A Murderous Masquerade (2 page)

“Now even I think you are overstepping the mark, Edward. Committed indeed! Anne is quite obviously pulling your leg about the naked dancers.” The nervous tremor in his voice told Giles that he hoped that she really was pulling their legs.

Anne had the grace to chuckle and flicked her brother’s very pointed nose with her fan.

“For goodness sake, Edward! Anyone would thing you were in your dotage, however there is going to be a masquerade ball at Ormond next weekend and Mr. Denvers and I will be attending. I am sure that The Duke and Duchess will enjoy your company too if you will be staying that long.”

Giles forbore to inform her that the Duke and Duchess were more likely to sling the obnoxious pair into the moat if they decided to attend.

There was a short interlude as the butler arrived carrying a large tea tray. He was followed by a short, plump woman bringing in plates of cake. The woman poured the tea and then left with the butler. The Earl waited until Anne took a chair and then followed suit.

“Perhaps a ball will be just the thing, Edward. We can stay that long surely. The Duke and Duchess will be gracious enough to offer us lodging for the night, I am sure. We can leave the following day. We have plenty of time to conclude our business before then.”

Denvers remained by the mantelpiece grinding his teeth as the afternoon wore on with no sign of the dratted pair moving. Father and daughter talked of mutual friends while Edward gave Giles unforgiving stares and haughty sniffs. Giles added his knowledge when the discussion turned to farming. His own small estate was yielding wondrous amounts due to the new rotation system and it was with some interest, though he pretended he wasn’t, that the Earl listened to this new advance.

The dinner hour approached. Giles glanced at the clock on the wall and his heart sank. He had inveigled his way into Anne’s kitchen some weeks previously and had a frank discussion with her friendly and enthusiastic cook. His plans for a romantic evening after proposing to Lady Anne were about to be scuppered as it was becoming increasingly apparent that neither the Earl nor his abhorrent son would be leaving anytime soon. He had barely begun the thought when Anne rang a bell and Whittaker opened the door.

“We will be four at dinner. Please let cook know of the change in numbers and would you also organize two guest rooms with baths.”

Dash it all!
Giles fumed as his plans for a night of seduction prior to showing Anne the special licence he held in his pocket, disintegrated around him. Instead of carrying her bodily up the stairs to her chambers and giving her the night of her life, he would now be heading back to the Bear and Dragon on horseback at the dead of night. He wasn’t even sure that he could bear to remain for dinner. The thought of his prospective father and brother in law sharing the special repast that he had so carefully planned with cook, made him taste bile.

“Lady Anne, I think I will go...” He wasn’t given chance to finish his sentence.

Anne came up to him and pressed her hand upon his sleeve.

“For a short, pre-dinner walk in the garden! What an excellent idea, Mr. Denvers. I need some air too. I’ll come for a stroll with you while my father and brother bathe and relax before dinner. We’ll all feel refreshed before our meal. The afternoons are so warm at this time of year.”

Giles looked down into her earnest, pleading eyes. How could he deny her? It wasn’t possible. She was the light of his day and he would throw his life down for her. An hour or two conversing with her dratted family was a small price to pay for the lifelong pleasure of her companionship.

“That would be delightful. I’m sure that the roses are blooming to perfection. Perhaps we could gather some for your table.” Anne linked his arm and made to leave the room. Her brother took a step towards the door but his father’s eyes quelled him into submission and he remained where he stood.

Whittaker was once again on the threshold of the room. He stood back to let Giles and Lady Anne pass and then he bowed to the Earl and Lord Edward.

“If I may show you to your rooms, Your Lordships, your baths will be ready directly.

Though it was clear that neither of the men liked being so dismissed there was little that either could do about it and both retired with soured faces as they watched Anne and Giles make their way out into the sunshine.

The gardens were in glorious full bloom, much like his heart, but he couldn’t speak until he was out of view of the house. The thought that her pinched faced father and trumped up peacock of a brother could be watching their every move was enough to keep him quiet a few moments longer and although his grand gesture of sweeping Lady Anne off her feet had turned to ashes, he still wanted to make sure that she knew his intent.

He wasn’t blind to the fact that other young bucks had been nosing around the district the last several weeks, waiting for her blacks to be consigned to the attics. Not that he expected Anne to give them the time of day of course, but he wanted her to know that he was in earnest about his court.

They had walked for a good ten minutes in companionable silence before he spoke.

“You are simply divine in that gown. The colour complements your eyes perfectly.”

Anne gave a small smile and squeezed his arm a little more tightly than strictly necessary.

“I wondered if you had noticed when I walked into the salon earlier. You appeared to be more interested in my lips.” She brushed her finger against her mouth. It still tingled from his fiery passion and she rather wanted him to kiss her again.

Giles gave out a bark of a laugh and tucked her arm even closer to his side. They turned down an avenue of standard roses and strolled towards the summer house at the end. He took her hand as they stepped into the cool shade and then drew her towards him. His lips found hers again, but this time he was gentle, laying soft feather like caresses over her mouth until she gasped with pent up passion. His tongue dipped inside her velvet mouth. She tasted of vanilla and sunshine and sweet, heady desire.

“Anne...I, God! I want you.” His voice was nothing like his own. It sounded as breathy as if he had run a mile, something he swore never to do again after the war had ended.

He remembered the day his horse had been shot from beneath him on the battlefield. With his sword lost in the melee, the battle had surged on around him and he had fought with his bare hands until he could find another weapon. It was only as he found a fallen man’s rapier that he noticed that the battle suddenly seemed awfully quiet. He’d looked up to see his own side fleeing across the fields some several hundred yards away and when he turned to glance back at the enemy, he realized exactly why.

A vast cavalcade of men was bearing down upon him at an alarming rate. Horses snorting, men screaming, swords glinting in the light. The numbers were overwhelming and while he had never considered himself a coward or even likely to surrender, he certainly wasn’t going to attempt to stall a whole army single handed.

He had turned in the lee of his friends and run for his life. A whole mile in fewer minutes than it took to boil an egg, some had declared after seeing his speedy flight back to behind the relative safety of his own lines; a feat that had earned him the title Dashing Denvers.

The war was long past for him, but his heart hammered as hard as if he was still back there. Anne placed her hand on the breast of his coat.

“Giles...I want you too...” She leaned up for more of his kisses which he didn’t deny. When they parted again she sighed. “But I cannot have you with my family prowling the corridors of my house.” Her voice had cooled and she stepped back.

He gave an agreeable sort of grunt and looked at her with a glint in his eye.

“Yes, it rather puts a damper on what I had planned. Dashed bad timing. I was about to ask you to become my wife.” The breath whooshed out of him as she flew into his arms. “Oof! I take it that a yes.” He smiled into her hair.

Anne dropped her arms from his shoulders and took a small step back as her fine eyebrows suddenly dipped.

“Well, you actually haven’t asked me yet, only told me that you intended to.” She backed up another step.

He grabbed her around the waist before she could move further.

“Now, you are not getting away as easily as that, but I confess that your visitors have quite ruined the moment. I would like to do it properly seeing as it the first and only time I ever intend to propose. Will you guard your heart for me until I can plight my troth in a more suitable location than a cobwebbed and dusty summerhouse? My best breeches are likely to become besmirched at the knee and may give Craddock heart failure.” He gave her a small tug back towards him.

She settled into his arms and smiled against his coat.

“My darling, I have guarded my heart since the day I first saw you, covered in dust and decidedly unwashed, but there you go. What beats beneath a woman’s breast is a fickle thing, as they so often say, but I am yours for as long as you wish.”

Giles gathered her tightly then released her again and took her arm.

“As much as I despair of your father and dislike your brother, I wouldn’t want to cause you upset while they are here. I am afraid that I must keep at a certain distance from you or I will have you naked in the flower beds and we would arrive for dinner with petals in your hair and thorns in your derriere. I’m not sure that I could ever gain their favour if they thought that you had been compromised.”

Anne laughed.

“Do you actually want to gain their favour? I’m not sure I noticed any need for it before.”

Giles tapped her nose.

“Now you know that I would only give you pleasure and as much as I hate to say it, I know that you love your young sibling, insufferable squirt that he is. You have tender feelings for your father too, even though he appears to have given up trying to curb his son’s lips. That being said, yes, I need to gain their favour if only for the sake of a happy marriage.” He stopped on the path and plucked a perfect yellow bloom. He broke away the thorns from the stem before handing it to his beloved.

Anne lifted the rose to her nose and drew in its heady scent.

“Lovely. Shall we take a dozen more and then return to the house. I would like to change my dress before we dine. I have been so long in only black or purple that I feel the need to wear at least three different coloured dresses in a day, just to catch up.”

Giles turned to the bushes and searched for the most exquisite blooms.

“Talking of clothes, your idea of complementing costumes at Alexander’s ball intrigues me. Did you have anything in mind that wouldn’t scandalize the whole neighbourhood?” He peeled away more of the vicious barbs before handing her the flowers.

She laughed.

“As if anyone cares about scandal this far from London. No one gives a hoot that Lily is the deaf daughter of a mad, murdering farmer.”

Giles shook his head.

“Well, he didn’t actually physically lay his hands on anyone, but yes, I see what you mean. Unfortunately, or rather fortunately for Lily, she wears the Ormond jewels when at any official parties or gatherings. Even if they didn’t blind the viewer with their lustre, their hideously extortionate value goes a long way to smooth any gossip and I have nothing of that sort to offer you; not a title or land or jewels. I think the only jewel I own is the diamond in my cravat pin. The one I wore especially today so that you would find me irresistibly attractive and be unable to turn me away broken hearted.” He handed her the last flower.

Anne looked up into his handsome face. His smile was wide, but it didn’t quite reach his sparkling blue eyes. She lifted her hand to his handsome face and brushed along the hard planes of his cheekbones.

“I don’t need a title or land or jewels for you to set my heart ablaze. You will be my most treasured possession and I mean for you to dazzle me for a very long while.”

He closed his eyes and breathed in deeply.

“Ah, Anne. You make a man feel rich beyond his wildest dreams. With the income from my small estate and yours we will not lack for the good things in life. We will do well enough, you and I.” He turned with her and guided her back to the house.

Chapter Two

Frustration tore at him as the wind whipped through his hair. Between the Earl of Lavenham and the upstart, Edward, Giles had no private opportunity to formally propose and it was something he dearly wanted to do. Five days had passed since the pairs’ arrival and they hadn’t left Anne alone for more than a few moments.

He’d only begun to think that there was a conspiracy afoot when he had arrived at Evenleigh that very afternoon at his usual visiting time, only to discover that Anne was already ensconced in the drawing room with a silver haired gentleman.

The man, dressed in the finest cloth, had peered over his red veined nose and raised an eyebrow as Whittaker introduced Mister Giles Denvers to the room. Giles’ irritation had only been salved when he caught sight of the smug smile being wiped from Edward’s face as Anne had stood up from her chair and spoken in warm and meaningful tones.

“Giles! How lovely that you came just now. Let me introduce you to Lord Anthony Foxcombe, an old friend of my father’s. He was just telling us about the antics of his youngest daughter.” She turned back to Foxcombe. “I fear that you may have to take a firmer hand with her, Lord Foxcombe. Fourteen is such a difficult age.”

Giles hid his laugh as Anne gave away her relationship with him, while at the same time noting the man’s increasing age and ridiculing his handling of his own offspring without actually saying an offensive word. He stepped forwards and gave a small bow, acknowledging Foxcombe’s rank.

Foxcombe nodded curtly in response and raised an enquiring eyebrow, as he looked Giles up and down through a thick quizzing glass.

“I had no idea that Lady Anne was receiving so soon out of mourning. I understood that this would be a private audience.”

Giles narrowed his eyes while Anne glared at her father who sat in the fireside chair and tried not to be noticed.

Anne turned back to the aging Lord and spoke with a laugh in her tone.

“I don’t know who could have ever given you that idea. Giles has been an excellent friend since not long after my husband’s unfortunate demise. His advice and counsel has been invaluable to me as you can see by the well running of the estate. My house is open to him at all times, Lord Foxcombe.” She looked the man squarely in the eye, making sure that he was well aware of her meaning.

Edward leapt from his chair and puffed out his chest.

“Anne! Do you know how you sound?” He angled his head towards Foxcombe. “You will have to forgive my sister, Foxcombe. I personally blame the company she keeps. She was not brought up to be so forthright.”

Foxcombe merely bowed his head briefly as he returned Giles’ frank gaze.

“I take no offence, just stating what I had been led to believe.” He cleared his throat noisily. “Well, as this isn’t about to be the tete-a-tete that I had hoped, I will wish you all a good afternoon. Lavenham, Denvers.” He merely nodded towards the younger Edward who turned bright red at the affront.

“Well! Of all the nerve!” Edward exclaimed when Foxcombe had left the room and the front door was heard to bang shut behind him.

Anne didn’t wait for her brother to begin his tirade. She swung towards him, hands on hips.

“It’s you who have a nerve, Edward Ellesworth. How dare you try to embarrass Giles, and father, how dare you bring one of your old cronies here with the sole purpose of him offering for me! What on earth were you thinking?”

The Earl stammered for a few seconds.

“I...I have no idea of what you are alluding to. Foxcombe was just passing. I had told him that we would be visiting you.”

Anne’s delicate eyebrows almost met over her nose.

“Oh? So you had time to send word to him in Dorset before coming here, but you didn’t have time to send me word about your imminent arrival? Do you expect me to believe that he just happened to be passing here, almost five hundred miles away? He’s nearly fifty father, and while I have the greatest respect for him, I will not be entering into any arrangement with a man of such increased age. I have just been released from two years mourning, allow me a little freedom before you start lining up suitors, please.” She turned to Giles, her face dropping as she saw his devastated expression.

She’d been about to speak again, but he’d had enough. Whatever she had said in the garden only a few days before had clearly been said to humour him, to stave off his advances. He caught sight of Edward’s triumphant sneer and couldn’t bear to be in the presence of either her conniving father or pompous brother for a second longer.

“I have come at an inopportune moment. Forgive me, I should have sent my card.” He gave a quick bow and stepped out of the room.

He strode towards the front door, startling Whittaker, who leapt from his customary chair way too late. Giles threw open the door and slammed it behind him cutting off Anne’s frantic protest.

Pegasus lengthened his stride as Giles touched the horse’s sides. The surge of the animal’s muscles beneath his thighs heightened the passion raging in his blood. Even though his head told him that Anne was only avoiding an awkward situation, the emotions raging through his tender heart couldn’t help feeling the slight she had given him.

Lord bloody Foxcombe could look down his drink-swollen nose as much as he liked. Title or not, nothing would have given Giles greater pleasure than flattening it against his arrogant cheeks. The man must have been twice Anne’s age. The thought of the aging Lord bedding the woman he loved brought bile to his throat. That her own father and brother could be attempting to engineer the situation was beyond anything he could imagine.

He gave his horse its head for a few strides further and then pulled back on the reins as his own estate came into view.

White Briars had been built on the site of an ancient and derelict abbey. Some of the stones from the old building had been used in the new manor, but the house now standing had been shifted slightly. At one point in time the abbey must have been huge. The foundations had apparently proved to be impossible and impractical to remove so the new house had been built with a west facing rear garden in what would have been the original abbey herb gardens.

Giles slowed Pegasus and slid from the magnificent horse just as he reached the front of his house. Young Callum, his stable lad and general grounds-man rushed form the stable and caught hold of Pegasus’ reins. He took a look at Giles’ furious expression and grinned.

“Still not managed to get your girl, then?”

Giles snorted at the boy’s cheek. Callum, the son of his housekeeper was coming up for seventeen. He was built like a blacksmith, with bulging muscles and meaty hands, but he was gentle with the horses and good around the smallholding.

“It’s only a matter of a few days delay. The unexpected arrival of houseguests has caused some minor difficulties, that’s all, but you should remember to mind your manners. When she does eventually move in here you will have to show a little more respect for your betters.”

Callum’s eyes sparkled happily. Giles was a kind hearted and generous employer. Callum knew that he had nothing to fear from him or the lovely Lady Anne.

“Well, you had better get a move on and ask her before some other cove does. There’s been plenty of ‘em sniffing about the neighbourhood just waiting for ‘er to take off her widows weeds. I thought one ‘ad come calling ‘ere earlier by mistake, but it turns out he was just a messenger. I left the note he brung on the hall table.”

Giles’ curiosity was piqued. He didn’t receive an over amount of correspondence. Personal messages were very few and far between. Perhaps his dearest friend, Alexander, Duke of Ormond had sent a message about the ball. He strode towards his door and pushed it open.

Callum’s mother, Mrs. Mingle, stood on the bottom step of the stairs, vigorously using a feather duster between the banisters. She bobbed a curtsey and smiled at him. Giles wasn’t surprised to see her thus employed as she appeared to dust the stairs with alacrity, every single day. He gave her a quick nod as he picked up the letter which sat on the silver tray beneath the hall mirror.

It wasn’t Alexander’s hand which had addressed the thick, folded paper. He turned it over curiously and stared at the seal. No helpful information there either. He glanced up at Mrs. Mingle with an enquiring eyebrow.

“Dark gent, not anyone we had seen before. Said he came from a solicitor in Caithwell Brook. Must be something to do with your uncle, Lord Philbert Denvers.”

Giles’ second eyebrow lifted to join the first in surprise and he gave a short nod. He had no idea how Mrs. Mingle knew about his illustrious uncle, but then he wasn’t sure about how Mrs. Mingle knew about a lot of things. He’d long since stopped troubling his brain and just accepted that she had her own sources of information.

“Would you bring me something to eat in my study, Mrs. Mingle? I’ve not had tea and am feeling rather peckish.”

Mrs. Mingle frowned and for a moment Giles wondered if she was actually going to say no, but she shook her head and sighed despondently.

“So, no progress with our lovely young lady then? Such a shame. She would be a wonderful mistress to work for and young Iris would make her a perfect ladies maid...”

Giles sighed as he nodded in agreement and made his way to his study. He flipped the letter against his thigh as he walked. Anne would be his, he was damn sure of it. She wouldn’t go on the marriage mart just because her father wanted her to wed someone of rank and title. She’d only said those things about not wanting to marry again soon because of her dolt of a brother. For a moment he wondered about forgetting the letter in his hand and riding back to Evenleigh, but then he remembered Pegasus. He’d already ridden the horse hard for three hours that day. The return ride would be unfair and, as staying within Evenleigh, while Ellsworth and his son were there was impossible, he would have to take lodgings at the Bear and Dragon for the night, something he could ill afford to do.

He wondered for the thousandth time if he were doing the right thing. Anne was used to far greater luxury than he could possibly offer her on his meagre income. Selling his commission had kept the wolf from the door for the last two years but his circumstances were in no way yet secure.

His investment in the stables at Ormond wouldn’t ripen for at least a few years and his estate was far too small to earn enough of an excess to provide a lavish income, though it did keep him well stocked with food. The stream running through the estate was teaming with trout, pike, and perch. The pigs kept him in ham, bacon and sausages. His lamb made delicious roasts and the wool sold well enough to keep him clothed. His cattle stock was growing but the lack of land would mean that he had to keep it a small venture.

He opened his study door and threw himself into his chair before swinging his booted feet onto his desk and leaning back as he turned the letter again.

A solicitor’s note from his uncle wasn’t a good thing at all. The man was a veritable miser and his son wasn’t much better. The last time Giles had seen the man he’d been wrapped in threadbare blankets and refusing to light a fire as he complained about the cost of buying cut wood. Giles had wondered why his cousin John hadn’t cut the wood and chopped it himself if costs were that pressing, but John’s ten year old sister Charlotte had piped up and bemoaned their meanness as she had wrapped a thin shawl about her bony shoulders.

He ran his finger under the edge of the letter and split the seal.

His first reading didn’t make any sense to him. He read the missive again. His heart rate climbed as astonishment settled in.

Apart from the actual news of his uncle’s sudden demise, he was rather shocked to discover that unbeknownst to him, his young cousin, John, had died several months earlier and that he, Giles Denvers was apparently now legal holder of the title and owner of the estate at Caithwell Brook. His mind went immediately to little Charlotte as he struggled to remember how old she might be. His aunt had not had the children until rather late in life and had died giving birth to Charlotte. His uncle had never been inclined to marry again. There was no mention of her in the letter. Where was the girl right now? Who was looking after her?

Giles stood up from his chair and walked over to his brandy cabinet. He poured out a generous measure and threw back the burning liquid as he tried to take in the news. Mrs. Mingle pushed open the door and entered the room bearing a tray with plates of cold meats and breads. He poured another glass as Mrs. Mingle placed the selection of meats on his desk. She glanced up at him as he poured a third glass.

“Everything alright, Mr. Denvers? You’re looking a tad peaky. You’re sweatin’ like you have a fever. I’ll open the window if you’re feeling the heat, though I thought the weather had...”

Giles closed his eyes and pressed his thumb and finger together over the bridge of his nose.

“I’m quite well, Mrs. Mingle. No need for any action, but I must leave here tonight and travel to my uncle’s estate. There is a most pressing matter that I must attend to. Would you ask Callum to prepare the carriage? I’ll probably be gone several days.”

Mrs. Mingle gave a nod but then stopped.

“But what about the ball at Ormond? You were to be Lady Anne’s escort. You don’t want any other young buck stealing a march over you.”

Giles gulped the last of his brandy.