by Claudy Conn
When Searington was in sight, Bess released a thankful sigh, and it wasn’t long before the earl was helping her dismount, as gently as he could. Thomas immediately ran to her and threw his arms around her waist. It hurt, but she cringed and kept herself from crying out from the pain. Instead, she ruffled his head and said, “Let’s get you washed and fed.”
“Could I get fed first and then washed?” Thomas asked hopefully.
They laughed and ushered him into the house, where they encountered Maddy, who clasped her hands as she looked at Bess and said, “I knew it. I knew it. You are hurt. I can see you are hurt. What happened to you?” She then spied Thomas and said, “Oh, my poor child … oh … what wickedness has occurred?”
Donna gave Maddy a quick rendition as they filed into the kitchen, where they accosted Cook Anna and demanded food, there and then.
It wasn’t long before plates of enticing food were set before them all, and while Maddy clucked over devilry and evil villains, they all went about the job of eating with great enthusiasm.
Thomas eyed Bess and asked quietly all at once, “Why did those Gypsies want me dead?”
Bess frowned and said, “There are always people in this world willing to be wicked for money.”
When Maddy clucked some more, Bess turned an arched look at her and threw her nanny a kiss.
“Who would pay them to … to—” Thomas started to ask the earl.
The earl cut him off and said, “Young lad, ye needn’t worry aboot that. We mean to get to the bottom of it, so ye shouldn’t think on it any longer.” He smiled and changed the subject. “Are ye looking forward to seeing yer kin, Mary Russell?”
Thomas brightened, but only a little. “I suppose.”
“Ah, it is like that, is it?” the earl returned softly. “Right then, ye need a bath, young man, and then ye need to turn in.”
Thomas smiled. “Agreed, my lord.”
“One thing,” the earl asked softly. “Can ye tell me if ye heard anything that might shed some light on this matter?”
The boy shook his head. “One moment I was playing with the baby goats, and the next, someone had his hands over my mouth. I tried biting him when, all at once, I blacked out …”
The earl exchanged a glance with Bess, and Donna exclaimed that the child had been drugged somehow.
“So ye never heard any odd names, maybe even a name ye might have recognized?” the earl asked intently.
“They talked about a flash covey but never a name,” Thomas said solemnly.
“Right then, we’ll talk no more of it. All ye have to do now is feel more the thing. Miss Maddy is just waiting to take ye up for a nice hot bath.” The earl smiled at the older woman, who gave the boy a gentle pat.
“She can’t stay with me when I undress though,” Thomas immediately said on a worried note.
Everyone laughed, and Maddy said, “I’ll trust you to scrub yourself well, including behind your dirty ears. How is that?”
He agreed to it, and they watched Maddy lead him to the kitchen door, where he stopped and turned. “I shall never forget any of you or what you did for me today.” He eyed them shyly. “I hope you will never forget me.”
“Never, ever, could we forget you, Thomas, and we will visit you as much as we can until you are heartily sick of us all, I promise,” Bess said at once.
The lad smiled and turned a questioning look to the earl, who returned his smile and reassured him, “Ye can make a safe wager on it, lad. Ye are stuck with us all.”
Thomas grinned and left them to look at one another meaningfully, and Donna whispered, “Oh, I do wish Robby were back. This entire thing makes me feel sick, because it isn’t over, is it?”
“No, it isn’t. Whoever paid those Gypsies still wants the lad out of the way. The blackguard behind this is the one we need to find,” Bess said. She turned to the earl. “I wonder if we should allow Thomas to leave here where we know he is safe. Will he be safe at Mary Russell’s?”
The earl frowned. “I need to think this out.”
* * *
Robby arrived on the scene, rubbing his hands and grinning from ear to ear. Since Cook had left with Maddy to help her get the boy’s bath ready, Robby began looking around her cupboard for something to eat.
Donna jumped up, rushed her husband, and threw her arms around him. “You are back and safe.”
He patted her shoulder and kissed her forehead. “And what, did you ever doubt it?”
She smiled, for even as he spoke he was reaching for a biscuit he had found. She took his hand, led him to the table, and bade him sit with her, which he did.
After stuffing the last of the biscuit in his mouth, he pinched her chin and warned her in a hard voice Bess had rarely heard him use in the past, “Donna, I tell you frankly and will not brook an argument on this, I won’t have you going off willy nilly like you did. You are my wife, and I won’t have you in danger. Those two Gypsies were as black-hearted a pair as ever I saw, and to think that you and your little partner in stealth were tracking them all alone …” He paused and closed his eyes before continuing, “is more than I can bear.” He looked lovingly into her eyes and said, “I won’t have it—you can’t ever do such a thing, not ever again. Won’t have my wife running amok all over the countryside.”
Bess looked at them and smiled. Donna was a tall and substantial young woman, but Robby always behaved as though she was a delicate flower. Bess saw the pleasure on her face and knew her friend was happy with his obvious concern, but she still couldn’t believe the meekness of Donna’s tone as she nuzzled her husband’s chin with her cheek and said, “Yes, Robby.”
Bess burst out laughing and then, finding that rollicking laughter hurt her side, held herself and mimicked, “Yes, Robby.”
He wagged a finger at her and said, “This is your doing, she-devil.”
The earl turned an upraised brow at Robby. “She-devil is not exactly what I would call the lass, Robby. These two exhibited bravery such as I have never witnessed before in their gender. Quite remarkable,” he said and looked at Bess in such a way that she felt the heat rush to her cheeks.
“Well, some might call it foolish,” Bess allowed.
“Not I, though I, like Robby, wish you will never do such a thing again. However, I must also add that had it not been for you, and Donna here, I don’t know what would have become of that boy today.”
Robby beamed. “Indeed, proud of my wife and even you, sauce-box.” He grinned wickedly at Bess over his wife’s head. “But this whole thing has given me a start. What is to do now?”
“First, tell us, what did the Gypsies say to the authorities? Did he name the man who paid him to take the boy?” the earl asked as he played with his lower lip.
For a moment, Bess became transfixed on the earl’s sensuous mouth and felt her own lips part as her lashes got lazy.
Robby brought her back to reality as he shook his head, set his wife aside, and shifted in his chair, “No, he said though he met with the man, he only knew him as Smith, just Smith.”
“But he would recognize him if he saw him again?” the earl asked thoughtfully.
“He said that he would, told us the man was a flash, always dressed to the nines. Said he would only identify him if we were lenient with him and his mother. That was his deal, so for the moment we have nothing, other than this Smith fellow who found him on the outskirts of London some weeks ago and initiated the entire plan.”
“Right then. We shall eventually have to draw this ‘Smith’ out and make him desperate enough to make a move,” Bess said thoughtfully.
“Not we, my girl. My concern now is keeping Thomas safe. I don’t believe he will be safe at Mary Russell’s,” the earl said quietly.
“Not with that Bernard Holland there. I shouldn’t make snap judgments, and yet I don’t trust him,” Bess returned, putting a steadying hand to her side. She was beginning to feel really fatigued from the pain.
“The proprieties require that I send
over some notice that we have Thomas safe and sound, yet I am loathe to do so,” the earl said as he sat back in his wooden chair and pyramided his fingers. “It occurs to me that the doctor feels he must stay in bed and rest. Indeed, my London doctor, who was in the vicinity visiting friends, was kind enough to pay us a visit. He believes the boy’s coughing and sneezing is infectious, and there is no need for Mary to visit and expose herself.”
“Brilliant!” Bess said with admiration. “What a wonderful idea, but this means you are suspicious of Bernard Holland, as I am.” Bess asked worriedly, “What is to be done? We simply can’t allow him to get his hands on the boy again. If Holland is this mysterious Mr. Smith, how do we prove it?”
“Aye, therein lies the trick of it. He is probably the next in line, and if so, that goes a long way to proving it. I canna be certain till I investigate the situation. However, I most definitely suspect Holland is behind it all. I also think we are dealing now with a desperate man. His plan has gone awry, hasn’t it? And we now know his plan wasn’t for ransom. That would have been a temporary solution, and apparently whoever was behind this was after something more permanent.” He chewed his bottom lip.
Bess focused on his mouth and felt a rush of heat travel through her body. It was as though she were hypnotized as she watched him.
Suddenly he sighed heavily and continued, “Aye then, as I said, my job will be to discover who is next in line to inherit the squire’s vast fortune. Therein lies our answer to this problem.”
“I asked Mary, and she said she didn’t know,” Bess offered on a frown.
“Well, I mean to find out. Do ye think, my bonnie lass, that you can keep Thomas safely in tow here tomorrow while I go off and do just that?”
“Yes, oh, yes, but where are you going?” Bess paused and added, “You know what strikes me as odd is as pleasant as Mary Russell is, she doesn’t seem to have much sense. After all, she seems to genuinely like her cousin, and he seems to be forever at her side. Therefore, I can’t trust her judgment or her ability to keep Thomas unharmed.” She shook her head. “No one is taking that boy out of our care until we know he will be safe.”
He eyed her with amusement in his blue eyes, and she responded to it by dimpling. Did it show, she wondered, how much power he held over her? What was she to do? She knew what she wanted: marriage or no, she wanted to be with him, feel his kisses, his touch, to continue what he had started the other night. Did it show? Did everyone see it on her face?
“Will ye promise me to stay here at Searington while I am gone, will ye, lass?” he asked and took up her hand to put it to his lips. “I canna think of ye running aboot the countryside and still have a clear head.”
“Of course I will stay here and entertain Thomas, and besides, the truth is I think I need a day’s rest to recover from that blow that odious old Gypsy woman gave me.”
“What you need is a good hot soaking, as do I,” Donna said as she moved away from her husband, whom she had been nuzzling all the while. “I think I need to go up and splash some hot water on myself and then lie down for a bit.”
“Wait, Donna, what are you saying?” Robby exclaimed worriedly. “I haven’t eaten—not lunch, no tea—and from your empty plates, I see that you have.” He shook his head. “I need some dinner … shall I eat here in the kitchen? You obviously ate here.” He was already up and moving in on Anna, who had just re-entered the kitchen. He put an arm around her large frame and squeezed her shoulders as he nudged her coaxingly. “Have you a plate for me, my comely Anna, for anything you cook up is always spot on.”
The plump older woman smiled fondly, for Robby had already gotten to know her over the last few days and many visits to her in the kitchen. She mumbled something about not knowing where he put all the food he took in as she looked over his tall, well built form and led him to another counter.
“Dinner, yes, I suppose we did just have dinner,” Bess said on a laugh. “We certainly ate enough to last us till noon tomorrow.”
Bess got up at that point to follow Donna out, but she found that she could scarcely stand as pain shot through her and made her wobble.
She attempted a smile and told her friend, who hesitated at the doorway, “Go on up, Donna. I shall follow you up in a few moments.”
Donna frowned. “Shall I help you, Bess? Do you need my arm?”
“Nonsense—go on,” Bess insisted.
Donna frowned again and shook her head. “You are stubborn. I think I will just give you my arm …”
Bess smiled feebly and waved her off. “I shan’t take it. I am not such a weakling that—oh!”
The earl settled the argument by scooping her up and gently lifting her in his arms, cradle-like. He said firmly, though to Bess his voice was a caress, “Just relax, love. Doona move, for I am taking ye and seeing to yer needs, so ye might as well hold yer whist.” He nodded to Donna. “Ye can go on up yerself, Donna, and no worry about her. She’ll do as she is told.” The earl eyed her with lively mischief in his bright blues.
Donna laughed, waved everyone off, and vanished ahead of them as the earl took his time.
Bess was spellbound by him.
She knew it and just held on. She had always been a strong-minded woman with notions of her own. She didn’t take orders well, but she also knew at times she needed someone to pull in her reins.
With the earl, she felt safe and at that moment secure in his arms. She wanted him to take over as he carried her out of the kitchen, down the hall, and up the main staircase. There it was: she wanted him to manage her—when it suited her, of course, she told herself.
The manner in which he held her, something in his air and attitude, made her feel as though she was a most precious prize and he was being especially careful not to break, or hurt, or disrupt who she was. He made her feel as though he liked her just as she was, that he wouldn’t change a thing about her, and that meant the world to her.
The notion made her smile to herself.
However, at the top of the stairs, he turned away from her room, and she didn’t hesitate to ask, “Wait, where are you going?”
“Well, the lad is in the main house tub, so I thought I’d get mine ready for you.”
She blushed furiously. “Oh thank you, but I couldn’t … not the one in your room, I just couldn’t … and it wouldn’t be …”
“Och lass, I won’t be in the room, not when ye bathe, so where is the harm?” He grinned wickedly. “With ye hurting as ye are, ye just need to let me tend ye, for I mean to whether ye deny me or not.”
“But, my lord, not in your room,” she objected still.
“I’ll just draw ye a bath—why should ye wait when soaking in a tub is just what ye need, lass? Ye see, m’man already has a drum of water ready for heating and a fire lit, so it won’t take long, and while ye wait for me to prepare it for ye, why don’t ye rest …” He hesitated and grinned wickedly. “… on m’bed.”
“Oh … oh … I … no … I.” She looked at him and swallowed hard.
He managed to open his door with a dexterity she could not help but admire. A moment later, he had pushed it in with his booted foot and set her on her feet by his bed. “Lie or sit, whichever ye feel more comfortable doing. I won’t be long, lass.” He smiled at her, and her heart fluttered. In spite of her resolve to leave his quarters, she remained. She could not help but stare at his huge bed. She couldn’t lie on it. What a completely brazen thing to do. If she had been years younger, it was just the sort of thing she and Donna would have done had they the chance, just for the thrill and the giggle, but now … oh, no, she just couldn’t.
He stuck his head out of the ante-room and said lightly, “Doona ye have yer clothes off yet? If ye are feeling too modest, m’dressing gown is right there on the chair. Just slip it on when ye have yer gown off—or do ye need me to help ye get it off?” he said, once again with a mischievous grin.
“I can manage, thank you, but don’t stick your head out again until I tell you I am done.
”
“Aye, m’lady, as ye wish,” he said softly.
A few moments later, she was in his dressing gown, which hung loosely around her body and to her ankles. She tied the black ribbon tightly around her waist to keep it from slipping off her shoulders, and he said, “Ready?”
“Yes, thank you,” she answered, once again feeling the heat in her cheeks.
“I want to have a look at yer bruises and make certain ye didna break yer ribs,” he told her as he approached.
“Look at my bruises? Well, you can’t … I mean, no, and I am certain nothing is broken. Only bruised. There is no need for concern.” Her voice trailed off as she stared at him. Just what was he asking her to do? She would have to remove the robe if he wanted to look at her bruises, which were considerable and quite vicious in appearance.
“Right then.” He allowed this to drop. “Yer bath is ready, m’lady.”
She arched a look at him because he looked very pleased with himself and managed to murmur, “Thank you.” She stood and waited for him to leave.
He laughed. “I shall leave ye shortly, but I have a notion to wait until I hear ye climb into yer bath safely. I put a chair near it for ye to lean on should ye need a bit of help.”
“You are very kind, but I can manage. You shouldn’t remain here while I am in my bath.”
“And I won’t, but oblige me, woman, and get into the bath while I am here, so I know ye managed the thing without hurting yerself.”
“Oh, very well then,” she said, went into the cozy chamber, and started to close the door.
“Doona lock it, for then I would be forced to break it down, and so I would if I thought ye in trouble. Understood?”
Their eyes met and locked, and she found she couldn’t speak, so she nodded in response.
“Good then,” he said and allowed her to close the door.
He had been right to be concerned. It took her a great deal of effort to lift her leg and get into the oversized tub. She dropped low into the lovely hot water and played with the bubbles a fraction of a moment before she called out, “I am in and safe, thank you.”