Douglas rose when the door closed on Hollis. “I must speak to Mother.” He sighed. “I do not believe it would do Hollis’s prospects any good if she is present to meet Mrs. Trelawny.”
Alex said, “No, she would likely have Hollis’s lady running from the Hall, shrieking or crying. She is so remarkably healthy. It quite makes one shudder.”
He laughed, walked past her, only to turn and lift her up in his arms and swing her around. She was laughing down at him, his face nearly in her bosom, when the door opened and a familiar sour voice said, “Unseemly! Disgraceful! Why haven’t you taught this girl how to behave, Douglas? You have been married to her more years than I can bear to count, and still she is poking herself out and encouraging you to wildness.”
“Hello, Mother.”
“Hello, Mother-in-law.”
“I have decided to have my luncheon in here. You will both sit down since I have matters of grave concern to discuss with you.”
Douglas said from his impressive height, still holding his wife in his arms, “Do forgive us, Mother, but Alex and I have very important matters to attend to. We will visit with you at dinner.”
“No! Wait, it’s my maid, the slovenly creature, she isn’t-”
They missed the last, thank God. The two servants who saw the earl and countess dash from the dining room, laughing like children, cutting off the dowager’s moldy voice, would have cheered, if Hollis wouldn’t have berated them endlessly for such behavior.
“Miserable old besom,” Tilda, the downstairs maid, whispered to Ellie behind her hand. “She’ll live forever, my ma told me, said her meanness keeps her healthy. She said she wouldn’t doubt if she kept a flask filled with rum in her bedchamber.”
“I’ll ask that poor maid of hers,” said Ellie. “Rum? Hmmm.” The two of them laughed.
Douglas and Alexandra ran, hand in hand, into the bright cold afternoon, to the gazebo that Douglas’s grandfather had built on a small hill above an ornamental pond.
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
“ SIT DOWN, MY dear,” Douglas said. “We’ve things to speak about.”
Alexandra sat watching her husband pace up and down the length of the gazebo.
Douglas said, “Talking to you about this helps focus my brain. Georges’s two children and his sister-in-law left Paris immediately after his death.”
“Yes.”
“I received a message that the children traveled to Spain, but soon thereafter they were gone again. I still don’t know where they ended up. Nor have I been able to find out what sort of financial situation they were in at the time of their father’s death.”
Alexandra said matter-of-factly, “There must be sufficient money, for the son has funds to hire men to kill you.”
He nodded. “The son is currently in London, but that could change in an instant.”
“He will make a mistake, Douglas, you’ll see, and we’ll get him.”
“I’ll tell you, Alex, the thought of this young man hiding behind a tree, just waiting for me to come into his gun range, is beyond galling. I want him; I want him on my own terms.”
“I’ve begun to wonder about the warnings that Lord Wellington received. Maybe the son arranged for you to learn that Georges Cadoudal was involved. Maybe, when he used your name, he wanted you to know exactly who he was. He wants drama, attention. He wants you to admire his prowess, his perseverance.”
“He wanted me to know he was coming to kill me? Aye, I see. A warning then. That first time he shot at me was a warning. He wanted me to be afraid, he wanted to play with me before he killed me, but before he killed me, he wanted me to know who he was. I wish we knew why he’s doing this.”
It was time, Douglas thought, as they walked back to the Hall, time for him and his sons to bring their attention closer to home. When they stepped into the elegant entrance hall, still hand in hand, the three servants who observed them would swear that the earl and countess had enjoyed a splendid interlude in the gazebo. Douglas, realizing this quickly enough, kissed his wife thoroughly, and then he left her to work in the estate room. He sat at his desk for ten minutes longer, then walked quickly to his bedchamber, where he found his wife sitting on a chair facing the large windows, humming as she mended one of his shirts. She smiled up at him, a dimple deepening in her cheek, and slowly began to unfasten the long line of buttons on the front of her dress. He thought that being married a good long time wasn’t a bad thing. The years tuned minds together, at least some of the time. The years added more space in the heart, just as Hollis had said.
He leaned down to kiss her, his hands already busy with hers on those buttons.
AT PRECISELY FOUR o’clock that afternoon, Hollis opened wide the double doors to the drawing room, stood there, tall, straight, thick white hair flowing beautifully, nearly to his shoulders, looking just like God. He waited until he had the full attention of the earl and countess, and said grandly, “May I introduce to you Mrs. Annabelle Trelawny, born in that lovely town of Chester.”
“With such a splendid introduction,” came a soft low voice, “I fear you will be vastly disappointed.”
Annabelle Trelawny looked like a small, plump fairy, light on her feet, ever so graceful. She also looked at once embarrassed and so pleased she looked ready to burst her stays.
“Do allow me to seat you here, Annabelle,” Hollis said, and led her tenderly to the very feminine chair opposite the earl and countess. “Are you comfortable, my dear?”