Authors: Lynsay Sands
“She was,” Lady Woodrow murmured, glancing toward the inn as well. Sighing, she shrugged helplessly, and suggested, “Perhaps they are having a father/daughter talk.”
“Hmm.” Daniel tapped his fingers against his thigh, counting out the seconds as he waited, but his gaze was now trained on the inn door as he willed it to open. They should have been here by now and he was getting a bad feeling.
“You don’t think she’s had second thoughts because you aren’t poor, do you?” Richard asked with a frown.
“I haven’t told her that yet,” Daniel said at once.
“Oh.” Richard hesitated and then admitted, “I did.”
“What?” Daniel turned on him with dismay and his friend grimaced apologetically.
“It was after she got that letter. I thought—”
Daniel didn’t wait to hear what he’d thought. He was already headed back into the inn, his mind in an uproar. Leave it to him to fall in love with probably the only female in all of England who would refuse to marry him because he had wealth, he thought with disgust as he stomped inside.
Honestly, he did always seem to choose the hardest route to everything. So, of course, he would find himself in love with the most difficult woman he could probably find. But if Suzette thought she was going to back out of this wedding, she had another think coming, he told himself grimly as he mounted the stairs to the bedchambers. They had already consummated this marriage. She may be carrying his child even now. And he loved her, dammit! That had to count for something, he assured himself as he started along the landing. She was going to marry him if he had to—
Daniel stopped abruptly as he heard Suzette’s voice coming from the door he was passing. It wasn’t her door, but the door to the room he’d shared with her father and Robert last night. Frowning, he moved closer and pressed an ear to the wooden panel to listen. If she and her father were having a father/daughter talk, he would just slip back outside and force himself to wait patiently. If not though, and she was arguing with her father over marrying him, Daniel would—
That thought died as a male spoke next. He didn’t recognize the voice, but it was not Lord Madison, and since all the other males in their party were below, that left only one person he could think of. Jeremy Danvers. Daniel supposed that he should have known the man wasn’t smart enough to stay in hiding.
Jaw clenching, he grasped the door handle and turned it as slowly and carefully as he could, then eased the door open enough to stick his head in and peer about. Daniel saw Lord Madison and Suzette first. Lord Madison was looking worried and grim, but Suzette just looked angry as she glared at the man holding a pistol on them and said with disgust, “You are an idiot if you think your stupid plan to marry me for my dower will work now. Even if you did force me to marry you, everyone knows what you are up to and it wouldn’t stand.”
“I have no intention of marrying a sharp-tongued little guttersnipe like you,” the man he suspected was Danvers growled.
“Then what do you want?” Suzette asked sharply. “Why force us in here?”
“Because I need money, of course,” he said dryly. “Thanks to you, I am going to have to go on the run now, and—”
“Oh, do not try to lay the blame for the mess you have made of your life at my door, my lord,” Suzette interrupted, scowling at him. “You are the lackwit who knocked Father out rather than just let us out of the carriage, and you are the one who chose to shoot your own driver, and then tied us up. You probably shot Daniel too, didn’t you?”
Daniel was looking at Suzette and didn’t hear Danvers say anything, but he must have done something in deed or expression to suggest that was the case, because Suzette snorted with derision. “Fortunately, you made a mess of that as well and he still lives. And that fact is the only reason I will make this offer: if you leave now, Father and I won’t say a word about this business today. Just go. We won’t send the men after you.”
“I am not going without what I came for,” Danvers snapped. “I need money to buy passage to the Continent and to live off of and I know your father has the proceeds from the sale of his townhouse here somewhere.” His gaze shifted to Lord Madison. “You said as much that first day when you found us by the waterfall. You said you had it at the inn and would fetch it at once. Instead, we left for Gretna Green. I thought you surely had it in the bag you packed and brought with you.”
“I didn’t trust you so I didn’t take it with me,” Madison said, and Daniel noticed he seemed pleased to be able to say so.
“I figured that out on my own,” Danvers said bitterly. “I walked all the way to the inn only to see Woodrow and a woman riding out. I realized the entire party was probably there, so turned back. But, of course, he got to the two of you first,” he ground out. “After he and the old woman headed back to the inn with the two of you, I decided my best bet was to find the proceeds from the sale of the townhouse and flee for the Continent, so I walked all the way back to the overturned carriage, but it wasn’t in your bag.”
“I left it in the chest in Robert’s care,” Madison said calmly.
“Then you can just get it now and give it to me if you and your daughter want to walk out of this room alive.”
Daniel narrowed his eyes. He was unarmed and had been waiting to see what the plan was before deciding what to do. If the man was going to try to escape with Suzette, he would have slid to the next room along the landing, hid inside and leapt out to jump the man as they passed. However, that didn’t appear to be the plan, and whether Danvers got the money or not, Daniel didn’t believe he planned to let Lord Madison and Suzette leave this room, alive or otherwise. There was too much venom and fury in the man’s voice. He hated Suzette and her father and blamed them for the failure of his plan and the situation he found himself in. He had also killed once already, that they knew of, and had tried to kill both him and Suzette on top of that, shooting him and choking her. Daniel suspected the man would shoot Lord Madison the moment he produced the money and then finish what he’d started last night and choke Suzette to death.
Judging by the expressions on Cedrick Madison’s and Suzette’s faces, they believed the same thing. Still, Madison nodded once and then turned away.
“What are you doing?” Danvers snapped, taking a step after him.
Daniel took that opportunity to slip into the room and ease the door closed. He then started to slide to the left, trying to get behind Danvers and out of his peripheral vision as Lord Madison calmly said, “I am getting the money for you. It
is
what you want, isn’t it?”
“Fine. Just don’t try anything funny,” Danvers snapped, grabbing Suzette by the arm and dragging her close to his side.
Daniel continued to move left, aiming for the fireplace along the side wall and the poker leaning there.
“I wouldn’t dream of it,” Madison said dryly, opening a large chest against the wall and beginning to rifle through it.
Daniel sidled up to the poker and leaned to pick it up. Holding it firmly in hand, he then started forward, moving up behind Danvers.
“Hurry up, dammit,” Danvers snarled impatiently.
“Robert put it in here, I—ah ha, there it is,” he said suddenly.
Daniel didn’t know what gave away his presence. He hadn’t made a sound, was out of the man’s vision range, and had nearly got close enough to hit him with the poker when Danvers suddenly stiffened and then whirled around. His eyes widened incredulously when he spotted Daniel there, and then he turned his pistol on him even as Daniel charged forward raising the poker overhead.
The blast of the pistol was incredibly loud in the room. Still, he heard Suzette scream as he jerked to a halt and peered down at himself, searching for a wound despite not having felt an impact. When there was no sudden blossom of blood or pain, he frowned and glanced to Danvers and Suzette in time to see Danvers fall, revealing Lord Madison still kneeling by his chest, but now holding a smoking pistol.
“Daniel!” Suzette cried and rushed to him, throwing her arms around his waist. “You could have been shot.”
“But I wasn’t,” he murmured, dropping the poker to wrap his arms around her. “Besides, I was more concerned for you.”
“There was nothing to worry about,” she assured him, leaning back to eye him solemnly. “Father would never leave money in a chest in an inn room. Someone would steal it. He has had it on his person since leaving London. He just said it was in the chest so he could retrieve his pistol.”
“Yes, I realize that now,” he murmured, glancing to Lord Madison with a new respect as the man got to his feet and moved to turn Danvers onto his back.
“Father is a crack shot,” she told him in a proud whisper. “He taught all us girls to shoot.”
Daniel felt alarm claim him at just the thought of Suzette being allowed near a pistol, but managed a weak smile and then glanced to Lord Madison as he straightened.
“Dead,” the man announced solemnly. “I shall ask the innkeeper to remove him while we have the wedding . . . if you still wish to marry,” he added uncertainly. “Everyone will understand if this has made you wish to wait until tomorrow and—”
“No!” Suzette and Daniel said together.
Lord Madison smiled and nodded. “Then I shall just go have a word with the innkeeper about removing the body and join you in the courtyard. Do not start without me.”
“I guess we should head outside,” Daniel murmured, releasing Suzette as the door closed behind Lord Madison.
Suzette reluctantly removed her own arms from around him and allowed him to lead her to the door, but halted there and said, “I have something I need to tell you.”
Daniel felt his heart drop several inches in his chest at her words and solemn tone of voice. Neither boded well, suggesting to him that she was about to make some grand confession and one he probably wouldn’t like. Clearing his throat, he faced her and nodded. “Very well.”
When Suzette breathed out a deep sigh, and stared at her feet briefly, his heart sank a little lower. He was sure that didn’t bode well either. And then she lifted her head and blurted, “I love you.”
Daniel blinked, waited a moment, still expecting some horrible confession, but then realized that this was the something she had needed to tell him. She loved him. His mother had said she thought as much, and while it had given him hope then, having her actually tell him so was just . . . well, it was wonderful.
“Thank you,” he said finally, slipping his arms around her waist. “I love you too.”
“Do you?” she asked uncertainly, and then added, “Even though I’m not always a proper young lady?”
Daniel stiffened, recalling his words to her the first night they’d met when she’d protested his escorting her out onto the terrace because they hadn’t even been properly introduced. His response had been, “Very true. However, I suspect you aren’t a proper lady, so we should do well enough.”
Noting the vulnerability and fear on her face, Daniel closed his eyes briefly with regret, thinking it was amazing how one careless comment could come back to bite a person. He had no doubt the memory of those words had helped little when she’d read the letter Danvers had left supposedly from him.
Opening his eyes, he caught her face in his hands and said solemnly, “You are a proper lady when it is required, and when you aren’t, I love you even more for it. You are everything I could want in a wife, Suzette, and I love you just as you are; smart, funny, courageous and sassy. I do love you.” He hugged her close, admitting, “I just wish I’d said it first.”
Suzette shrugged in his arms. “You should have been faster then.”
Daniel closed his eyes and burst out laughing. In the back of his mind he heard Lord Madison saying that Suzette was like her mother and that he had been kept hopping to try to keep up with her. Daniel didn’t have a doubt in the world that it would be the same with Suzette . . . and he was looking forward to it.
Shaking his head, he tipped her face up and kissed her firmly. “Let’s go out to the courtyard. I can’t wait to make you my wife.”
“All right,” she murmured, pulling away and allowing him to lead her from the room before adding, “Though you aren’t fooling me, my lord. I know why you are really so eager to marry.”
“Why is that?” Daniel asked.
Suzette shrugged and teased, “You just don’t want to have to sleep with my father and Robert on the return journey to London.”
Daniel burst out laughing and hugged her close, thinking life would be a joy with this woman and he couldn’t wait to start it.
LYNSAY SANDS
is the nationally bestselling author of the Argeneau vampire series as well as more than thirty historical novels and anthologies known for their humorous edge. Visit her official website at www.lynsaysands.net.
Visit www.AuthorTracker.com for exclusive information on your favorite HarperCollins author.
The Heiress
The Countess
The Hellion and the Highlander
Taming the Highland Bride
Devil of the Highlands
Hungry For You
Born to Bite
The Renegade Hunter
The Immortal Hunter
The Rogue Hunter
Vampire, Interrupted
Vampires Are Forever
The Accidental Vampire
Bite Me if You Can
A Bite to Remember
A Quick Bite
This book is a work of fiction. The characters, incidents, and dialogue are drawn from the author’s imagination and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
THE HEIRESS
. Copyright © 2011 by Lynsay Sands. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
EPub Edition March 2011 ISBN: 9780062065735
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1