Promise Me (10 page)

Rain stung her face, but she pressed on through the raging storm. She could sense his huge chestnut gaining on her mare.

“
Leah!”

Suddenly everything grew strangely quiet, and the storm settled into the background. Terror gripped her insides. She wanted desperately not to relive what came next, but she didn’t know how to prevent it.

Lightning struck the ground, splitting a tall oak. She yanked back on the reins, narrowly avoiding disaster. Another flash of light followed by an earthshaking boom. She glanced back. Adrian’s chestnut reared, pawing the air
frantically. He slid from the saddle and fell backward at an awkward angle.

And then, as if by magic, Leah knelt beside him, dampness and mud soaking into her clothes as she cradled his head in her lap.

He gasped for breath, a horrible sound. “Forgive me…my love. I never meant...to hurt you.”

She shielded his face from the rain, tears of remorse stinging her eyes.

“
I was...a fool.”

“
Lie still, Adrian. I’ll go for help.”

“
No. Don’t leave.”

“
I must.”

“
Too late.” His gaze faltered. “I regret...cannot change what I did. Swear to me.” He struggled to maintain awareness. “Swear…Grandmother Margaret will never know...about the child.”

“
Adrian--.”

“
Promise me.”

She placed her cheek against his brow, her heart breaking. “I promise.”

“
I love you, Leah,” he whispered close to her ear. “Remember that...and me.”

His breathing stilled.

She raised her head.

Death had fixed his eyes with a blank stare.

Leah awoke with a start. The carriage lantern had been turned low, leaving the interior in soft light.

Anne smiled from the seat across from her. “Did you have a nice nap?”

“
Not particularly.” She moved her stiff neck from side to side. “How long did I sleep?”

“
Almost an hour. We’re not far from home now.”

“
Eee ah.” Edwin squirmed from Anne’s lap.

“
Hello, my love.” She pulled him into her arms. “Are you feeling better?”

“
I should say so,” Anne declared. “He’s munched on a stale biscuit, tried to throw his blanket out the carriage window, wet his clothes, hence the smell, and oh, yes...I gave him a small bite of chocolate truffle.”

“
Edwin, did you thank Lady Ashburn?”

“
He doesn’t speak much, but he did kiss my hand.”

“
What a gentleman you are. Anne, I didn’t mean to nod off and leave him in your care.”

“
I didn’t mind. My condition warrants no special attention, for the evenings are rather kind to me. It’s the mornings I can do without.”

Leah glanced out the carriage window. “It’s close to morning now.”

“
It’s still several hours before dawn, and I hope to be in my own comfortable bed by then.” Anne rearranged the pillows behind her back. “My dear, you were mumbling earlier. Was it a nightmare?”

Before she could reply, Edwin placed his small hands on both sides of her face and squeezed. “Eee ah, ook.” He held up a short length of beige yarn with a miniature bluebird swaying beneath it.

“
You found Boo.” She smiled at Anne. “The toy my mother fashioned from yarn and cloth and hung above Kat’s bed. Where did he find it?”

“
Beneath one of the cushions.”

Leah touched the bird. “There are so many fond memories attached to this plaything. Katrina carried it everywhere. And then one day it just disappeared.”

The child swung the toy bird back and forth, mesmerized.

“
Perhaps Edwin should stay at Ashburn Hall for a few days,” Anne offered.

“
Thank you, but what I said to the doctor and Mister O’Connell wasn’t a fib meant to extract us from a precarious situation. After I see you safely home, I’m taking Edwin straight to Chase Manor where he belongs.”

“
Why not wait until after lunch?”

“
Yes, I suppose that would be the proper thing.” She brushed the hair from Edwin’s brow. “How is his cough?”

“
The medicine seems to have calmed it. When we arrive home, we’ll get him out of his wet clothes. I’ll wake the nanny, and she can go through the trunks stored in the attic. I’m certain we have some clothes to fit him. And you both can rest at Ashburn Hall for a few hours before we visit Aunt Margaret.”

“
We? You do not have to accompany me.”

“
Yes, my dear, I believe I do.”

Leah sighed. “I know you don’t agree with this decision, Anne, but I’m doing what’s best for Edwin. What I should’ve done months ago.”

“
When Aunt Margaret learns of Adrian’s deceit, she’ll be heartbroken.”

“
I almost confided in the duke last evening. Right before Mister O’Connell burst into the room.”

Anne propped another pillow behind her back. “I’m surprised Nicolas did nothing more violent than tossing him out of the inn.”

“
Your cousin is rather decent.”

“
You told me only yesterday you thought him arrogant. Have you changed your mind?”

“
Perhaps.”

Anne raised a slender brow. “It suddenly occurs to me that it was most improper sending you to Nicolas’ room last evening. What was I thinking?”

Heat burned Leah’s cheeks. “His Grace was a perfect gentleman.”

“
Yes, when it suits him. He’s most fortunate. If I had gone to his room in your place, I would’ve dropped the laudanum into his brandy.”

“
And I have a feeling, Lady Ashburn, that you would’ve enjoyed such a wicked prank.”

“
My dear Miss Sheridan, when it came to nasty tricks, Adrian and I were amateurs. Nicolas was the master.”

Leah laughed. She could not imagine the proper and serious Duke of Chase as a prankster.

Anne grew serious. “What will you say when Nicolas asks why you did not tell him about Edwin? By your own words, you had the perfect opportunity. And do not think for one second he’ll overlook our leaving the Imperial Inn in the middle of the night.”

“
I’ll tell him the truth. That you wished to leave and forced me to go along.”

“
Oh, I hadn’t thought of that. Excellent. Do not leave out the part that we were concerned for Edwin’s health. Shed a tear or two, and Nicolas might believe you were too confused to think properly.”

“
I was…am…confused.”

“
Yes, poor dear.”

“
Be serious, Anne. I am not a stage performer enacting some dramatic scene created solely for the theatre audience.”

“
Well, when you put it that way…” Her ladyship sighed. “What about the promise you made to Adrian?”

“
It must be broken. I see that now.” A knot formed in Leah’s throat. She set Edwin on the seat beside her. While he continued to play with the bluebird, she raised the breeches on his left leg. “Because of his clubfoot, he’s had to wear shoes that are too large. And he may need surgery at some point.” She smoothed the pant leg down. “The Duke of Chase is in a far better position to make sure this child receives proper treatment. It was naïve of me to assume Miss Santiago wanted what was best for her son.”

“
Poor little fellow. I shudder to think what he’s had to endure. Or what he will endure. Growing up illegitimate will not be easy.”

“
No, it will not.”

“
I’m more concerned for you, Leah.”

“
Whatever for?”

“
I fear you cannot give this child up without further damage to your heart.”

“
You’re mistaken, Anne.” Leah brushed the hair from Edwin’s eyes. “As this adorable little boy was never mine to begin with, my heart has no right to claim him.”

###

Nicolas cracked one eye open. A beam of sunlight flickered through the narrow slit in the drapes, almost blinding him.

Where the devil am I?

Comprehension slowly emerged from a thick fog. Why did his head feel twice the size? He glanced down at his feet. Good God, he hadn’t even undressed or removed his boots. He’d fallen asleep in such a manner only once. The next day he’d promised his grandfather he’d give up strong drink.

He sat up and swung his feet to the floor. An almost full bottle of brandy sat on the table by the window. Was this his second or third bottle?

Cobwebs cluttering his brain, Nicolas crossed the room. His reflection in the mirror above the washbasin startled him. His hair stood on end, and his face looked ashen. He washed up, combed his hands through his hair, and stumbled toward the window. Pushing the drapes aside, the full strength of the sun burst into the room, watering his eyes.

It must be well past ten o’clock.

He pulled the drapes closed and as he pivoted around, something crushed beneath his heel. Curious, he knelt. Glass. He picked up the pieces and held them beneath his nose. Laudanum? His thoughts traveled back to last evening. When he had returned to this room, Leah Sheridan had been standing near the table holding the lid to the teapot. And later he’d taken a cup before bed. Suddenly he understood the haze swirling inside his head.

“
Bloody hell! She drugged my tea.”

Anger boiled inside him. Miss Sheridan’s innocent act was just that. An act. What a grand schemer! She’d come to his room to purposely drug him. And Anne had gone along with the deception.

Nicolas grabbed his coat. He didn’t bother knocking on the door across the hall, because he suspected by now the occupants were long gone.

He bounded down the stairs two at a time. Spotting the proprietor behind the desk, he hurried over. “What time did the ladies in room six depart?”

The Chinaman’s gaze narrowed. “What room?”

“
Six.”

He shook his head. “Not know.”

“
I saw them.” An oriental woman emerged from the back room. “They leave one hour after midnight.”

“
You didn’t stop them?”

“
No reason. Room paid for.”

“
Was there a child with them?”

“
Yes, very young. Maybe ill.”

The doctor had come for the boy! Not Annie.

“
You wish breakfast, lord?” she inquired.

“
No.” Nicolas withdrew several pound notes from his pocket and placed them on the counter. “Do you know the name of the doctor who visited room six last evening?”

The woman reached for the money, but the Chinaman placed his hand over hers. “Not know name,” he told Nicolas. “But he have free room and board at Boar’s Head in exchange for treating women who work there.”

“
How would you know, Husband?”

“
I have eyes, Wife.”

“
Your eyes see any closer, and they be blinded by iron skillet,” she snapped before departing.

The Chinaman dismissed her threat with a wave of his hand. “Jealousy good trait in competition,” he told Nicolas. “Not good in wife.”

###

Irma sipped her tea as the sun crawled over the rooftop of the townhouse across the street. She would’ve preferred a cup of coffee, but coffee reminded her too much of Carson City and the man she’d buried there.

“
How long, Godfrey?” She toyed with the locket at her throat. “How long must your ghost haunt me?”

She wished more than anything to forget her second husband, but the gaping wound he’d inflicted to her heart left an unforgettable ugly scar.

As children she and her brother had overcome many difficulties. The shame of a mother who sold her body to the highest bidder. A misguided father who preached sermons to the locals and gentry alike but never quite found God himself.

After his death, Irma and William Turnbull found themselves alone. Their only possession...a worn Bible. Penniless, they did whatever necessary to survive. At sixteen, she caught the eye of a wealthy but ancient earl. His lordship treated Willie and her with kindness, but he died four years after they wed.

And then Godfrey came along. The handsome son of an Irish blacksmith with the most beautiful smile. After falling madly in love, she gave up the restraints of polite society and ran away with him to the colonies. A few months later they were married. She would’ve forgiven Godfrey any transgression. Even adultery.

He never asked.

Irma closed her eyes. She remembered Godfrey’s horrified expression the moment she’d pointed the pistol at his doxy…and his calm request to put down the weapon. What she didn’t recall was firing the pistol until both Godfrey and his whore lay dead. The sheriff of Carson City believed her guilty of murder, but he found no witnesses. The sheriff was right. She was a murderer. And one day she’d have to atone for her sins.

The creak of the parlor door startled Irma. She opened her eyes. “Morning, Willie.”