by Amelia Grey
“And don’t put my cloak away. I’ll be leaving again shortly.”
“But Your Grace, I need to speak to you of an urgent matter that needs your prompt attention.”
“Where is Miss Tweed—her room or the book room?”
“Her room, Your Grace, and she is the reason I need to speak with you.”
“Then follow me up to her room, because that is where I am headed.”
Blake took the stairs two at a time. He heard Ashby behind him, struggling to stay up with him. When he made it to Henrietta’s door, he knocked and waited what seemed like forever for the door to open.
“Your Grace,” Henrietta’s maid said and curtseyed.
“Is Henrietta in here?”
“Yes.”
“Then step aside; I need to speak to her.”
The maid opened the door wider, and Blake entered. Henrietta sat at her dressing table with a quill and a sheet of foolscap in her hand. On the bed, trunks lay open, half-filled with clothing.
A knot of fear formed in his chest as Henrietta rose and faced him. He saw no aftereffects of her earlier reaction to Lord Waldo’s dog. All he saw was the woman he loved and who was preparing to leave him.
“What are you doing?” Blake asked as calmly as he could, considering how fast his heart was beating.
“That is what I wanted to tell you, Your Grace,” Ashby said in a breathless voice behind him. “Miss Tweed had asked for her trunks to be delivered to her room after her supper was served.”
Blake ignored his butler and took a step toward Henrietta. Didn’t she know he loved her? He thought she’d understood that before he left the book room. Didn’t she love him and want to marry him?
Barely holding his anger in check, he asked again, “What are you doing?”
“I’m packing.”
He took another hesitant step toward her. She seemed so composed, so confident that it irritated the devil out of him. “I can see that,” he said from between closed teeth. “Why are you packing?”
Henrietta’s gaze flew from her maid to Ashby.
“Leave us,” Blake said coldly.
Ashby immediately turned and left the room, but the maid remained. “You, too,” he said, throwing a quick glance toward her.
The woman looked at her employer, and Henrietta nodded for her to go.
“And close the door behind you,” Blake said in a voice that was meant to tolerate no argument from Henrietta or the maid.
With the door firmly shut, Blake said, “Now explain yourself.”
She gazed into his eyes and said, “I am taking responsibility for myself. For the first time in my life, I am taking charge of my life. I have decided that I will either go to a convent or hire myself out as a paid companion.”
Blake felt as if icy water had been thrown in his face. “What did you say?”
Her eyes didn’t waver from his, though there was a slight tremor to her bottom lip, the only sign that she wasn’t as unmoved as he first thought.
“I have given the matter careful thought and decided it is what’s best for both of us.”
Anger burned inside him. He stalked closer to her. “And you made this decision on your own without consulting me?”
“You have no cause to use such an angry tone, Your Grace.”
“I have every right. You were just going to write me a note and tell me you wanted to join a convent or become a paid companion without even talking to me about it?”
“No, of course not.”
“Then what is in your hand?”
She glanced down at the paper. “The letter is for Constance, telling her of my decision to leave your house, and asking if she might know of a place I could stay while my plans are finalized.”
“Your plans? And you don’t think I should be angry that you want to leave me. Very angry, considering what happened between us just a couple of hours ago.”
Henrietta laid the piece of paper and quill on her dressing table. “I could never leave you without saying good-bye and thanking you for—for all you have shown me and taught me.”
This was incredulous. “Tell me, do you want to go to a convent? Do you want to be someone’s paid companion?”
“It’s not that I want to. I thought it the wisest choice to make under the circumstances. I cannot stay here with you any longer, and I can’t rightfully marry any other man now that I’ve, that we, well you know.”
Blake grabbed her by the shoulders and pulled her tightly against his chest. His body trembled as his gaze held steady on hers. He would like nothing better than to throw her down on the bed behind him and give her the loving she deserved. But, he had to settle that damned curse first.
“Listen to me, Henrietta; you are not going to move to a convent or anywhere else. Right now, you are coming with me.”
Her eyes were wide with trepidation, and Blake felt a twinge of guilt for talking so roughly. He hadn’t meant to alarm her, but he didn’t want her to know where they were going for fear she would resist his plan.
He desperately wanted to kiss her, to reassure her that everything was going to be all right. Just holding her close, even for so brief a time, aroused him, but he had to deny those feelings for the time being.
“I don’t understand. It’s already so late; where are we going?”
He bent his face close to hers. “Henrietta, do you trust me?”
“With my life,” she said without hesitating for even a second. “You know that.”
“Then don’t question me about where we are going or why. Just trust that I am doing the right thing for us, all right?”
She nodded.
He set her from him and took a deep, steadying breath. “Where are your bonnet and cape?”
He went to the open wardrobe and pulled out a black cape. From the bed, he grabbed a bonnet and a pair of gloves. “Let’s go.”
The carriage was cold, and Henrietta shivered when she climbed inside. Blake took the seat opposite her and stared out the window. She was confused by his brusque manner. He had been astonished when he walked in and saw she was preparing to leave. But what had he expected her to do? It was past time she took responsibility for herself and made decisions without having to account to her guardian.
He wanted her to go with him, yet he wanted to be secretive about where they were going. Why?
She had no fear of him. She knew he wouldn’t do anything to hurt her, but where was he taking her? By going with him now, was she giving up her only chance to be in control and make her own decisions about the rest of her life?
Surely he knew she could not continue living with him after their tryst. Her heart constricted at that word. That made what had happened between them sound so distasteful, and it wasn’t. She loved him more than her own life. Their coming together had been glorious, and it meant everything to her. She had to leave him to save him from the curse. She had to find a way to make him understand that.
The carriage was moving rapidly through the streets, yet it seemed to be taking a long time to get to wherever they were going. She wanted to ask him their destination, but she remained silent, too, proving to him that she gave him her complete trust.
From the carriage window, she could see that they were leaving the business district of the city. The streetlights grew farther and farther apart until only darkness could be seen out the window. Blake remained silent, staring out the opposite window from her.
She couldn’t let her mind run away with possibilities of his intentions. He had asked for her trust, and this was one last thing she could give him. It didn’t matter where they were going; she knew she had to leave him to protect him.
Finally the carriage rolled to a stop. She glanced over at Blake, hoping for a reassuring smile, but all she saw were his dark stormy eyes.
Blake opened the door and jumped down. Through the black night, she saw a house that had only a dim single light shining in the front window. There was something cold and forlorn about the place.
&n
bsp; “Let’s go,” he said, reaching for her hand to help her down the steps of the carriage.
Henrietta felt his strong hand close around hers, and his warmth immediately soothed her.
He looked up at his driver and said, “I’m not familiar with this area of Town. Keep a close eye out for anyone who looks suspicious, and don’t hesitate to sound the alarm if you need to.”
“Never fear, Your Grace. I have a sharp eye and a loud whistle, if I be needing your help. I’ll take care of your carriage for you, and be here when you’re ready to leave.”
Blake nodded to the driver and then took hold of her elbow. They started toward the front door of the lonely looking house. The warmth of his hand continued to comfort her. As they approached the house, a shiver ran up Henrietta’s back. She kept telling herself that she trusted Blake, but she had to admit that her faith was wavering just a little.
Blake knocked on the door. A tall, buxom woman with a severe expression on her flat face opened the door. “I’m the Duke of Blakewell, and this is Miss Henrietta Tweed. We are here to see Mrs. Fortune.”
“Do you have an appointment, Your Grace?”
“No. Please apologize to her for us that we are arriving so late, but we have a matter of great urgency, and we hope she will be able to help us tonight.”
“I’ll see if she’s available. Please come in.” She opened the door wider and stepped aside for them to enter.
Henrietta and Blake walked into the vestibule of the home, and the first thing Henrietta noticed was the strong smell of incense. The lone lamp she had seen from outside was placed in the middle of a table in front of the window. She thought it odd that the window was framed with black velvet draperies. In fact, she had never been in a house that felt so eerie.
The maid motioned to two chairs that stood in the corner in front of a large gold cherub that rested on a fluted column.
“Wait here until I return,” she said.
They took their seats in the dimly lit room, and the woman disappeared through a doorway that was closed off from the vestibule with two black velvet drapery panels.
Henrietta could hold her tongue no longer.
“Where are we, Blake? Who is Mrs. Fortune, and why are we here?” The questions tumbled past her lips. Her eyes questioned his.
He leaned toward her, a concerned expression on his face. “I didn’t want to tell you for fear you would refuse to come with me. I have brought you here because I’m hoping she can help you.”
Her breaths quickened. “Help me? How? Blake, if you fear that I might be with child after our encounter this afternoon, I will not agree to have anything done about it. I will have the child and care for it myself.”
Blake jerked back as if she’d struck him. “Damnation, Henrietta, where did you ever get a notion like that? No such thing ever entered my mind. I would never ask anything so vile of you under any circumstances. Do you think me a monster?”
“No, but I don’t know what to think,” she whispered earnestly. “What am I to think? There is something eerie about this house, this place.”
“We are here because of that blasted curse you always talk about. I’m not quite sure if she casts spells on people, reads their minds, or sees into their future. She might even do all three. I don’t know that I’m willing to believe she can do any of it, but if by some chance she can cast spells, I’m hoping she can remove them and free you from that bloody curse you dread.”
Henrietta’s breath stalled in her lungs. She was amazed at how quickly she could go from feeling despair to feeling exhilarated. “Don’t tease me, Blake. Are you certain of this?”
Blake laughed derisively and rubbed his forehead above his nose. “I cannot say anything for certain, Henrietta; I haven’t met the woman. I don’t believe in this curse, but you do. I’m doing this for you, so you won’t go through our married life thinking I’m going to die any time soon.”
She gasped. Surely he didn’t say what she thought she heard. Dare she ask him to repeat it? Her eyes searched his face for humor. There was none.
“What did you say? Did you say our married life?”
“Yes,” he said softly and reached over to take her gloved hand in his. “I want to marry you and spend the rest of my life showing you how much I love you.”
“You love me?”
His looked deeply into her eyes and smiled. “I love you, Henrietta. It took you going to the park with that greenhorn and his dog for me to admit it to myself, and now I’m admitting it to you.”
Joy filled her. “Blake, I think I fell in love with you the first time I saw you stride by the doorway of your drawing room as if you didn’t have a care in the world.
I love you with all my heart.”
He shook his head and laughed. “Imagine my surprise when I came home to find you writing a note and packing to leave me.”
She laughed with happiness, too. “This afternoon, after we—we…” Henrietta felt heat rise in her cheeks. “Anyway, when you told me you had to sort out the details of what needed to be done, I thought you wanted to figure out how to get me out of your house, out of your life.”
“I’m sorry that’s what you thought. All I could think was that I had to find a way to release you from this curse so you could marry me with no fear.”
“Blake, I don’t know what to say.”
“How about saying, ‘I’ll marry you.’”
“Yes, I’ll marry you, my love.”
“I would never allow you to enter a convent. You are much too passionate for that kind of life. Besides, what would I do without you to challenge me at every turn?”
Henrietta’s heart was racing so fast she felt lightheaded. “Blake, do not fool me about this. Tell me truthfully about Mrs. Fortune. Is this just an elaborate plan to trick me into believing that you have had the curse removed?”
Blake slid out of his chair and fell on one knee in front of her. He took both her hands in his.
His gaze settled solidly on hers. “Hear me well. This is no ruse. I would not do that to you, nor would Gibby be a part of any such deception. He said this woman is sought for séances, readings, and other things which I have no desire to know about.”
“And Gibby told you about her?”
“Yes, and he suggested we seek her for answers. I told him that I intended to marry you, but I worried about you and that hellish curse. If you are unnerved by being here, we will leave right now before we even meet Mrs. Fortune.”
“Blake, I’m overwhelmed that you would do this for me. I’m thankful you want to do it for us.”
”Henrietta, I love you. I would do anything for you. I am going to marry you, curse or no curse, but if you are uncomfortable, just say the word and we will leave.”
Henrietta threw her arms around his neck, and he caught her up in a tight hug.
“Oh, no, Blake, I don’t want to go. I want her help.”
The black velvet draperies parted, and Henrietta and Blake separated.
The buxom woman stepped out and said, “Mrs. Fortune will see you now. Follow me.”
Blake rose to his feet, and Henrietta stood up. They followed the woman through the heavy fabric opening and down a long, dimly lit corridor before stepping through another doorway. The room was lit by a single candle that eerily looked as if it was suspended in air. Henrietta had thought the front of the house mysterious, but this room was downright creepy. She inched closer to Blake and slipped her hand into his. He squeezed her fingers affectionately.
As they drew closer, Henrietta could see that the candlestick had been placed in the center of a small round table that had been draped in black velvet. The windows were also covered in black velvet draperies and shades, blocking out any hint of light from the outside. She wondered why everything in the room had to be so dark.
A tall, thin woman appeared before them. She seemed to walk out of the blackness of the wall and into the room, but Henrietta knew that was impossible. The woman was dressed in mourning clothes
, including gloves and a tulle veil that covered her face. Her carriage was straight, and her head had a proud tilt. She stopped on the other side of the small table.
“You asked to see me?” she said in a voice that sounded as polished as any member of Polite Society.
“Yes,” Blake said, guiding Henrietta farther into the room. “We’ve been told that you may be able to help us.”
“Tell me what you desire.”
“Miss Tweed believes there is a curse that follows her. We want to know if you can determine if that is true, and if it is, can you remove it?”
The woman laughed softly, and Henrietta thought she sounded much younger than her widow’s weeds indicated. “I don’t know what you have been told about me, Your Grace, but you must think very highly of my abilities if you think I can remove a curse someone else cast.”
“Then you can’t help me?” Henrietta said wistfully.
“That I don’t know. Come sit here at the table, and let me look into your eyes and read you.”
Read me?
Blake pulled out a black fabric-covered chair for Henrietta. When she sat down, he remained behind her and placed his hands on her shoulders. She was comforted by his touch.
Mrs. Fortune took the chair opposite her. The single candle was at the level of the woman’s face. Henrietta tried to make out her features but the tulle veil was too opaque to distinguish any facial appearance.
Mrs. Fortune tilted her head toward Blake and said, “I understand why you don’t want to leave her side, but you cannot touch her. You must go with my helper to the front of the house. Do not try to come back to us or interrupt us for any reason. If you do, I will have to discontinue my reading, and I will not be able to help her.”
“I understand,” Blake said.
Henrietta’s heart slammed against her chest. She reached up and covered Blake’s hands with her own, trying to hold him to her.
He reached down and whispered into her ear. “I won’t be far away. Just remember I love you, and that no matter what happens, everything is going to be all right for us.”
She nodded, and then he slipped his hands from beneath hers. She listened for his footsteps until she could no longer hear them. She swallowed hard and lifted her shoulders.