Heart of the Diamond (49 page)

“I'll care fer ‘im good, m'lord.”

Jonathon climbed down from Zeus and offered Blake a tired smile. A curious protectiveness stirred in Blake's chest and he turned back to the boy and offered another coin. “Here's another shilling for this beast as well. We plan to leave within the half-hour. How are you set for mounts?”

“We've none so fine as these—but we got some that's 'ardy. Ye seem to be in a ‘urry.”

Blake nodded. “We are indeed. Choose your finest and have them saddled and ready. See to the boarding of these two. We may be back for them this evening.”

As the boy took both sets of reins Jonathon reached out to catch the young man's sleeve. “Have you seen a coach today—the occupants would be a tall, thin man with blond hair and a pretty young lady, small, with lighter blond hair?”

The boy thought for a moment. “Nay, m'lord. ‘asn't been no one such as that ‘ere t'day.”

Blake knew the extent of Jonathon's disappointment because the emotion was something they shared, and had shared with each failure to hear word of Nicole. He took the shorter man's arm and led him across the courtyard to the arched entry leading into the inn.

Blake paused just inside the door as he waited for his vision to become accustomed to the dimness. He noted the public room teemed with people, some most likely passengers from the post. That left at least a dozen others crowded into fairly tight quarters. Combined with the scent of unwashed bodies and
eau de cologne
came the unmistakable odor of boiled eggs and cabbage. Voices raised to speak over each other, shrill laughter, and coughing. The place was a nightmare. Blake looked out across the heads for any opening that might mean an empty seat. An ache had started behind his eyes.

A red-faced man wearing an apron over his barrel-like torso dodged serving girls who bustled to and fro attending tables. Eventually, he reached Blake and Jonathon.

“Welcome, Gentlemen.” The greeting concluded with a grin that revealed a good deal of missing teeth.

“We should like a place to sit for a short while!” Blake shouted over the din.

“Of course. I've a private room this way. I'm Gerard, the owner of this establishment. If you will follow me.”

Blake felt very much like a child being dragged in the wake of an overbearing nanny. Jonathon trod upon his heels twice before they managed the journey to the opposite side of the common room.

Gerard opened the door and ushered them into a cozy sitting room. A worn settee and several arm chairs grouped on a threadbare Persian rug, a rickety table here and there. But the room smelled clean, a fire crackled in the grate, and it was blessedly quiet.

The snaggle-toothed grin erupted again on Gerard's round face. “Some tea? Cook has just baked scones. If you've a heartier appetite, we've kidney and eggs.”

As Jonathon dropped into one of the armchairs, Blake glanced at him, then back to Gerard. “We plan to continue our journey shortly. Tea and scones will be fine.”

“Right away, Your Grace.”

Gerard closed the door with soft click.

Blake moved to the window. Over rolling green meadows dotted with cows and sheep, dark clouds roiled, promising rain at the least, possibly a storm. Luck certainly was not with him today. Soon he and Jonathon would have to return to the designated meeting place. Blake said a silent prayer that Nicole would be joining that rendezvous.

“It was Ted that poisoned the horses, wasn't it? It all fits. He wanted you to look guilty.”

Blake allowed his shoulders to sag. Damn, he could not recall ever feeling this exhausted. But then, he had never before experienced such dread in his soul for another human being. It surrounded him, dragged at him.

Nicole.

He could not lose her.

“My actions fell into his hands nicely, making me look the guilty party.” He turned in time to see Jonathon lean forward and press his palms over his cheeks.

With a sigh, Jonathon raised his face. His red-rimmed eyes met Blake's gaze. “I'd hoped it was—I don't know—anyone else.”

“I do not see that it matters, sir.”

“But it does. It was Ted that struck her. If he killed the horses, and it looks as though he did, he may harm her further.”

Blake's insides turned glacial. That thought had not crossed his mind. Then he recalled the night the branch had collapsed, nearly killing Nicole. Teddy had made an extremely timely and opportune arrival to rescue her. Could the branch have been tampered with to eliminate Blake and had instead endangered Nicole?

Carefully, he maintained his composure, struggling against a rage that would not be appeased until he had broken every piece of furniture in the room. “Teddy cares for Nicole—he always has. She will be fine.”

Jonathon shook his head. “If he cared, he would have found another way to take her from the house. Instead, he struck her like some thief. My poor girl . . . she's never had a hand raised to her. There were times when I could have turned her over my knee, but she would look at me so bravely with those eyes of hers.”

“I know that look. A man is helpless before it.”

“Then what does that make Ted? A monster? He's known her since she was hardly more than a babe. How could he do this to her? Even you, as much as you hated and despised me, could not withstand her.”

Blake pictured Nicole's teeth worrying her lower lip, her delicate hand pushing back a strand of hair that seemed to constantly be out of place. No, he could not withstand her. But then he loved her. He loved her from the moment she let loose a string of curses in his bedchamber. Somewhere inside of Teddy there must lie a piece of that emotion. How could there not?

Because Bartholomew cared only for himself.

Blake strode to the armchair opposite Jonathon and collapsed into the seat. He could not speak. There were no more comforting words left in him to offer Nicole's father. Perhaps he could even stand to hear a few himself.

The door opened to Gerard bearing a large tray. With one foot, he skillfully hooked the leg of a small table that stood next to the door and dragged it to a spot near Jonathon. “Here you are, Gentlemen. If you should need anything else, pull the cord there by the door and someone’ll be here straightaway.”

Blake nodded. The man disappeared through the door and closed it behind him without a sound. Jonathon sat up and reached for the teapot. He poured two cups. Blake rose to retrieve his.

As he took a drink, he absently watched Jonathon split a scone and coat it with whipped butter. Steam wafted from the roll, carrying with it the aroma of fresh baked bread. Blake's stomach rumbled in anticipation, reminding him he had not eaten since dinner last night. Jonathon handed over the buttered scone. While Blake retrieved a linen napkin and returned to his own chair, Billington prepared himself a roll.

As he continued to watch Jonathon, Blake noted with surprise how easily they had slipped into a kind of comradeship. Having only known the closeness of a family during the first years of his life, Blake had vague images of how it had been.

Nicole's family was his ideal. Loving, protective, loyal. And this man, Jonathan Langley—the man Blake had hated and worked so hard to destroy, the man who now treated him like a son—stood at the head of that family unit. 

“Sir, there is something I must say—to clear the record, so to speak. I am not proud of what I have done to you and your family. If I had known you . . . I am offering my apologies, sir.”

Jonathon wiped at butter on his chin with a napkin, then smiled slightly. The warmth that entered his eyes touched Blake more deeply than the stiffest praise he had cajoled from Barrett Dylan.

“I don't relish the part I played in the whole mess and I am sorry for your pain. These past few weeks, I've watched you with my daughter and I've listened to her champion you when I still would've condemned you. Now, I can honestly say I welcome you into my family.”

Blake cleared his throat. “And if we do not find Nicole?”

“If God chooses to take her from me, he's left you to keep her memory alive for us all.” His chin trembled. “She loves you with all her heart. That's all I need to know.”

The last vestiges of darkness fled Blake's soul at those words. Startled, he felt moisture slip down his face. “Your daughter has returned the light to my life, sir. You have saved me just by bringing her into this world. I will be honored to be part of your family. We
will
find Nicole. We have to find her before that bastard does something to harm her. And when we bring her home, I only hope she can overcome what Teddy did. She worshiped him.”

Jonathon sat up a little straighter and with a renewed vigor. “Oh, I think Nick saw through Ted quite some time ago. It was you that helped her to do that. She'd already fallen in love with you before he returned. Then she had someone decent to compare him to when his true colors showed through. I think I might actually feel a little sorry for the man about now. Nick can tear into someone when she has a mind to. If she misses her wedding because of Ted, you can bet he'll feel her wrath.”

Nicki gazed out at the countryside flashing by. Teddy had opened the shades, probably believing they had come too far for Nicki to know where they were.

The thought crossed her mind again that she could grab for the door handle, fling the door wide, and leap from the vehicle. An inner voice she had previously ignored warned her to think twice about such an action. She was forced to admit to herself that she could be knocked unconscious, or worse, killed.

With a sigh, she drew the throw closer around her shoulders. Her cloak had been left behind at Langley Hall where she had used it to cover Simms. Dear Simms. She hoped he had not awakened with a splitting headache. Nicki would have liked to apologize. Well, she hoped he knew her feelings. Perhaps Mina would explain everything.

“If you think that long face will change my mind, you're mistaken.”

She refused to look at him. “Tell me, Teddy, how should one look when their life is being destroyed by another?”

He snorted derisively. “I hardly think I'm destroying your life. You always cared for me. I cannot believe your feelings could've changed so much.”

Nicki smiled, but she felt bitterness well up behind the expression. “Then you had best change your thinking, because I have come to believe I might actually despise you. I wonder if the Teddy I cared for ever really existed, or if I just gave you all the characteristics I would one day find in the Earl of Diamond.”

“Perhaps I should gag you. I'm growing extremely bored with your adoration of Dylan.”

“You had best get used to it. I plan to regale you with his virtues until you concede and return me to Langley Hall.”

Teddy watched her coldly for a long moment. “The only way I will return you to Langley Hall is in a casket . . .”

The coach slowed abruptly, finally coming to a halt. Face dark, Teddy stood and reached over Nicki's head to open a small door. “What is the meaning of this? I told you not to stop for any reason!”

“’ad to, sir,” came the muffled reply.

“Get moving at once!”

“The lead ‘orse is limpin’ somethin’ fierce. Th’ mare, she's startin’ t’ go lame. They can't go no further, sir.”

Nicki shook her head in disgust. She had told Teddy to stop at the hostelry they passed less than a half-hour before, but he refused. Now the poor horses were paying for his stubbornness. Folding her hands, she rested them on her twisted skirts. Beneath the fabric, she felt a hard object. Curious, she explored the shape, then remembered. The laudanum. Before Teddy noticed her actions, Nicki clasped her fingers tightly.

“Come around to the door, damn it all!” Teddy slammed the cover over the opening and threw himself back into his seat.

She looked at him, hoping disdain showed in her face. “You can only push horses so far, Teddy.”

“One more word from you and I'll—”

The door jerked open to the coachman's ruddy countenance. His glance touched on Nicki then flitted away. “Sir?”

“How bad are they, Larson? Can we make it to the next posting house?”

“Nay. Th’ lead ‘orse—he's lookin’ about t’ go down.”

Teddy gripped his knees until the knuckles of his fingers turned white. “Can we go on with two?”

Larson transferred his weight from one booted foot to the other. “Nay. Coach is too heavy.”

“Throw something out!”

“There's nothing t’ throw out, sir. It's th’ weight of the coach itself. It were made t’ be drawn by at least four horses, and th’ pace we been at, we should've ‘ad six.”

With beleaguered frustration, Teddy glanced at Nicki, then back to Larson. “The inn we passed not too long ago—can you take the horses back there and return with a fresh team?”

“We shouldn't be drivin’ ‘em even that far.”

“Not drive, you dolt. Pull the coach off the road and unharness the horses. You can ride one of them and lead the others on a tether to the inn.”

Larson aimed a doleful look at the sky. “There'll be a downpour any moment, sir. It'll be lucky if we can get th' coach back on the road.”

Teddy growled something unintelligible and lunged from his seat. Larson stepped back in alarm as Teddy leapt from the coach and slammed the door shut. Pressing her face to the dirty glass Nicki watched as the two men moved several feet from the carriage. No matter how she strained to hear, she could only make out a word here and there.

Certain Teddy would be occupied for a few moments, Nicki pulled the laudanum from her pocket and reached for Teddy's flask. Hands trembling, she removed the cap of the flagon, then unscrewed the top of the laudanum bottle. She held her breath to steady her hands and poured the remaining contents of the bottle into the container.

Her heart pounded as she replaced the caps on both, so certain was she that Teddy would fling the door open and discover her. The flagon she returned to the seat. The empty laudanum bottle was stuffed back into the pocket of her gown.

With a sigh of relief, Nicki returned her vigil at the window. Teddy impatiently gestured further down the road. Lifting her skirts, she moved to the opposite seat to see what he pointed at. It was a patch of forest the thoroughfare traveled through. She looked back at the men and saw Larson nod. Teddy headed back toward the coach. When he saw Nicki's face in the window, he glowered. She threw herself at the other seat as he nearly tore the door off the hinges.