“I don’t think so.” He tugged her up and inspected her. She was numb from head to toe, shivering with a cold that felt bone deep and unnatural on a summer morning.
“Father?” Chester bent over him next.
“I’m all right,” Lord Kirkland said from the ground. “A bit stunned.”
Chester gave him a hand up.
Bernie folded her arms, her hand touching something damp on her sleeve. She looked at her fingers, the red startling her. She couldn’t speak. Chester turned to face her.
“Now will you—” He saw her hand. “You’re bleeding!” He grabbed her arm probing it.
Nothing hurt. Dazed, she met Lord Kirkland’s wide gaze, and then she saw the spreading
patch of blood on his pale gray coat.
“It—it’s not mine. Your father is injured.”
Chester spun to his father, catching him as Lord Kirkland’s knees buckled, and they fell to the ground again.
Bernie gasped behind her hands and then joined them, coming to her haunches beside Kirkland as Chester removed his father’s jacket. Bernie’s father stayed at the coach fanning Lady Kirkland as she slumped against the door. The coachman, Barnes, came to Chester’s side.
Bernie glanced at Rupert’s crumpled form.
Was he really dead? She’d never seen a dead body before. He was eerily still, and yet
she couldn’t imagine him not getting up again.
Chester’s voice broke through her panicked thoughts. “It’s only your arm, Father, but it’s a deep tear.”
Lord Kirkland nodded, his mouth a grim line.
“We need to bandage it and get you home.”
“Here.” Bernie swiftly dug under her skirts, ripping the hem of her chemise and handing it to Chester. Barnes took out a knife and cut Lord Kirkland’s shirt off at the sleeve, pressing the folded fabric to the wound. Lord Kirkland hissed in pain.
Barnes tied the handkerchief around it, securing it.
“Just like old times, eh Barnes?” Lord Kirkland said.
Barnes smirked. “Yes, sir.”
Bernie wondered what that meant and who exactly Mr. Barnes was before becoming a coachman. He’d killed a man today and seemed to have knowledge of wound care.
“Mr. Barnes served on The Venerable with my father in 1797, the Battle of Camperdown,” Chester said, having read her expression of confusion.
“Oh.” Bernie hadn’t known Lord Kirkland had a served in the Royal Navy. She knew so little of him. But now she feared for him. Chester bent over his father with concern and affection, giving words of assurance. Emotion flooded her, a confusing mixture of affection and worry. She didn’t know this man well. He’d tried to hurt her and her family, but he’d also stood between her and a bullet, risking himself. Whatever their differences, that action changed her opinion. She could forgive and forget for a man who would give his life for his son, for the man she loved.
She took his hand and squeezed. His gaze moved to her.
She smiled at him. “Now I know where Chester gets his bravery. Thank you for shielding me.”
He surprised her with a warm smile in return. Bernie wiped her eyes and Chester and Mr. Barnes helped Lord Kirkland to his feet and over to the carriage. Bernie followed, limping, wary of her own father and his tendency toward hysterics.
He was still by Lady Kirkland’s side, fanning her, but she was sitting in the carriage, somewhat calm.
Her father turned to her as she approached and hugged her tightly.
“My dear, you’ve taken a decade off my life. Are you all right?”
“I’m fine, though my ankle is injured.”
He lent her his arm and she leaned on him. He patted her hand. “We’ll get you home and fixed up with one of Georgie’s medicated wraps.”
Bernie nodded, hiding her tears and pain behind a blank face. Chester got his father settled into the carriage and turned to her to help her inside. Lady Kirkland sat beside her husband, fretting over him. She took the seat across, hesitant to meet their gazes after all that had happened, all that was said. By God, she’d played a part in Lord Kirkland getting shot. Not intentionally, but in a sort of strange waterfall effect, it was her doing. Her stomach tied itself in knots.
Her father climbed in beside her and Chester remained out. She looked to him beseechingly.
Please don’t leave me alone with them.
“I’m going to help Barnes wrangle those horses and…collect Rupert.”
Bernie’s stomach dropped to her feet. She wanted Chester to hold her and to block out everything but him, but now was not the time. Their plan had unraveled before it had even begun. She nodded in understanding and he stepped out of sight.
Her father put his arm around her, and Bernie at once felt like a child. She sucked in a breath, fighting the urge to sob. Her father presented his handkerchief.
“There now, it’s quite all right if you want to cry. You’ve had quite the morning.”
Bernie spared her father an incredulous glare but in a way he was right. She wanted to be strong, but if there was any time to let a bit of emotion out, it would be now, after the danger was over and before the explaining and lecturing started.
She leaned into her father’s embrace, feeling twelve years old again and let herself cry. She didn’t wail, but she covered her face and sobbed into his jacket.
Chapter 23
The trip back to Kirkland was far shorter than Bernie had imagined, or perhaps she fell asleep. Chester handed her down, and already there was a crowd outside. Her sisters, Violet, the dowager duchess, everyone had come to see them return.
Bernie blushed. And here she thought Anne’s indiscretion would be the one to ruin them all.
Apparently not. Guests from both parties now witnessed her return from an attempted kidnapping. But there was only concern as her sisters gathered around her, and the others focused on Lord Kirkland as he was aided inside.
Chester had gone with his father, and Bernie waited, not sure where she should go. Violet threw her arms around her. “We were so frightened for you.”
“Is that a body on top of the carriage?” Weirick whispered.
Bernie glanced at the shrouded lump strapped to the top like baggage. Her knees went slack but she managed to stay standing and nodded.
“It’s Rupert.”
Violet gasped. “My God, you must return to the castle at once and rest.” Violet slung an arm around her and ushered her toward the ducal carriage. “Your mother is already there. Her Grace insisted she stay behind and not fret. Let’s go home.”
Bernie dragged her feet. Home. Home wasn’t at Selbourne Castle or Marsden Manor anymore. “I can’t leave Chester.”
“I’m sure Chester will come for you later.”
Bernie planted her feet. “I’m not leaving. This is where I belong.”
Violet ceased her tugging, her mouth popping open and then snapping closed. “Very well.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Don’t apologize,” Violet said. “Tell me what you need of me.”
“Just…take my sisters home and leave me here. Tell my mother I’m fine and that I will explain everything later.”
Her sisters let out a chorus of protests. Bernie met their gazes individually. “I’m truly sorry for the trouble I’ve caused. But I can’t explain anything right now. Please, just give me some time to sit down and…think.”
They nodded and drifted back to the waiting carriages.
Violet squeezed her hand. “If you need anything, you only have to ask.”
Bernie smiled tearfully. “I know.” Weirick ushered her away and Bernie turned back toward Kirkland. Two grooms were carrying Rupert’s body toward a cart. Bernie sucked in a breath, her vision shrinking to a tunnel. Her lungs seized and she wanted to cry out, to Chester, to Violet, to anyone. She needed someone to shake her out of this crippling terror.
Arms came around her and she let out a breath, Chester’s scent filling her head, his soothing voice call
ing her back from the abyss.
“Don’t look.” He held her against him, blocking the sight. “It’s over now.”
She shook, thoroughly washed out by her emotions. He swung her into his arms and Bernie closed her eyes, hiding her face against him.
When next she opened her eyes, she was back in his room, right where she’d started the day. Chester set her down on the bed, brushing her hair from her face.
“Are you all right?”
She nodded and sniffed. “I’m fine, bruised, tired, angry but fine.”
“He didn’t do anything to you?”
“He hit me.”
His mouth tightened. “I’ll—”
“He’s dead, remember? And before that I wrecked the carriage with him inside, and I kicked him afterward. My need for revenge has been adequately fulfilled, I think.”
He nodded but didn’t appear appeased.
“So… We’re back in your room and everyone must know.”
“I don’t care.”
“We had a plan!”
“You were kidnapped. The plan is moot.”
He was right, of course. “What do we do now?”
“We’ll get married. The scandal will be huge but I don’t care. I don’t care about anything except you.”
“We still need to make things right with your parents. Your father shielded us from a bullet. He could have died.”
His gaze grew distant. “I know.”
Bernie touched his hand. “They love you. I love you. With such an abundance of love in this house, I don’t think it will be difficult to work out our differences.”
“I’ve never known you to be this philosophical or optimistic.”
“It’s been quite a morning. Everything has been put into perspective.”
There was a knock on the door. Chester went to open it, his words muffled before he gave entry to the person on the other side.
Lady Kirkland entered, still pale, her hands knotted before her. She came to the bedside where Bernie sat, her eyes watery.
“I must apologize for the way I’ve treated you.”
Stunned, Bernie didn’t know how to respond.
“Today I saw my son, my little boy, stand before the barrel of a gun to protect you. I’ve never been so scared in my life.”
“I as well,” Bernie said, her throat tight.
“But then you…you shielded him. You refused to leave his side.” Her tears spilled over and she let out a short sob. “I heard everything you said to him as clearly as if I stood there in spirit.”
Bernie’s emotions welled up inside her and her lashes flooded with tears. Chester came to their side, offering his handkerchief to his mother and putting an arm around Bernie. She leaned into his side.
“I feel responsible for Rupert, for what happened this morning, and I accept responsibility.” She hiccupped. “I will forever be in your debt, Miss Marsden. I beg your forgiveness. You are not what I thought you to be. You are what any mother would wish for her son.”
Bernie covered her eyes, crying into Chester’s arm. She couldn’t bear to see the sadness, the regret on Lady’s Kirkland’s face. Because in that moment, in her honest confession, she saw Chester, the parts of him that had come from his mother, and she regretted every terrible thought she’d ever had for the woman.
“I—I support your marriage, and I will happily sponsor your sisters should they wish it. Whatever damage has been done because of me, I will make every effort to undo.”
Chester pulled his mother into an embrace and Bernie hugged the woman. They held each other, crying, with Chester holding them both.
Once Bernie could speak and her tears had slowed, she met Lady Kirkland’s watery red eyes and smiled.
“I accept and I forgive you.”
She smiled, pressing her gloved hands to her cheeks. “Thank you, Miss—”
“Bernie,” Bernie said.
Lady Kirkland shook her head. “I cannot use such a masculine name for you. It isn’t in me. Bernadette will have to do.”
Bernie laughed. “Very well, Bernadette is fine.”
They all laughed softly, the ladies sniffing and wiping their eyes. Chester’s were red-rimmed, but he held on to his composure.
“How is Lord Kirkland?” Bernie asked.
“He is fine,” Lady Kirkland replied with an eye roll. “He considers every scar a testament to his masculinity.”
“How did you arrive so quickly?” Chester asked. “I rode like the devil and you must have been right behind me.”
His mother shrugged. “Your father’s coachman knows him well. He had the carriage ready immediately after you’d gone, and by happenstance, Mr. Marsden was already dressed when he stopped to collect him.”
Chester shook his head in disbelief. His mother turned away, her gaze moving over the room.
“She will have to return home, you know, until you wed.”
“We know,” Chester said, sharing a smile with Bernie.
Bernie blushed, hiding her face against his arm.
“I expect a true wedding. No trips to Gretna.” She wagged her finger at them.
“I told you she would,” Bernie said.
“But not in town. We’ll marry here,” Chester said.
“As you wish. Now kiss her goodbye and see her home. There is much to do today. I’ll send an invitation for dinner to your family, Bernadette. We must announce a formal engagement as soon as possible.”
“Thank you, my lady.” Bernie said with feeling.
“Please call me Beatrice. We are family now.”
Chapter 24
Bernie arrived back at Selbourne after visiting her mother and father at home. They agreed to let her return to the castle on the condition that she not leave it.
Her sisters welcomed her with a barrage of questions. Violet ushered them all into her private parlor where they would have some privacy.
Her sisters gathered around her, a mixture of frowns and glares coming from each of them, every face similar and yet different from her own. She smiled.
“I love him,” she said.
Violet squeezed through the crowd to Bernie’s side and winked. “I knew it.”
“It was very obvious,” Anne said.
Bernie laughed. “Not to me, at first.”
Her other sisters Georgette, Jeanette, Josette, Lunette, the twins: Nicolette and Odette, and the youngest, Willette, all murmured in agreement.
“So, if Anne marries Roderick, and Bernie marries Chester, then none of us have to marry immediately,” Georgie stated. “Or at all.”
Jeanie nudged her. “Do you really want to go back to sharing a bed with me? We’re not getting any younger. I’d still like to marry. I—I want to go to London and have a season.”
Bernie, like her sisters, turned to Jeanie in shock.
“Truly?” Bernie asked.
“You’ve never said so before,” Georgie added.
Jeanie folded her arms. “No one ever asks me what I want.”
“Well,” Violet interjected, “now you can. You all will have more opportunities to pursue your interests now that Anne and Bernie have found their matches. I’m so glad something good came of all this.”
“I wouldn’t call a kidnapping good,” Georgie quipped.
Bernie agreed, but she knew Violet was trying to keep everyone calm. “No, but it happened anyway.”
“How? What of Scotland? I knew it sounded suspicious, but why weren’t we told anything?” Anne asked.
Bernie sent her a glare. Anne was still keeping one very large secret from her family. But now wasn’t the time for that revelation. “I never went to Scotland. I’ve been with Chester, hiding inside Kirkland.” She continued her story through their gasps of surprise or she’d never have finished it. Once she’d retold every detail, she waited while they argued and questioned each other.
Violet settled them down. “Yes, I knew she hadn’t really gone to Scotland. I didn’t know she’d been in Kirkland these past t
wo nights.” Violet glared at her. “Where exactly?”
“His room.”
Another uproar ensued. Bernie couldn’t help laughing.
“Quiet down!” Georgie pleaded. “It was a scandal when Rupert tried to kiss her and force the marriage, now it’s—I don’t know, but a man is dead and there are more secrets at this party than a meeting between spies! Are all house parties like this?” She threw up her arms. “I’m going to the stables. Things always make sense in the stables.”
Bernie wiped tears of mirth from her eyes while Violet fretted.
“Well, we got two marriages out of it, so I consider my party a success, but Georgie is right. There has been much sneaking about going on around here. There is only two days left. Has anyone else got anything to confess?”
The sisters grew silent, gazes darting away from each other.
Violet fisted her hands on her hips. “Oh, come on.”
Anne shared a glance with Bernie. There was definitely more going on with this house party than they thought.
What had their sisters been up to for the past twelve days?
* * *
Chester returned to the castle that night after dinner. Bernie had missed him, though she did enjoy the company of Violet and her sisters. She had some sleuthing to do since their odd behavior earlier in the day. The sisters had never kept secrets from each other, but nor had they had any to keep until now. The walls seemed to buzz with speculation. It was exciting but Bernie wanted to lie down. Exhaustion dragged at her legs as she climbed the stairs to her room. She opened the door, and there he stood.
“I hope your mother knows where you are. I’d hate to have to lie about your whereabouts.”
“I’m sure she can guess.”
Bernie walked straight into his arms. “I’m tired.”
“Me too.”
“But not too tired.”
He chuckled. “Does that mean you’ll seduce me?”
“I was hoping you would do the seducing, on account I’m so tired. I was kidnapped today and thrown from a carriage.”
He sighed. “I know. I was trying not to think about it. You’re safe. That’s all that matters.”
Two Wicked Nights Page 17