Silver Sea (20 page)

He nodded to Adrienne. "Good morning. I hope your symptoms pass. Perhaps it's just the weather. Rather warm and humid after that rain."

She promptly felt the blood leave her face. The urge to glower at him was overwhelming. "I thank you for your brilliant observations, sir."

"My, my! What's this all about?" her ladyship cried. "I wonder if you're genuinely ill, Miss Beau. I wonder if your mood is a result of the claret you imbibed last night, the late hours you kept, and whatever you were doing that kept you from your own bed!"

Adrienne gasped. "My lady—I am shocked—"

"What do you think, Mr. Essex?" Lady Thomasina tied a lace cap over her powdered wig, watching him from the corners of her eyes. "No secrets among us, are there?"

He put the cherries in Lady Thomasina's lap and looked directly at her. "I think the sun is putting you in a temper, my lady. Why not forget about this other matter and let me read you a chapter about Miss Bennet and Mr. Darcy."

"I do like your reading voice best. No offense to Miss Beau, of course."

Fuming, Adrienne took her gathering basket and marched off into the stiflingly hot maze. She'd been making bouquets all week, so there wasn't much left to cut, but she examined each budding flower, shears poised, before deciding to wait a few more days. Just the sound of Nathan's distant voice, reading aloud in an insufferably entertaining manner, made her blood boil.

Was Nathan right? Had she been the one who had behaved like a madwoman, while he had been the defender of good and reason? Was he the better person?

An innocent pink rosebud climbed over the hedge and Adrienne cut it. "Take that!" she whispered fiercely. A bead of perspiration drizzled down her temple. Just then Nathan rounded an overgrown boxwood corner, and she jumped in surprise.

"What are you doing here?"

He held out her simplest chipstraw bonnet. "I thought you might need this. It's getting hot."

"Nothing you do can ever change the fact that I loathe you." With that disclaimer, she snatched the bonnet and put it on. "I suggest that you return to your reading before Lady Thomasina's suspicions are further inflamed."

"She fell asleep after three pages," he said, amused. "Angus and her ladyship are both snoring in the sunlight."

"Aha. Perhaps you are not so captivating after all!"

"I have never claimed to be." Nathan closed the distance between them, and Adrienne had no place to go except backward into hedge.

"Don't touch me! I still have bruises—"

"Hush." His blue eyes darkened until they resembled the ocean under storm clouds. Their bodies were so close that he could feel the heat coming off her, but Nathan was careful not to make physical contact. "I want you to behave yourself when others are present. You may hate, despise, and loathe me, but I must insist that you make an effort to conceal those emotions from Lady Thomasina and the others."

"Why shouldn't she know the truth?"

"You might want to reconsider what the truth
is,
chit. After
all
, I
was not the one who came into your bed uninvited. Or have I got it wrong?"

Her face was burning. "Cad!" She longed to slap him, but her hands were full.

"Am I? I believe that a cad would have taken the—ah,
gift
you offered so impulsively—and insistently—last night."

As Adrienne made another heated reply, Lady Thomasina was watching from the terrace, waiting for her son to appear in response to the message she had sent with Hortie. She couldn't see more of Nathan and Adrienne than the top of his dark head and the high brim of her bonnet, but she could hear enough of the tone of their conversation to arouse her curiosity fully.

"Mummy, why did you send for me?" Huntsford was clearly out of patience as he strode onto the terrace. Spying Angus, he scowled and the terrier disappeared under her ladyship's petticoats. "It took better than an hour to perfect this morning's cravat. We just finished, and I am
ravenous.
A magnificent breakfast arrived the very moment your gruesome lady's maid brought your summons. Do hurry!"

"How dare you insult poor Hortie? Sit down, and lower your voice. Essex and Miss Beau are in the maze, and they think I am napping, so let us not call attention to ourselves."

"What do you want?"

"Only to suggest to you that you begin to devote yourself seriously to the pursuit of Miss Beau. Something has caused a rift between her and Nathan Essex. She is angry with him but hardly indifferent! If you can manage to strike while the iron is hot, Hunty, you may be able to usurp his place in her thoughts."

He was admiring the reflection of his rigidly starched shirtpoints in the nearest window. "Tell me again why you are so keen on this match between me and Adrienne."

"Actually, my reasons aren't as devious as they might seem. I certainly think that she would be an excellent choice for you, and possesses a great deal more intelligence, goodness, and spirit than your other ladybirds—"

"For God's sake, Mummy, Clair is the daughter of an earl!"

"Well, it doesn't show. She's not real quality." Her ladyship popped an overripe cherry into her mouth. "I must confess, however, that the main reason I'm in favor of this match is my own regard for Miss Beau. She'd be good to me."

Had he heard his mother's voice catch? "I say, you needn't worry in any case. Aren't I good to you?"

"Hunty, darling, you had better get on with it. Every moment that Miss Beau is with Nathan Essex rather than you is a moment that might bring them closer."

"I have to eat. Jarrow brought me kippers and eggs and berries with cream. As soon as I've finished, I'll return to shower Adrienne with attention."

"Good." Lady Thomasina's puffy face softened further. "I'll think of another errand to occupy Nathan. Perhaps he can help me look for a lost book! I could make up a title."

Nodding absently, Huntsford started to leave, then paused in the doorway and added, "I can't stay here long today, however. If I'm to make any real headway with Adrienne, there's a task I must perform in Winchester...."

"Whatever do you mean?"

"Never mind. It's nothing that concerns you, Mummy."

Puzzlement furrowed the old woman's brow, but then she noticed Nathan wending his way back through the garden maze. Just as Huntsford disappeared inside the castle, Lady Thomasina dropped her head to one side, closed her eyes once again, and pretended to snore.

* * *

After breakfast, Huntsford Harms dashed back downstairs in time to find Adrienne returning from the garden. His mother and Nathan had conveniently disappeared, so Harms took one look at the few meager buds in Adrienne's basket and volunteered to show her a place where dozens of roses were in full bloom. There followed an hour of pleasure that surpassed the camaraderie they had shared at Winchester Cathedral. This time Nathan did not intrude.

Huntsford took Adrienne to a ruined wall behind the stable. Old roses clambered over the stones in a sweet-smelling palette of softly faded colors. She held the basket, and he cut flowers until roses seemed to fill Adrienne's arms. They were laughing as they walked back to the castle, but then Huntsford was forced to leave her. With regret, he explained that he had an unbreakable prior engagement, adding a vague comment regarding an old school chum.

No sooner had Adrienne gone off to the kitchen to arrange vases full of flowers on the long worktable than Huntsford fairly vaulted up the stairs to his rooms. There he dressed himself in riding clothes, took another stairway back out of the castle, and returned to the stable to borrow a horse.

* * *

The afternoon sun was beating down by the time Harms emerged from the pastoral Hampshire hills into the town of Winchester. He made his way straight to the inn where Walter Frakes-Hogg had been lodging for weeks. Minutes later he stood outside the older man's door, knocking.

Huntsford had to try more than once before Frakes-Hogg finally cracked the door and peered out. "Who is it?" he hissed.

"It's Harms. Who else could it be?"

"What the devil are you doing here? How did you find me? I told you that you must never be seen in my lodgings!" Even as he spoke, Frakes-Hogg looked out, then right and left, and pulled Harms into the small, neat room. "What is it? You can't stay, you know!"

"Good God, how much have you had to drink?" Huntsford was shocked by the stench. "Surprised you can stand, sir."

"Yes, but I am a very surprising fellow!" Frakes-Hogg returned to a wing chair by the window that overlooked High Street and picked up his glass of brandy. "I'd invite you to join me, but I haven't more than a few drops left, and I'm 'fraid I'll need those myself."

"No doubt." So this was how Walter Frakes-Hogg spent his time. No wonder he was such a repellant human being. "I've come to tell you that I've found a way for you to have Adrienne and for us to do away with Raveneau all in one sweep."

"Indeed? You have my rapt attention. Do proceed." Frakes-Hogg's bloodshot eyes were shuttered by grayish lids.

"Here is my question for you: How would you like to enter Adrienne's bedchamber, well after midnight, when she is sleeping? I can arrange it, and I'll let you in. Can you imagine how utterly terrified, and helpless, she would be? I will go in with you and help you to blindfold and gag her—but of course she won't know it is I."

"Quite an intricate scheme, young tulip."

"Yes. I think it will work."

"I take it you will leave me alone with her then? We shall need our... privacy."

Huntsford cleared his throat, nodding. "Yes, in a manner of speaking, you'll be alone. I'll hide in the armoire near her door. After a bit, I'll open the door and pretend to scream or some such, as if it were Adrienne, to sound the alarm for Nathan. He'll come galloping to the rescue, I will come out of the armoire as he passes, and
voila
—we'll be rid of him."

"It does sound plausible." Frakes-Hogg drank down the brandy. "What are you going to use to kill him? A knife?"

Harms began to sweat. "Yes. Don't you agree?"

"Perhaps it would be wise to club him first, to minimize the possibility that he might struggle."

"Yes." Huntsford looked at his watch. "Now that that is settled, here is the map I have made for you of Harms Castle." After taking it over to Frakes-Hogg's chair, he opened the sheet of parchment and pointed. "I've written the times and other instructions on the back, so there won't be any confusion between us. Here is the layout of the house. The room I have marked with an
X
is Adrienne's bedchamber. You can come up these back stairs to get there quickest. Over here you see Essex's room. He's very close, so there isn't any chance that anyone will come to save her except him."

"What then? What shall we do afterward?"

"I'll make certain no one hears or interferes while you make your escape. When you're gone, I thought I could just blame the dead man for everything. I'll untie Adrienne, remove her blindfold, and tell her it was Nathan pretending to be you."

"Really! Do you think it will work?"

"I'm quite certain it will. They've been quarreling. Why shouldn't she believe me, when I am the man who has saved her life? During the attack, Adrienne will be stunned and confused, so it should be easy enough to reshape her view of events."

Frakes-Hogg rubbed his reddening nose. "I don't know if this quite suits me. I want Adrienne to know that she is paying for what she did to
me.
If, afterward, Nathan Raveneau becomes the villain, what is the point?"

Since most of the plot Harms had outlined to Frakes-Hogg was false, designed only to get him into Adrienne's room, it was hard to find the patience to continue with their conversation. Huntsford rose and paced to the window. "Why don't I tell her, then, that Nathan was in league with you, helping you to tie her up and blindfold her? I'll explain that you escaped while I was fighting with Nathan. How's
that?"

"Much better." A reptilian smile curved Frakes-Hogg's mouth. "Much. I should like her to believe she is still in danger...."

"Fine then. I must be going. I suggest that you have a long nap to sober up, then a hot meal."

"You needn't worry, my boy." Frakes-Hogg followed him to the door, making every effort to appear dignified. "I pride myself on my clear head. I shall be at Harms Castle at one o'clock this morning."

"Excellent."

He gripped the younger man's arm with clawlike fingers. "You needn't worry," he repeated. "I have waited too long for this night to make any mistakes. I've dreamed of taking revenge on Adrienne Beauvisage, and I mean to make the most of it."

"I hope that you shall, sir. Good afternoon." As he spoke, only Harms was aware of the other layer of meaning his words held. He couldn't afford to let one drop of irony creep into his tone, for the ultimate success of his plan depended on Walter Frakes-Hogg trusting him.

* * *

Adrienne stayed up long after Lady Thomasina had fallen asleep. She sat by the window in her tiny room, reading and wondering what Nathan was doing in his own quarters across the corridor. It was so warm that both of them had left their doors ajar to allow a better breeze, and if she peeked out she could catch a glimpse of him sitting at his desk, writing in the mysterious book.

He'd told her to forget about him, and she wanted to, but when she tried to cast him from her thoughts, her heart would begin to ache. It was very confusing.

"Adrienne?"

Startled, she looked up, instinctively hoping that the male voice was Nathan's. Instead, Huntsford Harms was discernible through the partially open door. He held a candlestick in one hand and a vase of wild roses in the other.

"How kind of you!" Adrienne put her book aside and scrambled up from her chair to let him in. "You are very sweet, Huntsford."

He colored slightly. "It's very easy to be nice to someone as enchanting as you are, my dear Adrienne. I thought you ought to have your own bouquet of roses to remember our little outing this morning...."

"They are more beautiful than ever. Thank you." She took the vase and buried her face in the fragrant, pale blooms. "I shall put them next to my bed."