Price of Desire (43 page)

“Well, I believe I should be pleased I was allowed to finish my announcement
.
I’ve never been interrupted by a butler before
.
Nothing to worry about
.
Let’s start the music again while M
ajor
Huntington
accepts
congratulations
.
Lady Clarington, will you partner me?
”
Again Tris spoke in that magic voice that wasn’t loud, but commanded attention
.
Inviting Lady Clarington to dance could not have been a more thought out move as she tittered and pranced her way across the floor
,
creating her own show
.
Lady Smyth-Burke smiled from the side
.

As soon as the company had resettled and a belated toast drunk, Wulf
slipped to
the door
.
It was time to find out what was happening.
His pace picked up the moment he was out of sight.

Rose flew up the stairs, her only thought of Anna
.
The terror and delight of listening to Wimberly’s speech almost forgotten
.
Her daughter was all that mattered now.

She heard the first scream as she rounded the corner and headed for the nursery stair
.
She was halfway up when the second sounded
.
Her pace increased.

She swung open the door to see her daughter crouched in the middle of her bed, her face a picture of anger and fear.

On seeing her mother enter, Anna stopped immediately.

“You came.”

“Yes, poppet
,
I did.”

“I didn’t think you would
.
Nanny said you were having a party
.
Why wasn’t I invited?”

Rose stopped
.
Was that all this was about? Her daughter wanted her attention
.
She took a deep breath
, trying to calm her
pounding heart.

“Little princesses don’t go to adult parties
.
Is that why you screamed?”

“No, monster.”

“There was a monster
?
You must have been dreaming.”

“NO! The monster was here!
”
The little voice threatened to scream again, as pudgy arms crossed and a small chin lifted.

“Shh, darling.
”
Rose hugged her daughter tight and hoped the antics were due to the child be
ing
four
and not to being over
indulged, maybe having a father’s discipline would not be bad
.
She couldn’t imagine Wulf giving in
to this behavior.

“My lady.
”
Nanny spoke up from the far side of the room
.
“You should see this.”

Rose gave her daughter another squeeze and then pried herself loose from the tight grasp
.
She walked over to Nanny who was pointing to the floor
.

A smudged boot print lay etched in soot at the edge of the fire.

“There hasn’t been a man up these stairs in weeks, not since John Footman carted up the new wooden horse for Miss Anna
.
Well, M
ajor
Huntington
has
. . .”

“M
ajor
Huntington has what?
”
Rose looked for any possible explanation for the intruder.

“Well, he’s come to visit Miss Anna on several occasions, but his foot – it’s much larger than this.”

As if to prove the point there was the loud creak of the stair and Wulf stalked into the room
.
He walked first to Anna and giving her a quick cuddle came to stand beside Rose.

“Is this what caused the interruption?
”
He planted his own feet around the print as if to demonstrate the difference.

Nanny’s head bobbed
.
“That and Miss Anna saw a monster
.
I was asleep in my bed and her screams awoke me
.
I thought it was just another nightmare at first, but she was so sure she’d seen some
thing
.
She kept pointing to this
corner by the fireplace
.
When I looked I saw the print.”

Rose stared down at the smaller print between Wulf’s shoes
.
She didn’t want to be frightened, but something slinked deep in her belly
.
“Are you su
re it wasn’t one of the footmen
?
Maybe, you just didn’t know they came up.”

Nanny puffed her chest
.
“I know who’s in my nursery
.
Not a gentleman, but M
ajor
Huntington’s been up and none of the staff would dare without letting me know
.
Besides the ash wasn’t there this afternoon
.
I’d never put up with such dirt
.
The maid must have tipped it when she laid the fire this evening.”

“When did she come up?
”
Wulf’s deep voice surrounded Rose with reassurance
.
She was not alone in this.

“Right before the first of the gues
ts went down
.
She wanted to pee
k through the railing and see the ladies in their finery.”

“So it happened during the ball.
”
Wulf spoke to himself, his eyes staring into space.

Anna’s small voice rose from the bed
.
“It was a monster
.
He was all black
.
He was rustling all the books on the shelf
.
I thought he was going to eat me.”

Wulf moved across the room and sat on the bed, his huge form dwarfing Anna, who immediately melted into his arms.

“What did the monster look like?”

“He was big, almost as big as you
.
He had big long teeth and huge horns.”

“You saw big teeth and horns?”

“No, but monsters have huge horns and teeth, so he must have.”

Wulf pulled the child fully onto his lap, his large hands stroking through the silken curls
.
Rose moved to stand beside them, her heart caught by the carefulness of his touch
.
How could such a rough man be so gentle?

He laid
his head atop the small golden one
.
“Tell me, precious, can you tell me exactly what happened?”

“I was sleeping – dreaming about a puppy
.
Did you know I want a puppy?”

“No, I didn’t know
.
Can you go on?
”

“I heard a scratching, at first I thought it was the puppy trying to get in
.
Then I opened m
y eyes and everything was dark, everything but
the corner by the window
.
The
moon was shining there.”

“Did you see something in the corner?”

“The monster.”

“And what did you see when you looked at him?”

“When he moved I saw his eyes, they glowed at me
.
I wanted to be a brave girl
.
I was going to take down my swords and run him through.
”
Rose
’s eyes glanced up at the wall where Burberry had hung the swords
four
years ago
.
They would have to come down
.
They might not have posed danger to a baby too small to reach, but to a child intent on climbin
g and claiming her world . . .

Rose could not contain herself, “Did you try to get them down?”

Anna looked down at her hands, twisting and turning them
.
“No, I am sorry
.
I wanted to be brave like the soldiers in the stories you’ve told me.
”
Her gaze turn
ed up to Wulf, full of adoration
.
“But, I screamed
.
Before I could even think, I screamed.”

“That was a good response
.
Even soldiers must know the time to scream.”

“Really?”

“Yes, really
.
Now what happened when you screamed?”

“Nanny came rushing in and when she lit the candle he was gone
.
I think he must have disappeared.”

Rose moved and sat on the other side of her daughter
.
She patted her daughter
’
s arm, intensely aware of Wulf
’s
presence
.
Even in the midst of this mess, being near him pierced her like a saber through the chest
.
She looked up, met his glance, and as he nodded at her unspoken question, pulled Anna into her lap
.
Her daughter curled against her like a kitten.

“Do you think you’ll be able to sleep now, poppet?
”
She feathered Anna’s brow with kisses
.
“It’s very late and I know you wanted to ride your new pony tomorrow.”

“You said I had to wait until all the guests left and you had time to go with me.”

“I think maybe I will have time tomorrow.
”
Rose clenched her eyes shut and breathed in the magic scent of childhood, fresh air, warm milk, and intangible sweetness
.
She didn’t know what had happened this evening, but something had and it shook her to the core
.
These last days had reminded her of the fragility of children
.
“Yes, I am sure tomorrow would be just perfect for a ride
.
If we go early then all the guests will still be sleeping after dancing through the night.”

“Is there room for one more on this wonderful ride?
”
The warmth of Wulf’s breath caressed her as he spoke.

Rose could just see Wulf’s large gelding next to Anna’s tiny pony
.
He could probably step on it without noticing.

“Yes, I imagine you could come along
.
I should warn you it may be slow going.”

Anna peeked her head up from where in burrowed in Rose’s
bosom. “But
I want to gallop.”

The poor pony at full gallop probably couldn’t keep up with the gelding’s walk
.

“We’ll see in the morning, love,” Rose said
.
“
Now you have to get some sleep and dream only sweet dreams
.
I’ll stand guard against any more monsters.”

“Will you sleep with me
,
then?”

The desire to lie down curled around her daughter was almost more than Rose could bear, but memory of Wimbrely announcement stopped her
.
“Yes, poppet, I will, but first I have to go and see to the guests
.
I’ve not been a good hostess leaving them with no explanation
.
But, as I said before I’ll always be there when you need
me
”

“As will I.
”
Wulf’s deep voice reverberated in the small room with solemnity of the promise.

“Always.
”
Anna clearly picked up the important word.

He reached out and took Rose’s hand in his, the thumb sweeping her palm sending frissons of awareness shooting up her arm
.
He squeezed it once, tight.

“Yes, always.”

His words bestowed the reassurance Anna needed and she scooted out of Rose’s arms and settled herself among the pillows
.

“You will be back, Mama?”

“Yes, I promise
.
I was sleeping in the nursery anyway
.
Remember I gave up my bed.”

“Oh, that’s right.”

“Nanny will sit beside you until I am back.
”
Rose glanced at Nanny who nodded and went to fetch the rocker from along the wall
.
She positioned it near Anna’s head.

“Sweet dreams, poppet
.
I’ll be back soon.”