Wicked Proposition (30 page)

Lilly held the crying baby and didn’t bother to
coddle the boy. In a matter of moments a very, small blue-faced
child was delivered, and was seemingly lifeless.

Catherine watched in horror as Mrs. Gates
cleaned the child’s nose and mouth and shook her head sadly.

“The child is dead,” she said sadly, and wrapped
the child in a towel. She placed the lifeless tiny form upon
Catherine’s breast as she cleaned up the afterbirth.

Catherine stared at the perfect little face and
tears coursed down her cheeks. She touched the soft cheek and
stroked the dark, downy patch of hair glistening with blood and
other fluids and leaned down to kiss her child.

She stared in shock as the child began to grow
pink and a soft gush of air escaped her perfect tiny lips. She
gurgled and mewled and her eyes opened and Catherine wept with joy
and shouted to the midwife.

“She lives! She is not dead! My child lives!”
she cuddled the tiny babe to her as it made plaintive mewling
noises and began to cry in earnest.

Mrs. Gates examined the child and smiled at the
miracle of fate that had occurred. The Countess watched the
touching scene with a look of amusement.

“I have my lord’s heir. I do not need the other
child,” Lilly said coolly and looked down at her sister with a look
of annoyance in her dark blue eyes. “You will take it and give it
away, old hag, do you hear? Find a family and say nothing of what
has happened this night!”

Catherine held the baby protectively and sobbed
as the midwife approached. The old woman leaned down and spoke so
low only she could hear.

“I will see no harm comes to the child, Lady
Catherine. Please, give me the baby now. I fear she will harm it if
you do not.”

Catherine was staring down at her daughter and a
lump formed in her throat as she handed the baby to the midwife.
Mrs. Gates gently wrapped the child in a blanket and gazed at the
Countess with no expression. She would see to the girl. Perhaps the
woman would take the child and go if she thought her dying?

“I will do as you ask, my lady. What of the
girl? She shows signs of the fever. She bleeds heavily. I have seen
it before. She needs a doctor or she will die.”

Lilly glared at her. Lilly handed the squealing
boy off to the midwife. She approached the pallet where her sister
lay exhausted, a look of triumph on her lovely face as she looked
down at her.

Lilly pulled out the pistol and smiled. “We will
meet again in hell one day, Catherine,” she said harshly, pointing
the weapon at her head.

Catherine turned her head facing the wall, a
prayer on her lips. She heard the pistol explode, and felt the pain
rip through her head. Then she knew no more.

Lilly stepped away and tucked the pistol in her
cloak. She pulled a bag of coins from her reticule, mindful of her
precious burden. She tossed the shocked midwife the coins. “Take
the other child and go! Do not say a word of this or I will hunt
you down and see you dead, old hag!”

Mrs. Gates carried the crying bundle and left
the cell, the bag of coins clutched in her hand. She left the
basement as if the hounds of hell were on her heels.

Her one thought was to protect the tiny bundle
she held to her ample breast, muttering prayers under her breath
for the girl. She passed Finster and Grimes, gave them a fearful
look and left the deserted building on foot, running until she
could run no more.

###

Nicholas had drunk far too much rum with his
mates and staggered out onto the deck of his ship. He was blinking
as he stared out across the water. They set sail at first light. He
should be abed. His thoughts of leaving were conflicted. A certain
green-eyed lady kept him from his sleep.

He had not found Catherine. No trace of her had
been found since discovering her rented room above the tavern. He
could no longer delay leaving now, though his heart was torn.

He trusted Chumley to do as he asked and get
Catherine safely out of London if he found her. He left a large sum
of money for her. She could go wherever she wanted, and would be
safe from Sullivan. The dwarf had a heart the size of a giant’s and
surprised him and suggested that very thing.

Nicholas knew he did the right thing, even if it
meant letting her go. He suddenly noted activity at the edge of the
docks. A coach was circling.

He squinted to see what was happening.

A burly man lugged a suspicious-looking bundle
to the edge of the dock. To his sodden mind it looked to be a body
the man was tossing into the water. Nicholas sobered immediately as
the man tossed it into the harbor and scurried away. He jumped back
onto his perch, and the coach moved away.

Nicholas shouted at his crew as he began to run.
He was ripping off his shirt and wrenching off his boots. Tieghan
and Tulley and several of his men pursued him down the
gangplank.

Nicholas did not think as he ran to the edge of
the dock. He could barely make out the floating bundle below and
dove into the freezing water. He grasped the wool blanket, sodden
and heavy. He spit out water as he came up. He yanked away the
blanket and stared down at the prone form grimly as he swam to the
ladder at the dock. He dragged the body with him.

Tieghan and Tulley hefted the body up and the
other men pulled him up. He was shivering and breathing raggedly as
he stared at the immobile form of a woman laying facedown.

Tulley smacked her in the middle of her back to
expel the water in her airway. Tulley continued until they heard
choking sounds ensue. He could not make out her features in the
darkness and ordered her carried aboard.

Nicholas dripped and shivered violently from
cold as he returned to the ship. Tulley carried the woman gently up
the gangplank and brought her to his cabin. Nicholas lit several
lamps and watched as Tulley lowered the woman to his bunk.

Her dark hair was plastered to her face and he
could not make out her features. Tulley eyed him worriedly as he
examined the wound. He cursed loudly and Nicholas came forward.

“What is it?” he demanded roughly and stared as
blood quickly soaked the pillow beneath her head.

“She is alive, but she has been shot, Captain.
She loses too much blood. She is going to die. There is nothing I
can do,” Tulley said harshly and wiped the blood from his hands and
applied pressure to the back of her head.

Tulley was the next best thing they had to a
doctor and worked valiantly to stop the bleeding. Tulley removed a
long instrument from his bag and winced as he delved into the wound
to find the bullet lodged there.

Tulley worked quickly to locate the bullet and
Nicholas held her hair aside. He sighed as he retrieved the bullet
and pried it out of her skullcap. It had only penetrated the bone
luckily, but she bled profusely and he applied more pressure,
ordering the Captain to find something to cauterize the wound.

Nicholas found a candle snuffer and held it in
the flames of the brazier. It was a fiery red when he returned to
his side. He felt nausea rise as Tulley applied the candle snuffer
to the wound. The smell of burnt flesh and hair pervaded the
cabin.

The bleeding was at last under control. Nicholas
approached and stared down at her. Tulley had pushed her hair
aside. He gasped as he saw her face. The face riveted him and his
heart plummeted. It was Catherine.

He was in shock. His mind wasn’t grasping how
she came to be shot and dumped into the harbor. He was
dumbfounded.

Tulley interrupted his turbulent thoughts as he
asked for privacy. He wanted to examine the girl and Nicholas
retreated. His mind worked feverishly to figure out how she had
come to be found by him at all.

He wanted answers.

Tulley approached him and scratched his grizzled
head, looking decidedly uncomfortable. He looked at the man
questioningly and the man met his gaze sadly.

“There are signs she has had a child, Captain,
recently by the looks of it. She is not bleeding anymore. I cannot
say if she will live. Only time will tell. She is unconscious, but
she is alive for now. That is all I can tell you.”

Nicholas reeled in shock. He stared at the woman
in his bed and nodded curtly. He thanked the man as he returned to
tend to her. He rubbed his aching temples. He would get no answers
of what had befallen her these many months until she awoke. If she
lived he would know who had tried to kill her and why. Where the
hell was the child? What in God’s name was going on?

“We sail as planned Tulley, and we take the
woman with us,” Nicholas said harshly, realizing taking the girl
with him was the only choice.

He dared not linger in London. If someone wanted
Catherine dead, it was better for them to think they had succeeded.
She was far better off leaving with him than staying behind. His
decision made, he turned on his heel and returned to the deck,
glaring darkly at the swirling waters below.

Gabriel would not appreciate his handling of
this. He had sent her back to him once before, and saw how it
turned out for her. He reasoned he would leave it up to Catherine
if she wished to return to her protector if she even survived.

He wondered broodingly who had fathered her
child. Was the child his or Gabriel’s? He was left to ponder the
perplexing questions as Tulley fought to save her life below.
Nicholas knew real grief to think he had overlooked a newborn
infant during his rescue. The fact the child could be dead made him
stiffen and feel his eyes begin to burn.

He uttered a curse and closed his eyes to block
out the pain he felt. What had happened to her these many, long
months? Why did she not come to him and tell him she was with
child? His eyes narrowed to realize she probably wasn’t sure whose
child she carried. He was devastated to think his child could be
dead.

She lay unmoving as pale as death and Tulley
hollered for help. He returned to his cabin. He approached quietly
and Tulley shook his head.

“She is not waking up, Captain. I know not what
to do. I fear she may have bleeding in her brain and it is beyond
my knowledge to go any further. We must keep her warm and keep
fluids in her.”

Nicholas jerked off his shirt and stripped off
his sodden garments and donned a dry pair of skivvies. He
approached the bunk and slid in beside her. She lay as still as
death in the bunk, her head wrapped with torn sheets to keep the
wound clean. He pulled her into his arms and rubbed her arms and
back as Tulley instructed him.

Her skin was blazing hot and he accepted a cool
rag and bathed her face, dribbling water down her throat and
mindful of not letting her choke. They worked painstakingly to keep
her alive and hardly noticed when the Orion slid away from her
berth the following morning and they were underway.

Nicholas soon fell into an exhausted slumber as
Catherine slept, her fever down to a less dangerous stage by
Tulley’s reckoning. Tieghan was at the wheel as the Orion was
brought about and they left England’s shores.

###

A messenger arrived. The Countess had given
birth to a healthy boy. Gabriel’s feelings were mixed as he
absorbed the news he was a father, and had a son, no less. His
mother insisted upon accompanying him to the manor to collect her
grandchild. Lady Wythe and her family arrived a week before and his
house was still in an uproar.

The Dunleavy children and his young half-brother
Ronan were whisked away to bed as Gabriel and Arianne left for
Iverleigh Manor. Lord Wythe elected to stay behind after
congratulating him profusely. Gabriel stared out moodily into the
night as the coach left for his former home. His mother cleared her
throat.

“Who is this woman I overheard you discussing
with the dwarf?”

“The dwarf is named Myron Chumley. He is a
detective I hired. You heard all about that, I take it?” Gabriel
asked with a small smile. His mother didn’t miss much.

“You would be surprised what you can hear when
your ear is pressed to a door.”

Gabriel grinned. He adored his mother and was
grateful for her presence now. With Catherine’s disappearance and
his heir’s birth, he needed her now.

“She was my mistress for a time. She is the one
I wrote of. She disappeared many months ago and was never found.
Chumley is investigating the matter for me.”

“I’m sorry,” Arianne replied, her dark eyes
growing sad. “Did you care for her? Oh you must have, if you
considered marrying her.”

“I didn’t even know who she really was, it
appears!”

“That is not what I asked you, Gabriel,” she
said patiently. “Knowing things are rarely required to care about
someone. I know a great deal about certain people and can’t abide
them.”

“I more than cared for her.”

“Ah, so you loved her,” his mother concluded
with a small smile.

“Yes, I thought I did…unfortunately…certain
things recently came to light which make me question those feelings
now.”

“It doesn’t work that way, my son.”

“Excuse me, mother, but do explain?” he asked in
annoyance. “I despise when you talk in riddles. You have been
around the Scots too long.”

“If you love her, those things you mentioned you
discovered about her, don’t matter.”

“She is likely a blasted criminal, mother!”

“Yes, dear, well, she would still be an
improvement to your current wife, wouldn’t she?” Arianne asked
archly and smiled pleasantly.

Gabriel chuckled despite himself. “Well, if you
put it that way, yes. You are quite correct. She is an improvement
to Lillianne.”

“Then I already adore her.”

Gabriel smiled at how easily his mother accepted
Catherine, while he had difficulty wrapping himself around her
alleged crimes.

“You make it sound so easy,” Gabriel remarked
with a shake of his head. “I am just to overlook the fact she has
been lying and deceiving me all this time. I have spent a fortune
looking for her! What I would like to do when I find her is shake
her until her teeth rattle!”