Lady Hartley's Inheritance

by Wendy Soliman

  Twining nodded, fidgeted in his chair and looked more uncomfortable than ever.

  “And naturally,” Salik said, “having met me, you were overcome with remorse at not abiding by your beloved husband’s wishes and decided you couldn’t live with yourself unless you set matters straight.”

  “You’ll never get away with it.”

  But Clarissa now far less sure of herself now. Salik was cunning and resourceful and appeared to have thought it all through very carefully. Indeed, he was approaching the situation with all the cleverness and dangerous fixity of the truly insane.

  “You haven’t asked where you fit into my plans, Clarissa. No matter, I’ll tell you anyway. You, my dear, will continue to look after the sheep that you adore so much. But I can’t possibly permit you to ride around all over the place, all day long, and astride your horse no less. Charming though you doubtless look, it would never do.” Clarissa couldn’t hide her astonishment. “Oh, I know all about your activities, my dear,” he said, smiling. “No, you will direct others according to your wishes, maintain the estate’s accounts, and honour me with the rest of your time.

  “Naturally,” he continued conversationally, “you will warm my bed. I may even decide to marry you, if you please me sufficiently.” He nodded significantly in the direction of her body. “Not that you could fail in that respect but, who knows, I might tire of you after a while. You may find my demands a little more insistent than my late, lamented father’s, but I dare say you’ll grow accustomed to them in due time, and even come to enjoy them.”

  “Mr. Salik,” Clarissa said, her voice resonating with a combination of anger and disgust. “Let us be clear about one matter. Regardless of the future of my lands I will never, understand me, never, be intimate in any way whatsoever with you. Do we understand one another, sir?”

  “Clarissa.” Salik walked up behind her and slid his hand over her shoulder, allowing it to come to rest on her breast. “If you know what’s good for you, you will do exactly as you’re told. And believe me, my dear, you will enjoy it. You will enjoy it, you will thank me, and you’ll beg me for more. Now, do you understand me, madam?” His fingers closed around her breast, hard and possessively. “Ah yes!” He sighed, closing his eyes briefly. “I think we’ll get along splendidly.”

  Clarissa gritted her teeth, guessing that if she showed the revulsion she was feeling it would merely serve to spur him on.

  “Unhand me, sir!” she said with as much authority as she could muster.

  But he merely smiled and clamped his fingers even more savagely about her flesh.

  Chapter Nineteen

  When they reached Lincoln’s Inn, Luc and Felix were rewarded by the sight of a closed curricle standing outside Twining’s office.

  “It seems you were right, Luc.”

  “Fortunately for us, Salik isn’t blessed with the gift of original thought.”

  “How do we proceed now?”

  “I think the time for caution is long past. Any delay could result in harm being done to Rosie or Clarissa.” Luc grimaced. “Let’s just get in there.”

  They approached the building and examined the entrance, but the outer door to the office was bolted from the inside. Luc slapped his thigh in frustration. He should have anticipated that, and come better prepared.

  “That bolt appears to be sturdy,” Felix said. “I doubt that we’ll be able to get in that way. So, what do we do now?”

  Luc’s attention was focused upon a small window, to the right of the door. “Do you remember that time at school when we got ourselves locked in the cricket pavilion?”

  “Y-Yes, and I recall we eventually managed to escape by forcing the window.”

  “Are you carrying your dagger, Felix?”

  Felix handed over the weapon. Forcing the window open was the work of a moment. Felix, being slightly the smaller of the two, crawled through and opened the main door to Luc. They stood motionless in the outer office and heard voices emanating from Twining’s office.

  “As I said outside, the time for stealth is past.” Luc squared his shoulders. “Are you ready, my friend?”

  When Felix nodded, his expression full of grim determination, Luc took a deep breath and kicked the office door open. It slammed against the wall with a satisfying crash.

  “My lord!” Clarissa half rose from her chair but was forced back down again by Salik’s hand on her shoulder. “There you are at last,” she said. “What kept you? We’ve been expecting you this age.”

  “My apologies, Clarissa,” he said, his calm demeanour belying his relief at seeing her unharmed. “I hope you haven’t been inconvenienced.” He moved in her direction.

  “Stay where you are, Deverill!” Salik said.

  Luc quirked a brow. “Or what?”

  Salik inclined his head in Rosie’s direction. Granger was now forcibly restraining her from rushing toward Luc and Felix. “Or just one of Granger’s hands will break her little neck with ease. I advise you against testing that assertion for it’s the sort of thing he enjoys doing.”

  Granger flashed the ghost of a smile, and moved his hand casually in the direction of Rosie’s neck.

  “Do that, Salik,” Luc said, his voice a threatening drawl, “and there won’t be a rock large enough for you to crawl beneath.”

  “Don’t threaten me with your attitude of superiority. I have the upper hand now. I’m the one in control.”

  Luc affected a casual shrug. “It sounds to me as though you’re trying to convince yourself of that.”

  Salik moved away from Clarissa and paced the floor in front of her chair. “Since you’re here, I have no objection to sharing with you the agreement that I’ve just reached with Lady Hartley. She will sign over to me all that’s mine by right, and in return she will be permitted to continue with her work on the land.”

  Luc laughed aloud. “Nonsense,” he said. “I can’t remember when I was last so royally entertained.”

  His casual dismissal of Salik’s plans enraged the Egyptian, just as Luc had anticipated. He turned on his heel and faced the room, his face puce with anger, an air of madness about his wild eyes.

  “Nonsense is it? Well, let me tell you, I’m ten times the man you’ll ever be. My father loved me and intended that I should inherit his property.”

  “Then why didn’t he make that provision?” Luc asked, more calmly than ever.

  “Because he died before he was able to do so.”

  “And why did he not bring you to England and recognise you as his heir?”

  Salik faltered. “Because of the ridiculous rules governing your society. I am as good as any of you, but could I be accepted as your equal? Oh no, I’m not the son of an English lady, neither am I legitimate, and that would never do. But now the time has finally come for my revenge.” He whirled around, a look of delirium in his eye. “I will have what’s rightfully mine. I will bring my mother over here to live as she should have been living for all these years, and Clarissa can dance attendance upon her.”

  “Give it up, Salik.” Twining, ignored and forgotten by them all, spoke so unexpectedly that he startled everyone.

  “You spineless cretin!” Salik looked as though he might strike him. “This was all your idea, but the moment difficulties arose you wanted to give it up.”

  “You planned the whole thing, did you, Twining?” Luc said disinterestedly.

  “Yes, he did.” Salik answered for him.

  “You knew of Salik’s existence and why Sir Michael was sending money to Egypt?”

  “Yes,” the attorney said, wearily.

  “Why?” Clarissa asked in anguish. “Why would you do that to me, Mr. Twining? I trusted you.”

  He hung his head, avoiding Clarissa’s accusatory glare. “You needed protection,” he said. “I knew you would be taken advantage of if left to your own devices for too long, and could think of no other way to persuade you to let me look after you.”

  Luc snorted his disgust.

  “
He approached me with the plan shortly after my father’s death,” Salik said. “I received a letter inviting me to London and enclosing the fare. When I arrived he suggested the whole scheme to me. He knew where we could get a will drawn up, but he needed me to ensure that the Arabic was correct and that we hadn’t overlooked anything obvious. We thought, of course, that Lady Hartley was quite alone,” he added, casting an accusatory glance in Luc’s direction. “Needless to say, he was to profit from the scheme as well. You wanted her to marry you, I think?” Twining looked at Salik in apparent surprise but remained silent. “You made the mistake of taking me for a fool as well, Twining. As I met the beautiful Clarissa and saw the way you looked at her I knew that must have been your primary objective. But you weren’t certain of success and needed an alternative plan to fall back upon. That was where I came in. And in spite of everything that’s gone wrong, we will still succeed. Things have gone too far now for us to withdraw.

  “You see, we have friends in strange places it appears, who were happy to warn us of your discoveries in Portsmouth and that gave us time to plan this delightful little gathering today.” Salik picked up a letter from Twining’s desk, the obvious source of their intelligence. Luc frowned. He’d seen paper of that type before. It was good quality, thick cream and embossed with a distinctive border in gold script. “And now, just as you arrived I was informing my dear stepmother of the details of our agreement. She will reside with me in Northumberland, manage the estates on my behalf, and supply me with very diverting company.”

  When Salik’s hand moved to Clarissa’s breast, Luc could take no more and went to lunge at him, but he laughed and pulled Clarissa in front of him.

  “Stay where you are, Deverill!” Luc had no alternative but to comply. For now. “Now, where were we? Oh, yes, regarding the pleasures in store for me.”

  Once again his mood swung from pleasantly relaxed to a towering rage. This time the change appeared to be occasioned by Clarissa’s indifferent glare. Luc itched to pull her to safety, but it couldn’t be done — not without risking retribution being meted out to Rosie. Clarissa appeared to realise that, and was doing the next best thing by not showing fear, instead treating Salik with contempt. Never had Luc admired her more. Salik was severely unbalanced, which made him unpredictable and dangerous.

  “You will learn to respect and obey me, my lady. I should warn you that I enjoy inflicting pain, and won’t hesitate to do so if you force me into it.”

  Salik placed his hand on the bodice of Clarissa’s blue striped muslin gown and ripped so violently that he exposed her chemise, camisole and the tops of her breasts. Clarissa stood motionless, a cold look in her eye, which appeared to both excite and infuriate Salik. He grabbed Clarissa by the wrist and attempted to force her to her knees in front of him. “Damn your superiority, madam, I demand that you show me the respect I deserve!”

  Rosie, forgotten by them all, still sat in her chair. Granger, intrigued by Salik’s treatment of Clarissa and very obviously aroused by it, smirked and absently removed his restraining hand from Rosie’s shoulder.

  “N-o-ooo!” Rosie screamed like a banshee and, evading Granger’s belated efforts to catch her, dashed across the room, hurling herself at Salik like a miniature tornado. Everyone looked at her in surprise. Salik, momentarily frozen with shock and indecision, hastily released Clarissa and pushed her roughly away from him in order to deal with the approaching child. It was just the diversion that Luc had been waiting for, and he didn’t hesitate. In two strides he reached Salik and laid him out cold with one well aimed blow to his jaw. Felix, sensing Twining would be no problem, dealt with the unprepared Granger in a similar fashion.

  Relieved that everything had been concluded so swiftly when just moments before the situation had been spiralling out of his control, Luc looked toward Clarissa, ready to pick her up and take her home. What he saw made him gasp and his heart miss a beat. Clarissa had hit her head on the corner of Twining’s desk when Salik pushed her out of the way. She lay on the floor in a dead faint, a pool of blood beneath her head.

  She wasn’t moving and, as far as an anguished Luc could ascertain, wasn’t even breathing.

  Chapter Twenty

  Clarissa opened her eyes, only to close them again immediately. The pain in her head was unbearable, a rhythmic pounding at her temple, even harder to endure with open eyes. But closing them was no good either. It simply made the room spin. She needed to know where she was and what was happening to her. Steeling herself for a fresh bout of pain, she cautiously forced her eyelids upwards again. Everything appeared fuzzy, and she still had no idea where she was. Feeling cautiously about, her she discovered she was lying on a couch of some sort and someone was holding something cool against her forehead. The room was warm, and she could hear the gentle murmur of concerned voices around her.

  “Ah, thank the Lord!” said a voice that sounded like Aunt Marcia’s. “I think she’s coming round at last. Clarissa, dear, are you all right?”

  Clarissa looked about her, managing to focus a little better this time. Her gaze collided with two pairs on concerned looking eyes, both at the same level as her own. One pair undoubtedly belonged to Rosie, who was sitting cross-legged on the floor and staring at her, a worried frown creasing her brow. The second pair lived in a black shaggy head, from which a long pink tongue protruded: Mulligan.

  What were Rosie and Mulligan doing sitting so closely together? Mulligan was an unpredictable dog; surely it wasn’t safe to leave him alone with a small child?

  “Where am I?” she asked in a frail voice that sounded most unlike her own. In response the figure she now realised she’d been unconsciously searching for all along came into focus and, bending down beside Rosie, took her hand.

  “You’re home now at Grosvenor Square, Clarissa, and quite safe.” Luc smiled at her, that meltingly gentle, heart-rending smile he appeared to reserve just for her. “How do you feel?”

  “My head is pounding.”

  “It will soon heal, my love.” Agnes’s voice came from above her head. It was clearly she who was responsible for the cold compress.

  “What happened?”

  “Can you not remember?” Luc asked. “Has your memory not returned with consciousness?”

  “Not really.” Clarissa tried to think, but it hurt too much, so she gave up the attempt. “Why is Rosie here? I’m delighted to see her of course but…wait a minute, was there not something amiss with Rosie?” She frowned. Something was nagging at the back of her mind. “And why is Mulligan so close to Rosie? Is that safe?”

  “Mulligan and Rosie have taken an inexplicable liking to each other and are already inseparable. As things stand at this moment, it would take a braver man than I am to attempt to come between them.”

  Rosie placed her hand lovingly on Mulligan’s head and cooed at him, lending proof to Luc’s words. Mulligan responded by pushing his head gently against her arm.

  “Do you think you can sit up a little, my lady, and take some tea?” Agnes asked. “I’m sure it will make you feel better.”

  Cautiously Clarissa eased herself into a sitting position, efficiently assisted by Agnes. The room swam, and Clarissa grabbed at the arm of the couch for support. After a moment of inaction, things settled down again and she was able to look about her properly.

  She was in the drawing room of Luc’s house. As well as the people she’d already recognised, Lord Western was there, as too was, Simms. As soon as she was sitting steadily, Rosie climbed onto the couch and snuggled her small body as close to Clarissa as she could manage. Lifting one arm, Clarissa smoothed back her hair and held her close. Mulligan, meanwhile, dropped his shaggy head into her lap and gazed up at her with slave-like devotion.

  “As you can see,” Luc said with a smile, “we’re all delighted to have you safely back with us.”

  Clarissa sipped a scalding cup of tea under the watchful gaze of everyone in the room. Finishing her second cup, she put it aside and demanded to know what h
ad been going on. “I now remember much of what occurred in Mr. Twining’s office,” she said, “but don’t recall how I finished up back at home.”

  Luc addressed Agnes. “Did I understand aright?” he asked. “Has cook just finished the baking?”

  “I believe that to be the case, my lord,” she answered with the sweetest of smiles.

  “Then perhaps, Agnes, you would take Rosie and Mulligan into the kitchen to see if cook requires any assistance tasting the cakes.”

  “Certainly, my lord. Come along little one,” she said with an encouraging smile, holding out her hand. “I’m sure cook will be grateful for your help.”

  “Lady Hartley won’t go to sleep again if I leave her, will she?” asked Rosie anxiously.

  “Don’t worry, darling, I’ll be here when you get back.”

  “Well, all right then,” Rosie said after a lengthy pause, the prospect of warm cakes straight from the oven finally winning out over her desire to remain with Clarissa. Rosie slipped her hand into Agnes’s and they left the room together, Mulligan limping along at their heels.

  Luc took up the position Rosie had vacated at Clarissa’s side and took her hand in his. If his mother thought this improper she made no mention, and contented herself with bestowing a happy beam upon the room in general. Luc didn’t notice. He was trying to decide how much to reveal to Clarissa of the events which occurred after she was pushed to the floor. One thing he knew: he would never adequately be able to explain the anguish, the gut wrenching desolation that had overtaken him when he’d seen her lying on the floor and was convinced she was dead. There was a huge gash to her head, caused when she hit the corner of Twining’s desk, and her body had appeared lifeless. The sight of it had left his own body frozen with terror and his mind overloaded with grief.

  Felix had taken control. Salik and Granger were both unconscious, and Twining was proving to be no problem at all. Instead he was effusive with his protestations of innocence. He’d not intended that matters should reach this sad impasse. He’d been against the abductions, but Salik wouldn’t listen to reason and had intimidated him into compliance.