Page 48 of Captivating the Countess
Guests gathered around Rain, fretting over the reports of dangerous fixtures—the antlers in the billiard room, too? He refrained from rolling his eyes. He’d have the lot taken down.
Leaving suggestions of earthquakes and blasts of wintery winds—which most of his guests accepted more readily than ghosts—Rain worked his way out of the room, leaving his sisters to quiet the crowd.
The chandelier in the entry had stopped swinging. He took the back stairs anyway, two at a time. He stopped at his father’s suite first. It was early enough to find the duke sitting in his chair, reading a newspaper, and keeping an eye on the overhead fixture.
The duke shook out the paper and folded it. “I must say, your lady has certainly increased the entertainment around here. The footman says everyone is well?”
Rain took a steadying breath and maintained a composure he didn’t feel. “In the music room, yes. Alicia is a bit shaken. Teddy is sulking. The guests will probably flee in the morning. I am checking on those who weren’t downstairs. Why do you say ‘my lady’ did this? If you’re referring to Lady Craigmore, she wasn’t even there.”
“I was referring to your ghost, but I suppose your new steward may be responsible for our apparition’s new strength. I am fine. You should probably look after her next.”
Entirely Rain’s reaction. That his father understood simply proved the duke wasn’t a stupid man. Bell was a desirable female—and all too evidently another Malcolm.
“Apparently one of the children in the nursery is seeing our ghost as well. I may need to go there next. I’ll leave an extra servant in here to run messages until this is resolved.”
This suite was large and could house a plethora of servants without his father noticing. The duke dismissed him with a wave.
Rain had to go to the north wing to reach Bell’s suite anyway. The nursery was only up a flight from there. Since childhood, he’d never had reason to enter the nursery. His toddling nieces and nephews were mostly indistinguishable. He admired them when his sisters presented them to him, but after that, they vanished upstairs. He supposed they’d become uncontrollable monsters at some point, but everyone went through that stage. He’d wait until they were adults to sort them out.
Normally, he would have sent a servant except for Bell’s warning about the lame child who saw ghosts. If Drucilla presented any danger to his household, he needed to know it. Nursery maids weren’t much help when frightened. Besides, he felt guilty not knowing about the child’s accident.
There were no chandeliers to swing in most of the rooms on the third floor and certainly not in the nursery. He knocked quietly before entering.
Bell sat beside the fire in the classroom, rocking a sleepy child in her lap. She looked up gratefully at sight of him. “Your father?” she whispered.
“Undisturbed. I’m not sure what Alicia’s play was meant to accomplish, but it will no doubt rid the house of most of our guests. The children?” He glanced around for a nursemaid but this was a schoolroom, not the bedroom.
“Most of them slept through it. Only Drucilla heard. She says the ghost is angry, but she doesn’t understand more. I don’t think she’s old enough to attend a séance, but I suppose she might learn, as I never have.”
“We don’t know such foolishness works,” he reminded her. “Should I put her back to bed?”
She looked reluctant. “For now, I suppose. I haven’t had time to talk to her mother.”
There was the countess speaking—born and raised to rule the lives of others. Her mother had taught her well. Rain lifted the sleeping child and let Bell lead the way.
He’d grown up in this nursery, and she knew more of it than he did. He supposed the nursery was a woman’s territory—but Bell was hissteward. She knew his ledgers as well as Davis had. She was turning his view of women as pretty ornaments on its head.
Ornaments were safer. Bell... was an enigma, one that could explode in his face.
At this moment, he couldn’t convince himself that was entirely a bad thing.
She tucked in the child, took the arm he offered, and they slipped back to the hall. “What happened?” She waited until they were away from the nursery to ask.
“My guess is that our resident ghost wanted our full attention and was showing off what she could do if we don’t listen.” Normally, Rain wouldn’t discuss his theory about supernatural activities, but Bell had a valid interest—and she listened without judgment. “After swinging all the chandeliers from the front to the back of the house, she dropped Teddy’s canvas one on his head—and Alicia’s and Lady Pamela’s. It was quite a climactic ending to a rather predictable play. I fear Alicia is no playwright.”
She swayed into him for just the briefest moment, as if needing his comfort. Rain wanted to hug her, but they had to keep their heads to survive this night.
“Alicia is accustomed to persuading people to do her bidding. One assumes she was hoping to persuade the ghost to listen to her.” A smile laced her voice as they traversed the stairs on the way to her suite. “Unless you want her discovering one of the women’s rights groups and standing on street corners, urging people to action, you’d probably best find her a charity that needs her support.”
“You don’t support this talk of women voting?” He couldn’t contain his curiosity. Alicia as a persuader? Bell might be on to something.
“Of course I do,” she acknowledged with serenity as they reached her suite. “And should Alicia become involved, I will aid her in any way I can. But I am not someone who stands on the front lines. I prefer working in the background, where I can do the most good.”
He groaned, imagining Alicia on street corners and Bell printing signs and pamphlets. Rather than contemplate such a future, he opened the door of her new suite.
His sisters hadn’t arrived, thank all that was holy. Rain led Bell inside, shut the door, and swung her into his arms.
He needed this. He deserved this after tonight. He applied his mouth to hers with a hunger that grew reckless when she lifted her arms to his neck and pressed herself against him.
