Gentleman's Guide 01 - His Impetuous Debutante (30 page)

“
Oh, Noah, I am so happy
to see you,” Phoebe declared, refusing to let go.

Laughing, he pulled back. “It is good
to see you as well.”

“
You don’t know what it
has been like, waiting here, wondering.”

Turning her toward the house, he put
her arm in his. “Have you been wondering, Phoebe? Have you begun to
doubt your husband?”

Angry, she pulled away from him. “Can
you blame me? I know exactly what he has been up to while I sit
here. You can’t deny that woman, whoever she is, hasn’t become more
to Taylor than was his original intent.”

Noah groaned. “Phoebe there is a
perfectly good explanation. Now let’s go in the house so we can
talk.” He paused when he noticed her stomach.

“
Quit staring. I know I am
huge.” She turned her back on him and marched into the
house.

Noah followed Phoebe into the parlor
and attempted to explain.

“
If you are going to sit
there and defend him, then you can return to London.”

“
Phoebe, you knew when
this started that people would believe the story we were
spreading.”

“
I know. That was before
he took up with
that
woman. Before he spent three nights alone with her,” Phoebe
screeched at him.

“
Do you know who Lady
Bates is?”

“
Don’t even mention her
name in my presence. I have heard more than I ever care to
know.”

“
Taylor has been faithful
to you. This separation is not easy on him either.”

“
Ha. Obviously. I see how
he pines for me night after night,” Phoebe gritted out, throwing
the latest newspaper in his face.

“
It has paid off. We know
for sure it was Boris now who killed the others and attempted to
kill you.”

“
Then where is he and why
hasn’t the murderer been arrested?” She planted her hands where her
hips should be.

“
We don’t know where he is
at the moment.”

“
Why shouldn’t that
surprise me? Obviously my husband can’t be pulled from his lover’s
bed long enough to find the man who tried to kill me and my child,”
Phoebe finished at the top of her lungs.

Noah started to open his
mouth.

Phoebe held up her hand. “Don’t
bother. I am no longer the naive country girl I once was.” She
stalked from the room and slammed the door behind her.

It took her a bit, but she
finally calmed down. The best thing she could do right now is put
Taylor and
that
woman from her mind. She looked down and caressed her ever
expanding stomach and was rewarded with a kick. “You are all I
need.”

Phoebe picked up the book on the table
beside her bed and attempted to read.

Noah knocked and entered without her
giving him leave.

She looked up from the book. “I don’t
want to talk about this anymore.”

He put a package on the bed. “Taylor
asked that I give this to you.”

“
Thank you.” She returned
to reading her book.

Noah exited as quietly as he had
entered.

Phoebe sat for a long time staring at
the package. She wanted to open it, but didn’t want to accept
anything from Taylor at the moment. He hadn’t bothered to write in
weeks. Did he think a gift would make up for his silence? But the
curiosity got to her, and eventually she did open the parcel.
Within were jewels. The same ones rumored to have been purchased
for his mistress. A small part of her brain began to wonder if
perhaps she had jumped to conclusions. Quickly she dismissed the
thought. He did not spend the night alone with a beautiful widow
and not sleep with her.

She picked up the letter and began to
read. He missed her and assured her that soon everything would be
over and he would return to take her home. Phoebe tossed the letter
aside. Yes. It would be over soon but it wasn’t the ending he was
imagining.

She picked up the package, marched
down to Noah’s room and threw the contents on his bed. “You may
return these to my husband.”

Noah glanced at the expensive gifts
then back at his sister.

“
If I wasn’t convinced
before, I am now. Evidently,” she gestured to the items, “he is
overcome with guilt. Well, he won’t be forgiven for emeralds and
diamonds.” She left and slammed the door behind her.

*

Taylor was restless and plagued with
worry over his wife. What if she did believe the rumors and the
stories? How betrayed she must feel. He had to stop thinking about
it. Pacing and losing sleep was getting him nowhere. Noah should
have arrived today. He would send word one way or the other. He
continued pacing his library, sitting on occasion, only to become
restless and rise again. Waiting had never been his favorite
activity.

Slowly he became aware of the smell of
roses. That was Heather’s scent. She had bushes throughout her
garden and made soaps from the delicate flowers. Why was he
smelling her fragrance now?

He stood and searched the room. Was
she with him now? Was he losing his mind? Would he now start
conversing with her in his waking hours as well as his dreams? He
turned and saw her. She stood by his desk. She was a whole person
in his dreams, now she was most definitely a ghost for he could see
his desk through her dress.

“
You are not losing your
mind, Taylor.”

“
Why are you here?” he
asked, very much disturbed that he was now conversing with his dead
wife while awake.

“
I told you I would come
when Phoebe needed you. I couldn’t wait for you to finally sleep.
You must go to her. Leave now.” Heather was most
insistent.

“
Is she in
danger?”

“
Very much. Please. Go
now, before it is too late,” she urged and faded away.

Taylor didn’t stop to question the
apparition. Throwing his glass down, he stopped only long enough to
pull on a coat and boots and saddle his horse.

*

Phoebe stood at the back of the house
looking out at the clear day. The sky was a cold, dark blue and she
longed to be outside. They didn’t even know where Boris was. He
could be on the Continent for all they knew, waiting for Taylor to
lose everything, and she had been hiding in the house like a scared
child. Well, not today. She was going to escape the confines and go
for a walk.

She wrapped the cloak around her and
left the house. She was tired of living in the safe haven her
husband had set for her, while he roamed London and carried on
affairs.

Phoebe arrived at the ruins and
climbed one set of the steps to the only remaining battlement wall.
At the top she faced the sun; the breeze blew her hair from behind.
She inhaled deeply and filled her lungs with the fresh, ocean air.
She should have come here long ago. In the distance she saw a
rider. It was probably Noah coming in search of her. She knew she
would receive a scolding for leaving the house but at the moment
she didn’t care. The only thing that mattered to her was the child
within, and herself. She refused to think of Taylor and his
betrayal on such a lovely day. There was another rider, behind
Noah. Probably one of his friends.

Phoebe groaned. She didn’t want to see
any of them. They were Taylor’s friends. She turned away to find a
man standing directly before her. Phoebe knew instinctively this
was Boris. She opened her mouth to scream, but Boris grabbed her,
turned and put his back to the riders. With any luck he hadn’t seen
them.

“
I don’t know why I
silenced you. It is not like anybody is going to hear your screams
out here.”

So he hadn’t seen the riders. She
could only pray Noah and his friend arrived in time.

He loosened his hold, let his hand
drop from her mouth and patted her protruding stomach. Phoebe
recoiled.

“
It looks like I was
almost too late. Taylor get you before the vows were
said?”

“
No,” she spat and tried
to back away.

“
Keep going; it is what I
had planned.”

Phoebe looked behind and stopped. She
was close to the edge. A few more steps and she would fall to her
death.

*

Taylor’s heart was in his throat. He
spotted her at the top of the wall and watched Boris approach from
behind and grab her. He rode harder, watching her back toward the
edge of the wall in agonizing fear. Thank the Lord she stopped
before it was too late. Noah had already reached the ruins and
dismounted.

Noah didn’t even ask why Taylor was
suddenly there. Instead he gestured and indicated a separate set of
steps, one at each end of the wall. Separating, they silently
walked around the wall and began to climb. He couldn’t see her from
here and his heart pounded fiercely in his chest. As he climbed,
their voices became clear. Phoebe kept him talking and Boris began
to brag.

*

“
It should have been
obvious why I am doing this, Lady Sandlin.”

“
You killed the others as
well?” Phoebe moved away from the edge, searching for an escape
.

“
Of course. It was child’s
play. You, however, almost proved impossible.” He was so sure of
himself now. “Almost.”

“
How many
times?”

“
Five, no six, I think.
Let me see. First, I missed when I shot at you.”

“
You shot at me that
weekend. I wasn’t betrothed to Taylor at that time.”

“
No, you weren’t, but I
had been watching. He was in love with you even then. I had just
decided to eliminate you early.”

“
When was the next?”
Phoebe was horrified. He had been watching and waiting. Why hadn’t
she listened this time and stayed inside? Oh, if she got out of
this, she vowed to act more responsible and less
impetuous.

“
I was driving the
carriage that ran you down shortly before your marriage.
Unfortunately, I missed again.”

The incident came back to her in a
flash and she now saw his face holding the reigns. How could she
have forgotten the details?

“
My next attempt was in
trying to wreck your carriage. You only suffered a few bruised
ribs, didn’t you?”

“
Taylor could have been
killed.”

“
It was a risk I was
willing to take. Truth be told though, I’m not ready for Taylor to
die. No, I intend for him to live a long time.”

“
Oh, I almost forgot. The
horse. I hadn’t counted on you being such an excellent rider. To
think, I caused such a fine animal such pain for
nothing.”

Phoebe realized that he had been
following them everywhere. How often had he overheard them talk, or
watched during their more intimate moments? “What did you do to the
horse?” She and Taylor had always wondered at what had spooked him
so.

“
Just a bit of poison.
Enough to make him more excitable than usual. Once the small pricks
from the needles entered the skin, it caused enhanced painful
sensations.”

From the corner of her eyes, Phoebe
saw movement, but didn’t look that way, afraid of betraying her
rescuer.

“
Let me see, what did I
try next? Oh yes, the fire. I must applaud you on your choice of
costume. As soon as I heard, I purchased the book myself. I thought
the disguise of Bluebeard particularly fitting. Didn’t
you?”

“
It is an evil story about
an evil man.”

“
That would depend on
one’s point a view now, wouldn’t it?”

Phoebe didn’t answer. She edged a bit
further way, but she still was not out of reach.

“
Then I tried what had
been used on the first wife. Anyone can tell by looking at you, it
didn’t work. Though I can’t imagine why. There was enough of that
herb to cause an elephant to lose its young.”

“
I only had a few bites of
my meal,” she retorted and inched back, away from him.

“
For a short time I really
believed you had lost the child. Then Taylor started acting
strangely, and I realized that he still had time to get another
child on you before his birthday. That is when I thought he had
caught onto my game, and he had, hadn’t he.”

“
Attempts on the life of
one’s wife tend to make a husband rather suspicious.”

“
While he was off
gallivanting in London, I returned here and have been waiting for
you to emerge from the house. I could never get close enough to
look into a window to satisfy my curiosity because your husband has
so many guards posted. That, in itself, however, convinced me you
hadn’t lost the child at all. I was finally rewarded for my
patience when you so lovingly greeted your brother
yesterday.”

Phoebe’s face went cold and she knew
it drained of color. She had run from the house, without a care, so
happy to see Noah. To think he had been out there, waiting the
entire time.

“
I knew you were unhappy
with Taylor’s behavior. Especially since it was obvious in the
beginning he was trying to throw me off. But how you must have felt
when he did take up with a mistress, one he can barely stand to be
away from? Remember when he felt that way about you? Does it hurt
as much as I would imagine it would?”