After accepting a drink from the footman, Julian said, “Someone was on the hill overlooking the graveyard. They watched the burial of Laurel, her child, and her husband. Jake and I could see that he had been there, see where he walked to his horse, but when we tried to follow the hoofprints they left, the damned things faded away only a few feet from the tree.”
“Did you travel along a ways in each direction to see if they turned up again?”
“Yes, and there was nothing. It was as if whoever had been crouched there climbed on some sort of Pegasus beast and flew away.”
“Too careful to hide his tracks. Always a bad sign.”
“That is what I thought.” He told him about what Chloe had felt as it had been the reason he had gone looking in the first place.
“Then it was definitely not a friend up there. But was it Arthur? That is the question, eh? I would think Arthur would be as far away from here as he could be, even out of the country. My people tell me that he sold Beatrice’s jewels and walked away with a very heavy purse. It would have been more than enough for most men to sail away into a fine new life. Another question—would Arthur think it was enough? I was also told that some of Simone’s people are lurking about also looking for Arthur, and not to kindly thank him for all his help. That would be another reason any sane man would leave, go as far away as he can.”
“And here the question becomes—is Arthur still sane? If he ever was.”
Leo nodded. “One has to question his sanity when he coldly plans to murder three of his closest family so that he can take the title. It has happened before, however. Cold and unfeeling but not necessarily insane.”
“Talking about Arthur again?” asked Chloe as she walked up and curled her arm around Julian’s. “Think he was my watcher?”
“There is a chance,” said Julian. “It is just that it makes no sense. He was always smart, always cunning, and yet he lingers in the very place where people hunt him down?”
“But you have not been able to catch him yet, thus still smart and still cunning. He also needs money to get away and live somewhere else in the comfort he craves.” She looked around the large salon. “A lot of expensive things here, and I wager you have a safe which holds even more. Probably much easier to carry and sell, too.”
“Like Beatrice’s jewelry,” murmured Leo.
“It is possible that Arthur would know how to get into the safe. He would certainly have found where it is with all the time he had to look for it over the last few years. But, Chloe, it is not just us who are looking for him. Simone’s people are, too. He promised them something and he did not get it for them. They seek, er, restitution of some sort. They want him dead. We would at least attempt to take him alive so that he can stand trial for the murders he has committed.”
Chloe saw Lady Evelyn signal that it was time to go in to dinner and tugged Julian toward the door. Leo escorted Lady Evelyn and walked right behind them. Any more discussion about Arthur would have to wait, for the two older ladies would not allow such harsh topics to be discussed at the table. They did not want their daughters to hear about murders and theft and adultery. Chloe almost grinned, for she was certain the daughters would eat it up with a spoon.
It was not until they retired to the salon with cakes and wine, the daughters all sent to their rooms, that the subject of Arthur was brought up again. Chloe leaned into Julian as Leo told the older women what had happened and what Julian had found and had not found. She watched Lady Mildred and breathed a sigh of relief. There was no grief visible on the woman’s narrow face. Mildred did not care about the fate of her husband, but she was worried about the safety and happiness of her daughters.
“Arthur will do whatever he can to get as much money as he can before he leaves,” Lady Mildred said bluntly. “He is arrogant enough to think he can elude everyone and come away the victor. I would not be at all surprised if he blames each and every one of us for all of his failures.”
She briefly looked so unhappy that Chloe started to move, thinking of comforting her, but Julian tightened his grip around her shoulders and held her back.
“He sees my three daughters as one of my biggest failures.”
Realizing the woman’s pain was for her daughters, who had never known a father’s love, Chloe sent Lady Mildred a sympathetic look. “A man who, when he fails, always finds someone else to blame.”
“That is Arthur. He never does anything wrong. I bore only girls, so it was my fault. He did not get the earldom, so it was your father’s fault first,” she said to Julian, “and then your fault, especially since you had the audacity to breed a son. Another heir. And Anthony is at fault for surviving the hard first years. You, Chloe, are at fault because you took the child to safety instead of just leaving him out there to die. I could go on for days about all the things that have never been Arthur’s fault. He will think you owe him all he can steal simply because you stood in his way and he could not get it all.”
“So, he will try to rob you and probably kill a few of us. At least we know what he wants. Now we only have to find out where he is and when he will strike,” stated Chloe.
“I think that in the morning it might be an idea to begin another search,” said Leo.
It was late by the time the men had finished making plans for a search in the morning. Chloe was yawning before she even crawled into bed. She decided the constant fear that Arthur would return and hurt someone she cared about was wearing on her. When Julian crawled in beside her, she curled up next to him and sighed.
Julian could tell that Chloe was really too tired to make love, so he just held her and stroked her back. He was weary as well and he suspected it was for much the same reason she was. The battle was not over but they could not find the enemy.
By the time he had gone over all the possibilities for why Arthur would still be in England, even near Colinsmoor, Chloe was sound asleep and he grinned. He had been a greedy man since their marriage. It was only fair to allow her to have a respite. Then he tensed. He was not sure, but it had been nearly a month since they had first made love, and not once had Chloe turned him away because she had her woman’s time.
Staring down at her, he tried to control his rising excitement. Yesterday he had caught her napping in the middle of the day and not a light doze, either, but a good, hard sleep. She was eating a lot more as well. Julian was sure that her breasts were a little bigger, but he had put that down to the fact that she was eating more. Those two things also happened when a woman was with child. He had studied the signs closely when Beatrice had gotten with child and could recite them as well as he once had his alphabet for his grandmother.
Julian tugged Chloe a little closer and pressed a kiss to the top of her head. He would give it another week and then he would quietly ask his mother what she thought, for he was certain that Chloe had no idea. A slow grin curved his mouth as he heard Leo’s warning in his mind, only now it sounded like a promise. Like rabbits.
Chloe rinsed out her mouth and then slowly slumped against the wall right near the close-stool in case she had to use it again. It must have been the fish, she thought, and then frowned. She had decided not to eat the fish last night. Her hand on her roiling belly, she tried to think of what she had eaten and as the list grew, she wondered why Leo was not there making the oink sound. Obviously making love day and night with her new husband had given her the appetite of a six-foot man.
She weakly responded to a rap on the door and Lady Evelyn slipped inside. The woman’s eyes widened and she rushed to Chloe’s side. Chloe retained enough sense to slam shut the lid to the close-stool but had the sinking feeling that she had not really hidden the fact that she had been ill. Lady Evelyn placed her palm on Chloe’s head and cheeks, and Chloe savored the feel of that cool hand.
“You do not look well at all, dear,” the woman said and studied her very intently. “Hmmm, just a moment.”
When Chloe heard Lady Evelyn ask a maid to bring her some sweetened tea and lightly b
uttered toast, Chloe really wanted to refuse it. The mere thought of food had her retching over the close-stool again. This time Lady Evelyn bathed her forehead with a cool cloth as she helped Chloe back to bed. Chloe decided it was rather nice to be coddled.
Once the tea and toast arrived, the sweet Lady Evelyn turned into a tough general and made Chloe drink every drop and eat every bite, but very slowly. By the time she was done, Chloe had to admit that she felt a great deal better. Since the maid had cleaned away the mess she had made in the close-stool, even the room smelled better.
“Thank you for forcing me to eat that,” she said as Lady Evelyn moved the tray aside and sat down on the edge of the bed. “I do feel a great deal better. I think I just ate far too much last night. In truth, when I tried to think of what made me sick and began to remember exactly what I had eaten, I was surprised Leo had never come over to me and made the oink noise.”
“I did notice that you had a very healthy appetite last evening and the evening before.”
When Chloe thought on her explanation for that she blushed. “I intend to keep a closer watch on that. Your cook is too good, I think.”
“She is excellent. Now, I am going to ask you a few questions, and one or two may seem very personal but I want you to answer them, if you please.”
“Of course,” Chloe said, but she began to feel a little uneasy.
“When did you last have your courses?”
That was certainly personal, Chloe thought and opened her mouth to answer, but suddenly hesitated. “I must have had them before I got married, yet I do not recall. Odd, it is not something one usually forgets. And I am as regular as clockwork. Perhaps I have just been too nervous, anxious, or some such thing. I have heard that that can affect those things.”
“It is one thing that can,” Lady Evelyn murmured. “Have you been tired a lot lately?”
Again Chloe thought of why that might be and blushed. “Some. Fell asleep yesterday afternoon, and I have never done that.”
“And Mhave you ever spent the first few moments after waking up with your head over the close-stool?”
“Nay, and I do not understand, for I am never ill.”
Lady Evelyn took Chloe’s hands in hers and smiled faintly. “There are a lot more questions I could ask, but I do not believe there is any need. Chloe, you have not had your courses recently, and since you do not recall when, I feel sure it is because you have missed a turn. You are eating like a draft horse. You are sleeping a lot. And, final proof, you are turning your stomach inside out within the first few moments after you wake up. You, my dear, are with child.”
Chloe just stared at the woman for a moment and went through that list again in her head. “Oh. I thought it was just because Julian is a very demanding husband.”
Lady Evelyn giggled. “Well, yes, it is.”
Placing her hand on her belly, Chloe felt a sense of wonder spread through her. “Do you really think so?”
“I really think so but it would not hurt to wait, oh, another week or two to see if the symptoms continue or if your courses arrive. Are you pleased?”
“Oh, aye. I am pleased.” She suddenly heard Julian telling her what Leo had warned him about concerning the Wherlockes and the Vaughns. “Damn, Leo is right again.”
“About what?”
“He told Julian to be careful because Wherlockes and Vaughns are fertile.”
“But that is wonderful, dear.”
“Not in the way he put it.”
“Ah, and how did Leo put it?”
“Like rabbits.” When Lady Evelyn burst into giggles like a young girl, Chloe could not help but join in.
Julian rode beside Leo, keeping his gaze fixed upon the ground. It seemed to him that the trail had become suspiciously clear. He glanced up at the sky and realized it was late afternoon and they were hours from Colinsmoor. That realization sharpened his growing unease into fear.
“This is wrong, Leo,” he said, reining in to a halt.
“Aye,” murmured Leo. “I was just thinking the same thing.”
“A trap?” Julian looked all around but saw no one except for two horsemen ambling down the road, and they both wore uniforms so he did not consider them a threat.
“Possible. There is a much worse possibility, however.”
Julian paled. “We have been led away from Colinsmoor.”
“Aye.” Leo frowned toward the two soldiers. “Those men are moving this way fast.”
“I find it hard to believe that a trap is two dusty soldiers,” Julian said but he pulled his pistol, holding it ready in case the soldiers did the same.
“Julian!”
“By damn,” Julian whispered and nearly dropped his pistol as he recognized the voice and a moment later recognized the rider. “Nigel!”
Leo stayed on his horse and neatly caught up the reins of Julian’s when the man leapt to the ground to go and greet his brother. The man with Nigel did the same as that young man also dismounted hurriedly. As the two brothers hugged and slapped each other on the back, Leo nodded to the man who had ridden up beside him. He was big, broad-shouldered and black-haired. Even his skin was dusky but he still had those somewhat eerily silver eyes.
“Greetings, Bened,” he said. “Long journey?”
“Bloody long, and I do not ever wish to see the sea again,” the man replied in his deep voice, his Welsh accent heavy in each word.
“Hate the bloody ocean myself. Even the short float over to the Continent.” He glanced toward Nigel and Julian, whose reunion had calmed down a little. “Any trouble?”
“Two tries. Both failed. Both men dead.”
“Good work.”
“How has it gone here?”
“A lot busier. Oh, and Chloe is now the Countess of Colinsmoor.”
“Well, damn.” He glanced toward Julian. “Wife is dead, then.”
“Very. We think the uncle hanged her. She was left dangling from a tree on Colinsmoor land.” Leo smiled when Julian brought his brother close and introduced him and Nigel then introduced Bened, a little surprised to discover that Leo was the man’s cousin.
“I have been being watched, have I not?” asked Nigel.
Before Leo could respond, Bened said, “Aye. Complaining?”
Nigel laughed. “Not at all.” He looked at Julian. “So where is this new wife you just told me about? She does not like to ride?”
“Oh, she is a very good rider, but she is at home. I left hours ago and I believe we really need to head back.”
“Think it is a trap?”
“Yes, but not, I fear, for us.”
Nigel quickly remounted and they all started toward Colinsmoor. “So tell me what has happened and what you think might be happening now.”
Julian quickly ran through all the events of the past few weeks and then presented the concern he and Leo had just begun to feel. “There is no trap here, so we can only think that we have been led astray.” He reined in when Bened suddenly halted, dismounted, and crouched by the trail they had followed. “What is he doing?” he asked Nigel.
“He always tells me he is reading it,” replied Nigel and then shrugged. “Have no idea what that means but he has never led me wrong yet.”
Bened remounted and nodded. “Not a trap and it was a lone rider, not too heavy, and simply ambling through here a few hours ago.”
Julian cursed and started toward Colinsmoor. He kept his horse at an easy pace, not wishing to exhaust the animal and losing his mount altogether. His only comfort in having been so fooled was that Leo had also been tricked.
“There are men there, Julian,” Leo said. “We did not leave them unprotected.”
“I know. That is all that is keeping me from riding this poor horse to death in some crazed effort to get there as fast as possible.”
“If he attacks the house, he could hurt Mama, the girls, even his own wife and daughters,” said Nigel. “Why would he do that?”
“Because we think he has gone mad. He killed
Beatrice, his mistress and ally for several years. The only reason we are not sure that he has already tried once to kill Mama and the girls is because Beatrice was alive then. It could have been her plan. Chloe thinks it is him.”
“Then it is,” said Bened and shrugged when the Kenwoods looked at him. “Chloe has the knowing.”
“And what do you have?” asked Julian.
“When we are still out of sight of your home I will be able to tell you if your enemies are there. Do not need to see them to know.”
“Damnation, but that must have been helpful out in that wilderness.”
“Very,” said Nigel and a shadow crossed his eyes that told Julian his young brother had seen more of the ugliness of war than he had ever planned on. “He can get right up behind them before they even know he is there, but he will know where each and every one of the bastards are. Man could steal the saddle you are sitting on and you would hardly notice.”
“Not that good,” murmured Bened, and then he looked at Julian. “But I will know where your enemies are and how many of them they are. That might help.”
“Let us just hope they are not there and we worry for naught,” said Julian, although he did not believe in his own assurances.
“Aye. But do not forget Chloe. She has the knowing.”
She did, but even she admitted that it did not work every time she would like it to, thought Julian. He just prayed that, if their enemies were going after Colinsmoor, Chloe’s gift was kind enough to give her a warning.
Chapter 18
Chloe woke up with a start and it took her a moment to realize that she had fallen asleep on the settee again. Her heart was pounding and she felt the bitter taste of fear in her mouth. Slowly sitting up, she tried to recall what her dream had been about and then her eyes widened as the images rushed back into her mind and the warning chill she was all too familiar with washed over her.
If He’s Wicked Page 24