Reese's Bride (21 page)

“I don’t think he was poisoned.”

“I don’t think so, either.” But there was no way to be certain. And in truth, it no longer mattered.

During the long, frightening hours of the night, Eliz
abeth’s terror had forced her to make a decision. Nothing was more important that her little boy’s safety.

Not money, not power, not an exalted position in society.

The earldom simply wasn’t worth Jared’s life.

She looked up at Reese. “Thank you for helping.”

“I wasn’t much help, I’m afraid, but I’m glad he is so much better.” Leaning down, he gently touched the little boy’s cheek.

There were smudges beneath Reese’s eyes and a shadow of beard darkened the line of his jaw. As he left the room, his expression was hard and Elizabeth was sure he was thinking of Mason Holloway and the threat he continued to pose.

Her own thoughts ran much the same. Crossing the room, she tugged on the bellpull, summoning Gilda to run an errand for her.

The gangly blond girl appeared a few minutes later and dropped into a curtsey. “Ye rang, milady?”

“I need you to bring my portable writing desk up here, Gilda. I’ve a letter I wish to post.”

“Aye, ma’am.” She flicked a glance toward the bed. “Your son…I hope he’s feelin’ better.”

“I think he is. We’ll know more once he awakens.”

“He is such a sweet little boy. Always nice to everyone. Ye can be proud of him, milady.”

Elizabeth’s throat closed up. “I am, Gilda. I’m very proud of him.”

The girl left the room and returned a few minutes later with the articles Elizabeth needed. Setting the small oak desk on her lap, she placed a sheet of paper on the top, dipped the plumed pen in the inkwell and began to scribe her letter.

Elizabeth sealed the note with a drop of wax. After checking on Jared and summoning Mrs. Garvey to sit with him until her return, she headed downstairs.

“Mr. Longacre, will you please see this letter reaches London—number three St. George Street.” She knew Mason and Frances were in London, which meant they would be staying in the Aldridge town house, as Edmund had given them the right to do. “I would like it to get there as soon as possible.”

“Very well, my lady.” The butler took the note and went to retrieve a footman to see it delivered.

Tomorrow Reese had an early morning meeting in the city. It was certain to take him most of the day. Elizabeth planned to travel to the tavern with Mr. Montague, then instruct him to wait outside.

She had something to offer Mason.

Something he wanted above all things.

She thought that perhaps Reese would approve her idea, but she couldn’t take the chance. She needed to act now, before the adoption was final, while she, as his mother and the Countess of Aldridge, was still Jared’s legal guardian.

She would do whatever she had to in order to protect her son.

R
eese stared out the window of his carriage, watching at the passing landscape, a cottage here and a tavern there scattered along the road.

He was returning from his meeting with his solicitor, Edward Pinkard, signing a few more papers pertaining to the adoption, assuring the man that he and Elizabeth would be in London for the hearing.

After Jared’s illness and the terrible fear he had managed to keep hidden, Reese had realized adopting the boy was no longer a matter of helping to protect Jared from the Holloways. It was simply a matter of providing the child with a loving home and a father who cared for him, something the boy deserved and had never gotten from Aldridge.

Grudgingly, Reese admitted the little boy had managed to find a way into his well-guarded heart. He loved the child as if he were truly his own and he would protect the boy with his last ounce of breath.

The wheel jolted into a pothole, jarring Reese from his
thoughts. He glanced out the window and recognized a portion of the landscape marking the halfway point on his journey home. The Horn and Hoof Tavern loomed ahead.

Reese frowned as the coach drew near and he spotted a familiar carriage out in front bearing the gilded crest that marked it as belonging to the Countess of Aldridge. Worry lanced through him. What in God’s name was Elizabeth doing here?

Reese rapped on the ceiling with the silver head of his cane. “Pull over, driver.”

Harness jangled as his coach rolled to a stop behind Elizabeth’s, and Reese stepped down from inside. As he climbed the stairs to the porch, he caught sight of the security guard, Jack Montague, standing beside the front door.

“Montague! What are you doing here? What in blazes is going on?”

“You needn’t worry, sir. I checked the place thoroughly before the countess went inside. All is well.”

“What the devil is she doing here?”

“She didn’t say, sir. Just that she needed half an hour at the tavern and she wanted me to come along as protection.”

Reese’s worry only heightened. Turning away from the guard, he walked into the tavern but saw no sign of Elizabeth and headed for the private room in the rear that he and Royal had used for their meeting. The door was closed, but he could hear voices coming from inside, a male and a female. He recognized Elizabeth’s voice and his stomach knotted. She was secretly meeting a man.

Fury tightened the muscles across his shoulders. Elizabeth had betrayed him once before. By God, he wouldn’t allow her to do it again!

It took iron control to clamp down on his anger. He needed to be certain of what was happening in the room before he lost his temper. Quietly turning the knob, he eased the door open a crack. He could hear the conversation clearly and then he got a glimpse of Mason Holloway.

“I am offering you everything you have ever wanted,” Elizabeth said. “In return, I want you to leave Jared alone.”

Relief hit him so hard a tremor went through him. She wasn’t cheating on him with another man. She was trying to protect her son.

In the wake of relief, anger rose again. Why the hell hadn’t she come to him, told him what she planned? How could she be so foolish as to put herself in danger?

Reese forced himself to stay where he was and listen to the conversation. He needed to know the whole of it before he intervened.

Mason looked stunned. “Are you telling me you will sign the papers forfeiting Jared’s claim to the Aldridge title?”

Elizabeth pressed forward. “That is exactly what I am saying.” Seeing Mason again reminded her how ruthless he could be and assured her she was doing the right thing. “The lands and money that come with the earldom will also be yours, of course. Jared will not suffer. My father left me extremely well off. And my husband has money of his own.”

“Money, perhaps, but not the massive wealth that belongs to your son. Are you certain Dewar will agree?”

“He doesn’t have to agree. Until the adoption is final, I am Jared’s guardian. I have the power to abdicate the title in his name. I only wish I had thought of it sooner.”

Beneath his thick mustache, the edge of Mason’s mouth lifted smugly. “Come now, you wanted the boy to be an earl. You wanted him to have the power and wealth that goes with the Aldridge title. Deep down, you are no different than I am.”

Her stomach rolled. She was nothing at all like Mason. “I am entirely different from you. I would never contemplate murder, no matter how great the financial reward.”

Mason flicked an imaginary piece of lint from the lapel of his coat. He looked up at Elizabeth. “So then, we are agreed. You will take the legal steps necessary to see the abdication made legal and there will no longer be any need to worry about the safety of your son.”

Her lips thinned. “Then you admit you planned to kill him.”

“Don’t be ridiculous.” One of his eyebrows arched up. “On the other hand, if some unfortunate accident happened to claim the child’s life, leaving me in line for the earldom…”

“You are a monster.”

Holloway just laughed. “Actually, what you’re doing is only setting matters aright. We both know the boy isn’t my brother’s son.”

Her chest squeezed and she struggled to keep her voice steady. “What…what are you talking about?”

“You seem surprised I know. Edmund and I were extremely close. He was sick as a child. My brother was infertile. He told me Jared wasn’t his son but he never said who had actually fathered the boy. Whose by-blow is he, by the way?”

Elizabeth was afraid her legs would give way and she would collapse right there on the floor. “That…that is
none of your concern. Legally Jared is the earl.” She stiffened her spine. “As I said, I am offering you everything you’ve ever wanted.”

Mason smiled wolfishly. “You have two weeks. Take the necessary steps and all will be well.”

“I am not at all certain I can get the legalities taken care of that fast.”

“Oh, I imagine you can.” Holloway dragged his overcoat off the back of a chair. As he swung it round his thick shoulders, the door leading in from the tavern burst open.

Elizabeth was stunned to see Reese standing in the doorway. She had never seen anything so terrifying as the look on his face.

“Get out,” he said to Mason, his voice low and dark, his iron control making him appear all the more dangerous. “Get out before I kill you right here.”

Holloway cast a last glance at Elizabeth, his message clear. Jared’s life was in her hands.

Wordlessly, he strode to the back door, pulled it open, and disappeared out of the tavern. Elizabeth returned her attention to Reese, knowing he would be angry with her for meeting Mason, but his expression was far worse than that.

“Aldridge was infertile,” he said. “Jared wasn’t his son.”

Fear slammed through her. He had been listening! He knew the truth about Jared! God in heaven, why hadn’t she told him? Why had she waited so long?

His fierce blue eyes burned into her. “What is the man’s name?” he pressed, his jaw so tight he could barely force out the words. “Who is Jared’s father?”

But she could tell by the look on his face that he knew. That he had known the moment the words slipped from Mason’s mouth. Tears stung her eyes as he moved toward her, reached out and gripped her shoulders so hard she winced. “Who is he?”

She looked into his beloved face and the tears in her eyes rolled down her cheeks. “You’re his father. Jared is your son.”

A muscle bunched in his lean cheek. He released her so abruptly, she almost fell.

“You were carrying my son when you married Edmund Holloway? You were carrying my child and you didn’t tell me?”

The lump in her throat was so thick she couldn’t swallow. She moistened her lips, which felt cotton dry. “My father forbid me to tell you. He wanted me…to marry Aldridge.”

“What kind of woman denies a man his son?”

She shook her head and more tears fell. “You were leaving…going off to war. I was pregnant and unmarried and I was…I was afraid.” She pushed the words past the tightness in her throat. “I didn’t want to bear a child alone.”

His hands unconsciously fisted. “The baby was mine! The child you carried was mine!”

He was barely hanging on to his temper. His face was distorted with rage and for the first time she was afraid. Images of Edmund arose. She could almost feel his fists slamming into her face.

“I—I should have been stronger,” she said. “I should have done what was right. But my father…my father convinced me.”

He moved closer, towered above her. Elizabeth flinched and backed away.

Reese took a deep, calming breath. “I’m not like Aldridge, Elizabeth. I’ve never hit a woman and I never will. No matter what she might have done.”

A sob welled, escaped from her throat. “I’m so sorry, Reese. I’ve been sorry every day since the day I married Edmund.”

Reese’s jaw hardened even more. “Were you ever going to tell me?”

She bit down on her trembling lips. “I wanted to. I planned to tell you before the adoption went through. I should…should have done it sooner. I meant to, but I…I couldn’t find the courage.”
And I didn’t want to lose you. I love you, Reese
.

“Does anyone else know the truth?”

“Your aunt Agatha. She saw Jared and she knew.”

His eyes briefly closed. “I should have seen it myself. I should have figured it out.” He shook his head. “I missed all those years with my son. All those years.”

“You were in the army. That was the life you wanted.”

“He was my son!”

Her eyes brimmed. “I know.”

He walked over to the door and she thought that he would leave. But he waited, held the door as she donned her woolen cloak and passed by him, her head bent as she walked toward the front of the tavern.

Jack Montague stepped away from the wall as she made her way out onto the porch. Elizabeth kept walking. She climbed into her carriage and Reese closed the door behind her.

“I was more of a fool than I thought,” he said from outside the carriage window. “I don’t know how I could actually have believed you loved me.”

Elizabeth’s heart twisted.

“I’ll never forgive you, Elizabeth.”

The coach jolted into motion and a sob of anguish caught in her throat. As a girl, she had loved him. She simply hadn’t loved him enough.

Dear God, how that had changed.

Reese followed the butler down the hall to the study in Royal’s town house. His chest felt as if a stone rode on top. He should be home but he simply wasn’t ready to face the boy he now knew was his son.

Instead, when he stepped into Royal’s favorite book-lined chamber, he saw his fair-haired brother seated behind his desk, and across from him, his dark-haired younger brother, Rule.

Royal’s eyes widened as he spotted Reese and he shot to his feet. “My God, what’s happened?”

Rule stood up, too, both of them clearly worried at the grim look on his face.

“It’s not the boy?” Rule asked worriedly. “Nothing’s happened to Jared?”

Reese shook his head. He walked over to the sideboard and lifted the stopped off a decanter of brandy. “Jared’s all right. He was sick for a couple of days. We were both terrified that Holloway had somehow managed to infiltrate our defenses, but that doesn’t appear to be the case.”

“And he is recovered?” Rule asked.

Reese took a large swallow of brandy, felt the burn of the amber liquid as it trickled into his stomach. “Jared is fine.”

“Well, clearly you are not,” Royal said. “I want to know what’s wrong.”

Ever the demanding duke, Reese thought, and another time might have smiled. He raked a hand through his hair. “Jared is my son.”

Royal frowned. “I thought the proceedings were still a few weeks away.”

Reese just looked at him. “I’m his father, not Edmund Holloway.”

“Good God.” Royal sank back down in his chair.

“He looks like you,” Rule said, also sitting back down. Reese tossed his brother a single dark glance. Everyone seemed to see the resemblance but him.

“Before I left for the army, there was a night…Elizabeth and I…well, suffice it to say, Jared was the result of what happened that night.”

For several long seconds, silence descended on the study.

“Elizabeth never told you,” Royal said darkly.

“No.”

“So how did you find out?” Rule asked.

Reese took another swallow of brandy. “A little past noon on my way back to the house, I happened upon her carriage. It was parked in front of the Horn and Hoof. As it turned out, she was there to meet Mason Holloway, though of course I didn’t know it until I found them together in the back room. I overheard most of the conversation. She told Holloway she would see that Jared forfeited his rights to the earldom if he would guarantee the boy’s safety.”

“And…?” Royal pressed.

“And Holloway said it was only fair. He said he deserved the earldom since Jared wasn’t Edmund’s son.”

Rule hissed in a breath.

“And Elizabeth admitted the truth?” Royal pressed.

Reese just nodded. He took another gulp of his drink. He figured if he managed to get at least half drunk then Elizabeth’s second, even larger, betrayal wouldn’t hurt so badly.

“Why didn’t she tell you? The two of you expected to wed. If the child came a few weeks early, it wouldn’t have mattered.”

“She said her father pushed her to marry Aldridge. The truth is she wanted to marry him.”

“She said that?” Rule asked.

“Not in so many words. She said she knew I would be gone and she didn’t want to be alone.” He finished the last of his drink and returned to the sideboard to refill his glass. “I should have known better than to trust her again. I shouldn’t have let down my guard.”

“You’ve always loved her, Reese,” Royal said softly. “When she came to you for help, you had no choice but to give her your aid.”

Reese carried his glass over to the sofa and sat down wearily. “I don’t know what to do. She’s my wife and Jared is my son. I can’t just leave and I don’t know if I can stay.”

“Was she ever going to tell you the truth?” Royal asked.

Reese sighed. “I don’t know. She said she was planning to. I don’t know what to believe anymore. I don’t even know if it matters.”