Bedeviled Bride (Regency Historical Romance)

by Knight-Catania, Jerrica

  Having delivered a sufficient scolding, the woman tipped her head back again, closed her eyes and resumed her chant. But something about the moment had tickled Beth, and she felt the sudden urge to laugh.

  She chided herself for being so silly and immature, but she couldn't help it. Her body shook slightly with the effort to hold her laughter in, and when Michael squeezed her hand, it became even more difficult.

  She tried to take a deep breath to center herself, but she inhaled a large whiff of incense and dissolved into a fit of coughing. When she finally got hold of herself, she looked up to find Madam Rosa staring daggers at her. Again.

  Beth gulped. “Sorry,” she muttered. “The, erm, smoke...”

  “Perhaps you do not wish to conduct this séance, my lady,” the woman accused in her thick, Spanish accent.

  “No!” Beth felt her cheeks flush at being so brazenly confronted, and in mixed company. “I'm ready. I promise.”

  And then the séance finally commenced. Madam Rosa tilted her head back and began chanting yet again, and it wasn't long before a palpable chill permeated the large room. The medium's head lowered slowly, until her chin was parallel with the table, and her eyes snapped open, their focus on the older couple across the table.

  Beth turned in the direction of the woman's fierce gaze. Mr. and Mrs. Kerr looked as if they had indeed seen a ghost. They both sat deathly still and stark white, and the confusion mounted for the rest of the participants. Covert glances were exchanged among the four who seemed to be uninvolved now.

  Michael caught Beth's gaze for a moment and something reassuring passed between them. She squeezed his hand and then turned back to the woman just in time to hear her say:

  “You took my baby.”

  ***

  Well, this was completely unexpected. Michael shifted his gaze to the couple at the other side of the round table. They sat there, shaking and terrified, as the medium—or whoever she was at this moment—made her accusation. Michael didn't like this one bit.

  The Kerrs were old and kind people; it wasn't fair they'd been dragged into this. Michael had a mind to stop the whole thing right then, but Beth must have sensed that desire, for she squeezed his hand again in a silent warning to remain quiet. Clearly, she wanted to see how this would play out.

  Admittedly, so did he, but he didn't like having his servants terrorized.

  That thought brought him up short. Why did he care so much about his servants being terrorized and not about his own wife? This ghost had been coming to her for weeks, keeping her awake at night and making her jumpy in the day. She hadn't said much to him about it since they'd gone to Inverness to see Madam Rosa, but she didn't have to. It was all over her face. In the things she said when she talked in her sleep.

  Resolved to keep his mouth shut and let the medium do her work to the end, Michael turned his attention back to the eerie scene that played out before him.

  “We didn't,” Mrs. Kerr muttered, her mouth barely moving in her pale face.

  “Where is my baby?” the woman asked, but her voice had turned almost wailing.

  The Kerrs looked at one another and then back at the medium. This time, Mr. Kerr spoke.

  “Margaret,” he said, and he sounded as if he might burst into tears at any moment. “We don't know. We...gave her away...to a family who could care better for her.”

  “Who?” This question came from Beth, who sat beside him, absorbed in the drama. She obviously regretted her outburst, for she cleared her throat and muttered, “I'm sorry,” to the room at large.

  But the Kerrs didn't seem to notice. They answered the question just the same.

  “They were a nice family,” Mrs. Kerr explained, her focus still on Madam Rosa. “From Inverness, where she could have an education and other children to play with. We wanted our granddaughter to have a happy childhood, Margaret. The Gilchrists were willing to take her in, since they could not have children of their own—”

  “Gilchrist?”

  All eyes turned to Bonnie, who had cut the woman off, including the medium...Margaret...whoever she was.

  “Yes, dear, Alan and Fiona Gilchrist.” There was a pause, and then, “Do you know of them?”

  Bonnie shook her head, and her loud swallow could be heard in the now silent room. “I don't know of them. I know them. Alan and Fiona Gilchrist are my grandparents.”

  Thirty-Six

  “Your what?” Mrs. Kerr stared at the girl, her eyes wide and her mouth agape.

  “They are my grandparents...though, I haven't seen them in many years. When my mother refused to give up her baby—me—they sent her away, to a secluded home, far out in the country. That is where I was raised for the most part, and Alan and Fiona visited often. But then mother discovered she had...special talents. She found a benefactor and we left our small country cottage for a grand manor home in Edinburgh. That is when Alan and Fiona ceased their visits.”

  “My daughter?”

  All eyes turned to the medium, still inhabited by the spirit of Margaret.

  “Dead,” Bonnie said, with very little emotion. “From childbirth.”

  Good Lord, did everyone die in childbirth? Beth felt sick to her stomach all of a sudden. The ghost and the stories and the pungent smell of the incense were all coming together to turn her stomach in a most violent manner.

  Don't swoon, don't swoon!

  “Beth?” she heard Michael's voice through the haze of her sudden illness. When he touched her skin, it ached, as if a thousand needles were pricking her arm.

  Her world started to spin. There was a flurry of activity around her, voices calling her name and other strands of conversation that didn’t make sense to Beth just then.

  And then, almost as quickly as it had begun, it all stopped. The queasy feeling in her stomach was gone. Her head no longer felt light, and her skin no longer ached, though she was damp with perspiration. A chill ran up her spine, prompting Michael to divest himself of his jacket and throw it about her shoulders.

  Beth blinked until her eyes were able to focus again. Six concerned faces stared back at her, including Madam Rosa, who seemed to be herself again.

  “What happened?” Beth asked, not to anyone in particular. She wasn’t sure who, if anyone, would have an answer for her.

  “You became a bit overset, my darling,” Michael said, his voice husky and low as he brushed damp pieces of hair from her forehead.

  “I know what happened to me.” She turned her gaze to the medium. “What happened to...to Margaret?”

  “She’s gone,” the woman informed her.

  “Gone?” Beth couldn’t believe a ghost that had been there for that many years would just up and vanish after one séance that lasted only a few minutes. But then all her dreams and encounters came flooding back. “She was looking for her daughter, wasn’t she? But her daughter is...”

  Like the most difficult of puzzles, all the pieces began to fit together.

  She turned to Bonnie, who she noticed had tears in her eyes. “That means that Mr. and Mrs. Kerr are your great grandparents, I think.”

  Bonnie nodded while the Kerrs sat in their seats, clearly overset themselves by all the evening’s discoveries.

  “Perhaps,” Michael finally cut in, “we should all retire for the evening. We’ve accomplished what we set out to accomplish this evening. And I have a feeling we all need a good night’s sleep before we embark on a closer look at the Kerr family tree. Madam Rosa, if you will follow Mrs. Kerr, she will take you to your room.”

  Madam Rosa nodded her thanks, but not a single person issued a protest to Michael’s statements. Slowly and quietly, they all rose from their seats, blew out the candles and left the formerly haunted wing of Dunbocan

  ***

  Beth allowed Michael to lead her through the darkened house back to their chambers. They had yet to resolve their earlier argument, but at this point, Beth didn’t care. She just wanted to be with him. She wanted to put all their differences behind them and
move on, now that the ghost was supposedly gone from their lives.

  As they approached her door, she turned to him. She didn’t say anything, but simply threw herself into his arms and burrowed her head in his shoulder. Tears pricked the backs of her eyelids, but she held them back. It was all over; there was no reason to cry.

  Michael’s arms went around her, strong and secure. “Oh, my love,” he whispered. “How I’ve missed you. Please say you won’t shut me out anymore.”

  “Come to me tonight?” Her voice came out almost like a squeak, and Michael pulled back from her with a smile.

  “Try and stop me,” he returned, just before he lowered his lips to hers.

  The kiss was everything she needed in that moment. Warmth and comfort and reassurance. It was tender and selfless, and she kissed him back, letting her tongue tangle with his in languid strokes.

  Her racing heart slowed to a steady pulse, matching the rhythm of their breath, which seemed to be one now. And as his one hand trailed up her back to sink into the hair at the nape of her neck, all the tension of the evening, of the day, of the past several weeks, drained from her body and seemed to melt into the floor beneath them.

  Before Beth knew what had happened, Michael had scooped her up and carried her slowly through the door. He never stopped kissing her as he closed the door behind them, or as he walked to the bed. Not even when he sat her down on the mattress and began to undo her buttons at the back of her dress.

  Inch by inch, the chilly air invaded her body as Michael undressed her. But there wasn’t much time to notice the cold before he’d undressed himself and pushed her back to the mattress, bringing the bedclothes up around them.

  His breath, warm and spicy, like the scotch he was so fond of, removed the last of her chills as he placed open-mouthed kisses down her neck, to the valley between her breasts, and finally came to rest over her achingly taut nipple.

  Beth moaned as he teased her with his tongue.

  “Oh, my darling,” he rasped as he looked at her with heavy eyelids. “Did I mention how much I’ve missed you? Dear God, don’t ever ban me from your bed again.”

  Beth couldn’t help but giggle. “It’s only been two days, Michael,” she said, but only to tease him. She had no intention of ever denying herself the pleasures of his company—in or out of the bed—ever again. She would find another way to torture him when he made her angry.

  But clearly, he wanted to play, for he ceased his ministrations. “Is that all?” he asked. “Well, that’s not a very long time, is it?” He very slowly began to withdraw from her, but Beth was having none of it.

  “Don’t you dare,” she warned, knowing full well he didn’t really plan to stop, but enjoying the wickedness of their banter.

  “But, it’s only been two days, my love. Surely you meant to punish me for longer than that.”

  Beth shook her head, meeting his eyes with all the intensity she felt in her heart. “No,” she whispered. “I don’t want to punish you ever again.”

  Michael’s lips met hers with such force, she was sure they would be bruised in the morning. But she didn’t care.

  They joined as husband and wife. The scents of their desire filled the air as he plundered her, sweet and pungent, arousing Beth to heights she’d yet to experience. She no longer worried that she might become pregnant with his child. Whatever the outcome of their passion, she would not be afraid. Not with Michael by her side.

  It seemed like hours before she was able to even think clearly again, let alone speak, but when she did find her voice, there was only one thing she wanted to say:

  “I love you, Michael Wetherby.”

  Epilogue

  “They’re here! Michael, come quickly!” Beth danced about at the window, waiting for Michael to join her so they could greet their guests together. What was taking him so long? She was going to die from her excitement.

  “Goodness, Beth, they’ve yet to even come to a stop in the drive,” Michael said, coming up beside her.

  “Don’t ruin this moment by trying to make me see reason. It’s been more than a year since I’ve seen my cousin.” Beth’s stomach dipped with nerves and anticipation. Part of her was desperate to be with Chloe, but another part of her worried about all that had transpired in London. Heavens, it felt like centuries ago. Bygones were certainly bygones, but still, what would it be like to be in the same room together now?

  “Well, come then.” Michael took her by the elbow and led her toward the front door. “Let us wait in the drive for them.”

  Beth smiled wide. It was quite possible that she was the luckiest, most doted upon woman in the entire world. Michael had proved that just days after the séance, when he arrived home from town with a witch in tow. The witch who, once and for all, rid Dunbocan of the spirit world.

  And truth be known, Michael was quite lucky himself. Somehow, they’d fallen into the most compatible marriage Beth could have imagined. They certainly still had their differences from time to time, but they were both always eager to resolve them.

  They walked onto the portico together, arm in arm, just as the carriage came to a stop before them.

  Michael turned kind eyes on her. “Are you sure you’re ready for this?”

  Beth nodded. “I’ve missed her so,” she said. “I just hope seeing Andrew won’t be awkward. What about you?”

  “I got what I wanted from the start. I’ve nothing to feel awkward about.”

  Beth smiled again and leaned her head against his shoulder.

  After a brief pause, Michael asked, “And what about seeing their baby? Will seeing him…”

  A painful twisting happened in Beth’s chest. It might be difficult to see little Benedict. They’d been hopeful for so long, yet there was still no baby. Beth wondered if she would ever know what it was like to be a mother. And she wondered if Michael would one day regret marrying her if she couldn’t bear him a child.

  “It might not be easy,” she said quietly, “but I will love that little boy as if he were my own. As I love John and Bonnie’s little girl.”

  Michael squeezed her hand, and Beth fought back the tears that threatened to spill onto her cheeks. “You are the most wonderful aunt any child could ask for,” he said, drawing her closer to him. “But more importantly, you are the most wonderful wife a man could ask for.”

  She turned to him suddenly, her heart swollen with love for this incredible man. “You mean that? Even if I can’t give you a child?”

  “My sweet Elizabeth, after all this time, you ought to know me better than that.” He kissed her upon her nose and gazed down at her with so much love, she wanted to cry. “I married you because I loved you. Nothing will ever change that.”

  With her spirit soothed, she turned toward her cousin in the drive and smiled. Andrew stood beside her, their son in his arms, and they both waved up at Michael and Beth.

  All the tension and worry melted away, leaving only excitement for the next month with her cousin Chloe. “Well, then,” she said with an adoring smile meant only for her husband, “let us go and greet our family.”

  The End

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  © 2011 Jerrica Knight-Catania, Lilia Birney, Samantha Grace

  In JERRICA KNIGHT-CATANIA’s Loving Mister Lockwell, Lady Isabel Whitton has no use for people other than her twin sister -- she much prefers the company of her books. So when she discovers that all her cousins from near and far have been summoned to her home, Danby Castle, for Christmas, she isn't pleased. To make matters even worse, the deplorable Mister Lockwell has come uninvited. * Damien L
ockwell, 3rd son of the Earl of Totterdown, has invited himself to Yorkshire for Christmas. Spending the holiday with the Whittons seems far preferable to watching his father drink himself into a stupor. And Lady Isabel proves to be just the kind of entertainment he was looking for -- she's smart as a whip and quite the most unique creature he's ever met -- not to mention she despises him, which is the most thrilling part of all for a man like Damien.

  ~ * ~

  In LILIA BIRNEY’s A Second Chance For Christmas, Philip Whitton has been summoned back home by his grandfather after a wastrel existence in Italy, studying music and trying to forget his first love. Emily Barlow, nee Ware, is picking up the pieces of her shattered existence following her husband's death. Thrown together by chance on the road back home to Danby, Emily and Philip rekindle the flames of their old passion. Will the fire burn itself out like it did before, or are they ready to follow their hearts and live out the truth of their love?

  ~ * ~

  In SAMANTHA GRACE’s Twice Upon a Time - since her father’s untimely death, Felicity Halliday has relied on the medical knowledge learned at his side to treat London’s most disreputable in order to support her family. Life has been hard, but everything changes the night she is snatched from an alley behind a theatre and tossed into a nobleman’s carriage. * It has been less than a fortnight since Julian Beckford returned to London after a sojourn in India, and he’s already up to his top-boots in one of his cousin’s mad schemes. When his foolish cousin decides to engage an actress to play his wife over the holidays at Danby Castle, Julian becomes an unwilling party to the lady’s abduction. Along their journey to Yorkshire, Julian makes a stunning discovery about his cousin's pretend wife....and finds it’s possible to love Twice Upon a Time.