Wounds of A Viscount: (The Valiant Love Regency Romance) (A Historical Romance Book)

by Deborah Wilson

  Was that his secret?

  He was the strongest man, not in the garden that day, not in London, not even in England, but the world. Well, after that, what was the point of struggling and trying to fit in with everyone else? He was the strongest man in the world. Who cared if he had to hire an assistant to translate for him? He’d felt empowered, flattered, and greatly moved.

  Nora bit her lip. “I can’t believe you remember that.”

  He remembered the tresses that had escaped from her bonnet and every labored pause she’d taken between the words. George and Miriam had truly put her to work that day. The rest of them, Garrick, Clive, Kent, and James had joined in later, but Nora was great with the children. She was kind to Lucy and Kent. She was beautiful and perfect in every way. She was a queen in his eyes, yet she’d managed to look at him and see strength in this humble man.

  “Did you mean it when you said it?”

  She grinned. Her eyes squinted, and her voice lowered. “You’d endured so much and then you returned to London and you faced the ton every day. You don’t hide away and spend your days in your home, because it would make the people around you more comfortable. Instead, you step out and you brave the world and force them to look at you.” After a pause, she asked, “Would you still like to know if I meant what I said?”

  “No, you better not tell me. Not tonight.”

  Her eyes widened. “Why not?”

  “Because I swore not to touch you, and I’ll break that promise if you say another word.”

  She pressed her lips together and then signed, “Good night.”

  He turned to douse the lamp and paused. There was a book by the lamp.

  Didascalocophus or rather, The Deaf and Dumb Man’s Tutor.

  She was reading it.

  He smiled and then extinguished the lamp before settling back down. He listened as she pulled back the covers and got in the bed.

  He placed his hands on his chest and stared at the ceiling. He was far from tired and knew he wouldn’t sleep. He had no intentions of sleeping at all. There was the risk of dreaming if he didn’t exhaust himself. Exhaustion meant no dreams and no dreams meant no night terrors.

  He could do some exercises in the other room but couldn’t leave Nora.

  She sighed and adjusted herself. The bed was small. Their sides touched.

  He listened to the voices that could still be heard on the street below. London didn’t sleep.

  Nora shifted again and this time, Garrick couldn’t help but take notice.

  * * *

  Nora moved closer to Garrick. It was either that or she’d fall off. “Do you mind?” She placed her head on his shoulder. He moved and stretched his arm out behind her. She moved against his side. He was warm. Surrounded by his muscle was the most inviting place she’d ever been. Her sheets would smell of him in the morning. That made her smile. She placed her hand on his chest and then finally felt herself begin to drift to sleep.

  ∫ ∫ ∫

  2 0

  * * *

  Nora woke up alone. She felt the space where Garrick had rested and found it cold. How long had he been up? How had he slept? She felt herself spread out over the entire bed. She was not a motionless creature during sleep. She wouldn’t be surprised to learn she’d chased him away.

  She smiled. It was a novelty night, one that would never take place again. She buried her face in the pillow and wondered what she’d do with herself today. It was the same question she’d asked every day since Lucy’s departure.

  She was no longer George’s governess, and Lucy had wanted the trip to Eton to be just her, George, baby Alvin, and Kent, so Nora had no companion duties to carry out. Though, Lucy had never treated her like a companion for a minute.

  Why was she here? Nora knew why she remained, but it wasn’t right. She couldn’t depend on her friends as she did. Lucy wouldn’t even allow her to pay for the room.

  She could take Miriam to the park, but the weather looked terrible. She couldn’t go shopping. She was supposed to be poor and she had a feeling that no matter where she decided to go, they would follow.

  She realized she must have slept well, because it was already late morning. Even with the heavy rain that fell outside her window, she could see the light that tried to penetrate the dull gray clouds. The sound was soothing.

  She moved to the window and looked out on the street. She shivered and accused the coolness of the weather instead of fear. There were few people about. She calmed when she didn’t notice anyone looking her way.

  A hand cupped her shoulder and startled her, but then his scent filled her lungs. Garrick.

  He spun her around. He’d changed and looked handsome in a light jacket and buckskins. “How did you sleep?”

  She was aware of her state of undress and pulled her robe ends together. “Likely better than you. Did I kick you out at some point?”

  He shook his head. “You sleep as though at war with the dark. You hit me a few times.”

  She gasped and touched his arm. It had been a horrible idea for him to remain in her bed. “I’m so sorry.”

  “I had to hold you down.”

  She laughed. “You what?”

  He chuckled. “Yes, it was the only way to get you to calm.” His expression grew stern. “Who are you fighting in your sleep?”

  She giggled. “No one. Myself, perhaps? I don’t have bad dreams, at least, I don’t think I do. My mother told me I was always this way. I never stayed still, not even while she carried me.”

  His eyes softened and then turned molten. “Perhaps, we are the same. We sleep more still after we’ve tired ourselves.”

  She did not want to imagine just how Garrick went about tiring himself. She was certain it involved the brothel. “Do you not sleep well at night?”

  His mouth went grim. “No, I don’t.”

  “Do you have night terrors?”

  He nodded.

  She frowned. “I’m sorry, Garrick.”

  He touched her cheek then pulled away. There were moments when she wished he would simply speak so that he didn’t have to stop touching her. “Now that I have your sympathy, don’t be upset.”

  She frowned. She’d just woken up. She wasn’t sure she understood him correctly. “What? Upset?”

  “Miriam wishes to learn how to…” She didn’t understand the last of what he was saying. There were times when they had to create their own signs where one didn’t exist. They’d done that very thing with the names.

  Garrick stepped back and struck a pose. Then he began to stab the air.

  “Fence!” Nora gasped.

  He nodded. “I think it would be good for her to learn.”

  “For what reason would a young woman need to know how to fence?”

  His shoulders lifted and fell. “No one need know. Also, you said you rarely get a moment alone. Therefore, we let you sleep. What else were we supposed to do with her? And more, she wants to, and Clive and I can hardly refuse such a simple request.”

  “You men are terrible with children,” she accused. “All of you spoil her and George. What if Miriam asks for the impossible?”

  “What is the impossible?” His expression said he truly wished to know.

  Nora rolled her eyes and then shook her head. And then… She covered her face as a sob broke from her lips. Her gratitude for these wonderful men was overwhelming. She’d felt so alone after Nathan’s death and then Lucy had come along and then Kent and the others.

  Garrick pulled her toward him and imprisoned her with his arms. His hardness brought more comfort than she thought bearable. She slightly recalled feeling this sensation through the night. She laughed as she remembered his words. He’d held her down through the night and she’d enjoyed it.

  He pulled away and she sniffed and then turned away to wipe her face.

  “Thank you, I just…” She went to her water basin and cleaned her face. Once she thought herself refreshed enough, she turned to him.

  He stood
in the center of the room. His hands were behind his back. His expression was considering, unintimidating, yet he was still imposing. He could never stop being that, she supposed. Authority was stitched into the very fabric of his bring.

  “Thank you,” she croaked. “For everything.”

  He bowed with a depth that likely should have been reserved for the queen. Then he straightened and grinned.

  Nora looked away. She was very confused as to what was going on between her and Garrick. He shouldn’t be in her room. She shouldn’t have allowed him to lay in her bed, even if he hadn’t touched her. It was as though years of lessons on how to be a well-bred lady were thrown out the window like bathwater the moment she’d become the focus of Garrick’s life.

  She needed to think. She needed to find the means to have her brother arrested. She needed to speak to someone, and she only knew of one person who would help. “I’m going to call on a friend today. You and Clive are free to do as you wish. I’m sure there is much for you to attend to.” She looked up.

  “One of us will go with you,” he said.

  “But that’s not necessary.” She couldn’t talk about Garrick if Garrick or Clive were in the room.

  “It doesn’t matter. Someone was staring into your window last night. We don’t know their intentions. You won’t tell us what’s going on. Therefore, we go where you go.”

  She crossed her arms. “My friend lives on the other side of the block. Nothing will happen to me and Miriam from here to there.”

  He seemed unimpressed with her claim. “I know that, because either Clive or I will be with you.”

  She stomped her foot again. It was likely a habit she’d picked up from the children. “No. Miriam and I will go alone. We won’t discuss this further.”

  He bowed, though his expression was mocking, and then he turned and left.

  Nora lifted her chin, certain they’d understood one another.

  An hour later, Lady Johanna Baxter took another glance through the doors of her parlor and into the foyer where Garrick sat in a chair, grinning. Next to him, Miriam read a book aloud. It was not the first time Miriam had read to the viscount. Even though everyone had told her Garrick was more than capable of reading to himself, she continued to do so and likely wouldn’t stop until Garrick instructed her otherwise… which Nora didn’t see happening in the near future, if ever.

  But as Lady Johanna stared at them, Nora was certain it wasn’t Garrick’s relationship with Miriam that was on her mind. She colored slightly and then turned to Nora and whispered, “Is he not the most delicious man you’ve ever seen?”

  ∫ ∫ ∫

  2 1

  * * *

  “Johanna,” Nora hissed, even as her cheeks flamed.

  Her sister-in-law sat across from her on an ornate couch. “Honestly, I don’t understand why you think to push him away.” The moment Nora had crossed into Johanna’s parlor, she’d unloaded like a ship coming to dock, telling her about her previous night with Garrick and how sweet the men had been to her.

  Nora looked down at her lap. “You know why I cannot take a husband. Not now.” If there was anyone in the world who knew the horror that Nora lived with, it was Johanna. Johanna had been friends with Nora just as long as Selena had, but the two had not been close until she’d pushed Selena away.

  Nora knew her friendship with Johanna had hurt Selena. Whenever they’d seen each other after that, Nora had been with Johanna and Selena had been either alone or with her mother. Selena had avoided looking at her, and Nora had done the same.

  Johanna leaned forward, pretending to be reaching for tea. “Actually, Nora, I don’t. My brother is gone. I think a husband would be good for you and what better a man than one called slightly dangerous?”

  Nora looked over at Garrick again, and her lungs froze.

  He was watching her, a mocking look in his gaze. He’d come. He’d gone against her wishes and trailed her the entire way to Johanna’s home. Actually, he’d done more than trail. He’d held an umbrella over Miriam’s head as the girl pushed her doll, Monica, in her carriage. Monica had slowly been abandoned when George came into her life, but it seemed Miriam was growing attached to the old toy again. She’d had Monica since she was five. Yet, with all the attention Clive and Garrick were showing her, Nora wouldn’t be surprised if Monica was put on the shelf once more.

  Nora stood and moved to sit by Johanna. “Meri approached me.”

  Johanna gasped. Loudly.

  Garrick straightened and narrowed his eyes, but then Miriam said something to him right before she gave him the book. He looked down at the page and Miriam said something to him. Then Garrick opened mouth.

  Nora narrowed her gaze. Was he reading aloud? It appeared so, or at least he was trying.

  “Did you get the gun?” It had been Johanna who’d told her how to get it, a way that couldn’t be connected back to them, just in case Meri had someone watching. Now Nora knew her brother did have someone watching her.

  “I did.”

  “Good. I’m sorry I couldn’t purchase it for you myself. My footman informs me that there has been a man walking about the road at all hours, watching my house. When I called the authorities, naturally the man denied it, but I fear he may work for your brother.”

  Nora had never seen the man who may be watching her, but she’d always suspected there was someone. Now, Johanna confirmed her suspicion. Her brother had returned, was watching Nora, and because she visited Johanna so often, he was watching her friend as well.

  But why? Did he suspect they were working toward his ruin? “Have you thought about getting your own gun?”

  Johanna shook her head. “I don’t believe in being in possession of such a weapon. God will protect me.” Johanna was like Nathan. Aside from his rifle for hunting, he hadn’t had a personal weapon.

  “I’m sorry I’ve pulled you into this,” Nora said.

  “Don’t. We’re in this together,” her friend said. “So, what did Meriwether say when you saw him?” Johanna asked, saying Nora’s brother’s whole name. “Did he say anything about Lettie?” There was great hope in her voice as she asked after her sister. After so many years, Nora wondered how Johanna could still think Lettie alive.

  Lettie had been yet another friend of Nora’s and Johanna’s little sister. She’d gone missing seven years ago during a game of hide and seek in Hyde Park. They’d never found Lettie. It had been the strangest thing to ever happen.

  It had broken Johanna’s mother and even Johanna. For weeks, Nora had felt terrible, because the game had been her idea.

  But then Meri had approached her one day, and he’d been grinning.

  “You have the prettiest friends, Rah Rah, especially the golden-haired ones. I liked Jane and Maria. I liked Lettie, too. We had fun. We should play hide and seek with Selena next time. She has the most beautiful golden hair. It’s as if the sun exploded from her head.”

  Nora had always known there was something wrong with Meri, but that day, she’d feared him. She hadn’t invited him to play. She hadn’t been aware of her brother joining in.

  But then Nora recalled other times, long ago, when strange things had happened and always during a game of hide and seek. Other girls, blonde ones, had been hurt in some way and Meri had been there. Those occasions had happened when Nora had been five or six. The girls had never spoken of what had happened, as though they feared telling the truth. But the day Lettie had disappeared, Nora had been fifteen. It had been years since she and her friends had played the game. As a joke, and to entertain Johanna’s younger sister, they’d played.

  But after an hour, the game had turned into a true search. Most of the gentlemen and even the ladies had joined in to help. Lettie had never been found.

  And then Meri had said what he’d said, and everything had made sense.

  Too afraid to tell her parents, she’d told Johanna, and Johanna had told her parents.

  They’d confronted him, but Meri presented his other sid
e, the part of him that was far too mature to have had anything to do with a children’s game. He became a completely different person. He’d denied having anything to do with Lettie or having even participated in the game.

  Nora’s parents had seemed wary, but in the end, everyone had believed him.

  Except for Nora and Johanna, who had seen the fear in Nora’s eyes and believed as well. Johanna, thankfully, had been a brunette. Meri had never taken any interest in her, but Selena had been another story altogether. Selena had been born with red hair, but over the years, that red had faded into blond.

  And Meri had noticed.

  Nora had been left with little choice. She’d sent Selena away but had managed to keep Johanna in spite of the fear.

  If only they could find a way to get to the truth.

  Nora reached into her pocket and pulled out a letter. “Meri said nothing about Lettie, but I’ve received the letter from my special friend that you sent me.” Nora had hired a spy. His name was Joshua, but she only addressed him as her ‘special friend’ unless speaking to him personally. Joshua had followed Meri to Germany and corresponded from there. Those letters went to Johanna first and then Nora came over to get them, but with Miriam in an emotional state, Johanna had been forced to mail them over. Johnna never read them first, only after Nora had finished with them. “My special friend has informed me that three blondes went missing from the city Meri resided in while there. None of them were found.”

  “Are you going to look for Lettie in Germany?” Johanna asked as she took the letter.

  Nora shook her head. “This is all my fault. I don’t know what else to do.”

  Johanna straightened. “We could go to the authorities again.”

  “We’ve tried that. No one would take us seriously, especially after our parents believed otherwise.” Their fathers had both been titled gentlemen. Women would never be believed against them.

  “It’s more likely that Lettie ran away,” Johanna said. “Girls run away all the time.”

  Did they? She thought perhaps Johanna was right. After all, Lettie was never found. Close to a hundred people had looked for her that day. Where could Meri have hidden her if he had?