Virginia Henley (38 page)

In the flickering shadows, his dark face looked menacing. When he spoke, his voice matched.

“I suspect the lady who owns the half-coin is within those walls. Am I correct?”

The sisters looked at each other with alarm.

“What is this place?” he demanded.

“Woodhaven Asylum.”

Christ, the bastards put her in an insane asylum. I never would have found her!

“Have you any idea how much trouble you are in? The lady in question is an abducted heiress. You two have stolen and sold a piece of her jewelery. I happen to be a justice of the county.” He knew they would have no idea that his authority did not reach into Wiltshire. He let them sweat for
a few minutes, then he offered them a way out of their trouble.

“If you cooperate with me, I will see that you do not take the fall for the crimes that have been committed here.”

The sisters exchanged glances, then nodded their assent.

Mark handed one of his pistols to his driver. “Here’s a barking iron. Keep it on her until we get back.” He turned to her sister. “You will lead me to the lady, very quietly. Is there a back door?”

She nodded.

“After tonight, I have never seen you and you have never seen me. Is that understood?”

She glanced at the pistol he pointed at her. “Yes, sir,” she croaked, her voice cracking with fear.

The woman unlocked the back door with one of her keys, and proceeded along an ill-lit corridor between laundry rooms and kitchens. Creatures of the night scuttled away from their feet into the deeper shadows, then the woman led him up two sets of steep stairs that took them up to the third floor.

They encountered no one, but cries of distress, moans of despair, and an occasional deranged laugh came from the locked rooms. The Earl of Bath pinched his nostrils against the odors of cooked cabbage, carbolic soap, and stale urine. The fury within threatened to explode, and he knew that if anyone challenged him, anyone at all, he would put a bullet in their brain.

Diana awoke from a fitful dream and heard her door being unlocked. A dark figure loomed in the doorway. Dear God in Heaven, she had known Bognor would come for her, but she hadn’t expected him in the night. “No!” she cried out sharply. “Don’t touch me.”

At the sound of her voice, Mark’s heart turned over in his breast. He had finally found her. He wanted to warn her to be silent, but all he could say, as he drew close to the bed was, “My sweetheart.”

“Mark?” she whispered, not fully trusting her ears.

“Yes, love,” he murmured low, taking her hand to his chest, where his half-coin rested over his heart. As her questing hand slid over the hard muscles, his deep voice hushed, “Try not to make any noise.”

As he lifted her in his powerful arms, she thought her heart was hammering so loudly it would waken the dead. She clung to him tightly, knowing God and Saint Jude had granted her a miracle. He carried her down three flights, then along the passageway to the back door. He gave the woman a final warning. “I will release your sister immediately. If I were you, I would not sound the alarm, I would lock the door quietly and retire.”

On the ride back to Bath, Mark slipped his arms about Diana and drew her back against him. With gentle hands he brushed her tangled hair back from her temples. “Try to relax; we have a private two-hour drive ahead of us.”

“You are so clever; how did you find me?”

“Nay, love, it was your own wits that led me to you. Only you could have planted the seed for them to bring the half-coin to me.”

“Oh Mark, they put me in the madhouse.” She shivered uncontrollably.

He drew her inside his cloak so that the heat from his body would warm her. Gradually, she told him what happened from the moment she had decided to confront Prudence and Richard. When she finished, she asked, “How long was I locked away?”

“Forty days and forty nights. How did you bear it?” he said very quietly.

“I knew you would come.”

Diana’s words were so sure, so certain, he hated to cast a shadow upon her peace of mind. But facts had to be faced. “Diana, you are still legally under the control of your guardians for another three weeks.”

When she flinched in his arms, he said, “The law is on
their side and they will be able to take you away from me the moment they learn I have abducted you.”

“Please, don’t let them put me back in that place.”

He hated to hear her beg, and offered the only solution he could think of. “If we marry, you will be under my authority.”

Diana’s heart soared. This was what she wanted more than anything in the world, yet she knew the thing Mark Hardwick treasured most was his freedom. Her heart overflowed that he was willing to make the supreme sacrifice to keep her safe. “Thank you,” she whispered.

“Don’t thank me, love. It is only a temporary measure. They will go to the courts and have it annulled because I do not have their consent to marry you. All we can hope is that it takes them three weeks to get the marriage set aside.”

It was after ten o’clock when they arrived back at Hardwick Hall. Diana had the feeling that the house welcomed her, as if she had come home. Mark felt so protective of her, he wanted to sweep her into his arms and carry her upstairs. Why should she walk when he could carry her? But he knew she had been so closely confined she needed freedom of movement.

She paused at the foot of the newel staircase, appreciating its carved beauty. As they climbed the steps together, her fingers wound their way about his. “I love to hold hands with you,” she admitted shyly.

He closed the door and moved into the room to light the lamps. She stayed by the door to watch the room come alive as it was bathed in the soft glow. The four-poster held all her attention with its beautiful green velvet curtains, embroidered with small golden crowns and lions. “I love this chamber. I’ll never leave it again.”

He turned to speak and the words died on his lips. In the ugly brown smock and canvas shoes, she looked pale unto death. He swallowed the lump in his throat and swore a silent vow. If anyone ever hurt her again, he would kill them!

“I know it’s late, but we must be married tonight, so I’m afraid you’re going to have to leave this chamber.”

“I need a bath,” she said softly.

“How would you like a tub before the fire as they bathed in Elizabethan times?”

Within minutes the chamber was filled with bustling servants who dragged in a large porcelain tub, followed by buckets of steaming water. Mr. Burke and Nora arrived, one to see to his master’s toilet, one to look after her. The Earl of Bath said politely but firmly, “We would like to be alone for a while.”

Diana pulled off the smock and canvas shoes and slipped into the scented water. Mark bent down, bundled up the discarded things, and opened the chamber door. “Burn these,” he ordered the first servant he saw.

“Whatever will I wear?” Diana worried.

“Does it matter?”

“Of course it matters; I’m getting married. Even if it is only for three weeks,” she added wistfully.

Mark drew close, his black eyes caressing her with love. “You can wear this,” he said, fastening the half-coin about her neck.

“Did it cost you the earth?”

“Hardly anything. I told the woman I had one and didn’t need another.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out her earrings. “And you can wear these. I’ve carried them about with me the whole time.” The only reason he wanted her to wear the earrings was so that he could watch her take them off when they went to bed.

She looked up at him, knowing he surrounded her with his love. “You sent Nora away, so you’ll have to help me.”

When she was done, Mark wrapped her in a Turkish towel and lifted her from the water. He knew if he sat down and drew her into his lap, they would never get dressed. “How would it be if I went to your chamber and chose something from your wardrobe?”

Diana smiled a secret smile. When he was Marcus, he had chosen her clothes. She remembered how shocked she had been at the loin dress. She nodded her assent and
opened the towel so that the fire warmed her flesh. How delicious it felt to be free to do whatever she wished.

Mark came back with the jade velvet. “This holds special memories for me, and this,” he said, holding out the scarlet corset. He helped her to dress. When he fastened the gown, he saw how much weight she had lost. Starting tomorrow he would insist she get lots of food and exercise. He didn’t like to see her looking so pale and fragile. He wanted her glowing and brazen, able to give as good as she got. He wanted her to be able to hold her own against him, both in bed and out of it.

She tried not to stare as he shaved and changed his linen, but she was greedy for the sight of him. His dark face was so strongly masculine, he looked rugged even in formal dress clothes. He looked up and saw her watching him. Did he dare to hope she felt possessive of him?

“I have no ring,” he suddenly realized.

“What would a sworn bachelor be doing with a wedding ring?” she teased.

He twisted his favorite ring on his finger, an emerald cut in intaglio. “We’ll use this one. Mr. Burke and Nora are coming with us as witnesses.” At last, when he was fully dressed, he dared to touch her. He cupped her face with his hands, lifted her mouth to his, and cherished her lips. “Are you sure you’re up to this?”

Diana nodded. “Very sure.” She didn’t want him for three weeks, she wanted him for eternity, but even if they only had this one night, she felt more blessed than any other woman in the world. Fate had allowed her the gift of falling in love with this man twice over.

It was after midnight when the small party gathered in the parlor of a Bath justice of the peace. The civil ceremony was short, the most important part being the signatures on the marriage license rather than the words spoken.

On the carriage ride back to the hall, the earl explained to the servants that the marriage almost certainly would be annulled by Diana’s guardians, but in less than three weeks
she would turn eighteen and come into her inheritance. When they arrived home, Mr. Burke and Nora discreetly disappeared within.

At the front entrance, Mark swept her up in his arms. “We have to obey all the rules,” he said as he carried her across the threshold.

“This is a Roman custom. The groom lifts the bride over the threshold to avoid an ill-omened stumble. Then you present me with a cup of water and a glowing fire brand to show that I am entitled to the protection of your family gods.”

Once more they climbed the gracefully curved staircase together. When they entered the master bedchamber, they saw that Mr. Burke and Nora had set out wine and sweetcakes for them. Mark helped her off with her cloak, then removed his coat, vest, and intricately tied neck cloth.

“I have a gift I think will delight you.” He brought the lead tablet inscribed with their names and placed it in her hands.

“Oh, Mark, Marcus, you found the proof!”

“It was down by the river beneath the copper beeches, where we once made love.”

“You remember!” Her face was so radiant with joy, he felt a lump in his throat. He quickly moved to the cabinet and poured them wine.

“Let me propose a toast to Diana, Countess of Bath.”

“Good Heavens, am I a countess? It sounds so formal and stodgy! I have a much better toast.” She slipped out of her gown, tossed it aside, and flung herself backward on the bed in her scarlet corset. Then she flung her legs in the air and kicked them wildly. “I propose a toast to freedom!” she cried joyously.

Mark was delighted with her abandon. He had been half expecting tears, fears, and bad dreams, and was prepared to soothe them all away. The need to protect her rose up strongly in him. He had no intention of making sexual
demands on her tonight. “Drink your wine and let me tuck you into bed. It will be daylight in less than four hours.”

She obediently lifted her glass to her lips and lifted one leg at the same time. “Take off my stocking.” He slipped it off her leg and kissed her toes before he lifted her other leg to repeat the pretty gesture. She finished her wine and unhooked the fastenings on her corset. When she looked up at him, he hadn’t started to remove his clothes.

“Hurry,” she urged, stretching wantonly on the drift of snowy sheets.

He swallowed hard, wondering how he was going to deny himself.

“My favorite thing in the whole world is lying naked together and kissing,” she informed him.

Mark removed his shirt and trousers slowly, delaying the torture that awaited him. “Kissing is all you’re going to get,” he warned.

She looked at him to see if he was teasing. He wasn’t. He fully intended to deny himself for her sake. He was being noble. She decided to change his mind.

“Well, you’re the master, and I did promise to obey you.” She reached up and slowly removed her earrings.

Mark could stay away from her no longer. His side of the bed sagged under his weight and Diana rolled against him.

“I’d forgotten how muscular your chest was,” she said, running her hands over him.

“We’ll wait until you are stronger, sweetheart. A few days of good food and exercise and you’ll be fully recovered from your ordeal.”

She moved over him so that her pale breasts lay on his darkly furred chest. “I know a wonderful exercise, but I did promise to obey you.”

“You’re cock-teasing,” he whispered between kisses.

She moved her hand down his body. “It’s working.” She moved once more, so that now her bottom half also lay atop of him. “When you carried me across the threshold,
you said we had to obey all the rules. Isn’t consummation the cardinal rule?”

Mark groaned, then said hoarsely, “I’m trying not to be selfish.”

She moved against him erotically. “Oh please, darling, be selfish!”

Their kisses deepened dangerously. To distract her, Mark asked her to describe a Roman wedding.

“It’s a long story, and it will be my pleasure to describe all the intimate details … after.”

“After?” he asked huskily, knowing he was going to give in. He had the strangest feeling they had exchanged these exact words before. He knew if he allowed her to remain in the dominant position, she would exhaust herself. He rolled with her until they were on their sides, then lifted her knee so that it rested on his hip.

She kissed his heart, then stretched so that her lips rested against the powerful column of his throat. She offered up a prayer of thanks that her baby was safe between their hearts. She wouldn’t tell him tonight. She would embrace her secret a little while longer.

Because he had tried to deny himself, Mark was iron hard and throbbing. He rubbed the engorged head of his shaft along her silken cleft, slowly. Each time it caressed her bud, heightening the sultry sensations until she became taut. When she closed her eyelids, all was black shot with silvery light; as she became aroused, the dazzling silver turned to gold, then changed again to crimson when he thrust all the way into her. The beautiful red color stayed with her, bringing her as much pleasure as his thick phallus sliding in and out in a rhythm that matched their heartbeats. Determined that this loving would not turn savage, Mark made it deep, slow, and sensual. Finally, the color beneath her lids intensified to deep purple and she licked and sucked his neck as her pulsations began and seemed to go on and on endlessly. When he spent, she climaxed again.

Mark withdrew and turned her so that she lay in the curve
of his big body, spoon-fashion. She sighed with repletion, marveling that she could feel so luscious without even exerting herself. His hands caressed her breasts and belly. “You have such loving hands.”

He threaded his fingers into the golden curls on her high mons and cupped her with his palm, in complete possession. “Tell me about a Roman wedding,” he whispered.

She described all the lovely things she had planned for her wedding to Marcus, then she told him of the customs. When she finished, he tightened his arms about her and confessed, “These last few weeks I secretly feared you had gone back in time again … back to Marcus.”

“Darling, you are Marcus.”

“I know that now.”

“I can never go back. That time is finished. Our time together is here and now.”

“I love you,” he whispered.

“I love you,” she whispered back. She realized that love was far more important than marriage. Marriage was wonderful, but love was better. She had always hoped she could convince him. It was the most precious wedding present he could have given her.

They spent the morning riding in the spring sunshine. They left the parkland of Hardwick Hall behind as they rode out across fields filled with wildflowers. Diana took him up the heights of Landsdown, where the track for chariot races had been laid out, then they rode up Hay Hill into what was left of the vineyards.

On the way back to the hall, she insisted on racing. When she arrived at the stables, he was there awaiting her with uplifted arms. She went down into them for a kiss, her hair in a golden tangle, her cheeks blooming with roses.

“When you win the race, I’ll know you are fully recovered.”

He made her eat a decent lunch, agreeing to spend the afternoon shopping only if she had second helpings.

“I’m still stodgy from breakfast,” she complained. “If I’d known you were a dictator, I wouldn’t have wed you!”

Their first stop was the jewelers, where they selected a wide gold wedding band. As he slipped it onto her finger, he said, “Now you can give me back my intaglio.”

Her face fell. “Oh dear, whatever did I do with it? Don’t tell me I lost it.” When she saw the look of dismay on his face, she said, “Just a minute, feel down in here.” She opened the top three buttons of her afternoon dress in saucy invitation. Mark dipped his fingers into her décolletage and drew out his emerald intaglio. The jeweler’s mouth gaped that the Earl of Bath and his lady were openly indulging in sexual byplay. He couldn’t wait to spread the news that at last the earl had chosen a countess.

“I never did buy those dining couches you suggested; however, Dearden has a pair in his shop. Would you care to have a look at them?”