Rogue Countess

by Amy Sandas

  Anna stopped herself from thinking about what that might indicate and followed the path. It led to the stairs that led down to the cellar.

  She stopped and listened before starting down the curved and narrow staircase. Not a single sound echoed through the vacant space. From what she remembered, there was not much in the lower level of the house. A small wine cellar, some other small rooms for various types of storage. Her ears were sharp and alert as she descended the steps, but still she heard nothing.

  He had to be here.

  The basement was damp and dark and Anna wished she had thought to bring a light source down with her. There was a small open space at the bottom of the steps and from there a narrow hallway led to the smaller rooms. Anna reached the last step and just as she turned to start down the hall toward the first room, her booted foot brushed past something large on the floor. She peered down and it took a moment to discern what lay at her feet in the darkness.

  “Oh God, Jude,” she whispered in shock as she crouched to the floor.

  He lay on his side as if he had simply been thrown down the stairs and left to lie as he fell. She reached out to him, a hard lump of fear stopping up her throat. He wasn’t moving and his eyes were closed. She leaned in close to his face and listened for his breath. He was breathing, but he was definitely unconscious. She moved her hands over his body, searching for injuries. She immediately noted that his hands were pulled behind his back and had been tied with rope. She felt around his skull and found his hair matted to his head on the left side. Her hands came away sticky with blood.

  He had been hurt. But he was alive.

  Relief and terror warred within her. She had found him, but the circumstances were far worse than she had expected. And she still needed to figure out a way to get him out of here.

  She reached for him again, her fingers searching around his scalp for the wound. She found it at his temple. It was an angry gash about two inches long, starting at the corner of his forehead and extending into his hair. She willed herself to remain calm though her fear was growing. She didn’t think he had lost that much blood or surely she would have seen evidence of it through the house. The wound may not be very bad. Just enough, perhaps, to knock him out. From what she could tell it had stopped bleeding.

  Jude groaned as her fingers gently probed the edges of the wound. She leaned over him and pressed her hand to the side of his face.

  “Jude. It’s me, Anna. I need you to wake up,” she urged in quiet whispers.

  But he was silent once more. Anna reached around him to the ropes binding his wrists. They were tightly tied, but she worked at the knot with stiff fingers, and it started to loosen.

  “Step away from him. Now!”

  The shouted words startled Anna and sent a flush of hot fear through her blood.

  She cursed herself for missing her sister’s approach. She had just lost whatever upper hand she may have had. Without standing or moving away from Jude, Anna turned to watch Olivia slowly come down the stairs behind her. She carried a small lantern in one hand and in the other, a pistol. The weapon effectively captured Anna’s attention for a heart-stopping moment, but then Anna forced herself to notice other things.

  Olivia, who insisted upon putting an inordinate amount of effort into always looking her absolute best, was alarmingly disheveled. Her gown was crumpled and creased beyond repair, her hair was falling crookedly from what had been an elaborate coiffure about twelve hours before, and her face was pale and blotchy where her makeup had worn off.

  “My God, Olivia. What is going on?” she muttered in shock.

  “Shut up,” Olivia shouted with heedless temper. “I said to step away from him.”

  Anna slowly stood. Keeping her eyes on Olivia, she sidestepped until she was several paces from where Jude lay. Her sister kept the gun trained on her the entire time.

  “What are you doing, Olivia?” Anna asked warily, trying to keep an even tone. “You don’t need to point a gun at me. I am here to help you.”

  Olivia laughed, and it was a wild, hysterical sound that frightened Anna more than the sight of the pistol. Her sister’s state of mind was much worse than Anna had imagined. She had underestimated the situation by drastic degrees and she wished she had considered bringing some type of weapon herself or even waited for Randall to accompany her.

  “You are such a horrible liar,” Olivia accused with a humorless smile as she set the lantern on a lower step. An unstable golden glow was cast into the dank space, creating deep and menacing shadows in every corner. “You are here to ruin my plans.” The false amusement faded from her face. “If you wished to help me, you would have followed the instructions in the note. Why didn’t you follow the instructions, Anna? You were not supposed to come here. You were never to know I was involved. Are you really that stupid? Do you realize the danger you have just brought upon yourself?” Olivia’s tone grew angrier as she spoke. She emphasized her words with a sharp jerk of the weapon in her hand as she stalked past Jude’s prone form toward Anna.

  Anna retreated until her back came up against the cold, damp stone wall behind her. She refrained from pointing out that Jude still would have known who had perpetrated the plot. Bringing that to her sister’s attention now would do far more harm than good. At worst, Olivia had already realized that the entire situation was spiraling out of her control and simply didn’t care.

  Anna lifted her hands in a gesture of passivity and shook her head.

  “The money is coming. It is on its way here. I promise. I told you I wanted to help you, I am telling the truth.”

  Olivia eyed her silently, and when she replied her voice was dark and heavy with revulsion. “You are not here to help me,” she spat in disgust. “You are here for your precious prince, aren’t you? You are here to save him,” she said with a careless wave of the gun in Jude’s direction.

  Anna stiffened in sharp apprehension and her increased tension did not escape Olivia’s notice.

  Her sister smirked and continued arrogantly, “I am not blind, you know. Did you really think your insipid little infatuation could go unnoticed? Father and I used to laugh for hours over the ridiculous longing in your eyes whenever Jude came around. It was so pathetically obvious how you mooned over him, you were such an ugly little thing,” Olivia laughed in delight. Then she cocked her head to the side. “You know, if not for your blatant love for my betrothed, I may never have thought of using you to get rid of him.”

  Anna felt sick to her stomach at the note of pride in Olivia’s voice. But her sister’s rambling reminiscence did give her an idea. If she could keep her sister talking, perhaps she could steal enough time to think of some way to reason with her. Or maybe at the very least, delay to the point when Randall arrived.

  “And whose idea was it to use the laudanum?”

  “Mine,” Olivia admitted. “Father thought you might go along with the plan willingly, but I warned him against it. Better to dose you with laudanum as well, I told him.”

  “That was rather risky, wasn’t it? Drugging us, I mean. It gave Jude the opportunity to cry foul.”

  “Not risky at all once we made sure Jude would blame you. Then all Father had to do was bemoan your youth and lost innocence to the old earl. There was really nothing Jude could do to get out of it.”

  Anna continued to choose her words carefully, wanting to keep her sister distracted without upsetting her further.

  “Did you ever consider asking Jude to end the betrothal? Why did you go to such elaborate lengths?”

  “Don’t be foolish, Anna,” Olivia replied in scathing annoyance. “Jude never would have released me from my promise. He was in love with me. He was desperate to have me. It was all I could do to keep him from tossing up my skirts whenever we had a minute alone. He wouldn’t have just walked away without complaint. And I couldn’t risk being involved in any kind of scandal or the duke never would have pursued his suit. No matter how enamored he was, Clavering would have been forced to turn his
attention elsewhere if I had broken a betrothal willfully.”

  Olivia preened with joyful conceit. “No, my dear, the plot was set up and cleanly executed and I was left to appear the betrayed and unfortunate sister. You were the ideal pawn. So naïve and somber. I would guess that even if Father hadn’t locked you up, you never even would have thought to go to Jude with the truth. I doubt you spoke more than two words to him before your wedding. And of course, after that it was far too late for you to do anything. The man left you. Poor, wretched little creature,” she added with an expression of sympathy that was almost comical in its stark insincerity.

  Anna’s fear warred with fury. But she was afraid to show either emotion, not trusting how her sister would react if she became confrontational. Olivia was relatively calm at the moment. As long as she felt as though she was in control maybe she wouldn’t behave rashly. All Anna could do for now was stay calm and try to think of some way to get the gun out of her sister’s hands.

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  A soft, almost imperceptible scuffling sounded in the corner where Jude lay.

  Olivia whipped her head around to glare in his direction, but if he had moved, he was still once again. Cold fear flashed like lightning through Anna’s brain as she imagined Olivia turning the gun on him as he lay unconscious and helpless. She had already shot him once, Anna realized, thinking of the wound at his temple. She couldn’t allow her sister an opportunity to do it again.

  “And you got what you wanted, right, Olivia?” she asked, bringing Olivia’s attention back to her. “You got your duke. You are happy with your life.”

  “Happy?” Olivia shrieked with sudden fury as she turned back to face her. Anna almost smiled in relief as Jude was once again forgotten. “Do I look bloody happy, Anna?”

  “No, you do not, and I am sorry,” Anna replied cautiously. “I can see that you are very upset, but the money you requested is on its way. Your troubles will soon be over. Why don’t you put that gun down so we can wait more comfortably?”

  Olivia laughed again and shifted her weight from one foot to the other. Her emotions were escalating once again. “You are so damned naïve. Do not think you can placate me with such empty words. I am the one in charge here and this is not even close to over,” she warned.

  Olivia licked her lips and glanced up the stairs in a fleeting, nervous gesture. Up until then she had been holding the gun stiffly in both hands, but she released one hand to wipe the back of her wrist across her forehead. The gun wavered for a moment, but in the next second she grasped it again in both hands and brought the barrel back in line with Anna’s chest.

  Olivia was tiring. She would not be able to continue holding the gun steady for much longer. If Anna could catch her at the right moment of weakness and distraction, she might be able to remove the weapon from her sister’s hands with little difficulty. Anna tried to watch the motion of the gun without revealing her intentions.

  “Is someone threatening you? Have they tried to hurt you? Is that why you need the money? I understand if you are frightened.”

  “I am not frightened,” Olivia answered forcefully, though her words rang false. She was terrified.

  “You will have the money you need,” Anna assured her. “Whom do you owe? Who are you so afraid of? Maybe I can help. Surely, the duke…”

  “The duke will do nothing to help me!” Olivia interrupted with a frenzied laugh. “Don’t you think I would have gone to him first? He insisted I get out the mess on my own. He said my gambling had gotten out of hand and that if my lender was demanding payment, I needed to figure out a way to get him the money and keep the issue quiet. Clavering said he was tired of my constantly draining his coffers to support my disgraceful habit. He said he was done shelling out cash. Do you have any idea what it is like to be cut off so completely? How the hell was I supposed to find the money to satisfy my loan? He actually threatened that if I didn’t take care of things to his satisfaction, he would send me away. To the continent. He would exile me, Anna!”

  Olivia’s eyes were wild with rage and despondency. Anna doubted her sister was even aware that her voice had become a screeching wail.

  “It is a good thing I am clever and strong,” Olivia continued as she leaned her shoulders back against the wall behind her. “I went to Lord Strathmore’s and he lent me enough to sit down at a game of whist last night.” Olivia shook her head and made a sound that could have been a laugh or a sob. “I started with a good streak. I almost had it all. I really was quite desperate when I came to your house today. Was it only today?” she asked in odd amazement. “It already seems so long ago. Not only do I still have the debt I started with, but by my awful luck last night, I now owe nearly twice as much as I did yesterday.” Olivia giggled. “It really is ridiculous, isn’t it?”

  Steps echoed from above as someone walked across the upper floor.

  Anna froze with trepidation. Could Randall be there already?

  Olivia smiled and lifted a hand to smooth her ruffled coiffure. She took a deep sigh, and Anna watched as the tension swiftly released its hold on her sister’s body.

  “Jones?” Olivia called in a singsong voice.

  “Aye, Your Grace,” a gravely baritone answered from the top of the stairs, “’tis I.”

  “Go fetch some more rope, would you. We have another guest.”

  “Aye, Your Grace.” The sound of heavy footsteps receded through the house.

  Of course, Anna realized with a rush of cold certainty. How could she have missed the obvious? Olivia couldn’t have gotten Jude into the house by herself, unconscious as he was. She had to have had some help. An accomplice who had returned from wherever he had been and was quickly eliminating any chance Anna had of getting herself and Jude out of this mess.

  “Well,” her sister continued in a tone of amazing calm compared to the level of excitement she had reached only a few minutes earlier. “You can see how I had to do something.”

  “And you came to see me?” Anna asked in rising panic as her eyes darted about the room. Maybe she had missed something. She needed to think. She could not allow Jones to tie her up.

  “Jude, actually. I had hoped he would feel honor bound to help me considering our past association. But he wasn’t quite as…enthusiastic as I expected, so I thought of something else.” She giggled at her own perfidy. “It’s obvious you still love him. It was all over your face at the ball last night. I knew that if you thought Jude was in danger, you would do whatever it took to save him. Such a noble fool, you are.”

  “So you resorted to kidnapping? Surely you see this is a mistake,” Anna urged. She had to convince her sister to end this madness.

  Olivia tilted her head back and looked at Anna with a smile.

  “It’s getting me what I need, isn’t it? Once I have the money, I will repay my lender so he can call off those thugs that have been creeping about wherever I go.” She tapped a finger against the side of the gun as she continued thoughtfully. “I will still owe Strathmore, but he can be manipulated. Then I just have to convince Clavering not to be cross with me. It will prove to be the most difficult part of this, but I will manage. He has his weaknesses too,” she sneered with a dark and licentious grin.

  “And what about Jude and myself?” Anna asked around the knot in her throat. Her sister was still not seeing the full extent of the circumstances. “You will let us go once you have the money?”

  “Hmm,” Olivia considered with a small furrow of concentration between her brows. “I guess I didn’t really consider that little detail.” Her scowl darkened. “You really messed this up, Anna.”

  “I know,” Anna agreed. “You’re right, but the situation can still be corrected. You don’t have to tie me up. Just put the gun down. We can release Jude, go upstairs and discuss this rationally. I swear to you I will help you with your debt. I will speak with the duke on your behalf.”

  “No!” Olivia shouted, suddenly irritated again. “Just shut up. Your whining is hel
l on my headache and I have no more medicine.”

  She released the gun with one hand to press her fingers to the center of her forehead. The gun wavered and dipped before she stabilized it once again with both hands.

  “Olivia, what will you do with me and Jude once you have the money?”

  “I don’t know what I’ll do, but I can’t very well just let you go, now can I?” She jerked her chin back toward Jude. “That one will go to the authorities.”

  “No. I’m sure he wouldn’t. Not once you explain your situation.”

  “Shut up, Anna. I don’t intend to tell you again.”

  Fear and shock raced through Anna’s body.

  Olivia wasn’t going to let them go. Anna could see the truth of it in her sister’s eyes. She had to do something and quickly, she thought with bleak desperation as footsteps reached the stairs and started to descend. Once she was tied up, she would be helpless. She frantically looked around the room they were in, but there was nothing there to help her. No weapon, no means of distraction, nothing. The place had been emptied out after her father’s death, and all that was in the room with them was the dust and dirt that had built up over the years.

  Anna’s eyes met her sister’s and she saw the determination and insanity in Olivia’s expression. She was not going to see reason. She was too far gone.

  The large form of Olivia’s accomplice appeared at the bottom of the stairs. He was a hulking fellow and was dressed in the ducal livery. When he caught sight of Anna being held at gunpoint, he grinned widely.

  “Now, what’s this, Your Grace?”

  “My brave and stupid little sister come to save her only love,” Olivia sneered. “You brought the rope?”

  The man held up a length of rope sufficient to tie not only Anna’s hands, but her feet as well.