His stomach tightened and the bile rose into his throat. In an instant the awful vision shifted and began to change. The pool of blood ran onto him, across the canted deck of a tall-masted ship. He could hear the women screaming, begging them to stop, begging someone to help them.
William braced his hand against the table to steady himself, to push the vision away, but the crimson pool kept spreading, forming a bloody pool at his feet. “No,” he whispered, but the screaming only grew louder. He tried to block the sounds, but the blood kept creeping toward him. He wanted to run, but he couldn’t move. He had to escape. He had to.
“William? Are you all right?”
Her soft voice filtered in, sweetly soothing. The crimson pool began to fade and the screams slowly retreated, withdrawing themselves into the back of his mind.
“William?” Her hand encircled his arm and he realized he was trembling. “Are you all right?”
Her voice slid over him like a balm. He shook his head to clear it, found himself still standing in the study.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean for that to happen.”
“It’s all right.” she didn’t press him to explain as he thought she would, just rose and placed a soft kiss on his cheek. “I’m sure you’ve just grown weary. You’ve accomplished what you meant to, and that Damien was just leaving.”
He felt his friend’s solid grip on his shoulder. “Get some rest. I’ll take care of everything. As soon as the pieces are in place, we’ll be ready to send word to Benjamin.”
William just nodded. His thoughts were still in turmoil, the images of blood and death remained, making his worry for Katherine even stronger.
If anything had happened to her, the fault would be his, another sin added to a long, weighty list.
It was a thought too awful to consider.
The earl of Stanton felt like a complete and utter fool. He was standing in the garden of the duke of Sussex’s house, waiting in the shadows like a lovesick boy for a glimpse of Elizabeth.
It was the second night he had been there, lurking among the potted plants, hiding, hoping to catch her attention and garner a moment alone. He knew she had returned to the city. She was in deep mourning for her father so she hadn’t gone out, but the duke had made no secret that he had brought her home.
“She does as I tell her, and a damned good thing. The girl has no love for the marriage bed, more’s the pity, but I’ll see she does her duty, and that she had better not complain. A man needs a son. A few days more to morn her old man, then she’ll spread her legs and be glad of it, until she carries my child.”
Benjamin had made the remarks in the open at a gaming table and it had taken John’s full control not to hit him.
Instead he had wound up here, waiting like a fool in the garden, hoping no one would discover his presence, except of course, for Elizabeth.
Movement in an upstairs room. It was far too early for the duke to be home. John watched the flicker of a candle as it floated out of a bedchamber and down the stairs. The light disappeared for a moment, the reappeared in the library. Flattening himself against the wall outside the window, he peered into the interior and smiled with relief to see Elizabeth.
John rapped lightly on the mullioned window and the candle lifted in that direction. Another soft tap. He stood away from the bushes, allowing her to see him. Recognition dawned. Elizabeth’s hand flew to the base of her throat then she hurried toward the window and threw it open.
“John? Whatever are you doing here? You must leave immediately, before someone sees you.”
Instead he took her hand, urging her over the sill and out into the garden. “I’m not properly dressed. My hair is uncombed. I must look frightful.”
John smiled. “You look beautiful.”
Her hand relaxed in his and she let him lead her into the darkness and up the stairs of the gazebo at the far end of the garden. “What’s wrong, John? Why have you come?”
“I had to see you. I had to be sure you were all right.”
Elizabeth looked away. “I’m fine. The duke insisted I come back with him, just as you warned me. I should have listened to you, John.”
“It isn’t too late. We can go away just as I said. We can leave this place, Elizabeth. Start over somewhere else.”
She looked at him with sorrowful eyes. “You would give up all that you have? Your home? Your businesses? Your family? Why, John? Why would you do such a thing?”
His hand came up to her cheek. It was a soft as the down of a dove. “I’ve thought of nothing but you since the moment I left you. I love you, Elizabeth. I was a fool not to see it. I love you and I want us to be together, no matter what it costs.”
Her eyes filled with tears. “I love you, John. More than my own life. And that is the reason I cannot go with you. I’ve had time to think things over. Whatever Benjamin has done, I don’t believe my life is in danger. I’ve no choice but to stay, to make the best of it.”
John shook his head. “Elizabeth. . .”
“Please, John, I am a married woman. There is nothing else I can do. In time I shall learn to tolerate Benjamin and eventually there will be children. I can find solace in that.”
“Your children would also be mine, if you would come with me.”
She shook her head. “It is too late for us, John. I won’t let you suffer for what the duke’s greed and my father’s mistaken intentions have done. I know what I must do.”
A sharp pain rose in John’s chest. He found it difficult to breathe. “Are you certain?”
She nodded. “It is better this way. At any rate, I would have made you a very poor wife. Benjamin has destroyed whatever passion I ever thought to feel for a man. I loathe the act of loving and always will. You deserve a better sort of woman than this.”
His hand shook as he cupped her cheek. “That is what you think? That you have no passion?”
She tried to glance away, but John would not let her. Instead he turned her face to his and gently settled his mouth over hers.
It was a soft kiss, unbearably gentle, but Elizabeth felt it like a warm, teasing wind through her body. His tongue slid along her lips, coaxing them apart, then slipping inside. He tasted her, urged her to taste him and knowing she shouldn’t, knowing it was the wickedest thing she had ever done, tentatively she did so. John eased her closer, tighter in his embrace, his hard body pressing the length of her. He deepened the kiss, and she found herself clinging to his shoulders, swaying even closer against him.
His hand found her breast, but instead of a brutal squeeze, his fingers lightly brushed the side. He cupped the fullness and a soft sweet warmth unfurled in her stomach, began to seep through her limbs. It was incredible, so wonderful she found herself pressing more fully against the hands of muscle across his chest. It was John who pulled away.
“There is nothing wrong with you, Elizabeth. Nothing gentleness and patience could not cure.”
Her breath came in short, breathy gasps. “I shouldn’t have let you. I know it was wrong, but once you touched me I didn’t want you to stop.”
John ran a hand through her hair. “I’ll teach you passion, Elizabeth. Come away with me. Make a life with me somewhere else.”
She wanted to. Dear God, she had never wanted anything so badly. But John would be ruined. They both would be. They would have to give up their homes, the land of their birth, their families.
“I cannot.” She pulled away from him and turned away, started down the stairs of the gazebo, stopped and looked back at him over her shoulder. Tears formed in her eyes. “Go on with your life, my love. Find a way to be happy.”
John said nothing, just stood there in the darkness, his chest aching, his throat closed up. He would go on. He was that kind of man. Perhaps e would even find happiness of a sort.
But he would never love again, never risk the sort of the pain he felt in losing his Elizabeth. John knew that as certain as he knew he would draw in the next breath of air.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Trouble had arisen the following day from a totally different direction and Katherine was once more brooding and out of sorts. As soon as supper ended, William approached where she sat in the drawing room.
“Elizabeth Spencer has returned to the city. Apparently she has reconciled with the duke,” she announced.
William frowned and leaned back in his chair. “No one reconciles with him. He has commanded her presence and she has obeyed. Apparently Stanton was not prepared to throw caution to the wind and take her away.”
“Or Elizabeth would not go with him.”
William grunted. “Then the lady is a fool.”
“Do you think she is in danger?”
“Possibly. Probably not, though. Benjamin isn’t crazy. He knows what he wants and he is simply ruthless enough to use any means at his disposal to get it. At present he wants an heir. He has a wife, so in his mind there is no problem to overcome.”
Katherine sat there and said nothing for the longest time. “Elizabeth is in love with Stanton.”
William’s eyes swung to hers. “Then perhaps that is the reason she remained with Benjamin. She is married to a duke. The scandal of her leaving would ruin Stanton. He would lose everything he has worked for. Perhaps she loves him enough that for his sake she is willing to give him up.”
There was something in his eyes. Something she hadn’t seen there before. In some dark way it had something to do with her.
“I want to see her,” Katherine said, “discover if she is all right.”
“You know you can’t do that. Your life would be in danger.”
“Surely the man wouldn’t murder me in his own home.”
“Benjamin is unpredictable. Lord only knows what he might do.”
“But we aren’t even sure he is the man behind Jane’s death. Surely, if I’m accompanied. . .”
William reached out and grabbed her arm. “I said no. It’s too dangerous for you to go there. I forbid you to go and for once in your life you are going to obey me!”
Katherine swallowed hard. He had never spoken to her in quite that tone of voice. Perhaps in this he did know what was best.
She lowered her gaze. “As you wish, my lord.”
A dark brow arched up. William read her compliance, apparently believed she was telling the truth, and his hold on her gentled. “Thank you.”
Surprised by his words, then a tentative smile touched her lips. “Will you stay with me tonight?”
William didn’t hesitate. “Yes.”
“For me or for you?”
“Because it’s what both of us want. Now that I’ve accepted my feelings, I’ve decided to stop trying to behave like a saint.” He cocked his head toward the doorway. “I believe I know a remedy for brooding, my lady. It’s a slightly different version of the cure for worrying. Shall I show it to you?”
“I believe I should like that.”
William’s gaze ran over her, but now and utterly disturbing. His eyes came to rest on the twin mounds rising above her bodice.
“Come,” he said softly. “It is past time for us to be abed.” Resting a proprietary hand at her waist, he urged her forward and Katherine went with him, out the door and up the stairs.
“The plan is set then?” William paced toward Damien, who stood beside the mantel in the study.
“Yes. The magistrate has agreed. It is simply a matter of luring Benjamin into the trap.”
“How have you planned to do that?” Katherine asked. She was seated on a comfortable brocade sofa sipping a cup of tea, but William could tell she was nervous.
“We shall send him a message,” Damien told her. “We shall tell him we have uncovered information that will prove he is the man who killed the old duke. We will offer to keep the information secret for the sum of twenty-thousand pounds.”
“And you think he will believe that?”
“He’ll believe it. Blackmail is the sort of thing Benjamin might attempt himself, under a similar set of circumstances. He’ll believe there is someone willing to keep silent for a price. How he’ll react to the threat we’ve posed is the unknown factor in the puzzle.”
Katherine’s teacup rattled. “I presume you expect him to arrive at the warehouse alone?”
“I doubt he’ll come by himself,” Damien countered. “For all his scheming, Benjamin is a coward. He’ll probably bring one of his henchmen to protect him, but odds are he won’t bring anyone else. He won’t want to risk discovery, should the proof being offered is real.”
Katherine set her nearly untouched cup of tea down on the table. “What if my theory is incorrect? What if he knows that William is still alive? What if he guesses that William is involved in this?”
William sighed. “Unfortunately, that is the trouble. If he has somehow discovered my involvement, there is no telling what he might do.”
Katherine rose and walked toward him, slid her arms around his waist and simply held him. “I’m frightened, William.”
He kissed the top of her head. “It’s all right to be afraid. The trick is not to let your fear deter you from your purpose.”
“There is no doubt the plan is fraught with danger,” Damien agreed. “But if it works, William will be a free man.”
Her husband touched a big hand to her cheek. “I have to take the risk, Katherine. For my father. For me. Time is running out.”
“We’ll take our men with us,” Damien added, “post them outside as guards. If they sense any sort of threat, anything at all, the men will signal and we will simply abort the plan and withdraw.”
“I don’t like it, William. Nothing is ever that simple.”
Damien walked toward them, his elegant strides carrying him gracefully in her direction. “Chin up, my lady. The plan is a good one. With Benjamin’s overblown ego convincing him he is untouchable, we have every reason to believe our scheme will work. All we need is one slip, one indication that he is less than pure in regard to the murder. If we can keep him talking, he might very well incriminate himself. Combined with the evidence we have, it would be more than enough to clear William’s name.”
“That’s right. We have to push him, Katherine, goad him into telling at least a portion of the truth.” He turned toward his friend. “The meeting is set for tomorrow night?”
“The note is being delivered even as we speak. Tomorrow night at the docks, we shall discover if our plan will work.”
Benjamin read the note his footman had just delivered then read it again. He slammed his fist down on the top of the table. For all his careful planning, for all the time he had spent making certain he was safe, someone knew something about his father’s murder. Damn! He didn’t need trouble like this.
Half an hour later he was ensconced in his study, seated behind his desk, his henchman standing on the opposite side, his legs slightly splayed, knobby hands clasped in front of him.
Benjamin waved the message like a flag of infamy. “All these years and I’m still not free of it. Whoever he is, that bastard has the gall to demand a meeting. Can you believe it? He says I’m to bring the money to an abandoned warehouse on the docks. He says I’m to come alone.”
“You oughtn’t go by yourself.”
“I know that! Do you think I’m a fool?”
The man stood silent.
“I want to know who this man is. I want to know what he has discovered.” He fanned the note, his mind spinning, pondering events that had occurred over the last few weeks. “That damned girl is involved in this, I can just feel it. I don’t believe for a second it is merely coincidence that just a few weeks before this note arrived, Katherine was prowling about, trying to dig up information. Her friendship with Jane was too convenient, too timely. She was looking for something, but what? Why would she want to know about this murder? What would she possibly have to gain?”
“Maybe someone else wants to know.”
Benjamin looked up. Sometimes the man was a lot smarter than he looked. “Like who for example?”
>
He shrugged his shoulders. “I don’t know. Maybe her new husband. Maybe he’s the one who wants the money.”
Benjamin shook his head. “The man is married to an heiress. He has no need of money.” Suddenly he frowned, his mind whirling, picking up pieces, trying to fit them together. “What other reason would a person have?”
The big man shrugged his shoulders. “I don’t know.”
“Revenge, that’s what. Perhaps the man she married was a friend of my father’s. Or perhaps a friend of William’s. Or perhaps he’s related, maybe even some by-blow of my father’s I never knew about.”
Benjamin came toward the henchman. “You’ve seen him. What does he look like?”
“Who?”
“Katherine’s new husband. Who the devil have we just been talking about?”
“Oh. Tall, I guess. Almost as big as me. Brown hair.” He glanced up. “He wears spectacles, but I have seen his eyes that night in the alley. Blue eyes.”
The last words hit him like a blow to the stomach.
“Blue eyes? The man she married has blue eyes?”
“Bluer than the sky. The bluest I’ve ever seen.”
Benjamin sank down in his chair. “No.” He shook his head. “It isn’t possible. There is no way it could possibly be him.” Springing to his feet, he rounded the desk, stalked past the man and headed for the door. “Come with me.”
Down the hallway, Benjamin led him into the gallery past a row of family portraits to a painting that sat slightly off to one side. “Take a look at this. Is that him?”
“Who?”
“Katherine’s husband. You said you saw him. Is that the man you saw?”
“That’s you in the picture.”
Benjamin ground his teeth, desperate to hold on to his temper. “Yes, that is me on the right. Take a look at the dark-haired boy. He’d be older now. A full-grown man. Imagine him taller, bigger. Is that him? Is that the man you saw?”
The man took several steps closer to the portrait. Then he turned around and grinned. “That’s him, the man in the alley. It was foggy, but I’ve seen him before at the house and that night I saw him real good.”
Blood Lust Page 24