Midnight Bride (56 page)

His arms closed around her, holding her pressed to him. For a moment the only sounds were of their hearts beating and their breathing. Dunstan kissed her lightly and put her farther back on the chaise. His tone light, he said, "Lady
wife
, have faith in me. I do not plan to leave the lady I love alone in this world." He smiled and stood up and was gone before she could utter a word.

"He loves me," she whispered and
lay
back, her hands clasped to her heart.

Lost in her dreams, Elizabeth floated through her evening meal with the earl. At first his frequent glances at his watch did not bother her. But as the hour grew later and neither Dunstan nor Charles had returned, her face grew more somber.

When midnight had come and gone, the earl stood up. "Go to bed, Elizabeth," he suggested.

"But what if . . . ?" She paused and closed her eyes, not willing to speak her fears aloud for fear of their coming true.

"I will leave someone on duty throughout the night. If any word comes, he will call us."

At first she still refused to go upstairs, but then she agreed, realizing that if her fears were to come true, she would need to be strong not only for herself but also for her mama,- Louisa, and
Cecile.
She went up to bed, donning the sheer
nightrobe
she had had Miller lay out. She listened to the hours tick away on the clock, wishing she could push them along faster. Finally about dawn, she drifted off to sleep, only to awaken a short time later with horrible dreams. She rose, deciding to read, but the novel she had enjoyed a few days earlier seemed hopelessly stale. She put it to one side and stared off in the distance, her eyes unfocused and dull.

When Elizabeth drifted into the breakfast room later that morning, the earl noted the circles under her eyes. He too had slept uneasily. Quietly he had the footman bring fresh tea and watched as she drank her first cup.

They were sitting there quietly when they heard the knocker at the door. Both stiffened only to slump a few minutes later when Lord and Lady
Ramsburg
, followed by Louisa
Beckworth
, hurried into the room. "What happened? We waited up, but Charles never returned. What time did they arrive?"

"They did not come home last night," the earl said quietly, his eyes on Elizabeth. Her face was almost as white as the dress she wore.

"Have you eaten?" Elizabeth asked. When they
told her they had not, she slipped from the room to order fresh food. She returned a few minutes later, her eyes slightly red. Noting her stepdaughter's shiver, Lady
Ramsburg
told a footman, "Send Miller to me."

The maid appeared minutes later, her face disturbed. When she saw the assembled group, she paused. "Yes, my lady?"

"Fetch your mistress a pelisse or a shawl. I know when she ordered that
dress,
she must have bought a
spencer
to accompany it."

She had, but Elizabeth had taken one look at the bright jade-green
spencer
and had refused to put it on, declaring that the color was offensively bright. Now it was easier to agree.

Their breakfast over, the ladies retired to the morning room. The gentlemen entered the library. Both groups were silent, preferring to keep their thoughts to themselves. An hour passed.
Then two.
Suddenly there was a commotion in the hall. Both groups rushed out, their faces anxious.
When the saw
Cecile
and her grandparents, their faces fell.

"What is wrong?' Mr. Westin demanded, taking in the situation faster than either of the others.

"Dunstan and Charles did not return last evening. Did Charles send you a message,
Cecile?"
Lady
Ramsburg
asked.

"No. What do you mean did not come home? What were they doing? Why do you all look so serious?" the girl asked, her face anxious. She took a step forward without lifting her skirts and tripped on the hem of the blue-figured muslin she wore. "Tell me," she begged.

Elizabeth looked at the earl, her eyes begging him to explain. Quickly and quietly he did. He pulled the sleeves of his
corbeau
-colored coat over his hands and laced them together. The Westins looked at each other and then at their granddaughter. Her eyes were wide and filled with tears. "Nothing has happened to Charles, I know it. If something had happened, I would have felt it. Convince them I am telling the truth,
Grandmama
. Tell them," she
said,
her voice shaky.

Her grandmother put her arm about her, leading her into the drawing room nearby. When they returned a few minutes later,
Cecile
was dry-eyed. The clock chimed again. Realizing that her guests had no intention of leaving until they had heard some news, Elizabeth met with the housekeeper, giving orders that a simple luncheon be prepared.
"Soup, of course.
And whatever else is available. Tell the chef to make it simple and to remember that I trust his judgment implicitly."

They were sitting at their meal sometime later, the ladies pushing the food around on their plates, and the men eating little more. This time no one heard anything except the rattle of dishes and quiet conversation until the door to the dining room flew open.

"Just as you suspected, Charles.
They are all here," said Dunstan, striding in as though he had no troubles in the world.

"Where have you been?"

"What happened?"

"Why did you not send us word?"

"Is it over?" The questions flew so quickly that neither of the gentlemen could answer them. Elizabeth said nothing, her eyes fixed on Dunstan's face. His eyes never left hers.

"Give a hungry man a chance," Charles said in protest. "We only stopped to change horses. And Dunstan's men have refined that action to an art," he said.
"Food.
Give us some food." He sat down by
Cecile
and watched in delight as she filled his
plate. Dunstan walked to Elizabeth's side as if drawn.

"Take my seat, dear boy," Louisa said quietly, giving a footman a signal to bring another chair. Then she quickly set some chicken and fruit before him. Dunstan took Elizabeth's hand and held it tightly, not even letting go to eat.

When the men had eaten their fill, everyone retired to the drawing room. "Do not keep us in suspense much longer," the earl said sternly. "It is obvious that you were successful. Tell us about it."

Charles began, rising to his feet. "Hartley was so certain that he had us in a trap. He was not even worried because there were two of us. He should have been." Charles chuckled wickedly. "Reminding us that the time was growing shorter and that sooner or later he would be called as a witness, Hartley once more presented his demands." Lord
Ramsburg
coughed, but when Charles looked at him, he waved him on.

"Since we were so reluctant to give him money, he suggested that we allow him to 'win' it from us. Why he thought one idea would be more palatable than another, I have no idea. We allowed him to think we had no other choice." Charles laughed bitterly and then leaned over to give
Cecile
a kiss on her cheek.

"Charles, continue with the story!" his mother said. Her face was stern. The others nodded. Elizabeth tightened her fingers around her husband's. He looked at her and smiled.

"We agreed to play and retired to a private parlor after first calling for brandy. Dunstan, this was your plan. Do you wish to tell this part?"

"You are doing a fine job. Continue."

"Dunstan had bribed the innkeeper and imported his own man to serve us. Not one of the servants but a rough-looking man. He kept our glasses filled. But Dunstan and I were drinking well-watered brandy. Hartley was not. At the beginning, as Dunstan had planned, we lost to him, handing over thousands of pounds. He was so confident that he admitted he had shaved the cards. That is when he made his mistake."

Dunstan cut in at that point. "He began to boast about his ability to ruin a reputation. He was so certain that we were not going to do anything that would harm ourselves or those we love. He even laughed at our helplessness."

"He was laughing so hard he did not even notice when the servant substituted a bottle of brandy that was drugged," Charles added. "He drank it without suspecting anything."

"Drugged?"

"Why?"

"Is that legal?"

"How would that help?" Elizabeth asked the last question.

"We were prepared to be rough with him. But we decided to use the sleeping draught before we tried anything else. He slept all the way to Portsmouth." Dunstan
smiled,
a wicked twinkle in his dark blue eyes. "And it seemed such poetic justice."

"I do not understand any of this,"
Cecile
complained.

"Portsmouth. Ships sail from there to faraway lands," Lady
Ramsburg
explained kindly.

"Oh. What happened next?"
Cecile
looked from Charles to Dunstan, her brown eyes wide.

"A ship to China was waiting. Grandfather agreed to invest in the trading venture so that the ship would be standing by if we needed it," Dunstan said as he smiled at the older man.

"You sent him to China?" Elizabeth asked,
breaki
ng
into a full smile for the first time in a long time.

"Yes, we did. You should have heard me talking to the captain when he was in London," Dunstan said laughing. "I was the heartbroken nephew, mourning my uncle's lapses into insanity. According to my story, his doctor had recommended a total change of scenery, somewhere out of the ordinary. His father, a crony of the Prince of Wales, had naturally thought of China, the source of so many treasures."

"And the man believed you?" Lord
Ramsburg
asked.

"With the generous percentage of the cargo we allowed him, he had no reason to question my motives. It was obvious that we would spare no expense to insure Hartley's well-being. We even sent along his nurse."

"Nurse?"

"What do you mean?"

"You sent a woman to China with Hartley?"

"No, a man.
And what a man.
You should have seen him. He is so tall that he has to bend to enter normal doorways. He will be rather uncomfortable on board ship," Charles said, his eyes alight.

"Like the captain, he will be well rewarded," Dunstan reminded Charles. "This morning we put them aboard ship. We warned the captain that my Uncle Hartley had rational
moments, that
he was sane at times, but that he suffered from delusions of persecution."

"You sent the man off like that? What will he say when he awakens?"
Louisa asked, her face worried.

"If he is sensible, he will take the letter his nurse has for him and use the money enclosed to start a new life. The ship will make port at one of the
trading
compounds. The captain has orders to leave Hartley there. The captain will spread the word to the other ships. Without a great many inducements most captains avoid madmen."