Mermaids Singing (13 page)

The searing pain of his first thrust into her almost tore her apart. Writhing with agony, she bit at his hand but he was crushing her, squeezing the breath of life from her lungs. Again and again he thrust into her, tearing her bodice and exposing her breasts, kneading them like putty and sucking savagely at her nipples. She was suffocating, she couldn’t breathe. The sour stench of his breath made her want to vomit. This couldn’t be happening; it wasn’t real. It was a terrible dream: a terrifying nightmare. But the pain was real; the terror was real and so was the disgust and utter humiliation. After what seemed like an eternity he collapsed on top of her, panting and laughing, but it seemed that he was far from finished. He ran his tongue down her cheek, nipping at her neck and sinking his teeth into the soft flesh of her breasts, biting her nipples, until the pain became unbearable and Kitty sank into the black pit of oblivion.

‘Bella, there’s been an accident.’ Maria burst into the bathroom where Bella lay relaxing in a hot, scented bath. ‘The police have brought Kitty back in a terrible state.’

Bella jerked herself upright, sending a wave of fragrant water onto the marble-tiled floor. ‘Oh my God!’ She leapt out of the bath, snatching the towel from Maria. ‘I’ll come at once.’

‘Best get dressed first.’

Ignoring Maria’s protests, Bella rushed into her bedroom and dragged a blue silk robe over her naked body. Stuffing her feet into swansdown slippers and wrapping a shawl around her shoulders, she hurried from the room with Maria close on her heels.

In the servants’ hall, Bella found Mrs Brewster bending over Kitty’s inert body. She lay on the sofa, apparently unconscious, with Florrie waving burnt feathers under her nose in an attempt to revive her. Olive and Dora huddled together in the doorway and Jane clutched at James’s arm, her eyes wide with shock. Two burly police officers stood to attention behind the sofa.

‘What happened?’ demanded Bella. ‘Is she badly hurt?’

The older and more senior officer took off his helmet and tucked it under his arm. ‘Begging your pardon, Ma’am,’ he said, bowing stiffly from the waist, ‘but this isn’t a subject fit for a lady’s ears. If I might have a word with Sir Desmond …?’

Bella drew herself up to her full height. ‘My husband is away from home, Officer. You may speak quite openly to me. I am not easily shocked.’

The sergeant gave a delicate little cough, casting a wary glance at Maria, who stood close by Bella with her arms folded across her chest and a warning scowl on her face.

‘It was an assault, my lady. The young person was found unconscious in an alleyway near Billingsgate Market. She had been attacked most brutally.’

Bella leaned over Kitty, shuddering at the sight of the ugly bruises on her face and the parts of her body left exposed by her torn, bloodstained clothing. Taking off her shawl, Bella covered Kitty’s traumatised limbs. ‘Has anyone sent for the doctor?’

‘If you please, Ma’am,’ Mrs Brewster said, bobbing a curtsey, ‘I took the liberty of sending George for the doctor as soon as Kitty was brought home.’

Kitty stirred and coughed as the acrid smell of the burnt feathers began to work. Her eyelids fluttered, opened for a moment, and then closed again.

‘You’re safe now, Kitty,’ Bella said, patting her hand.

Florrie dropped the feathers on the floor and began to snivel, burying her face in her apron. ‘Poor Kitty – who would have done such a dreadful thing?’

‘And what was she doing out all alone in a place like that, I’d like to know?’ Olive said, in a loud whisper to Dora. ‘Especially when it wasn’t even her night off.’

‘Now, now, Olive,’ Mrs Brewster said, glancing anxiously at Bella, ‘that’s no way to talk. Kitty had my lady’s special permission to visit a friend.’

‘Some people get what they deserve.’ Dora’s face twisted into a malicious grin. ‘I knew that fella wasn’t her brother. This is what you get for acting like an alley cat.’

‘Silence! I won’t tolerate this dreadful behaviour.’ Casting a fierce look in Dora’s direction, Bella turned to the sergeant. ‘Have you any idea who would do such a dreadful thing, Officer?’

He shook his head. ‘Ma’am, if we might have a word in private …?’

‘Of course.’ Bella drew Maria aside, speaking in a low voice. ‘Stay with Kitty. I want to be informed immediately the doctor has seen her. I’ll be in the drawing room with the police officers.’

Bella was halfway up the steps when Edward came hurrying through the baize door.

‘I heard the commotion. What on earth is going on?’

‘In the drawing room, please, Edward,’ Bella said. ‘There’s been some trouble.’

Upstairs in the drawing room, the two police officers stood grimly to attention.

Edward sat down on the sofa beside Bella and his hand sought hers, giving her fingers a gentle squeeze. ‘Have you any idea who did this terrible thing?’ Edward directed his question at the sergeant.

‘No, Sir. The young person was unconscious when we arrived on the scene, alerted by a constable on patrol. She come round just long enough to tell us her name and give us this address.’

‘I hope you catch him,’ Bella said, curling her fingers around Edward’s hand. ‘The brute who did this to her should be hanged.’

‘Quite so, my lady,’ the sergeant said, running his finger round the inside of his uniform collar. ‘A dreadful act indeed! We’ll need to speak to Miss Cox when she recovers sufficiently. But, in the meantime, if you could let us have some personal details of the unfortunate victim, then we won’t bother you any longer tonight.’

Bella shook her head. She knew nothing about Kitty’s past or, if it came to that, she knew nothing about any of the servants in her household. How far she had come from her roots in the East End now that she was a titled lady. Seeing Kitty lying on the sofa, battered and brutalised by a horrific rape, had brought the past flooding back. The poor girl, not yet grown to womanhood, could have been herself at a similar age; only then it was not a cruel stranger who had raped her, but someone much closer to home. She closed her eyes, pressing her hand to her temples in an attempt to banish the appalling memories.

Edward’s arm went about her and she could hear his voice, but it sounded far away. ‘Lady Mableton is naturally distressed, Officer. I’m sure that Mrs Brewster has the details you need.’

‘Of course, Sir. We’ll find our own way out.’

Edward’s arms tightened round Bella as the door closed behind the police officers. ‘Darling, Bella. Are you all right?’

She leaned her head against his shoulder. ‘I’m sorry, I just felt a bit faint.’

‘You should have stayed in your room and let me deal with this terrible situation,’ Edward said, his voice filled with tenderness. ‘I’m here to look after you now, my darling.’

Bella wanted to laugh hysterically and to cry at the same time. ‘Oh, my dear, if only it was as easy as that.’

Edward held her closer and, for a wonderful, dangerous and self-indulgent moment, Bella slid her arms around his neck. She could feel the heat of Edward’s muscular body through his starched cotton shirtfront, searing her flesh as if the thin layer of her silk robe had melted away. She caught her breath as his lips caressed the hollow at the base of her throat, moving upwards in light, teasing kisses. His mouth claimed hers with a fierce hunger that matched and inflamed her desperate need for him.

Edward pulled away first, his eyes clouded with desire as he dropped butterfly kisses on Bella’s forehead, nose and lips. ‘My God, Bella. I love you so much.’

Trembling and dizzy, Bella laid a finger against his lips. ‘And I love you, Edward.’

‘Say it again. Let me hear you say it again, my darling.’

‘Edward, there’s so much you don’t know about me.’

‘There’s nothing you could say or do that would make me love you any the less,’ Edward said, clasping her hands in his. ‘I want you so much, my love, that it’s tearing my heart out being so close to you and yet so far away.’

‘We have so little time together, Edward,’ Bella said, her voice catching on a sob. ‘Don’t spoil it.’

Edward’s eyes darkened and he dropped his gaze, staring down at their intertwined hands. ‘You are my father’s wife and I have no right to love you, Bella.’

‘We can’t help how we feel about each other.’

‘I fell in love with you the first moment I saw you sitting on that bench in St James’s Park,’ Edward said, slowly raising his head.

Bella felt her heart give an erratic leap as she saw the tortured expression in his eyes, but she forced herself to sit quietly, resisting the almost overwhelming temptation to admit that she didn’t care a jot about honour or loyalty.

Edward got slowly to his feet. ‘If I’d been an honourable man I would have gone away again without ever setting foot in this house, but I couldn’t let you go, not when I’d just found you. That was my mistake and now we’re both paying for my selfish stupidity.’

Bella stared up at him, unable to move as the pain of his words shafted through her heart. The tears that she had been struggling to hold back began to flow unchecked.

‘Don’t say that, Edward. Please don’t say that.’

‘Oh, my darling, don’t cry.’ Edward lifted her to her feet, holding her to him and stroking her hair. ‘I can’t bear to see you hurt and upset, that’s why I have to go away.’

‘Go away? You can’t go away.’

‘And I can’t stay here under my father’s roof, seeing you every day, knowing that you love me as I love you, but never being able to do anything about it.’

‘You can’t leave me. You mustn’t leave me. I’ll die if you go away.’

Smiling gently, Edward kissed her on the forehead. ‘Part of me will die too, my love, but I’m a professional solder and my wounds are healed. I have to rejoin my regiment and it’s better if I go sooner rather than later, before it’s too late and we do something that we’ll both live to regret.’

Bella wrenched herself free, anger burning away sorrow. ‘So you’re running away, back to battlefront where you can be a hero and leave me here to suffer the consequences.’

Edward’s face contorted with pain and he dropped his arms to his sides. ‘My father loves you, I’m certain of that. How could he not? And you have Leonie to consider.’

Bella stuffed her clenched fist into her mouth to prevent herself from screaming out that his father was a sadistic brute, a cruel bully, who beat her in the name of love in order to satisfy his perverted sexual appetite; but she couldn’t bring herself to tell Edward anything so dreadful about his own father.

Edward’s strong features crumpled with distress and he took her by the shoulders, looking deeply into her eyes. ‘I don’t know if it’s cowardice or bravery, but I do know that if I stay in this house one night longer I’ll forget you’re a married lady and that I’m supposed to be an honourable gentleman.’

But I’m not a lady, Bella thought miserably. If you knew the sordid details of my past, my beloved Edward, then you might not be so damned honourable. But, there again, you might walk out on me in disgust. Exhausted by a flood of conflicting emotions, Bella laid her head against his shoulder, unable to speak. She could feel Edward’s heart beating against her breast and his blood drummed to the same beat as her own.

A sharp rapping on the drawing room door barely registered in her consciousness, she only knew that Edward had pushed her gently away, bidding the person to enter. Looking up, Bella saw that it was Maria.

Casting an anxious glance at Bella, Edward rose to his feet. ‘What is it, Miss Lane?’

‘Lady Mableton asked to be informed as to Nanny Cox’s condition, Sir.’

‘I’m coming,’ Bella said, getting to her feet and walking towards the door. She dared not look back at Edward. If she wavered for a moment, she knew that her resolve would crumble and she would never be able to leave him.

Maria marched on ahead up the stairs to the nursery suite with Bella following close behind. Silently she opened the door to the nanny’s bedroom, where Kitty lay beneath the sheets on the narrow iron bed. Her face was deathly pale with livid blue-black bruises on her temple, around her eyes and mouth, with lips swollen and split.

Bella’s stomach gave a sickening lurch as she saw teeth marks on the slender column of Kitty’s neck. ‘Poor child! Poor little girl.’

‘The doctor gave her a strong dose of laudanum,’ Maria said, straightening the bedclothes. ‘She should sleep for a good few hours.’

‘I’ll stay with her,’ Bella said, pulling up a chair. ‘You’d best sleep in Leonie’s room.’

Maria folded her arms across her chest, frowning. ‘I hope you’re not planning to go to him tonight.’

Bella sank down onto the hard wooden seat; it was impossible to conceal anything from Maria and she was too exhausted to be angry. ‘That’s all over. He’s leaving in the morning and returning to his regiment.’

‘Thank God for that,’ Maria said. ‘You’ve had a lucky escape, my girl.’

Bella sat up all night, watching over Kitty. Maria came in early next morning and sent her off to bed, insisting that she needed her sleep. It was midday when Bella awakened with a start. In the long, dark hours while she had been sitting at Kitty’s bedside, she had been rehearsing what she would say to Edward to stop him leaving: now it could be too late; he would probably have left the house hours ago. Bella sat up, swinging her legs over the side of her bed, reaching for the bell pull. Her hand closed on the tassel and she hesitated. If she summoned Maria to help her dress, she would have to admit that she was going out alone. Cold unthinking panic seized her. She had to see Edward one last time. If she couldn’t make him change his mind, at least she could say goodbye. If she hurried, she might catch him at the Officers’ Club.

With Warner away in Bath, the servants had become a bit lax and, as Bella came down the stairs, she breathed a sigh of relief to find that the vestibule was deserted, with not a sign of a footman or hall boy. Her heart pounded erratically against the whalebone cage of her corsets as she opened the front door and slipped outside, very nearly colliding with Giles Rackham.

‘Well, good afternoon, Lady Mableton,’ Rackham said, doffing his hat. ‘This is a delightful surprise.’