Light to Valhalla (4 page)

“
I say,
Alex
, how long are you home for
this time
?
”
Regina
’s haughty voi
ce drifted through the open portal
.
“
Long enough for your wife to become pregnant?”

Charley
’s cheeks flamed
.
Must
the dowager
speak of
so personal a subject
? 
Any servant happening by might hear
.
As far as
Charley
was concerned the matter
of children was
between
her
, her husband, and
a firmly closed door
.

“Must you continue to harp on this subject, Mother?”

“Yes,” the dowager spat caustically
.
“
If you’r
e killed before an heir is produced the tit
le passes to your cousin
Sidney
.
The man is positively odious!
”

“
I‘
m well aware
of your feelings toward Peter
and his
side
of the family
, therefore c
ould we please forgo th
e rehash of this subject?  We’ve
discussed Peter
,
Charlotte
, my military career and the need to produce an heir every
letter
for the last three years
.
It is why I stopped writing, mother
.
Kindly give it a rest.”

  “Give it a rest? 
Give it a rest?
”
Regina
’s voice shook with rage
.
“
It is bad enough the
next Marquis will have
that
woman
for a mother
.
If I’d known how unsuitable she’d turn out to be I’d never have agreed to the betrothal with Richard
.
The girl
is more out of cont
rol than when she was a child
.
Her uppity
blue stocking
w
ays smear the
Coverstone
name on a daily basis.
”

“Still climbing trees and riding astride?” Alex
quipped
wryly
.

“Worse!  She’s acquired quite the
penchant for charity work
.”

“Sponsoring charities?
 
Scandalous, mother,
”
s
arcasm
dripped from
the marquis’
s
words
.
“
P
ositively evil.”

“
Charlotte does not just sponsor charities,
Alex
.
S
he actually
volunteers in the slums
!
  Lord only knows what she’s really doing there.
”

Charley
blanched, knowing she should flee but rooted t
o the spot
.

Alex
’s groan rose above his mother’s shrill rant
.
“Where the
bloody
hell is my brandy?”

“
Men are constantly sniffing after your
wife
,”
contempt dripped from the word
.
“
She has more red hair than a French whore
.
I
suggest you get the job done before another does it for you
.
The scandal that
would arise
.
Do you wish to see the name of
Coverstone
drug through the muck and mire?
”

“The scandal, M
other?
 
The scandal?
  Is that all you care about?  For the love of Christ, there is a war on, men are dy
ing
.
What is wrong with London
that all anyone cares about is scandal and gossip?”

“
Alex
, your duty to—”

“Do not lecture me
the stipulations of duty, M
other
.
You know nothing of the word.”
Any hint of amusement fled as the
marquis’s voice dropped to a rumbling growl
.
“
I married
Charlotte
didn’t I?  I did all that was right a
nd honorable in the eyes of
family and society
.
Be satisfied with that
.
For the moment it
will have to be enough.
”

“Do you mean to tell me you intend for nothing more than a marriage of convenience with Charlotte?
  Give her your name and nothing more?
”

Charley
stumbled away
from the door
.
She already knew
Alex
’s answer
.
For years Regina
had petitioned the crown
to force Alex’s
discharge from service
.
No doubt the call had been
answered else Alex would never voluntarily leave
his
post
wounded or otherwise
.
Unshed tears burned her eyes as she bolted for the
front
door, throwing her wrapper around her
shoulders
.
Abruptly she turned to the waiting butler
.
“Hastings
, I’ll be going away for a few days
.
Would you be good enough to look after Willy for me?”

Soft gray eyes g
aze
d
back at her, filled with pity
.
“Of course, milady.”

“
Th
-t
hank you, Hastings,” she mumbled, stepping through the open door
, stumbling down the stone steps
.
A strangled sob escaped
Charley
’s throat as she fled to the carriage,
desperate to
escape the evolving nightmare of her life
.
Perpetually trap
ped in a house that was
her own,
but hardly a home
.
Duty… Honor… Marriage… 
The words swirled through her mind
, giving way to the memory of her wed
ding night three years before…

After a miserably tense
ceremony and after party
Charley
had gone to
her room to prepare for the wedding night
.
Terrified
.
Alex
had exploded thr
ough her door
, the scent of brandy so heavy her nose burned
.

“
You
unfaithful
title seeking harlot
.
How
could you stand before the alta
r of God and marry me three
week
s
after my brother
’
s death?
”
The memory of his cold angry eyes chilled her to the bone
.
“
You
were engaged to Richard for eigh
teen years
.
He actually loved you
.
I thought you were better than this
Charlotte
, but you’re no different than the other ton women out to snare the loftiest title.
”

“
Alex
, please,
”
she’d begged, willing the disdain from his eyes
.
“
My
mother
left me no choice
.
Do you believe I am any happier about
this than you?”

“Just, shut up
.
Shut up!
  Let’s
just
get this over with, shall we?
”
At that moment
, yanking angrily at his cravat,
he’d ceased to be her age old friend a
nd beco
me a man she didn’t know
… a man
who obviously did not know her
.
“After tonight, if an heir is conceived,
I hope never to see you again.”

Tears drib
bled miserably down her cheeks, s
he swiped them away
before
clasping
the outstretched hand of her driver
.
So much for
avoiding
the servant
s
’
gossip
.
“Thank you, Saunders.
”
She sniffed, meeti
ng the driver’s gaze, and dragged
the length of her blue skirts into the carriage
.
“
To Grayson Hall
, please.
”
Forget Lady Carmichael
’s dinner party
,
Charley
needed her mother, de
sperately
.
The
ancestral hom
e of her parents was
just a
couple
hours away
.
Perhaps her
mother
would allow her to spend
a few
night
s..
.
or weeks
.
Resolve solidified. She’d been waiting on Alex
for years, it was his time to come to her, and the next time they met it would be on
her
home soil.

“Of course, milady.
”
The driver nodded
without
question and swung
the door shut
.

Charley
pulled the
supple
f
ur lap blanket across her legs burying cold hands in
the folds
.
The tears proved insatiable
.
She rested her head against the window
,
willing away the oppressive stones of
Coverstone
House
.
Dusk cast long shadows, swallowing the road
as they swept out of London
.
Perhaps
she
could disappear into oblivion
, simply drown in the darkness, never to return
.
T
rees whip
ped
past
, and with each mile behind her
Charley
could not decide if relief or longing
caused the tears to come faster
.

The coach screamed around a corner, tilting on two wheels
.
Charley
threw an arm out to brace herself, nearly tumbling from the seat
.
She sniffed, momentari
ly pulled from the pool of self-
pity, and paid more attention to the passing scenery
.
Odd Saunders should be driving so fast
.
T
he weather hardly called for it,
and
the road was packed with mud and snow
.
A niggling of unease
tickled her belly
.
Wa
s it just her imagination or did the coach seem to be
gaining speed?
  
And…
Gracious
!
 
Charley
n
early
toppled
from her perch
.
The carriage was traveling
o
n
the wrong road
.
Even in the dark she’d bet her life on it
.

“Saunders!”
she called, reflexively moving to the opposite bench
, reaching for the
small wooden door
behind the driver’s bench
.
“What is going on?”

“Shut that window and get down
, milady
!”

Shocked,
Charley
jerked back
.
Something was very
,
very
wrong.