“Portia? Are you awake?” A gentle knock sounded at the door and the two of them flew off the bed as if a red-hot poker prodded their backsides. Heath tossed her nightgown at her and made short work of straightening his clothing. He glanced at the thin line of light glowing beneath the bedroom door.
“Portia?” The woman at the door knocked again. “May I come in?”
Her small hands pushed wildly at his chest, shoving him in the direction of the balcony. It occurred to him that he could linger until that door opened and put an end to the question of their marrying. Yet he didn’t want her to agree to marry him because she’d been compelled. He wanted her to want to marry him.
His eyes searched the dark, desperate for a glimpse of her face, desperate to say—
“Go,” she hissed.
“Tomorrow,” he managed to say before stepping onto the balcony and plunging into the night.
Portia dove beneath the counterpane a mere moment before Astrid strode into the room. She took a gulp and tried to steady her breathing and the erratic thumping of her heart against her chest.
“You’re still awake?” Astrid asked, her expression surprised.
Her cheeks flamed. “Yes.”
Astrid motioned to the side table and the goblet sitting upon it. “Why did you not try the tonic I sent up for you earlier?”
Portia glanced at the goblet, having forgotten all about it. Leery of Astrid’s “tonics,” Portia wrinkled her nose.
“It’s my special tonic,” she chided. “Will do wonders for those bothersome wrinkles you’re starting to get at the corners of your eyes. One cup and you’ll look much improved.”
Portia picked up the goblet. Mostly to appease her sister-in-law, but also to distract Astrid from looking too closely at the rumpled bedcovers, or her mussed appearance, or to catch the lingering smell of sex, she downed the contents of the goblet. It tasted like wine but with an underlying bitterness that she puckered her lips against.
“Good girl.” Astrid smiled and patted her hand with far more solicitousness than she had ever displayed.
“Astrid,” Portia began as she settled against her pillows. “I know you’ve been angry with me—”
“Hush.” Astrid waved a hand, averting her eyes to arrange the covers around Portia. “Let’s not talk about it.”
“Please believe me when I say that everything will be fine. You have my word.”
A vague smile played about Astrid’s lips. For some reason the sight made Portia’s stomach tighten. Unease settled between her shoulder blades, tensing her back.
“I know, Portia,” she murmured evenly. “I’m not angry anymore.”
Portia studied her closely, trying to gauge that smile of hers. The one that never reached her eyes, the one that Portia had seen her exhibit on countless social occasions. The one that hid something. Everything.
“Get some sleep.” Turning gracefully, Astrid strolled from the room. The door clicked shut and darkness shrouded her again.
Portia bounded from the bed, hoping Heath hadn’t left, that he lurked somewhere in the humming night outside her room. Standing on the balcony, she scanned the lawn below.
Gripping the stone railing, she risked a loud whisper. “Heath.”
Nothing. He had gone.
Deflated, she rubbed her arms for comfort and leaned upon the railing, the cool stone seeping through the thin cotton of her gown, chilling her.
A pleasant lethargy crept over her. Strange. Moments ago she had not even felt tired. Goose bumps broke over her flesh, but she still didn’t move. Her legs felt heavy, leaden. She glanced down as if she would see fetters about her ankles. Turning, she pushed from the railing, suddenly eager for the comfort of her bed.
She dragged herself forward, her hand seeking the balcony door for support. Her legs felt steady as rubber. Blood rushed to her ears—made her head feel stuffed full of cotton.
She grasped the door, clinging to it, her fingers digging into the wood. One of her nail’s splintered from the pressure as she tried to stop from sliding to the floor.
Her knees buckled and she fell, sliding down like a limp doll. She dropped to the floor, head whirling, spinning until black oblivion rolled in.
Chapter 28
Heath bowed low over Lady Astrid’s hand, slender and delicate. Her skin was pale as cream, the blue veins visible beneath.
“Lord Derring, how nice of you to call.” Her un-swerving gaze reflected no such frailty. Her eyes, a dark coffee brown, were a startling contrast with her fair hair and skin. They looked straight through him, direct as any man’s.
“My apology for not calling sooner, Your Grace. I’ve heard the Dowager is unwell.” He lowered himself into the chair across from her.
Lady Astrid inclined her head slightly. “That is true. Although she has improved markedly in the last few days.”
“I’m greatly relieved to hear that. I know my grandmother will be most distressed to learn she has been ill.” Unable to hold off any longer, he inquired, “And Lady Portia? Is she receiving today?”
“Portia?” Lady Astrid straightened where she sat, pulling her shoulders back as if preparing for something unpleasant. For half a second alarm flashed in her cool gaze. “You’ve come to call on Portia?”
“Yes. She and I grew acquainted in Yorkshire.”
“Acquainted,” she murmured, rolling the word around her tongue as if it were some strange sound. In a single, fluid movement she rose to her feet and strolled to a cabinet in the corner.
Her back to him, she asked bluntly, “What are your intentions concerning Portia?” She opened the lacquered door and removed a tray arrayed with a decanter and glasses. “Sherry?”
“No.” He gave a swift nod, still mulling over her question. He supposed it fair. With Bertram gone and the dowager ill, Lady Astrid did have some right to know the depth of his interest in her sister-in-law.
“I intend to marry her.”
At his declaration, she downed her glass in one swallow. Reaching for the decanter again, she asked, “Are you sure you won’t join me for a drink, my lord?”
“Quite.” Uneasiness tightened his gut. His statement did not elicit the reaction he expected.
“Does Portia know of your intentions?”
“I believe she will accept my suit.” He damned well wasn’t leaving until she did. After last night, she couldn’t seriously consider refusing him. At least that’s what he told himself, what his heart desperately whispered to his head.
The duchess downed her second glass with one swallow. She turned bright eyes, burning with emotion, on him. With a heavy sigh, she muttered, “Then you best go after her.”
He rose slowly, his pulse quickening. “Go after her? Where has she gone?”
“Scotland. She left early this morning.”
“Scotland?” he echoed.
“Yes.” She grimaced. “Where else could she marry on such short notice?”
Portia woke to a throbbing headache. It pounded at the insides of her temples with fierce little hammers. She cracked open one eye, then the next. Hissing at the harsh invasion of light, she clenched them shut again.
A slight rustling sounded near her head. “Nettie, would you draw the drapes?” she asked, her tongue dry as sand in her mouth.
Before Nettie could respond, her world tilted and careened.
“Nettie,” she choked, a hand flying to her mouth as she fought down her heaving stomach.
“Chamber pot—quick!”
With more strength than Portia thought Nettie capable, she was pulled upright and forced into a sitting position. Much too quickly for her rebelling stomach.
“Ah,” she groaned against her fingers, a vile taste rising in her throat.
“Open your bloody eyes and stick your head out the window you daft female!”
Her eyes flew open at the sound of the coarse command.
Simon Oliver stared back at her, looking both anxious and wary. She lunged for the window.
Sticking her head out the flimsy drapes, she heaved the contents of her stomach, mindless of the rain soaking her as she watched the wet earth roll by beneath them.
Confidant that she would not be sick again, she fell back against the squabs, demanding weakly,
“What have you done?”
She pressed a hand to the base of her throat as if she could still the wild thud of her pulse beating there. His eyes, feral and gleaming, fixed on that hand, watched it as a fox watched its dinner.
“You thought you were finished with me, didn’t you?” He leaned forward in his seat. “I warned you—”
“Mr. Oliver,” she croaked, her tongue thick in her mouth. Pausing, she swallowed and tried to force words out of her dry mouth. “I insist you turn this carriage around at once. My family must be besides themselves with worry—”
“Your family,” he cut in, the crack of his voice loud as the falling rain around them, “is in full support of our marriage. Who do you think helped me make off with you in the middle of the night?”
Portia sucked in air and jammed her eyes shut against the sudden spots filling her vision. “No.
They wouldn’t do that. Not Grandmother. Not Astrid.” They would not have betrayed her, would not have resorted to such methods.
She must have spoken aloud, for Oliver suddenly sat on the seat beside her, his voice a serpent’s slither in her ear, his chest a barrel pressing at her side. “I know nothing of any plans your grandmother may have had. Lady Astrid, however, came up with this. She said once we were wed, you would see reason.”
Astrid. Portia knew her sister-in-law was angry, desperate even. She had felt it in her cold stare.
Yet if she had just trusted Portia, given her a little time, she would have seen that she intended to honor her promise.
Heath. A dull ache began to throb beneath her breastbone. An image of him filled her mind, her soul. When precisely had he become everything to her? When exactly had he turned into her every dream, her every hope for the future?
Oh, Astrid, how could you?
“No,” she breathed, jamming her eyes shut, unwilling to open them and face the man at her side.
Face the ugly truth that spilled from his lips and washed over her in wave after horrible wave.
“No,” she repeated, as if the single word had the power to remove her from this awful reality.
Fingers hard as iron grasped her chin. “Yes.”
Her stomach heaved anew. Swallowing, she opened her eyes to glare at her abductor, to stare him down as if every inch of her weren’t trembling at the prospect of becoming his wife, at never again seeing Heath or feeling his arms surround her. Wrenching her chin free, she dragged herself to the edge of the seat until her shoulder dug into the carriage wall.
He slid after her, his small, dark eyes narrowing in predatory enjoyment. “A few hours in this carriage and marriage to me will be your only alternative.” He nodded, his chin jutting forward in satisfaction. “I mean to see you keep the promise you made.”
His hands grasped the hem of her nightgown. She shrank back as far as the wall vibrating against her shoulder would allow.
Still, he clung.
“Can’t have you wed in this, can we?” His thick fingers worked fast. Two great, mauling paws gathered fistfuls of her nightgown. She slapped at his hands. Still he talked, lifting her gown higher and higher, heedless of her kicks. “Your sister-in law packed a change of clothes. Nice of her, eh?”
If the hands on her nightgown weren’t message enough, his leer left no doubt. He meant to ravish here right here, right now.
“Simon, please—” her voice broke into a strangled sob as his hands gripped her bare knees.
Hard, brutal fingers dug into her tender flesh, forcing her legs apart, spiking unthinkable terror in the deep well of her heart.
This isn’t happening. Pulse thundering in her throat, she thrashed her legs, desperate to fight him off even as her stomach rebelled, convincing her she was going to be ill again.