Page 62 of Captivating the Countess
And if the family fortune was left to Teddy, he’d be ripe for every grasping creature who flattered him with her company. Bell winced, understanding Rain’s dilemma. Would Teddy mature enough in five years if Rain married now and delayed the trust transfer?
Alicia joined Teddy in the Brag game as the whist tables they’d left rearranged themselves. Bell settled in to enjoy the company for a little while. Drucilla’s mother might still disapprove of her, but the lady was so obviously bad at cards that there wasn’t any chance she could play whist. Bell could, but she preferred the company of Alicia and Teddy. Eventually, Lady Dalrymple surrendered and left the table to join the guests gossiping in the other room.
By morning, no doubt all the guests would believe Bell a courtesan and a card cheat. Life took some strange turns.
Confident that the marquess’s immediate family suffered under no such delusions, Bell pleaded early morning hours and left before the others. Wondering if the actress and Rainford’s cousin had taken against her because she’d had Nevins thrown out, Bell took the stairs up to the nursery, holding tight to the banisters all the way. She’d promised Drucilla that she’d be nearby if needed. She hoped she hadn’t been needed.
The child was huddled in a child-sized rocking chair in the schoolroom, cuddling her doll. Did no one ever notice her leaving the room? Or were they so used to it that they’d quit fighting her?
Bell held out her hand. “You need to be in bed, silly goose. Did you see any new ghosts this evening?”
Dru tilted her head as if considering. “There’s an old gentleman in funny clothes. He watches the lady. She paces like mommy does sometimes. I think she’s worried.”
Bell prayed that meant the nag was still on the loose. She should ask Rainford to start taking precautions before his grandmother’s spirit had more notions.
Which meant she was seriously considering allowing the marquess back in her bed.
“Well, there’s little we can do for them, I fear. Do you think you can sleep now?” She led the child back to the bedroom where the nursemaid had nodded off.
Dru obediently climbed into her empty bed and let Bell tuck her in. She prayed that the child would at least become accustomed to seeing spirits without fear.
Two of the youngest children had climbed into bed together. One of the older boys had thrown off his covers. Bell covered him and left the toddlers alone. At least there were no whimpering infants to fear breaking. And while they slept, she needn’t worry about their noises startling her into the vapors.
She let herself out in the hall. The stairs down to her floor were on the corner, although one of the gas lamps had gone out and that end was cast in darkness. She should have brought a lamp with her, but the front stairs were so well lit...
She could go back that way. She probably should. But she was tired and walking half way through the main residence only to have to turn around and walk back on the next floor down... seemed like too much effort. She could manage in the dark and remember to bring a lamp next time. And have Franklin look into the unlit sconce.
Lifting her multi-layered dinner gown and petticoat, she started down the corner stairs to the family floor. The north wing wasn’t particularly well lit, either, but it was unoccupied and not hazardous. Rainford really could house a village in this place.
Holding her skirt in one hand and clutching the railing with the other, Bell took the stairs cautiously. Stairs always made her uncomfortable, but she’d done this so often these past weeks that she was learning to breathe a little easier. She couldn’t spend her life sitting on a sofa for fear of falling—
A shove from behind sent her headfirst down the stairwell. The shock spun her senseless before she hit the landing.
Retiredto his own suite with a glass of brandy and the latest medical journal, Rainford was in his dressing gown and slippers when he thought he heard a child’s cry. Assuming a nursemaid would hush the nightmare, he flipped the page and tried to concentrate.
The cries escalated to hysterical screams. A door slammed. A cold draft riffled the pages of the journal, and ice froze his spine.
Normally, he would ignore the frisson of fear, but these past weeks had been anything butnormal. Setting down drink and journal, he picked up a lamp and stepped into the hall. His suite was just down from the duke’s on the main family floor. He’d thought most of the company had gone to bed, but he could see light flickering up from the public rooms below. More doors slammed.
The child’s screaming continued. Others were emerging from their rooms. In her dressing gown and nightcap, Estelle was already aiming for the stairs.
Rain’s thoughts flew to Bell, but her chambers were far on the other side of the house. If she heard a child, she’d already be heading for the nursery.
So he stopped to check on the duke. Both he and the valet were asleep, undisturbed by the commotion.
Drunken voices echoed up from the entry hall as Rain emerged from the ducal suite and took the main stairs up. The child’s incoherent cries were terrifying.
Teddy and Lady Pamela had the suite on the far end of the nursery floor, but there was no sign of life on their end. They were probably the drunken voices below.
The schoolroom door was already open when Rain reached it.
Drucilla stood in the middle of the schoolroom, shrieking and looking at something above her head. Estelle tried to approach, but the child backed off and pointed. The governess, nursemaids, and children in their nightgowns surrounded her, but she stuck out her hands and swirled around to avoid anyone reaching for her.
Upon Rain’s entrance, the child flung herself at his legs, weeping and crying what sounded like, “Lady See, see, see.”
The ice that had frozen his spine threatened his heart as Rain followed the child’s pointing finger.
Floating ethereally above the child’s head, unseen by anyone else, was Bell, still in her dinner gown.
