The Countess (Madison Sisters #1)(2)
Author: Lynsay Sands

"So?" Dicky arched an eyebrow as he took up a position on the arm of Christiana’s chair where he could loom over her like a bird of prey about to pounce.

He then eyed her sisters like they were naughty children. "What was so urgent that you had to arrive here at such an ungodly hour?"

Suzette’s gaze slid to Christiana and then to Lisa before she forced a cool smile and sweetly lied, "Nothing at al . We just missed Chrissy terribly. It has been more than a year since your marriage and you have not brought her back to visit as you promised."

Christiana could feel Dicky stiffen at the chastisement and sighed inwardly. Here was more he would punish her for later.

"I am an Earl, girl, an important man who is far too busy to waste time gal ivanting about the countryside when there is work to be done here," Dicky said stiffly.

"Ah, wel , we are seeing each other now," Christiana murmured to forestal her sister saying anything else. "And I am very happy to see you. You must tel me everything that has happened since I left home."

Much to her relief, Suzette caught the hint and immediately launched into tale after tale of life back on their country estate. She actual y seemed to begin to enjoy the endeavor, devilment sparkling in her eyes as she recounted who had married, who hadn’t, and every bit of gossip she had heard no matter how trivial. As for Lisa, she sat silent, her worried gaze remaining warily on an increasingly impatient Dicky as Suzette babbled on. It was a relief to al of them when he suddenly stood to announce, "I shal leave you ladies to your nattering then. I have more important issues to attend to."

On that pompous note, he left them, moving much more swiftly than he had al owed her to on entering.

"Thank God," Suzette moaned when the door closed, her gay, trouble-free facade dropping away. Anger immediately replaced it and she sat forward to demand, "What the devil is going on, Chrissy? Does he act like that al the time? My God he was nothing like that when he courted you. He – "

"Hush," Christiana hissed. Standing, she moved swiftly to the door and knelt to peer out the keyhole. When al she saw was empty hal , she released a relieved breath and moved back to her sisters.

"How bad is your marriage?" Suzette asked quietly as Christiana settled on the couch between her sisters. "You look tired and miserable. He’s not treating you right, is he?"

"Never mind that," Christiana said wearily. There was little anyone could do about her situation and discussing it would merely bring her misery to the surface. It was easier when she simply didn’t think about it. "What is going on? Why are you two here?"

Suzette and Lisa exchanged a glance and then Lisa final y spoke up for the first time since their arrival and announced, "Father has been gambling again."

"What?" Christiana gasped with dismay. "But he promised never to gamble again after Dicky paid off his last gambling debts."

It was how she’d ended up married to the man. Her father had landed them in hot water with one aberrant night of drinking and gambling. He’d raised what money he could by sel ing family heirlooms to meet the debt, but it hadn’t been enough, and he’d been at a loss as to how to pay the rest. The creditors had been knocking on the door when fortune had seemed to smile on them in the form of Dicky. He’d arrived at Madison Manor with an offer of marriage for Christiana, and on hearing of their dire straits had offered to clear the remainder of her father’s debts in exchange for Christiana’s hand in marriage.

To her father’s credit, he’d refused the offer until Dicky had convinced him that he loved Christiana. Dicky had claimed to have seen her at the local fair that summer and spoken to her briefly, which she hadn’t recal ed at al . He’d also claimed he’d been fascinated and found out al he could about her and that everything he’d learned he’d found pleasing.

His words had been convincing and her father had been swayed, but despite his dire straits, had insisted that while he would give his blessing to the union, it was only if she was wil ing. Unfortunately, Christiana had been easy enough to persuade. Dicky was handsome, wel off and an Earl. Any girl would be flattered to be courted by such a man. And what a courtship! He’d been the sweetest of men, cal ing her his little rosebud and romancing her with touching poems and declarations of undying love. It had al been rather heady to a simple girl who had spent her life quietly in the country with only her sisters and one neighbor boy for company, and in no time at al he’d swept her off her feet and gained her agreement.

Christiana grimaced at the thought of the naive idiot she’d been, and now saw that she should have questioned his motives and insisted on more time to make her decision. But her father only had two weeks to pay off his gambling debts, and she’d foolishly believed every word Dicky had said to her. She’d been sure he must love her and that there could be no other purpose for his rapturous courting. After al , what other reason could there be? It was not as if he knew about the outrageously huge dower that her mother’s father, Baron Sefton, had bestowed on herself and her two sisters in his wil . That was a family secret.

Of course, once they’d married and his behavior had changed so dramatical y Christiana had begun to suspect he’d known about the dower after al and that gaining it had been the true target of his courting. She just didn’t know how he could have learned about it.

"Father said he didn’t mean to," Suzette said unhappily, drawing Christiana’s mind back to this new problem. "He feels horrible about what’s happened and has been scrambling to try to figure out a way to pay off his debts, but can think of nothing."

Christiana grimaced. He’d felt horrible the last time too. "When did it happen?

And how? He has not even been to London and there is nowhere near Madison for him to – "

"He has been in London this last month," Lisa corrected quietly. "Didn’t you know?"

"No," Christiana admitted with dismay. "Why didn’t he come to see me?"

"He did," Suzette assured her. "In fact it was his original reason for traveling to London. He was worried because Dicky hadn’t brought you home to visit, and we weren’t getting responses to the letters we were sending."

"I haven’t received any letters, and I have been writing faithful y every week,"

Christiana said quietly, anger beginning a slow burn in her stomach. Not getting responses to her own letters had left her feeling even more lonely and depressed.

Now it seemed Dicky had somehow been ensuring none of her letters went out and that she didn’t receive any in return. What else had the man been doing? She wondered grimly.

"The bastard," Suzette snapped, looking ready to smack someone.

"You say father came here?" Christiana asked, returning them to the topic at hand.

"Aye," Lisa murmured, her worried gaze on a stil furious Suzette. "Dicky said you were out at the dressmaker’s."

"He didn’t tel me," Christiana said unhappily.

"Apparently Dicky welcomed him and took him to the club for a drink . . . and then on to a gaming hel ," Lisa said. Christiana sat back with dismay.

"Father was supposed to return home two weeks ago," Suzette continued the explanations in a quiet voice. "When he did not arrive and we heard no word we began to worry. I sent messages to the townhouse but got no response, and then final y decided Lisa and I had best come to London and find out what had happened."

When she fel silent, Lisa picked up the tale again. "We arrived in London at dawn and went straight to the townhouse. We found father there in the library. He was in his cups and sobbing."

Christiana let her breath out on a sigh and asked with resignation, "How bad is it?"

"Worse than last time," Suzette said tightly.

"Worse?" Christiana could feel the blood rush out of her face.

"He owes less than last time," Lisa said quickly. "But the estate is stil recovering from his first misstep and there is no ready cash or even much to sel . If father cannot come up with the money, he may be forced to sel the family estate to pay off the debt."

Christiana sucked in a horrified breath. This was worse than last time.

"We shal be ruined once this gets out," Lisa pointed out solemnly.

Christiana bit her lip, knowing that was true. "How long does he have to find the money?"

"Two weeks," Suzette answered.

"Two weeks," Christiana breathed with dismay. Her mind raced around like a rat in a larder for a moment and then she straightened her shoulders determinedly. "I shal talk to Dicky. We wil have to take some money from my dower and – "

"No. You paid last time. It’s not fair that you should pay again," Suzette argued, and then added grimly, "Besides, it appears that you are stil paying for father’s last misstep."

Christiana waved that away, knowing Suzette was referring to how Dicky treated her. Not wishing to discuss it, she instead addressed her suggestion,

"Suzette, you cannot pay. You cannot claim your dower without first marrying."

"True," she agreed. "So I shal marry."

"In two weeks?" Christiana shook her head. "You cannot find a suitable husband in two weeks."

"Who says he has to be suitable?" Suzette asked dryly. "Dicky was supposedly suitable and that hasn’t turned out very wel , has it?"

"But – "

"Do not fret, Chrissy," Suzette interrupted. "I have a plan. I just need a little help from you to make it work."

"What kind of plan? And what help?" Christiana asked worriedly.

Suzette sat eagerly forward and took her hands. "There are always Lords who are land and title rich and yet in desperate need of funds. I intend to find one who is desperate enough that he wil strike a deal with me. In exchange for marriage and access to three quarters of my dower, he must agree to al ow me access to one quarter of it to use as I wish, as wel as the freedom to live my own life." She smiled widely. "Al I need is for you to sponsor our coming out . . . immediately. You have to get us to bal s and teas and soirees and anything else where I can meet and assess the men available. I wil do the rest."

Christiana stared at her sister. Her plan seemed sound enough. Three quarters of Suzette’s dower was stil a fortune, and certainly the arrangement should leave Suzette happier than she herself was in her own marriage. In fact, Christiana actual y felt a moment’s envy that her younger sister would manage such an arrangement.

As for Suzette’s request, sponsoring her for a coming out was little enough to ask, and certainly much easier than trying to convince Dicky to al ow Christiana access to her funds. While the man was pleased to waste money on food, wine, and his own pleasures, when it came to giving her anything as smal as pin money, his fist suddenly spasmed and closed tight. Of course, Dicky did seem pleased to say no to her when it came to anything, so convincing him to sponsor her sisters for a coming out might not be al that easy either, she thought worriedly.

"Chrissy?" Suzette asked anxiously. "You can do that, can you not?"

Christiana’s gaze returned to her younger sister. Seeing the worry and desperation on her face, she straightened abruptly. "Certainly I can. I shal make Dicky do it . . . somehow," she added in a mutter as she got determinedly to her feet.

She would confront him at once, Christiana thought firmly as she crossed the room, and found she wasn’t afraid for the first time in a long time. It wasn’t just because she was angry about Dicky’s part in her father’s gambling either. Somehow just learning that her family had tried to write her and that she wasn’t as alone as she’d felt this last year was resurrecting her spirit, as was this short time basking in her sisters’ company. The old Christiana was awakening inside her as if from a long sleep, and she was ready for a fight.

"What if he says no?" Lisa asked worriedly, bringing her to a halt as she reached the door.

Christiana paused just long enough to force a smile to her lips, and then glanced back to say lightly, "Then I shal just have to kil him, won’t I?"

Chapter Two

Christiana usualy knocked before daring to enter Dicky’s office. This time, however, she was angry and ready for a fight. She did not knock, but thrust the door open, and sailed determinedly inside, her voice sharp as she announced, "We have to talk, Dicky."

Christiana thought it a very strong start. It was just a shame that Dicky wasn’t there to hear it. The room was empty. She started to turn away with a scowl, intending to hunt the man down, but paused mid-turn as she saw someone sitting in one of the chairs by the fire. Recognizing her husband’s dark hair above the chair back, Christiana glared briefly, awaiting some sort of acknowledgment that he’d heard her. When none was forthcoming, her scowl deepened and she strode forward.

"You wil not ignore me, Dicky. I know you have been withholding my family’s letters from me, and you have somehow been preventing my letters from getting to them as wel . And now I find out that you took my father to a gaming hel of al places?

How could you when you know what happened the last time? You have treated me most shabbily since our marriage, but I never imagined you would do something so – "

Christiana had been building up a nice head of steam as she crossed the room to stand before him, but stopped now as she got a good look at the man she was berating.

Dicky was leaning back in the chair, eyes closed and fingers resting on his chest as if he’d meant to loosen his cravat but had dropped off before he could. No doubt Dicky had nodded off after returning here on escaping Suzette’s "nattering," she thought grimly. And the liquor probably didn’t help, Christiana decided as her gaze shifted to the empty glass next to the half-empty bottle of amber liquid on the table beside him.

She recognized the carafe, it was very fine, very expensive whiskey that he usual y only opened when celebrating something. Wondering what on earth he could have to celebrate, Christiana bent to shake his shoulder. "Dicky, you – Oh!" she gasped and leapt back when he suddenly slid from his seat and landed in a heap on the floor. Christiana was about to bend down and rouse him from his stupor when a rustling from the door drew her attention to the fact that Suzette and Lisa had fol owed and now stood in the open door. Suzette peered at Dicky and then raised her gaze to Christiana and said wryly, "I thought you were just teasing when you said you’d kil him."