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Chapter Three
I must say, Lady Radnor, while Suzette has your father's dark hair, al three of you have your mother's features. She would be proud at how lovely you al turned out. "
"Thank you, Lady Olivett," Christiana said, a smile tugging her mouth wide and bringing on a smal ache that merely made her beam. The ache was because she'd smiled so much this evening, something she hadn't done much of this last year. She was enjoying the ache as a sign that things had changed for the better, and oh how they'd changed. She hadn't enjoyed herself so much since . . . wel , since she'd married. Christiana had spent the last hour since arriving at the Landon bal enjoying her newfound freedom and chattering away with the other married women. She was doing her duty and gaining gossip about Suzette's dance partners as expected, but that stil left plenty of time to just converse and laugh and enjoy herself.
It was lovely, and she vowed never to al ow herself to be so control ed and beaten down by anyone ever again. Truly, she could hardly believe she had al owed Dicky to do so in the first place and supposed it was only because no one had ever treated her like that before, and she had never been without the support and love of her family prior to that either. The combination had worked against her, leaving her feeling alone and frightened. But that was before, now she was a widow, had her sisters back, and intended to enjoy every minute of it.
"The music is coming to an end. Who is Suzette's next dance partner?" Lady Olivett asked curiously.
"Danvers, I think," Christiana answered, smiling at the woman. Lady Olivett had been a dear friend of her mother's while she lived and had immediately taken Christiana and her sisters under her wing when they arrived, which was very generous of her considering how shabbily Dicky had treated her, turning her away when she'd tried to visit Christiana and welcome her to London.
"Yes, I think you're right. There he is approaching her and Wil throp," Lady Olivett commented. As Christiana turned to glance toward her sister, the lady continued, "Danvers isn't a much better prospect than Wil throp, but at least he is young and good-looking. Stil , caution her not to get too interested in him. He is in financial difficulties and a bit of a bounder to boot. "
"I wil ," Christiana assured her, turning her gaze to search the other side of the dance floor where Lisa was ensconced amongst a giggling gaggle of single young ladies. Danvers was one of the names Lisa had been supposed to find information on. They had split the names on Suzette's dance card in half, Christiana and Lisa each taking every other one, in the hopes of making it less obvious they were seeking information on the men. Now, she was curious to see which prearranged signals Lisa would give Suzette. However, her gaze never found her youngest sister. Instead, it halted abruptly on a man just entering the bal room. After a year of marriage, she'd recognize the man anywhere. Dicky . . . alive and wel , and looking very, very angry.
"Lord Radnor! Your wife said you were ailing and wouldn't be able to come tonight, but you've made it after al . "
Richard Fairgrave, the Earl of Radnor, paused and turned, relaxing a little when he recognized his host, Lord Landon, approaching. But then the man's words sank in.
"My wife?" he asked, his gaze sliding in question to his best friend and the man who'd saved his life and brought him here, Daniel, the Earl of Woodrow. Daniel merely shrugged helplessly.
"Yes," Landon said cheerful y and glanced around. "She's here somewhere.
Lady Radnor and her sisters were among the first to arrive. There she is,"
he said with triumph, pointing toward a smal group of women gathered at the end of the bal room. Richard peered to where a petite blonde stood in a circle of several much older women. The older women were al chattering away while the woman who was apparently his wife listened, or didn't listen. He couldn't tel . Her eyes were locked on him with something like horror. He felt his eyebrows rise, but looked her over slowly, noting that she was overly thin, pale to the point of sickly, and not particularly pretty.
"As I say," Landon continued, turning back to face him, "she told us you had taken to your bed with a malaise and wouldn't be attending tonight. You look fine to me, though. Stil , she does appear to be surprised to see you. "
"I'm sure she is," Richard said quietly.
The jovial smile on the man's face faded briefly and he said in more solemn tones, "I'm glad to see you here. You've kept too much to yourself since your brother's death. It's good to see you rejoining society. You were missed. "
"Thank you," Richard murmured, oddly touched by the sentiment.
Nodding, Landon thumped him on the back in a manly manner, and then cleared his throat and glanced around. "Wel , I suppose I should see to the rest of my guests. Go assure your wife you're wel . She must have thought you at death's door to be so shocked now," Landon said with a laugh. "I fear you must have overplayed it a bit, boy. Next time you want to slip out to see your mistress, just give a sniffle or two and a cough. There's no need to act like you have the plague. " Laughing, Landon slapped him on the back again and then turned to disappear into the crowd.
"I had no idea," Daniel assured him solemnly. "I was on my estate and out of the way of society and its gossip until your letter arrived, and then I was busy making arrangements to sail to America to hunt for you. "
Richard nodded silently, not taking his eyes off the blonde across the bal room.
She hadn't moved but stil stood, face pale and eyes and mouth round with horror, staring at him as if he were the devil himself.
"What do we do now?" Daniel asked grimly. "You can't confront George for the greedy, murderous, bastard of an imposter he is if he isn't here. "
Richard frowned as he realized the truth to those words.
"Worse yet," Daniel continued. "You'l have completely lost the advantage of surprise once he hears you were here at the bal . He'l know you're alive and take measures to try to stop you from taking back everything he stole. He - Where are you going? Richard?"
Richard was now crossing the bal room to approach his "wife," detouring only to col ect a healthy glass of whiskey along the way. The depth of the woman's horror, and the fact that she couldn't seem to snap out of it, suggested to him that more was amiss here than even he knew about, and he wanted to know it al . Knowledge could be a deadly weapon in the right hands and Richard intended it to be in his.
"Why Christiana, I thought you said Dicky was sick," one of the older women tril ed as he reached the group.
"He looks hail and healthy to me," the woman beside her said firmly, eyeing him with suspicion. No doubt because Christiana, as the woman had cal ed her, was stil gaping at him like a fish out of water.
Richard took a moment to glance at the gaggle of women about them, his look enough to make every last one of them mutter about seeking out refreshments or friends and move away. Once left alone, Richard turned back to Christiana. Her eyes had grown wider as he approached. Unattractively so, he decided as he took in the way they almost bulged out of her head, and the woman appeared to have lost her powers of speech. She simply stood staring at him looking so pale he feared her fainting or simply dropping dead on the spot.
Frowning, he held out the glass of whiskey. "You look quite overset, my lady. This should help you regain some color. "
He expected her to take a mere sip of the potent liquid so was rather startled when she took the glass he offered and tossed it back as if it were water. It certainly did the trick, however, just more so than he'd hoped. Her pal or washed away under a sudden rush of red that was real y no more attractive than the pal or had been, and she gasped as if her breath had been taken with the pal or.
She then bent forward hacking and coughing in a most violent manner.
Grimacing, Richard took the now empty glass with one hand and patted her back with the other. "I suppose I should have warned you to sip it. "
Either the words or the sound of his voice brought her upright and she suddenly shrank back from his touch a
s if he were some unclean beast.
"You're alive," she gasped, and the whiskey's rasp in her voice did not hide her displeasure at the fact. It seemed obvious the woman knew of her husband's perfidy. Richard didn't know why but he'd assumed that she would have been innocent in al this. However, it appeared she was aware of the fact that George, his younger twin by several minutes, had hired men to kil him in a bid to steal his identity, title and wealth. She obviously was not pleased to learn it had failed. For some reason the knowledge that the woman had known about it disappointed him.
"You could at least try to hide your horror at knowing I yet live," Richard said coldly. "It wil hardly do your case much good to show so openly how little my survival pleases you. "
"I - no, I - you - " she struggled briefly, and then took a deep breath and said, "It is a bit of a surprise, my lord. We were sure you were dead when we left the house tonight. You were so stil and cold in the bed . . . "
Richard felt his eyebrows rise on his forehead as he realized that she couldn't be talking about him. He had been nowhere near this woman earlier tonight. It couldn't be he who had been stil and cold in a bed. Was George - ?
His thoughts died as a strangled gasp sounded to the side of them. Turning, he found himself staring at two younger versions of the woman who was supposed to be his wife; one blonde and one brunette. Both looked just as horrified to see him as
"his wife" was.
"But you're dead," the younger blonde breathed with a horror that could not be feigned. Turning to Christiana, she added with confusion, "Wasn't he dead, Chrissy? We packed ice around him and everything. "
"The ice must have revived his cold dead heart," the brunette said grimly, apparently recovering more quickly than the other two. Richard's eyebrows rose when she added grimly, "More's the pity. "
"Suzette!" Christiana gasped. Glancing nervously at him, she moved closer to her sisters and murmured, "Perhaps we should go out for some air. Lisa looks ready to faint and you, Suzie, obviously need some time to cool yourself. Perhaps so much dancing has overheated you. "
"Al ow me. "
Richard glanced to Daniel as he moved to step between his "wife's" sisters and take each by an arm. The man had obviously fol owed him and he was grateful for it.
It was now urgent that he speak to the woman who had thought she'd married the Earl of Radnor and find out whether his brother was dead or alive. Packed in ice?
Dear God.
"I shal see the ladies outside so the two of you might talk. " Daniel turned Suzette and Lisa firmly away despite the fact that it was obvious neither was particularly amenable to the idea. He then glanced over his shoulder to suggest meaningful y,
"You might consider somewhere more private for this discussion. "
Richard took a moment to note that while none of the other guests was presently near enough to hear properly, they were trying, and they were certainly watching.
Mouth tightening, he took his wife by the arm and began to lead her in the opposite direction to the one Daniel was leading her sisters. Christiana went no more wil ingly than her sisters had accompanied Daniel.
However, where her sisters had seemed reluctant to cause a public spectacle, "his wife" apparently didn't care. He'd barely dragged her half a dozen feet before she planted her feet firmly and yanked her arm from his hold in a way that anyone watching would have noticed. She also planted her hands firmly on her hips and glared at him in a way that almost dared him to try to force her from the room. Richard glanced briefly around, frowning when he saw that they weren't going without notice. Mouth tightening, he turned back to his "wife" and said firmly,
"We need to go somewhere more private to talk. "
"No. "
His eyebrows rose in surprise at the blunt refusal. "No? But - "
"I have had quite enough of your 'talk' during this last year of marriage, my lord,"
she said grimly. "And I have no intention of being the docile little wife I have been to now and fol ow you to some empty room so that you can berate and insult me. I also have no intention of leaving this, the very first ball I have ever attended. "
Richard tried his most charming smile, "I don't intend to insult or berate you, and this can hardly be your first bal . "
"You know it is," she said at once.
He shook his head, not believing her. "I'm sure you attended many during your season. You - "
"You know I had no season," she interrupted, confusion flashing briefly across her face. It was quickly replaced with anger. "I do not know what game you now play, Dicky, but I have no intention of leaving this room with you. "
Richard hesitated briefly, wondering why she hadn't had a season, and if that were the case how she had come to meet and marry his brother, but then decided that wasn't important at the moment. He needed to know if his brother yet lived or not, and since she wouldn't leave the room with him, he had to find another way to gain them some privacy. His gaze slid over the people mil ing about the bal room and then he became aware that the strains of a waltz were starting. Nodding to and then he became aware that the strains of a waltz were starting. Nodding to himself, he glanced back to his "wife. " "Then perhaps you would do me the honor of dancing with me?"
Her eyes narrowed. "You don't dance. That has always been one of your excuses for not attending the bal s during the season. You would not even dance at our wedding. "
Richard managed to keep from grimacing. He'd forgotten that George had always seemed to have two left feet. Their dance instructor had done his best when they were children, but George simply hadn't been able to manage any sort of grace on the dance floor and had final y refused lessons. Managing to hold on to his smile he said, "Yes, wel , I am wil ing to give it my best effort now. Wil you not dance with me?"
He held his hand out and she stared at it briefly as if it were a snake, but then sighed and placed hers in it with little enthusiasm and a muttered, "Very wel
. "
Afraid she might change her mind at any moment, Richard ushered her quickly onto the dance floor. He found it ironic that she was so obviously less than pleased to dance with him. As a wealthy and titled member of the peerage he had always enjoyed a certain success with women, but it appeared Christiana was less than enthral ed with him, and she was supposed to be his wife. It made him wonder what the devil his brother had done to the woman. Once in the center of the dance floor, Richard took her into his arms for the dance. She was stiff and awkward in his hold, her face turned away as if she couldn't even bear to look at him. Richard gave her a moment, hoping she would relax, but she continued to move like a wooden dol , her jaw tense and eyes darting about as if in search of escape. He final y decided just to get it over with and asked,
"So am I to understand you thought your husband dead?"
He didn't realize how he'd framed the question until the words were out, but Christiana didn't seem to notice his saying "your husband" rather than referring to himself in the first person. Her head whipped around, her wide eyes meeting his with dismay, but then she seemed to forcibly calm herself and merely turned her face away again, muttering, "You did seem to be. "
"And your response to that death was to attend a bal ?" he asked careful y.
He saw the flush of shame that rose up her neck, but when she turned her face back to him it was mitigated by anger and she scowled. "Wel , what was I supposed to do, Dicky? We couldn't risk having to go into mourning. Suzie has to find a husband, and it's your fault she does. You are the one who took Father to that gaming hel . Now he's apparently gambled his way to the edge of ruin again and Suzie has to find a husband and claim her dower to pay off his debts and avoid scandal. " Hurt bewilderment covered her face and she asked, "How could you take him to one of those places when you knew what happened the last time?"
Richard had no answer for her. He had no idea why George would have done such a thing. His instinct would be to say greed had led to it because
that seemed to ever be George's motivation. However, Richard couldn't see how ruining Christiana's father and family would increase his own riches. He also had no idea what had happened to Christiana's father "the last time" but it obviously wasn't good. Sighing, he said the only thing he could and offered a quiet, "I apologize. It was not wel done to take your father somewhere like that given his history. "
Christiana was so startled by her husband's words and the apparent sincerity behind them that she stumbled in her step and fel against him. Dicky immediately caught her against his chest to keep her upright.
"Are you al right?" he asked, holding her close and tilting his head to try to see her face. Christiana nodded and took a deep breath to steady herself, but it helped little.
With everything that had occurred that day, she hadn't eaten since breakfast and was now feeling the effects of the drink she'd so precipitously downed. Her thoughts were slowing and growing a bit muddy even as the tension eased from her body. It left her more relaxed, which she didn't necessarily think was a good thing at the moment. Especial y when they were dancing so close now that she was inhaling his scent, and finding it surprisingly heady, a spicy male aroma that made her want to inhale again. She had never noticed him smel ing this lovely before, but then was rarely as close to him as this.
"Christiana?"
She reluctantly lifted her eyes, confusion and vulnerability swirling inside her.
"You're quite lovely when you aren't frowning," he said suddenly as if surprised at the revelation. Christiana felt her lips part slightly with surprise. This was the very first compliment she'd heard from the man in the year since their wedding. It was so rare and so unexpected, it quite took her breath away. Or perhaps that was the whiskey, she thought. For surely it was the whiskey that made her forget how horrid the man was and notice only how handsome he looked in his formal garb. Of course, she had always known Dicky was a handsome man, at least on the surface. His features were strong and sharp, but suited his face perfectly, and he had short, dark hair that looked so silky it made a girl want to run her fingers through it. She had always found him incredibly attractive physical y. However, at the moment he was eyeing her with a concern she had never seen before and it seemed to increase his attractiveness tenfold, making him darned near irresistible.
"If you continue to look at me like that I may be tempted to kiss you," he said in a husky voice. Christiana's eyes widened slightly and for a moment she almost wished he would, but then she recal ed this was her husband and abruptly turned her head away with a little, "Oh dear. "
"What is it?" Dicky asked with a smal frown.
