Secret Pleasures (46 page)

She kissed Melody on the cheek and handed her to Darien.

“Please, don’t go
.
”
H
is voice was hoarse with emotion and almost impossible to resist.

“Please don’t ask me again.
”
She touched his cheek, but quickly tore her gaze away from the sight of Melody tucked so comfortably in his arms.

“My father has requested to see Melody
.
Perhaps you should come along and spit in his eye one last time
.
Or at least say good-bye to Robert.”

So he lived
.
Poor Robert
.
This turn of events would not be any
more welcome to him than it was to her
.
Not to mention that he fought for his life while they argued about their future
.

“Yes, I must see Robert before I leave.”

Ivy took Melody from Darien, unable to resist the pleasurable agony
.
Darien’s father might think he trumped the deck with secrets but she had one of her own yet up her sleeve
.
It could not save the living but it might just vindicate the dead.

No doubt Father has already concocted the story of my demise and now must face his horror
at
having you as his heir
.

D
eath’s sour stench forced Ivy to hover near the closed door while Darien approached his father’s shadowed bed
.
Perhaps her tiny revenge consisted more of wistful thoughts than a brilliant plan
.
Melody fussed in her arms but did not cry out
.
Darien motioned her over and Ivy had no choice but to follow or appear a total coward
.
One thing she would not do in front of Lord Westhaven was to appear
defeated
.

“Where’s the doctor?” Darien asked the withered servant who slumped in a deer-skin chair beside the earl’s bed.

“Our little Bobby woke up.
”
The white capped woman struggled to her feet, standing not much taller than her sitting position
.
“Your father sent Dr. Shipley to attend him.”

“Thank God.
”
Darien’s relieved sigh was cut short when he covered his face with his hands
.
“He’s going to hate me.”

Ivy juggled Melody who decided to kick free of her blanket
.
“Perhaps we should go to him and then come back.”

She glanced at the bed
.
The earl’s shrunken face peeked from beneath a crisp white stocking cap, his skin gray in comparison
.
He lay so still that if he didn’t struggle for breath in painful sounding wheezes, Ivy might think him already dead.

“Oh, dear me
.
Is that our new little Blackmore
?
Miss Melody, is it?
”
The old woman hobbled over to Ivy and strained to glimpse Melody
.
Ivy leaned forward so the servant could examine Melody through milk-clouded eyes
.

“I’ve held every Blackmore for the last two generations starting with the earl’s eldest brother, John
.
Lovely lad
.
Strong bite, that one
.
I was a wet nurse then.”

“Melody seems to only digest
sheep’s
milk.
”
Ivy tried to pull away from the boney hand that clutched her arm for support
.
Not to be unkind but for fear the woman would loosen Ivy’s grip on Melody.

Darien came to her rescue. “Ivy, this is Agatha.
”
He gently squeezed her shoulders, gaining Agatha’s full attention
.
“She’s been with the family for years
.
Aggie, come sit by the window so you can see Melody better
.
I think she looks like me.”

Agatha laughed and let Darien direct her to the window
.
How could this
ancient
woman still be working as a servant?

“I’ve been cleaning the nursery, Master Darien
.
Scrubbing it good
.
Airing out all the cribs
.
Hope we be filling them up now, lad
.
Making old Aggie wait thirty-five years to hold another baby Blackmore
.
Shame, that is.”

Darien took Melody from Ivy’s arms and to her credit, she did not flinch, only resisting for a mere moment
. 
He eased Melody into Agatha’s trembling arms
.
Agatha’s face lit with the undisguised joy of a child
.
She rocked Melody gently and hummed a familiar country tune.

Melody reached for Agatha’s hooked nose
.
Darien gazed down at the sight with a strange light on his face, an expression she had never seen before
.
Ivy closed her eyes, her stomach roiling in agony, and strode to the old man’s bedside
.

“He looks a little better.
”
Darien slipped silently behind her
.
“His color is coming back
a little
.”

Ivy chose to say nothing.

Darien sighed heavily
.
He stood so near but did not touch her, where normally he would have slipped his arms around her and pulled her to him
.
Of course Ivy could easily attribute the slight to the fact that they stood beside his father’s deathbed
.
But Ivy knew from experience that there would be many more times when she would feel the ghost of Darien behind her and long desperately for his touch.

“I must see Robert and try to explain. Or at least beg for his forgiveness and understanding
.
He needs to know that I don’t plan to come between
him
and Arianna.”

Robert Fitzgerald had more
strength of character
than Ivy would ever have
.
He would have nothing to do with such a sordid scheme
.
Darien would not only be losing her but the companionship of his nephew and closest confidant
.
Arianna, of course, would be heartbroken
.
Hopefully she and Darien would find solace with each other
.
In time, they might somehow create a real marriage for the sake of Melody and their own salvation
.
Ivy became lightheaded at the misery that thought caused.

“I’ll return as soon as I can
.
Will you be all right?” Darien said quietly near her ear
.
He was standing entirely too close intentionally.

“No
,
” Ivy whispered harshly.

“Then come with me.
”
He glanced at Agatha, who continued to coo over Melody
.
“Facing Robert shall be a nightmare
.
And what if that girl is with him
.
I don’t know how she’s going to take facing me at the altar.”

“Her name is Arianna
.
You must stop calling your future wife
that girl
.
I’ll just fetch Melody.”

“No
.
God, no.
”
He grabbed Ivy’s arm then dropped it as if the contact pained him
.
“Please
.
I won’t have her exposed to that
—
Arianna Maddox and her wretched father
—
until I’m sure of their reaction
.
No one will ever make Melody feel unwanted
.
She’ll be fine with Aggie
.
She is more a part of this family than I am.”

Ivy strode to Agatha to ensure Melody’s comfort for herself
.
Melody had dozed off but still gripped Agatha’s withered finger.

“She’s a strong, gal, she is
.
This wee one will keep her troublesome pa in line
.
You did a very fine job, madam
.
Very fine.”

Ivy touched the tip of Melody’s head
.
Her fuzzy blond hair had been coming in honey brown
.
She had indeed gained her strength under Ivy’s careful ministrations
.
Her cheeks glowed with health
,
even gaining a roll or two on her delicate little limbs
. 

“Thank you, Agatha
.
It gives me great peace to know she will be so well loved here.”

“Are you coming?” called Darien from the door.

The idea of leaving Melody a moment before she had to caused Ivy’s breath to leave her like a physical blow
.
She shook her head, pressing her lips together to keep them from trembling
.
If she had to answer Darien, her voice would surely break.

“Very well, but please don’t leave this room until I return.”

She nodded.

“Promise me you won’t leave without saying goodbye.”

She nodded dumbly again.

“Say it,” he said huskily
.

“I promise I won’t leave without saying goodbye.”

The door shut and Agatha kept on singing as if she hadn’t heard the pathetic exchange.

Ivy took a deep breath to calm her shattered nerves
.

“I thought he’d never leave
.
Bloody love-sick swain
.
Bring that child over to me
.
I want to see who her father really is.
”
The hardened gravely voice was weak but his authoritarian tone had not quelled in the least
.
At least not with Ivy
. 

Calming breaths were obviously a waste of time
.
The beast had awakened from the dead
.
Ivy wouldn’t be surprised if he were not on his deathbed at all but using this all as a ploy to control Darien
.
She plucked Melody from Agatha before she could struggle to her feet.

Finally confronting the earl with something beyond his control had been the redemption Ivy had been waiting for
.
The chance that Diana had been waiting for
.
Ivy wagered the old man would immediately recognize Melody’s father’s eyes
.
But would he be able to guess her mother’s identity with a few brutally placed hints from Ivy?

She reached the earl’s bedside and stared him straight in the eye
.
Though he lay flat on his back, he glared back using his will alone to try and intimidate her
.
He shifted, but it was clear he remained too
ill
to sit on his own
.
Agatha appeared suddenly to help Westhaven, arranging his pillows to lift him to a semi-seated position.

“She’s a beauty, my lord
.
If only our Lady Westhaven had been here to see such a glorious sight
.
She might have lived forever then, eh?”

The earl grunted and held out thin hands to Melody
.
Ivy knew rationally that he was a grieving father, not the actual devil, or an evil troll
.
Even so, she found herself unable to hand over her daughter to the man who had so cruelly destroyed her life over and over again.

“Why your lordship, you never
held
your own littl’uns
.
”
Agatha
laughed with sheer delight.

“Agatha would you be so good as to open the windows
.
I so want his lordship to appreciate the shape of his granddaughter’s eyes
.
I’ll assist him in holding his grandchild.
”
His lordship glared at Ivy and she glared back
.

“Yes, mum
.
Certainly, mum.
”
Agatha shuffled off, apparently thrilled to be given a direct order
.
She fetched a cane from somewhere and thumped across the floor.

Ivy eased onto the bed, noticing how the earl tensed as her weight hit the mattress
.
A bit of color retuned to Westhaven’s cheeks while Ivy treated him like a complete invalid
.
She laid Melody against his night-shirted chest and wrapped his awkward arms around Melody.