Lady In Disguise (The Langley Sisters)

by Vella, Wendy

  Livvy nodded, he had given her the same speech last year.

  “Ely Grange did not ride last year but is entered this year. He’s a right nasty piece and is none too happy about you being here.”

  “Point him out,” Livvy said quietly.

  She followed Jaccob's gaze and located a small man seated on a big boned grey horse. He was looking her way and Livvy tried not to shudder at the hatred in his eyes.

  “Try and stick with me.”

  “No, Jaccob, you look after yourself.” Livvy did not want him throwing the race to protect her.

  “Take your place for the Twoaks Derby!”

  The Earl’s words had the riders jockeying for position and then he raised his hand from which a white scarf fluttered.

  Mindful of Jaccob’s words, Livvy moved away from Ely Grange and tucked in behind him and another horse. The spectators were beginning to call out their favorites names in encouragement and she heard a few ‘Miss Langleys.’

  “Let the Twoaks Derby begin!”

  Livvy felt Harvey surge forward beneath her and she immediately crouched low over his neck. The thunder of hooves drowned out all noise and she kept her eyes between his ears rather than looking around her. He was a brave horse who would run until he had nothing left in his legs, but this was not a distance that should tax him overly because she and Phoebe had been working on his training for months now. Slowly he found his rhythm and soon began to make his way through the field until only two riders were in front of her. The woods were just up ahead, she needed to make it through them without incident the first time and then if possible be in the clear for the second pass. Once through the forest there was another straight and then a wide turn and then they headed back the way they had come. Making sure her whip was in position, she urged Harvey into the trees.

  “A woman should not ride in the Derby!”

  Livvy looked into the angry face of Ely Grange as he pulled alongside her.

  “Or a boy!” Livvy yelled, lifting her arm to protect both her and Harvey as he swung his whip at her. She did not cry as the leather bit into her sleeve, instead she kicked her foot free and lashed out at his thigh, it connected and Grange fell sideways allowing Livvy to urge Harvey forward once again. She saw the light ahead, just a few more feet and she would be out of the trees and once again in the open.

  “Bitch!”

  Grange drew beside her once again only this time she was waiting for him.

  “Cur!” Livvy screamed, lifting her whip and slashing it at him. He moved out of range, but she shivered at the look in his eyes, he was not finished with her yet.

  Will watched Livvy come out of the trees in second place with another rider closing in on her. Exhaling the breath he had been holding he made several heated promises to whoever was listening that if she made it back safe he would not sin for at least a month.

  “She’ll make it, Will, but I would suggest that you forbid her entry next year.”

  “She has already made me that promise, Joe,” Will said, watching as Harvey thundered along the course with Livvy crouched low over his neck.

  “She’s good though, you must admit that?”

  Will grunted but kept his eyes on that purple sash.

  “Of course, Jaccob will win, he’s riding the horse I purchased specifically with the Derby in mind,” Joseph added.

  “Livvy will win.”

  “Jaccob is perfectly placed.”

  “Yet Livvy will win,” Will said, flinching as another horse bumped into Harvey as Livvy turned him to start the run home.

  “Care for a small wager?”

  “You will personally move my bed into my new house and place it in my new bedroom,” Will said. “Then you’ll make it perfectly, no creases and with the edges turned down.”

  “Done, and you have to spend the entire day with great Aunt Hildeth who is about to return from Italy.”

  Will hesitated. Aunt Hildeth could out talk Mrs Popplehange. “Done.”

  “May I place a small wager also?” Lord Levermarch said from behind Will.

  “So you made it.” Will shot his friend a quick look before refocusing on Livvy. “Joe, introduce Finn to everyone.”

  Will heard the rumble of Joe’s voice as he introduced Lord Levermarch to Phoebe, Thea and Isabella.

  “Is that a woman riding? Good Lord, what’s the world coming too?”

  Ignoring Finn’s horror Will urged Livvy on. “Come on, sweetheart,” he whispered as that same horse crowded into Harvey again.

  “I take exception to that ridiculous statement, Lord Levermarch. A woman has as much right to ride in the Derby as a man, if not more so given our intelligence.”

  Will would have laughed at Phoebe’s attack on Finn if he wasn’t so bloody terrified.

  “Who the hell is that bumping into her?

  “Ely Grange, Lord Ryder. He rides for Major Bruntly,” Mrs Popplehinge said, appearing beside him.

  “I’ll kill him if he unseats her,” Will growled as the bastard bumped into Harvey again.

  “They will head for the woods for the second time and then home, therefore I suggest we make for the finish,” Joseph said.

  Will watched until she had disappeared into the woods and then made his way down the hill with the other spectators.

  “Someone is deliberately checking her.”

  “I saw that, Luke,” he said, joining him at the finish line. His stomach ached it was clenched so tight.

  “Here they come!” Bella cried as Joe put her back on her feet after carrying her down the hill. Beside her Thea screamed her encouragement.

  She was in the lead, but Ely Grange was once again closing. All around him people were yelling their encouragement but Will kept his eyes on Livvy. She wouldn’t put him through this again, ever. He was a churning mass of anxiety.

  “She’s going to do it! Come on, Olivia!” Mrs Popplehinge squealed as she jumped up and down with Phoebe.

  The other rider was gaining once more and Harvey’s ears were flat to his head which indicated to Will that the horse was not happy. He watched as Livvy urged her horse on, bending low over Harvey’s neck.

  “No!”

  Bella screamed as the other rider raised his whip as Livvy reached the line and he slashed it onto Harvey’s rump. Will watched them cross the line seconds later and then Harvey bucked his hind legs in protest and Livvy went flying over his head.

  “No!” This time it was Will who roared as he ducked under the railings to try to reach her before she fell. He couldn’t stop her landing in a crash of limbs, but he threw himself over her body as the other horses charged over the finish line. The air around him came alive with the sound of hooves as he bridged his body over Livvy’s still form. Clenching his eyes shut he waited for the impact.

  Joseph, Finn and Luke arrived first turning the air blue with a startling array of foul words, followed by the Langley sisters who were silent with fear.

  Realizing he was not about to be crushed by several hundred pounds of horse flesh, Will pushed to his knees and reached for Livvy. Her eyes were closed and she lay sprawled in a tangle of bent limbs. Pressing his fingers under her jaw he felt a steady pulse and nearly wept as relief flooded through him.

  “She’s knocked out,” Joseph said, kneeling beside him.

  He didn’t speak because he couldn’t, so Will concentrated on straightening her legs and arms and checking for anything broken. Removing her hat he ran his hands softly over her head but found no blood.

  “Is she all right?”

  He heard Joe begin to reassure Phoebe and Bella as he checked on her injuries.

  “Will?”

  “Yes,” he said as Livvy opened her eyes. “Hold still, love.”

  Her eyes searched for her sisters who were both now crying. Instinctively she tried to reach them but pain forced her back to the ground.

  “What part of ‘hold still’ did you not understand?” Will growled, bracing a hand on her chest thereby immobilizing her.<
br />
  “I hurt,” she whispered.

  “Not surprising considering you just fell to the ground whilst your horse was galloping.”

  Will felt her pain as she looked at him, but he could do nothing to ease her suffering.

  “D—did I win?” She then whispered, her words unsteady as she struggled against the pain.

  Will had been keeping his emotions under control until that point. In fact he was rather proud of the fact that he hadn’t raised his voice or located the man with the whip and killed him with his bare hands; however those three words instantaneously released his rage.

  “You nearly broke your foolish neck and you are worried about winning!”

  “Steady, Will,” Finn said softly.

  “I want the prize money,” she said, unwisely to Will’s way of thinking, because that merely inflamed him more. The fact that she needed money so badly she had risked her life to get it tore him apart. He had money, sacks of it, and would give it all to her if only she had asked.

  “Joe, tell Luke to bring the carriage close now!”

  “I will as soon as he’s finished carrying out a bit of retribution on your behalf brother.”

  “What?” Will snapped.

  “Luke is pummeling the man who hurt Olivia.”

  Will grunted his approval.

  “He seems to have made his point so I shall tell him to bring the carriage now,” Joseph said minutes later.

  “Bella will accompany you and I shall ride Harvey home,” Phoebe said as Will lifted Livvy into his arms.

  “I shall escort you home, Miss Langley,” Finn added.

  “I do not need an escort!”

  “Yet you will have one,” Finn said.

  Nodding, Will started after his brother ignoring Phoebe’s vehement protests.

  Livvy hurt everywhere. Her head throbbed; in fact there was nowhere on her body that was without pain. Looking up at the man that carried her she noted his clenched jaw. He was angry and she knew it was because she had frightened him when she fell.

  “Will, I—”

  “Not one word,” he said in a cold, hard voice.

  Turning her face into his chest Livvy remained silent and closed her eyes.

  “Thank you, Luke, for what you just did,” she heard Will say as they reached the carriage.

  “Is she all right, Will?”

  “Yes, I believe so, just bruised and sore. If you can take us to Willow Hall now I would be grateful.”

  Livvy thought he would place her on a seat inside the carriage however he simply stepped inside and sat with her on his lap.

  “Are you all right, Livvy?”

  Bella’s worried voice reached her from the opposite seat so she moved to get up.

  “Let me sit up please.”

  The arms momentarily clenched and then he helped her into a sitting position.

  “I’m all right, Bella, just a bit stiff and sore.”

  She was rewarded with a small smile of relief from her sister. The rest of the journey was carried out in a strained, uncomfortable silence. When the carriage finally reached Willow Hall, Livvy’s head was throbbing and she wanted the comfort and solitude of her bed and to get away from the angry man beside her. His jaw was clenched and his face appeared carved in granite. Gone was the gentle man who had declared his love to her just a short while ago.

  “Th—thank you, Lord Ryder, for the ride home,” Livvy said, reaching for the door as the carriage stopped at Willow Hall.

  “I’m coming inside as there are a few things I want to say to you.”

  And then she was in his arms again and he was striding up the path and into the house. He took the stairs two at a time.

  “Which is your room?”

  “I don’t think…”

  “Tell me now, or I will say what I want right here with your sister and Luke listening.”

  “Third door.”

  He opened it and then slammed it shut with his booted foot and in seconds she was sitting on her bed. Livvy couldn’t help the small moan that escaped as her body protested the movement. It seemed to be the sign he was after because suddenly she was under attack.

  “You promised to take care,” Will snarled, moving back from the bed, almost as if he needed to put some distance between them.

  “I did what I needed to win the race,” Livvy said in her own defense.

  “Tell me what drives you to rob innocent people and then nearly break your neck today in that foolish race. What drives you to live this façade where you have one servant but pretend you have more, that your house is made up of one room that looks as it should and the rest of it is in need of repair!”

  Livvy had thought the pain in her body was the worst she would experience today, yet his words were like tiny daggers lancing her soul. How had he noted so much in such a short time?

  “A viscount’s daughter who is behaving like a common criminal,” he roared, reaching for her.

  “Stop!” Livvy cried as he started unbuttoning her jacket. His hands were determined and his eyes were banked with the embers of rage and she could do nothing to stop him.

  “Wh—what are you doing?”

  He wasn’t rough but he would not be deterred as he removed her jacket and then opened her shirt and eased it off one shoulder. He turned her then so her back was facing him.

  “This is the final proof, Olivia, this wound is from Luke’s knife,” he said, releasing her and stepping backwards once more. “He could have killed you, do you understand that?

  Livvy pulled the shirt around her and only then turned. His anger seemed to fill all the spaces in her room.

  “Talk to me damn you!”

  “I… I love you, Will, and I will tell you everything. Just not now,” Livvy pleaded. “I must talk with my sisters first.”

  He stalked to the door and turned the key in the lock and then dropped it into the pocket of his jacket. Wrapping his fingers around the back of the only chair in her room he then dragged it towards the bed and sat facing her.

  “Don’t talk to me of love and then tell me nothing. Don’t talk to me of love and then make me watch you fly through the air and crash in a tangle of limbs onto the hard ground and wonder if, when I reach you, you will be alive or dead!”

  “I’m sorry,” Livvy whispered, seeing the anguish she had put him through written clearly on his face.

  “Sorry is not enough, Olivia. Neither of us will leave this room until you tell me the truth… all of it. Every last bloody word and only then will I unlock that door. I’ll not live with any more of your lies hanging over us. We can have no life together if you do not trust me and I will not wait around while you plunge recklessly into more danger and risk your life all for the sake of a few secrets. You will tell me now.”

  Livvy felt the sting of tears but held them at bay she needed time to think, to decide what must be done.

  “I—I’m cold, can one of my sisters tend me, please.”

  He looked at her for several seconds and then taking the key from his pocket he opened the door and closed it behind him. Livvy heard the key turn in the lock once more and then she was alone.

  Was he walking away from her? Fighting back the tears, Livvy fell sideways into her pillows, she had no strength to follow him even to bang on the now locked door. Would she survive losing him a second time? Closing her eyes she had no idea how long she lay there feeling lost and alone, the pain in her heart mirroring the pain in her body. She buried her face in the pillows as the key once more turned in the lock; Livvy did not want her sisters to see her distress.

  “Sit up.”

  Lifting her head, she watched Will walk in carrying a tray which he lay on the foot of the bed. She didn’t move, in fact she couldn’t, even lifting her arms was a gesture beyond her reach now.

  “You are stiffening up, Olivia, we need to get you washed and into bed now.”

  He sounded impersonal, as if he was addressing an acquaintance, not the woman he supposedly loved.

/>   “I do not want your help.”

  “Yet you need it.”

  She watched him move to her drawers, going through the contents until he found what he wanted and then returning to her side with one of her nightdresses clenched in a large hand.

  “I can do that,” Livvy said, but he ignored her and started pulling her boots off her feet. He lifted her upright then, his hands gentle but determined even though he radiated anger. Slowly he began to remove her shirt and chemise, then her breeches. He was too strong for her to fight so she suffered the indignity, biting her lip as pain snaked through her body. When she was naked he wrung out a cloth and washed her.

  Livvy was desperate for some distance between them but the fierce expression on his face kept her quiet.

  He lifted a small pot off the tray and scooped the contents into his hand. “Jenny said this will soothe your aches.”

  “I can…”

  “No, you can’t,” he said, rubbing the ointment into her body.

  Will watched Livvy bite her lip to stop crying out as he touched her. She lay silently as he cared for her, tormented and hurting and he could do nothing to ease her pain, only give her comfort, but that he would not give until she told him the truth.

  “Lean forward now,” he directed when he had finished. Bruises were beginning to darken her pale skin and seeing them compounded his anger. Taking the nightdress he had found he dropped it over her head and eased her arms through the sleeves. Propping a few pillows behind her he then lay her back and drew the covers to her chin. Clenching his fingers he fought the urge to brush a hand over her head. Retrieving the cup of tea Mrs Bell had given him he then handed it to her.

  ‘If you love her you’ll put a stop to all this nonsense now, Lord Ryder,’ the Langley housekeeper had said when he’d tracked her down in the kitchens. Bella and Phoebe had looked at him with big, fearful eyes but had remained silent as he prowled around the room waiting for the water to heat.

  “Can you drink without help?

  She nodded and Will retrieved the second cup. Moving to the chair he then once again sat.

  “Now talk.”