Kitabı oku: «The Bride's Necklace»
“My study,” he commanded. “Now!”
Tory bit her lip, lifted her skirts and hurried down the hall in front of him. Cord followed her into the study and slammed the door.
“Sit down.”
She dropped into the nearest chair as if her legs had been severed at the knee and forced herself to look up at him. He seemed even taller than he usually did, his eyes fierce and dark.
“I think it’s time we talked about the necklace. The one you and your sister stole from Baron Harwood.”
Her head swam and her palms went damp. She smoothed them over her crisp black taffeta skirt. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Don’t you? I think you know exactly what I’m talking about. I’m speaking of the very valuable necklace that was stolen from Harwood Hall.” His jaw hardened. “And there is also the not insignificant crime of the attempted murder of the baron.”
Tory swallowed, tried to look calm even when her insides were quaking. “I don’t know a Baron Harwood,” she lied.
He didn’t believe her. She could see it in his face. Dear God, she wanted to tell him the truth more than anything in the world. But if she did, if she told him she and Claire were Harwood’s stepdaughters, he would be honor bound to send them back. She couldn’t let that happen. She and Claire would have to run again, leave London and find someplace new to hide.
Watch for the next book in this dramatic new trilogy by KAT MARTIN
THE DEVIL’S NECKLACE
Kat Martin
The Bride’s Necklace
To my great friends Meryl Sawyer, Ciji Ware
and Gloria Dale Skinner for their help
on this trilogy. Love you guys!
Contents
Prologue
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Epilogue
Author’s Note
Prologue
England, 1804
A soft creak in the hallway awakened her. Victoria Temple Whiting sat upright in bed, straining toward the sound. The faint noise came again, footsteps passing her bedchamber, continuing down the hall, pausing in front of the door to her sister’s room.
Tory swung her legs to the side of the bed, her heart racing now, pounding in her ears. There was no lock on Claire’s door. Their stepfather, the baron, wouldn’t allow it. Tory heard the click of the silver knob turning, then the soft glide of shoes on carpet as someone walked into the room.
She knew who it was. She had known this day would come, known the baron would finally act on the lust he felt for Claire. Desperate to protect her sister, Tory rose quickly, grabbed her blue quilted wrapper off the foot of the bed and raced out into the hall. Claire’s room was two doors down. She made her way there as quietly as possible, legs trembling, her palms so slick she could barely turn the doorknob.
She wiped her hands on her wrapper and tried again, successful this time, opening the door and stepping silently into the darkness of the room. Her stepfather stood next to the bed, a long, shadowy figure in the dim light coming in through the mullioned window. Tory stiffened at his low-murmured words, the fear she heard in Claire’s voice.
“Stay away from me,” Claire pleaded.
“I won’t hurt you. Just lie still and let me do what I want.”
“No. I w-want you to get out of my room.”
“Be quiet,” the baron said more sharply. “Unless you want your sister to awaken. I think you can guess what will happen to her if she comes in here.”
Claire whimpered. “Please don’t hurt Tory.” But both of them knew he would. Her back still carried the marks of an earlier caning, the punishment her stepfather, Miles Whiting, Baron Harwood, had delivered for some minor infraction she could now scarcely recall.
“Do as I say then and just lie still.”
Claire made a sound in her throat and Tory fought down a wave of fury. Slipping around behind the baron, her nails digging into the palms of her hands, she inched closer. She knew what her stepfather meant to do, knew that if she tried to stop him, she would suffer another beating and sooner or later he would still hurt Claire.
Tory bit her lip, forcing down her anger, trying to think what she should do. She had to stop him. No matter what happened, she couldn’t let him touch her sister.
Then her gaze lit on the brass bed warmer next to the hearth. The coals inside had long grown cold, but the bowl was heavy with the ashes left inside. She reached down and gripped the wooden handle, silently lifting the instrument up off the hearth.
Claire made another whimpering sound. Tory took two steps closer to where the baron leaned over Claire and swung the heavy brass bed warmer. Harwood made a sort of grunting noise and toppled over onto the floor.
Her hands shook. The bed warmer hit the floor with a soft clunk, spilling spent coals and black ash all over the Aubusson carpet. Claire leaped up from the bed and started running toward her, threw herself into Tory’s arms.
“He was…he kept touching me.” She made a funny little choking noise and held on tighter. “Oh, Tory, you came just in time.”
“It’s all right, darling. You’re safe now. I won’t let him hurt you again.”
Trembling all over, Claire turned toward the man lying on the rug, a dark streak of blood running from the gash at his temple. “Did you…did you kill him?”
Tory gazed at the baron’s still form and swayed a little on her feet. She took a breath to steady herself. It was dark in the room, but a sliver of moonlight slanted in through the mullioned window. She could see the scarlet stain spreading beneath Harwood’s head. His chest didn’t seem to be moving, but she couldn’t tell for sure.
“We have to get out of here,” she said, fighting an urge to run. “Put on your wrapper and get your satchel out from under the bed. I’ll go get mine and meet you at the bottom of the servants’ stairs.”
“I—I need to change out of my bedclothes.”
“There isn’t time. We’ll change somewhere along the road.”
The journey wasn’t unexpected. They had each packed a satchel three days ago, the night of Claire’s seventeenth birthday. Since that night, the lust in the baron’s dark eyes had grown every time he looked at her. They had begun making plans that very evening. They would leave Harwood Hall at the first opportunity.
But tonight fate had taken a hand. They couldn’t wait a moment longer.
“What about the necklace?” Claire asked.
Stealing the baron’s most prized possession had always been part of their plan. They needed money to get to London. The beautiful diamond-and-pearl necklace was worth a small fortune and was the only thing of value they could easily carry with them.
“I’ll get it. Try to be quiet. I’ll join you as quickly as I can.”
Claire rushed out the door and headed down the hall. Tory cast a last glance at her stepfather and raced out behind her. Sweet God, don’t let him be dead, she thought, sickened to think she might actually have killed him.
Tory shuddered as she hurried away.
One
London
Two months later
Perhaps it was the necklace. Tory had never believed in the curse, but everyone for miles around the tiny village of Harwood knew the legend of the beautiful diamond-and-pearl necklace. People whispered about it, feared it, coveted and revered the magnificent piece of jewelry crafted in the thirteenth century for the bride of Lord Fallon. It was said the necklace—The Bride’s Necklace—could bring its owner untold happiness, or unbearable tragedy.
That hadn’t kept Tory from stealing it. Or selling it to a moneylender in Dartfield for enough coin that she and Claire could finally escape.
But that had been nearly two months ago, before the two of them had reached London and the ridiculously small amount of money Tory had been forced to accept for the very valuable necklace had nearly run out.
In the beginning, she had been certain she could find a job as a governess for some nice, respectable family, but so far she had failed. The few clothes she and Claire had been able to take along the night they had fled were fashionable, but Tory’s cuffs had begun to fray, and faint stains appeared on the hem of Claire’s apricot muslin gown. Though their education and speech were that of the upper classes, Tory didn’t have a single solitary reference, and without one, she had been turned away again and again.
She was becoming nearly as desperate as she had been before she left Harwood Hall.
“What are we going to do, Tory?” Her sister’s voice cut through the self-pity rising like a dark tide inside her. “Mr. Jennings says if we can’t pay our rent by the end of the week, he is going to throw us out.”
Tory shuddered at the thought. She had seen things in London she wished she could forget, homeless children picking food scraps out of the gutter, women selling their frail bodies for coin enough to last another bitter day. The thought of being tossed out of their last place of refuge, a small garret above a hatmaker’s shop, into the company of the riffraff and blacklegs in the street was more than she could bear.
“It’s all right, dearest, you mustn’t worry,” she said, putting on a brave face once more. “Everything has a way of working out.” Though Tory was truly beginning to doubt it.
Claire managed a trembly smile. “I know you’ll think of something. You always do.” At just-turned-seventeen, Claire Whiting was two years younger but several inches taller than Tory, whose build was more petite. Both girls were slender, but it was Claire who had inherited their mother’s stunning good looks.
She had wavy silver-blond hair that reached nearly to her waist and skin as smooth and pale as an alabaster Venus. Her eyes were so blue they put a clear, Kentish sky to shame. If an angel dressed up in apricot muslin and donned a warm pelisse, she would look like Claire Whiting.
Tory thought of herself as a more durable sort, with heavy chestnut-brown hair that often curled when she least desired it, clear green eyes and a smattering of freckles. But it wasn’t just their looks that set them apart.
Claire was simply different. She always had been. She inhabited a world mere mortals could not see. Tory always regarded her sister as ethereal, the kind of girl who played with fairies and talked to gnomes.
Not that she really did those things. It just seemed as if she could.
What Claire couldn’t seem to do was take care of herself in any responsible fashion, so Tory did it for her.
Which was why they had fled their stepfather, made their way to London and now faced the threat of being cast out into the street.
To say nothing of being wanted for the theft of the valuable necklace—and perhaps even murder.
A soft August breeze blew in off the Thames, cooling the heat rising up from the cobbled streets. Comfortable in a big four-poster bed, Cordell Easton, fifth earl of Brant, lounged back against the carved wooden headboard. Across from him, Olivia Landers, Viscountess Westland, sat naked on a stool in front of her mirror, slowly pulling a silver-backed hairbrush through her long, straight raven-black hair.
“Why don’t you put down that brush and come back to bed?” Cord drawled. “Once I get through with you, you’ll only have to comb it again.”
She turned on the stool and a seductive smile curved her ruby lips. “I thought perhaps you wouldn’t be interested again quite so soon.” Her eyes ran over his body, sweeping the muscles across his chest, following the thin line of dark hair arrowing down his stomach, coming to rest on his sex. Her eyes widened as she realized he was fully aroused. “Amazing how wrong a woman can be.”
Leaving the stool, she walked toward him, long black hair swinging forward, the only thing hiding her very seductive body, making him harder than he was already.
Olivia was a widow—a very young and tasty widow whom Cord had been seeing for the past several months—but she was spoiled and selfish and she was fast becoming more trouble than she was worth. Cord had begun to think of ending the affair.
Not today, however.
Today he had stolen a couple of hours away from the stack of papers he had been poring over, badly in need of a diversion. Livy was good for that if nothing more.
She tossed her black hair over her shoulder as she climbed up onto the deep feather mattress. “I want to be on top,” she purred. “I want to make you squirm.”
What she wanted was the same thing she always demanded, rough, hard-pounding sex, and he was just in the mood to give it to her. The problem was, once they were finished, he had begun to feel oddly dissatisfied. He told himself he should cast about for some new female companionship. That always raised his spirits—among other parts of his body. But lately, he simply couldn’t get into the thrill of the hunt.
“Cord, you aren’t listening.” She tugged on a tuft of curly brown chest hair.
“Sorry, sweeting.” But he wasn’t really contrite, since he was certain nothing she had to say would interest him in the least. “I was distracted by your very lovely breasts.” To which he directed his full attention, taking one of them into his mouth as he lifted her astride him and slid her luscious body the length of his powerful erection.
Olivia moaned and began to move and Cord lost himself in the sweet charms of her body. Livy peaked and Cord followed, then the pleasure began to fade, disappearing as if it had never existed.
As Livy climbed from the bed, the thought he’d been having of late began to creep in. Surely there is more than just this.
Cord shoved the thought beneath the dozens of other problems he had been facing since his father had died and he had inherited the Brant title and fortune. Following Olivia out of bed, he began to pull on his clothes. There were a thousand things he needed to do—investments he needed to consider, accounts he needed to review, tenant complaints and shipping invoices.
And there was his ongoing worry about his cousin. Ethan Sharpe had been missing for nearly a year and Cord was determined to find him.
Still, no matter how busy he was, he always found time for his single great vice—women.
Convinced a new mistress was the answer to his recent bout of gloom, Cord vowed to begin his search.
“What if it’s the curse?” Claire looked at Tory with big blue worried eyes. “You know what people say—Mama told us a dozen times. She said the necklace could bring very bad fortune to the person who owned it.”
“You’re being ridiculous, Claire. There is no such thing as a curse. Besides, we don’t own it. We just borrowed it for a while.”
But it had certainly brought misfortune to her stepfather. Tory gnawed her bottom lip as she remembered the baron lying on the floor next to the bureau in Claire’s bedchamber, a trickle of blood running from the gash in the side of his head. Dear God, she had prayed every night since it happened that she had not killed him.
Not that he didn’t deserve to die for what he had tried to do.
“Besides, if you remember the story correctly,” Tory added, “it can also bring the owner good fortune.”
“If the person’s heart is pure,” Claire put in.
“That’s right.”
“We stole it, Tory. That’s a sin. Now look what is happening to us. Our money’s almost gone. They’re going to throw us out of our room. Pretty soon we won’t have even enough to buy something to eat.”
“We’re just having a little bad luck, is all. It has nothing to do with the curse. And we’re bound to find employment very soon.”
Claire looked at her with worried eyes. “Are you sure?”
“It might not be the sort of work we had hoped for, but yes, I am extremely sure.” She wasn’t, of course, but she didn’t want Claire’s hopes to plummet any lower than they were already. Besides, she would find work. No matter what she had to do.
But three more days passed and still nothing turned up. Tory had blisters on her feet and there was a rip in the hem of her high-waisted dove-gray gown.
Today is the day, she told herself, summoning a renewed determination as they headed once more for the area she believed most likely to provide employment. For more than a week, they had knocked on doors in London’s fashionable West End, certain some wealthy family would be in need of a governess. But so far, nothing had turned up.
Climbing what must have been the hundredth set of porch stairs, Tory lifted the heavy brass knocker, gave it several firm raps, then listened as the sound echoed into the house. A few minutes later, a skinny, black-haired butler with a thin mustache opened the heavy front door.
“I should like to speak to the mistress of the house, if you please.”
“In what regard, madam, may I ask?”
“I am seeking employment as a governess. One of the kitchen maids down the block said that Lady Pithering has three children and may be in need of one.”
The butler’s gaze took in the frayed cuffs and the rip in her hem and lifted his nose into the air. He opened his mouth to send her away when his gaze lit on Claire. She was smiling in that sweet way of hers, looking for all the world like an angel fallen to earth.
“We both love children,” Claire said, still smiling. “And Tory is ever so smart. She would make the very best of governesses. I am also looking for work. We were hoping you might be able to help us.”
The butler just kept staring at Claire and Claire kept on smiling.
Tory cleared her throat and the skinny man dragged his gaze away from Claire back to Tory. “Go round to the back door and I shall let you speak to the housekeeper. That is the best I can do.”
Tory nodded, grateful to have gotten even that far, but a few minutes later, when they returned to the front of the house, she was filled with an even deeper despair.
“The butler was ever so nice,” Claire said. “I thought for certain this time—”
“You heard what the housekeeper said. Lady Pithering is looking for someone older.” And there never seemed to be a job for a servant as lovely as Claire.
Claire gnawed her bottom lip. “I’m hungry, Tory. I know you said we have to wait till supper, but my stomach is making all sorts of unladylike noises. Can’t we have a little something now?”
Tory closed her eyes, trying to resurrect some of her earlier courage. She couldn’t stand the look in her sister’s eyes, the worry mingled with fear. She simply could not tell her they had spent their very last farthing, that until they found work of some kind they couldn’t buy so much as a dry crust of bread.
“Just a bit longer, darling. Let’s try the place the housekeeper mentioned down the block.”
“But she said Lord Brant doesn’t have any children.”
“It doesn’t matter. We’ll take whatever jobs we can find.” She forced herself to smile. “I’m sure it won’t be for long.”
Claire nodded bravely and Tory wanted to cry. She had hoped to take care of her younger sister. While Tory had often worked long hours at the day-to-day task of running Harwood Hall, Claire wasn’t used to the hard work done by a servant. Tory had hoped to spare her sister, but fate had led them to this dismal place in their lives and it looked as if they would have to do whatever it took to survive.
“Which one is it?” Claire asked.
“The big brick house just over there. Do you see those two stone lions on the porch? That is the residence of the earl of Brant.”
Claire studied the elegant town house, larger than any other on the block, and a hopeful smile blossomed on her face.
“Perhaps Lord Brant will be handsome and kind as well as rich,” she said dreamily. “And you shall marry him and both of us will be saved.”
Tory flashed her an indulgent smile. “For now, let us simply hope the man is in need of a servant or two and willing to take us in.”
But again they were turned away, this time by a short, bald-headed butler with thick shoulders and beady little eyes.
Claire was crying by the time they reached the bottom of the stairs, which was a rare thing, indeed, and enough to make Tory want to cry along with her. Funny thing was, if Tory cried, her nose got all red and her lips wobbled. But with Claire, it just made her eyes look bigger and bluer and her cheeks bloomed with roses.
Tory grabbed her reticule and began trying to dig out a handkerchief for Claire when one magically appeared in front of her face. Her sister accepted it gratefully. Dabbing it against her eyes, she turned her sweet, angelic smile upon the man who had provided it.
“Thank you ever so much.”
The man returned the smile as Tory could have guessed he would. “Cordell Easton, earl of Brant, at your service, dear lady. And you would be…?”
He was looking at Claire the way men had since she was twelve years old. Tory didn’t think he realized there was anyone else there but Claire.
“I am Miss Claire Temple and this is my sister, Victoria.” Tory silently thanked God that Claire had remembered to use their mother’s maiden name, and ignored her sister’s disregard of the proper rules of introduction. The man was, after all, the earl, and they were desperately in need of his employment.
Brant smiled at Claire but had to force himself to look in Tory’s direction. “Good afternoon, ladies.”
“Lord Brant,” Tory said, hoping her stomach wouldn’t choose that particular moment to growl. Just as Claire had imagined, he was tall and exceedingly handsome, though his hair was dark brown and not blond, and his features were harder than one of Claire’s imaginary princes would have been.
His shoulders were exceptionally wide, with no padding that she could discern, while his build was solid and athletic. All in all, he was a very impressive man, and the way he was looking at Claire made a knot of worry ball in the pit of Tory’s stomach.
Lord Brant continued to gaze at Claire as if Tory had disappeared. “I saw you leaving my door,” he said. “I hope you weren’t crying over something my butler might have said. Timmons can be a bit of a muttonhead at times.”
Tory answered while Claire continued to smile. “Your butler informed us there were no positions available. That is the reason we are here. We are in search of work, my lord.”
For a moment, he actually looked at Tory, his gaze running over her slim figure and upswept brown hair, sizing her up in a way that sent spots of color into her cheeks.
“What sort of work are you talking about?”
There was something in his eyes…something she couldn’t quite read. “Any sort of position you might need to have filled. Chambermaid, kitchen maid, anything that pays a respectable wage for a respectable day’s work.”
“My sister wishes to become a governess,” Claire said brightly, “but you don’t have any children.”
His gaze returned to Claire. “No, I’m afraid I don’t.”
“Anything would do,” Tory said, trying to keep the desperation out of her voice. “Recently, we have come upon rather unfortunate circumstances.”
“I’m sorry to hear that. You have no family, no one who might be of assistance?”
“I’m afraid not. That is the reason we’re looking for work. We were hoping that perhaps you might have something available.”
For the first time, the earl seemed to understand exactly what they were about. He gazed at Claire and his mouth curved up. Tory thought that perhaps that smile did to women what Claire’s smile did to men.
Only Claire’s was completely guileless, while the earl of Brant’s definitely held a calculating twist.
“As a matter of fact, we are in need of help. Timmons just hasn’t yet been informed. Why don’t you both come with me?” He was offering Claire his arm, which didn’t bode well as far as Tory was concerned.
She knew the effect her sister had on men—not that Claire was even remotely aware of it. It was the reason they found themselves in such dire straights in the first place.
God’s breath—the girl was an angel. Cord had never seen skin so fair or eyes so blue. She was slender, yet he could see the swell of her breasts, outlined beneath her slightly frayed apricot gown, and they looked utterly delectable. He had been searching for a new bit of muslin. He hadn’t expected a divine creature like this to appear at his front door.
Cord paused inside the entry, the sisters gazing up at him from where they stood beneath the crystal chandelier. A few feet away, Timmons cast him a look of disbelief. Cord turned to Claire, but she had wandered over to a vase filled with roses and appeared to be enthralled with a single pink bud.
The other sister, he saw, was eyeing him with what could only be called suspicion. He gave her a friendly, innocent smile, all the while calculating how long it would take him to lure the blond beauty into his bed.
“So, my lord, you were telling me about the position you have available.”
He focused his attention on the dark-haired sister…what was her name? Velma or Valerie or…? Victoria—yes, that was it.
“As I was saying, we are definitely in need of help.” He looked her over. She was shorter than Claire, but not too short, and not nearly so…fragile. That was the word for Claire. This one, Victoria, looked capable, at least in his estimation, and she was obviously protective of her sister.
“My housekeeper, Mrs. Mills, gave notice nearly two weeks ago. She’ll be leaving in a few more days and I have yet to find a suitable replacement.” Victoria Temple was far too young for the position and undoubtedly she knew it. But he didn’t give a damn and he didn’t think she would, either. “Perhaps you would be interested in the job.”
He didn’t miss the staggering relief that washed over her face. It gave him an odd sort of pang.
“Yes, my lord, I would most assuredly be interested. I’ve done similar work before. I believe I could handle the job very well.”
She was attractive, he saw as he hadn’t before. Not the raving beauty her sister was, but her features were refined, her dark eyebrows winged over a pair of lively green eyes, her nose straight and her chin firm. A stubborn little chin, he thought with a hint of amusement.
“What about my sister? I’m afraid I can’t accept the position unless there is a place here for Claire as well.”
He heard the tension that crept into her voice. She needed this job—very badly. But she wouldn’t stay without her sister. Apparently, she hadn’t realized yet that Claire was the reason that she had been employed.
“As housekeeper, you will be able to hire as you wish. Another chambermaid would probably be useful. I’ll summon Mrs. Mills. She can show you around and discuss the duties you will need to perform. As this is a bachelor household, I imagine it would be better if I introduced you as Mrs. Temple.”
Her lips slightly pursed as she recognized the necessity of the lie, which obviously didn’t sit well with her.
“Yes, I suppose it would. As that will pose a problem for Claire, you may refer to my sister as Miss Marion. That is her middle name.”
He motioned toward Timmons, who left to collect Mrs. Mills. The broad-hipped housekeeper arrived a few minutes later, a speculative look on her face.
“Mrs. Mills, this is Mrs. Temple,” Cord said. “Beginning on Monday, she will be taking your place.”
The housekeeper’s speckled gray eyebrows drew together. “But I assumed Mrs. Rathbone—”
“As I said, Mrs. Temple will be your replacement. And this is her sister, Miss Marion. She’s being employed as a housemaid.”
Mrs. Mills didn’t look all that happy, but she nodded her acceptance, then motioned for the women to follow her and started climbing the stairs.
“We’ll get your sister settled in first,” the housekeeper said. “Then I’ll show you to your room. It’s downstairs next to the kitchen.”
“Come, Claire.” The dark-haired sister’s command drew the blonde’s attention from the flower-filled urn. “Mrs. Mills is going to show us our rooms.” Though the words were directed at Claire, her eyes were fixed on Cord and he thought that they held a trace of warning.
The notion somehow amused him. A servant with that kind of pluck. For the first time in weeks, Cord found himself thinking of something other than the business of being an earl and his worry about Ethan.
He cast a last glance at Claire, who climbed the stairs with her elegant head bent forward as she studied the patterns in the carpet. Cord watched the way a silver-blond strand of hair teased her cheek and felt a familiar male stirring. Thinking of the intriguing possibilities the future suddenly held for him, he smiled.
Then he thought of the stacks of paperwork waiting on his desk and the smile slid away. With a sigh, Cord headed for his study.
