Rogue Countess (34 page)

“That was rather risky, wasn’t it? Drugging us, I mean. It gave Jude the opportunity to cry foul.”

“Not risky at all once we made sure Jude would blame you. Then all Father had to do was bemoan your youth and lost innocence to the old earl. There was really nothing Jude could do to get out of it.”

Anna continued to choose her words carefully, wanting to keep her sister distracted without upsetting her further.

“Did you ever consider asking Jude to end the betrothal? Why did you go to such elaborate lengths?”

“Don’t be foolish, Anna,” Olivia replied in scathing annoyance. “Jude never would have released me from my promise. He was in love with me. He was
desperate
to have me. It was all I could do to keep him from tossing up my skirts whenever we had a minute alone. He wouldn’t have just walked away without complaint. And I couldn’t risk being involved in any kind of scandal or the duke never would have pursued his suit. No matter how enamored he was, Clavering would have been forced to turn his attention elsewhere if I had broken a betrothal willfully.”

Olivia preened with joyful conceit. “No, my dear, the plot was set up and cleanly executed and I was left to appear the betrayed and unfortunate sister. You were the ideal pawn. So naïve and somber. I would guess that even if Father hadn’t locked you up, you never even would have thought to go to Jude with the truth. I doubt you spoke more than two words to him before your wedding. And of course, after that it was far too late for you to do anything. The man left you. Poor, wretched little creature,” she added with an expression of sympathy that was almost comical in its stark insincerity.

Anna’s fear warred with fury. But she was afraid to show either emotion, not trusting how her sister would react if she became confrontational. Olivia was relatively calm at the moment. As long as she felt as though she was in control maybe she wouldn’t behave rashly. All Anna could do for now was stay calm and try to think of some way to get the gun out of her sister’s hands.

Chapter Twenty-Eight

A soft, almost imperceptible scuffling sounded in the corner where Jude lay.

Olivia whipped her head around to glare in his direction, but if he had moved, he was still once again. Cold fear flashed like lightning through Anna’s brain as she imagined Olivia turning the gun on him as he lay unconscious and helpless. She had already shot him once, Anna realized, thinking of the wound at his temple. She couldn’t allow her sister an opportunity to do it again.

“And you got what you wanted, right, Olivia?” she asked, bringing Olivia’s attention back to her. “You got your duke. You are happy with your life.”

“Happy?” Olivia shrieked with sudden fury as she turned back to face her. Anna almost smiled in relief as Jude was once again forgotten. “Do I look bloody happy, Anna?”

“No, you do not, and I am sorry,” Anna replied cautiously. “I can see that you are very upset, but the money you requested is on its way. Your troubles will soon be over. Why don’t you put that gun down so we can wait more comfortably?”

Olivia laughed again and shifted her weight from one foot to the other. Her emotions were escalating once again. “You are so damned naïve. Do not think you can placate me with such empty words. I am the one in charge here and this is not even close to over,” she warned.

Olivia licked her lips and glanced up the stairs in a fleeting, nervous gesture. Up until then she had been holding the gun stiffly in both hands, but she released one hand to wipe the back of her wrist across her forehead. The gun wavered for a moment, but in the next second she grasped it again in both hands and brought the barrel back in line with Anna’s chest.

Olivia was tiring. She would not be able to continue holding the gun steady for much longer. If Anna could catch her at the right moment of weakness and distraction, she might be able to remove the weapon from her sister’s hands with little difficulty. Anna tried to watch the motion of the gun without revealing her intentions.

“Is someone threatening you? Have they tried to hurt you? Is that why you need the money? I understand if you are frightened.”

“I am not frightened,” Olivia answered forcefully, though her words rang false. She was terrified.

“You will have the money you need,” Anna assured her. “Whom do you owe? Who are you so afraid of? Maybe I can help. Surely, the duke…”

“The duke will do nothing to help me!” Olivia interrupted with a frenzied laugh. “Don’t you think I would have gone to him first? He insisted I get out the mess on my own. He said my gambling had gotten out of hand and that if my lender was demanding payment, I needed to figure out a way to get him the money and keep the issue quiet. Clavering said he was tired of my constantly draining his coffers to support my disgraceful habit. He said he was done shelling out cash. Do you have any idea what it is like to be cut off so completely? How the hell was I supposed to find the money to satisfy my loan? He actually threatened that if I didn’t take care of things to his satisfaction, he would send me away. To the
continent
. He would exile me, Anna!”

Olivia’s eyes were wild with rage and despondency. Anna doubted her sister was even aware that her voice had become a screeching wail.

“It is a good thing I am clever and strong,” Olivia continued as she leaned her shoulders back against the wall behind her. “I went to Lord Strathmore’s and he lent me enough to sit down at a game of whist last night.” Olivia shook her head and made a sound that could have been a laugh or a sob. “I started with a good streak. I almost had it all. I really was quite desperate when I came to your house today. Was it only today?” she asked in odd amazement. “It already seems so long ago. Not only do I still have the debt I started with, but by my awful luck last night, I now owe nearly twice as much as I did yesterday.” Olivia giggled. “It really is ridiculous, isn’t it?”

Steps echoed from above as someone walked across the upper floor.

Anna froze with trepidation. Could Randall be there already?

Olivia smiled and lifted a hand to smooth her ruffled coiffure. She took a deep sigh, and Anna watched as the tension swiftly released its hold on her sister’s body.

“Jones?” Olivia called in a singsong voice.

“Aye, Your Grace,” a gravely baritone answered from the top of the stairs, “’tis I.”

“Go fetch some more rope, would you. We have another guest.”

“Aye, Your Grace.” The sound of heavy footsteps receded through the house.

Of course, Anna realized with a rush of cold certainty. How could she have missed the obvious? Olivia couldn’t have gotten Jude into the house by herself, unconscious as he was. She had to have had some help. An accomplice who had returned from wherever he had been and was quickly eliminating any chance Anna had of getting herself and Jude out of this mess.

“Well,” her sister continued in a tone of amazing calm compared to the level of excitement she had reached only a few minutes earlier. “You can see how I had to do something.”

“And you came to see me?” Anna asked in rising panic as her eyes darted about the room. Maybe she had missed something. She needed to think. She could not allow Jones to tie her up.

“Jude, actually. I had hoped he would feel honor bound to help me considering our past association. But he wasn’t quite as…enthusiastic as I expected, so I thought of something else.” She giggled at her own perfidy. “It’s obvious you still love him. It was all over your face at the ball last night. I knew that if you thought Jude was in danger, you would do whatever it took to save him. Such a noble fool, you are.”

“So you resorted to kidnapping? Surely you see this is a mistake,” Anna urged. She had to convince her sister to end this madness.

Olivia tilted her head back and looked at Anna with a smile.

“It’s getting me what I need, isn’t it? Once I have the money, I will repay my lender so he can call off those thugs that have been creeping about wherever I go.” She tapped a finger against the side of the gun as she continued thoughtfully. “I will still owe Strathmore, but he can be manipulated. Then I just have to convince Clavering not to be cross with me. It will prove to be the most difficult part of this, but I will manage. He has his weaknesses too,” she sneered with a dark and licentious grin.

“And what about Jude and myself?” Anna asked around the knot in her throat. Her sister was still not seeing the full extent of the circumstances. “You will let us go once you have the money?”

“Hmm,” Olivia considered with a small furrow of concentration between her brows. “I guess I didn’t really consider that little detail.” Her scowl darkened. “You really messed this up, Anna.”

“I know,” Anna agreed. “You’re right, but the situation can still be corrected. You don’t have to tie me up. Just put the gun down. We can release Jude, go upstairs and discuss this rationally. I swear to you I will help you with your debt. I will speak with the duke on your behalf.”

“No!” Olivia shouted, suddenly irritated again. “Just shut up. Your whining is hell on my headache and I have no more medicine.”

She released the gun with one hand to press her fingers to the center of her forehead. The gun wavered and dipped before she stabilized it once again with both hands.

“Olivia, what will you do with me and Jude once you have the money?”

“I don’t know what I’ll do, but I can’t very well just let you go, now can I?” She jerked her chin back toward Jude. “That one will go to the authorities.”

“No. I’m sure he wouldn’t. Not once you explain your situation.”

“Shut up, Anna. I don’t intend to tell you again.”

Fear and shock raced through Anna’s body.

Olivia wasn’t going to let them go. Anna could see the truth of it in her sister’s eyes. She had to do something and quickly, she thought with bleak desperation as footsteps reached the stairs and started to descend. Once she was tied up, she would be helpless. She frantically looked around the room they were in, but there was nothing there to help her. No weapon, no means of distraction, nothing. The place had been emptied out after her father’s death, and all that was in the room with them was the dust and dirt that had built up over the years.

Anna’s eyes met her sister’s and she saw the determination and insanity in Olivia’s expression. She was not going to see reason. She was too far gone.

The large form of Olivia’s accomplice appeared at the bottom of the stairs. He was a hulking fellow and was dressed in the ducal livery. When he caught sight of Anna being held at gunpoint, he grinned widely.

“Now, what’s this, Your Grace?”

“My brave and stupid little sister come to save her only love,” Olivia sneered. “You brought the rope?”

The man held up a length of rope sufficient to tie not only Anna’s hands, but her feet as well.

“Good,” Olivia said as she lowered the gun. “Bind her well and tight. And find something to gag her with. Her voice is grating on my nerves.”

“My pleasure,” the coachman muttered, and Anna got the feeling it would be just that.

Panic set in and she cursed herself for so underestimating the degree to which her sister had intended to go with this plot. Instinct urged her to take a step back, but she was already up against the wall. As if enjoying the sight of her fear, Olivia’s henchman smiled even wider. Anna’s eyes darted about again, though she already knew she wouldn’t see anything to use to her advantage. Why hadn’t she been more cautious and brought a weapon with her?

She had failed. Her rescue attempt had turned disastrous. If she hadn’t acted so impetuously, Jude wouldn’t be in mortal danger.

She glanced down to where he lay and nearly gasped out loud when her eyes met his piercing blue gaze.

The next moments all happened so fast that Anna didn’t even have to time to enjoy her relief in seeing that Jude was conscious.

As the henchman started toward Anna with the rope, Jude kicked his legs out into the man’s path. The man went down hard and fast and Jude was on him in an instant. He had already managed to release the ropes Anna had loosened. With his hands free, he swiftly threw a series of debilitating punches into the other man’s face.

But the coachman clearly had some experience as a brawler. He had rolled to his back as soon as he hit the ground and Jude only got in a couple hits before the other man grabbed him about the waist and twisted, throwing Jude to the ground.

The two men wrestled and struggled for dominance. The coachman was the larger of the two, but Jude was swift and agile. Just as Jude managed to get over the top of the other man, pinning his arms at his sides with his knees, Olivia lifted the pistol and aimed it directly at Jude’s head.

Anna’s shout was a combination of terror and warning as she leapt across the short distance to her sister. Olivia turned at the last minute, but she was too slow. Anna grasped her sister’s arms and forced them upward just as the pistol went off with a deafening blast. Her ears rang painfully and the pungent scent of gunpowder filled her nostrils.

Olivia tried desperately to twist away from Anna’s hold, but her legs tangled in her skirts and she started to fall. Anna fell with her, but only because she refused to release her hold on the gun. Stunned and tired, Olivia could not keep her grip on the weapon and Anna wrenched it from her hands. Then she rolled away and rose quickly to her feet.

She turned around to see Jude slowly standing as well. The other man was knocked out on the floor at his feet. They stood there for a few moments. Both of them breathing hard with terrifying exhilaration. Blood had dried on the side of his head from the gash at his temple and it looked as though the coachman had gotten in a few hits to his face, but he was conscious. And alive.