The Haunting of a Duke(82)

No one in the room spoke. The only sound was the ticking of the clock on the mantel. To Rhys’ knowledge, no one had ever taken Spencer to task for his behavior, his opinions, or anything else. Spencer had always been the angel to Michael's devil.

Conversely, he also thought it might be the first time someone had actually defended Michael. That shamed him more than a bit. To ease the tension that had settled over the room, he said, “How is Larissa?"

Emme sighed. “She is exhausted. I can't imagine what she has been through. She's lost at least a stone when she could ill afford to do so."

Rhys nodded. “When this is settled, I will be visiting your stepfather again. He will not get away with what he has done."

[Back to Table of Contents]





Chapter Fifteen

The following days passed in a blur. Emme tended to Larissa during the day and Michael assisted her, proving to be a competent physician. He was also very circumspect with Larissa, his behavior all that was proper. He put Larissa at ease, which in turn put everyone else at ease.

The tension that had been so evident between Michael and Lord Wolverstone had eased as well, but Emme knew that it would take little to reignite their rancor. She had spoken to Rhys about it. He'd revealed that while they had all once been the best of friends, over the years Michael and Spence, as he called Wolverstone, had gradually drifted apart. Wolverstone was a stickler for propriety whereas Michael made it a point to break every rule and to do it smiling.

In spite of her argument with Rhys, they'd called an uneasy truce themselves. By tacit understanding, neither of them mentioned their disagreement.

But for Emme, it was not forgotten. She knew the answers were in the tunnels and she meant to find them, but first she had to help Larissa. That morning Larissa was out of bed and seated before the windows, enjoying the weak wintry sunshine that poured in. She had regained some of the weight but was still painfully thin. Nonetheless, that morning her cheeks were pink and there was more light in her eyes than Emme had seen since before Larissa's banishment.

"So I am to be an aunt,” Larissa said.

Emme sighed. “Michael told you."

Larissa laughed. “No, he did not tell me. Some things are simply known."

"Then do you know if the child is a boy or a girl?"

"Do you think your husband will be upset if you do not produce an heir?"

She didn't, Emme realized. Oh, of course she knew that Rhys would want to have a son but if she presented him with a daughter she didn't think he would be disappointed. “No. I think if I have a healthy babe it will not matter to either of us."

Larissa gifted her with a beatific smile and said simply, “Then all is as it should be."

Emme clasped her sister's hand in her own and then asked the question that had been burning in her mind since her sister's disappearance. “What happened, Larissa? Tell me the whole story. There is no need to keep secrets ."

Larissa's smile faded and her gaze hardened. “Mr. Stidham decided to ignore Rhys’ edict regarding my potential engagement to Lord Moreland. When I refused to comply, well, Lord Moreland was given permission to persuade me by any means necessary."

"Did he—” Emme broke off, unable to ask the question.

Larissa shook her head sadly. Her gaze was direct and there was a world-weary air about her as she replied, “No. I managed to escape him and in the process, inflicted a rather embarrassing wound to his pride. Apparently, the match had been arranged in lieu of payment of a debt."

Emme wasn't nearly as shocked by that as she should have been. She'd known that Stidham was investing heavily and that he was doing poorly at it. She also knew that he'd never thought of them as anything but a burden and a drain on his dwindling finances. “Why didn't you tell Mama? She would never have permitted such a thing!"

"There was no time. Mr. Stidham took me in the carriage to pay a call. We arrived at a townhouse and were invited inside. Then Mr. Stidham left me there."

Remembering the fear and the disgust she'd felt when Lord Pommeroy had cornered her in the morning room, she asked, “Did he hurt you?"

Larissa shrugged. “Not horribly. I've suffered far more painful treatment since."

Outside the door, Michael's fists were clenched tightly and the fury that swept through him was consuming. He turned and strode back down the hall and toward the stairs. He entered the study where Rhys and Spencer were waiting for him. He had wanted to check in on Larissa before they went into the maze of tunnels beneath the house. What he had just overheard sickened him. He would be seeing to Stidham when he went back to London, whether Rhys wanted him to or not.

As he entered the library, Rhys looked at him and noted the tension in Michael's shoulders and the cold fury that burned in his eyes. “Is there a problem, Michael?"