Secret Pleasures (40 page)

“It’s the bad blood, my lord. I assure you.”

“It’s all bad
.
You won’t find any good blood in me, is that not right, Darien?”

“That’s what I’ve come to find out, once and for all.
”
Darien dragged Jacobson closer to the fire so his father could get a better look at him
.
“You remember Collin Jacobson?”

His father’s eyes widened and his already ruddy complexion reddened
.
He stared at Jacobson as if he’d seen a ghost
.
Collin Jacobson remained silent, and virtually motionless, but his glare at Westhaven was truly violent.

“Nice to make your acquaintance, sir, but I’m performing
a
delicate procedure here.
”
The doctor straightened his black medical robes
.
“Neither the earl nor I wish to be disturbed.”

His father grabbed a towel, pressing it to his wound and stood
.
“If you wish to shoot someone Darien, shoot him
.
He must own blame for your brother’s death just as surely as I.”

“He was alive when I left him.
”
Jacobson eyed Darien’s father like a wild boar that might charge at any minute
.
Darien suddenly felt the need to insert himself between them
.
He gripped his musket more firmly.

“Sit down, my lord
.
Your heart palpitations have been highly irregular
.
Do not strain yourself.
”
Shipley tried to ease Westhaven back into his chair.

“Get out of my house, you filthy wretch.
”
The earl shrugged off Shipley’s assistance
.
“I do not know what you did to my son to lure him into your disgusting ways
,
but I will not stand your presence under my roof
.
Get him out of here, Darien, or I will not be responsible for my actions.”

“Will there be another hunting accident, my lord?” Jacobson asked entirely too calmly
.
“Were you the one who pulled the trigger
,
or did you let Maddox do your dirty work?
”

Darien noticed the wild-eyed fury in his father’s eyes
.
And the grief
.

“You son of a whore
.
You disgusting sodomite
.
I did not pull the trigger on Philip
.
You did
.
You shamed him
.
Humiliated him
.
He’s the one who killed your brother, Darien
.
He’s the one you should have been looking to destroy all these years
.
Not me.
”
His father’s voice rose and his breathing grew heavy.

Darien glanced from Jacobson, who had tears in his eyes and a strange smirk on his face,
then looked back at
his father
.
Westhaven didn’t lie
.
He believed every word he spoke
. 

“He did everything you wanted, down to marrying a woman he could never love
.
He loved me and you disowned him for it
.
Told him he was dead to you and then you made it happen.
”
Jacobson swiped at the tears
.
H
is voice grew harsh with emotion.

His father’s eyes bulged
.
He opened his mouth to respond, and then stumbled backwards, falling into his chair
.
The doctor ran to his side
.
“We need to get him into bed
.
His feet should be elevated
.
Help me
.
Hurry.”

Jacobson watched the scene as if he were in shook
.
He blinked rapidly and swayed on his feet
.
Even so, Darien did not want to put down his musket
.
He didn’t trust Jacobson, and feared he might be lying
.
Perhaps he’d been Philip’s killer all along
.

Darien turned back to his father, who stared with unseeing eyes
.
The left side of his face drooped
.
Drool ran from his mouth which opened and closed in desperate gasps.

“Sit on the floor.
”
He aimed the weapon at Jacobson.

“I risked my life to help you find the truth.
”
Jacobson raised his hands and backed away, his eyes wide with horror
.
“I didn’t have to return to England
.
”

“I’m not going to shoot you
.
I’ll untie you after I help him get to bed.
”

Jacobson lowered himself to the floor, his knees bent in front of him
.
Darien took the cloth from his neck and tied Jacobson’s hands and feet together like a sheep ready for shearing
. 
Jacobson could
probably
break free, but not before Darien could safely retrieve his weapon
.
Darien tugged at the knots of his ruined
neckcloth
to ensure the bonds
were
tight
.
He sprinted into his father’s bedroom and laid the musket near the bed before he returned to help the doctor.

“He shouldn’t stand.
”
Dr. Shipley held a small brass listening horn to his father’s wrist
.
“We should summon a footman
.
His rhythm is entirely
too
fast.”

His father reached his free hand up to Darien and tried to speak
.
Finally, he shook his head, trying to express something to Darien he could not seem to say.

“Get him underneath his other arm.
”
Darien did not want to leave his father for long enough to find a servant
.
“We’ll get him in bed together
.
Just keep him steady, I’ll take most of the weight.
”
They
dragged
his father into the bedroom and laid him on the bed
.
Dr. Shipley immediately began to take off his father’s boots and loosen his
neckcloth
.
Darien turned to leave, uncomfortable seeing his father so weak
.
A desperate grip on his arm stopped him.

His father mumbled unintelligible words.

“I don’t know what you’re saying.”

“Calm down, my lord.” The doctor came around the bed and tried to loosen his grip
.
“I shall give you something to calm your nerves.
”

His father’s grip tightened
.
He raised his voice but his words became even more garbled
.
His mouth drooped at an impossible angle.

“Talk
.
To you,” his father finally shouted clearly enough for Darien to understand.

“Lord Blackmore will stay.
”
Shipley loosened his father’s grip and encouraged him to relax against the pillows
.
“Release him and he’ll wait in that chair until we have you settled.”

Darien caught the doctor’s desperate look.

“I’m just going to fetch that chair and sit it by your bed,” Darien said in the same coaxing voice he had used to encourage Melody to take her bottle
.
“Do as Dr. Shipley says
.
He’s trying to help you.”

His father held his gaze for a long time.

“I promise
.
I won’t go anywhere.
”
Darien grabbed a chair set against the wall and planted it firmly in front of his father’s bed.

His father drank the sherry glass full of Shipley’s elixir and his breathing immediately began to slow. Darien watched his father’s eyelids flutter shut, no doubt due to Shipley’s special blend of laudanum, as much as pure distress
. 

Darien sank into the deerskin-upholstered chair
.
The doctor had lit a candle by the bed and a couple of sconces on the wall
.
Dr. Shipley slipped pillows under his father’s feet, raising them well above his head
. 

“I don’t know if he’ll survive this episode.
”
The doctor patted his father’s face, damp with perspiration, tears and drool
.

“So he has been like this before?
”
Darien rubbed his forehead, unable to watch his formidable father be cared for like an infant
.
“What’s wrong with him?”

“His heart beat flutters uncontrollably with the least bit of upset
.
Your father knew of his condition and insisted on this foolishness with the wedding
.
The earl is a very ill man
.
If not for his strong constitution, he’d have been gone long before this time.”

Darien studied his father’s slack features
.
Westhaven had always seemed invincible
.
His father would not give up now
.
Especially if he believed Philip’s killer was trussed up in the other room.

“He’ll wake up.” Darien planned to be right by his side when he did.

Please don’t feign shock, my dearest little brother
.
I expected as much from our father
, but
not from you
.

The butler escorted Ivy up the Gothic staircase dominating the front hall
.
A monster of dark, intricately carved walnut wound up to the second floor in hard angles
.
Ivy managed to grip her skirt with the same hand she used to guide herself along the oversized railing
.
Servants interrupted them regularly, usually two at a time, and offered to take Melody from her.

Ivy would have been concerned that they’d been enlisted by
the earl
if they hadn’t seemed even more pleased when Ivy politely refused their assistance
.
After cooing over Melody, they commented on her resemblance to her father and her luck to have such a devoted mother
.
Once again, Ivy’s reputation preceded her no doubt thanks to Evelyn and her daughter.

Melody happily accepted the attention as her due
.
The idea filled Ivy with a mixture of pride and grief
.
How could she think for one moment she could deny Melody her birthright
?
The servants recognized her easily enough and so would the other Blackmores
.
But would they accept her into their family?

They reached the second floor landing and turned into a long hall
streaked with the multi-hued rays of the setting sun
.
Peach-and-caramel-colored tiles reflected the
burnished
light from floor-to-ceiling windows
.
The long gallery was lined with gold-handled doors, marble busts on wooden pedestals and large paintings Ivy could not yet see
.
A chandelier in the center of it all captured
the fading spectacle
then spilled it like fairy dust
.

Melody caught her breath in what sounded like baby awe and blinked
.
She squinted against the light, her red face showing her sudden displeasure
.
Ivy shielded Melody’s eyes with her palm before she ruined her angelic first impression
.
Melody’s initial frown flipped to a grin
.
She laughed and kicked her legs.

“The sun gallery is the estate’s newest edition
.
Our late mistress designed it to cheer her, but she never had the chance to see it completed
.
Lady Melody seems to find it to her satisfaction.”

Ivy turned to the unfamiliar voice to find the butler gazing down at Melody
.
He’d been completely silent and stone-faced while the other servants made their introductions
.
The corners of his lips twitched and Ivy suspected he smiled.