Once Upon an Accident 01 - The Accidental Countess (16 page)

“No.”

“Just that?” Daniel shrugged. “Just no?”

Sebastian nodded curtly. He couldn’t respond. Panic had joined the irritation, and they marched hand in hand causing him to take another swig of brandy. He didn’t want to say what he was really thinking. Telling Colleen might be ideal. Unfortunately, Sebastian couldn’t be sure the woman wouldn’t abandon him because of the threat. Truthfully, he wouldn’t blame her, but he didn’t want to take that chance.

“No. That is final. She’s my wife. It is my decision.” When Daniel looked ready to argue, Sebastian turned their conversation in another direction. “What I can’t figure out is, why like this? What is so important that they get the title now? They have had years to do this. Hell, my father has been dead for years, so the elimination could have been drawn out and not made to look so deliberate.” He shook his head. “This is the act of someone who is very desperate.”

The image of his uncle rose up like a rat from the gutter. Lazy, irritating and downright disgusting. It was well known that he kept mistresses and didn’t try to hide that fact from his wife, Prudence. He was sure there was a case to be made that the woman drove his uncle to taking mistresses, but Sebastian still didn’t agree with flaunting it in front of her.

“Your uncle is not the most likeable of characters.”

He nodded, realizing that his friend was thinking much along the same lines as he was. “No, but there is one thing…he is lazy. He would never take time to plan something like this. He is not intelligent enough to come up with the plan. That is the strange thing. If he is the one behind it, someone else is there with him.” It wasn’t as if Sebastian had spent the last six weeks sitting around, but with so many dead ends, his frustration was mounting. “It could be him, or it could be someone else.”

“You don’t think he could do it?”

“Not by himself, no.” But who? And why? The time line simply did not make sense to him. He shrugged. “I suppose it could be him.”

“It would be hard to track every one of these damn cousins. You Wares are a prolific bunch.”

Sebastian smiled. “There is that. I fear that my father was a disappointment to my grandfather.”

“So it could be any of them, but I would gather someone at the top?”

Sebastian sobered. “Yes. I am lucky I was bashed on the head and left for dead. Otherwise, it would be my death they were investigating. I just don’t see how they weren’t going to draw attention to themselves this way.”

“You are sure it isn’t James? He would be the one who would gain the most.”

“He doesn’t need the money, or I would think not. Jenkins is making some inquiries. But all the sons were well taken care of. Grandfather believed in making certain all members of his family had money and land.”

“So why isn’t Cicely married? I would think she had a nice dowry.”

Sebastian grimaced as the image of his younger cousin came to mind. Small boned, and a bit on the mousy side, she had quietly accepted Colleen as a cousin. The two women seemed to have formed a bond of some sort, both of them being bluestockings and Cicely on her way to being the spinster Colleen had been.

“She didn’t take. She’s been out for five years and has yet to have an offer that I know of. Pity, she is a nice sort of chit.” He sighed. “Her mother is a detractor. Would you want her for a mother-in-law even if a fortune came attached?”

Daniel grinned. “I don’t want any mother-in-law, but that is just me. However, I do see what you mean.”

Sebastian didn’t return the smile, knowing the life of a spinster with a mother like Prudence would not be pleasant by any standards. “As I said, she is a nice enough chit, but even I can tell she hates social occasions.”

There was a knock at the door and Dobbins, Daniel’s butler, announced Mr. Jenkins had requested a meeting with Sebastian.

“You have news?” Sebastian asked once Dobbins backed regally from the room.

The runner glanced at Daniel. “You can trust him.”

He hesitated for only a moment to give Daniel a thorough study. “Well, my lord, I can’t seem to shake this idea that your uncle is involved in this someway. So I have been tailing him. He has had some interesting chats with the Duke of Ethingham of late.”

“Ethingham? What would he have to do with Uncle James?”

“Now, you see that was my question and what I wanted to ask you. Why would he meet with the man three times in two weeks? I’m not talking social occasions where they might accidentally bump into one another, either. And then there is His Grace’s peculiar interest in your wife.”

Sebastian forced his calm. “He has approached her on several occasions, true. But there is nothing to that. He tries to dally with many married women. I am not worried about Colleen.”

“But did you know he has been sniffing around her background, looking for things?”

His blood ran hot at the idea that Ethingham had been courting his wife. What he had said was true. He knew Colleen would never stray from their marriage, but the idea of Ethingham investigating her background…

Sebastian’s blood shifted and chilled. “You say the man has been checking into her background? Her heritage you mean?”

“Yes. The only thing I can think of is that your uncle might be trying to set the course for challenging your marriage.”

He shared a glance with Daniel, but neither one of them said a thing. Still, the wily runner picked up on it. “There isn’t a reason he could take to court, is there, my lord?”

“No.” Daniel had taken care of the documents. “But why would Ethingham be involved?”

“It is said His Grace can get fixated on what he wants and won’t give up until he succeeds. If your wife is what he wants—”

“He would be in a situation to take control of her life if I was out of the picture, and she was no longer the countess.” He sighed. It seemed far-fetched, but he would have never guessed his uncle and cousin would be murdered for their title. “But couldn’t they just be planning to kill Colleen as well?”

Even though it had been his words, they struck him to the core. His marriage to her had put her in danger.

“Yes, but unless they can arrange for an accident to take the two of you out, it would be even more suspicious. Discrediting her might be an easier way.”

Daniel chimed in. “Think about it, Sebastian. If there is another death, and it involves Lady Colleen, it would be odd. Well, more than odd. And you know he can’t take a chance with her being with child. That would make him lose any hope of claiming the earldom. Discrediting her claim would give him the earldom.”

For a second, his mind wandered. All the talk of Colleen pregnant brought up the image of her swollen with his child. A sense of rightness swept through him. He shook it off when he noticed the two men were staring at him.

Clearing his throat, he said, “That might work, but I just don’t see the connections. And why would he care about his daughter making a match? James cares of no one but himself.”

“Unless he wants her out of his hair. He doesn’t want to be saddled with Prudence and Cicely,” Daniel offered.

“There is something else, my lord. Your uncle is done up.”

That caught both his and Daniel’s attention. “I thought you said he did all right.”

The runner shifted his weight in the chair. “No. Your uncle likes the tables, he does. And he apparently has been losing a lot of money. His streaks have been bad.”

Sebastian leaned forward. “Really?”

“There is even speculation that might be one of the reasons his daughter isn’t married.”

“You were right, Sebastian,” Daniel said.

He sighed and rubbed his temple. “Is there anything else?”

“There is the unfortunate accident today,” Jenkins said. “That was an act of desperation. Everything before has been plotted and planned. That makes me concerned. Your wife may be in danger.”

“You said she wouldn’t be. You said they were probably going to challenge her heritage.”

Jenkins shifted again, apparently uneasy with confronting a peer of the realm. After a few moments, he sighed. “That may have been part of the original plan. But when an individual, a murderer, gets desperate, there is no telling what he or she might do. It is my duty to warn you.”

The “she” caught Sebastian’s attention. “Do you think this might be a woman?”

“Not really, my lord. There is no woman, save your cousin, who would benefit. And though I have seen some strange things happen in my time, I have never seen a woman of her character take charge like that.”

Sebastian nodded. “I’ll have to agree with you on that. Cicely is the type to faint at the slightest of things.” He paused. “Poor Cicely. If James is at the tables, perhaps there is no dowry now. Her hopes are bleak indeed.”

“I would suggest you take some measures, my lord.”

“Measures?”

Jenkins’ gaze grew penetrating. “I have a feeling you have not told your wife.”

Sebastian ignored Daniel’s chuckle. “How would you know that?”

He shrugged. “Most men think women do not need to know things like this. They think they can handle it. That they are protecting the women by not telling them. That might have been well and good in the beginning, but things have progressed, and although I think she was not the initial target, there is no telling what could happen.”

“Colleen does not need to know. We know nothing for certain, and I will not have her all aflutter for conjecture. There is no threat to her life.” And at that moment, he knew he could not stand not having her by his side. It was selfish and stupid, but desperation clawed at his stomach when he thought of her fleeing, running from him.

“My lord—”

The library door flung open and Gerry, one of Sebastian’s footmen, rushed forward.

“I am so sorry, my lord, but this man insisted upon seeing you.” Dobbins’ voice rang of indignation and censure. “When I refused, he ignored me.”

The sight of the tall, thin Dobbins trying to drag Gerry, who was built like an ox, out of the room brought a smile to Sebastian’s lips.

“My lord, Lady Victoria bade me to find you,” Gerry shouted.

“I will remove him in a moment, my lord.” Dobbins tugged on Gerry’s arm. He didn’t budge.

Daniel laughed. “No worries, Dobbins.”

“Gerry, what did my mother need? I can’t see that it required you to follow me here.”

“I went to your club, my lord, but when I did not find you there, I came here. I was there when my lord stopped by earlier looking for you.”

“What,” Sebastian said, trying not to get irritated with the young man, “did my mother want?”

“She wants you home.”

Sebastian opened his mouth to argue but Gerry’s next words stopped his comment.

“She says that you need to come home. Lady Penwyth, your Lady Colleen, has taken a tumble down the stairs.”

“Colleen. Wake up.”

Colleen ignored the summons. She didn’t know who it was, but she wanted to be left alone. Every time she even thought of opening her eyes, shards of pain sliced through her head, radiating within her body. Unable to deal with it and the queasiness, her mind drifted back, enveloping her in peace.

“Colleen, I insist you wake up.” Her mother-in-law’s voice cut through the pleasant numbness. A sharp odor tickled her nose. She came awake with a start, the sunlight pouring through the windows, scorching her eyes. The nausea returned. She squeezed her eyes shut.

“Bright…sun.” They were the only words she could formulate. And when had it gotten so bright? Why was she even thinking about that?

“Cicely, shut the drapes.” Victoria again. “You can open your eyes now, Colleen.”

It did feel darker. Slowly, testing the light in the room, she opened her eyes. Above her was the canopy of her bed. How did she end up in her bedroom?

She looked to her left, the area where she had heard her mother-in-law’s voice float from and found Victoria leaning toward her. Struggling to sit up, she upset her stomach again. Worry etched Victoria’s face, and she was so very pale.

“No, Colleen, you must lay down. The doctor should be here any minute.”

“What happened?” Even to her own ears, her voice sounded weak.

“You took a tumble down the stairs. Not very far, thank God, just the last few steps. His Grace found you lying there.”

Victoria nodded to Colleen’s left. Although it took some effort, Colleen turned her head and it throbbed. Her body almost convulsed from the agony. The room wavered, but she fought the urge to slam her eyes shut again, determined to remain alert. When she completed the task, she was sure she wanted to die. She could not deal with the pain. But she focused her gaze on Ethingham.

She licked her lips. “Your Grace. Thank you so much for saving me.”

His frown turned darker, his face no longer the vision of a carefree rake. “I did nothing to save you, my lady. I found you lying there at the base of the stairs.”

“Still.” She swallowed another wave of nausea. “I would thank you for your assistance.”

“My Lady, Dr. Watkins is here.” The voice was familiar, a footman, but Colleen didn’t even want to try to think. Thinking hurt.

“Dr. Watkins. Please, come in.” After a rustle of silk, her mother-in-law entered into her line of vision and spoke to a plump, rather jovial-looking man.

“My lady,” Ethingham said, taking her hand. His blue grey eyes studied her, concern evident and overwhelming. “I will take my leave, but if you find yourself in a situation where you need help again, please, remember to call on me. At any time.”

“Thank you, Your Grace.”

After staring at her for a moment longer, he nodded and took his leave. She had the strangest sensation there was more to his comments than just a simple offer. The burning intensity in his eyes had struck her as determined. Determined for what, she had no idea, and at the moment she didn’t care.

Victoria drew the older gentleman to the side of her bed. “Colleen, this is Dr. Watkins. He is going to take care of you.”

“I’m fine, really.”

Victoria shook her head. “No, darling, you need to have him examine you and make sure nothing else is wrong. Please.”

Her fine blue eyes, so much like Sebastian’s, showed her concern so Colleen relented. “Of course.”

Victoria smiled, although it was probably an effort from the looks of it. “Cicely, let’s leave Dr. Watkins to do his duty.”

Sebastian’s soft-spoken cousin had not said a word, but now Colleen remembered Victoria having her shut the drapes. Cicely walked up beside Victoria, her golden brown eyes huge.

“I do so hope you are all right, Colleen.”

She smiled at the young woman. “I am sure Dr. Watkins will say everything will be okay with time in bed and a cup of tea.”

Cicely nodded then turned, and Victoria followed her out the door.

“Now, young lady,” Dr. Watkins said, smiling at her. “Tell me what happened.”

*

As Sebastian ran up the steps to his home, his heart continued to clench. From the moment Gerry had uttered the words about Colleen, terror unlike any he had known had taken hold of him and had yet to let go.

He rushed through the door. Before he could even ask Fitzgerald what had happened, he was confronted with a crying Anna. Her face, drenched with tears, sent another wave of fear rolling through him.

Oh, God
.

“Sebastian.” She flung herself into his arms, her body heaving with her sobs. “It is just so horrible.”

He swallowed the panic rising in his throat and hugged her close to his body.

“Anna, darling, what happened? Is Colleen all right?”

“She fell down the stairs.” She sobbed into his chest, clinging tighter.

“Anna, I need to know if Colleen…” He swallowed again. “I need to know if she is okay.”

Her sobs grew louder. “There was so much blood.”

Blood?
“Anna, tell me.” He tried to pull her off him, but his sister’s hold was relentless.

“I daresay, Lady Penwyth will recover after some bed rest but the doctor is with her now.”

Sebastian looked over his sister’s head, his eyes narrowing on Ethingham. “Just what the bloody hell would you know about it?” Icy rage dripped from his words, and he didn’t care. All he wanted to do was beat the man senseless.

Ethingham, holding his hat in one hand and a walking stick in the other, sauntered forward. “I am the one who found her lying at the bottom of the stairs and carried her to her room. The doctor is with her now.”

“And you just so happened to find her? Tell me, Ethingham, what were you doing that you found her?”

“Sebastian, old man, no reason to get rude.” Daniel’s voice was gentle, especially for Daniel. Sebastian looked back over his shoulder at him and noted the caution in his friend’s eyes. If Ethingham were involved in this, confronting him now would get them nowhere. Anger pulsed in his blood along with the need to smash something, someone. But he fought it back for fear of showing their hand.

He turned back to face the duke. “My apologies. Thank you for your assistance, Your Grace. I am in your debt.”

Ethingham’s eyes widened for a second, and Sebastian almost laughed at the comical expression on the other man’s face.

He nodded toward Sebastian and walked past him. When he reached the door, he turned. “I would appreciate it if you would send word on Lady Penwyth’s condition.”

Sebastian wanted to refuse, wanted to tell the man to go to hell, but he needed to play it on the cool side. Make him think no one suspected his involvement. “It is the least I can do.”

A strange look of confusion swept over the duke’s features, but it was gone an instant later, making Sebastian wonder if it had ever been there in the first place. Without another word, Ethingham left. Anna still clung to Sebastian, but her sobbing dissolved into sniffles. With considerable effort, he pulled her from him and practically threw her at Daniel. Dismissing everyone and everything but Colleen, he took the stairs two at a time. When he reached the top, he ran down the hallway to Colleen’s room. His mother stood outside, her face pale, her eyes red-rimmed.

“Mother?”

“Oh, Sebastian.” For the second time in a matter of minutes, he had a female sobbing in his arms. “It is all so horrible.”

The fear doubled. His mother was not a woman to dissolve into tears. “Mother…”

“Sebastian.”

He turned his head toward Cicely.

“Colleen is just fine. The doctor is seeing her now, but it is just a bump on the head. There was a lot of blood.” Cicely closed her eyes and drew in a deep breath. When she opened them again, Sebastian saw the worry, the pain. “But that is normal for head wounds.”

Her rational explanation of Colleen’s condition eased some of his fears. He pulled himself free of his mother. “I have to see her, Mother.”

She nodded and Sebastian watched her rein in her emotions. He knew now she would be okay, so he dismissed all thoughts of her and without knocking, opened his wife’s door.

The first thing he noticed was how dark the room was. Odd that a doctor would be doing an examination of a patient in a room as dark as a cellar. He looked over toward the bed and found Watkins packing up his instruments.

He glanced back over his shoulder at Sebastian and smiled. For the first time since he’d heard about Colleen’s accident, Sebastian’s stomach muscles loosened.

The doctor continued to smile as he approached.

“My lord.” His voice was low and soft. “Lady Penwyth is just fine. The tumble down the stairs has left her with a bump on the head, a little loss of blood, but that is normal for this type of wound. Nothing dire in that. Everything is fine. She is resting, but I want you to make sure you keep an eye on her. I didn’t give her anything for the pain. It isn’t a good idea with head injuries. Wake her up every hour.”

Sebastian nodded, swallowing the well of emotion clogging his throat. He couldn’t decipher exactly what he was feeling. Relief most definitely, but there also was something so new, he couldn’t figure it out, and at the moment he didn’t care.

“She may get sick to her stomach, so make sure she eats light tonight.”

After Watkins left, Sebastian moved toward her. She was so still, tiny even, laying there on her bed, her hair a mass of curls across the pillows. Pale, especially with the large bandage covering the side of her head. Sebastian wondered if everyone had been lying to him and she really was dead. Then her lashes fluttered and her eyes opened.

Relief poured through him, his heart finally dislodging from his throat.

“Sebastian.”

He had to lean closer to hear her. She swallowed and her hand rose. He hurried to the edge of her bed, but sat down gently so as not to jostle her.

“Shhh, darling, everything is going to be all right.” And he would make sure of it. “Watkins said you were okay. Everything is fine.”

A tear trickled from the corner of her eye. He reached for it, capturing it on his finger. It was all he could do. Taking her into his arms, holding her close, would hurt her. But the need to touch her, to make sure she was here and safe was hard to fight.

“I know.”

He hated to ask, but he knew he had to. “Colleen, do you know how you fell down the stairs?”

She licked her lips. “I don’t remember much. I think I felt a hand against my back, and then I was falling.”

Fury, pure and hot, crawled through him. His hands curled into fists as he thought of what could have happened to her because of him, because of their marriage.

“Watkins said everything will be fine.”

She said it as if she could tell he was in a panic, and he really wasn’t sure he was happy with that. A moment later, her eyes slid closed. He settled in a chair beside her bed, knowing deep down in his soul he would do anything to protect his lady. Even if it meant sending one of his own to the gallows.

*

Douglas, the Duke of Ethingham, settled against the cushions on the carriage seat and tried to calm the rage boiling in his gut. Someone had tried to kill Lady Colleen. He knew it as sure as he knew his own name. He closed his eyes, trying to forget the bone-deep fear churning in his gut when he saw her laying there, her blood staining the carpet. Opening his eyes, he lifted his hand to his temple to rub away the headache and noticed it was shaking.

Nothing, save a whole bottle of brandy, would calm his nerves. The day’s events drifted back into his mind, from the moment he found her until he left her in the doctor’s care. At first, knowing there was something suspicious about her marriage to Penwyth, he thought the bastard might have tried to kill her. It had been hard to not seek him out and beat the bloody hell out of him. But then when he saw him, his sister sobbing in his arms and panic in his eyes, Douglas had known that unless the man was a world-class actor, there was no way he had anything to do with her fall.

The carriage drew to a halt in front of his townhouse. Coldness settled into him as he glanced up at the windows. Thoughts of his childhood drifted by, his stern grandfather, his disapproving parents, the myriad of servants who had raised him. He shivered. He’d always wanted a house like the Penwyth’s. A home full of warm, inviting people who wanted him there.

He sighed, knowing he was getting melancholy. Dwelling on his envy would not get him anywhere, would not help him keep Lady Penwyth safe. One of his footmen opened the carriage door, and Douglas descended, his thoughts turning to the accident. There had been callers around, Penwyth’s mousy little cousin, his sister… Something was bothering him. Someone was missing. If he could figure that out, he would know who did it. And maybe then he could discover just why someone wanted the new Countess of Penwyth dead.

*

Colleen sighed and gave her husband a stern look.

“Sebastian, it has been three days, and even Dr. Watkins said everything was fine. I can get up and move around on my own as long as I rest.”

“Ah, but there is the thing I am worried about. You do not rest enough.”

She bit back a growl and clenched her teeth. “I have been lying in this bed for three bloody days, and I want to get out of it. I want to take a bath, I want to sit in a chair to eat and I want to use the chamber pot without you, or anyone else for that matter, hovering over me.”

His brow furrowed. “I have no idea what the problem is—”

Victoria’s voice interrupted his argument. “Sebastian, leave the woman in peace for a few minutes. I am sure Colleen can make it to the chamber pot and back. You can take care of getting her bath brought up to her.”

His lips turned down more and he crossed his arms over his chest. He looked like a little boy on the verge of a tantrum. He’d barely let her out of his sight for the past three days, at her side for every bout of nausea, every late-night chamber pot visit. And at times, she would find him looking at her strangely, a question in his eyes. But it would vanish as soon as he detected her regard. At first, she had been so overwhelmed with fear and pain, she welcomed the attention. Three days later, she was ready to throttle him.