The Countess Intrigue (8 page)

Shaking his head to rid himself of his straying thoughts, the earl climbed back into his curricle and directed his horses toward the offices of his solicitors. If he was about to take on a wife, arrangements needed to be made. He needed to apprise those fine gentlemen of the promises he had made to Lady Elizabeth’s father and make arrangements for her future in case his enemies came after him once more.

He hadn’t wanted to make her any more nervous than she was when she asked about Broderick but had been quite aware of her anger and disappointment. The more time he spent with his future bride the more convinced he was that this was going to be a wonderful match. He didn’t want anything to interfere with it. He was quite well aware of the fact that Lady Elizabeth was looking for any possible means to get out of the union. If she knew there was a possibility that her life was in danger it might be the final motivation she needed to defy convention and take her chances with the scandal.

Justice could feel his hands tighten on the reins and had to force himself to relax and get his high strung horses under control. His mind was made up about Lady Elizabeth. He felt badly that she was disappointed over the way things were progressing, but he had no intention of allowing her to cry off. She was beautiful, intelligent, and could even see the humour in difficult situations. He actually found that he quite liked the girl, even when she was trying to rip up at him. The next Countess of Heath was going to be a delight for him. He was determined to help her see the benefits and get over her disappointment that it was not the love match she had dreamed of. Perhaps, if he exerted himself sufficiently, he could make her love him and then she would be happy. With a nod of determination, Justice firmed his resolve even more and set about his plans.

E
lizabeth was standing
in the middle of her bedchamber wringing her hands and worrying her lower lip when her maid entered the room.

“What has happened, my lady?” Pansy cried as she saw her mistress appearing to be in distress.

“Have you found someone to teach me self defense?” she asked by way of an answer.

Pansy stopped abruptly in front of her mistress, taking one of her cold hands into her own work worn ones. “Yes, m’lady. One of the footmen, Stanley, is knowledgeable in such matters and strikes me as being a trustworthy sort, if you’re wanting to keep this matter quiet.”

“That would probably be for the best. While I am terrified and want to be as prepared as possible, the entire purpose of this arrangement is to avoid a scandal. If it became known that I was learning to defend myself it would stir up far worse gossip than anything else that has gone before it, I am sure. How soon do you think we could start?”

Elizabeth could feel her maid’s worried scrutiny. “We are at your disposal whenever you wish, m’lady, surely you realize that. But why the urgency?”

“My mother has decided that I ought to be married within the week. That gives me very little time.”

“Oh!” Pansy’s widened eyes were full of excitement, but Elizabeth could tell she was trying to keep it under wraps.

Elizabeth rolled her eyes at the maid’s tone in the one-word answer. She was well aware that for the maid it would be a huge advancement in her status to go from being the personal maid of an earl’s youngest daughter to the lady’s maid of a countess. But she was loyal enough to feel trepidation on her mistress’ behalf. The other girl was still holding her hands so Elizabeth squeezed them gently before releasing her. She paced across the room, no longer able to stand still.

“Under the circumstances, I doubt if my mother will require my presence this afternoon until it is time to prepare for our social engagements for the evening. If you would be so kind as to arrange for Stanley to meet us here, I would like to begin as soon as possible.” She paused in thought, glancing down at her fashionable attire. “Well, perhaps it would be best if it were in half an hour. I really ought to put on my oldest clothes. I would hate to have to explain the loss of one of my newest gowns. I am quite certain this is going to be a physically demanding exercise.”

“Very well, my lady. I will run down to have a word with him and be back momentarily to help you change.”

Elizabeth was left alone with her thoughts. Her stomach tied itself into knots as she thought of all that had transpired. Was it possible that just last week she had been blissfully unaware, thinking she could wait out her mother’s ambitions and set herself up independently upon her twenty-first birthday, if she didn’t manage to find someone to love in the meantime? In the past week her best friend had been abducted, she had been compromised, and now was engaged to marry a man who was thought to have killed his first wife.
It is enough to give one a fit of the vapours
, she thought as she gazed searchingly at her own reflection in the mirror over her dressing table. Seeing the harried expression on her face, she stuck her tongue out at her own image before turning her back to the mirror. She would not give in to such weakness. She was a resourceful young woman. She would find a way to work with the wretched circumstances being thrown her way.

She was relieved when Pansy returned. Action was much better than her own worries. Together they made short work of getting her changed, and within a few minutes the footman presented himself and they were ready to get to work.

The footman was a sturdy young man who looked decidedly uncomfortable to be in the bedchamber of his master’s daughter. Elizabeth tried to set him at ease. “Thank you so much for agreeing to do this for me, Stanley. I appreciate your promise to keep this a secret. You do understand that I am about to be married and am feeling nervous about moving to an estate where I know no one. At all of our properties I have known everyone since my birth. I have no worries there. But when I move to Heath, I shan’t know who to trust. Pansy and I thought it best if I learn how to look after myself a little bit.”

“But surely his lordship will see to your safety, m’lady,” the footman tried to protest.

“I am certain he shall do his best,” Elizabeth agreed, “But I would so much rather have a little bit of preparation, just in case.”

Stanley must have accepted the wisdom of her logic as he gave up any protests and launched into an explanation. “For this to work, m’lady, it would be best if you could take your assailant by surprise. And you had best be prepared to run like a rabbit, because I can assure you that he’ll be mighty angry with you as soon as he is able to move.”

Elizabeth gazed at the young man in bewilderment until he furthered his explanation. “I’m going to teach you how you can down a man by hitting him in his jewels.”

This did not clear the matter up for Elizabeth, but Pansy was quick to explain. “You’ll be hitting him in his private parts, m’lady.”

Elizabeth could feel her blush scorch her face. “That surely would be beyond the pale.”

“If you’ll be needing these instructions, m’lady, the last thing you’ll be worriting about is being beyond the pale.” Pansy’s words were sensible and bolstered Elizabeth’s determination. And reinforced her fears.

“Very well, Stanley, let us proceed.”

“All right, m’lady. If a man comes at you from the front you’ll want to grab his shoulders to give you as much leverage as possible. Then you’ll push up with your knee as hard as you can, doing your level best to aim at his private area. If you make a direct hit he should be down for quite some time. But even if you just wing him he’ll have to bend over with his pains. Then when he bends over you’ll bring your knee up again as hard as you can and knock him in the head. Then you’ll push him over and run like the very devil is after you, because I promise you, he will be if you wait around any.”

Elizabeth could feel that her eyes were probably as wide as saucers, but she nodded her understanding while the footman positioned himself in front of her.

“Now m’lady, I would appreciate it something fierce if you would try not to actually hit me, but you ought to practice the motions at least so that you can feel how high you would have to bring your knee and how much your skirts might get in the way.” The poor young man’s face appeared to be on fire and Elizabeth had to stifle a nervous giggle despite the seriousness of the situation. She truly appreciated his tutorial.

They went through the motions several times. He had been quite correct that it would take a great deal of effort to be effective, but she knew that if she was terrorized she would be quite motivated. The exertions were causing her to sheen with sweat, but she was beginning to feel quite empowered, as though she were regaining a level of control over her life that had been lost the night before in that small room at Lady Oliver’s. She grinned at the two servants before her.

“Very well, m’lady. I quite think you have mastered that as well as you can. Now you ought to be prepared for an attack from behind.”

Elizabeth could feel a little of the blood drain from her head, and her feeling of triumph fizzled. She was grateful for the footman’s thoroughness. She hadn’t even thought of that eventuality. She gave her head a quick shake to regain her senses and concentrated on Stanley’s continued explanation, nodding to show she was listening.

“If anyone grabs you from the side or the back, you have a few options. You could try to drop down low, slipping out of his grasp. That could work, but then again, your skirts could be a problem. Depending on the attackers position you could also use your knees to good effect, but if he is directly behind you that probably wouldn’t work. The best bet for an attack from behind is to use your head.”

“My head?” she parroted, all her attention focused on the young man’s words.

“Yes, throw your head backwards to crush him in the nose. But this could bite you back if you miss his nose and hit his head as it will hurt you as much as him, and you could be stunned from the blow.”

Elizabeth was nodding, feeling nerves tighten all over her body.
How have I come to this point where I am contemplating ways of fending off possible attacks from my future husband or one of his henchmen?
She shook herself from her inertia and focused again on the footman’s instructions.

“The final thing I have to say to you m’lady, is if you find yourself under attack, forget that you are a lady. Use every means at your disposal to escape and keep yourself safe. You are an earl’s daughter and soon to be an earl’s wife. No scandal will be allowed to touch you for looking after yourself under an attack. It is more important to get yourself free.”

Elizabeth nodded and smiled over the young man’s wise words. They went through a few more practice runs and then Elizabeth dismissed the footman with a reminder to keep this to himself and a request to return the following day for another practice session.

By then it was time to get ready for the evening’s events. After her bath, Elizabeth was seated at her dressing table deep in thought.

“What is troubling you now, m’lady? Are you too worn out from the exertions? Ought we to send your regrets for the evening?”

“I wish I could, Pansy, but after last night, I am quite certain my mother will consider it imperative that I show my face around Town. The entire point of this engagement is to avert scandal. If I hide myself away it will be assumed that I have something for which to be ashamed and the talk will increase, not disappear as we intend.”

“Then why the long face?” the maid persisted.

Elizabeth sighed. “While I truly appreciate Stanley’s instructions, and I will keep them in mind and practice them again on the morrow, I fear that they will not be sufficient. When you think on it, there are so very many ways for a man to rid himself of an unwanted wife. A so-called shooting accident. Poison. A good shove down the stairs or out a window. Even a riding accident could be arranged. No. I do not think that these self-defence instructions will be sufficient. We need to find out how the previous countess died. While he would most likely have to change his method lest suspicion be truly focused on him, because really, two suspicious deaths would be difficult to escape, if we could find out the means of her death, it could give us some idea of his methods and I would be better prepared.”

Pansy gazed at her mistress with a mixture of awe and consternation. “Did you ever think that maybe he didn’t do it?”

Elizabeth’s smile was faint. “It did cross my mind. But I don’t think a rumour like that springs from thin air. There must be a reason he is suspected of killing her. I need to find out whatever I can. And the most damning piece of evidence against him is the fact that the poor woman is dead.”

The maid could not argue with her mistress’ logic and went back to combing out her long silvery hair. She concentrated on twisting it this way and that to the best advantage, arranging it into an intricate design.

Sighing with pleasure, Elizabeth surveyed the results in the mirror. “Pansy, you are an artist with hair. I marvel every time you do it. I do believe I am the luckiest girl in London with how wonderful my maid is.”

“Get on with you m’lady,” the maid flushed in delight over her mistress’ compliment. “Now we had best get a move on or your mother will be having my head in a noose if you are held up much longer.”

“I am quite certain the blame will be laid quite accurately at my feet, Pansy, have no fear. But you are probably right. She will definitely be ready to ring a peel over me if I am not below stairs momentarily. What have you selected for me this evening?”

The maid held up a shimmering gown of a deceptively simple design. The light pink silk was threaded through with a darker pink that matched the ribbons tied in Elizabeth’s hair. The lady could see that it had been a wise choice, as the color would reflect somewhat on her face, belying the pallor that her worries were causing.

“Excellent as always, Pansy,” Elizabeth commented as the gown was gently settled around her. “No one shall know the turmoil I am in from looking at me. It is perfect.” She turned from her reflection and grimaced at her maid. “Wish me luck.”

“You shan’t need it, m’lady,” the maid vowed loyally as she waved her mistress from the room.

Elizabeth took a deep breath and entered the morning room where she knew her mother would be waiting for her. What she hadn’t expected was for Lord Sinclair to be there as well. He stood abruptly upon her entrance.

Her breath caught at the back of her throat as she took in his remarkable male beauty. His neatly arranged hair once again made her fingers twitch to feel if it was nearly as soft as it looked. His dark, formal attire for the evening reflected his attention to detail, and the way he filled out the form-fitting jacket conveyed just how fit the earl was. His face looked severe as his skin pulled tightly over his high cheekbones, but once her gaze finally reached his eyes she could see that he was regarding her warmly, and her stomach turned over as a wave of awareness and attraction washed over her.

She willed herself not to give herself away with a shiver as she dipped into a respectful curtsy and glanced at the other occupants of the room. Elizabeth was surprised to see that her father was present. She was glad to see him. It would seem he was also going to lend his presence to reinforce her respectability.
If only everyone had thought to defend me without the necessity of marrying a stranger
, she thought as she fought to quell her resentment. She pasted a sweet smile to her lips as her mother took control over the conversation and directed them all from the room and into the carriage. Elizabeth hadn’t even needed to say a word.

Elizabeth’s mother had informed her that they would be stopping into three different events that evening — all the better to show themselves to the most people. The ridiculousness of the ways of the
ton
struck her once more. At least with her marriage she would be able to retire from Society if she wished. She realized she ought to ask her future husband for his thoughts on the matter.