The Countess Intrigue

by Andrews, Wendy May

  With a jaunty grin, Justice tried not to look like a simpleton as he took his leave of Lord Austen and resumed his search for refreshments for himself and his lady.

  Chapter 6

  Justice was returning to the ballroom, two glasses of punch in his hand, when he felt the blood congealing in his veins. Lady Elizabeth was twirling about the dance floor in the arms of Lord Dunstan Crowley. A known associate of Sir Jason Broderick had his betrothed in his arms. Justice needed to exert his iron will to keep from throwing the glasses across the room and tearing his woman out of the bounder’s arms. He felt a hot rage suffuse him and he had to take several deep breaths to calm himself.

  The snake must have felt the earl’s concentrated stare burning into him for at that moment he turned his head and met his eyes. The look in the other man’s eyes made Justice’s blood grow even colder if that were possible, but he felt calm reason pervade as his ironclad will took control. The earl felt the familiar mask of indifference settle over his features. He had hoped to be free of the need for this particular ability but he was grateful for it now that it had become necessary once more.

  The earl was unsure what was written on his face but he took a level of satisfaction when he saw Lord Crowley pale slightly before he recovered and turned his attention back to the lovely lady in his arms. Justice didn’t think Elizabeth was aware of her danger, but as she drifted into the next turn of the dance her eyes met his and he knew she had noticed that something was awry. Her eyes held a wary expression, which was belied by the sociable smile stretching her mouth.

  He sent her a wink meant to reassure her, but then he realized she did not know him well enough to be reassured of his abilities to protect her under any circumstances. It crossed his mind that the lovely lady probably thought she was going to look after herself. The thought was endearing and he felt his heart constrict that this fascinating woman was soon going to be his.

  Justice made his way to where Lady Castleton was sitting with the other chaperones watching the dance floor and gossiping. He caught her attentive eye, and she quickly stood in answer to his silent summons.

  “Is anything amiss, my lord?” she quietly queried, careful to maintain a look of unconcern and a low tone.

  “I was just wondering how soon we would be leaving to look in on your other commitments for the evening.” Justice kept his reply mild.

  “Since Elizabeth has already danced with three different gentlemen, including yourself, she has definitely been seen to be hale and hearty. I see no reason why we cannot leave any time now. We can quietly make our exit whenever you would like. Would you like to collect my husband or your betrothed? I will do the opposite.”

  “Oh I would very much prefer to collect my lady, if it makes no difference to you. Thank you, my lady, I do appreciate your assistance in this.”

  He could feel Lady Castleton’s searching gaze but he merely smiled, displaying a remarkable lack of concern. She accepted his silence, bobbed a curtsy, and went in search of her husband.

  Justice wanted to march over to the conductor of the orchestra and demand that he end the song but he knew that, reasonably speaking, it must surely be over momentarily. Exercising patience, he strolled over to the edge of the dance floor as the last strains of the number were being played. He was rather amazed to discover that he still had the glasses of punch in his hand. He was undecided if that was a good thing or not. It certainly gave his hands something to do when all they really wanted was to wrap themselves around the neck of the other man and squeeze the life out of him for having the temerity to place his hands on Lady Elizabeth.

  He watched as she dipped into a brief curtsy, inordinately gratified to see that it conveyed the minimum civility. Despite her apparent effort to dismiss him, Lord Crowley accompanied Elizabeth as she headed toward her fiancé. Justice could see discomfort lurking in her features despite her effort to appear composed.

  “There you are, my dear. I thought you might like a drink after all that activity.”

  “How very thoughtful of you, my lord, thank you.”

  Justice hated the wary look in her eye. He wondered if she was nervous of him or of the other gentleman. Or perhaps she was worried about him causing a scene as he had yet to acknowledge the other man. The earl promptly rectified that possibility.

  “Good evening, Crowley. Imagine my delight at finding you here.” His tone was as bland as he could make it, but Elizabeth could obviously hear the lack of sincerity behind it. She reached her hand up and placed it on his arm. Justice could feel it through the sleeve of his coat as though she had scorched him. He reached over and covered her hand with his own where it lay on his arm. Smiling down into her eyes in an effort to reassure her, he saw her eyes widen but was unsure if it was from attraction or reaction. His hand tightened on hers. The other man had bowed his head in acknowledgement of the earl’s words, but said nothing in reply.

  “Thank you for the dance, my lord. I see my mother looks ready to depart so I must take my leave of you. I wish you a pleasant evening.”

  She walked gracefully and quietly by his side until they were out of earshot of Crowley but before they had reached her mother. Justice was surprised when she pulled her hand out of the crook of his arm and hissed at him. “You have no cause to stand and glare at other gentlemen when I am on the dance floor with one of them. I was doing nothing untoward and I do not appreciate having you glower after me as though I am an unruly child. I am not yet your wife.”

  “Were you enjoying yourself with Lord Crowley?” he asked, wondering what her motivation for her reaction was.

  “That is not the point, my lord. Whether I enjoyed myself or not is neither here nor there. The point is that you were behaving like you were my nursemaid and I was misbehaving.”

  “I swear to you, my dear lady, Elizabeth, that was the furthest thought from my mind. I was not in the least censorious of you dancing with another man. I may question your taste in your choice of dance partner, but I do not question your right to make that choice for yourself.”

  “Then why were you glaring at me?”

  “I was not glaring at you. My dour look was directed solely toward your partner, Lord Dunstan Crowley. I am quite certain you were not aware of this, but Lord Crowley is a particular friend of Sir Broderick and as such he is no friend of mine. I took exception to him holding my betrothed in his arms even for something so innocuous as a country dance. I apologize if I made you uncomfortable, my dear lady,” he was about to continue with his apology and explanation, but Elizabeth interrupted him impulsively.

  “No, no, my lord, it is I who owe you an apology. I should not have jumped to the conclusion that your glare was pointed at me. I did not feel comfortable with his lordship and I cannot explain to you why, it was just an instinctive feeling I had. He struck me as being a rather unsavoury fellow and I did not really wish to be dancing with him. But what could I do? No one was about when he asked me except the viscount and he isn’t anybody to me to be able to gainsay someone who has invited me to dance. Thank you for being so gracious as to explain yourself to me, my lord.”

  Justice had to strain to hear all her words as she was blurting them out in a quick burst of low sound as they strolled ever closer to Lady Castleton who waited for them. Elizabeth drew a breath but then quickly asked him, “Are we really about to leave? I wasn’t certain when you were standing there, but I wanted to be rid of Lord Crowley and my mother does look rather purposeful at the moment.”

  “Yes, your mother thought it best if we visit multiple venues this evening.”

  “This is going to be a painful experience, isn’t it?”

  Justice had to smile over her glum words. “Many young ladies would be delighted at the prospect.”

  “You are no doubt quite correct my lord.” Elizabeth’s reply sounded like it was laced with disappointment. Justice reached for her hand once more.

  “That was not a criticism directed at you, Elizabeth.” He sighed before continuing
. “It is obvious we don’t know each other very well. I will try to be more direct with you. Come along, my dear. It is time for me to dance the waltz with you at another ball.”

  Elizabeth looked at him quizzically, but he just tugged gently on her hand as he quickened their pace toward Elizabeth’s parents who were now both waiting for them.

  “Shall we be off?” Elizabeth’s father asked; his jovial tone was a sharp contrast to the somber trio who accompanied him.

  They made their way through the milling crowd acknowledging greetings briefly and made good their escape through a side door that Justice knew about. They would rather not cause a spectacle. It was best to just get on with their evening without offending their hostess.

  * * *

  The evening wasn’t even that far advanced when they arrived at their second ball. At this rate, Elizabeth thought, they might actually get to the three her mother had planned and still make it home before dawn broke. She certainly hoped so as she was already longing for her bed. She had not slept well after the turmoil of the previous night and the results of the sleepless night were beginning to catch up with her.

  She stifled a yawn, but the earl noticed anyway. Elizabeth knew she was blushing and that he saw it, even in the dim light of the carriage. His small wry smile would have been endearing if it were not at her expense, she thought with a quiet sigh. Why does this all have to be so complicated? Part of her longed to trust him. She could see how easy it would be to fall in love with him. If not for that pesky little problem of his dead first wife. Elizabeth tore her eyes away from gazing adoringly at his handsome face. He could be as much of a bounder as Broderick and his ilk. Elizabeth felt dread settling low in her belly. This was her future, and she could see no way of brightening it.

  Resolving to focus on the positive, Elizabeth smiled as she remembered his calm explanation when she thought he had been frowning at her. She knew her father would never have been so reasonable if she had criticised him for something. She strongly doubted she would be able to reason her way around being married to a murderer, but if it turned out he hadn’t actually killed his first wife, perhaps he would turn out to be a decent husband after all.

  As they pulled up to the designated address, Elizabeth could see that it was in the middle of a lovely terrace. She had not yet been to this house before and she was surprised that her mother had chosen it as one of their destinations for this particular evening. With a mental shrug she accepted the earl’s hand as he helped her out of the carriage.

  Elizabeth admired the intricate design on the wrought iron archway they had to pass through to reach the front door. An attentive footman was there, waiting to hold the door for arriving and departing guests. Looking past the servant, she could see that this was going to be even more crowded than the first ball, as this house was a fair bit smaller. It looked as though there were only two rooms per floor so it was likely that both the drawing room and the music room of the town house would be used for the ball with the doors between the two rooms folded back to make one larger space. Beautifully dressed, fashionable people were standing on the stairs and spilling out of every one of the public spaces.

  Gritting her teeth and planting a sociable smile to her face, Elizabeth followed her mother up the stairs to greet their hostess. Lady Farnsworth was a lovely lady and under other circumstances Elizabeth would be delighted to be at her entertainment.

  “Thank you so much for coming,” Lady Farnsworth greeted them, her warm smile belying the fact that she had probably already said that about a hundred times that evening.

  “Thank you for your kind invitation,” Elizabeth tried to infuse some sincerity into her voice as she gripped the other woman’s hand warmly.

  “I hear congratulations are in order for the two of you,” Lady Farnsworth did not sound coy, for which Elizabeth was grateful. Her remark truly sounded sincere, as though she had not lent credence to whatever else the gossips had been saying.

  “Thank you, my lady,” was all Elizabeth said in reply, dipping into a brief curtsy before she and her party moved on to the drawing room where a quadrille was currently being danced. The couples on the dance floor looked like they were having such a good time that Elizabeth could not help the smile that curved her lips.

  “Would you care to join them?” As usual his deep voice next to her ear sent a shiver through her.

  “Perhaps for the next one, my lord. I hate starting in the middle of the dance.”

  “Very well, my dear lady.” She was growing to like how he called her that. Elizabeth kept her eyes directed toward the other guests in the room rather than looking at the tall, handsome man at her side. She dearly wished her friend Rose were present. It would have been a most welcome distraction.

  With a start, it dawned on Elizabeth that if not for Rose she would not be in the predicament of being engaged to marry the notorious Earl of Heath. It was on the night of her abduction that she had spoken to the earl for the first time and he had become aware of her limited knowledge of Sir Broderick. The irony struck her and she was unsure if she wanted to laugh or cry over it. Instead she took his arm and followed him to the dance floor as the couples began forming for the next cotillion.

  “It would seem we are going to break our streak of only dancing the waltz,” the earl commented to her with a smile.

  She bowed her head in acknowledgement. “It is always best to have more than one skill, my lord.”

  Elizabeth felt heat rising in her cheeks as he grinned at her comment. “I would have to agree with you, my dear lady.” She wanted to walk away but instead stepped into his arms and they followed the couple in front of them into the figures of the dance.

  She was glad that it was not the waltz. Keeping up with the changes and steps precluded much conversation and it would be far easier to appear as though she were having a delightful time. And in actuality, she loved the familiar dance. She felt comfortable in this environment even if she decried many of its idiosyncrasies. As they proceeded around the room she smiled and nodded at various acquaintances that happened to catch her eye.

  “It seems that you have a lot of friends,” he commented when the dance allowed.

  She smiled and shrugged. “A few.”

  Elizabeth glanced up at him just before the next turn and she could see that he was gazing at her as though he was trying to see inside her head. She offered him as brilliant a smile as she could muster, knowing it would confuse him all the more. The wrinkling of his brow almost made her chuckle before he smoothed it out into his usual impassive face.

  As the cotillion drew to a close Elizabeth was delighted to see her friend the Viscount of Bracondale waiting to lead her into the next dance. She glanced down as she felt the earl’s hand tighten on her arm. She looked back up at his face with her eyebrow cocked in question.

  “Do I need to be concerned, my lady?” he asked quietly.

  “About what?” She couldn’t understand the question.

  “Do you have feelings for the viscount?”

  Elizabeth felt heat sweep into her face and anger into her mind. “This is absolutely not an appropriate time or place for such a question, my lord.” She didn’t bother answering his question, appalled that he would even ask it, especially here in a crowded room where anyone could hear. The grin on his face that followed her stuffy reply did not make her any less angry with him. In fact she felt as though the top of her head was about to explode if she got any more upset. She left his side without another word.

  “Are you quite all right this evening, my lady?”

  “Thank you for asking, but I am fine.” She had tried to get her roiling emotions under control before she took the viscount’s arm but clearly she had not been fully successful.

  “It seems as though your betrothal has been very sudden.”

  Elizabeth knew he was just being kind, watching out for her as an extension of his friendship with the Duke of Wrentham and her friend Rose. But his comment made tears prickle the backs
of her eyes. She did not know the viscount very well and although she did consider him a friend she wasn’t about to start unburdening herself to him in the middle of Lady Farnsworth’s dance floor.

  “It was somewhat sudden,” she agreed pleased that her voice did not waver, lifting her chin proudly. “But you know how these things are. Once it has been decided, we might as well get on with life. I will be just as glad to leave all the ton events behind for a time. The thought of being out in the country for weeks or months really holds a great deal of appeal.”

  Elizabeth could feel the viscount searching her face and she did her best to show him a look of unconcerned happiness. It was unlikely she would pull it off completely but it would seem she had been sufficiently convincing. He relaxed visibly. She knew the viscount would stand her friend if she asked it of him, as a gentleman she would expect no less, but the situation was muddied enough without adding one more player to the mix. Despite how enticing it was, she had to reject the thought of being rescued. She would be marrying the Earl of Heath before the end of the week, and the only hope she had for a comfortable future was to find out about the earl’s first wife.

  She looked up at the viscount with a bright smile. “You have been enjoying the entertainments of Society for a few years now, haven’t you, my lord?”

  “Yes, many,” he answered before his eyes narrowed slightly and he asked, with suspicion coloring his voice, “Why do you ask?”

  “I was wondering if you know anything about the earl’s first wife.” She tried to sound nonchalant but she could see the viscount become embarrassed over the thought of discussing such a topic with her.