Captivating the Countess

by Patricia Rice

  “The ghost lady doesn’t like the pretty lady. And the funny gentleman is helping her.”

  “That makes almost as much sense as anything else this evening.” In gratitude that neither of them had been rendered insensible, Rain kissed Bell’s cheek and stroked Dru’s little nose. Rage and terror still roared like a tiger trapped by his rib cage, but he wouldn’t frighten them by releasing it. “Will the two of you be all right here with Lady Iona? I think I need to stop the pretty lady.”

  “You have no proof,” Bell warned. “I proved nothing.”

  “Except that Her Grace is excitable and has another ghost with her. That was a powerful gust.” As sconces were relighted, gradually illuminating the shadows, Rain stood, guarding Bell while surveying the chaos.

  The shrieking actress lay beneath a hundred pounds of armor, pummeling the metal with her fists. The old iron suit had guarded the drawing room for decades, maybe even centuries. It didn’t look much worse for wear.

  His steadfast butler still blocked the exit. Franklin appeared bemused and startled and held a hand to his impressive mutton chop. A tinge of red showed on his cheekbone where he’d apparently been slapped. Lady Pamela must have attempted to push past him in the darkness. The old man wouldn’t be of any use lifting the armor. Gerard was dismantling it, unable to pick up the bulky collection of metal in one piece by himself.

  Lady Pamela was the guilty party? Rain would beat a confession out of her if he must, but first, he had to be sure Teddy wasn’t involved as well.

  Refusing to aid the irate thespian, he looked for his artist cousin, who stood stunned, staring at his sketchpad. “Teddy, your lady is having another fit. Perhaps you wish to help Gerard untangle her?”

  Confession or not, Lady Pamela would be on the train in the morning. For now, he had to prevent mass hysterics.

  Leaving the drama to others, Rain verified that Bell was still upright, then abandoned her to her sister while he performed his task as host to calm his guests. If his terrifying specter of a grandmother was still about, he didn’t want to know it. He hugged each of his sisters, grateful they didn’t batter him with questions he couldn’t answer. Instead, they helped him make the rounds of terrified ladies, assuring everyone all was well. He prayed they weren’t lying.

  He needed to learn to rely on his family more often. Once the room was properly lit, the servants ran about, offering drinks. His guests, being of sound mind and strong curiosity, settled down with the beverages of their choice and watched as Gerard and Teddy lifted the armor off the furious actress.

  Estelle approached him as family spokesperson. “Is she guilty, Rain? Does this mean our grandmother believes Lady Pamela pushed Bell? It makes no sense.”

  He wished he had an answer for that.

  “Can you translate Pamela’s curses?” Rain watched as Teddy lifted the screeching actress while Gerard and one of the younger footmen restored the armor to its place. “Why don’t we invite the monkeys and parrot to join her in a chorus? They’d make as much sense.”

  “Bell suggested we have the animals removed to the conservatory. That’s why we brought the more poisonous plants in here. I’ll be happy to fetch them, if you like.”

  Rain was pretty certain that was his sister being humorous.

  “She’s possessed!” The actress finally screamed something perceptible if not sensible. “The countess is a witch possessed by a demon!”

  That shout went over well in a room full of women who called themselves witches. Several snickered. Rain rather thought that was not the reaction Lady Pamela intended.

  To his surprise, Bell rose and deposited the child into the arms of her weeping mother. Her twin attempted to hold her back, but Bell shook her off and approached the ugly scene at the door. Gut clenching, Rain immediately followed.

  In that fashionable gold gown with the bustle and train, her hair caught up in gardenias, with pearls at her throat, Bell looked the very last thing from demonic. Uncertain what she meant to do after that raging insult, Rain thought he might offer to cut the screaming banshee’s throat for her. If nothing else, he’d stand between the women and protect Bell from harm.

  He didn’t interfere after Bell shook her head at him but waited cautiously.

  “Having your own theater is important to you, isn’t it?” Bell asked, radiating sympathy. Teddy prevented further violence by holding his inamorata in a bear hug.

  “People like you don’t understand!” Pamela cried. “You have everything. I was born with nothing. I need him more than you do.”

  Rain watched his cousin’s face, but oblivious Teddy merely looked puzzled.

  “I was born with very little except the opportunity to work and learn,” Bell said calmly. “I have no funds of my own. Teddy has no interest in me. I’m not the actress he needs.”

  Iona swept up to hug her twin and whisper in her ear. Rain planned on asking for a full explanation of this evening as soon as he dragged the damned countess from the room, but he understood that Iona had some ability to smell emotion. She’d already mentioned Pamela’s avarice. She’d been right on the mark.

  “Teddy can’t marry me without money!” Lady Pamela fought his cousin’s embrace. “Everyone knows if Rainford doesn’t marry before the duke dies, the money goes to Teddy. The marquess won’t starve without the trust, but we might!”

  Charming. The grasping actress thought herself more important than Teddy’s family, which made sense from her perspective—except the trust wasn’t hers. And she seemed to believe it ought to be. Still, why Bell?

  “Rainford can marry any woman he likes. Why pick on me?” Asking the question they all needed answered, Bell examined the butler’s reddened cheek. The old man reddened more.

  “Because the duke is dying, and you’re the only woman the Ice King notices. You’re as cold a fish as he is. You deserve each other, but you have to know he’ll never marry a servant like you. That doesn’t mean you can have Teddy instead!” She quit struggling, and Teddy loosened his hold. He appeared as puzzled as everyone else.

  Rain didn’t need to hear more. He started forward, until Bell held up a hand. “Iona says she smells of guilt,” she whispered, for his ears alone. With a lifetime of practice, he reined in his temper and impatience and stepped back. But he stood within arm’s reach of her.

  “So you thought murdering me was the answer?”

  That, the company grasped. The entire room descended into deafening silence.

  Lady Pamela didn’t appear to notice. “You’re not dead, are you? You didn’t fall that far. I broke my nose and ankle when I fell off the stage. I can’t get the good roles anymore because I can’t dance. I wanted him to see you’re nothing special.”

  “Who?” Teddy asked, a frown creasing his wide brow. “Who would be stupid enough to see Bell as nothing special?”

  Pamela finally wept. “You, you fool. You kept saying if you could marry Lady Craigmore, she would handle the money and everything would be fine. But you’d toss me out soon enough. She’d see to that.”

  “I meant to marry you!” Teddy sounded as appalled as he looked. “I just asked Rain for a settlement. Bell doesn’t want me!”

  Rainford couldn’t allow the family drama to continue for the delectation of the gossips. He had to end this bad opera. “Lady Pamela just admitted to assaulting Lady Craigmore, Teddy. As magistrate, it’s my duty to send her to assizes, if the countess wishes to press charges. How do you want me to handle this?” He studied Bell.

  She looked exhausted but still brushed his cheek with her reassuring fingertips. “She’s dangerous to herself and others, but she’s a lady. I don’t know what’s best.”

  Before Rain could reach for her, her twin took her waist and led her away.

  Crap dung and other filth. Maybe the family eccentricity shouldn’t propagate. Maybe the distant cousin would make a better duke. Because he damned well wasn’t marrying anyone else but Bell, and he thought quite possibly they were both mad.

&nbs
p; Another man might have stormed after her, but Rain had spent too many years controlling his emotions and doing his duty. He had a responsibility not only to his family, but the community at large. If Lady Pamela truly was violent, she needed to be put away. But he was a damned physician, trained to cure, not to punish.

  Rain raised his eyebrows at his cousin.

  “She’s high-strung. That’s what makes her a good actress. I’ll send her away.” Teddy had not taken the weeping actress back in his arms, but he still looked defensive about the woman he’d brought into their home.

  “You might want to take a closer look at what you sketched, Teddy.” Alicia approached with Teddy’s sketchpad in hand.

  Rain stifled a groan. It was hard enough reining in his temper and not flinging Pamela into a dungeon to rot just so he might run after Bell. But if he had to deal with one more ghost. . .

  Lombard, his solicitor brother-in-law, came to stand beside him. “Let the court handle her. She’s not worth your time.”

  Gerard appeared at his other side. “I’ll take her in in the morning. We’ll lock her up for the evening.”

  Rain wanted to shout She’s all yours and run after Bell. He was more than ready to share his duties. But he couldn’t ignore Alicia’s warning, especially since Teddy seemed to crumple in on himself at seeing the sketch.

  “I was just drawing the scene. Séance scenes sell well,” Teddy said in despair as Rain’s sisters gathered around Alicia to study the drawing.

  “Séances with your duchess grandmother haunting the room probably aren’t a good choice.” Rain grimly took the drawing pad his sisters handed to him.

  “I can’t help what I sketch!” Teddy protested.

  Garland and Delahey studied the paper over Rain’s shoulder.

  Included in an excellent representation of the actual drawing room was the outline of a transparent apparition in an ethereal Regency gown, her hair piled high with diadems and a tiara. The ghost pointed condemningly at Lady Pamela, who was all but engulfed by a black-draped specter of death.

  “Does that mean she’s dying or has killed before?” Lombard asked in legal mode, studying the sketch along with Rain.

  Not that anyone outside this insane household would have seen anything except an imaginative picture—but Teddy had a reputation in the family for drawing warnings.

  “I didn’t mean to kill anyone,” Lady Pamela whimpered, clinging to Teddy’s broad chest. “But he called me a talentless cow, and I yanked the cord—”

  Teddy held out his arms, not touching her, but he looked so startled and torn, that Rain almost felt sympathy for his thick-headed cousin. “Before she incriminates herself any more, lock her up. Put a guard on her door. Teddy, I’m sorry, but we’ll have to take her into York in the morning. I refuse to be judge and jury in this case. Let the professionals decide what else she’s done.”

  All Rain wanted to do was go to Bell and see that the evening hadn’t harmed her.

  He may have just condemned a lady to death. He thought that was quite enough for the night. It was time to hand the reins over to others. He didn’t have to do it all, he reminded himself. That’s what family was for.

  “Gerard, I’ll take you up on the offer to take Lady Pamela to York in the morning, thank you. Lombard, Delahey, Garland, I leave you in charge of seeing she’s guarded and kept safe. Ladies, I leave the company to you. Ted, let’s go upstairs. You can pour us a night-cap.” He caught his stunned cousin’s shoulder and steered him from the room.

  Sometimes, one had to be a man and not a marquess. Rain thought this might be one of those times. He’d have to trust Bell was safe with her sister.

  “This is your apartment?” Iona swept through the immense suite Bell claimed for her own. “May I move in with you? Gerard’s castle tower might have a lovely bath, but it’s nowhere as elegant. I swear, only men have lived in it for the past hundred years.”

  “My apartment doesn’t include your husband,” Bell remarked, amused. “I could have an entire house in the village, but that seemed much too complicated. I like it here.”

  “Does your apartment have Rainford? He loves you, you know.” Iona swept back to confront her.

  “He lusts after me. That’s not the same. And I’ve barely had time to learn to like things as they are. You’ve not had the full effect of his household yet. Tonight was only a taste of the ongoing drama. I can hide away in here when it all becomes too much.” She lacked authority to do more.

  “Or you can leave and go to Craigmore any time.” Iona nodded understanding. “After seeing that ghost at work, I can see the appeal. Our haunts are more phlegmatic.”

  Bell attempted a smile. “Not entirely certain that’s true, but a dying duke probably stirred the duchess. Now, if you don’t mind. . . I’m exhausted. And Gerard will be galloping the halls looking for you.”

  Iona exclaimed, hugged her, and swept out, leaving her to her maid.

  Bell hated driving away her sister, but she really needed to find herself again. This business of letting apparitions take over was physically as well as mentally draining. She didn’t think she could do it often, although after tonight. . . She might have to flee to distant Craigmore simply to escape the notoriety.

  With Button’s help, Bell undressed, but she wasn’t ready for bed yet. After sending the maid to her room, she sat with her slippered feet up by the dying fire, enjoying the luxury Rain had provided for her. She had to love the man if only for his understanding of her need for this privacy.

  She wasn’t entirely certain what she’d done this evening or if she could ever do it again. She prayed the ghostly duchess would depart now that the duke was recovering and a potential killer had been unmasked. A little normality would be nice.

  Then Bell could settle into her task of steward, have lovely conversations with Rainford’s sisters—who would be returning to their own homes if the duke recovered. Even Alicia was likely to leave for London come spring.

  Leaving Bell alone with Rain.

  She couldn’t do it. She couldn’t be his mistress and watch him marry another.

  She couldn’t enter into a loveless marriage just because he needed a wife.

  She wanted to believe he might heal her faintheartedness, but the chances were slim. How much of herself would she lose if she stayed in hopes he could heal her? After this evening, she feared she didn’t have much of herself left to lose. It would only grow worse with time if she stayed here.

  She should go home with Iona and her husband. With Gerard’s Aunt Winifred gone, the earl didn’t have a household steward. Bell could handle his books. There would be other Malcolms about. She might learn to control the spirits haunting her from the safety of company who understood.

  She had choices. She simply had to make them.

  When Rainford scratched at the door of her suite some time later, Bell wrapped up in her robe and answered before he could wake Button.

  The normally elegant marquess looked exhausted and half drunk. He smelled faintly of whiskey and had unfastened his coat and loosened his cravat. Even though he’d shaved for dinner, he still had a stubble shadowing his luscious cheekbones. His fair hair fell over his forehead as if he’d drawn his fingers through it repeatedly.

  “If you weren’t so well tailored, you’d look like a sot,” she said, unable to hide a smile at seeing this side of him. Her heart ached for him, but she’d had years of experience in shielding it.

  Rainford didn’t smile back. “I needed to know you’re well. I’ve spent these last hours terrified I’d find you comatose again. May I come in?” He propped his arm against the door jamb as if unable to stand on his own.

  Her well-shielded heart lurched, but Bell shook her head. “I’m fine. I’m tired. Button may not be asleep. Has everything been settled to your satisfaction?”

  “No, and I doubt it ever will be. That’s not how this household operates. But none of that matters if I know you’re well.” He bent over and kissed her.

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nbsp; Her heart nearly broke knowing she’d have to give up his passion if she left. He had responsibilities that required a bride she couldn’t be.

  He’d promised to marry her, but she’d seen the results of a marriage made without love. And if he regretted their impetuousness when she didn’t bear him a son, he’d learn to resent her. She didn’t want that for herself. Her freedom was too precious.

  So she kissed him, then gently pushed him from the door, closed, and locked it.

  Twenty-seven

  Looking like a man condemned to death, Teddy traveled with the Earl of Ives and Lady Pamela to York the next morning. Of course, Rain observed, Teddy hadn’t seen the morning sun in years and certainly not after drowning in a bottle of whiskey, so he might feel like death.

  Perhaps the family should have spent more time looking for a sensible heiress for Teddy instead of one for Rain. He’d have to ask his sisters to arrange something.

  After being turned from Bell’s door last night, he couldn’t concentrate. Bell was too sensitive to his family’s feelings to agree to be his mistress, but how did he convince his steward to be his wife? She’d already turned him down twice. How the hell did he convince her she was the only woman he wanted? Make a romantic proposal over bookkeeping journals? While preventing his interfering household from interfering?

  Unable to work when his mind was elsewhere, Rain went up to visit his father. The duke was in the process of bullying his valet into dressing him. The servant looked relieved at Rain’s entrance.

  “You are not leaving this suite,” Rain ordered without bothering to ask what his father was doing. “You’re not carrying enough weight to be certain you won’t undo everything we’ve done. And I have no assurance I can do it again.”

  “I’m tired of these four walls. Where is Bell? Where is everyone? What the hell happened last night?” The duke grudgingly allowed the valet to slip a dressing robe over his shirt and trousers.