The Unaccomplished Lady Eleanor (40 page)

BOOK: The Unaccomplished Lady Eleanor

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‘
Oh you were stupid enough all right,
’
sneered Lovell, his eyes flas
hing with
hatred as he stared down at Madeleine.
‘
Stupid
enough and greedy enough. I just had to mention
the words
“
Duchess
” and “
Castle
”
and you couldn’t get out your da’s shop and on your back quick enough.
’

Madeleine
thrust to her feet and strutted furiously over to her husband
,
bearing an expression of unadulterated loathing.
‘
Why you slimy-
’

‘
That is enough,
’
boomed James, rising from his chair and forcing
the pair
apart.
‘
I cannot believe what I am hearing here. But one thing I can’t understand, Lovell, is why. Why did you want to kill me?
’

‘
Because that blasted inheritance should be mine,
’
barked
Lovell, pac
ing
the floor
.
‘
But with you in the way, I wasn’t going to get a penny of it
.
’

James screwed up his face.
‘
H
ow on earth can
you
have any claim on the Ormiston inheritance?
’

Lovell came to a halt directly in front of James.
‘
Because, you idiot,
I’m the son of your late
uncle.
Bit of a rebel was my father by all accounts
- to
ok up with my mother – a lowly serving wench – and ended up marrying her. And all to spite his own father who had thrown him out of the house after an almighty row. Trou
ble was,
after a few months, the novelty wore off and he went crawling back home
.
Of course, onc
e he was back ensconced in the
family mansion, my mother was seen as nothing more than a nuisance – something to be disposed of when no longer needed. He thought he could pay her off with a tidy sum – which she took, of course – and thought that
w
as the end of the matter.
But
my mother was much cleverer than that.
She’d n
ot only managed to get herself with child, but she’d also ensured that the only bit of paper which proved the marriage had taken place was in her own safekeeping: she’d managed to tear the page from the church register.
So
then
, when she found out – because she mad
e it her business to – that my father had
got engaged to an Ormiston and was intending taking on the name to continue the line – she got in touch.
’

James shook his head as if trying to clear it.
‘
Blackmail?
’
he murmured.

Lovell nodded.
‘
Oh, yes.
She knew that if the Ormistons found out he was already married and with a brat on the way, they would have called off the wedding in a second.
’

‘
So he paid her
more money
to keep
her
quiet?
’

‘
Oh yes – lots more
. Problem was, when the old goat died
, the money dried up, didn’t it?
Of course m
y mother
didn’t tell
me any of this
until the day she died
-
only a few weeks after the old man. Well
,
I didn’t want to be left high and dry
,
so I
s
poke to a
lawyer
. Told him the story and he said I might have a claim but best to play my cards clos
e to my chest. Problem was, Mother
didn’t tell me where she’d hidden the
page from the register. Then, with that cursed
case dragging on and on
,
and me with hardly a penny to my
name – well,
just enough to keep her in
posh frocks
,’
he
tossed a disparaging look
at Madeleine
, ‘I had to do something:
I had to get rid of
you
.
’

James stood quite still - a look of pure a
stonishment on his face. A
fter several minutes of assimilat
ing
the information
,
he said
,
‘
But how did you come up with the connection
with Hungary? How on earth could
you have known about that?
’

Lovell gave another of his sneers.
‘
That
was easy. Cast your mind back to university – a
n education paid for by your
uncle
,
I hasten to add – and that guest speaker we had once
,
that old Hungarian chap. H
e sought you out with a
letter from the ambassador to pass on
to your a
unt.
’

James nodded his head slowly as he regarded Lovell through narrowed eyes.
‘
Well, I don’t know what to say,
’
h
e declared at length, turning his
eyes to the dead rat.
‘
You appear to have gone to an exceptional amount of trouble, Lovell
,
to see me out of the way.
’

‘
And I would have succeeded as well
,
’
declared Lovell,
‘
if
she
hadn’t
got
in the way.
’
He indicated his head to Eleanor.

James fixed her with a
strange gaze before declaring,
‘
You have indeed been
in the way – quite a lot
, Lady Eleanor
. H
owever I
think
the matter
should now be handed over to
the Bow Street Runners.
’

Unable to draw her eyes
away from his, Eleanor replied,
‘
I agree, sir.
T
hey are waiting outside.
’

TWENTY
-
ONE

T
wo
days following the incident,
Eleanor was
still
exhausted. The entire household – including herself - had been question
ed for hours
by the Bow Street Runners
. Derek
Lovell and Lady Madeleine (previously Maddy Burke – ruthless, ambitious daughter of one Mr Raymond Burke, proprietor of
a
small drapers
in Newcastle) had been arrested
on the charg
e of attempted murder. They
were being held in gaol awaiting trial.

Once word had spread via the proverbial grapevine, the inevitable stream of visi
tors had made their way to the c
astle eager to hear all t
he enthralling details
.
Lady Ormiston, still unable to speak, had
i
nsisted
, despite Dr Gosport’s
orders, on being
b
rought down to the drawing
-
room
every day to
keep abreast of the
latest
happenings.

This particular day, she was especially glad that she had made such an effort as, included amongst her morning visit
ors, was one Viscount Grayson,
newly returned from his business in the north. S
uitably impressed by
Eleanor’s detective work and its successful conclusion, he proceeded to solicit the old woman’s permission to request her goddaughter’s hand
in marriage. Without hesitation
, the
d
owager
nodded her enthusiastic affirmation and made animated gestures and several unnerving groans, which the
v
iscount correctly interpreted as
an instruction to
seek out Eleanor
and put the question to her that
instant.

In desperate need of
solitude following the recent taxing
events
, Eleanor was seated on a
benc
h in the orchard, engrossed in a
book of poems and
revelling in the glorious sunshine.
All at once, h
er
tranquil
lity was
broken
by a deep masculine voice.

‘
Good morning, Lady Eleanor
’
.

She tilted up her head and
,
s
hielding her eyes from the sun with her hand, found herself looking directly at J
ames Prestonville. Startled
not only
by
the sight of him, but also
by
how devastatingly
handsome he looked in
a simple
white shirt and beige breeches, it was all she cou
ld do to murmur an
unenthusiastic
‘
Oh
’
in response
,
as she attempted to quell the butterflies
in
her stomach.

She was more than a little aware that she had barely spoken to James since the confrontation with Lovel
l and Madeleine. She was also
acutely aware tha
t each time the two of them
happened to be in the same room, James fix
ed
her with
a disconcerting,
unfathomable look
,
wh
ich obliterated
all rational thought from her mind.
A
s he stood before her
now
, his eye
s burning into her
s
, she was consum
ed
by
an overwhelming desire to throw her arms around his neck, press herself to him and lose herself in his kiss.
All at once
, she realiz
ed tha
t the sensuous lips she was
gazing
at
longingly
were moving
. H
e was speaking to her
-
and she had absolutely no idea what he had said.

‘
Lady Eleanor?
’
he said
, regarding her quizzically.

‘
Wh-what?
’
stammered Eleanor
,
colour flooding her cheeks.

‘
Would you mind if I joined you?
’
His voice
was so smooth it made
her tingle.

‘
Er
,
no,
’
she managed to reply, averting her eyes from his
face and focusing them
on the
open
book on her lap.

James
lowered hims
elf on
to the bench beside her,
closer than was necessary
,
she noticed
,
as the pleasant scent of his subtle cologne gently tickled her nostrils.

‘
I believe I have not yet had the opportunity to thank you f
or all your help.’

‘
Oh,
’
muttered Eleanor, desperately trying t
o steer her mind on
to an activity
that
did not involve being in his arms. She closed her book and began fidgeting with the edge of its brown leather spine.
‘
That’s quite all right.’

‘
Quite a
ll right
?
’
repeated James incredulously.
‘
But you saved my life.
On several occasions
.
’

Eleanor
said nothing. She
continued her fidgeting, conscious that his upper arm
, encased in the thin cotton of his shirt,
was now touching
the bare skin of her own
. The heat of him seemed to burn in
to her, flooding her body with
desire
.

James
seem
ed not
to have noticed. H
e continued with his speech.
‘
I have been wondering
how on earth you kn
ew what was going on.
’

‘
Well, actually, I
didn’t,
’
she confessed, grateful that her ability to speak was at least making some effort to return.
‘
That is
,
I thought at first that someone was trying to kill
me
,
but that made no sense.
I mean
,
I’m just an ordinary girl and-
’

‘
Oh
,
I can assure you, Lady Eleanor,
’
he cut in softly,
‘
that you are far from ordinary.
’

Eleanor
was aware that he had shifted his body slightly and was now gazing at her face. Not daring to look at him,
she
kept her eyes focussed on her book
, aware, all the while, of heat suffusing her cheeks
. She cleared her throat before continuing.
‘
Well, after the incid
ent with the pitchfork, I realiz
ed that it wasn’t me they were trying to kill
. It
was you. And then, when I discovered it wasn’t you who was creeping along to Madeleine’s room every night but-
’

He cut in again, his tone disbelieving.
‘
You thought
I
was paying a visit to
Madeleine’s rooms every night
?
So that’s what you were talking about that morning when you referred to me not spending the night in my own bed
’

Eleanor nodded
.
‘
I must confess,
it
did leave me feeling a little …
’

‘
A little what?
’
prompted James softly, still gazing at her.

Eleanor’s heart began to beat just a shade faster. Should she admit
how she had actually felt? How she had been so hurt and jealous that she had not been able t
o sleep?
She decided not
. A
fter all
,
she had no idea of his feelings for her and the last thing she wanted to do in front of James P
restonville – a man who had wome
n throwing themselves at him from every angle - was to make a cake of herself. She squirmed a little
,
aware that it was now not only his arm which was touching her, but also his muscular thigh which
was
pressing enti
cingly against hers
. She swallowed
, her eyes still firmly fixed on her book
.
‘
It left me feeling a
little
…
puzzled
, sir,
’
she said at length.

Jame
s’s
disappointment was palpable.
‘
Oh,
’
he muttered
.

‘
But then,
’
continued Eleanor
,
‘
when I noticed that your dressing robe was crimson and not
the blue one I had seen in the cor
ridor at all hours, then I look
ed in Mr Lovell’s room and discovered that
he was
Madeleine
’s nocturnal visitor
.
’

Still she dared n
ot look at him.
‘
O
f course
that immediately made me suspicious
,
given that we were all of the opinion that the pair could not abide one another.
And there was
Madeleine’s reluctance to make the acquaintance of Madame
Aminieux. At first I attributed this to her being too high in the instep
. H
owever, when my g
odmother informed me that she had still not received a reply from Lady Neilson
in Hungary – the lady
who had
supposedl
y
introduced Madeleine - my suspicions were heightened further.
’

‘
Hmm.
I suppose then,
when the invitation arrived
from Countess Lieven, that
added to your theory?
’

‘
Oh, we received no invitation from Countess Lieven, sir
.
I sent that invitation
myself – to test my
theory.
’

James snort
ed with
laughter.
‘
You
sent that invitation?
’

Eleanor nodded.
‘
Then
, having established that Madeleine was terrified of meeting
any of her compatriots, I realiz
ed
that something was seriously afoot.
’

‘
And then you met the moneylenders?
’

‘
And thank goodness I did. When the
y informed me that Lovell had ru
n up enormous gambling debts in his home town, it was obvious that he
,
too
,
had been lying throu
gh his teeth. Thankfully
, Dick and Sam make it their business to find out all they can about their clients. They therefore
provided all
the missing details a
lthough
Lovell’s connection to the Ormistons did baffle us
somewhat
.
Until Lovell
provided us with those deta
ils on his last evening in the c
astle.
’