Edith Layton (22 page)

Slowly, carefully, though he was afraid he’d perish if he didn’t hurry, he entered her. She sighed, and shivered, and stretched her whole body beneath his, accepting him, moving to accommodate him.

He moved with her, glorying in the heat and sweetness of her, murmuring love words into her ear, holding back because he’d be damned if he’d leave her before he satisfied her, even if his heart burst from the effort.

And then she finally rose against him and shuddered, gasped, then shuddered again and again. Only then did he allow himself to join her in ecstasy, crying out her name as he did.

They lay quiet. Her body still quivered from the vastness of the sensations she’d experienced. He was totally fulfilled, and yet, still yearning. His hand stroked her hair where she lay now, against his heart.

She was the one to speak first. “Thank you,” she said. “I never knew how I could feel. This was nothing like…Oh, thank you.”

He could feel her lips curl against his chest as she smiled.

“Now I don’t wonder at your reputation of a seducer,” she said.

His hand stilled in her hair. “No,” he said softly. “In fact, I never seduced anyone before. What a revelation. What an oversight. I didn’t know what
I
was missing. It was lovely. Thank
you,
my love.”

She didn’t answer, but he felt a drop of moisture fall from her eyes.

“Here now,” he said, pulling her up so he could wipe that tear away. “No more of that! We can make love in the water, it’s actually quite entrancing, or so I’ve heard. But not now.”

She giggled, then she laughed.

He joined in. “Now,” he said. “Shall we get on with our lessons?”

“You can?” she asked in wonder.

“Well, I think so. Care to help me try?”

“I’m so glad we came in from the maze,” she said a moment later. “Imagine if anyone had stumbled on us doing
this
?”

“They wouldn’t have,” he answered absently. “I gave orders to keep everyone away.”

She drew back. “Oh, you cheat!” she cried. She caught up a pillow to swat him, then she lowered it. “Thank you,” she said, and stilled his laughter with a kiss.

T
he honeymoon couple spent a week discovering each other’s bodies, finding how gloriously they fit together. Then, the next week, they passed their time also learning how their minds did the same.

Daisy told her new husband about her trials from the first moment of her father’s arrest to her arrival at Botany Bay. She tried not to talk too much about Tanner, but Leland asked, and so she did. One day he stopped asking, and soon she realized she’d almost forgotten Tanner, because she never had to think of him again. Her new husband had eclipsed him in every way, erasing bad memories, replacing him, until Tanner seemed
like a person from a bad dream she’d had long ago and far away.

Leland listened to what his new wife said, and wondered at her courage and buoyant spirit. She’d survived the terrors of being a young girl imprisoned through no fault of her own, facing the horrors of Newgate prison and transportation, and then the consequences of being sold into marriage to a man so far beneath her that if the world had been run right, she’d never have even chanced to see him passing her in the street. Daffyd and his foster brothers and the earl had come through similar trials intact, but Leland couldn’t think of any woman who could have survived with such spirit and grace.

They walked and talked, made love and talked; they danced and sang, rode and drove around the surrounding countryside. They fished in streams and swam in the lake, and slept locked in each other’s arms in the night, even when they didn’t make love. And daily, they thanked each other for being there.

Though Leland joked about it, Daisy heard how his childhood had been plagued by gossip about the adventures of his errant mama, and plagued by his cold martinet of a father, and his mother’s continuing disapproval.

“I had the bad fortune to look like my father,” he explained.

She wondered how he’d survived with such
decency and charm. Daisy came to understand at last how his sense of humor had saved him, and she silently vowed that he’d never have to use it for strength again, not if she could help it.

In short, she fell madly in love with him.

He came to respect her as well as continuing to adore her.

They were so happy, they didn’t want to think about returning to London. But they remembered she had an enemy, and they knew they’d never really know peace until they discovered who had falsely accused her and tried to drive her out of the country again.

They returned to London on a sultry morning, and immediately wished they’d stayed in the countryside. An unusual bout of hot weather had settled on the Town, just before the end of the social Season, and it curtailed activity just as surely as a blizzard might have done.

As they drove in through the gate near the Bull and Mouth, they could see London’s streets were simmering. The street criers and barrow mongers positioned themselves in the shade, no matter where their customers were. Business was off, because the streets were empty of everyone except for those drooping poor souls, servants, and travelers who had to be out and about. As they passed the park, they saw it wasn’t particularly crowded, because shade didn’t mean cool in such weather.

At least the front entrance to Leland’s town house was relatively comfortable, because of its marble floors.

As Daisy went upstairs to wash and change into something light, Leland’s Town butler presented him with the post and the messages that had piled up on a silver salver in the front hall since he’d left. He also informed his master that the
ton
were not very active these days. They sat in their parlors or back gardens fanning themselves. Evening parties were being poorly attended. No one wanted to be at a fashionable crush if it was also a truly suffocating one. Affairs held in the early morning were attended, though. Breakfasts and morning calls were substituted for soirées and balls for those who still hoped to get their unwed daughters married off before the premature ending to the Season. Plans were being made to return to their country homes.

“So we’d best see our old friend Geoff right away, and ready ourselves for some morning callers,” Leland told Daisy when she came down the stairs. “I’ve sent a message to him, and word to Bow Street as well as some of Daffyd’s old cronies on the other side of the law, to see if any new information is known. I want you not only to be safe, but to feel safe. That won’t happen until we know who laid charges against you.”

“And who knifed you,” she said.

He shook his head. “No, I don’t think that mat
ters. More and more I think that it was actually just a purse snatcher who got frightened when I lunged at him. We’ll know soon. Then we can go back home. I’ll have to take you to see my ancestral home, too. My mother will likely be there, but we won’t have to stay long. As for now,” he told her, “I just have to read all my messages; my desk is covered with letters and cards. Then we can sit somewhere cool and wait on events. Why don’t you wait in the back parlor? I hear it’s less hot there. I’ll join you as soon as I can.”

He came into the parlor a few minutes later, grinning ear to ear. He waved a letter in his hand. “Guess what?” he asked, grinning. “Daffy’s had a boy! That is to say, his wife, Meg, has had one. A healthy, squalling little brat, Daffyd says. Dark as his father and fair as his mother, he says, with very blue eyes, and the fiend’s own temper, just like his father, too. He’s over the moon about it, and begs us to come see and admire him. I think we should. You’ll like Meg very much. We can go there before I take you to my estate in the north.”

He scanned the letter again, and his smile slipped. “He also asks if I know where Geoff is, because he hasn’t heard from him, and he expected him to be there over a week past.”

Daisy’s head went up and she paled. “No word of him?”

“None,” Leland said, scanning the letter again. His jaw tightened. “Don’t worry yet. There are a
thousand things that could account for that. He said he was taking your Helena to her mother’s home up north. He could have gone anywhere from there. He may have stopped off at Egremont, to see how things stood at his estate. It’s not good to leave a place without a master for too long. He has tenants there, and he is a responsible landlord. He may have visited with a friend. Sometimes a letter sent from the north can take days to reach London. Let me go through the rest of my mail to see if I can find the answer, and if not, I’ll pay a call on the earl’s house here. Then, if there’s no word, we can be alarmed.”

“
We’ll
pay a call on Geoff’s house,” she said. “I can’t bear to sit and wait.”

He hesitated, and then when he spoke, there wasn’t a trace of humor in his voice. “No, I think not. If something has happened to the earl, you are the
last
person who should be out in the streets right now. I can protect you. But I’d rather not have to.”

She took a deep breath and nodded, once.

“We’ll find out, it’s likely nothing,” he said. “Sit tight, and stay cool. It’s murderously hot outside.”

She shivered at his choice of words. And seeing that, he winced.

Viscount Haye returned to his town house at dusk, looking wilted and walking slowly, lost in thought. When he saw he’d arrived at his own
house, he straightened and walked faster. That was what alarmed Daisy the most.

“What has happened to Geoff?” she asked him at once when he walked in, rising from where she’d been sitting on a window seat watching the street.

He ran a finger under his neck cloth and sighed. “What fiend made this fashionable? Sooner put a man in manacles and ask him to swim than to wear this torturous thing on a hot day. Ah well, at least there’s no one around Town to notice that I look like a laborer. I didn’t find out
anything,
” he told her. “There’s no ransom note. There’s no hint of violence, no accident recorded in the past week going up or down the North Road. And no one from his old days in Botany Bay has heard a word of other violence, either. I met with Bow Street as well. No one knows where he is. That’s good. Because wherever he is, it can’t be because anything dire happened to him.”

“But he is wealthy,” she said. “One of the richest men in England. And he’s kind, and trusting.”

“Yes, he’s wealthy. He’s also more experienced with crime and criminals than most men in England. Don’t forget that. He’ll be fine, he is fine, I’m sure of it. We can’t do more than wait on word from him. I’m sure there’s a perfectly good reason for his silence. Even the men I paid to find out about him said that, and they’ve reason to
hope for mischief, if only because they’d be better paid if there was any.”

She felt relieved, until she noticed that he stood irresolute, unsmiling.

“But so many ears to the ground can hear anything,” he said. “I learned something else, something that I must resolve.”

“What is it?” she asked fearfully.

“I finally discovered who laid evidence about you. Oh, don’t worry,” he said quickly when he saw her grow paler. “It’s utter nonsense. The powers that be know it. The information is ridiculous, and false. It was given by a fellow named Samuel Starr, recently arrived from Botany Bay.”

“Samuel…Starr?” Her eyes widened.
“Old Blister Me?”
she cried. “We called him that because he said it all the time. He was an old pirate; I really think he was one. When he couldn’t go to sea anymore, where he could sail away from his crimes, I suppose, he took up stealing in London. He was very bad at it on land. He was a burly, bald old man, with a tattoo on his cheek like a South Sea Islander, and…But he didn’t dislike me! In fact, I thought we were friends. He had such good stories to tell.” She smiled, remembering. “I always enjoyed talking to him. I didn’t know he’d left the colony…”

She sobered. “Why did he do it? Lie about me, I mean? He knew Tanner died of an accident. He
was one of the men who brought him home after it. He saw me then, and even tried to console me. He said I was well out of it, and I know he meant it kindly. Why did he change his mind?”

Leland had pulled off his limp damp neck cloth and now held it as though it were a dead rat, dangling from the ends of his fingers. He shrugged, and didn’t look at her. “Why else?” he asked. “For the money. It seems he was starving. He was an exquisitely inept pickpocket. And someone offered him a sum of money he couldn’t resist. Once he’d had a decent dinner, he began to regret his part. He’s very sorry, he says. Never mind that, if you don’t want to, we won’t press charges against him. He
is
only a poor old fellow, and abjectly sorry to boot.”

Now he looked at her. “More to the point, he told me who paid him to do it.” Leland’s eyes were stark and dark, haunted by some misery she’d never seen there before. “I’m going to change my clothes, and then go to speak with that someone. This time, if you like, you may come with me.
I
don’t like it, but you’ll be safe enough, and I do think it would be for the best for all concerned. Especially you. There’s no need for you to be afraid of ghosts. Will you come?”

“Of course,” she said.

He studied her with an unreadable expression. “Very well. Dress in something cool,” he finally said, “…and beautiful.”

Daisy’s eyes grew huge when she saw where Leland stopped his carriage. She looked at him. “Here?” she asked.

In that moment, he looked infinitely weary. “Yes,” he said. “I believe here is where it started, and I know here is where it will end. Nothing to feel bad about,” he added in a soft voice. Nothing to fear. That I promise. But you should see this, and relieve your mind.
I
am the one who should be upset,” he said. “If I refuse to be, then so should you. Come, let’s get it over with.”

He gave the reins to his tiger, the boy in livery who rode on the back of the curricle, and stepped down. He took his wife’s hand to help her down from the driver’s seat. “You look lovely,” he said, admiring her new peach-colored muslin gown and matching bonnet. “And wasn’t it delicious to feel the breeze as we drove? It’s the only way to get one today. Let’s drive ’round the park after we’re done here, shall we? I want to show you off, as well as cool you off.”

She smiled, but her hand shook in his, and not from fear of getting down from the high driver’s seat. When she reached the pavement, she breathed a shuddery sigh. “Lead on,” she whispered.

“What a pleasure to see you, sir,” the butler who admitted them at the door said.

“A pleasure to see you again so soon, Fitch,” Leland said. “You’re looking in fine fettle, I must say. You don’t change, someday you must tell me your secret. And here is my lady, Deidre, the new
Viscountess Haye. We were married a month past in the West Country, at a church near my country house. I’m planning to have a reception for the villagers and everyone at Haye Hall later this summer, so I can introduce my lady to everyone properly, as well as introducing my home to her.”

The imperturbable butler blinked. “My lady,” he said, when he recovered. He bowed. “A great honor to meet you. I had heard of your nuptials; it was in the papers. May I offer you my very best wishes?”

Daisy nodded. “Thank you,” she said. She shot a puzzled look to Leland where he stood, his lips thinned, his expression impassive.

When the butler straightened, he looked at Leland, and much that wasn’t said seemed to pass between them in that moment. “I will inform your mother that you are here, my lord,” the butler said. “Please come sit in the garden. I’d ask you into the salon, but the heat is perishing there today.”

“Thank you,” Leland said. “Come, Daisy, Fitch is right. We
will
be cooler in the garden. My mother’s salon is a welter of heavy furniture and heavier fabric. The furniture is priceless, and the fabric, museum quality. Fine for December, but not for today.”

But Daisy only stood, white-faced, looking up at him.

“Yes,” he said, putting his hand over hers
where it lay on his arm. “Unpleasant for me, but not out of character for her. At least the nonsense will end, here and now. I want you to hear it from her own lips.”

He looked at the butler. “Fitch, please send to my mother. And there’s no need to mention that my wife accompanies me.”