Duchess Beware (Secrets & Scandals Book 2) (9 page)

“Perhaps you are right.”  Prudence patted her arm.

She shivered and squeezed her hands together in her lap.  “When do we leave?”

“Just after your brothers arrive tomorrow morning.”

Those words made Silver flinch.  “How are we getting back to the dock?” she asked, groping for a diversion from thoughts of her brothers’ executions and her upcoming wedding.

“Leave that to me, child.”

Daniel paced the bedroom.  The pain in Silver’s eyes haunted him and made him crazed with remorse.  He had been too harsh with her.  The distasteful offer of gold nettled his conscience.  Actually, it seared his soul with shame.  She wasn’t some harlot, damn it.  Didn’t honor flow in his blood, passed down from generations of Huntingtons?  He shook his head.  He had no honor.  Not after what he had done to Silver.  He frowned and faced the window, trying to sort his troubled thoughts.

Crossing his arms, he stared out at the field beyond the stables.  Deep green grass blanketed the ground with little white and yellow flowers waving to and fro in the wind.  It quite reminded him of the lake near his home.  He could envision Silver sitting in the midst of the flowers at Huntington, plucking a white one to put in her hair.

His chest went tight and he closed his eyes.  What in the hell was he going to do?  How would he—

A knock sounded at the door.

“Go away,” Daniel said without turning.

The door swung open and heavy footsteps clapped against the wood floor.  “I have a request,” Garrett said behind him.

Daniel dropped his chin down to his chest and sighed.  He had to find a way to—

“I need the carriage to take—”

“Fine,” Daniel said with a wave of his hand.  If he could—

“But I am taking…”

Daniel spun around and scowled, causing Garrett to halt his words.  “Use the ruddy carriage and take as long as you like.  Is there anything else?”

Garrett straightened his shoulders, the surprise melting from his face.  “No, I don’t suppose there is.”

Daniel turned back to the window, the blackness of his mood rising to unbearable limits.  He rested a palm against the wall, his gaze straying to the flower-dotted field.  He swore soundly, then spun around and began to pace.

After ten minutes with still no answers, he stomped from the room, praying a long ride and some port would ease a bit of his turmoil.

Damn, he’d need a lot of port.

Chapter Eight

“Ye best be up, Duke.”

Daniel groaned as Mrs. Burns’ screechy voice brought him awake, making him painfully aware of every drop of port he’d consumed yesterday.  Usually, a brisk ride helped to sort his troubled thoughts, but he’d needed additional aid.  Unfortunately, that extra assistance produced a pounding head, a rolling stomach, and a bone-dry mouth.

“Drink this an’ ye’ll be feelin’ up tae scratch in a trice.  Hurry now, your bath water be gettin’ cold.”

Daniel pried open his eyes.  The old scarecrow stood over him, offering a large glass of something that looked like pea soup.  “What in the devil is that?” he asked with a scratchy throat, easing up against the pillows with a wince.

“Summat tae cure your bottle-ache.” She pressed the glass into his hands.  “Now drink it up.”

A foul, rotten egg stench assailed him, making his stomach churn dangerously.  He held the glass away.  “I am
not
drinking that.”

She crossed her arms and scowled even deeper than usual.  “Can ye ride in your condition?”

Daniel squinted up to her as the pounding in his head intensified.  “What the devil does that have to do—?”

“Can ye ride, feelin’ as ye dae, Duke?”

“No,” he answered, his temper rising.  The God-awful smell rising from whatever witch brew she’d concocted also did nothing to improve his mood.

“Then ye better drink up.”  She nodded to the glass in his hand.  “While ye slept all the day away from picklin’ yer liver, Silver left.”

“What?”  He jerked up from the pillows, spilling several drops of the foul mixture onto his hand.

“Ye heard me.  Now drink up before ye make a bigger mess.”

Daniel shook his head and grimaced as pain tore through his temples.  “What do you mean Silver left?”

Mrs. Burns expelled a gusty sigh, clearly losing patience.  “Went back tae England, that’s what I mean, Duke.”

“Went back to England?  But how…?”  His words trailed off as he recalled the conversation he’d had with Garrett yesterday about borrowing the carriage. 
Damn!
  That must have been what his friend had tried to tell him.  Remorse for so many things gone wrong burned low in his belly.  “I assume Garrett escorted Silver and her aunt to the dock?”

“Aye.”

Daniel glanced back at the glass in his hand, bringing it a bit closer.  The smell hit him and he made a face.  “What’s in this?”

“Ye really dinna want tae know,” she replied, then scurried from the room, grumbling something about men being stubborn asses.

As Daniel stepped down the stairs half an hour later, he had to admit the foul-tasting concoction had actually worked.  Both his headache and stomach gripes were gone.  It tasted worse than it smelled, but pinching his nose with a thumb and forefinger had helped get the ghastly stuff down. 

He had just taken a step toward the rear of the house when a deep voice called to him from the drawing room.  “A word, Huntington, if ye please.”

Daniel turned, surprised to find the eldest MacLaren standing there.  “Duncan, I am glad you’re here.  I’d like to borrow a horse.”

The man’s eyes dipped down to Daniel’s valise and back.  “Are ye goin’ after Silver?”

That stopped Daniel short.  He hadn’t expected the question, but lying would gain him nothing.  He just didn’t know how Silver’s brother would react to his answer.  Squaring his shoulders, he nodded.  “I am.”

The large Scot crossed his arms, eyeing him suspiciously.  “Why?”

Daniel really had no time for this.  He needed to intercept Silver before she boarded the ship back to England.  He shifted from one foot to the other.  “I just need to sort some things out with your sister.”

Duncan’s eyes narrowed.  “What things?”

As Daniel groped for an answer, the man stepped closer.  “Would this have anything tae dae wi’ Fiona?”

“Fiona?”  Daniel shook his head.  “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“That was the reason for ye comin’ here tae this house, isna tha’ true?”

“Yes, but—”

“Silver wanted me tae tell ye tha’ Fiona is yours.  And tae keep your gold.”

Daniel sucked in a breath at the unexpected statement.  “I don’t understand.”

Duncan scowled.  “Tha’ makes two o’ us.”  He leaned closer.  “Summat be wrong wi’ Silver and I kin ye can tell me what it is.”

Wondering just how much to say, Daniel glanced at the painting over the mantle across the room.  Silver’s mother could have been her twin, and she looked so happy in the portrait.  Something tugged at his heart.  He wanted to see Silver smile with the same light dancing in her eyes, the same wide smile just holding back laughter, the same rosy blush to her cheeks.  “I would like to see your sister happy,” he said softly, facing the large Scot once again.

Duncan eyed him for several long seconds.  Then, as if coming to some sort of decision, he slid his arms down his sides and gave a curt nod.  “Ye best be off then.”

“Good bye, Duncan.  I thank you and your brothers for seeing to my recovery.”  Daniel shook the man’s hand and turned toward the door.  Now that he had a horse, a very fast horse, he could catch up to Silver easily.

“One other thing, Huntington.”

Daniel stopped at the doorway and glanced over his shoulder.  “What is that?”

“Connor went with them.”

“What has that got to do with—”

“Connor is verra protective o’ the lass.  Ye might find trouble there, aye.  I suggest ye go straight up the border.”

Daniel turned fully around.  “Up the border?  But the raiders.  That was the whole reason we sailed in the first place.”

Duncan nodded, a smile curving his lips.  “Aye, there be raiders.  But Fiona can outrun them.  And I can promise ye’d fair better wi’ them than wi’ Connor.”

****

Daniel slowed his horse as he neared the outskirts of Kelmscott.  He’d traveled first to his estate for a fresh horse, knowing Fiona needed the rest, and had thanked God his grandmother had yet to return from London.  Although the journey to his estate took him out of the way, he should meet Silver just as she arrived home.  If not, he would find an inn and wait for her.  He had a simple plan—convince her to marry him.  That would not be easy, not after his horrible behavior in Scotland.  But he had made up his mind.  They would marry, and he would not give her the opportunity to deny him.

He halted near a church made of light brown sandstone and slid from his saddle.  A young lady passing by glanced up.  Startled, her sky-blue eyes went wide.  “Pardon, my lady,” he said, dipping his head for a nod, “could you inform me where I may find Pennington Manor?”

Her surprise forgotten, she raked her eyes over his body.  Daniel suppressed a sigh, recognizing the appreciation and unveiled interest.  Even though accustomed to such reactions from ladies of the
ton
, he detested them.  “Pennington Manor, my lady, can you tell me the location?”

She nodded, her blonde corkscrew curls bobbing against her forehead.  Then she stilled, her lips tightened, and her eyes turned frosty.  “You must be Victor’s friend, here for the wedding.  Talk some sense into him before it’s too late.  Silver MacLaren may be my cousin, but I’m sorry to say she is completely unsuitable for such a fine gentleman.  They should not be allowed to marry.”

Daniel snapped to attention, horrified with the girl’s announcement.  He could scarcely breathe.  Silver was to marry another?

“Why, just last year,” the lady continued, “Silver tried getting her meat hooks into my Robin.  Fortunately, he saw through her disgusting ploy and married me instead.  And now, poor Victor will fall prey to her trap in just ten days.”  Her full lips pulled down as determination glinted in her eyes.  “But there is still time to save him.  As his friend, you can convince Victor to halt the ceremony.  After all, he doesn’t know what a deceitful upstart Silver really is.  You see, she ran off to Scotland just after their betrothal to keep him blind of her true nature.”

When the chit finally fell silent, a swirl of dark emotions swept through Daniel.  Despair, torment, betrayal, and rage.  And only his shock kept him from losing his calm.  Silver had been betrothed when they met, and she hadn’t uttered one word about that fact.  Not one.  “I apologize for the misunderstanding, madam, but I do not know a man by that name,” he said when he could trust himself to speak evenly.

The girl’s cheeks bloomed with color.  “You do not?”

“No.”

“Oh, do forgive me, sir.  When you spoke of directions to my father’s house, I assumed…”  She halted to bestow a stiff, embarrassed smile.  “Of course, I should have known you were a client of Father’s.  He is a most excellent solicitor.”

Daniel remained silent, allowing the girl to believe whatever she wished, then listened to her prattle directions to the manor.  When she finished, he thanked her and turned to mount.  He urged his horse forward, but not in the direction of Pennington Manor.  Toward Huntington.

Silver had played him a fool.  And he could not abide that.

****

The wind whistled as it blew against the roof of her tiny attic room.  Silver walked to the small oval window and used her handkerchief to scrub the dirt that had accumulated over the glass while she had been away.  She looked to the sky and shivered when she noticed the charcoal clouds rolling in overhead.  Praying the storm wouldn’t be severe, she turned to her trunk to begin unpacking.  She would not think of the duke.  She would not feel the hollowness of leaving him and her brothers.  She would not remember that night…

A light tap at the door interrupted her thoughts.  Silver set aside the book she’d retrieved from her trunk and opened the door.

The maid Mary, who always looked as though she had swallowed something bitter, stood there.  “Mrs. Pennington wishes ye for tea.”

Silver sucked in a breath as an icy chill swept over her.  “Pardon, Mary, what did you just say?”

“Mrs. Pennington says ye are to come to the drawing room for tea.”  Mary lowered her voice, squinting her eyes even more.  “Ye best not put her off.”  Then the maid turned and scurried away.

Silver stared at the open doorway for several seconds.  Had she heard right?  Aunt Caroline wanted her for tea? Most peculiar.  Caroline had never done so before.

Trying to decide if her cousin were playing a trick, Silver ran her damp palms down the sides of her lackluster gray dress.  But Mary would have given her some sort of sign, some clue it had been one of Colin’s antics. 

After a quick glance in the cracked mirror near the wash stand to check her hair, she quit her tiny bedroom on the third floor and descended the steps.  She wished Aunt Prudence hadn’t left earlier to visit an ill friend.  She sorely needed the woman’s calm presence.

Just as Silver started to open the door that led down to the second floor, someone grabbed her from behind.  She gasped.  The candle she held crashed to the wooden floor, plunging her in complete darkness.  A hand clamped over her mouth, silencing her wail of outrage, while the other hand wrapped around her body.  Revulsion sliced through her when he pulled her against him, bringing her rear snug against his hard groin.  Perhaps it had been a trick after all.

His wine-laced breath grazed her cheek.  “Hello, Cousin,” he said, then pressed a nasty, wet kiss against the side of her neck.

She tried pulling free.  “Let me go, Colin.”

Paying her no heed, he continued to kiss her neck, deepening her disgust.  Then his other hand moved up her body and cupped her right breast, giving it a painful squeeze.

Incensed, Silver brought the heel of her shoe down onto the tip of his leather boot while throwing an elbow into his stomach.

With a grunt of pain, Colin released her.

Wasting no time, she found the doorknob, threw open the door, and came face to face with Aunt Caroline.

“Why in God’s name are you keeping us waiting?”

Before Silver could reply, Colin stepped from the dark stairwell out into the hall.  “I was just bringing her, Mama.”

Caroline’s features softened.  “Thank you, dearest.”

Silver crossed her arms, knowing her aunt would never believe the truth.  Neither Colin nor Katrina ever did wrong in Caroline’s eyes.  So Silver remained silent.  And after receiving one last scowl of disapproval, she followed her aunt downstairs.

Watching Colin lead Aunt Caroline into the drawing room, Silver grew nervous.  Again, she wondered why she had been summoned.  Obviously, Caroline didn’t want her there.

With a sigh, she moved through the doorway, bringing all conversation to a halt.  Her knees wobbled.  Baron and Baroness Longley sat on one of the chintz sofas, Uncle Edward on the matching sofa, perpendicular to the couple.  Katrina and her husband Robin Whitmore, the baron’s only son, sat in the opposite wingback chairs.  The men rose.

As Aunt Caroline joined Uncle Edward, Colin headed in the direction of the liquor cabinet.  And that’s when Silver noticed him.  Her heart skidded to a halt.  Cold fear slid over her body.