Lord Beast (12 page)

She thought she had been quite
successful the whole morning, but there we have it. The blasted man had wormed
into every fibre of her being. He would always manage to pop into her head in
everything and anything that she did.

Victoria seated herself and rang
for tea. “Now,” she said, picking at a smear of mud on her skirt, “are you
going to tell me what’s happened about this gentleman you’ve met?”

Dani smothered a sigh. Even when
she was trying not to think about him, there was always something provoking her
to do just that. “There’s nothing to tell,” she explained neutrally.

“Have you seen him recently?”

“Not for two days.” If Vicky
hadn’t invited her to spend the night at Hawthorne, Dani was sure she would
have seen him by now. Even if the mere mention of him stung a chord of
humiliation and rejection within her, she doubted she could very well leave the
man alone. If he didn’t want to commit himself to her as a husband, then he
could definitely use a friend.

Vicky appeared to be quivering
where she sat. A butler carried in a tea service before leaving them alone once
again but the crockery was ignored for the time being. Her friend gnawed her
lip furiously and Dani instinctively knew she was fighting the urge to impart
with something important.

“What are you not telling me?”
she demanded.

“I mustn’t say!” she wailed,
bunching her hands in her skirt and twisting the material furiously. “Oh,
please, Dani, you mustn’t force me.”

Dani cocked a brow.

“Oh,
alright
! If you
insist
,”
Vicky gushed, relief filling her voice. “I simply won’t tolerate grovelling
from my best friend.”

Dani had to hide a smile. “But
I’m
not
grovelling-”

Vicky held up a hand to
interrupt, a determined expression on her face. “I’ll hear no more of it,
Dani,” she said sternly. “I’ve already agreed to tell you this dire news, so
let me have my say and be done with it.”

Dani rolled her eyes. “What is
it, then?” she sighed.

Vicky leaned forward, her eyes
intent and serious. “Well, this gentleman of yours,” she began, “Rhys
Ashcroft-”

“How did you know?” Dani
demanded, astounded.

Vicky dismissed this question
with a flutter of her wrist. “Gabriel recognised him at the masquerade,” she
said breezily, “but as I-”

“He wasn’t at the masquerade!”

Vicky gave her a peeved look.
“Well, Gabriel said that he was and that he was looking for
you
specifically.”

“Oh my God.”

She had known it was him. Oh,
God, it was cruel. How could he have hidden his identity from her? James
Sutton, indeed! How she had not been sure of it that evening was
indecipherable. The voice, the darkly sinister looks… she was a fool. She
should have called him out on his deceit. Why hadn’t he admitted his identity
to her? Why had he lied? The betrayal she was feeling sent tears to her eyes
and her throat constricted painfully.

“Dani, are you alright?” Vicky
asked concernedly.

Wordlessly, she shook her head,
scared that anything more would cause the unshed tears to fall.

Hurriedly, the other woman poured
a cup of tea just to Dani’s liking and handed it to her, placing herself beside
her friend on the opposite settee. “Why don’t you tell me all about it?” she
urged gently.

After a teary breath, Dani
relented and found herself pouring the whole story about how she had met Rhys
up until the night of the masque ball, only omitting the more risqué accounts
including the kiss in the middle of the maze and the illicit bedroom visits.

Victoria listened with an
intently sympathetic expression, never once commenting or interrupting, but
occasionally frowning with thought or puzzlement.

“What I don’t understand,” Dani
was saying angrily, “is why he would lie to me. Why would he come as James
Sutton and not Rhys Ashcroft? Maybe at least to everyone else he could be James
Sutton, but why not tell me who he really was?”

Vicky pursed her lips. “Well,”
she began slowly, “I might have to re-evaluate my opinion of him after some of
the things you’ve told me now, but I think… I think… oh, I don’t know what I
think. This is all very confusing.”

“Thanks for your help.”

“Don’t be like that, Dani. Before
you told me the whole story, I was about to severely warn you off Rhys
Ashcroft. Now I fear my husband may just be right about him. Good God, don’t
ever tell him that I said that.”

“What did Gabriel say about him?”
Dani asked fervently.

Victoria glanced at her askance.
“Only that this Rhys was a lot different from the Rhys he used to know in his
more… er… disgraceful years.”

Dani contemplated her fingers
nestling in her lap for a moment before saying anything. “I just don’t
understand him,” she murmured sadly, “and what I don’t understand I just can’t
handle. I’m tired of being hurt. I wish I could just forget about him and move
on with my life.”

“Mmmm.” Vicky absently poured
them some more tea. “I think that you might just be good for him, after all.”

Dani made a disparaging sound,
something similar to a snort. “I’ve heard that a lot lately,” she grumbled.

She gave her a small, sincere
smile. “Look,” she said, “whatever it is you’re feeling for the earl, I don’t
think you should ignore. Lord knows it has been hard to get you to even look at
a gentleman over the years-”

“Not by my own choice,” Dani
interrupted heatedly.

Vicky gave her a disbelieving
look. “As I was saying, the point is that you’re quite besotted-”

“I am
not
!”

“-with the man and you shouldn’t
try to curb those feelings. After all, he did go to the ball to see
you
.
He may not have told you who he was, but he was there for you.”

“Are you actually giving me
permission to consort with a lonely earl in an abandoned castle?” Dani asked
incredulously.

“Of course not!” Vicky retaliated
primly. “I’ll act as chaperone on your visits and I’ll forbid you to visit
there alone unless I can accompany you.” She ruined her matronly speech with a
mischievous wink.

“This is absurd. The man probably
doesn’t even want to see me again. I doubt I’ll even be allowed into the castle.”

Vicky snorted. “Of course you
will. Why, it sounds to me as if the man is struggling to keep his hands off
you.”

“Vicky!”

“What?” Large, aquamarine eyes
feigned innocence. “Oh, don’t act all coy. You know perfectly well that it’s
true.”

Dani felt herself blushing,
recalling vividly all the times Rhys had made advances on her.
You’ve made
me
burn
for you
. Right now, after thinking about that evening in her
room, Dani felt a bit of burning herself.

“Are you feeling well?” Vicky
suddenly asked, frowning curiously. “You look a bit flustered.”

“Fine!” she blurted, fanning
herself frantically with her hand. “It’s a bit warm in here, isn’t it?”

Vicky looked at her as if she
feared for her sanity before glancing out the window. “Well, the sun
is
out today.”

“I think I might need some air.”

“We were
just
outside,”
Victoria protested.

“I think I saw a few roses you
hadn’t yet butchered.”

Victoria gave her a dark look.
“You are a very cruel woman.”

But Victoria hastily went outside
to inspect her work anyway before deciding that the roses weren’t, indeed,
mangled enough.

One day later

Throwing a nervous glance at the
haughty butler named Grayson, Dani raised her fist to the solid oak door of
Rhys’s study and knocked.

No answer.

She gave him a questioning look
and the butler shrugged. “I told you,” he said again, “he hasn’t come out of
there for two days.”

“That’s ridiculous,” she sniffed
pertly. “Why ever not?”

The arrogant man raised a brow at
her. “We were hoping that
you
might be able to provide a believable
explanation. The last time he locked himself up like this was after the
accident.”

“I am hardly to blame for this!”
Dani hissed. “I have been the epitome of kindness.
That
man has been an
utter cad.” She crossed her arms petulantly and began to tap her foot. “Really
now, he has to come out to eat.”

Grayson shook his head. “He’s
locked himself alone with the liquor, Miss Carmichael. No doubt I’ll have to
replenish the stock when this madness comes to an end.”

Dani rolled her eyes to the
ceiling, silently praying for divine intervention and patience, both with the
amazingly annoying man beside her and the one barricaded within his study.
“Have you even tried to get him to come out?” she asked dryly.

“Of course.” Grayson looked
affronted. “Unlike some, Lord Ashcroft is a violent drunk. God knows what he
has done to some of the furniture already, but I shan’t enjoy cleaning it up
after him.”

Dani could have happily kicked
him. “Oh, just go away. I’ll take care of this. Ensure a tray of food is
brought to his private chambers,” she instructed impatiently.

Grayson looked as if he was about
to refuse but after a moment he turned on his heel and disappeared down the
cold, dark passage.

Dani watched him go before
turning back to the door of the study. “Rhys?” she called, softly at first, and
when it became evident that he held no intention of responding, she tried again
in an even louder voice. “Rhys Ashcroft, do you hear me?”

Nothing.

“Open this door, Rhys!”

Not a peep.

“I swear to God, if you don’t
open this door this instant I’ll-I’ll shoot you with a pistol.”

Heavy, impenetrable silence.

Frustrated, she sighed. “I mean
it, Rhys. I’ll shoot you. My father taught me how to shoot a pistol before he
died. I can. Well, I may not be able to aim very well, but I’m sure I’ll be
close enough to you
not
to miss.”

The door swung open and strong,
putrid fumes of brandy slammed into her face, making her cringe.

“You,” Rhys slurred from the
shadows, “are adorablesh.”

“Rhys,” Dani hedged tentatively
as she stepped into the chamber. It was dark and rank and the heavy drapes hung
closed over the only windows in the room. She sought him out in the shadows and
found him skulking by a cabinet next to his desk, clumsily pouring himself
another drink. “I don’t think that’s such a good idea.”

“Close-“ he hiccupped “-the
door.”

She did so reluctantly and what
little light there was left faded into darkness. It took several moments for
her eyes to adjust and when they did she could only make out dark shapes and
forms. She could, however, discern enough to see that even in darkness, he wore
that encompassing cloak. “Rhys,” she began gently, coaxingly, “why don’t we go
upstairs? Val’s prepared a nice tray of food-”

“That’s a good idea. Upshtairs…
with you.” He punctuated his statement with a burp.

“You’re drunk.”

“Observant as ushual, Missh Car-
Carmichael.” He began to sway and lurch towards her and Dani felt anxiety
settle over her skin.

“Rhys, you should really lie
down, sleep it off, then we can talk.”

“Don’t want to talk,” he growled,
advancing on her with drunken, predatory intent. His drink sloshed over the rim
of his glass and splashed against the floor.

Dani took a step backwards, then
another and another, retreating until her back thumped against a shelf of some
sort. He followed her step for step until he was within an inch from her, the
alcohol on his breath nearly suffocating her with its potency. “Don’t do this,”
she whispered, trapped. “I came here to talk to you. You don’t want to hurt me.
I know you don’t.”

His arm snaked out and balanced
on a shelf beside her head, effectively cutting off escape from that direction.
“I don’t want to hurt you,” he agreed hoarsely. “Lord, no. I don’t want to hurt
you.”

Strangely touched by the soft
meaningfulness of his voice, Dani gently laid a hand on his arm. “Let me help
you upstairs,” she urged softly. “We can speak about this later.”

A weary groan came from the
depths of the hood and he suddenly leaned close, burying his face in her neck
and…
sniffing
? “Rhys!” Dani exclaimed, shocked and embarrassed. “What
are you doing?”

“I’ve missed the smell of you,”
he mumbled unrepentantly from her neck before lurching back, stumbling away
from her and throwing his arms out, the forgotten glass crashing to the floor
in the process. “Take me to bed, Miss Carmichael,” he declared loudly and
humorously.  

Dani felt her face burst into flame
with heat. “You are an imbecile,” she told him flatly. “But I don’t see why I
would have to complete the task when you are perfectly capable of walking
yourself-” While she had been talking, he had begun to swivel on his feet and
walk towards the door, only forgetting after he had solidly collided with it
that he had ordered it to be closed. Dani sighed.