“He didn’t betray you,” Adam said. “I caught him in the passage and forced him to come with me.”
“Who else is with you?” Jared asked. “What other lawmen?”
“I’ve sent Evans to fetch the constable,” Adam said. “He and others will be here soon. You can’t hold off all of us.”
Jared’s arm tightened around Clarissa, and her breath caught as the knife bit deeper, drawing blood. “My wife will be of good use to me, then,” he said. “As living currency to buy my freedom.”
“What good is she going to be to you after that?” The disdain in Adam’s voice wounded her almost as much as the knife.
“She would do to warm my bed for a while.” Jared’s hand slid up to fondle her breast. When she tried to shrink away, he only gripped her harder. “From what I remember, she was quite lively between the sheets. And when I’ve tired of her, my men might enjoy her.”
Anger overcame Clarissa’s disgust. To think she had once fancied herself in love with this man. And she was almost as disgusted with Adam, the two of them talking about her as if she wasn’t even here. She curled her fingers around the hairpin she still held. The long steel tines were topped by a jeweled brooch that nestled attractively in her coiled hair.
“Be still,” Jared commanded her. “You wouldn’t want this knife to slip, would you?”
“Of course not,” she said, then closed her eyes and drove the pin with all her might, right into his nether regions.
As he screamed and loosened his hold, she dove for the floor. Adam caught her, while the younger man lunged for the pistol on the table. But before he could reach it, a deafening shot rang out. Smoke filled the room and plaster rained down from the ceiling.
At first, Clarissa thought the young man had fired, until she saw Emma in the doorway, clutching a brace of pistols. “The other one is still loaded,” Emma said as they stared at her. “I promise I will not miss next time.”
“Emma!” Jared gasped. Still clutching his hands over his crotch, he attempted to straighten. “Good girl! I always knew I could count on you.”
Emma smiled, then swiveled the gun to Clarissa, who was still cradled in Adam’s arms. “When I shoot her, do you think I will kill you, too, Mr. Kendrick?” she asked.
“Emma, what are you doing?” Clarissa asked. Surely her friend didn’t mean to kill her.
“I’m sorry, Clarissa dear,” Emma said. “But Jared cannot marry me while you still live.”
Adam shifted against Clarissa. “You sent the letters warning Delaware when the constables were near,” he said. “You used the Waverley seal.”
Emma’s smile grew smug. “Of course that was me. Clarissa had no idea Jared was anywhere near.” Her eyes met Clarissa’s again. “She had no idea he and I were lovers, even while he was living in this house.” She steadied the gun again. “I’ve waited a long time for this moment.”
In the stillness that followed, Clarissa was sure she could hear her own heart beating. Would this be her end, then? Murdered by her best friend – her husband’s lover? What would happen to her children?
“Why did you show me the tunnels, then?” Adam asked, his voice loud in the stillness.
“Can’t you guess? I was tired of waiting. I wanted to make something happen. To force Jared to admit how much he loves me.” She looked to Jared once more. He stared at her, open-mouthed. “You do love me, don’t you?” she demanded.
“Emma, I --” But words apparently failed him.
She jabbed the gun at him. “Say it.”
“Of course, I--” he began.
“He won’t marry you,” Adam said.
Emma jerked her head toward Adam. “How do you know?”
“He’s the kind of man who can’t abide being shackled to one woman,” Adam said. “I’ve met his kind before.”
Beside him, the young man – Clarissa realized it must be Adam’s brother – nodded. “I’ve heard him say as much,” he said.
“Emma, don’t listen to them,” Jared said. “Of course I…I care for you a great deal.”
“But not enough to marry me.” The hand that held the gun shook.
“Of course. Eventually. When the time is right.” He held out his hands toward her.
He died with that pleading look on his face. Even with shaking hands, Emma did not miss at that distance. She dropped both the empty pistols, then turned and swept the one from the table by the door, and turned it on Clarissa.
Clarissa felt herself falling, hurled across the room by Adam, away from the deafening shot, the burning smoke, and the scream of a man in pain.
Adam drifted in darkness and pain, then sank again to nothingness, waking finally to a cool touch and a woman’s murmuring voice. He struggled to consciousness, and gazed into eyes the green and gold of moss on stone. Clarissa stroked trembling fingers across his brow. “You’re all right,” she said. “You’re going to be all right.” Then she kissed his brow, and he closed his eyes again, wondering if he was dreaming.
When he woke again, strong light streamed through the window, and an older man he did not know prodded him in the shoulder. “How are you feeling, then?” the man asked.
“Who are you?” Adam demanded.
“I’m Reese, the local physician.” The man pressed a compress against Adam’s side.
Adam winced. “I don’t like doctors.”
“So I have heard, but if I hadn’t dug that bullet out of your side you could have died from infection. In any case, you’d have been damned uncomfortable for the rest of your life. As it is, you should heal fine.”
“Dr. Reese did an excellent job on you.” Devon stepped forward –Devon more as Adam remembered him, shaved, with his hair cut, dressed in a fine white shirt, waistcoat and cravat. “I was privileged to assist him.”
So the boy had not lost his fervor to pursue a career in medicine. The thought did not pain Adam as much as he had thought it would. He turned his attention back to the medical man. “Thank you,” he said. Then memory of all that had happened surged back. “Clarissa – Lady Delaware? Is she all right?”
“The lady is fine,” Reese said. “Though her husband did not survive his wounds.”
Adam would have to let that knowledge sink in later. “And Miss Freed?” he asked.
“Miss Freed’s whereabouts are unknown.” Reese finished bandaging the wound and returned his scissors to his medical bag. “She disappeared in the commotion when the constable arrived.” He stood, bag in hand. “I’ll check with you again in a few days, but between Lady Delaware and your brother here, you’re receiving the best of care.”
When the doctor was gone, Adam turned to Devon. “What happened?” he asked. “How long have I been insensate?”
Devon sat in the chair beside the bed. “Not even twenty-four hours. It’s almost tea time. Emma’s shot wounded you a little over twelve hours ago. Dr. Reese prescribe laudanum for the pain and since you apparently never take the stuff, it put you out for the entirety of the surgery to remove the bullet and then some. After that, you drifted into a more normal sleep. You probably needed it. I gather you had been haunting that passage for several nights, waiting for us.”
“And Miss Freed escaped?”
“In the commotion after you were shot, Miss Freed ran from the room. No one really noticed until the constable showed up and asked what had happened. I take it some of her things and one of the horses from the stable are missing.”
“I see you have avoided the jailer,” Adam said.
“Perhaps I don’t deserve to, but Lady Delaware made a point to introduce me as your brother, who aided in the capture of the smugglers.” He flushed. “I may have put a foot wrong, there. I paraded your title in front of the constable and he was suitably impressed enough not to ask more questions.”
Adam groaned. “What did Lady Delaware say to that?”
“She seemed surprised, but said nothing.”
Would Clarissa even speak to him, after all he’d done – lying to her
about his identity, and accusing her of aiding her husband’s crimes?
“I need to thank you, for saving me from my own foolishness,” Devon said. “No words would be enough to say how much I regret my actions.”
He gripped Devon’s hand. His brother was no longer a boy, but a young man. One who had learned hard lessons. “I take it your adventures as a smuggler were not what you had hoped?”
Devon looked pained. “I thought it would be an expedient and, dare I say, exciting way to earn the money I needed for my training as a physician. Instead, I found myself little better than a slave to a tyrant. Delaware was not above locking us in the hold of the ship when we were near shore, to keep any of us from betraying him. And though he promised us a share in the profits, he and Carstairs kept the lion’s share.”
“So Carstairs was involved?”
Devon nodded. “The constable caught him taking delivery of the latest goods. As a nobleman, he may escape with his skin, but his reputation will no doubt suffer.”
“I’m glad to hear you have learned your lesson,” Adam said. “But I’m sorry that you suffered.”
Devon set his jaw. “I have learned my lesson, but I have not changed my mind about being a physician. I have spoken with Dr. Reese, and he is willing to take me on as his apprentice.”
“I thought you had your heart set on attending medical school in London,” Adam said.
“I did. But that requires funds I do not have. Apprenticing will take longer, but will meet the same end.”
“I will pay for your schooling,” Adam said. “I am sorry I did not agree to it before. Can you forgive my obstinace?”
Devon stared at him. “But you hate the medical profession.”
“I let my past experiences give too much color to my present views,” he said. “Clarissa – Lady Delaware – has shown me that medical treatment, delivered by the proper hand, can be beneficial.”
“She told me she has been working with you to relieve the pain from your headaches,” Devon said. “I think her theory that the pain comes from the tension in the muscles around your eyes is correct.”
“I believe so now, too,” Adam said. “The massage she has prescribed, and the soothing potions and poultices, have done more to ease my pain than any narcotic or patent medicine.”
“I’m overjoyed to hear it.”
“Then you will allow me to pay for your medical training?” Adam asked.
“Yes.” Devon leaned over and embraced him, as he had done as a boy, his head on Adam’s shoulder. Adam patted his back, and swallowed past the emotion that choked him. He felt as if he had been made whole again, this lost part of himself returned.
They straightened as the door to the room opened and Clarissa came in. She wore a simple black dress, jet beads at her ears. Adam searched her face, trying to read her mood. “I see our patient is awake,” she said, addressing Devon, not Adam.
“He is.” Devon stood. “The doctor was here and changed the dressing,” he said. “He and I agree that Adam is on the mend.”
“I’m glad to hear it.” She smiled at Devon. “Tea is almost ready, if you want to go down. I’ll join you shortly.”
She waited until Devon was gone before she turned to Adam. “Well, Lord Morgan. I fear this bedroom is not nearly fine enough for a viscount, but we did not think it wise to move you while you were so unwell.”
“My Christian name really is Adam,” he said. “And my family name is Kendrick.”
“So your brother tells me. He is a fine young man, by the way.” She sat in the chair beside the bed.
“Devon is indeed a fine young man. And I have agreed to pay for his medical schooling. We have made our peace. Now I want to do the same with you.”
She folded her hands in her lap and waited, an unreadable expression on her face.
He shoved into a sitting position, ignoring the pain it cost him. “I did not tell you my title because I did not know how much you knew of Delaware’s smuggling operation,” he said. “I feared you would link it to my brother and be suspicious.”
“You may recall I was always suspicious of your motives for being here,” she said. “Despite Emma’s assertions that I am far too trusting and naïve, I am not entirely ignorant of people’s capacity for deception.”
He grasped her hand. “Forgive me,” he said. “If I were able, I would get down on my knees to beg your pardon. I was wrong about so many things. I should have known you were not party to Delaware’s crimes.”
“How could you have known?” she asked. “You knew nothing about me when you came here. And apparently, Emma was sending letters to Jared with my seal. You knew about that, I take it?”
“Yes. I found part of a seal –and a yellow kid glove – on the beach the afternoon you and I met there while I was out riding.”
“The glove was mine, too,” she said. “Emma often borrowed my things, and I wondered where she had lost it.”
“Devon tells me she is gone.”
“Yes.” She sighed. “Is it wrong of me to be glad of it? In spite of how badly she betrayed me, she was my closest friend for nigh on thirty years. I would not wish to see her in prison, or hanged. It is better to think of her on the continent, or even in the colonies, making her way as a free woman.”
“You have a generous heart.”
She shook her head. “It does not feel very generous sometimes.”
He squeezed her hand. “Will you be generous with me, and give me your pardon?”
She covered his hand with hers, her fingers warm and silken against his skin. “There is nothing to forgive. I understand why you did not tell me your title. Your motives were pure, even if your methods were not.”
“You are a widow now,” he said.
She nodded. “I asked – and the constable agreed – that I be allowed to bury Delaware in the family cemetery here. He sold his family seat to pay debts long ago. That will done tomorrow morning.”
“Then you are free to marry me.”
“Then I will be in mourning.”
“You won’t seriously mourn the loss of that man.” Adam could not keep the heat from his words.
“He was the father of my two children. I owe it to them to show my respect.”
“Yes.” He could see that. She was an honorable woman and he would not forget that. He squeezed her hand. “How long will you mourn?”
“Six months, I think. That seems proper enough, considering it is common knowledge that we have been estranged for years.”
“Then will you marry me?”
When she did not answer, he leaned toward her. “You must know that I love you. More than I thought it possible to love anyone.”
“A man in your position could not possibly want to involve himself with a woman surrounded by such scandal.”
He locked his gaze to hers, and spoke as clearly as he was able, not wanting her to misunderstand a word. “I don’t want to live the rest of my life without you,” he said. “Whatever came before – for either of us – doesn’t matter if we can face the future together.”
Tears shone in her eyes. “I think I knew – when you pushed me aside and took the bullet meant for me – that I did not want to be without a man who would fight so hard for me.”
She moved from the chair to the side of the bed, into his arms, her lips on his, her heart beating against his. “I love you,” she whispered. “I, who thought I would never find love again.”
“And I, who have never known love.” He brushed his fingers down her cheek. “As soon as I am well enough to travel, I will need to return to my estate, to settle some business – and to make a home for you there.”
“I will have things to do here also, to settle this household.”
He frowned a moment. “What will you do about the old people who live here? I could try to find a place for them…”
“Don’t worry about them,” she said. “Miss Mosely and Sir Henry have announced that they are to wed and plan to retire to Bath. Mrs. Lander
s and a widow friend of hers plan to set up housekeeping together. And dear Mr. Fletcher, I fear, will not last six months. I have had word from the doctor that his heart is failing.”
“Then we will both be busy enough we can hope the time will pass quickly,” he said. “But I will write to you. Promise you will write to me.”
“Of course I will write to you.”
“I think I began to love you first when I read the letter you wrote to Delaware,” he said. At the pain that flashed in her eyes, he hastened to add, “I know it was wrong of me to read such private words, but when I read them, I was so moved by the passion there – and I was envious of the man they were for. A man who did not deserve them.” He kissed the side of her mouth. “I vow to always do my best to deserve your words.”
She nodded.
“In my letters to you,” he continued. “I will strive to write not only of what I am doing, but what I am feeling.”
“I will do the same,” she said. She moved closer to him. “And when we are wed, I will show you my feelings.”
“And you will make me happier than I ever thought possible.”
For a long time after that, neither of them said anything. In her arms, Adam forgot the pain in his side, and the pain in his head. It occurred to him that love was perhaps the medicine he had needed most, all along.
SNEAK PEEK AT TO LOVE A LADY
An English lady runs away to Texas, in pursuit of a groom.
Lady Cecily Thorndale has lived her whole life preparing for her future role as wife to the Earl of Devonshire.
But when the future Earl, Charles Worthington, goes to Texas to oversee land the family has purchased – and stays there – Cecily decides the only thing to do is to track him down.
Second Chance Love: A Regency Romance Set Page 45