The Langley Sisters Trilogy Boxed Set (24 page)

The door was opened by a footman. Livvy explained why she was here and the man ushered her inside.
 

“Lord Langley is expecting you, Miss Langley. If you will hand me your coat and hat, I will take you to him.”

Livvy did as he asked and then tugged up the neckline of her white dress. Why did Phoebe insist on making them so low?
 

Looking around her as she followed the butler, Livvy knew that the house had been redecorated since her parents’ deaths. The colors were loud and garish and her mother would never have lived in such a place. Every wall was painted a different color and was bordered in gold. Small alcoves held naked statues of people in strange positions. It was decorated to excess and to show those who walked here that the owner was wealthy. Livvy felt her anger begin to simmer at the extravagance. What kind of man will not support his family but lives like a king?
 

“Miss Langley has arrived, my lord.”

Livvy pulled her eyes from a couple formed in marble, doing unmentionable things that she had never imagined two people could do, and quickly walked into the room. The curtains were still drawn, even though it was daytime, and the fire roared in the grate as she moved towards the couch her cousin sat on. In here there were more signs of his lavish taste and the walls were filled with paintings of nude people. After a brief survey, Livvy did not look back as one glance had been enough to tell her every one depicted a crude scene.
 

“My dear cousin, come and take a seat beside me as surely you must be exhausted from your journey.”

Lord Langley did not stand as she entered the room. Ignoring the slight, Livvy took the seat he indicated.

“I had forgotten how beautiful you are, Olivia.”

“Thank you, cousin.” Livvy tried not to shudder as he stroked her arm.
 

“Most unusual hair, red and gold. It shines, cousin.”

He touched her head, his fingers stroking a curl that had come free behind her ear. She shouldn’t feel ill at his touch; after all, he was her cousin, but suddenly Livvy had an urge to run from the room. Clenching her fists, she stopped herself from slapping his hand aside.

“How are you, cousin?” Livvy said quickly.

“Very well as you can see, Olivia,” he said, giving the curl a sharp tug, which left her scalp stinging before he released it. “But tell me, how is it that you are staying at the Grillion when you have no money?”

“Lord Ryder procured the rooms for us, cousin.”

“And what payment is he asking for such a generous offering?”

“Offering, cousin?” Olivia kept smiling as she looked at his sweaty, blotted face. He was a vile-looking man, even more so now he had put on weight and his teeth, she noted, were stained yellow as he smiled back at her.

“Come, Olivia, why would Lord Ryder put you up in an expensive hotel if he did not want something from you?’

She knew then what he eluded, too.
 

“We are friends of longstanding, Lord Langley. Lord Ryder is merely doing Phoebe and I a favor, nothing more.” Livvy held her breath as his eyes swept over her chest.

“How kind of him,” he said, as the door once again opened and a maid brought the tea tray and placed it on the table.
 

“Thank you, Hester. We shall look after ourselves.”

Livvy wanted to tell Hester to stay, yet knew she had no right to do so. The sound of the door shutting behind the maid did nothing to ease her tension.

“Do you like what I have done with the room, cousin?”

No, it’s vile
, Livvy wanted to say. Instead she said, “It is lovely, cousin.”

“It took me quite some time to get it exactly how I wanted it but I think the effect is quite something, don’t you? The pictures, of course, are what make it so special. Have a good look at them, cousin; I’m sure you will get pleasure from them as many of my guests do.      

“I fear they are not to my taste,” Livvy said, reaching for the teapot. “Shall I pour, cousin?” she then asked, eager to change the subject before she told him what she really thought of him and his paintings.

His chuckle was unpleasant.

“Forgive me, Olivia. My artwork must frighten you. After all, you are just a naïve, young innocent.”

“Do you take milk and sugar, cousin?”

“Both,” he said, and chuckled again.

Livvy handed him his tea but did not take hers because her hands were shaking and she did not want him to see that. He was a loathsome, hideous man and she wanted to leave the room, but would not until she had said what she’d come to say. He was also a pig, Livvy thought, as he took a large mouthful and made a gulping sound as he swallowed. She tried to shift along the seat but he was so fat and seemed to take up most of the space, and she would fall off the edge if she moved any further.

“Now, cousin, tell me all your problems and I shall endeavor to find a solution for them.”

Did he mean that?
Livvy wondered as he finished speaking.
 

“I fear we have no money, and if you force us to leave Willow Hall then we will have nowhere to live, either. I have tried not to burden you, cousin, but now, however, our plight is desperate.”

“You are to be commended, Olivia, for looking after your family for so long. However, now it is time to lean on me.”

“Really?” Olivia hardly dared to believe what he said. Was it really going to be all right? She watched him lower his cup to the table and then accepted the heavy arm he draped around her waist as surely it was a comforting gesture. Perhaps Phoebe had misjudged him and he was a good man after all? Livvy pushed aside the niggling fears inside her and forced herself to smile

“Of course, my financial support will come at a price that I’m sure will be acceptable to all the lovely Langley ladies.”

“A price?” Livvy felt an icy chill of fear.

“You are really quite beautiful, aren’t you, little cousin. My friends are going to be most happy with you.”

“I don’t understand, my lord. What have your friends to do with your support of us?”

“Here are my demands, Olivia, and if you do not accept them then I will be forced to tell your naughty little secret to the world.”

The arm around her waist tightened and Livvy felt his other hand touch her thigh as he moved her closer.

“Please unhand me, cousin.”

“Don’t you want to know what secret, Olivia?”

She began to struggle against him as the hand slowly moved higher.

“I know that your father killed himself, Olivia, and that you hid the evidence.”

“No!”
 

“Stop fighting and I will tell you how I found it,” he whispered into her ear.
 

Nausea clawed at her as his hand stroked her stomach. Biting her lip, she tried to keep still as he spoke.
             

“When I came for the funeral I found myself in your room, Olivia, and under your bed there was a small box. I took it and kept it because I knew one day that what was inside would be useful to use against you.”

“No!”

She had wanted to destroy the note her father had left behind, begging his daughters’ forgiveness for ending his life, but had never found the strength to do so.

Fool!

“Those words brought a tear to my eye, sweet cousin. ‘I’m sorry, daughters, for leaving you, but I can no longer endure the pain in my heart’.”

“H—he was not himself,” Olivia cried, trying to push his hands off her body. “Pain from his injury had twisted his mind.”

“But the shame that will be brought down on you, cousin...how will you and your sisters ever hold your heads up? And what of your parents? Their reputations will be in tatters at your feet.

“You’re a monster!” Livvy’s anger drove her on. “An unfeeling beast to treat your family like this.” Panting now, she was pushing against his chest as he pulled her closer, his arms holding her prisoner.

“And for my silence, my sweet, innocent cousin, I will have these things. Firstly I shall announce my engagement to your sister in the New Year and then we shall wed next spring.”

“Phoebe will never marry you!” Renewing her struggles, she scratched him. His laughter made her skin crawl.

“Phoebe! I would never take that she-devil to my bed. I shall get her off my hands by marrying her to one of my friends. It is your lame little sister Isabella who I will take as my wife. I will take her because no one else will and she’ll be treated as other English wives are, with gifts and pretty things and once a week I will rut her until she produces my heir.”

“I will never let you wed my little sister as long as I draw breath!” Livvy hissed as his hand moved upwards and grabbed her breast. She bit her lip to stop from crying out as he pinched her hard.

“I will treat her with respect, Olivia, and do you know why?” he said, reaching for her bodice.

“Let me go!” He was so close and his hands were now squeezing her breasts hard and pulling at her bodice. His foul breath made her gag as he pushed his face into hers.

“You are too old to wed so you are going to be my whore, little cousin. Your sister will stay safe as long as you do whatever I wish you to do, whenever I wish you to do it. I will teach you to pleasure me, Olivia, and others. In fact, I think we can start your education now as you have me quite excited. I enjoy a fight, especially if I can take a virgin at the end of it.”

Livvy heard her bodice rip and then felt his mouth and hands on her skin.
 

“I’m going to be the first man to take you, Olivia Langley.”

Livvy realized his intent was to rape her. She renewed her efforts and fought with everything she had at her disposal. Rage gave her strength, and she screamed as he bit the tender flesh of her breast.
 

“You will never have me!” Livvy yelled. He made the mistake then of placing one of his hands over her mouth to stop her screams and she bit down hard on the soft skin of his palm, not letting go until she felt him release her.
 

“Bitch!” he roared. “If you defy me, Olivia, I will tell everyone what a slut you are, dirty your name and that of your sisters and then I will tell them all that your father was a coward! Society will shun you all and there will be nowhere to hide.”
 

Livvy swung her fist as hard as she could and it connected with his jaw. He grunted and fell backwards and she was off the couch and running to the door in seconds. Her punch had not slowed him for long, however; he was soon behind her, spewing foul, furious words and speaking of retribution as she raced down the hall to the front door. Searching the entrance she found her coat and bonnet. Grabbing them, she pulled the front door open and ran down the steps and along the street, uncaring of the icy surface under her feet.

Aware that her bodice was torn, Livvy quickly forced her arms into the sleeves of her coat and buttoned it. Pulling on her bonnet, it took several attempts to tie the satin ribbons because her fingers were trembling, but finally she was covered and looking respectable once more. Reaching the corner, she looked up and down the street but saw no sign of a hackney. Knowing she could not wait as her cousin would catch her, Livvy turned left and ran down the street. Looking around her, she tried to find anything that was familiar. Why had she not taken note of the direction the hackney had taken on the way here?
Because you had not thought for one moment that your cousin’s intentions were to rape you.

“Faster, Olivia,” she urged herself as her steps began to lag and her sides began to heave. He would catch her if she stopped, and this time he would not let her go. She needed to return to the Grillion Hotel. She would be safe there with Phoebe.

Where are all the people?
Livvy wondered as she ran on, past houses and then shops until the pain in her sides grew so bad she had to stop. Hiding in a doorway, she drew in deep, shuddering breaths, forcing the tears to stay away. Was he still looking for her? Dear God, he knew where she was staying. She had to get to the hotel before him and gather up Phoebe and run.

Running onto the street once more, Livvy nearly cried as a hackney game into sight. She did cry when she recognized the driver as the one that had taken her to Lord Langley’s town house earlier. Waving frantically she keep looking down the road as he pulled to a stop beside her. There was no other carriage in sight.

“You all right, Miss?” The driver said noting her tears.

“Yes, please just get me back to the Grillion Hotel as fast as you can.”

Livvy climbed inside and seated herself in the corner so no one could see her if they looked in the window. She breathed deep and slow for several seconds until her heart began to stop thumping.
 

Lord Langley may have hurt her, but she was strong and would recover and, more importantly, she had thwarted his attempts to take her innocence. She hoped his head hurt and his hand needed stitches. Now, however, what mattered most was what would the Langley sisters do? She would have to tell Phoebe what had taken place in their cousin’s town house, as there was no way she could hide it, or how their father had died any longer, especially if their cousin used it against them.