Christiana bowed her head and began to eat, doing her best not to taste what went into her mouth. That was impossible, however, and she was more than grateful to finish the last bite and stand up.
“What are you doing?”
Christiana stilled, her eyes shooting to her husband.
“I am finished, Dicky. I thought I would go see what my sisters—”
“I
am not finished.” When confusion covered Christiana’s face, he snapped, “Is it too much to expect my wife to keep me company while I breakfast?”
She settled reluctantly back in her seat, but resentment and anger were stirring within her again. They never breakfasted together. From the first morning of their marriage he had either risen early, breakfasted, and left the house before she had even stirred, or slept later than her and took his breakfast in his room alone. At first, Christiana had worried over that, thinking a wife and husband should breakfast together, but after a while, she’d been grateful for the respite. Now she was just annoyed with the man, knowing he was simply using the demand for her company as an excuse to make her sisters wait longer.
Dicky took his time about finishing his meal before finally pushing his plate away and rising. He then insisted on walking her to the parlor, and did so at a pace that snails could have outstripped. Christiana was gritting her teeth by the time he paused to open the parlor door.
“Chrissy!” Suzette started to her feet with relief when Christiana entered but stopped abruptly when Dicky followed. She watched with obvious frustration as he ever so slowly walked Christiana to a seat and saw her settled.
“So?” Dicky arched an eyebrow as he took up a position on the arm of Christiana’s chair where he could loom over her like a bird of prey about to pounce,eyeing her sisters as if they were naughty children. “What was so urgent that you had to arrive here at such an ungodly hour? ”
Suzette’s gaze slid to Christiana, then to Lisa, before she forced a cool smile and sweetly lied, “Nothing at all. We just missed Chrissy terribly. It has been more than a year since your marriage and you have not brought her back to visit
as you promised
.”
Christiana could feel Dicky stiffen at the chastisement and sighed inwardly. Here was more he would punish her for later.
“I am an earl, girl, an important man who is far too busy to waste time gallivanting about the countryside when there is work to be done here,” Dicky said stiffly.
“Ah, well, we are seeing each other now,” Christiana murmured to forestall her sister saying anything else. “And I am very happy to see you. You must tell me everything that has happened since I left home.”
Much to her relief, Suzette caught the hint and immediately launched into tale after tale of life back on their country estate. She actually seemed to begin to enjoy the endeavor, devilment sparkling in her eyes as she recounted who had married, who hadn’t, and every bit of gossip she had heard, no matter how trivial. As for Lisa, she sat silent, her worried gaze remaining warily on an increasingly impatient Dicky as Suzette babbled on. It was a relief to all of them when he suddenly stood to announce, “I shall leave you ladies to your nattering then. I have more important issues to attend to.”
On that pompous note, he left them, moving much more swiftly than he had allowed her to on entering.
“Thank God,” Suzette moaned when the door closed, her gay, trouble-free facade dropping away. Anger immediately replaced it and she sat forward to demand, “What the devil is going on, Chrissy? Does he act like that all the time? My God, he was nothing like that when he courted you. He—”
“Hush,” Christiana hissed. Standing, she moved swiftly to the door and knelt to peer out the keyhole. When all she saw was empty hall, she released a relieved breath and moved back to her sisters.
“How bad is your marriage?” Suzette asked quietly as Christiana settled on the couch between them. “You look tired and miserable. He’s not treating you right, is he?”
“Never mind that,” Christiana said wearily. There was little anyone could do about her situation and discussing it would merely bring her misery to the surface. It was easier when she simply didn’t think about it. “What is going on? Why are you two here?”
Suzette and Lisa exchanged glances, then Lisa finally spoke up for the first time since their arrival and announced, “Father has been gambling again.”
“What?” Christiana gasped with dismay. “But he promised never to gamble again after Dicky paid off his last gambling debts.”
It was how she’d ended up married to the man. Her father had landed them in hot water with one aberrant night of drinking and gambling. He’d raised what money he could by selling family heirlooms to meet the debt, but it hadn’t been enough, and he’d been at a loss as to how to pay the rest. The creditors had beenknocking on their door when fortune had seemed to smile on them in the form of Dicky. He’d arrived at Madison Manor with an offer of marriage for Christiana, and on hearing of their dire straits, had offered to clear the remainder of her father’s debts in exchange for Christiana’s hand in marriage.
To her father’s credit, he’d refused the offer until Dicky had convinced him that he loved Christiana. Dicky had claimed to have seen her at the local fair that summer and spoken to her briefly, which she hadn’t recalled at all. He’d also claimed he’d been fascinated and found out all he could about her and that everything he’d learned he’d found pleasing.
His words had been convincing and her father had been swayed, but despite his dire straits, had insisted that while he would give his blessing to the union, it was only if she was willing. Unfortunately, Christiana had been easy enough to persuade. Dicky was handsome, well off, and an earl. Any girl would be flattered to be courted by such a man. And what a courting! He’d been the sweetest of suitors, calling her his “Little Rosebud” and romancing her with touching poems and declarations of undying love. It had all been rather heady to a simple girl who had spent her life quietly in the country with only her sisters and one neighbor boy for company, and in no time at all, he’d swept her off her feet and gained her agreement.
Christiana grimaced at the thought of the naive idiot she’d been and now saw that she should have questioned his motives and insisted on more time to make her decision. But her father only had two weeks to payoff his gambling debts and she’d foolishly believed every word Dicky had said to her. She’d been sure he must love her and that there could be no other purpose for his rapturous courting. After all, what other reason could there be? It was not as if he knew about the outrageously huge dower that her mother’s father, Baron Sefton, had bestowed on herself and her two sisters in his will. That was a family secret.
Of course, once they’d married and his behavior had changed so dramatically, Christiana had begun to suspect he’d known about the dower after all and that gaining it had been the true target of his courting. She just didn’t know how he could have learned about it.
“Father said he didn’t mean to,” Suzette said unhappily, drawing Christiana’s mind back to this new problem. “He feels horrible about what’s happened and has been scrambling to try to figure out a way to pay off his debts but can think of nothing.”
Christiana grimaced. He’d felt horrible the last time, too. “When did it happen? And how? He has not even been to London and there is nowhere near Madison for him to—”
“He has been in London this last month,” Lisa corrected quietly. “Didn’t you know?”
“No,” Christiana admitted with dismay. “Why didn’t he come to see me?”
“He did,” Suzette assured her. “In fact, it was his original reason for traveling to London. He was worried because Dicky hadn’t brought you home to visit and we weren’t getting responses to the letters we were sending.”
“I haven’t received any letters and I have been writing faithfully every week,” Christiana said quietly, anger beginning a slow burn in her stomach. Not getting responses to her own letters had left her feeling even more lonely and depressed. Now it seemed Dicky had somehow been ensuring none of her letters went out and that she didn’t receive any in return.
What else had the man been doing?
she wondered grimly.
“The bastard,” Suzette snapped, looking ready to smack someone.
“You say Father came here?” Christiana asked, returning them to the topic at hand.
“Aye,” Lisa murmured, her worried gaze on a still furious Suzette. “Dicky said you were out at the dressmaker’s.”
“He didn’t tell me,” Christiana said unhappily.
“Apparently Dicky welcomed him and took him to the club for a drink … and then on to a gaming hell,” Lisa said.
Christiana sat back with dismay.
“Father was supposed to return home two weeks ago,” Suzette continued the explanation in a quiet voice. “When he did not arrive and we heard no word we began to worry. I sent messages to the townhouse but got no response, then finally decided Lisa and I had best come to London and find out what had happened.”
When she fell silent, Lisa picked up the tale again. “We arrived in London at dawn and went straight to the townhouse. We found Father there in the library. He was in his cups and sobbing.”
Christiana let out her breath on a sigh and asked with resignation, “How bad is it?”
“Worse than last time,” Suzette said tightly.
“Worse?” Christiana could feel the blood rush out of her face.
“He owes less than last time,” Lisa said quickly. “But the estate is still recovering from his first misstep and there is no ready cash or even much to sell. If Father cannot come up with the money, he may be forced to sell the family estate to pay off the debt.”
Christiana sucked in a horrified breath. This
was
worse than last time.
“We shall be ruined once this gets out,” Lisa pointed out solemnly.
Christiana bit her lip, knowing that was true. “How long does he have to find the money?”
“Two weeks,” Suzette answered.
“Two weeks,” Christiana breathed with dismay. Her mind raced around like a rat in a larder for a moment, then she straightened her shoulders determinedly. “I shall talk to Dicky. We will have to take some money from my dower and—”
“No. You paid last time. It’s not fair that you should pay again,” Suzette argued, then added grimly, “Besides, it appears that you are still paying for Father’s last misstep.”
Christiana waved that away, knowing Suzette was referring to how Dicky treated her. Not wishing to discuss it, she instead addressed her suggestion. “Suzette you cannot pay. You cannot claim your dower without first marrying.”
“True,” she agreed. “So I shall marry.”
“In two weeks?” Christiana shook her head. “You cannot find a suitable husband in two weeks.”
“Who says he has to be suitable?” Suzette asked dryly. “Dicky was supposedly suitable and that hasn’t turned out very well, has it? ”
“But—”
“Do not fret, Chrissy,” Suzette interrupted. “I have a plan. I just need a little help from you to make it work.”
“What kind of plan? And what help?” Christiana asked worriedly.
Suzette sat forward eagerly and took her hands. “There are always lords who are land and title rich and yet in desperate need of funds. I intend to find one who is desperate enough that he will strike a deal with me. In exchange for marriage and access to three quarters of my dower, he must agree to allow me access to one quarter of it to use as I wish, as well as the freedom to live my own life.” She smiled widely. “All I need is for you to sponsor our coming-out … immediately. You have to get us to balls and teas and soirees and anything else where I can meet and assess the men available. I will do the rest.”
Christiana stared at her sister. Her plan seemed sound enough. Three-quarters of Suzette’s dower was still a fortune and certainly the arrangement should leave Suzette happier than she herself was in her own marriage. In fact, Christiana actually felt a moment’s envy that her younger sister would manage such an arrangement. As for Suzette’s request, sponsoring her for a coming-out was little enough to ask and certainly much easier thantrying to convince Dicky to allow Christiana access to her funds. While the man was pleased to waste money on food, wine, and his own pleasures, when it came to giving her anything as small as pin money, his fist suddenly spasmed and closed tight. Of course, Dicky did seem pleased to say no to her when it came to anything, so convincing him to sponsor her sisters for a coming-out might not be all that easy either, she thought worriedly.
“Chrissy?” Suzette asked anxiously. “You can do that, can you not?”
Christiana’s gaze returned to her younger sister. Seeing the worry and desperation on her face, she straightened abruptly. “Certainly I can. I shall make Dicky do it … somehow,” she added in a mutter as she got determinedly to her feet.
She would confront him at once, Christiana thought firmly as she crossed the room and found she wasn’t afraid for the first time in a long time. It wasn’t just because she was angry about Dicky’s part in her father’s gambling either. Somehow just learning that her family had tried to write her and that she wasn’t as alone as she’d felt this last year was resurrecting her spirit, as was this short time basking in her sisters’ company. The old Christiana was awakening inside her as if from a long sleep and she was ready for a fight.
“What if he says no?” Lisa asked worriedly, bringing her to a halt as she reached the door.
Christiana paused just long enough to force a smile to her lips, then glanced back to say lightly, “Then I shall just have to kill him, won’t I?”
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
AVON BOOKS
An Imprint of
HarperCollinsPublishers
10 East 53rd Street
New York, New York 10022–5299
Copyright © 2010 by Lynsay Sands
Excerpt from
The Countess
copyright © 2011 by Lynsay Sands
ISBN 978-0-06-189457-2
www.avonbooks.com