To Have and to Hold (27 page)

“I told him to
tell everyone who came looking for me that I was dead.
 
I think he took me at my word and told
everyone, including you.
 
Hubert isn’t
the type of man who would deliberately lie to anyone unnecessarily.
 
Something may have made him more cautious
than usual.”

“Rupert.”
 
Dominic’s voice turned wintry.

“Hubert was my
father’s best friend.
 
He and his family
visited us often.
 
Upon his death bed, he
promised my father that should either Peter or I need anything he would give us
every assistance should we need to contact him.”
 
Isobel rose to her feet.
 
“I found myself near to his house having
taken another wrong turn somewhere, I don’t know where.
 
I knew I was taking a risk that he could just
hand me over to Rupert but had to take the chance he wouldn’t and would honour
his promises.
 
Between us, we concocted
the plan.
 
If Rupert thought I was dead
he would give up his chase, and I would be free enough to wend my own way for
the few weeks, until I became five and twenty.”

“When you would
be old enough not to need a chaperone,” Dominic added with a nod of
understanding.
 

“When I was old
enough to come into the money, and property I inherit in my own right from my
Grandmother, and become old enough not to need a guardian.”
 
Isobel corrected, thinking of Grampton House,
and the large fortune left to her from her mother’s side of the family.
 

“All he had to
do was buy you time.”
 
Dominic murmured
somewhat mollified but not completely forgiving of the man’s duplicity.
 
It would take some time before he could bring
himself to forgive, much less forget one of the darkest moments of his life.

Isobel could
sense Dominic’s darkening mood.
 
“I am
tired, I think I shall retire for a lie down.”
 
She squeaked when she was suddenly swept upwards and held tight against
Dominic’s chest.

Several moments
later the door to the master suite closed quietly behind them.
 
Isobel was about to step away from him only
to find her hand clasped within his warm one preventing her from moving deeper
into the room.
 
Raising a querying brow,
her stomach suddenly tightened as she studied his stern countenance.
 

All traces of
softness had gone from his face.
 
A
muscle ticked in his jaw as he studied her lips, his face so close to hers, she
could feel the soft brush of his breath upon her cheek.
 

“Isobel,”
Dominic murmured as he stared into her eyes intently searching for any signs of
disquiet.
 
Pleased when he saw nothing
but mild curiosity in her clear blue eyes, Dominic licked his lips slowly
knowing full well he was well and truly sunk.
 
He was as charmed by her countenance as the entirety of his house staff
appeared to be.
 

Isobel’s stomach
tightened as she stared into his intent gaze.
 
Slowly, his head lowered until she felt the soft brush of his lips
against hers.

Isobel awoke the
next morning feeling incredibly warm and secure.
 
During the long months alone she had never
considered for a moment that she would ever experience such tenderness as her
husband had shown her the night before.
 
Even before they had made love, she adored him.
 
Now?
 
She would gladly give her soul to spend the remainder of her days lying
in his arms.

Heaving a deep
sigh of contentment, she stretched a little and wiggled her toes against the
cool sheets, stopping suddenly as her toes made contact with a well muscled,
hairy leg.

“That tickles,” Dominic
murmured from above her head.

Isobel smiled
softly up at him, delighted at his gentle smile was quickly followed by a slow
kiss.
 

“How do you feel
this morning?”
 
Dominic murmured his
voice husky with sleep.

“A little sore
but wonderfully alive,” Isobel replied, pushing herself onto her elbow to lean
over her husband.
 
Their activities
during the previous evening had erased any embarrassment she might previously
have felt had her husband seen her nakedness.
 

Isobel blushed
as she remembered the tantalising sensations from the night before.
 
“I suppose I could behave,” Isobel pursed her
lips thoughtfully before she smiled slowly at the man beside her, delighted at
his rapt attention was fixed upon the tip of her tongue as it slowly moistened
her lips.
 
“But then, I might get bored,
and then who knows where we would be?”

“Damn it Isobel,
you are in no condition....”
 
Dominic’s
chiding merged into a long, soulful groan as his head was firmly tugged
downwards, and his very demanding wife deepened the kiss until his body
hardened in response.
  
“Wanton”, he
murmured with a chuckle as he
parted her thighs and took his place
between them, his manhood probing and seeking entrance to her feminine
warmth.
 

Several minutes
passed as the lovers merged into one.
 
The silence within the room only broken by the soft sighs and gentle
moans of delight as passions were once again quenched and bodies sated.
 

Once more they
lay softly replete in one another’s arms, their limbs entwined, Dominic gently
twirling the tendrils of her hair between his fingers thoughtfully.

“I need to
inform Peter of your friend’s activities.”
 
He murmured softly.
 
“The sooner
we speak to him the better.”
 

“I should like
to try to go for a walk today.”
 
Isobel murmured,
eyeing the snowy vista outside with longing.

“Don’t get
cold.”
 
He fought hard not to forbid her
from leaving the house.
 
So far, she had
been relatively submissive in agreeing to his dictates.
 
He couldn’t hold her prisoner in the
house.
 
She needed to build her
strength.
 
“You have only been up and
about for a short time.
 
Please don’t
push yourself.”
 
He pressed a gentle kiss
upon her lips.
 
“You had a very busy
night last night after all.”
 

“
Mnnnn
.”
 
Isobel shot him a cheeky smile.
 
“I will only wander around the gardens outside.
 
No further.”
 
Herself she didn’t want to take any unnecessary risks.

“Good
enough.
 
Now behave yourself wench I need
to leave the bed!”
 
He slapped her rump
as he lurched out of bed laughing as he dodged the flying pillow that followed
him.
 
Despite the stresses of the
situation with Rupert, life as a married man was turning out rather well.

CHAPTER TEN

Isobel couldn’t
shake off the feeling that something was wrong, very wrong.
 
As she thoughtfully followed the gravelled
trail through the shrubbery, she slowly became aware that something was not
right.
 
There were no birds singing in
the trees.
 
Everything around her seemed
to be frozen in time.
 

Hairs rose on
the back of her neck as she slowly began to scan the area around her.
 
In the near distance, she could see Edwards
talking to the head gardener.
 
She was
perfectly safe.
 
Tension began to tighten
her shoulders.
 
Instinctively, her hands
balled into tight fists.
 
She paused
briefly ostensibly to look at something in the hedge row.
 
In reality, she took the opportunity to take
a careful look behind her.
 

Heart thumping
she shook her head briefly at her own skittishness.
 
Still, having spent two months living by her
wits, she had learnt enough about her instincts to know that when her nerves
were as fraught as they were, there was something seriously wrong.
 
Carefully, she eyed the break in the trees
only a few feet ahead leading onto the gardens of Tavistock Hall, the place she
now called home.

She had taken no
more than three steps when she froze in horror at the horrible sneer directly
behind her.

“Well, well if
it isn’t my elusive princess.”
  

Isobel turned
slowly on her heel, careful to keep any signs of fear from her face as she eyed
the rotund man now standing behind her.
 
He had been hiding in the shelter of the conifers waiting for the time
to appear. From where he was standing he couldn’t be seen by either man
standing at the edge of the path, or anyone looking out of the windows of the
house.
 

“What do you
want Rupert?”
 
Isobel drew her shoulders
back haughtily, something she knew Rupert hated. Inside she was a quivering
wreck but was determined not to show it to the horrid little man before her.

“I think you
already know the answer to that one, don’t you my dear?”
 
Rupert murmured silkily as he eyed her curves
assessingly, “You have a fiancé waiting to make your acquaintance.”
 
His voice was menacing as he eyed her evilly,
his eyes cold and merciless.

“As
if!”
 
Isobel
murmured with a snort. “Marry him yourself if you like him that much for I
certainly never shall.”
 
It took every
ounce of her courage to return his contemptuous glare, allowing her own gaze to
wander dismissively over his rotund little frame.
 
Her senses screamed at her to run for her life,
but she knew that she couldn’t afford to allow Rupert to understand how deeply
disturbed she was by his appearance.

“If you think
you can escape me girl, you are sadly mistaken.
 
But then,” Rupert’s voice dropped to a menacing growl.
 
“You never were all that clever.
 
I am sure DeLisle will take great pleasure in
ensuring you remember your station in life.”

God how she
hated him!
 
She tried not to flinch as a
large burly man had come out of his hiding place within the trees behind
Rupert.
 
Not within reach to carry her
off certainly, but close enough to pose a threat.
 

“My
s
tation
in life?”
 
Isobel sneered, her voice laced with hatred
she didn’t bother to try to mask.
 
“You
want to remind
me
of my station in
life.
 
That’s a laugh if ever I heard
one!” She shook her head in mock wonder at the older man’s arrogance.
 
“
You
are the one who needs reminding of his station in life you arrogant oaf.
 
You
are the one who seems to forget you are knee-deep in debt, no doubt with half
of London after your worthless hide.
 
You
need to be reminded of your station in life make no mistake.”
 
Isobel glared at the stocky man to Rupert’s
left with nothing less than scorn.
 
“If
you think you can scare me into submission, your arrogance is as astounding as
your own obvious lack of intelligence.”
 
She watched as the little man began to tremble with rage and felt
stronger than she ever had as she faced him squarely.