord Vexfield came striding toward him. “There you
are, Your Grace! Been looking all over for you.” He frowned when he saw the maid
moving the hatboxes down the hall. “The bedchambers were not to the duchess’s liking?
Told Lady Vexfield was too drafty in there. You will have to forgive me, Your
Grace. Don’t usually get involved in the guests’ sleeping arrangements, but
this is beyond the pale. Beyond the pale, I say.”

“It is of no consequence,” Roderick said, forcing a smile.
“Females are delicate creatures, after all, are they not?”

Vexfield scowled. “My wife is the most robust creature
I have ever met. But that is neither here nor there.” The man leaned toward him
and whispered. “What have you on Lady Trayton?”

Roderick pulled the man back into his room. “I believe
the lady may have overhead me speaking to Captain Argyle about her being a
suspect. Because of that, I think we should have her chambers searched as soon
as possible. If there is poison anywhere, that would be the first place to
look.”

Vexfield sighed. “Don’t mind the captain knowing, but
curse it all. It’s a nasty business. Nasty, and with the king staying here, it
makes my blood run cold. What the devil would happen if he was poisoned in the
same fashion?”

Roderick blinked. It was something he had not thought
about. Vexfield was more than he seemed. “Where is the king now?”

The earl frowned. “In his chambers, I believe.”

Roderick’s heart hammered with foreboding. “And where
is Lady Trayton?”

Lord Vexfield’s bushy brows rose in fright. “ By Jove!
You don’t think—?

Roderick scowled. He recalled how Lady Trayton had cozied
up to the king. The disturbing thought of her with the man sent a wave of panic
running through him. “Show me his chambers. Now!”

His host hurried along lengthy corridor. “I never
thought…by Jove…they may hang me by my toes if something happens. And my poor
daughter Rebecca. What will happen to her? Lord Hackley would never marry her
then.”

“Lord Hackley?” Roderick muttered with a scowl. “You
had best rethink that.”

Lord Vexfield eyebrows rose. But the subject of Lord Hackley
was dropped when Roderick rapped on the king’s door.

The valet answered with obvious surprise on his face.
“Your Grace, the king is sleeping.”

“Alone?” Roderick asked bluntly.

The valet’s eyes widened in shock as he stared at Lord
Vexfield then shifted his appalled gaze back to Roderick. “I am not allowed to
divulge any communication about my king.”

“It’s a matter of life and death,” Roderick growled,
inserting his boot into the door. “Now, you will tell me if there is anyone
else in that room? Do I make myself perfectly clear?”

The valet’s face turned a deathly white at the
dangerous look on Roderick’s face. The man straightened, seeming to weigh the
answer. “He is alone.”

Lord Vexfield’s shoulders sagged in relief. “I take it
that is him snoring?”

The valet’s brows lifted in disgust. “It is not his
dog, my lord.”

Roderick smothered a laugh and turned to Vexfield,
grabbing the man’s elbow and heading back down the hall.

“I say, that was a close one,” Vexfield said. “Now,
what do we do about Lady Trayton? I do not like to think of her in the
proximity of the king, however close they may be. It is my house, by Jove. My
responsibility, don’t you know?”

Roderick shot a quick gaze down the dimly lit hallway.
Though sconces were scattered about the manor, he could barely focus more then
ten feet in front of him. “Where is her room?”

Lord Vexfield’s head snapped up. “Thunder and Zeus. We
must search it immediately. Once a killer tastes blood, he does it again, eh?”

Roderick grimaced.
A killer? What exactly had Lady Trayton
heard in the garden? Had it been her at all?

He hoped Jane was safe in her new quarters. A jealous
woman was one thing, a killer quite another.

“We must draw the lady out of her chambers,” Roderick
replied. “Then comb the place for evidence. But for the sake of this
investigation, we must not narrow our search only to her.”

“A nasty business,” Lord Vexfield said nervously. “Cannot
sleep knowing a killer is under my roof.”

Roderick followed Vexfield down another corridor and
pulled the man aside. “Ring for the maid.”

“I see,” Vexfield whispered. “We have the maid mention
we must clear the room for some reason.”

Roderick smiled. “Mention rats. That should do it.”

Lord Vexfield’s face fell. “If Lady Vexfield hears of
this, I shall be sleeping in the stables tonight.”

Roderick felt for the man. He was already sleeping in
the stables, so to speak. He had no idea when Jane would be talking to him
again.

A few minutes later the maid appeared.

“I would like you to knock on Lady Trayton’s door and
wake her,” Lord Vexfield said, acting as if it were everyday he woke sleeping
ladies in the middle of the night.

The maid’s eyes popped wide. “My lord, Lady Trayton
took her leave an hour ago.”

Lord Vexfield stiffened in outrage. “And why was I not
told of this?”

The maid colored. “Lady Vexfield was quite put out, my
lord. She was not pleased that one of her guests decided to leave.”

“Did Lady Trayton give any reason why she left?” Roderick
asked, knowing a lady never left at this time of night. Morning maybe. But this
was very peculiar.

The maid wrung her hands against her apron. “I believe
the lady left because of Lord Garette. Said it was too discomforting to sleep
in a house where someone died.”

Vexfield dismissed her, then stared at Roderick. “Blast,
now what do we do? I have no evidence to go after her. We have no idea if she
did anything criminal. But if she is the killer, she just got away scot-free.
What a coil.”

Roderick cursed. Would the lady flee the country? Did
she leave because of his conversation in the gardens? Or was he wrong to
suspect her? Was the killer still at Vexfield Hall? And would he or she kill
again? The last thought chilled him to his bones.

After the maid had moved her things back into the
other guest chamber, Jane changed into her dressing gown, fell onto her bed and
stared up at the ceiling. Tears leaked out of the corner of her eyes as she held
Roderick’s cravat to her cheek.

How could he believe such nonsense about the baby? How
could he be so cruel? How would they ever be man and wife again?

She was awakened three hours later by a knock on her
door. She lifted her head and wiped the wetness from her eyes. “Come in.”

One of Lord Vexfield’s maids entered. “Forgive me,
Your Grace.” The maid tiptoed into the room with a candle lighting her way.

Jane frowned at the girl’s unexpected arrival in the
middle of the night. But something in the maid’s nervous silence made her toes
curl. “Is something wrong? Tell me. Is it my husband?”

The young maid jumped. “The duke? Oh, no, Your Grace.
It’s just that the lady told me to deliver her note to you later in the
morning.”

Lady?

Jane waited patiently, wondering if Agatha had left
for London again.

But the girl worried her lower lip, almost afraid to
go on.

Every nerve in Jane’s body was on edge. “If you think
it important,” Jane said softly, “you would not have come. Please, do not be
frightened. Who was the lady?”

“Well, you see, there was something about her. I ain’t
saying she wasn’t nice. I just didn’t feel good about. If you know what I mean.
You being so nice to me when you arrived. I knew you were a right one. It’s
that Lady Trayton. She was quite put out.”

Feeling sick, Jane put out her hand. “Let me see the
note.”

The maid pulled a letter from her pocket and gave it
to Jane. The note reeked of Lady Trayton’s perfume.

Jane told the girl to light the candle on her
nightstand. The girl did so, then headed toward the door. Jane’s fingers shook
as she opened the seal.

“Would there be anything else?” the maid asked.

 Jane looked up. “No, nothing else.”

The door clicked closed, and Jane opened the letter
and started to read. Her brain barely connected with the words.

“NO!” she screamed.

Panic welled inside her as she jumped from her bed.
She could not believe Lady Trayton would do such a thing!

She rang the bell for the maid. Her knees buckled, and
she fell to the floor, sobbing and praying at once. “Oh, God, please, help me!
Help me! Please, don’t let this be true!”

Roderick barely slept a wink. He had moved from his
bed to the wing chair by the hearth, and was nodding off when he heard Jane’s
scream.

Alarm rippled through him, and he shot from his seat.
Grabbing his breeches, he hopped to the door as he put them on, then bolted from
the room.

His first thought was of Lady Trayton. Had the woman
attacked Jane?

Sprinting down the hall, he whipped open the door to Jane’s
chambers and found her on her knees, crying.

“Jane!” he roared, his heart in his throat. “What the
devil is wrong?” He charged into the room and pulled her toward him. “Are you
hurt?”

She looked up, her blue eyes filled with terror. “She
took the baby!”

His stomach coiled in dread as her hands clawed at his
bare chest. She glared at a piece of paper crumpled beside her feet. “It’s all
there!” she screamed. “I have to get to him! I have to go now!”

Roderick grabbed the letter from the floor and read
it. Hell’s teeth! Lady Trayton had set out for the country with the intention
of kidnapping their son. She informed Jane that she would never see the boy
again.

Roderick cursed. “She must be insane! She has a boy of
her own. Does she realize she would never see him again?”

Jane sobbed, grabbing onto his arm. “I do not care! I
do not care about anything or anyone other than my child! Do you hear me?” She clouted
him in the chest. “I am going after her! This note was supposed to be delivered
to me in the morning. But Lord Vexfield’s maid thought something was strange,
and she gave it to me only minutes ago.”

Roderick took hold of her shoulders. “I will go. You
must stay here. You would only slow me down. I can do this, Jane. He is my son
too!”

Jane wiped the tears from her eyes. “How did she know
where our baby was?”

Roderick scowled. “I am not certain. She seems to know
many things.”   

“What the devil is going on in here?” Lord Vexfield
stood in the doorway, holding a lantern.

Roderick turned. For Jane’s sake, he was determined to
show a calm he did not feel. “Vexfield, I need some of your men. Lady Trayton
has plans to kidnap my son. I believe we can apprehend the woman before
anything happens.”

Jane started for her wardrobe. “I am going too. Don’t
you dare try to stop me!”

“Confound it, Jane!” Roderick snapped. “I cannot
protect you and look for our son at the same time. Give me the directions for this
older couple where our son is staying.”

Lord Vexfield’s mouth dropped open in shock. “You have
a son?”

Roderick glowered at the man. “Yes, I have a son.”

Jane stared at her husband. He was in a foul mood and
so was she. She knew Roderick would insist on her staying behind. Well, let him
say what he would. She could not waste any more time arguing. After he left,
she would follow. She would not sit here and do nothing when her baby’s life
was at stake.

She gave Roderick the directions to the Baskers’
cottage. He left minutes later with Lord Vexfield and some of his men.