Delight (16 page)

He looked blank.
"
What did you say?
"

"The apple tarts look exquisite,
"
she shouted in his face. "T-A-R-T-S.
"

Douglas drew away from her with a droll smile. The delighted compliments on her lips would probably turn into shrieks of outrage if he told her that this time last year the cook had been serving up an entirely different type of tart.

Rowena bit her lip.
"
Bring the cook to me, my lord. I
'
ll tell her myself."

"
I'm sorry.
"
Douglas spread out his palms. "I can
'
t hear you."

"
I WANT TO SEE THE COOK!
"
Rowena roared across the room.

The music stopped abruptly. A targe dropped from the wall and thudded to the floor. Baldwin pulled off his periwig and wiped his forehead with his sleeve.

Rowena blushed.

Douglas motioned to the table.
"
Why don
'
t you sample a tart if they tempt you?
"

"
She can
'
t have a tart yet.
"
Gemma hurried between them, dropping another curtsy.
"
The oysters are coming.
"

"Oysters?" Douglas said, frowning.

"The tarts weren
'
t supposed to be served until after the main courses," Gemma explained.
"
Shandy got confused and brought the wrong dishes out. Frances nearly murdered him.
"
She looked at Rowena.
"
I hope you
'
ll forgive this outrageous oversight.
"

"It doesn
'
t matter,
"
Rowena said graciously. "I could eat apple tarts all day.
"

Douglas led her to the dais. Servants, who a year ago had been chasing a Spanish squadron to the West Indies, paraded in from behind the screens bearing the banquet dishes. Rowena sat down, looking pleased at their efforts.

A roasted lamb wearing a crown of pearls was placed before her. Then came marchpane, and a gilded salmon pie.

Dainty appeared at the dais with a wobbly blancmange shaped like a fairy-tale palace. The turrets collapsed before he reached the table, but that didn't stop him. By the time Hildegarde arrived at her seat, the drawbridge had collapsed in a quivering blob.

Baldwin came forward to pour the wine. Eve
r
yone at the table ceased breathing as the man filled Rowena's goblet with a delicate claret.

"I didna spill a drop,
"
he announced when he finished, and the table released its collective breath.

"Very good, Baldwin,
"
Douglas said in an undertone.
"
Now put your wig on the other way around.
"

Hildegarde and Dr. MacVittie began to discuss the treatment of
bunions and the art of bloodlet
ting. Mrs. MacVittie orchestrated the serving of dishes with covert hand signals.

"The oysters are coming,
"
Dainty announced from the end of the hall.
"
Make way for the OYSTERS.
"

The highly touted oysters arrived at the table, artfully arranged on the half-shell. Douglas
'
s jaw tightened as Willie moved from guest to guest to offer the platter of the most peculiar-looking mollusks he had ever seen.

Hildegarde held one of the white ridged shells
between her fingers.
"I
have never seen such a manner of oyster before.
"

"
They
'
re Highland oysters,
"
Gemma said quickly, avoiding her brother
'
s eyes.

"I have a pearl
in my Highland oyster!" Hilde
garde exclaimed.

Rowena arched her brow. "I have a pearl ring in mine.
"

Douglas stared down at his plate in distaste. "Gemma,
"
he whispered between his teeth.
"
What is this?"

"They
'
re mussels,
"
she whispered back.
"
Dainty got them fresh from the cove this morning, and I painted them white.
"

He tried to smile. It came out as a grimace.
"
Mussels masquerading as oysters. Why did you not use oysters in the first place?
"

"Well, Douglas, at first we couldn
'
t find any oysters. Then Dainty found them, but by that time Frances remembered something about eating oysters in a month that has an
'
R
'
in it.
"
Gemma shook her head.
"
The trouble was, no one in Dunmoral could remember whether
'
twas safe to eat oysters in such a month, or whether
'
twas deadly.
"

Douglas sighed. "Dear Lord.
"

"Frances has been feeding mussels to the men all week to make sure they weren
'
t the deadly sort. No one
'
s died.
"
She smiled. "Yet.
"

Douglas
clamped his hand down on Rowena'
s wrist as she raised her fork to her mouth. "Don
'
t.
"

She gave him a beguiling smile.
"
Oysters are a
n
aphrodisiac, my lord. Haven
'
t you heard?
"

"
An aphrodisiac? At the Virgin Earl
'
s table?
"
He snapped his fingers over his shoulder. "Baldwin, take these offensive oysters away.
"

Rowena reached defiantly for her plate.

Douglas forced her hand down onto the table.

"
What are you doing, my lord?
"
she asked haughtily.
"
I
have not taken a vow of chastity.
"

Chastity. Aphrodisiacs. Douglas felt his blood begin to boil, remembering how long it had been since he
'
d touched a woman, and how badly he wanted to bed the woman at his side. He might as well have been a genuine virgin for the ridiculous length of time since his last sexual encounter. The scent of her befogged his brain, floral and female. Her easy smile bewitched him, and though he might hope to hold her captive, 'twas he who had been caught.

He glanced at his sister. He desperately needed a distraction.
"
Is
it time to uncover the center
piece?
"

Gemma nodded, and Willie came forward to whisk th
e cover off the platter. Silence
descended. Douglas swallowed a groan. Rowena grabbed her goblet to hide a sudden fit of giggles.

A scrawny moor grouse sat in the center of table, the dyed peacock feathers from Mrs. MacVittie
'
s best court fan protruding from its behind.

Hildegarde half-rose from her chair, her brows
gathered in a puzzled frown.
"
Goodness,
"
she said. "What is that thing?
"

"
'
Tis a Highland peacock,
"
Baldwin said proudly.
"
Willie
and me bagged the wee bugger
all by ourselves.
'
Tis so fresh you can still hear it
breathin' if ye li
sten close enough." He clapped
Rowena on the bac
k. "Eat up hearty, princess,
while
'
tis good and hot."

A
idan appeared suddenly in the gallery, staring down at the festiv
ities like an avenging angel.
Douglas needed only the man
'
s slight nod to know that something was seriously amiss.

He excused himself while Rowena was nibbling her third tart, Dainty followed Douglas up the stairs. The three men proceeded down the long portrait-lined gallery in silence until they rounded a torchlit corner.

"What is it?
"
Douglas demanded.

Aidan lifted an odd-shaped bundle in his left hand.

"
Dear Jesus,
"
Dainty exclaimed.
"
Where did that come from?"

Aidan unwrapped a wolf
'
s head from a bloodstained chemise. Rowena's chemise, Douglas thought, his throat closing in fear. No other woman in the castle wore a garment of such finely wrought lace.

He gazed at the animal
'
s face, fangs frozen in a snarl.

"This was nailed to the inside of her door,
"
Aidan said quietly.

Douglas felt a wave of panic engulf his entire body.
"
When?"

"
During the banquet,
"
Aidan said.

"
Someone in the castl
e then." Dainty stared down the length of the mural passage.
"
They could be hiding anywhere. Why the hell are we standing about like a trio of trembling virgins?
"

Aidan shook his head. "Gunther swears the guards did not see a soul enter or leave the castle. I searched her room. No one was there.
"

"
I want whoever did this caught.
"
Douglas swung around, then stopped, searching the shadows of Aidan
'
s face.
"
How did
you
happen to be inside her room?
"

Aidan looked surprised.
"
You were all occupied with the banquet. I took it on myself to patrol the halls. I noticed her door was ajar.
"

"A damn good thing you did,
"
Dainty said gruffly. "The woman would have had the shock of her life seeing that on her door, or worse, coming upon the intruders.
"

"
A damn good thing indeed.
"
Douglas gazed at the wolf
'
s head.
"
Get rid of that thing, and meet me at the stable. Dainty, stay here with Rowena.
"

"
What will I tell her when she asks where you
'
ve run off to?
"
the giant asked.

Douglas and Aidan were already halfway down the passage. The flares in the wall rings died at their rushed exit, booted feet ringing against
s
tone. Smoke lingered in their wake, and Douglas
'
s troubled voice drifted from the depths of the stairwell.

"Tell her—tell her a rabid wolf was spotted near the castle. Tell her we have gone to hunt it down before it hurts anyone.
"

"
I
am not afraid of wolves,
"
Rowena whispered hours later from the window.
"
But I am afraid I have come all this way for naught. I am afraid that I
'
ve fallen in love with an illusion."

The clatter of hooves over the drawbridge broke the silence of the night. Then came the grinding grooves of the portcullis chains. Minutes later she saw Douglas strid
ing from the stables, his broad-
shouldered figure dark and dominant, drawing the eye straight to him. Aidan followed at his heels. Dainty ran out of the keep to question them. His left and right arm, his closest friends, striking warriors in their own right.

Her breath caught at the raw energy that emanated from Douglas, unaware he was being watched. He moved with elemental power and ruthless grace. She suspected, by the impatient rhythm of his strides, that he had failed to accomplish whatever goal had dragged him from the banquet.

H
ildegarde's urgent voice broke into her sleep.
"Highness, we must leave here at once."

Rowena sat up with a start, her heart pounding
at the abrupt awakening. The thick ropes of her braided hair fell across her lap. She stared grumpily at the familiar figure who hovered over her bed. "What has happened?"