The Countess (Madison Sisters #1)(24)
Author: Lynsay Sands

"Lisa, that is fiction," Suzette interrupted impatiently.

"If I were to tel someone the tale Christiana just told me they would probably think it fiction too. I –  Oh!" she interrupted herself, eyes going wide. "I could write it!"

"No," Christiana and Suzette said as one, both equal y horrified. It was Suzette who pointed out, "Someone might realize it is about Christiana and Richard and – "

"Oh, I would change the names," she said with irritation. "Never fear. It wil be fine."

Christiana opened her mouth to protest further, but paused as the carriage slowed. A glance out the window showed that they were winding up a driveway toward a large house. She recognized it at once as Radnor.

"We are here," Suzette murmured, peering out the window on the opposite side of the carriage.

"Thank God," Christiana muttered, and then turned to Lisa. "You are not to write a word of this ever. Do you understand?"

"Oh, very wel ," Lisa said resentful y. "But it would have made a wonderful love story."

"It is not a love story," she insisted.

"It wil be," Lisa assured her solemnly. "Trust me Chrissy. He is your hero, you wil love him."

Christiana rol ed her eyes and opened the carriage door, leaping out before it had even come to a complete halt. The last thing she needed was Lisa’s drivel about her fal ing in love with Richard. She had no desire to have her heart broken al over again. She’d been through that with Dicky-George already and it hadn’t been pleasant. But she feared it would be a thousand times worse if she were foolish enough to fal in love with Richard, and the most depressing thing about that was she feared she was already halfway there.

"Christiana! What the devil are you doing leaping out of the carriage before it’s stopped?" Richard demanded, doing the same thing himself from Daniel’s carriage to stride forward and berate her. "You could have been hurt."

"I wasn’t though," she said quickly, and then held out the letter and added,

"Besides, this is important."

Richard scowled at her for another moment, but then took the letter and peered at the broken seal.

"A young boy gave it to Lisa this morning saying it was for the Earl. She got distracted and forgot to give it to you and I opened it in the carriage just a few minutes ago. I thought it was probably for George, but it’s for you."

Eyebrows rising, he opened the letter and began to read.

"What is it?" Daniel asked as he reached them.

"Blackmail," Suzette answered, stepping down from the carriage and moving to his side. "Someone knows what George did and that he’s dead. They actual y think Richard kil ed him to get back his name and position and is threatening to reveal al if he isn’t paid a good sum of money."

"I see. Then Christiana explained – ?" Daniel began, but Suzette cut him off grimly.

"Yes, she explained everything. Something that you, as my soon-to-be-husband, surely should have done before this, don’t you think, Woodrow?

Husbands and wives real y shouldn’t have such secrets, should they?"

Christiana bit her lip at Suzette’s tone and the use of Daniel’s last name. It was a good indicator that Suzette wasn’t pleased. Daniel seemed to realize that, but merely shrugged and said solemnly, "It wasn’t my secret to tel ."

Suzette hrrumphed and glanced to Richard as he closed the letter again.

"We need to get back to the city at once," he announced.

"But – " Christiana said, and then gasped in surprise as he caught her elbow to urge her toward the Radnor carriage.

"I only have until the day after tomorrow to get the money together and wil receive another message tel ing me where to leave it then," he said. "We have to go."

"No, wait," Christiana said breathlessly, forced to run to keep up with him.

"Surely you aren’t going to pay the blackmail?" Daniel asked, fal ing into step on her other side.

"I hope not. That’s why I want to get back at once. We need to try to sort out who it could be. But if we don’t figure it out, I wil pay rather than risk the scandal damaging the girls."

"But – " Christiana tried again, only to gasp in surprise as they reached the carriage and he caught her by the waist and lifted her in. Once on her feet on the floor of the carriage, however, she whirled and blocked his entrance. "Dammit, husband, listen to me."

Richard stopped at once, eyes wide and mouth round with surprise. Daniel too was rather agape. However, Suzette and Lisa were both biting their lips to keep from smiling and Robert was grinning like an idiot.

"There she is," he said with a grin. "That’s the take-no-nonsense Chrissy I grew up with." Expression turning solemn, he added, "You disappeared after marrying Dicky, and that worried me more than anything else."

"Me too," Suzette announced. "I couldn’t believe it when you let Dicky treat you as he did. If one of us had tried it with you, you would have slapped us sil y."

Christiana sighed and merely shook her head. Now was not the time to explain that she hadn’t lost this side of herself right away on marriage, that George had beat it out of her with insults and criticisms until she’d no longer had the confidence to stand up for herself. Instead, she turned her attention back to Richard. "We need to see to your brother before we head back," she said reasonably. "It seems sil y to have come al this way and not at least do that. Besides, we real y can’t keep him any longer. Al the ice in London is not going to keep his presence hidden much longer."

Richard glanced toward the carriage roof and the chest there, and then sighed and nodded. "Yes, of course. We should . . . er . . ." He hesitated, and then cal ed the driver over. The man had moved around to the front of the horses to examine the beasts, but came at once and Richard ordered him to drive the carriage around the house to the family chapel. When he then started into the carriage, Christiana backed out of the way to al ow it. She settled on a bench seat, squeezing up into the corner to make room as Richard sat beside her. The others climbed in after to join them. It was rather cramped with the six of them in the cab, but no one complained and the carriage set off the moment Langley pul ed the door closed. It was a quick ride around the house, thank goodness, and the moment the carriage stopped they al piled out. The men lifted down the chest and then Richard paused to order the driver to take the carriage to the stables and change the horses for another journey. When the carriage started away, Daniel and Richard each lifted one end of the chest and carried it around behind the chapel. Christiana and the others fol owed, walking silently until they reached the family vault, a smal , low stone building. Robert then rushed ahead to open the door, revealing steps descending down into darkness.

"We should have thought to bring a torch," Daniel muttered, peering down the steps.

"We won’t go far from the door," Richard decided as they started down the steps. "I’l have him moved to a proper casket later."

Christiana fol owed Robert down the steps, aware that Suzette and Lisa were on her heels. Her nose wrinkled as she glanced around the dark interior once they reached the bottom step. The weak early evening light cast a pale square on the floor, but it didn’t light up much more than that. Judging by the smel s assaulting her, Christiana suspected that might be a good thing. Her imagination was supplying gruesome enough images of rotten, col apsing coffins and ravaged corpses. She didn’t need to see the real thing.

"We’l put him here," Richard said directing Daniel to the very edge of the square of light coming through the doors. The two men set the chest down and immediately turned to head back out, but paused on seeing the others.

"Shouldn’t we say something before we go?" Christiana asked uncertainly.

Richard paused and glanced uncertainly back toward the chest.

"It just feels wrong to simply dump him and hurry away," she said uncomfortably when everyone was silent.

"Oh, come on then," Suzette said and slid past her to move to the chest.

Christiana fol owed and took up position beside her and then waited as everyone else came to form a half circle around the chest. Suzette then clasped her hands together, closed her eyes and lowered her head.

Biting her lip, Christiana did the same, aware that the others were fol owing suit.

She heard Suzette clear her throat, and then her sister intoned solemnly, "Here lies George Cainan Fairgrave . . . Thank God he’s dead. Amen."

Christiana blinked her eyes open and gaped at her sister.

"That works for me," Daniel said with amusement. "Short, sweet and honest."

Christiana sighed, sure something more should have been said, but at the same time knowing Daniel was right. It was certainly honest. There wasn’t a person there who wasn’t glad the man was dead.

She started to turn toward the steps leading back out of the vault, but paused at the sight of a man standing there, a silhouette against the lighter backdrop of early evening outside.

"Reverend Bertrand," Richard said with surprise.

"I arrived as your driver was bringing the carriage around the house. He said you’d come to the vault and I presumed it was to visit your brother," the man said quietly. "Imagine my surprise when I realized it was to lay him to rest here."

Christiana heard Richard curse and bit her lip as he moved quickly past her to mount the steps.

"If you’l come with me to my office, I wil explain," he said quietly as he urged the pastor out of the vault. Christiana and the rest of their group fol owed, more than eager to escape the musty atmosphere with its pal of death. Richard had started to lead the reverend away, but paused and glanced back to suggest, "Christiana, perhaps you could greet the staff and arrange for a basket of food to be packed for the trip back to London?"

"Yes, of course," she said at once.

"Thank you," he said and then continued forward with the pastor.

"Do you think we should go with him to back him up on the story?" Robert asked with a frown. Daniel considered the question, but shook his head. "He’l send for us if he needs assistance."

They were al silent as they watched Richard lead the pastor not around to the front of the house, but in through a pair of French doors Christiana thought must lead to the office here.

"Wel ," Daniel said as the two men disappeared. "Shal we?"

Christiana nodded and started forward, leading the way around the house to the front door. The servants were al lined up on either side of the hal when she opened the door and led the way inside. Some time was spent explaining that Lord Radnor had been detained and would be along shortly. Fortunately, the butler recognized Christiana from her one visit and made introductions to the rest of the staff. There was a good number of them, however, and it took longer than she would have liked to meet everyone, but she didn’t feel she could be rude and refuse so smiled and shook hands and nodded to everyone from the housekeeper to the lowliest maid. They had just finished with the last introduction and Christiana was about to ask to have a word with Cook when one of the hal doors opened and Richard peered out.

"Christiana, can you come here please?" he asked and then peered back into the room to listen to something the reverend was saying. He then turned back to say, "Actual y, if everyone would come in here, that would be good."

He then left the door open and moved out of sight. Richard was standing talking to the pastor next to a large, dark wood desk by the French doors when Christiana entered. She moved immediately to his side, catching the pastor’s last words as he said, "absolutely legal."

"What is?" she asked, pausing beside Richard.

He glanced down at her and smiled. "The wedding Reverend Bertrand has agreed to perform for us."

Christiana’s eyes widened and she glanced to the holy man in question.

"My lady," the pastor said, taking her hand and smiling at her kindly. "I am sorry to hear of al the troubles you and his lordship have suffered this last year. George always did seem to have the devil in him. Stil , I am a little surprised and saddened to hear just how much devil." He patted her hand. "We’l set this right today, though, and make it al legal. And I don’t see any reason anyone else need know about it. George did enough damage without us adding to it, and it seems God meted out his own punishment."

"Thank you," Christiana murmured.

"If we’re ready then?" Reverend Bertrand asked glancing to Richard.

He nodded and turned toward Daniel, but then paused with surprise. Seeing his expression, Christiana glanced about the room, her own eyes widening. It wasn’t just Daniel, Robert, Suzette and Lisa who had fol owed them into the room.

Apparently the servants had thought Richard had meant them too when he’d said everyone and every last one of them, including Grace and Christiana’s sisters’

maids, were now crammed into the room as wel .

Clearing his throat, Richard said apologetical y, "I didn’t mean – "

"It’s al right," Reverend Bertrand interrupted and then stepped to Richard’s side and smiled at everyone. "The Earl and Countess would like to renew their vows and be married again to each other and you are al going to be witnesses."

A buzz went around the servants and Suzette immediately moved to Christiana’s side to whisper worriedly, "Wil it be legal now?"

"I think so," Christiana whispered back.

Both women gave a start as the pastor turned and whispered, "Yes, my dear lady, it wil . The banns were read, and the license issued for the original wedding between Richard Fairgrave and Christiana Madison . . . and handily the license was right here in the office. Apparently, it was left here for safekeeping when you stopped on the way to London. We wil carry out the ceremony in the church here at Radnor in front of several witnesses. Once the ceremony is over and we, as wel as witnesses, sign the marriage register in the church, it wil most definitely be legal."