The Player (Rockliffe Book 3) (36 page)

When Adrian’s shoulder had been dressed and he’d
been tucked underneath the blankets, Bertrand also left the room.
 
Caroline stood for a moment, looking at her
husband.
 
His eyes were shut, his brow
furrowed and his jaw was tight. She realised that she had no words for what she
felt.
 
The sheer, grinding terror of the
last hour had paralysed her brain.
 
So
she crept on to the bed at his uninjured side and, not wanting to jar him in
any way, slid as near as she could without actually touching.
 
Then she slowly released a breath she didn’t
know she’d been holding.

Adrian’s eyes opened and he turned his head.
 
He said, ‘You’re shaking.’

‘Yes.
 
A
little.’

‘I suppose this has been nearly as unpleasant for
you as it was for me.’

‘When I found you, I didn’t know … I was afraid
you were dead,’ she said unevenly. ‘Then, watching the Duke putting that knife
into you …’ She shook her head. ‘He did it so delicately … but it was still
horrible.’

‘I won’t argue with that.
 
Come closer.’

‘I don’t want to hurt you.’

‘You won’t.’
 
Transferring the glass to his other hand, he managed to slide an arm
round her.
 
‘Come closer.’
 
And when she was nestled against his good
shoulder and he could inhale the scent of her hair, ‘Not quite the wedding day
either of us imagined.’

‘No.’

‘Not that it would have been much of a wedding
anyway.’
 
He looked into the still
half-full glass and then drained it, grimacing slightly. ‘But I didn’t bargain
for getting shot.’

‘No.’ Caroline took the empty glass and set it
aside. ‘One can’t predict these things.’

‘True.
 
That’s very true.’
 
His eyes felt
heavy and his tongue was having trouble forming words correctly.
 
With some surprise, he said, ‘I’m drunk.’

‘A little, perhaps.’

‘I don’t drink, you know.
 
Not much, anyway.
 
It worries Bertrand, that.
 
But you can’t drink when you’re going
on-stage.
 
And playing cards to win,
pretending to be somebody else is pretty much the same.
 
So I don’t.
 
Drink, I mean.’
 
He frowned,
trying to concentrate. ‘Shouldn’t be drunk in front of you.
 
Sorry.’

Caroline’s nerves settled and she turned, smiling,
to brush his hair back from his face.
 
‘I
don’t mind.
 
Just sleep for a while. You’ll
feel better.
 
And, when you wake, I’ll
bring you something to eat.’

‘Don’t go yet.’

‘I won’t.’
 
Not until you’re sleeping
.
 
‘Betsy will want to see you later.’

He nodded, allowing his eyes to drift shut.

‘I was going to ask you something, you know.
 
I’d been thinking about it all day.
 
Not a lot of point, now.’

‘Isn’t there?’
 
She lowered her voice to merest murmur and continued stroking his hair.

He said hazily, ‘That’s nice.
 
I was going to ask … going to ask if you’d
consider sharing my bed.
 
But not like
this.
 
This wasn’t at all what I had in
mind.’
 
A pause and then he added
vaguely, ‘You could have said no.
 
I knew
you might.
 
But still … I was going to
ask.’

With a flood of pure joy racing through her veins,
Caroline had trouble controlling her voice.
 
She said, ‘I wouldn’t have.’

‘No? No.
 
I
suppose not.’
 
He sounded regretful. ‘Too
soon.’

‘No.
 
I
meant that I wouldn’t have said no.’

Adrian forced his eyelids open. ‘You wouldn’t?’

‘Absolutely not.’

‘Oh.’
 
His
eyes flickered shut again and a smile curled his mouth. ‘Ask you tomorrow,
then.
 
Or the next day.
 
Ask you when I’ve stopped bleeding.’

‘Yes, darling,’ she said softly, watching him
drift into sleep.
 
‘Ask me then.’

*
 
*
 
*

Outside his door, she found Betsy patiently
waiting.
 
Caroline said, ‘Sit with him
now, if you wish.
 
Hopefully, he’ll sleep
for a while.
 
But I must go and play
hostess to his Grace.
 
I don’t suppose
Lord Nicholas is back?’

‘No, my lady.’
 
Betsy’s face crumpled a little.
 
‘I’m so sorry, my lady.
 
If his
lordship hadn’t come after me, this wouldn’t have happened.’

Caroline put her arms around the older woman and
said, ‘We can’t know that.
 
Lord
Sheringham has wanted to destroy his lordship for a very long time.
 
And you must know that the little boy you
mothered would walk through fire for you.’

Before going downstairs, Caroline took a few
minutes to wash her face and tidy her hair.
 
The beautiful green gown was crumpled and no longer clean but it was
Adrian’s gift and she couldn’t bring herself to remove it just yet.

Rockliffe rose when she entered the parlour,
poured a glass of wine and handed it to her.
 
He said, ‘I hope you will forgive me for making myself rather more at
home than is generally considered polite – but I’ve asked Bertrand to order a
light supper.
 
I doubt you’ve eaten
properly today and I’d rather you didn’t faint.’

‘I’ve never fainted in my life.’

‘There is, as they say, a first time for
everything.’
 
He pressed her into a chair
and then said, ‘He’s sleeping?’

‘Yes.
 
Betsy
is with him.’
 
Caroline looked up at him,
aware that his Grace was once more restored to a frankly alarming degree of
elegance.
 
She said baldly, ‘Thank
you.
 
I don’t know … if you hadn’t been
here, I don’t know how we’d have managed.
 
So thank you – for everything.’

An almost imperceptible shake of his head
indicated that Rockliffe didn’t consider that he’d done anything very much at
all. Taking the chair on the other side of the hearth, he said, ‘It’s been an interesting
day. Your husband lives a very eventful life.’

‘You seem to know a lot about him.’

‘Let us say that I know certain things and have deduced
others.’
 
He paused, toying thoughtfully
with his snuff-box.
 
‘Since, as you so
rightly said, Lord Sheringham came here to kill Adrian, he presumably had every
intention of fleeing the country afterwards. He may try getting passage with
the smugglers at Deal … although, if that was his plan, he’d have done better
riding to
Pegwell
where I believe the gentlemen of
the Trade are extremely active.
 
His
other alternative is to take the packet from Dover.’
 
He appeared to take snuff and dropped the box
in his pocket. ‘It might be in everyone’s best interests if he were allowed to
escape – but that decision rests with Adrian.
 
And until my brother returns, we won’t know if there’s any choice to be
made.’

‘I hope Lord Nicholas is all right,’ she said,
randomly.
 
Then, ‘You told him to go to the
Lord Warden for help.
 
I don’t understand
who that is exactly.’

‘The Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports wields a
great deal of authority hereabouts. He can call out the Militia, he can prevent
a ship from sailing if he has reason to search it and he has powers of arrest.
 
If Nicholas can’t catch up with Sheringham,
the Lord Warden almost certainly can.’
 
He smiled faintly. ‘And if Adrian elects to simply let his lordship slip
the net, that can still be arranged.’

‘
Adrian
might do that,’ said Caroline tightly.
 
‘I
wouldn’t.
 
After everything his
lordship’s done – and you wouldn’t believe just how wicked some of that is –
I’d like to string him up by his thumbs.’

‘Most understandable.’
 
Rockliffe took a sip of wine and watched her
without appearing to do so. ‘It began, one would imagine, with Evangeline
Mortimer.’

The brown gaze sharpened but she said nothing.

‘You see,’ he continued imperturbably, ‘I always
wondered why Sheringham was so eager to make the world believe that Adrian had
killed her.
 
Of course, with any other
woman … yourself, for example … one would inevitably suspect either foul play
or suicide.
 
In the case of Mistress
Mortimer, however, anyone who knew her would merely suppose her a victim of her
own rash stupidity.’ He paused, in apparently idle contemplation of his glass.
‘But Sheringham wanted people to think otherwise … for which, presumably, he
had a reason.’

Caroline waited and, when he didn’t appear
disposed to add anything further, said, ‘What do you expect me to say?
 
It’s not my story to tell.
 
But if you were to ask Adrian, I think he
might share it with you. After all, you know virtually everything else.’

‘A thought he has doubtless found disconcerting.’

A tap at the door heralded Sally, announcing that
supper was laid out in the dining-parlour.

His Grace rose and offered Caroline his arm.

‘As it happens, I didn’t expect you to say
anything,’ he remarked, leading her from the room. ‘You are neither stupid nor
disloyal.
 
And Adrian is fortunate.’

Over a supper largely composed of the dishes Mrs
Clayton had intended for the wedding-breakfast they’d never had, Rockliffe
conversed smoothly on a number of topics.
 
Most of these were impersonal but, when Caroline asked after the
Duchess, a touch of worry appeared in the dark eyes and he said, ‘Adeline is
expecting our first child and not finding these early months as easy as I would
like.’

‘Oh.’
 
Caroline hesitated and then said bluntly, ‘I’m probably not supposed to
ask – but I gather she’s feeling nauseous?’

‘Constantly.’

‘Peppermint?’

‘We’ve tried it.’

‘Ginger?’

‘That, too.
 
Nothing helps.
 
I am assured it
will stop in due course.’
 
His smile was
slightly crooked.
 
‘Needless to say, at
present that is not a comfort … which will explain why I will be leaving for
home first thing in the morning.’

‘Of course.’

Caroline found herself envying the unknown
Duchess.
 
Having the love of a man like
this would be a rare and precious gift.

They were about to leave the table when there were
sounds betokening an arrival.

‘Nicholas,’ said Rockliffe, rising from his
seat.
 
‘Good.’

His lordship entered the room, splashed with mud
and grinning.

‘Done,’ he said succinctly.
 
Then, ‘Food.
 
Thank God.
 
I’m ravenous.’

Caroline fetched a clean plate from the sideboard,
saying, ‘Then please sit down and eat.
 
Your doings can wait for a little while.’

‘No they can’t,’ said his brother.
 
‘What, precisely, does ‘done’ mean?’

‘What it sounds like.’
 
Nicholas piled his plate with slices of ham
and chicken. ‘I tracked him to the King’s Head in Deal.
 
The silly fool had gone back for his luggage
and his carriage.’
 
A dish of creamed
leeks caught his eye so he helped himself to those as well. ‘If
I’d
just tried to kill somebody, I think
I’d do without a clean shirt or two in favour of getting the hell out of the
country – but not Sheringham.
 
He was even
using his own name, the
 
idiot.’

‘Clearly.
 
So, having found him, what did you do next?’

‘I paid a couple of fellows to stop him leaving
and then rode to Walmer.’
 
Nicholas
swallowed a mouthful of ham and groaned appreciatively. ‘I may have given the
Warden the impression Dev was at death’s door – just to speed things up a
touch.’
 
He looked up.
 
‘How is he, by the way?’

‘On the mend, thanks to his Grace’s skill in
removing the bullet,’ supplied Caroline.

‘Did you?’
 
Nicholas stared at the Duke.
 
‘I
didn’t know you could do that.’

‘One of numerous things you don’t know,’ said
Rockliffe patiently. ‘And Lord Sheringham?’

‘Safely under lock and key in Walmer Castle –
where he’ll stay until charges are laid. Or not, as the case may be.
 
Lord Holderness sends his regards, by the
way.’
 
He picked up his knife.
 
‘And now – do you think I might be allowed to
eat?’

‘By all means.’
 
The Duke smiled at Caroline. ‘I can see you are itching to run back to
your husband … but, before you do, there’s one other thing I’d like the two of
you to consider.’

‘Oh?’

‘The announcement of your marriage in the
Morning Chronicle
was bereft of all but
the basic details and any whisper of an elopement would be damaging.
 
I would therefore suggest that, as soon as
Adrian is fit to travel, you come to Wynstanton Priors and remain with the
Duchess and myself for a few days.
 
That
way, we can make it appear that your wedding was conducted in a fog of ducal
respectability which no one will dare question.’