His Impetuous Deputante (A Gentleman's Guide to Once Upon a Time - Book 1)

by Charles, Jane

  Within fifteen minutes Taylor and Olivia also left. He dropped Olivia off at her home and risked something he hadn’t done since their falling out at White’s - he went to Noah’s Townhouse. He crept along the back wall, climbed over it and landed in the garden. As he approached the door, Noah’s voice came from the dark. “That didn’t take long.”

  Taylor turned immediately. “Noah, you don’t think Phoebe is beginning to believe the stories.”

  “They are true, aren’t they?”

  “Yes, but you know better than anyone what the truth is,” Taylor argued as they entered the house.

  “Yes, but I am afraid she may be doubting.”

  “Why? What do you know?”

  “I stopped by home the other day, after returning from another party in the country. I heard her before we ever spoke.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “She was playing, behind locked doors. She was playing Beethoven and Hayden.”

  “What does that mean?” Taylor was almost afraid to ask.

  “It means she was angry as hell and frustrated. The timing coincides with, by my estimation, the letter informing her of your weekend adventure.”

  Taylor raked his hands through his hair and began to pace. “She knows who Olivia is. She should have been able to put everything together.”

  “That is what I assumed, but I want to get home as soon as possible in case she is under any wrong impressions.”

  “Surely your mother has assured her of the truth.” Taylor could only hope.

  “Victoria says that Phoebe refuses to discuss the situation.”

  Taylor sank into a chair, putting his face into his hands. “If we assumed too much, if she doesn’t make the connection, my God, what must she be thinking and feeling? She probably hates me, leaving her alone in the country, carrying my child while she thinks I am carrying on with some woman here.” He stood and began to pace. “Perhaps I should go. I know who it is I am looking for now, and I just won’t leave her side. I should have done that in the first place. That is it. I am leaving. As soon as I can pack a few things, I will be leaving with you.” Mind made up, he headed for the door.

  “Stop. We don’t know anything for sure. You could rush home and find her only upset at the circumstances and not you. It would ruin everything.”

  “How can I just sit here and wait?”

  “You won’t be. You’ll be trying to find Boris. You know as well as I do that as long as you keep your distance, Phoebe is safe. She doesn’t leave the house, so her condition will not be suspected.”

  “Has it ever occurred to you that he may be stalking her right now, while we play in London?”

  “Yes, it has, but you have placed people among the staff and on the grounds. Nobody has reported anything suspicious. Besides, I don’t plan on leaving again, until this is over. If she does believe the worst, you will make her see reason when all this is over, if I have not been successful. It is your only choice at the moment.”

  Taylor studied him. Noah was right and he knew it. But Taylor wanted to be with his wife. How many weeks had passed? Eight or nine. Too many. “Do not hesitate to get word to me if you begin to think I should return.”

  “I won’t,” Noah assured him and let him out the back way.

  * * *

  Noah arrived the next afternoon. Phoebe had been standing at the window brooding, wishing to go out and enjoy the sunshine. But no, she was confined. A prisoner in her own home because of her condition. One would think she had the plague. As soon as she saw Noah pull up, Phoebe didn’t stop to think. So thrilled to see him, praying she would discover she was only living a nightmare, she ran from the room. She dashed through the door and down the steps and into his arms as soon as he stepped from the carriage.

  “Oh, Noah, I am so happy to see you,” Phoebe declared, refusing to let go.

  Laughing, he pulled back. “It is good to see you as well.”

  “You don’t know what it has been like, waiting here, wondering.”

  Turning her toward the house, he put her arm in his. “Have you been wondering, Phoebe? Have you begun to doubt your husband?”

  Angry, she pulled away from him. “Can you blame me? I know exactly what he has been up to while I sit here. You can’t deny that woman, whoever she is, hasn’t become more to Taylor than was his original intent.”

  Noah groaned. “Phoebe there is a perfectly good explanation. Now let’s go in the house so we can talk.” He paused when he noticed her stomach.

  “Quit staring. I know I am huge.” She turned her back on him and marched into the house.

  Chapter 26

  Noah followed Phoebe into the parlor and attempted to explain.

  “If you are going to sit there and defend him, then you can return to London.”

  “Phoebe, you knew when this started that people would believe the story we were spreading.”

  “I know. That was before he took up with that woman. Before he spent three nights alone with her,” Phoebe screeched at him.

  “Do you know who Lady Bates is?”

  “Don’t even mention her name in my presence. I have heard more than I ever care to know.”

  “Taylor has been faithful to you. This separation is not easy on him either.”

  “Ha. Obviously. I see how he pines for me night after night,” Phoebe gritted out, throwing the latest newspaper in his face.

  “It has paid off. We know for sure it was Boris now who killed the others and attempted to kill you.”

  “Then where is he and why hasn’t the murderer been arrested?” She planted her hands where her hips should be.

  “We don’t know where he is at the moment.”

  “Why shouldn’t that surprise me? Obviously my husband can’t be pulled from his lover’s bed long enough to find the man who tried to kill me and my child,” Phoebe finished at the top of her lungs.

  Noah started to open his mouth.

  Phoebe held up her hand. “Don’t bother. I am no longer the naive country girl I once was.” She stalked from the room and slammed the door behind her.

  It took her a bit, but she finally calmed down. The best thing she could do right now is put Taylor and that woman from her mind. She looked down and caressed her ever expanding stomach and was rewarded with a kick. “You are all I need.”

  Phoebe picked up the book on the table beside her bed and attempted to read.

  Noah knocked and entered without her giving him leave.

  She looked up from the book. “I don’t want to talk about this anymore.”

  He put a package on the bed. “Taylor asked that I give this to you.”

  “Thank you.” She returned to reading her book.

  Noah exited as quietly as he had entered.

  Phoebe sat for a long time staring at the package. She wanted to open it, but didn’t want to accept anything from Taylor at the moment. He hadn’t bothered to write in weeks. Did he think a gift would make up for his silence? But the curiosity got to her, and eventually she did open the parcel. Within were jewels. The same ones rumored to have been purchased for his mistress. A small part of her brain began to wonder if perhaps she had jumped to conclusions. Quickly she dismissed the thought. He did not spend the night alone with a beautiful widow and not sleep with her.

  She picked up the letter and began to read. He missed her and assured her that soon everything would be over and he would return to take her home. Phoebe tossed the letter aside. Yes. It would be over soon but it wasn’t the ending he was imagining.

  She picked up the package, marched down to Noah’s room and threw the contents on his bed. “You may return these to my husband.”

  Noah glanced at the expensive gifts then back at his sister.

  “If I wasn’t convinced before, I am now. Evidently,” she gestured to the items, “he is overcome with guilt. Well, he won’t be forgiven for emeralds and diamonds.” She left and slammed the door behind her.

  * * *

  Taylor wa
s restless and plagued with worry over his wife. What if she did believe the rumors and the stories? How betrayed she must feel. He had to stop thinking about it. Pacing and losing sleep was getting him nowhere. Noah should have arrived today. He would send word one way or the other. He continued pacing his library, sitting on occasion, only to become restless and rise again. Waiting had never been his favorite activity.

  Slowly he became aware of the smell of roses. That was Heather’s scent. She had bushes throughout her garden and made soaps from the delicate flowers. Why was he smelling her fragrance now?

  He stood and searched the room. Was she with him now? Was he losing his mind? Would he now start conversing with her in his waking hours as well as his dreams? He turned and saw her. She stood by his desk. She was a whole person in his dreams, now she was most definitely a ghost for he could see his desk through her dress.

  “You are not losing your mind, Taylor.”

  “Why are you here?” he asked, very much disturbed that he was now conversing with his dead wife while awake.

  “I told you I would come when Phoebe needed you. I couldn’t wait for you to finally sleep. You must go to her. Leave now.” Heather was most insistent.

  “Is she in danger?”

  “Very much. Please. Go now, before it is too late,” she urged and faded away.

  Taylor didn’t stop to question the apparition. Throwing his glass down, he stopped only long enough to pull on a coat and boots and saddle his horse.

  * * *

  Phoebe stood at the back of the house looking out at the clear day. The sky was a cold, dark blue and she longed to be outside. They didn’t even know where Boris was. He could be on the Continent for all they knew, waiting for Taylor to lose everything, and she had been hiding in the house like a scared child. Well, not today. She was going to escape the confines and go for a walk.

  She wrapped the cloak around her and left the house. She was tired of living in the safe haven her husband had set for her, while he roamed London and carried on affairs.

  Phoebe arrived at the ruins and climbed one set of the steps to the only remaining battlement wall. At the top she faced the sun; the breeze blew her hair from behind. She inhaled deeply and filled her lungs with the fresh, ocean air. She should have come here long ago. In the distance she saw a rider. It was probably Noah coming in search of her. She knew she would receive a scolding for leaving the house but at the moment she didn’t care. The only thing that mattered to her was the child within, and herself. She refused to think of Taylor and his betrayal on such a lovely day. There was another rider, behind Noah. Probably one of his friends.

  Phoebe groaned. She didn’t want to see any of them. They were Taylor’s friends. She turned away to find a man standing directly before her. Phoebe knew instinctively this was Boris. She opened her mouth to scream, but Boris grabbed her, turned and put his back to the riders. With any luck he hadn’t seen them.

  “I don’t know why I silenced you. It is not like anybody is going to hear your screams out here.”

  So he hadn’t seen the riders. She could only pray Noah and his friend arrived in time.

  He loosened his hold, let his hand drop from her mouth and patted her protruding stomach. Phoebe recoiled.

  “It looks like I was almost too late. Taylor get you before the vows were said?”

  “No,” she spat and tried to back away.

  “Keep going; it is what I had planned.”

  Phoebe looked behind and stopped. She was close to the edge. A few more steps and she would fall to her death.

  * * *

  Taylor’s heart was in his throat. He spotted her at the top of the wall and watched Boris approach from behind and grab her. He rode harder, watching her back toward the edge of the wall in agonizing fear. Thank the Lord she stopped before it was too late. Noah had already reached the ruins and dismounted.

  Noah didn’t even ask why Taylor was suddenly there. Instead he gestured and indicated a separate set of steps, one at each end of the wall. Separating, they silently walked around the wall and began to climb. He couldn’t see her from here and his heart pounded fiercely in his chest. As he climbed, their voices became clear. Phoebe kept him talking and Boris began to brag.

  * * *

  “It should have been obvious why I am doing this, Lady Sandlin.”

  “You killed the others as well?” Phoebe moved away from the edge, searching for an escape .

  “Of course. It was child’s play. You, however, almost proved impossible.” He was so sure of himself now. “Almost.”

  “How many times?”

  “Five, no six, I think. Let me see. First, I missed when I shot at you.”

  “You shot at me that weekend. I wasn’t betrothed to Taylor at that time.”

  “No, you weren’t, but I had been watching. He was in love with you even then. I had just decided to eliminate you early.”

  “When was the next?” Phoebe was horrified. He had been watching and waiting. Why hadn’t she listened this time and stayed inside? Oh, if she got out of this, she vowed to act more responsible and less impetuous.

  “I was driving the carriage that ran you down shortly before your marriage. Unfortunately, I missed again.”

  The incident came back to her in a flash and she now saw his face holding the reigns. How could she have forgotten the details?

  “My next attempt was in trying to wreck your carriage. You only suffered a few bruised ribs, didn’t you?”

  “Taylor could have been killed.”

  “It was a risk I was willing to take. Truth be told though, I’m not ready for Taylor to die. No, I intend for him to live a long time.”

  “Oh, I almost forgot. The horse. I hadn’t counted on you being such an excellent rider. To think, I caused such a fine animal such pain for nothing.”

  Phoebe realized that he had been following them everywhere. How often had he overheard them talk, or watched during their more intimate moments? “What did you do to the horse?” She and Taylor had always wondered at what had spooked him so.

  “Just a bit of poison. Enough to make him more excitable than usual. Once the small pricks from the needles entered the skin, it caused enhanced painful sensations.”

  From the corner of her eyes, Phoebe saw movement, but didn’t look that way, afraid of betraying her rescuer.

  “Let me see, what did I try next? Oh yes, the fire. I must applaud you on your choice of costume. As soon as I heard, I purchased the book myself. I thought the disguise of Bluebeard particularly fitting. Didn’t you?”

  “It is an evil story about an evil man.”

  “That would depend on one’s point a view now, wouldn’t it?”

  Phoebe didn’t answer. She edged a bit further way, but she still was not out of reach.

  “Then I tried what had been used on the first wife. Anyone can tell by looking at you, it didn’t work. Though I can’t imagine why. There was enough of that herb to cause an elephant to lose its young.”

  “I only had a few bites of my meal,” she retorted and inched back, away from him.

  “For a short time I really believed you had lost the child. Then Taylor started acting strangely, and I realized that he still had time to get another child on you before his birthday. That is when I thought he had caught onto my game, and he had, hadn’t he.”

  “Attempts on the life of one’s wife tend to make a husband rather suspicious.”

  “While he was off gallivanting in London, I returned here and have been waiting for you to emerge from the house. I could never get close enough to look into a window to satisfy my curiosity because your husband has so many guards posted. That, in itself, however, convinced me you hadn’t lost the child at all. I was finally rewarded for my patience when you so lovingly greeted your brother yesterday.”

  Phoebe’s face went cold and she knew it drained of color. She had run from the house, without a care, so happy to see Noah. To think he had been out there, waiting the entire time.
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  “I knew you were unhappy with Taylor’s behavior. Especially since it was obvious in the beginning he was trying to throw me off. But how you must have felt when he did take up with a mistress, one he can barely stand to be away from? Remember when he felt that way about you? Does it hurt as much as I would imagine it would?”

  “My feelings for my husband and his actions are none of your concern.”

  “You are right, of course. But his actions serve me perfectly. Do you think he will be distraught over the loss of you and the child? Perhaps not. But society will blame him for your death, I suppose, with sympathy only for you. Especially after all the stories he let go around while he kept you locked in the country until you could give birth to his brat and heir while Lady Bates warmed his bed. Society will understand your desperation when they learn how you threw yourself from the wall over his betrayal. Poor Phoebe. So heartbroken she couldn’t stand to live anymore.” He took a step forward.

  She stepped away from him. “Nobody would ever believe what you say.”

  He laughed at her. “Of course they would, dear. It’s a delightful scandal.”

  Phoebe knew she was out of time. She had kept him talking, trying to find a way of escape, but he had come to the end of his story. What now? With only one option left, she turned, intending to run to the other set of steps. Before she could take one step, he grabbed her hair, yanking her back. Phoebe bit back a scream.

  * * *

  Taylor ran toward them. His movements were noted and suddenly he stood facing Boris, who held Phoebe in front of him. Her eyes widened with shock at seeing him. He didn’t know who was more surprised, his wife or his cousin.

  “Trying to rescue your heir?”

  “I am trying to rescue my wife,” Taylor ground out.