Clockwork Countess (3 page)

“Roderick…
"
she breathed. 

A gentle tapping
,
and then the click of her chamber door opening
,
made her hand fly from between her thighs and she sat bolt upright in the tub. 

Claire stepped tentative
ly into the room. “Forgive me, m
iss.  I didn’t mean to startle you.  I’m only bringing your clothes for dinner,” she said
,
laying out an exquisite moss green water sil
k evening gown trimmed in blond
lace across
the
canopied bed.

Rowan exhaled and leaned back, her body still restless with unfulfilled desire.  “Yes
,
of course.  Thank you, Clair
e
.”

*
             
*
             
*

When her toilet was complete and her maid had pinned up Rowan’s bright curls in a be
coming cascade
over one shoulder to fall in
ringlets across
her
brea
st, Rowan sat back and studied
herself in the glass.  The moss green gown set off her fair complexion and made her eyes look as deep and mysterious as a forest glen.  It was the first time she had been out of mourning clothes in three months.  She knew her father would not mind, but it felt strange, like the beginning of a new chapter
in her life
. 

There was a soft k
nock at the
door.  Clair
e
opened it to reveal Roderick standing in the shadowy corridor looking strikingly handsome in his black evening clothes.  Rowan felt her womb clench up with a mixture of pure desire mingled with terror
.

Who was he that he could have this maddening effect on her?

Roderick nodded formally.  “Forgive me
, I do not wish to disturb you.  I simply wanted to give you t
his.”  He held out a velvet box
with the emblem of Heartwycke stitched in gold thread upon the front.

“Please come in,” she invited him.

His eyes flitted to the large canopied bed that dominated the room and then to the porcelain tu
b where she had so recently lain
wantonly caressing her most intimate places, imagining it was his hand that aroused such a fire of longing in her.  Her heart began to beat a little faster against her
constricting
stays.

He hovered in the doorway, apparently reluctant to take a step into her boudoir.  “Thank you, but it would be improp
er for me to enter a lady’s bed
chamber.”

A
fin
e time to think of propriety
, after he’d already opened Pandora’s box and it seemed she could no longer get the lid back on tightly enough!

“It’s only that I wished to give you these,” he continued and held out the velvet box.

Curio
us to see what it held
, she rose and went to him.
As she reached Roderick's
side, it was like a physical f
orce of energy surrounded her.  J
ust being near hi
m almost took away the power of
speech. 

“These belonged to your mother.  She left them, as she renounced
everything here, when she dashed off to Gretna Green
with your father.  But you are h
er only daughter and they should
be
you
rs
.”

Taking the box from him, she placed it on the dresser
, and with a quick glance back at
Roderick, sprung the delicate
latch to open the lid. 

Rowan
sucked in her breath.  An explosion of shimmering gems dazzled her eyes as she stared down at generations of family jewels. 

Despite his earlier protestation at the impropriety of entering her bedchamber, Roderick came forward and pulled an emerald necklace, laced with sparkling diamonds, from the case.  “This would suit your eyes to perfection.”

She gaped at him
as he unfastened the magnificent necklace and gently draped it across her décolletage, which
she
was
now all too aware, was
rather well exposed in the fashionable evening gown.
 
She felt a shiver of
desire run down her back as Roderick's
fingers lightly brushed the
nape of her neck while fastening
the clasp.

He stepped back, admiration and something more primal shone in his eyes as he guided her
towards the mirror.  “You see?  Y
ou look as elegant as any lady of the
t
on.”

Though she co
uld not deny the jewels
suit
ed her, Rowan
was
aghast. “But surely these
belong to the earl
,
as part of the entailment!”

The light died out of Roderick’s eyes.  “The entailment is…complicated.” 

She frowned. “Complicated how?”

His jaw set as if determining
something and his voice lost its
gentle
cadence.  “
M
y brother, Edmund, has inherited the title, and will, in time, if things are not changed, inherit all the lands and wealth of Heartwycke, but for the moment, they are under my mother’s control.”

She opened her mouth in surprise. “Your mother?  But surely Edmund is of age and women are not allowed the rights to an ancestral entailment…”

He pressed her hand and gave it a quick squeeze.  “Please, do not trouble yourself about this.  If I had known this would come up…” he dropped her hand and paced back to the door.  “Suffice to say, that the jewels were your mother’s private inheritance, through her mother, and neither the earl
,
n
or my mother
,
can have anything to say about
that
.”  His voice softened.  “You have been through many hardships in your life, I imagine.  Please accept them…you deserve some beauty of your own.”

She glance back at the spread of jewels glimmering up from the case and felt
almost
lost for words, but managed to nod.  “Thank you.  I have
very little
that belonged to my mother.” 

Roderick looked as if he would speak
more, but a quick glance at Clair
e
made it obvious he could not say all he wishe
d
.  He cleared his throat and his expression grew serious.  “I must also apologize most profusely for any…unfortunate incidents that may have occurred on your journey here today.  Please know I will do everything in my power to maintain your dignity a
nd comfort during your stay at Heartwycke
.”

Of course he was referring the mad romp in the coach.  It was to his credit that he apologized.  Then why should a surge of disappointment run though her. 
Utter foolishness!

“Thank you, Roderick,” she glanced at Clair
e
, who was busy arranging Rowan’s new wardrobe in the armoire across the room.  “I appreciate your…” she bit her lip, damn it all, she wasn’t used to such formality
.

B
ut he was alrea
dy stepping into the dark hall.
“Right, then I shall see you at dinner!” 

And before she could say anything further
,
the door was closed and she was left standing before a king’s ransom of jewels with an oddly unsatisfied knot at the pit of her stomach.

CHAPTER THREE

The ticking of the ormolu clock on the sideboard punctuated the silence of dinner as the countess picked at her
courses with delicate distain. 
Roderick glowered over his own untouched food and Edmund, g
iving barely any pretense of ea
ting at all, nodded for the ancient butler to refill his glass of claret. 

             
Rowan was not so picky.  It had been a long time since she’d had food this plentiful and of such fine quality
.  S
he scraped her plates, eating with relish, d
espite the countess’s icy stare
.

             
“I see you are enjoying your
croquettes
.”  The countess gave
a thin smile.
“Cook will be pleased.” She coolly
regarded the diners
around the table. “You see I have such a small appetite
myself
, and Edmund would prefer to drink his dinner, while Roderick merely glowers and looks disagreeable.”

             
Placing her fork carefully down
,
Rowan turned to
the countess. “What you
take for granted, many would be so grateful to have, my lady.”

             
Rowan thought back to all the times
she had forgone her own meal so that her sick father might eat, towards the end, when the money had run out.

             
Compassion written across his face
,
Roderick assured her,
“You need
n’t worry about that any longer.
”

             
“So your father left you that destitute?  I had not realized.  He was, after all, rather famous in his prime, was he not?”  The countess watched Rowan with vacant
,
yet oddly fascinated eyes.

             
Roderick put down his knife with a sharp cl
ang.  “I’m sure Rowan's
father
did the best he could for her
.  Everyone knows how unpredictable the
theater is.  One can hardly expect
him to have left Rowan with
a coach and four, and a hundred thousand a year.
”

             
Unmoved by her son’s outburst, the countess turned her steel-
gray
eyes back on Rowan.  And what did you do to amuse yourself while your father was about his business?”

             
Edmund muttered something that sounded lewd behind his claret glass but it was too jumbled and low to be understood.

             
Rowan sat a little straighter.  She would not let these people intimidate her.  “I amused myself by reading.  Books have always been my great friends.  I was so often lef
t alone in my father’s dressing
room, or during rehearsals backstage.  I think I should have been very lonely without my books to keep me company.”

             
“A bluestocking!  On top of it all,” Edmund slurred.

             
“There is a new century on the horizon and women are advancing in their education,” Rowan said
,
def
ensively.
“I hope sometime soon, it will be thought an asset, and not a liability, for a young lady to be well read and have an educated mind.”

“And what are you reading now?” inquired the countess.

“It’s
by a woman author, named Mary Shelly
,
called
Frankenstein
: The Modern
Prometheus
.”

Edmu
nd gave a bitter laugh and turned jeering eyes on his brother
,
who had suddenly gone quite pale in the flickering candlelight.
  “Do you hear that
,
Roderick?”
he knocked back another gulp of claret and turned to Rowan. “If you enjoy such fictions, I’m sure
you
will fi
nd Heartwycke most interesting–"

“That’s enough Edmond,” gro
wled Roderick
.

The two brother
s stared at one another for a moment, before Edmund looked away and tried to take another swig from his empty wine glass.  He motioned for the butler to refill it, but Roderick waved the servant away. 

“I think you’ve drunk your fill.”

Edmu
nd tossed his napkin to the floor and rose, his hand gripp
ing the back of the chair to keep
his balance. “Who are you to give me orders?  I’m the earl, not you!”

Roderick quietly rose from his seat too, glowering at his brother, but obviously doing his best to reign in his temper.  “Should not the Earl of Heartwycke have been in the village this morning?  Did you know that one of our tenant’s house
s
burned last night and their family has been left destitute?  Were you there today to find them shelter and food?  To help the man plan for some way of earning a living now that his shop is destroyed?”

Edmu
nd’s eyes narrowed. “What business is it of ours what the tenants do, as long
as they pay their rent on time?
"

Roderick strode forward, and for a moment, Rowan thought he m
ight strike his brother, but bal
ling his fists at his side instead, he snarled, “Heartwycke Village, and all our tenants, are our responsibility.  With the wealth and privilege we have been granted comes a
n obligation
to care for the people who depend on us and our estate!” 

“Well, perhaps when I
possess
all that wealth a
nd privilege I will give a damn!
  In the meanwhile, let them go to the Devil!” shout
ed Edmund.  “And my you go to!”

Edmund clumsily
pushed past Roderick, who had turned his face
away.   He paused at the door
.  “If I can’t have a drink in my own house, I can certainly find one in town!”

Roderick turned fiercely on his brother. “Off to your gaming hells?”

“What if I am?  Can’t a man spend an hour of diversion without being
lectured at by his younger siblings
?”

Roderick strode to the doorway and took his limp brother by the lapels, his voice almost a whisper but full of
warning
.  “The estate shall not cover your g
ambling debts any longer.  What
ever you lose is on your own head to come up with.” 

“You can’t tell me what to do,” whimpered Edmund and pure hatred
distorted
what could have been such a pleasing
face
. 

Roderick released him
and Edmund stumbled out of the room.

Rowan turned to the c
ountess
, but she merely watched them all with interest, as if they were a theatrical perfor
mance and she was eager to discover the plot twist
in the story. 
No trace of maternal concern warmed
her being.  Rowan shi
vered, it seemed almost inhuman
.

Resuming hi
s seat, Roderick bowed his head,
pressing his palms to his eyes for a moment.  Rowan restrained an impulse to place her palm gently on the back of his neck
in a soothing gesture
. 

As if sensing her thoughts, he looked
up, straight into her eyes.  His
expression was
heart-wrenching.
 
“I’m terribly sorry for what you just witnessed, Rowan.”  He shook his head and turned
away.
“You must think us beasts.”

Before she could answer, the countess rose, elegantly placing her napkin down and smiled a chilling smile. “Rowan, I think we shall withdraw and leave Roderick to his port.”

With a rustle of
silk, Rowan rose too
,
and nodding her head at Roderick
,
acc
ompa
nied the countess out
. 

             
As they sat
in the
pale
blue damask
salon
,
the countess poured tea with all the delicate precision of a Swiss clock and with that same unsettling, detached manner questioned Rowan on every aspect of her life
,
until she felt like a labo
ratory rodent under the lens
of the new
illuminated
microscopes being used at the more advanced universities.

             
The porcelain
clock on the mantle chimed ten times and a servant
discreetly entered the parlor, offering Roderick’s regrets that he would not be joining them.  Rowan felt a stab of disappointment
,
but said nothing
,
and the countess at last released Ro
wan from her inquires, suggesting
that it was time for bed.