Caversham's Bride (The Caversham Chronicles - Book One) (18 page)

Luchino stumbled and fell, bringing Lia down with him. She quickly regained her footing, and heart racing, scooped up her brother and ran for the boarding plank, never looking back at those who followed.

Her cap flew off and her hair tumbled down in a thick, single braid to the middle of her back. She kept running as fast as she possibly could while carrying her brother.

Just as she was about to step onto the plank of wood that led to freedom, an arm wrapped about her waist, yanking her back. Luchino held onto her neck tightly, even as she dropped him. Her arms snaked out, preventing him from falling into the water.

Her back slammed into the hard, solid wall of the Englishman’s chest. She knew it was him even though he didn’t speak and she couldn’t see him. His scent surrounded her, just as his arms did, while she held onto her brother. One of his men came around and took Luchino from her grasp as she cursed Ren in Italian.

“No! Don’t take my brother,” she cried, as she struggled to free herself from his vice-like grip. “Bring him back! He’s all I have left.” Struggling was useless, his hold on her was unforgiving.

“Lia! Lia!” her brother cried out for her, prompting Lia to struggle more.

“Quit fighting me, Lia. He’ll be fine.” To the man holding her brother, he said, “Take the boy to
Sea Witch
and tell Cully to keep an eye on him. Then find Flynn. Send him and two more men to me.” Lia pulled free from his grasp as he spoke and turned to run after her brother, but he caught the collar of her jacket and yanked her back to him. The Englishman lifted her effortlessly, tossed her over his shoulder and began the hike back up the steep, narrow street to the inn.

“Let me down!” She pounded her fists against his back and thrashed her legs. All it got her was a painful swat across the bottom.

“Continue behaving like a child, and I’ll spank you again.”

“Let me down!
Bestia!
Let me down!”

“Shut up,” he said, holding her tight across the back of her legs. He did not say another word to her the entire way back. He continued to carry her in that manner through the lobby of the inn, thankfully empty at this hour of the morning, then up the stairs, where he deposited her, with a thud onto the single chair in her bedroom.

The maid entered with the innkeeper, her eyes red-rimmed and swollen. She looked as though she had been beaten, and for that Lia was deeply sorry.

“My lord,” the innkeeper said, “I regret the inconvenience that Ghita here caused you. She has been duly punished and now wishes to apologize.” The short, skinny man pushed the girl forward.

“
Mi dispiace
,” she said through her tears, without once lifting her eyes to either Ren or Lia. The poor thing then ran from the room as though the hounds of Satan were on her heels.

Lia instinctively moved to follow her, to console her, but Ren blocked her path. Just then three men, Flynn and two others, entered. The innkeeper, still apologizing, backed his way from the room, closing the door behind him when he left.

What was she going to do now? She had to get back to Luchino. He was probably afraid. He didn’t know these men who took him. A knot began to form in her throat and she struggled to keep it down. “Give me back my brother. He’s all I have.” Swiping the offensive tear that spilled down her cheek, she continued, “It’s taken me so long to get him back.” Lia sat in the chair next to the table, feeling deflated, but not defeated. “So long.”

“I want both doors of this inn under guard,” Ren said tersely. “And I want someone under her window. This is not to happen again.” He turned his clear, icy gaze to her. She shivered at what she saw there. Disappointment and distrust.

His men left to assume their posts, leaving her standing in the middle of the room and Ren holding the door.

“I can’t believe you would jeopardize your brother’s health after everything you’ve done to save him.”

His penetrating gaze unsettled her and she turned away and stared out the window. “Because I want freedom. Unlike some women, I don’t see being forced into a marriage with anyone, as being free.”

“You weren’t forced. We made an agreement. I have lived up to my end, and have rescued your brother, and now you run. Why?”

She swung around and met his hardened gaze. “Because all you want is a broodmare!” She saw him wince, but she pressed on, “That was your word to describe
me!
You said you would take my children from me and dispose of me. I heard you say this, Your Grace. Since my own aunt tried to have me killed, how am I to know you won’t try the same and be successful?” Lia stood and went to him, her ire rising again. Staring into his face, she tried to read any emotion from him, but saw none but anger. Unafraid, she continued. “I don’t know who you are. You know everything about me, yet I know nothing about you. I don’t know why you need an heir now, but evidently you need one badly enough that you are willing to marry
me
, someone who wants to be more than a broodmare.”

He looked at the open door, and tempering his voice he said, “We can discuss it tomorrow.”

The cold eyes, and tightened muscles in his cheeks told her he wanted no argument just then, but she wasn’t giving in so quickly. He had her brother. “No! I want to know now,” she shouted at him. “You’ve taken my brother from me. You tell me
now,
why you want me to marry you. Why not find someone agreeable to marriage, why force me?”

“I will not let you go, because you may already carry my child.”

“That’s not good enough,” she countered. “Let me and my brother go. I will find my relatives in Rome. Maybe one day I might even find love. But one thing is for certain Your Grace, no one wishes to live their life as a possession. Even if it is pampered and protected. A gilded cage is still a cage.”

“You belong to me, Lia.” he said tersely. “Get any thoughts of escape out of your head.” He stalked from the room and slammed the door behind him. She ran to the door, and pounded on it before she heard the sound of the key turning the lock from the outside. Exhaustion and frustration finally catching up with her, she sank to the floor in tears, wondering why this was happening to her.

C
HAPTER
T
EN

L
ia awoke to the sound of two maids entering with a bathing tub, and two more carrying buckets of hot water. Clearing the sleep from her tired and sore eyes, she watched as the inn keeper’s wife entered bearing a tray with her morning meal. A short woman with gray hair and a pinched face, she looked as though she spent her days sucking lemons.

“I didn’t order a bath or food,” Lia said when the maids were gone.

“His lordship ordered them for you.” The woman’s tone told Lia she obviously disapproved of her presence in her husband’s establishment.

“I’m not hungry. You can take the tray back.” She plopped back onto the bed and covered her aching head with the pillow.

“I can only bring what the man ordered,” the woman said stiffly. “What you do with it is your business.” She gave a harrumph, then turned and left the room as the maids returned with more water.

She rose and went to the window to avoid looking at the women entering or the guard at her door. Instead, she stared out onto the tiled roofs of the buildings of the city. Lia had given the situation a great deal of thought over the long night. The Englishman had lived up to his end of the bargain, and admittedly, she was indebted to him for rescuing her brother. She’d always thought herself an honorable person, one who kept her word. Last night was the first time she’d ever tried to run away from a promise she made. For that she was ashamed.

But she had heard this Englishman talk of things that changed their agreement. Things he felt free to discuss with others, but not with her, the woman he would take as his wife.

This betrayal of her trust stung. Though what hurt most, was his admitting that once she gave him his heirs, he would set her aside, separating her from her children. That wasn’t a man who intended to live up to the marriage vows, made before God, that were part of their agreement. Any marriage with him under these circumstances would be doomed from the beginning.

She swiped at a stray tear, refusing to let it fall. She would not feel sorry for herself. It didn’t matter now that she’d dreamed of marrying for love. The reality of her situation was now different. She was thankful to him for saving her brother, and she would keep her end of the bargain. Because, in the end, a loveless union was easily worth her brother’s life. But before Lia married the Englishman, he would have to promise never to separate her from her children.

Feeling grimy and hungry, she looked to the tray on the table. The food was probably cold by now, as was her bath. She dipped her fingers in, testing the water. It was barely warm, and it would get uncomfortable fast if she didn’t hurry. The chicken stew was also getting cold. Grease congealed around the edge of the tureen, and a thin layer formed across the top. She reached for the bread. Even though hard and chewy, it was still more palatable than the contents of the bowl.

Lia stripped out of the dirty boys clothing she still wore, slid into the tepid bath, and began scrubbing. There was no telling how soon Ren would come for her, and she wanted to be presentable when he arrived. Besides, she could think more clearly when she was clean.

R
en stood in front of the small mirror on the shaving stand and wiped blood from his chin, wondering how he managed to cut himself on dry land when he hadn’t done so on his ship in years. He tossed the razor into the bowl of soapy water and dried his face. He had to hurry if he were to make it out and back in time. In his haste to get a priest and a license yesterday, he had forgotten one thing. A damned ring.

Surely there must be a goldsmith or jeweler nearby from whom he could purchase a plain gold band. Once they arrived in England, he would give her something more suitable, but for now a simple band would have to do.

He tucked his shirt into his breeches and pulled his boots on. On his way out, he checked with Flynn to make sure Lia was behaving herself.

“Hadn’t heard a peep from her since the innkeep’s wife left,” Flynn reported.

“Good.” Ren nodded in approval. “The seamstress should be arriving soon with Lia’s clothing. Have the woman help my bride dress. I’ll be back shortly.”

As he passed the public room, he spotted the innkeeper. Perhaps he might know of a place where he could purchase a modest ring.

“I have a cousin whose son-in-law is a fine jeweler. His shop is just around the corner,” the old man said pointing, “and down about a hundred yards. His name is Guiseppe Casale. It’s written on the door.”

“
Mille grazie, Signore
,” Ren said, thanking the man as he left the inn. He’d made it as far as the bottom step when a young woman’s voice stopped him.

“Your Grace?”

He turned and looked at the lady before him, barely more than a child, and wondered what she wanted. She clutched the cloak tight, it’s hood pulled low, almost covering her eyes.

“Yes?” he replied.

“If I could but have a moment of your time. It is a matter of great urgency.” She stepped up into the inn’s public room before pushing back the hood to reveal sparkling sapphire blue eyes and golden blond hair piled high and artfully arranged on top of her head. “I am Julianna Gualtiero, Angelia’s cousin. I wish to speak to her if I may.”

So this was the daughter of the aunt who had attempted murder twice, and quite possibly succeeded with the boy’s nurse. Nothing more than a child, she appeared as a glorious golden angel, frightened and in need of help. Every instinct in him cautioned him to proceed with care. He didn’t trust Lia. She might have sent for her cousin in another foolish attempt to escape him.

It only took a moment to arrive at his decision.

“I will allow you to see her, on one condition. I will be witness to your conversation.”

“Yes, Your Grace,” she replied, demurely lowering her eyes.

Something about her behavior gave him cause for concern. The girl held her black cloak about her with a grip that turned her knuckles white. Her eyes compelled him. At first he’d mistaken it for fear, but that wasn’t it. She was hiding something beneath her cloak. Then he knew.

That scheming wench he was about to take to bride was luring this innocent to help her in her escape.

Ren led the girl through the establishment, past the innkeeper, and up the stairs to his room. Flynn gave him a curious glance as Ren opened the door and showed the young woman in. In his room, with the door still open so he could keep an eye on her, he gave Flynn directions to the jeweler’s shop and instructed him to get a band for Lia.

He then knocked on Lia’s door and called out for her. The sound of water sloshing in the tub told him what she was doing.

“Don’t come in!” she shouted. “Please! Give me a moment to collect myself.”

“Come across to my room as soon as possible,” he instructed, unlocking her door.

He entered his room, leaving the door open so he could guard the entrance to Lia’s room. “It seems your cousin is occupied,” he told the girl in Italian. “She will be here momentarily. Is there something I could help you with?”