Anne Barbour (29 page)

"No, I don't want anything. Thank you," she replied in response to his offer. "Frankly, I would rather be anyplace on earth at this moment than here with you, but a ... a crisis has arisen, and I believe you are the only person who can help me."

He took her hand in his to draw her down next to him on a settee in one corner of the room, but she snatched it away. When Seth sank awkwardly into a chair behind the desk, she seated herself primly across from him.

"Zoë is gone," she began without preamble. "Carried off by your brother."

"Good God!" breathed Seth. "He abducted her?"

Eden flushed. "No. There is little doubt she went with him of her own free will. Apparently, Belhaven promised her marriage."

Seth muttered something unintelligible. "Yes, he's used that ploy before—with distressing success. How long has Zoë been gone?"

"I'm not sure. Her flight was not discovered until her maid went into her chamber this morning. She must have left last night after the family was abed." She lifted her eyes once more to Seth, and once more he was struck by the enmity in her stare. "I thought you might know where he has taken her."

Seth rose from behind the desk to pace the floor. After a moment, he said, "Yes, I believe I do. He usually—that is, he has a hunting box north of here, not far from Northampton, near a village named Olney. The house is some miles from the village and quite secluded."

"Perfect," replied Eden bitterly. She, too, stood. "Thank you for your help, Mr. Lindow." She turned toward the door.

"Wait!" cried Seth. "Where are you going?"

"To Olney, of course. I'm not sure precisely where it is, but I'll find it."

"But—" Seth began, then halted abruptly. He moved swiftly to Eden and grasped her by the shoulders. To his astonishment, she flinched at his touch. "Eden, what is it? I... I know you have cause for affront, for I will admit I've behaved rather shabbily over the last fortnight or so, but you seem more than angry. Please tell me."

For a moment, Eden said nothing, but she went very pale. "I cannot believe you are such an insensitive boor that you do not realize—" She laughed shortly. "But, after your recent behavior, I should not be surprised. Yes, I am more than angry. Right now, I do not have time to discuss the matter with you. However, when I have found Zoë and pried her from your brother's wretched clutches, I shall be more than happy to sit down and have a comfortable coze with you on the subject."

Seth drew back, startled. She looked as though she would like to strike him. With that peculiar union he always sensed with her, he felt the pain that radiated from her very core. Had
he
done this to her? But, how? He must make her confide in him. He had vowed that he would not allow himself to love her, but he could not bear to see her like this. First, however...

"Eden, wait. I will go with you."

When she lifted a hand in negation, he continued hurriedly, "It will take you hours to find Bel's lair, even after you reach Olney, since you haven't been there before. In addition, although it's only a few hours' drive to get there, it may be necessary to spend the night. Let me go after them, Eden. Return to your home and wait. You may trust me to accomplish the thing to Zoë's advantage."

He started as she spat a sound of derision. "Trust you? I will go to Zoë myself, and I prefer to go alone."

"I told you," he said, stunned at her response, "it will probably be necessary to spend the night away from London. You have no chaperon."

"I brought my maid," Eden said shortly.

"Do you really think an abigail will suffice?"

"I am a spinster, Mr. Lindow. My reputation will scarcely be considered. Now, please let me pass."

"Besides all that," Seth continued, as though she had not spoken, "Bel can be extremely dangerous when he's in a rage, and I know how to handle him."

This, at last, seemed to give Eden pause, and in an attempt to lighten the atmosphere, Seth quirked his mouth into the semblance of a grin. "It is less than a day's drive, so if we start now, we should arrive by afternoon. We can while away the tedium of the journey by enumerating my flaws."

No answering smile rose to Eden's lips. Instead, she merely stared at him blankly through eyes that were like a winter landscape. Without a word, she allowed him to open the study door for her, and preceded him through it.

When they reached the hall, Seth tugged on a bellpull near the door. "I will instruct my valet to pack a few things. It will only take a moment."

True to his word, it was only a quarter of an hour later that he handed Eden into the Beckett traveling coach and climbed in behind her. He settled back on the squabs, but his hopes for an elucidatory conversation with Eden were doomed by the presence of Makepeace, who perched stiffly on the edge of the carriage seat opposite him.

They proceeded to the Holyhead Road, and as soon as they left the bustle of London and passed into the countryside, Eden closed her eyes and laid her head against the squabs. To his attempts at conversation, she uttered only monosyllabic responses until at last, discouraged, he subsided and stared gloomily out the window.

Lunch at the Three Tuns in Dunstable was equally silent, and by the time they left the main road at Newport Pagnall, Seth had given up any attempt to coax Eden from her self-imposed withdrawal. He merely made the observation that their destination lay an hour or so ahead. He noted that at this information, the tension in her slim form increased.

When they reached Olney, they left the road and made several turnings through fields and leafy lanes until at last they approached a weathered gate at which Seth directed the coachman to turn in. In a few moments, they pulled up before a comfortably sprawling, ivy-clad structure. The aged brick glowed in the afternoon sun, giving the house a welcoming aspect— which was belied by Eden's drawn features as she peered out the window of the coach. Two horses stood near the door, a groom at their heads preparing to take them to the stables.

"Would you like to remain here?" asked Seth, once more taking her hands in his. This time, apparently absorbed in the sight before her, Eden did not withdraw them. "It looks as though the master of the house is in residence. Let me ascertain whether or not Zoë is here as well."

"No," Eden replied unequivocally. "I will go in with you. If Bel is here, so must be
Zoë."

Seth opened his mouth to remonstrate, but after one glance at Eden's set face, he clambered from the coach and turned to assist her to the ground. He kept a hand under her arm, although her frame was stiff and unyielding under his touch. A knock on the door produced a surprisingly swift response from a man whom Seth recognized as Henry Broom, the servant who, with his wife, looked after the lodge in Bel's absence.

"Yes, indeed, Mr. Seth, my lord is here. He and his lady just returned from riding and are in the drawing room."

He turned to lead the way through the casually furnished interior of the house.

"His lady," whispered Eden through pale lips.

Seth said nothing, but increased slightly the pressure of his hand, still under her arm. What would they find in the drawing room, he wondered with some uneasiness. A semi-orgy in progress? An hysterical Zoë pleading with Bel to be released? Perhaps he might have already regretted having brought Zoë here and had begun abusing her physically or emotionally. Seth swallowed hard as they reached the drawing room door, upon which Broom scratched before opening it wide.

It came almost as an anticlimax to behold the Marquess of Belhaven, garbed in riding gear, in the act of pouring a glass of wine for his guest, wearing a riding habit and seated sedately on a velvet settee. Both turned with no appreciable aspect of guilt at the entrance of the newcomers.

"Eden!" cried Zoë delightedly.

"Seth!" exclaimed Bel simultaneously, with equal pleasure.

Eden plunged into the room like an incendiary rocket. She fairly leapt at Bel and, before he was able to marshal his defenses, she slapped him with such force that he nearly fell over backward. Then she rushed to her sister and flung herself down beside her.

"Zoë, my dearest Zoë. Are you all right? Has the beast harmed you? Oh, Zoë, how could you? How could you do this? How could you be so swayed by a honeyed tongue that you would abandon your family? You are ruined, Zoë! At least you were very nearly ruined. There is still time, though, dearest. We will—"

Bel, who had recovered his equilibrium, moved to stem her vituperation, but he was halted by Seth, who snarled, "Put one finger on Eden, and I'll flatten you into the carpet—which I should do, in any event. Good God, Bel, what the devil are you about? Zoë is a mere child—an innocent, and gently bred. How could you deliberately bring such a one to her ruination? How do you think..."

Bel said nothing, but exchanged a long glance with Zoë. Then, to the utter astonishment of their visitors, the two broke into peals of laughter.

"Zoë!" cried Eden, again.

"Bel!" echoed Seth in thunderous accents.

"Oh, Eden, do sit down," said Zoë at last between giggles. "You look like that ridiculous female in the monument to Morality in our village square. I am not ruined, and I am
not
going home with you." She raised her gaze to that of Bel, and in her eyes was such an expression of tenderness that Eden nearly cried out in dismay. 'Tor you see," she continued, a pronounced hint of smugness in her tone, "I am now the Marchioness of Belhaven."

"What!" gasped Seth and Eden in unison.

"We were married this morning," said Bel, speaking for the first time. For once, he was neither smirking nor scowling. His countenance was open and expressive almost of joy. "Father told me yesterday of his plans for my betrothal to Miss Beckett." He turned to Eden. "I hope you will not take this amiss, but I told him I was in love with Zoë and nothing would prevail upon me to marry you. Father would not listen," he continued bitterly. "He said Zoë was utterly unsuitable. When he clung buckle and thong to his blockish notion, I was ready to put a period to my existence. No offense," he assured Eden again.

Dazed, Eden waved a hand in negation.

Bel dropped a kiss on Zoë's hair. "I knew," he continued with a smile, "that my love for Zoë was returned. Thus, I nipped right out of the house to Doctors Commons and applied for a special license." He chuckled, an open sound that Seth had not heard from Bel's lips since he was a child. "There was a regular blizzard of papers to fill out," Bel continued, "but I muddled through it. The license in hand, I sent round a note to Zoë to tell her what had happened."

"Oh, Eden," interposed Zoë. "It was so romantic. He said that his life would be meaningless if he had to spend it without me. Bel proposed an elopement! He wrote of his love and said he had made all the arrangements. He said it was only for me to agree to make him the happiest man in the world."

She glanced around expectantly, but her two listeners sat silent and stunned.

"So," continued Zoë, "when everyone was asleep, I stole out of the house. I was a little frightened at being out alone so very late at night, without even my maid! But, my darling Bel was waiting for me on the corner. He scooped me into his carriage, and we clattered
off
into the night. Oh, Eden, it was like something out of the pages of one of Mrs. Radcliffe's romances."

"Very like," murmured Eden. "And are you telling me you and he are actually married?"

"I can show you the marriage lines if you wish," interposed Bel, an edge to his tone. "And I mean to tell you, if the two of you are going to sit there with your Friday faces and ruin our wedding day, you can both go to perdition. Or at least back to London."

Eden almost cried out in her distress at Bel's words. Zoë— innocent, headstrong Zoë—married to Bel. The girl had no idea what she had let herself in for, of course. According to Shakespeare, she thought dismally, love looked not with the eyes but the mind, but in Zoë's case, love had been completely bamboozled by the senses. Her little sister had been captivated by golden curls and blue eyes and an air of wickedness and would regret her decision for the rest of her life if something was not done.

"Zoë," she said at last in ringing tones, "this will not do. You cannot stay with this man." She gestured with contempt to Bel, whose jaw was beginning to thrust forward in an expression with which she had become only too familiar. "You will return home with me now, and Papa will see what can be done about having this so-called marriage annulled. I do not know what this will involve, but—"

Bel advanced on her, but even before Seth surged forward to intercept him, he halted. His face was white, but he spoke with reasonable calm. "Zoë will stay here—with me, her lawful husband. Our marriage was performed in a church, all right and tight, by the village vicar. He wasn't happy about it, but I had the license, and Zoë is of age now. The vicar's sister and her husband, who were visiting at the time, were witnesses. The lines are recorded in the registry and—" He smirked. "If you want to know, our union has been consummated."

Zoë was blushing furiously, but she rose to stand close to Bel. "Yes, we are husband and wife in every sense of the word, so you may as well make the best of it, Eden. I acquit you of jealousy at my good fortune, particularly since you must have thought yourself almost wed to him yourself, but—"

"Jealous!" The word exploded from Eden. "Dear God, you silly little widgeon, I would as soon have found myself betrothed to Attila the Hun! If you think for one moment I raced up here in the company of a man I... of a man I loathe, in a fit of pique ..."

Loathe?
Seth nearly reeled. He had sensed Eden's inexplicable enmity, but to hear her phrase it so baldly was like a blow taken in battle to some vital spot. He
must
get to the bottom of this.

Now was not the time, however. Gazing at Eden, he realized that her nerves had been stretched to the snapping point after a sleepless night, a long, worry-filled journey, and the jarring news that had awaited her at its end.

Zoë, too, was apparently startled at her sister's unwonted vehemence, for her eyes widened. "Really, Eden—"