if hes wicked (34 page)

there?” Nigel demanded.

About a dozen men crept out of the shadows, their hands held out where they could be seen. It took Julian a moment to see that Bened was

standing behind them. He looked closer and sighed.

“It is al right,” he told Bened. “They are not the ones attacking the house.”

“Know that, m’lord,” said Bened. “Just wondering if they could be of use or would it be better to send them home.”

“We came to help, m’lord,” said Jake as he stepped forward. “We heard the shots and then Kip, he is the fourth footman and my nephew, he came

running saying that someone was attacking the house. We thought we could help. Some of us have pistols.”

Julian did not know whether to laugh or cry. He was wel aware of what a poor man’s pistol was like, usual y some cast-off mended and mended

again until the one firing was fortunate it did not blow up in his face. Yet, he was touched. After the way he had failed these men, they were here ready to fight for his family as he had never fought for theirs.

“I think we wil know better what we are about to do when Bened tel s us what we are facing. Then we can actual y make a plan that might help a

few of us come out of this alive.”

“You have twenty wel -armed men down there, most of them stil outside. Your men are putting up a good fight but I am thinking they were

surprised, for a few are down and I do not think they wil al rise again. At least three men have slipped inside already. I heard nothing to say they found anyone in there. By now you would have heard a woman scream, but there has been none of that. The men have encircled the house. A few of your men

are on the roof and they are holding the men on the ground down so that they have to crawl if they want to move ahead. If you want to move ahead I can tel

you the best place for a man to go, where to stop until I wave you on, and then you move again right up to the house.”

“I have to move ahead, Bened. Except for Nigel, my whole family is in there including my son and my wife, who just may be carrying my child.”

“Told you. Like rabbits.”

Nigel snickered and Julian wondered how these men could be so calm, make jests, and even talk when this siege was going on. He supposed it

was because of what they did. Nigel was a soldier and had been for almost ten years. Julian was not exactly sure what Leo did but he suspected the

man’s work for the government was not al reports and gathering information. Bened was also a soldier, but he had the feeling the man was the

embodiment of the stoic soldier.

He, on the other hand, was an earl. It carried a lot of weight in the courts and in society, but in this situation it was next to worthless. The only thing he was sure of was that he had to get to his family and, he hoped his mother and sisters forgave him the thought, but right at that moment that was Chloe

and Anthony.

It was at that moment that Julian realized he loved Chloe. He also realized that he had never real y loved Beatrice. He had been entranced,

seduced, and bewitched, but never real y in love. With Chloe it was love and he had no doubt about it, knew it with a certainty that had him wondering why

he had taken so long to acknowledge the feeling. Now al he had to do was save Chloe so that he could tel her and, he prayed, pul the same emotion out

of her.

“You tel me what you think I, or we, should do, and I wil do it.”

Bened looked at Nigel, who just idly waved his hand indicating Bened should lead. When had his brother grown up, Julian wondered. When Nigel

had first joined the military, he had been cocky and had thought that no one could know anything better than he did or do anything better than he did. He

had obviously gained enough maturity to realize the error of his thinking. Shaking free of his straying thoughts and hammering down his emotions, he

dismounted and listened to Bened’s plans with the others.

Everything moved quickly after that and Julian soon found himself slipping through the shadows, his pistol in his hand and his heart in his throat.

On one side of him crept Jake and on the other crept Nigel, a large intimidating knife in his hand that he seemed to know what to do with. He was

obviously going to have to get to know his brother al over again.

“There is where we are supposed to go,” whispered Nigel when he signaled to stop and wait for Bened’s signal before they went any farther.

“Front door, straight in and then divide. You remember the directions for inside the house, Jake?”

“Aye, sir. No need to tel me again, as I been in there.”

Even in the dim light of a fading moon Julian could see the blush on the man’s face and knew just what Jake had been cal ed to the house to do.

He nearly growled, except that he was sure that sound would carry farther than the soft whispers they were using now. “I thought you had a family, a wife

and children.”

“I do, m’lord, and I sorely love my Tibby, but men what said nay ended up dead. My Tibby told me that she knew I was not wanting to go but she

would rather me let that whore play with my jock a time or two than try to find what pit she put my bony arse into.”

“Sounds like a wife to me,” said Nigel.

“And, sad to say, it sounds like Beatrice to me. I am sorry, Jake, and tel your wife I beg her pardon for not stopping the woman long, long ago.”

“My Tibby wil be right pleased to think your lordship done begged her pardon. Of course, that wil only be after she rips a strip off me with her

tongue for tel ing you.”

“Do not trouble yourself. I begin to suspect Beatrice used my lands as her own little stud farm.” He grimaced. “I stil do not understand how I never

saw it.”

“Fair face like that hides a lot and the things she did, wel , just hard to believe, is al . If it be any comfort, I made sure I was real bad at it and she never cal ed on me again.”

Julian could not believe how badly he wanted to laugh. He felt it must be because he was so bone-deep afraid for his family and nervous that he

would not be able to do what he needed to do to reach them and keep them safe. Then he saw the signal from Bened he had been waiting for and al

three of them began a fast creep toward the house.

“Obviously no one here can think of a plan or has the backbone to enact it,” snapped Lady Evelyn, and then she looked at Mildred. “My grandson

is but three years old and my new daughter may wel be carrying the earl’s child. Either get out of my way or come with me.”

“You were always a bossy girl,” Mildred said calmly as she opened the door.

“I wil come with ye, m’lady,” said Dilys as she shoved her way to the front of the shamefaced crowd.

Lady Evelyn touched the young girl’s face. “No, sweet girl. I could never rest knowing I sent such a young girl out there. You wait here. I wil bring

Anthony back to you.”

“Are we going or not?” asked Mildred.

“Going,” replied Evelyn.

“Mother,” whispered Helena.

“What is it, dear? I real y must go or Evelyn is going to run off and get herself kil ed.”

“Take this.”

Both Evelyn and Mildred stared at the large, gleaming knife Helena handed Mildred. Evelyn suddenly grinned and took it away from Mildred. “That

is definitely your daughter, Mildred,” she said as she hurried out of the door.

Mildred cast a last look at her sweet-faced child and said, “Good girl.” Then she hurried after Evelyn as fast as she could without her spectacles.

“Wait, Evelyn, we should stil try to have a plan.”

“My plan is that we whisper,” Evelyn said very softly, “and I think we had best stay together. It would be faster to search separately, but neither one

of us could defend ourselves against a grown man without help. I also think I need new servants.”

“Chloe needs new servants.”

“Quite right, and she better find some with some backbone.”

“That girl Dilys has some.”

“Hush,” Evelyn whispered close to Mildred’s ear and they slipped into the kitchen. It only took her a moment to see that neither Anthony or Chloe

were there. As she turned to leave she caught sight of the huge iron pan the cook used to do her sausages and she grinned. She took it down off the

ceiling hook and handed it to Mildred. To her surprise her friend hefted it a few times and then nodded in satisfaction. She was just about to continue on to another room when she heard heavy footsteps coming their way. Evelyn pushed Mildred behind the door while she slipped behind the far side of the huge

kitchen oven.

A man came in, a sword at his side and a pistol in his hand. As he turned around looking over the kitchen in disgust as if he were some self-

important French chef, Evelyn noted that a pistol was tucked in his waistband and the hilt of another knife stuck out of the top of his boot. Unless they were very clever, Evelyn knew she and Mildred could never defeat such a huge, wel -armed man.

She signaled to Mildred that she wanted her to hit him over the head with the pan. Mildred looked at the pan and then at the man’s head as if

testing for distance. Evelyn shook her head and then made a noise, just a quiet shuffling of feet. It was enough to cause the man to look her way and

Evelyn did her best to look afraid. The smile he gave her made it a lot easier to look terrified. He took a step toward her and then Evelyn heard a sound

she silently prayed she would never hear again. The man’s eyes rol ed up in his head and he fel to his knees before toppling face-down on the stone floor.

Evelyn winced, deciding the noise his face made as it hit the stone was nearly as bad as the sound of an iron pan hitting a head.

“That were so fine, m’lady,” said a scratchy little voice.

Evelyn sniffed, smel ed a dirty little boy, and looked behind the oven. She reached in, grabbed a bone-thin arm, and pul ed out a filthy boy. At a

guess she would say he was seven, but she had the feeling he had not eaten wel for a very long time.

“And who are you?” she asked.

“I be Jem, m’lady, and I be the pot boy.”

“Why are you not down in the room in the wine cel ar?”

“Cook told me to hide up here. T’aint enough room down there for dirty boys.” He leaned back a little. “Doan beat me, m’lady. I stil got bruises

from that last woman and I be liking to heal a mite first. Oh, m’lady, you are looking right fierce.”

“You are, Evelyn, dear. Calm down. You are scaring the child,” Mildred said in the voice she always used on her daughters when they got their

tempers up and could not seem to calm down. “We stil have to find Anthony and Chloe.”

“You looking for the little earl?” Jem asked and both women nodded. “I seen him go that way toward the big hal a wee bit ago. The new lady came

through first and she sent the two scul ery maids down to the room.”

“Then that big hal is where we shal go,” said Evelyn as she stood up, stil holding the boy by the arm. “You need to go down into the wine cel ar

and—bugger—”

“Evelyn!”

“Oh, m’lady, you should not be sayin’ that word.”

“I like it. I cannot send him down there because those cowards in that room wil not open the door for him, I am certain.”

“Then he goes with us,” said Mildred.

“Why should I do that?” asked Jem.

“Because we have weapons.”

“So does I.” Tugging Lady Evelyn along with him, Jem reached behind the oven and brought out a thick, short club. “See?”

“Very impressive.” Evelyn saw him frown in confusion and smiled. “A proud weapon.”

“What about the man’s weapons?”

“Oh.” Evelyn did not real y want to touch the man but decided it was not wise to leave him armed and behind them just in case Mildred had not

actual y crushed his skul . “Best disarm him, then.” She hastily stripped him of his weapons and hid them behind the huge cupboard against the wal ,

keeping one of the pistols for herself. “Now. Let us go find the little earl—I do like that—and Chloe before they get hurt.” She tapped the boy on the head and silently hoped she would not contract lice. “You stay close to us and do just what I say.”

“We going to help the little earl?” asked Jem.

“That is my plan. Do you know him?”

“Aye, he gives me food when Cook ain’t looking. He gets a real fierce look on his face like you done when he hears that I doan get no more than a

scrap or two a day. He be a good lad.”

“Yes, he is, and after we rescue him and his mother and al these ruffians are gone, I intend to show my new daughter how a countess disciplines

her staff—starting with a fat, greedy pig of a cook.”

As Evelyn marched away, Mildred looked at the little boy fol owing her and sighed. Poor little boy was mad in love with the dowager countess.

Mildred hurried to keep up, for she had to make sure Evelyn did not get herself kil ed. Never mind that it would upset Julian, Nigel, and the girls, plus many others—the pot boy would probably die of a broken heart.

“Anthony!” Chloe cried and grabbed him. “What are you doing out of the room?”

“I had to get Jem. The cook lefted him in the kitchen.”

“I saw the cook go into the room.”

Anthony nodded vigorously. “But she lefted him in the kitchen.”

“What do you mean—she left him behind?” It was the kitchen staff’s duty to make sure everyone who worked in the kitchen was led out if there was

an emergency. It was a rule that was put in place in case there was a fire, but men trying to get into one’s home and shooting out windows was just as big

an emergency.

“She said she would never take the filthy brat anywhere.”

Chloe briefly admired the way Anthony could sound like so many adults when he was mouthing their own words. She then hoped that Julian knew

how to find another cook because if what anything Anthony said was true, the one he had was going to be leaving. She did not care if the woman cooked

the best apple tarts in the whole of the country. If Anthony was right, the woman had left a child in the kitchen while men fought al round the house and tried to get inside. She would not al ow anyone like that at Colinsmoor.