Blanchland Secret

by Nicola Cornick

  Sarah hesitated. ‘A little better.’ She met his eyes directly. ‘I would not like you to think that I am without proper feeling, my lord, for the experiences of last night were hideous. Nevertheless, I do believe that I owe you my thanks. Matters…must have been very difficult for you.’

  There was a pause, then Guy’s expression lightened considerably. ‘It relieves me that you have not fallen into a fit of the vapours or an irreversible decline, Miss Sheridan, despite so shocking an experience!’ He smiled ruefully. ‘And, yes, it was very difficult for me. To have you begging me to do all the things that I have wanted to do for some time—and then to resist!’ He shook his head slowly. ‘I surprised even myself!’

  Sarah blushed rosily and poured a cup of tea to try to distract herself. ‘How could such a thing happen? I had grossly underestimated the dangers that might befall us here at Blanchland….’

  Guy grimaced. ‘I can only suppose that Sir Ralph habitually resorts to such stimulants to arouse the jaded appetites of his guests. It is not to be expected that you would even imagine such a thing, Miss Sheridan. How could you? But that was one of the reasons I was so concerned to think of you coming here alone! An innocent abroad, with no idea of the perils that awaited you!’

  Sarah shuddered. ‘How dared that man Marvell do such a thing? I saw him whispering to Lord Allardyce as he served the syllabub, but I had no idea—’ She broke off. ‘It is truly disgusting!’

  ‘I saw it, too,’ Guy said heavily, ‘and cursed myself that I made no connection until it was too late! As it was, I only refused the dish myself because I do not care for cream!’ His gaze swept over her with repressed amusement. ‘Had I eaten it, Miss Sheridan, the outcome would have been much different, I assure you!’

  Sarah sighed, wondering how she would have felt if she had woken that morning under other circumstances. What had happened was dreadfully shocking and a true lesson against wandering unprepared into unfamiliar circumstances. Blanchland had plumbed the depths of depravity and nothing in her past experience could have helped her begin to understand such things. She was not a green girl, being well aware that a seamier side to life had always existed—but for one who had grown up and lived in relatively sheltered circumstances, such knowledge as she now had was deeply distressing. Had Guy and she both succumbed to the lure of the aphrodisiac…

  Sarah took a comforting mouthful of tea and viewed Guy across the rim of her cup. She was sensible enough to realise that that would have been far preferable to some of the things that might have happened, and despite the fact that the aphrodisiac effect had now worn off, she was forced to admit that it might have been rather exciting…

  Sarah replenished her cup, turning her thoughts aside from such matters. She had learned a great deal about herself, as well as others, in the past twelve hours.

  ‘I must commend your quick thinking, my lord!’ she said ruefully. ‘Once you had realised what was happening you acted very swiftly. I realise how much I owe you—’

  Guy sat back in his chair, relaxing a little. ‘I hope you understand, Miss Sheridan, that what I did was solely for your protection. I had to get you away from the others as quickly as possible, but I could not have risked leaving you alone. You might have become ill, or wandered off and fallen into some trouble…I am deeply sorry for all the distress this must have caused you. It is truly appalling.’

  Sarah made a slight gesture. ‘Please, let us not speak of it any more. I have learned a great deal that in my foolish naïvety I did not know…’

  ‘There is nothing foolish about your innocence, Miss Sheridan,’ Guy said, a little roughly, ‘and I am glad that not all of it has been dispelled this night…’

  ‘Is anyone else awake yet?’ Sarah asked hastily, anxious to change the subject. She had not really given much thought to anybody’s situation, but suddenly wondered what other disasters the aphrodisiac had wrought.

  Guy shook his head. ‘The house is quite still. I believe they all took far more syllabub than you, so will be feeling the effects both more strongly and for longer—’

  ‘Amelia!’ Sarah suddenly put her teacup down with a clatter that sent the remaining liquid cascading onto the hearth. ‘Oh, no.’ Her wide-eyed gaze turned back to Guy, imploring his reassurance. ‘Did I imagine…surely she did not…?’

  A shadow touched Guy’s face. ‘Miss Sheridan…you force me to be frank with you. You did not imagine that your cousin and Sir Greville…’ he hesitated ‘…they did indeed leave together.’

  Sarah pressed her hand to her mouth. ‘Then they…Oh, no…’

  Guy fixed her with a very straight look. ‘There is nothing you can do, Miss Sheridan. There would have been nothing I could have done either. Both of them were under the influence of the drug.’ His gaze was watchful. ‘Forgive me, but it will be less of a shock for Lady Amelia than it would have been for you…’

  Sarah looked away. She knew what he meant. Amelia was a widow and therefore more knowledgeable of the ways of the world, but even so…

  ‘I believe,’ Guy continued in the same measured tone he had used earlier to reassure her, ‘that Lady Amelia and Sir Greville sincerely love each other, for all their wrangling. I am certain that all will be well. It may not be very conventional, but there are times when matters might be so very much worse.’

  ‘I know.’ Sarah groped for her handkerchief, finding that the realisation of Amelia’s situation had made her cry again. How foolish and naïve they had both been, to think that they could come to Blanchland and escape unscathed! Yet how right Guy was to point out that both of them could have woken in far more terrible circumstances that day. If it had been Allardyce, or Ralph Covell…Sarah shuddered. She had to look beyond the hypocritical rules of society and realise that both she and Amelia were, if not fortunate, at least safe…

  Sarah dried her tears and stood up, walking across to the window and looking out over the cold white landscape. She rested one hand on the thick velvet curtain. They would have to leave Blanchland now. There was no other way. That, of course, meant changing her plans with regard to Olivia, for whom she had not spared a single thought in the last few hours, and for the moment she was too tired to make any plans.

  Guy had also stood up and now came to stand behind her at the window. ‘It is a beautiful place but blighted, Miss Sheridan,’ he said softly. ‘You have to let it go.’

  ‘I know,’ Sarah said. She turned back to him. He was watching her with great gentleness in his eyes.

  ‘Forgive me for pressing you at such a time,’ he said with constraint, ‘but you must also know that you have to marry me now. Whatever your previous doubts…’

  Sarah swallowed hard. She wanted to tell him that she loved him, but the words seemed to stick in her throat. Her previous attraction to him, so sudden and violent, had grown swiftly into love as she had observed how fine a man he was, and she was sure that even the difficulties over Olivia could be overcome if only they could speak of it. She just needed a little time to prepare…

  When she did not reply, a slight shadow seemed to touch Guy’s face and he turned away.

  ‘There is still the issue of Miss Meredith to be resolved, of course,’ he continued. ‘Before all last night’s events began, Justin Lebeter asked me to speak to you about her.’ Guy looked at Sarah thoughtfully. ‘He is certain that she is in grave danger and is almost as certain that you know her whereabouts! What do you say, Miss Sheridan?’

  Sarah caught her breath. This was sudden, if not unexpected, and she felt woefully unready. To give herself time, she walked over to the bed stand and poured herself a glass of spring water. It was exactly as she had feared the day before—she did not know how Lebeter had guessed her complicity; whether it was simply an instinct, or whether he had seen or heard something, she could not tell. It was the worst piece of luck that he had not believed her denials and had chosen to go to Guy with his suspicions, for now she would have to discuss the subject of Olivia with Guy, and she did not really know
how to approach it.

  She sat down again in one of the armchairs before the fire, but Guy remained on his feet, evidently preferring to stand. It was extraordinary, but the intimacy of their previous exchange appeared to have completely vanished. Sarah felt her heart sink. She knew that Guy could reasonably expect her to trust him after all he had done to help her, and here she was, apparently demonstrating her lack of confidence in him. Her silence was going to cost her dear.

  Guy was waiting for her reply with perfect courtesy, but the expression in his eyes was cold.

  ‘Lord Lebeter is mistaken in thinking that I know Miss Meredith’s whereabouts,’ Sarah said truthfully. ‘I did not lie to him, precisely—’

  ‘Indeed? In the same way, perhaps, that you did not lie to me when we spoke of it?’ The sudden contempt in Guy’s voice cut across Sarah like a whiplash and she flinched. ‘What a talent you have for being sparing with the truth, Miss Sheridan! I should tell you that Lord Lebeter saw Miss Meredith leaving this very room! He even suggested to me that you may have been involved in procuring your niece’s services as mistress to Lord Allardyce!’

  The deliberate insult touched Sarah on the raw. She jumped to her feet, her eyes blazing. All the tension and distress of the previous night caught up with her. She did not even stop to think how they could have moved from intimacy to opposition so quickly.

  ‘How dare you suggest such a thing, Lord Renshaw? I have never heard anything so immoral! Why, Olivia is my niece! And leaving that aside, I am hardly likely—’

  Guy shrugged laconically. He seemed untouched by her fury. ‘I did not suggest it, it is simply what others are saying! And they have grounds for suspicion. Perhaps you view Miss Meredith as an unwelcome addition to the family? Relatives have been known to connive at such solutions!’

  ‘If I thought that you had insulted me once before,’ Sarah said, her voice shaking, ‘that was as nothing to this! You will leave at once—’

  Guy’s only reply was to stroll over to the bed, toss the key onto the table beside it, and lie down with his hands behind his head. Sarah stared in speechless outrage.

  ‘What do you think you are doing? You cannot stay there!’

  Guy gave her an unrepentant smile. He sounded completely unconcerned. ‘Can I not? But you see I am doing so! I have been here all night, after all, so what difference can a few more hours make? This is a comfortable way of waiting until you decide to tell me what I want to know.’

  ‘But…’ Sarah was not sure if it was bewilderment or rage that would win out inside her. ‘This is quite preposterous! Surely it need not come to this! If we could only speak sensibly…’

  Guy turned his head on the pillow and gave her a derisive look. ‘I am perfectly willing to do so, Miss Sheridan—but on my terms! It seems to me that I did you a great service last night, but now, for reasons that only you understand, you are refusing repay me with your trust! Well, I cannot force you to tell me about Olivia, but I may stay here until you do!’

  Sarah saw red. ‘The reason that I do not trust you is because I know you are hiding something from me!’ she said furiously. ‘I heard you speaking to your father at Woodallan—I know you have some reason to find Olivia first! Oh, I cannot bear this! If you will not leave, then I will be the one to go!’

  She snatched at the key, but Guy was too quick for her. His hand closed around her wrist and he pulled hard. Caught off balance, Sarah tumbled down beside him on the huge bed.

  Before she could say a word, she found herself pinioned beneath him, with Guy’s face a heart-stopping few inches from her own. Sarah’s heart began to race.

  ‘Now,’ Guy said softly, ‘what do you think that you owe me for my forbearance last night? Your provocations were enough to try the patience of a saint, yet I did not succumb!’

  ‘Then pray do not undo all your good work now!’ Sarah gasped. She knew that matters had slipped far beyond her control. There was a furious glitter in Guy’s eyes and it was only now, when it was too late, that she realised just how far she must have pushed him the previous night. It must have cost him a great deal to keep himself from touching her when she had begged him to make love, and all that frustrated energy and desire had still to be defused. His anger and his passion sprang from the same source.

  For an agonising second their eyes locked, then his mouth came down on hers in an emphatic demonstration of his mastery. The desire flared instantly between them and a searing warmth leapt through Sarah’s blood, leaving her weak and trembling, yet alive to every sensation.

  She opened her eyes and met his gaze, heavy with heat, before his mouth returned to hers with a feverish compulsion that left her gasping. Anger was banished, replaced by an urgent need. Of their own volition, Sarah’s hands slid under his jacket to feel the hard warmth of his body beneath the linen shirt. Guy raised himself on one elbow, leaning over to place a kiss on the corner of her mouth, then another in the hollow of her throat. Despite his gentleness there was an insistence in his touch that made Sarah give a soft moan of pleasure.

  ‘Guy, please…’

  ‘Please…what?’ His voice was husky and she could hear the smile in it. His fingers were easing her dress from her shoulder, so that he could move his mouth to where it had rested, pressing soft kisses against her skin.

  ‘Are you conscious this time, Sarah?’ Guy whispered. He slid a finger under the curve of Sarah’s gown and she felt it slip down, revealing the flimsy chemise beneath. Just the brush of his hand against the soft swell of her breasts set her trembling afresh, a feeling of exquisite need in the pit of her stomach. She felt Guy slide the material down with deliberate slowness, exposing her breasts as the chemise slipped lower. She waited in an agony of anticipation to feel his touch against her naked skin, and her lashes flickered open to see him looking at her with such intense, concentrated desire that she could not move or speak. Their eyes held for a long moment of tension, then Guy lowered his head to take one taut nipple in his mouth and such slow, sweet pleasure shot through her that Sarah thought she would scream out loud.

  ‘Do you surrender?’ Guy’s voice was ragged with emotion. He slid a hand across her bare stomach and Sarah arched against him.

  ‘Yes…’ She would have agreed to tell him anything. Olivia, Lord Lebeter, Allardyce, were all forgotten, irrelevant. ‘Please…’

  Guy bent his head to her breast again, teasing and tormenting her with his lips and tongue until Sarah writhed with need.

  ‘So you will marry me?’

  Through the desire that clouded her mind, Sarah dimly realised that this was the wrong question. Surely he was supposed to be asking her about Olivia…Her mind sheered away as Guy bit gently at her satin skin.

  ‘Yes, yes, I will. Of course.’

  For some reason she expected him to stop now that he had achieved his aim and when she felt his hand on the silken softness of her inner thigh, her eyes opened wide. ‘But I thought…’

  Whatever she had thought was never expressed, for Guy was caressing her with a tender urgency that made her cry out and just when she thought she could bear it no more, her whole body exploded in the most intense rapture.

  It took Sarah some time to recover herself, but when she did so, she found that Guy had discarded her somewhat superfluous clothing and wrapped her in the bedclothes. She was curled in the crook of his arm, with her head resting against his shoulder and, as it seemed a little too late for embarrassment, Sarah chose instead to snuggle a little closer. Her body felt drugged with pleasure and she was very sleepy, but at the back of her mind was the nagging doubt that something was wrong. She raised herself a little and placed one hand on his chest.

  ‘Guy…’

  ‘Sarah…’ She felt his breath stir the tendrils of hair about her face as he leaned over to kiss her. ‘Are you well?’

  ‘Yes, very…’ Sarah smiled. ‘But you…I may not know a great deal about love, but it is not fair—’

  She felt him laugh against her hair. ‘Much as I ap
preciate your sense of fair play, sweetheart, I fear that that must wait!’

  ‘But—’

  ‘Don’t tempt me,’ Guy said, a little roughly. ‘It is by the nature of a miracle that I was able to stop at all!’ His voice warmed. ‘After all, that is the second time I have resisted you—’

  Sarah moved slightly and the sheet slipped. Seeing Guy’s downward gaze and the sudden heat that leapt to his eyes, she felt her own body suffuse with fire once more.

  ‘Get dressed,’ Guy said abruptly. ‘Please get dressed, Sarah! I want to talk to you and I will never achieve it at this rate!’

  He turned his back as Sarah scrambled for her clothes, and when she had rather haphazardly dressed herself again, gestured to her to join him in the armchairs by the fire. The daylight was stronger now, but still the house had not stirred.

  ‘You accused me earlier of withholding information from you,’ Guy began, ‘and it is true that I did keep something back. I wish to God that I had told you sooner, Sarah, but—’ He broke off. ‘There are complications. However, I wanted you to know that Olivia Meredith—’

  ‘Is your niece as well as mine?’ Sarah suggested.

  Guy stared. ‘How the devil did you know that?’

  Sarah burst out laughing. ‘Because I have seen her! And as soon as I saw her…’ Sarah shook her head, a rueful smile on her lips ‘…well, if you had told me that she was not related to you, I would not have believed you! I would even have believed that she was your daughter, were it that I could not think you steeped in debauchery quite so young!’

  Guy gave her a look that brought the blood up into her face. ‘Thank you! The resemblance is then so strong?’

  ‘A speaking likeness! She also has in her possession a locket that depicts your grandparents, or so I believe. But she has no notion of her mother’s identity, knowing only that Frank was her father. I must own myself surprised…that Catherine was her mother.’

  Guy gave her a searching look. ‘You have deduced that yourself?’